The Private Life of Napoleon Bonaparte | Page 6

long and fruitful,
and it is time to give ourselves up to repose. We can withdraw from the

world, and close our eyes. Can it be possible to see anything equal to
what we have seen? Such scenes do not come twice in the lifetime of
any man; and having seen them, they suffice to occupy his memory
through all his remaining years, and in retirement he can find nothing
better to occupy his leisure moments than the recollections of what he
has witnessed.
Thus it has been with me. The reader will readily believe that I have
had no greater pleasure than that of recalling the memories of the years
passed in the service of the Emperor. As far as possible, I have kept
myself informed as to everything that has been written of my former
master, his family, and his court; and while listening to these narrations
read by my wife and sister at our fireside, the long evenings have
passed like an instant! When I found in these books, some of which are
truly only miserable rhapsodies, statements which were incorrect, false,
or slanderous, I, took pleasure in correcting such statements, or in
showing their absurdity. My wife, who lived, as I did, in the midst of
these events, also made her corrections, and, without other object than
our own satisfaction, made notes of our joint observations.
All who came to see us in our retreat, and took pleasure in having me
narrate what I had seen, were astonished and often indignant at the
falsehoods with which ignorance or malevolence had calumniated the
Emperor and the Empire, and expressing their gratitude for the correct
information I was able to give them, advised me also to furnish it to the
public. But I attached no importance to the suggestion, and was far
from dreaming that some day I should be the author of a book, until M.
Ladvocat came to our hermitage, and urged me earnestly to publish my
memoirs, offering himself to become the publisher.
At the very time my wife and I received this unexpected visit, we were
reading together the Memoirs of Bourrienne, which the Ladvocat
publishing-house had just issued; and we had remarked more than once
how exempt these Memoirs were from both that spirit of disparagement
and of adulation which we had noticed with disgust in other books on
the same subject. M. Ladvocat advised me to complete the sketch of the
Emperor, which, owing to his elevated position and habitual

occupations, Bourrienne had been able to make only from a political
point of view; and in accordance with his advice, I shall relate in simple
words, and in a manner suited to my relations with the Emperor, those
things which Bourrienne has necessarily omitted, and which no one
could know so well as I.
I candidly admit that my objections to M. Ladvocat's advice were
entirely overcome when he called my attention to this passage in the
introduction to Bourrienne's memoirs: "If every one who had any
relations with Napoleon, whatever the time and place, will accurately
and without prejudice record what he saw and heard, the future
historian of his life will be rich in materials. I hope that whoever
undertakes that difficult task will find in my notes some information
which may be useful in perfecting his work."
Having re-read these lines attentively, I said to myself that I could
furnish memoranda and information which would refute errors, brand
falsehoods, and bring to light what I knew to be the truth. In a word, I
felt that I could give in my testimony, and that it was my duty to do so,
in the long trial which has been held ever since the overthrow of the
Emperor; for I had been an eye-witness, had seen everything, and could
say, "I was there." Others also have been close to the Emperor and his
court, and I may often repeat what they have said, for the feats which
they describe I had the same opportunity of witnessing; but, on the
other hand, whatever I know of private matters, and whatever I may
reveal which was secret and unknown, no one till this time could
possibly have known, or consequently have related.
From the departure of the First Consul for the campaign of Marengo,
whither I went with him, until the departure from Fontainebleau, when
I was compelled to leave him, I was absent only twice, once for three
days and once for seven or eight days. Excepting these short leaves of
absence, the latter of which was on account of my health, I quitted the
Emperor no more than his shadow.
It has been said that no one is a hero to his valet de chambre. I beg
leave to dissent from this. The