In the memoirs she says:—­“Nothing is so base as his soul; it is closed against all generous impulses, and possesses no true grandeur.  I noticed that he always failed to understand and to admire a noble action;” and again she goes on to say that “In war he foresaw the means of calling away our attention from the reflections which, sooner or later, his government could not fail to suggest to us, and he reserved it in order to dazzle, or at least to enforce silence on us.  Bonaparte felt that he would be infallibly lost the day when his enforced inactivity enabled us to think both of him and of ourselves.”  “What a relief whenever the Emperor went away!  His absence always seemed to bring solace.  People breathed more freely.”

Now this would have been all very well.  It was the stereotyped phraseology of Napoleon’s avowed enemies.  He knew it, and viewed it with contempt and derision, and until Madame de Remusat and her snuffling, cringing husband became swollen with over-indulgence and smitten with wounded pride, they regarded language such as now appears in her memoirs as mere froth.  She practically says that she held the same views in 1818 as she did from 1802 to 1808, but when she wrote this she no doubt relied on her correspondence being kept snugly private or destroyed; but it has been published, and here are some amazing extracts from it:—­

“I often think, my dear, of that Empire, the territory of which extends to Antwerp!  Consider what a man he must be who can rule it single-handed, and what few instances history offers like him!"[24] “Whilst he creates, so to speak, new nations in his progress, people must be struck, from one end of Europe to the other, by the remarkably prosperous state of France.  Her Navy, formed in two years, after a ruinous revolution, and assuming at last a menacing attitude after so long, excited the scoffs of a shortsighted enemy.”

“When again I reflect on the peace we enjoy, our wise and moderate liberty, which is quite sufficient for me, the glory my country is covered with, the pomp and even the magnificence surrounding us, and in which I delight, because it is proof that success has crowned our efforts; when, in short, I consider that all this prosperity is the work of one man, I am filled with admiration and gratitude."[25]

“What I write here, my dear, is, of course, strictly between ourselves, for many people would be anxious to ascribe to these feelings some other cause than that which really inspires them; besides, it seems to me that we are less eager to express the praises that come from the heart than those that proceed from the mind."[26]

“Thank goodness, I am at last happy and contented!!  What a pleasure it is to see the Emperor again, and how much that pleasure will be felt here!  This splendid campaign, this glorious peace, this prompt return, all is really marvellous."[27]