DECEMBER 1st-3rd, 1815. Many incidents fill up this interval ; some I reject as unnecessary, some it is proper I should withhold. I here note down only a few anecdotes of the General-in-chief of the Army of Italy.
After the passage of the Mincio, Napoleon, having concerted all his plans, and pursued the enemy in every direction, entered a castle on the left bank of the river. He was troubled with the head-ache, and he used a foot-bath. A large detachment of the enemy, in great confusion, arrived, having ascended the river as far as the castle. Napoleon was there, and only a few persons were with him ; the sentinel on duty at the gate had just time to close it, exclaiming, To arms ! and the General of the Army of Italy, in the arms of victory, was compelled to escape through the back gates of the garden, with but one boot on. Had he been made prisoner, before his reputation was established, the acts of genius which had marked the commencement of his career, would, perhaps, by the common run of mankind, have been considered merely as fortunate and blameable enterprises. The danger which the French General had just escaped (a circumstance which through his plan of operations was likely often to recur) was the origin of the guides appointed to guard his person. These guides have since been introduced in other armies.
In the same campaign, Napoleon incurred another imminent risk :-Wurmser, who had been compelled to throw himself into Mantua, and who was debouching suddenly on an open plain, learned from an old woman, that only a few moments before his arrival, the French General, with but a few followers, had stopped at her door, and that he had fled at sight of the Austrians. Wurmser immediately despatched parties of cavalry in every direction, calculating with certainty on the precious capture. " But," said the Emperor, " I must do him this justice, he gave particular orders that I should not be killed or harmed in any way." Fortunately for the young General, his happy star and the swiftness of his horse combined to save him.
The new system of military operations practised by Napoleon disconcerted every one. The campaign was scarcely opened, when Lombardy was inundated with troops in every direction, and the French approached Mantua pêle mêle with the enemy. The General-in-chief, when in the neighbourhood of Pizzighitone, saw a tall German Colonel, who had been made prisoner. Napoleon took a fancy to question him, without being known, and enquired how affairs were going on. " Very badly," replied the officer ; " I know not how it will end ; but no one seems to understand what they are about : we have been sent to fight a young blockhead, who attacks us on the right and the left, in front and in the rear, so that we know not how to proceed. This mode of carrying on war is intolerable ; and for my part, I am very glad to have done with it. . . . ."
Napoleon used to relate that, after one of his great actions in Italy, he passed over the field of battle before the dead bodies had been interred : " In the deep silence of a beautiful moon-light night," said the Emperor, " a dog, leaping suddenly from beneath the clothes of his dead master, rushed upon us, and then immediately returned to his hiding-place, howling piteously. He alternately licked his master's hand, and ran towards us ; thus, at once soliciting aid and seeking revenge. Whether owing to my own particular turn of mind at the moment," continued the Emperor, " the time, the place, or the action itself, I know not ; but certainly, no incident on any field of battle ever produced so deep an impression on me. I involuntarily stopped to contemplate the scene. This man, thought I, perhaps, has friends in the camp or in his company ; and here he lies forsaken by all except his dog ! What a lesson Nature here presents through the medium of an animal ! What a strange being is man ! and how mysterious are his impressions ! I had, without emotion, ordered battles which were to decide the fate of the army ; I had beheld, with tearless eyes, the execution of those operations, by which numbers of my countrymen were sacrificed ; and here my feelings were roused by the mournful howling of a dog ! Certainly at that moment I should have been easily moved by a suppliant enemy : I could very well imagine Achilles surrendering up the body of Hector at the sight of Priam's tears."….

...7th December.-The Emperor summoned me to attend him at an early hour : He began to read the Nouvelle Heloïse, frequently remarking on the ingenuity and force of the arguments, the elegance of the style and expressions : he read for upwards of two hours. This reading made a powerful impression on me ; it produced a deep melancholy-a mingled feeling of tenderness and sorrow. I had always been fond of the work ; and it now awakened happy recollections ; and excited deep regret : the Emperor frequently smiled at me. During breakfast the Nouvelle Heloïse was the topic of conversation.
" Jean-Jacques has overcharged his subject," said the Emperor ; " he has painted madness : love should be a source of pleasure, not of misery." I alleged that Jean-Jacques had described nothing which a man might not feel, and that even the misery to which the Emperor alluded was, in reality, happiness.-" I see," said he, " you have a little touch of the romantic : has Love's misery rendered you happy ?"-" I do not complain of my fate, Sire," replied I ; " were I to begin life again, I should wish to retrace the course I have already pursued."
The Emperor resumed his reading after breakfast ; but he paused occasionally : the enchantment seemed to seize him in his turn. He at length laid down the book, and we went out to the garden. " Really," said he, as we walked along, " this work is not without fire ; it moves, it rouses the feelings." We discussed the subject deeply ; we were very prolix in our remarks, and we at length agreed that perfect love is like ideal happiness ; that both are equally airy, fugitive, mysterious, and inexplicable ; and that, finally, love is the business of the idle man, the recreation of the warrior, and the ruin of the sovereign.
We were joined by the Grand Marshal and M. Gourgaud, who had just come from Longwood. The Admiral had for some days past been urgent for our removal thither, and the Emperor was no less anxious to go, being so very ill at Briars. However, before he removed, it was necessary that the smell of the paint should be entirely gone, for, owing to his peculiar organization, he could not possibly endure it. In the Imperial palaces, he had never been suffered to go near fresh paint. In his different journeys, the slightest smell of paint frequently rendered it necessary to change the apartments that had been prepared for him ; and on board of the Northumberland the paint of the ship made him very ill. He had been informed on the preceding evening that all was ready at Longwood, and that the disagreeable effect of the paint was entirely gone. He accordingly determined to remove on the Saturday following, as he would thus be rid of the annoyance of the workmen on Sunday ; but the Grand Marshal and M. Gourgaud now came to say, that they had visited the place, and that it was not habitable. The Emperor expressed much vexation at the first account he had received, and the resolution it had led him to adopt. The two gentlemen withdrew, and we entered the lower walk. The Emperor was much out of humour. M. de Montholon now arrived, very mal-à-propos, from Longwood, declaring that all was ready, and that the Emperor might remove as soon as he wished. These two accounts, so contradictory, and so close upon each other, powerfully excited his displeasure. Fortunately, dinner was announced, which diverted his attention from the subject. The cloth was laid in the Emperor's chamber ; for he had so severe a cold that he could not endure the tent. After dinner he resumed his reading ; and ended the day, as he had begun it, with the Nouvelle Héloïse.

...8th-9th. Owing to the doubt which had yesterday arisen respecting the paint, I determined to go myself to ascertain the real state of the case, and to acquaint the Emperor with it at breakfast-time. I accordingly set out very early, walking three parts of the way, because nobody was up who could prepare a horse for me. I returned before nine o'clock. The smell of the paint was certainly very slight ; but it was too much for the Emperor.
On the 9th the Captain of the Minden 74-gun ship, was introduced to the Emperor in the garden. The captain had arrived from the Cape of Good Hope, and was on the eve of sailing for Europe. He had had the honour of being presented to Napoleon at Paris, under the Consulate, about twelve years before. He requested permission to introduce one of his Lieutenants to the Emperor, on account of some personal circumstances, which we thought very singular. The young man was born at Bologna, precisely at the period when the French army entered that city. The French General, Napoleon, had by some accident been present at the christening of the child, to whom he gave a tricoloured cockade, which has since been carefully preserved in the family.
After the departure of these gentlemen, the Grand Marshal arrived from Longwood. He thought the paint was by no means offensive the Emperor was very unwell, and a portion of his property had already been removed ; he therefore resolved to proceed to Longwood on the day following, of which I was heartily glad. I had for some days past had an opportunity of observing that a determination had been adopted to compel the Emperor to quit his present abode. I had kept to myself all the communications, public or private, that had been made to me on the subject. I made it a rule to spare him every cause of vexation that I possibly could, and merely contented myself with acting in the way I thought most advisable. Two days before, an officer was sent to carry away the tent, though we had expressed no wish to that effect. The officer had also been directed to remove the outside shutters from the Emperor's windows ; but this I opposed, telling him it could not be done, as the Emperor had not yet risen, and I sent him away. On another occasion, with the view of alarming me, I was told as a great secret that if the Emperor did not immediately remove, it was intended to station a hundred soldiers at the gates of the enclosure. " Very well," I replied, and took no further notice. What could be the occasion of all this hurry ? I suspect that the caprice of our jailors, and the desire of pushing their authority to the utmost, had more concern in the business than any thing else.
We received newspapers down to the 15th of September ; and they became the subject of conversation. The Emperor analyzed them. The future appeared enveloped in cloud. " However," said the Emperor, " three great events present themselves to the imagination ;-the division of France, the reign of the Bourbons, or a new dynasty. Louis XVIII." observed he, " might easily have reigned in 1814, by rendering himself a national monarch. Now he has only the odious and uncertain chance, arising out of excessive severity ;-a reign of terror. " His dynasty may be permanently established, or that which is to succeed him, may still be in the secret of futurity." Some one present observed, " that the Duke of Orleans might be called to the throne ;" and the Emperor, by a string of very forcible and eloquent reasoning, proved that the Duke of Orleans would, at least, never wear the crown in the course of succession ; and that it was the well-understood interest of all the sovereigns of Europe, to prefer him (Napoleon) to the Duke of Orleans, coming to the throne by the career of crime. " For," said he, " what is the doctrine of Kings against the events of the present day ? Is it to prevent a renewal of the example which I furnished, against what they call legitimacy ? Now the example which I have set, cannot be renewed above once in the course of many ages ; but that of the Duke of Orleans, the near relative of the monarch on the throne, may be renewed daily, hourly, and in every country. There is no sovereign, who has not, in his own palace, and about his person, cousins, nephews, brothers, and other relations, ready to pursue a course which, one day or other, may cause them to be deposed."
…
15th-16th. The domestic establishment of the Emperor, on his departure from Plymouth, consisted of twelve persons…. As soon as we were all assembled at Longwood, the Emperor determined to arrange his establishment, and to assign to each of us an employment suited to our respective capacities. Reserving to the Grand Marshal the general control and superintendence of the whole household ; he consigned to M. de Montholon all the domestic details. To M. Gourgaud he intrusted the direction of the stables ; and I was appointed to take care of the property and furniture, and to superintend the management of our supplies. The latter part of my duty appeared to interfere too much with the regulation of domestic details. I conceived it would be conducive to the general advantage, that these two departments should be under the control of one individual, and I soon succeeded in accomplishing this object.
Every thing now proceeded tolerably well, and we were certainly more comfortable than before. But, however reasonable might be the regulations made by the Emperor, they, nevertheless, sowed the seeds of discontent, which took root, and occasionally developed themselves. One thought himself a loser by the change ; another sought to attach too high an importance to his office ; and a third conceived that he had been wronged in the general division of duties. We were no longer the members of one family, each exerting his best endeavours to secure the advantage of the whole. We were far from putting into practice that which necessity seemed to dictate to us ; and a wreck of luxury, or a remnant of ambition, frequently became an object of dispute.
Though attachment to the person of the Emperor had united us around him, yet chance, and not sympathy, had brought us together. Our connexion was purely fortuitous, and not the result of any natural affinity. Thus, at Longwood, we were encircled round a centre, but without any cohesion with each other. How could it be otherwise ? We were almost all strangers to one another, and, unfortunately, our different conditions, ages, and characters, were calculated to make us continue so.
These circumstances, though in themselves trifling, had the vexatious effect of depriving us of our most agreeable resources. It banished that confidence, interchange of sentiment, and intimate union, which might have proved a source of happiness even amidst our cruel misfortunes. But, on the other hand, these very circumstances served to develope many excellent traits in the Emperor's character. They were apparent in his endeavours to produce among us unity and conformity of sentiment ; his constant care to remove every just cause of jealousy ; the voluntary abstraction by which he averted his attention from that which he wished not to observe ; and finally, the paternal expressions of displeasure, of which we were occasionally the objects, and which (to the honour of all be it said) were avoided as cautiously, and received as respectfully, as though they had emanated from the throne of the Tuileries.
Who can pretend to know the Emperor in his character of a private man better than myself ?-I who was with him during two months of solitude in the desert of Briars ;-I who accompanied him in his long walks by moonlight, and who enjoyed so many hours in his society ? Who like me had the opportunity of choosing the moment, the place, and the subject of his conversation ? Who besides myself heard him recall to mind the charms of his boyhood, or describe the pleasures of his youth, and the bitterness of his recent sorrow ? I am convinced that I know his character thoroughly, and that I can now explain many circumstances which, at the time of their occurrence, seemed difficult to be understood. I can now very well comprehend that which struck us so forcibly, and which particularly characterized him in the days of his power ; namely,-that no individual ever permanently incurred the displeasure of Napoleon : however marked might be his disgrace, however deep the gulf into which he was plunged, he might still confidently hope to be restored to favour. Those who had once enjoyed intimacy, whatever cause of offence they might give him, never totally forfeited his regard. The Emperor is eminently gifted with two excellent qualities ;-a vast fund of .justice, and a disposition naturally open to attachment. Amidst all his fits of petulance or anger, a sentiment of justice still predominates. He is sure to turn an attentive ear to good arguments, and, if left to himself, candidly brings them forward whenever they occur to his mind. He never forgets services performed to him, nor habits he has contracted. Sooner or later he invariably casts a thought on those who may have incurred his displeasure ; he reflects on what they have suffered, and regards their punishment as sufficient. He recalls them, when they are perhaps forgotten by the world ; and they again enjoy his good graces, to the astonishment of themselves as well as of others. Of this there have been many instances. The Emperor is sincere in his attachments, without making a show of what he feels. When once he becomes used to a person, he cannot easily bear separation. He observes and condemns his faults, blames his own choice, expressing his displeasure in the most unreserved way ; but still there is nothing to fear : these are but so many new ties of regard

…[3 March 1816] The Emperor sent for me at two o'clock ; I found him shaving. He told me that I beheld in him a man who was on the point of death, on the brink of the grave. He added that I must have been aware that he was ill, because he must have awoke me often during the night. I had, indeed, heard him cough and sneeze continually : he had a violent cold in his head, which he had caught in consequence of staying out too long in the damp air on the preceding evening. He stated his determination, in future, always to return in doors at six o'clock. After he had dressed, he sat down to his English lesson ; but he did not continue at it long, for his head ached severely. He told me to sit down by him, and made me talk for more than two hours about what I had observed in London during my emigration. Among other things he inquired, " Were the English very much afraid of my invasion ? What was the general opinion at the time ? "-" Sire," I replied, " I Cannot Inform you : I had then returned to France. But in the saloons of Paris we laughed at the idea of an invasion of England ; and the English who were there at the time did so too. It was said that even Brunet laughed at the scheme, and that you had caused him to be imprisoned because he had been insolent enough in one of his parts to set some nut-shells afloat in a tub of water, which he called manoeuvring his little flotilla."-" Well ! " replied the Emperor, " you might laugh in Paris, but Pitt did not laugh in London. He soon calculated the extent of the danger, and therefore threw a coalition on my shoulders at the moment when I raised my arm to strike. Never was the English oligarchy exposed to greater danger.
" I had taken measures to preclude the possibility of failure in my landing. I had the best army in the world ; I need only say, it was the army of Austerlitz. In four days I should have been in London ; I should have entered the English capital, not as a conqueror, but as a liberator. I should have been another William III ; but I would have acted with greater generosity and disinterestedness. The discipline of my army was perfect. My troops would have behaved in London the same as they would in Paris. No sacrifices, not even contributions, would have been exacted from the English. We should have presented ourselves to them, not as conquerors, but as brothers, who came to restore to them their rights and liberties. I would have assembled the citizens, and directed them to labour themselves in the task of their regeneration ; because the English had already preceded us in political legislation ; I would have declared that our only wish was to be able to rejoice in the happiness and prosperity of the English people ; and to these professions I would have strictly adhered. In the course of a few months, the two nations, which had been such determined enemies, would have henceforward composed only one people, identified in principles, maxims, and interests. I should have departed from England, in order to effect, from south to north, under republican colours (for I was then First Consul) the regeneration of Europe, which, at a later period, I was on the point of effecting, from north to south, under monarchical forms. Both systems were equally good, since both would have been attended by the same result, and would have been carried into execution with firmness, moderation, and good faith. How many ills that are now endured, and how many that are yet to be experienced, would not unhappy Europe have escaped ! Never was a project so favourable to the interests of civilization conceived with more disinterested intentions, or so near being carried into execution. It is a remarkable fact, that the obstacles which occasioned my failure were not the work of men, but proceeded from the elements. In the south, the sea frustrated my plans ; the burning of Moscow, the snow, and the winter, completed my ruin in the north. Thus water, air, and fire, all nature, and nature alone, was hostile to the universal regeneration, which nature herself called for ! . . . The problems of Providence are insoluble ! "
After a few moments silence, he reverted to the subject of the English invasion. " It was supposed," said he, " that my scheme was merely a vain threat, because it did not appear that I possessed any reasonable means of attempting its execution. But I had laid my plans deeply, and without being observed. I had dispersed all our French ships ; and the English were sailing after them to different parts of the world. Our ships were to return suddenly and at the same time, and to assemble in a mass along ; the French coasts. I would have had seventy or eighty French or Spanish vessels in the Channel ; and I calculated that I should continue master of it for two months. Three or four thousand little boats were to be ready at a signal. A hundred thousand men were every day drilled in embarking and landing, as a part of their exercise. They were full of ardour, and eager for the enterprise, which was very popular with the French, and was supported by the wishes of a great number of the English. After landing my troops, I could calculate upon only one pitched battle, the result of which could not be doubtful ; and victory would have brought us to London. The nature of the country would not admit of a war of manœuvring. My conduct would have done the rest. The people of England groaned under the yoke of an oligarchy. On feeling that their pride had not been humbled, they would have ranged themselves on our side. We should have been considered only as allies come to effect their deliverance. We should have presented ourselves with the magical words of liberty and equality," &c.
After adverting to a great number of the minor details of the plan, which were all admirable, and remarking how very near it had been to its execution, he suddenly stopped, and said, " Let us go out, and take a turn." We walked for some time ; it had been raining for three days, but now the weather was perfectly fine. The Emperor, not forgetting his resolution to be in doors always by six o'clock, immediately ordered the calash ; took a drive, and returned home in good time. My son followed on horseback ; it was the first time he had enjoyed such an honour. He acquitted himself very well, and the Emperor complimented him on the occasion.
The Emperor continued unwell, and retired to rest very early.

…[24 August 1816] At half past eight o'clock, the Emperor ordered me to be called. He told me, he had been obliged to take a bath, and thought he was a little feverish. He felt he had suddenly caught cold, but he no longer coughed since he was in the bath. He continued for a long time in the water. He dined in it, and a small table was laid for me at the side of it. The Emperor reverted to the history of Russia. "Had Peter the Great," he asked, "acted with wisdom in founding a capital at Petersburgh at so vast an expense ? Would not the results have been greater, had he expended all his money at Moscow ? What was his object ? Had he accomplished it ?" I replied ; "if Peter had remained at Moscow, his nation would have continued Muscovite, a people altogether Asiastic ; it was necessary that it should be displaced for its reform and alteration. He had, therefore, selected a position on the very frontiers, wrested from the enemy, and in founding his capital, and accumulating all his strength, he rendered it invulnerable ; he connected himself with European society ; he established his power in the Baltic sea, by which he could with ease prevent his natural enemies, the Poles and Swedes, from forming alliances, when they stood in need of them, with the nations situated behind them," &c. &c.
The Emperor said, "he was not altogether satisfied with these reasons. However, it may be," he observed, "Moscow has disappeared, and who can compute the wealth that has been swallowed up there ? Let us contemplate Paris with the accumulation of centuries, of works and of industry. Had its capital, for the 1400 years it has existed, increased but a million a year, what sums ! Let us connect with that the warehouses, the furniture, the union of sciences and the arts, the complete establishments of trade and commerce, &c. &c., and this is the picture of Moscow, and yet all that vanished in an instant ! What a catastrophe ! Does not the bare idea of it make one shudder ? ... I do not think it could be re-established at the expense of two thousand millions."
He expatiated at great length on all these events, and let a word escape him, which was too characteristic, not to be specially noted down by me. The name of Rostopchin having been pronounced, I presumed to remark, that the colour at that time given to his patriotic action, had very much surprized me, for he had interested me instead of exciting my indignation, and even much more, that I had envied him ! .... To which the Emperor replied with singular vivacity, and with a kind of contraction which betrayed vexation ; "If many at Paris had been capable of reading and feeling it in that way, believe me I should have applauded it ! But I had no choice left me" Resuming the subject of Moscow, he said :-
"Never with all the powers of poetry, have the fictions of the burning of Troy equalled the reality of that of Moscow. The city was of wood, the wind was violent ; all the pumps had been carried off. It was literally an ocean of fire. Nothing had been saved from it ; our march was so rapid, our entrance so sudden. We found even diamonds on the women's toilets, they had fled so precipitately. They wrote to us in a short time afterwards, that they had sought to escape from the first bursts of a dangerous soldiery ; that they recommended their property to the generosity of the conquerors, and would not fail to reappear in the course of a few days to solicit their kindnesses and testify their gratitude.
"The population was far from having plotted that atrocity. Even they themselves delivered up to us three or four hundred criminals, escaped from prison, who had executed it" "But, Sire, may I presume to ask, if Moscow had not been burnt, did not your Majesty intend to establish your quarters there ?" "Certainly," answered the Emperor, "and I should then have held up the singular spectacle of an army wintering in the midst of a hostile nation, pressing upon it from all points ; it would have been the ship caught in the ice. You would have been in France without any intelligence from me for several months ; but you would have remained quiet, you would have acted wisely ; Cambacères would, as usual, have conducted affairs in my name, and all would have been as orderly, as if I had been present. The winter, in Russia, would have weighed heavy on every one, the torpor would have been general. The spring also would have revived for all the world. All would have been at once on their legs, and it is well known, that the French are as nimble as any others.
"On the first appearance of fine weather, I should have marched against the enemy, I should have beaten them ; I should have been master of their empire. Alexander, be assured, would not have suffered me to proceed so far. He would have agreed to all the conditions which I might have dictated, and France would then have begun to enjoy all her advantages. And truly, my success depended upon a mere trifle. For I had undertaken the expedition to fight against armed men, not against nature in the violence of her wrath. I defeated armies, but I could not conquer the flames, the frost, stupefaction, and death ! ... I was forced to yield to fate. And, after all, how unfortunate for France-indeed for all Europe !
"Peace, concluded at Moscow, would have fulfilled and wound up my hostile expeditions. It would have been, with respect to the grand cause, the term of casualties and the commencement of security. A new horizon, new undertakings, would have unfolded themselves, adapted, in every respect, to the well-being and prosperity of all. The foundation of the European system would have been laid, and my only remaining task would have been its organization.
"Satisfied on these grand points, and every where at peace, I should have also had my congress and my holy alliance. These are plans which were stolen from me. In that assembly of all the sovereigns, we should have discussed our interest in a family way, and settled our accounts with the people, as a clerk does with his master. The cause of the age was victorious, the revolution accomplished ; the only point in question was to reconcile it with what it had not destroyed. But that task belonged to me ; I had for a long time been making preparations for it, at the expense, perhaps, of my popularity. No matter. I became the arch of the old and new alliance, the natural mediator between the ancient and modern order of things. I maintained the principles and possessed the confidence of the one ; I had identified myself with the other. I belonged to them both ; I should have acted conscientiously in favour of each ;
" My glory would have consisted in my equity."
And, after having enumerated what he would have proposed between sovereign and sovereign, and between sovereigns and their people, he continued ; "Powerful as we were all that we might have conceded, would have appeared grand. It would have gained us the gratitude of the people. At present, what they may extort, will never seem enough to them, and they will be uniformly distrustful and discontented."
He next took a review of what he would have proposed for the prosperity, the interests, the enjoyments and the well-being of the European confederacy. He wished to establish the same principles, the same system every where. An European code ; a court of European appeal, with full powers to redress all wrong decisions, as our's redresses at home those of our tribunals. Money of the same value but with different coins ; the same weights, the same measures, the same laws, &c. &c.
"Europe would soon in that manner," he said, "have really been but the same people, and every one, who travelled, would have every where found himself in one common country."
He would have required, that all the rivers should be navigable in common ; that the seas should be thrown open ; that the great standing armies should, in future, be reduced to the single establishment of a guard for the sovereign, &c. &c. In fine, a crowd of ideas fell from him, the greater part of which were new ; some of the simplest nature, others altogether sublime, relative to the different political, civil, and legislative branches, to religion, to the arts, and commerce : they embraced every subject. He concluded : "On my return to France, in the bosom of my country, at once great, powerful, magnificent, at peace and glorious, I would have proclaimed the immutability of boundaries, all future wars, purely defensive ; all new aggrandizement, anti-national. I would have associated my son with the empire ; my dictatorship would have terminated, and his constitutional reign commenced. ...
"Paris would have been the capital of the world, and the French the envy of nations ! ...
"My leisure and my old age would have been consecrated, in company with the Empress, and, during the royal apprenticeship of my son, in visiting, with my own horses, like a plain country couple, every corner of the empire ; in receiving complaints, in redressing wrongs in founding monuments, and in doing good every where and by every means ! ... These also, my dear Las Cases, were among my dreams !!!"
The Emperor conversed a great deal about the interior of Russia, of the prosperity of which, he said, we had no idea. He dwelt, at great length, upon Moscow, which had, under every point of view, much surprized him, and might bear a comparison with all the capitals of Europe, the greater number of which it surpassed. Here unfortunately I can find but bare outlines in my notes, which it is impossible for me, at present, to fill up…. He was particularly struck with the gilded spires of Moscow, and it was that which induced him, on his return, to have the dome of the Invalids regilded ; he intended to embellish many other edifices at Paris in the same manner. ...