The Private Life of Napoleon Bonaparte | Page 7

Emperor, as near as I was to him, was
always a hero; and it was a great advantage also to see the man as he

was. At a distance you were sensible only of the prestige of his glory
and his power; but on getting closer to him you enjoyed, besides, the
surprising charm of his conversation, the entire simplicity of his family
life, and I do not hesitate to say, the habitual kindliness of his character.
The reader, if curious to learn beforehand in what spirit these Memoirs
are written, will perhaps read with interest this passage of a letter that I
wrote to my publisher:
"Bourrienne had, perhaps, reason for treating Napoleon, as a public
man, with severity. But we view him from different standpoints, and I
speak only of the hero in undress. He was then almost always kind,
patient, and rarely unjust. He was much attached to those about him,
and received with kindness and good nature the services of those whom
he liked. He was a man of habit. It is as a devoted servant that I wish to
speak of the Emperor, and in no wise as a critic. It is not, however, an
apotheosis in several volumes that I wish to write: for I am on this point
somewhat like fathers who recognize the faults of their children, and
reprove them earnestly, while at the same time they are ready to make
excuses for their errors."
I trust that I shall be pardoned the familiarity, or, if you will, the
inappropriateness of this comparison, for the sake of the feeling which
dictates it. Besides, I do not propose either to praise or blame, but
simply to relate that which fell within my knowledge, without trying to
prejudice the opinion of any one.
I cannot close this introduction without a few words as to myself, in
reply to the calumnies which have not spared, even in his retirement, a
man who should have no enemies, if, to be protected from malice, it
were sufficient to have done a little good, and no harm to any one. I am
reproached with having abandoned my master after his fall, and not
having shared his exile. I will show that, if I did not follow the Emperor,
it was because I lacked not the will but the power to do so. God knows
that I do not wish to undervalue the devotion of the faithful servants
who followed the fortunes of the Emperor to the end. However, it is not
improper to say that, however terrible the fall of the Emperor was for
him, the situation (I speak here only of the personal advantages), in the

island of Elba, of those who remained in his service, and who were not
detained in France by an inexorable necessity, was still not without its
advantages; and it was not, therefore, my personal interests which
caused me to leave him. I shall explain hereafter my reasons for
quitting his service.
I shall also give the truth as to the alleged abuse of confidence, of
which, according to others, I was guilty in respect to the Emperor. A
simple statement of the mistake which gave rise to this falsehood, I
trust, will clear me of every suspicion of indelicacy; but if it is
necessary to add other proofs, I could obtain them from those who
lived nearest to the Emperor, and who were in a condition to both know
and understand what passed between us; and lastly, I invoke fifty years
of a blameless life, and I can say: "When I was in a situation to render
great services, I did so; but I never sold them. I could have derived
advantages from the petitions that I made for people, who, in
consequence of my solicitations, have acquired immense fortunes; but I
refused even the proper acknowledgment which in, their gratitude (very
deep at that time) they felt compelled to offer me, by proposing an
interest in their enterprises. I did not seek to take advantage, for my
own benefit, of the generosity with which the Emperor so long deigned
to honor me, in order to enrich or secure places for my relatives; and I
retired poor after fifteen years passed in the personal service of the
richest and most powerful monarch of Europe."
Having made these statements, I shall await with confidence the
judgment of my readers.

RECOLLECTIONS OF THE PRIVATE LIFE OF NAPOLEON
CHAPTER I.
I shall refer to myself very little in these memoirs, for I am aware the
public will examine them only for details concerning the great man to
whom fortune attached me for sixteen years, and whom I scarcely
quitted during the whole of that time. Notwithstanding, I ask

permission to say a few words as to