The Emperor considered Homer inimitable. Father Hardouin had ventured to question the authenticity of of the Iliad, and to attribute that sacred monument of antiquity to a monk of the tenth century. This the Emperor said was perfect absurdity. He added that he had never been so struck with the beauties of the Iliad as at that very moment; and that the sensations with which it then inspired him fully convinced him of the justice of the universal approbation bestowed on it. One thing which particularly struck him, he observed, was the combination of rudeness of manners with refinement of ideas. Heroes were described killing animals for their food, cooking their meat with their own hands, and yet delivering speeches distinguished for singular eloquence and denoting a high degree of civilization.
The Emperor desired me to stay and dine with him. “Yet,” said he, “you would probably fare better at the table of the household; you will be starved with me.” “Sire,” I replied, “I know that you are ill provided; but I prefer privation shared with you to luxury enjoyed elsewhere.”
During the day, the Emperor was ill with the head-ache, of which some individuals of his suite also complained. I regretted that he was unable to go out, for the weather was very fine. After dinner, the Emperor summoned the whole of his suite into his own chamber, and we remained with him until ten o’clock.
8th.—About five o’clock the Emperor took an airing in the calash. On his return he was visited by several English gentlemen, of whom, according to custom, he asked a multitude of questions. These gentlemen had arrived by the Cornwall: they were proceeding to China, and were expected to touch at St. Helena in the following January on their passage back to Europe.
After dinner one of the suite remarked to the Emperor that his feelings had been painfully excited in the morning when writing out a fair copy of his dictation respecting the battle of Waterloo, to find that the result had depended, as it were, on a hair. The Emperor made no reply, but, turning to Emmanuel, said, in a tone expressing deep emotion: “My son (which was his usual mode of addressing him) go and get Iphigenia in Aulis, it will be a more pleasing subject.” He then read to us that beautiful drama, which he admires exceedingly.
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!...”
REMARKS ON HOCHE AND VARIOUS OTHER GENERALS.
10th.—The weather was very bad, and the Emperor, finding it impossible to go out, walked up and down in the dining-room. He afterwards ordered a fire to be kindled in the drawing-room, and sat down to play at chess with the Grand Marshal. After dinner he read to us the history of Joseph from the Bible, and the Andromache of Racine.