He even went so far
as to wish to name as a counsellor of state a conventionalist
sullied with the vilest crimes of the days of terror; but he was
diverted from it by the shuddering of those who would have had to
sit along with him. Bonaparte would have been delighted to have
given that shining proof that he could regenerate, as well as
confound, every thing.
What particularly characterizes the government of Bonaparte, is his
profound contempt for the intellectual riches of human nature;
virtue, mental dignity, religion, enthusiasm, these, these are in
his eyes, the eternal enemies of the continent, to make use of his
favorite expression; he would reduce man to force and cunning, and
designate every thing else as folly or stupidity. The English
particularly irritate him, as they have found the means of being
honest, as well as successful, a thing which Bonaparte would have us
regard as impossible. This shining point of the world has dazzled
his eyes from the very first days of his reign.
I do not believe, that when Bonaparte put himself at the head of
affairs, he had formed the plan of universal monarchy: but I
believe that his system was, what he himself described it a few days
after the 18th Brumaire to one of my friends: "Something new must
be done every three months, to captivate the imagination of the
French Nation; with them, whoever stands still is ruined.
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