Page:Napoleon (O'Connor 1896).djvu/86

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.

CHAPTER II.

THE ESTIMATE OF A WORSHIPPER.[1]

I have not paused in my quotations from Taine to point out where I think the author has been unjust to Napoleon. As I have indicated, that would be contrary to the rôle I have given myself of interpreter rather than critic. Besides, I am about to give a picture of Napoleon drawn by a worshipper in immediate succession to this tremendous indictment by an enemy; and the unbridled eulogy will be the best antidote to the unsparing attack.

I.

MÉNEVAL.

Anybody acquainted with Napoleonic literature will know that Madame de Rémusat's Memoirs form the groundwork of Taine's picture; and especially in those portions which describe life at Napoleon's Court.

  1. Memoirs to serve for the history of Napoleon I. from 1802-1815. By B. de Méneval. Translated by N. H. Sherard. (London: Hutchinson.)