Memoirs of Napoleon, vol 1 | Page 5

not in that close contact with Napoleon
enjoyed by Bourrienne. Bonrrienne's position was simply unique, and
we can only regret that he did not occupy it till the end of the Empire.
Thus it is natural that his Memoirs should have been largely used by
historians, and to properly understand the history of the time, they must
be read by all students. They are indeed full of interest for every one.
But they also require to be read with great caution. When we meet with
praise of Napoleon, we may generally believe it, for, as Thiers
(Consulat., ii. 279) says, Bourrienne need be little suspected on this
side, for although be owed everything to Napoleon, he has not seemed
to remember it. But very often in passages in which blame is thrown on
Napoleon, Bourrienne speaks, partly with much of the natural
bitterness of a former and discarded friend, and partly with the curious
mixed feeling which even the brothers of Napoleon display in their
Memoirs, pride in the wonderful abilities evinced by the man with
whom he was allied, and jealousy at the way in which be was outshone
by the man he had in youth regarded as inferior to himself. Sometimes
also we may even suspect the praise. Thus when Bourrienne defends
Napoleon for giving, as he alleges, poison to the sick at Jaffa, a doubt
arises whether his object was to really defend what to most Englishmen
of this day, with remembrances of the deeds and resolutions of the
Indian Mutiny, will seem an act to be pardoned, if not approved; or
whether he was more anxious to fix the committal of the act on
Napoleon at a time when public opinion loudly blamed it. The same
may be said of his defence of the massacre of the prisoners of Jaffa.
Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne was born in 1769, that is, in the
same year as Napoleon Bonaparte, and he was the friend and
companion of the future Emperor at the military school of
Brienne-le-Chateau till 1784, when Napoleon, one of the sixty pupils
maintained at the expense of the State, was passed on to the Military
School of Paris. The friends again met in 1792 and in 1795, when
Napoleon was hanging about Paris, and when Bourrienne looked on the
vague dreams of his old schoolmate as only so much folly. In 1796, as

soon as Napoleon had assured his position at the head of the army of
Italy, anxious as ever to surround himself with known faces, he sent for
Bourrienne to be his secretary. Bourrienne had been appointed in 1792
as secretary of the Legation at Stuttgart, and had, probably wisely,
disobeyed the orders given him to return, thus escaping the dangers of
the Revolution. He only came back to Paris in 1795, having thus
become an emigre. He joined Napoleon in 1797, after the Austrians had
been beaten out of Italy, and at once assumed the office of secretary
which he held for so long. He had sufficient tact to forbear treating the
haughty young General with any assumption of familiarity in public,
and he was indefatigable enough to please even the never-resting
Napoleon. Talent Bourrienne had in abundance; indeed he is careful to
hint that at school if any one had been asked to predict greatness for
any pupil, it was Bourrienne, not Napoleon, who would have been
fixed on as the future star. He went with his General to Egypt, and
returned with him to France. While Napoleon was making his formal
entry into the Tuileries, Bourrienne was preparing the cabinet he was
still to share with the Consul. In this cabinet--our cabinet, as he is
careful to call it--lie worked with the First Consul till 1802.
During all this time the pair lead lived on terms of equality and
friendship creditable to both. The secretary neither asked for nor
received any salary: when he required money, he simply dipped into
the cash-box of the First Consul. As the whole power of the State
gradually passed into the hands of the Consul, the labours of the
secretary became heavier. His successor broke down under a lighter
load, and had to receive assistance; but, perhaps borne up by the
absorbing interest of the work and the great influence given by his post,
Bourrienne stuck to his place, and to all appearance might, except for
himself, have come down to us as the companion of Napoleon during
his whole life. He had enemies, and one of them--[Boulay de la
Meurthe.]--has not shrunk from describing their gratification at the
disgrace of the trusted secretary. Any one in favour, or indeed in office,
under Napoleon was the sure mark of calumny for all aspirants to place;
yet Bourrienne might have weathered any temporary storm raised