CHARACTERISTIC REMARKS MADE BY THE EMPEROR.
9th.—I went to dine at Briars with my son and General Gourgaud; and we staid to a little ball. I met the Admiral there, and I never found him in a more agreeable humour. This was the first time I had seen him since the adventure of Noverraz; I was aware how much the circumstance had hurt him. He was on the point of departing for Europe, and I knew the Emperor’s sentiments. I was twenty times almost tempted freely to enter upon the subject, and thus to be the means of reconciling him with Napoleon. Truth, justice, and our own interest, demanded this; but I was deterred by considerations that were doubtless trivial. How often have I blamed myself since!... But I had not received this delicate mission, and I could not venture to take it upon myself. The admiral might have given publicity to the affair, and perhaps have represented it in a way that would have highly displeased the Emperor, and possibly have exposed him to fresh vexations. On this subject I will note down the following remarks which were made by the Emperor, and which characterize him too well to be omitted.
He was one day describing to me evils attendant on weakness and credulity in a sovereign; the intrigues which they engender in the interior of the palace; and the fickleness which they create. He demonstrated very clearly that a sovereign distinguished for these qualities must inevitably become the dupe of courtiers and the victim of calumny. “Of this I will give you a proof,” said he. “You yourself, who have sacrificed every thing to follow me; you, who have evinced such noble and affecting devotedness, how do you think your conduct is viewed? How do you imagine your character is estimated? You are regarded merely as one of the old nobility, an emigrant, an agent of the Bourbons, maintaining correspondence with the English. It is said that you concurred in betraying me to them, and that you followed me hither only to be a spy upon me and to sell me to my enemies. The aversion and animosity which you evince towards the Governor are affirmed to be only false appearances agreed upon between you for the purpose of disguising your treachery.” When I smiled at the lively turn of his fancy, and the volubility with which he expressed himself: “You may laugh,” resumed he “but I assure you that I am not inventing, I am merely echoing the reports that have reached my ears. And can you imagine,” continued he, “that a silly, feeble, and credulous being would not be influenced by such stories and contrivances? My dear Las Cases, if I had not been superior to the majority of legitimates, I might already have been deprived of your services here, and your upright heart would perhaps have been doomed to suffer the cruel stings of ingratitude.” He concluded by saying: “how wretched is the lot of man! He is the same every where: on the summit of a rock or within the walls of a palace! Man is always man!...”