ion to supplant the aged president, and then to adopt whichever
plan would best further his own interest: ready either to establish a
virtual autonomy in his fatherland, or to deliver it entirely into the
hands of France.[34]

[Footnote 34: For this paper, see Napoleon inconnu, II,
462. Jung: Bonaparte et son temps, II, 266 and 498.
There appear to have been an official portion intended
to be filed, and a free, carelessly written running
commentary on men and things. The passage quoted is
taken from the latter.]

In this painful document Buonaparte sets forth in fiery phrase the
early enthusiasm of republicans for the return of Paoli, and their
disillusionment when he surrounded himself with venal men like Pozzo
di Borgo, with relatives like his nephew Leonetti, with his vile
creatures in general. The misfortunes of the Sardinian expedition, the
disgraceful disorders of the island, the failure of the commissioners
to secure Ajaccio, are all alike attributed to Paoli. "Can perfidy
like this invade the human heart?... What fatal ambition overmasters a
graybeard of sixty-eight?... On his face are goodness and gentleness,
in his heart hate and vengeance; he has an oily sensibility in his
eyes, and gall in his soul, but neither character nor strength." These
were the sentiments proper to a radical of the times, and they found
acceptance among the leaders of that class in Paris. More moderate men
did what they could to avert the impending breach, but in vain.
Corsica was far, communication slow, and the misunderstanding which
occurred was consequently unavoidable. It was not until July first
that Paoli received news of the pacificatory decrees passed by the
Convention more than a month before, and then it was too late; groping
in the dark, and unable to get news, he had formed his judgment from
what was going on in Corsica, and had therefore committed himself to a
change of policy. To him, as to most thinking men, the entire
structure of France, social, financial, and political, seemed rotten.
Civil war had broken out in Vendee; in Brittany the wildest excesses
passed unpunished; the great cities of Marseilles, Toulon, and Lyons
were in a state of anarchy; the revolutionary tribunal had been
established in Paris; the Committee of Public Safety had usurped the
supreme power; the France to which he had intrusted the fortunes of
Corsica was no