[427] Reference, Rose, Life of Napoleon, Vol. II, pp. 197–207. For documents relating to the blockade and "the Continental system," see Translations and Reprints, Vol. II, No. 2.

[428] See [Readings], Chapter XXXVIII.

[429] Napoleon was never content with his achievements or his glory. On the day of his coronation, December, 1806, he complained to his minister Decrès that he had been born too late, that there was nothing great to be done any more. On his minister's remonstrating he added: "I admit that my career has been brilliant and that I have made a good record. But what a difference is there if we compare ours with ancient times. Take Alexander the Great, for example. After announcing himself the son of Jupiter, the whole East, except his mother, Aristotle, and a few Athenian pedants, believed this to be true. But now, should I nowadays declare myself the son of the Eternal Father, there isn't a fishwife who would not hiss me. No, the nations are too sophisticated, there is nothing great any longer possible."

[430] "It depends upon you alone," he said to the Spanish in his proclamation of December 7, "whether this moderate constitution that I offer you shall henceforth be your law. Should all my efforts prove vain, and should you refuse to justify my confidence, then nothing remains for me but to treat you as a conquered province and find a new throne for my brother. In that case I shall myself assume the crown of Spain and teach the ill-disposed to respect that crown, for God has given me power and will to overcome all obstacles."

[431] Reference, Rose, Revolutionary and Napoleonic Era, pp. 193–201. Louis Bonaparte, the father of Napoleon III, and the most conscientious of the Bonaparte family, had been so harassed by his imperial brother that he had abdicated as king of Holland.

[432] Reference, Rose, Life of Napoleon, Vol. II, Chapter XXXII.

[433] See above, p. [544].

[434] This decree may be found in Translations and Reprints, Vol. II, No. 2.

[435] Reference, Rose, Revolutionary and Napoleonic Era, pp. 335–361.

[436] The son of Louis XVI had been imprisoned and maltreated by the terrorists. He died while still a boy in 1795, but nevertheless takes his place in the line of French kings as Louis XVII.