nes or embellishments, than as
sources of enjoyment. M. de Talleyrand, and several artists concurred in
saying, that "il avait le sentiment du grand, mais non pas celui du
beau." He had written "bon sujet d'un tableau," opposite to some passage
in Letourneur's translation of Ossian, and he had certainly a passion
for that poem.

His censure on David, for choosing the battle at the straits of
Thermopylae as a subject for a picture, was that of a general rather than
connoisseur: it smelt, if I may say so, of his shop; though, perhaps,
the real motive for it was dislike to the republican artist, and
distaste to an act of national resistance against a great military
invader. "A bad subject," said he "after all, Leonidas was turned." He
had the littleness to expect to be prominent in every picture of
national victories of his time, and was displeased at a painting of an
action in Egypt for Madame Murat, in which her wounded husband was the
principal figure. Power made him impatient of contradiction,[30] even in
trifles; and, latterly, he did not like his taste in music, for which he
had no turn, to be disputed. His proficiency in literature has been
variously stated. He had read much, but had written little. In the
mechanical part he was certainly no adept; his handwriting was nearly
illegible. Some would fain persuade me that that fault was intentional,
and merely an artifice to conceal his bad spelling; that he could form
his letters well if he chose, but was unwilling to let his readers know
too exactly the use he made of them. His orthography was certainly not
correct; that of few Frenchmen, not professed authors, was so thirty
years ago: but his brothers Lucien and Louis, both literary men, and
both correct in their orthography, write a similar hand, and nearly as
bad a one as he did, probably for the same reason; viz., that they can
not write a better one without great pains and loss of time.

Napoleon, when consul and emperor, seldom wrote, but he dictated much.
It was difficult to follow him, and he often objected to any revision of
what he had dictated.

HIS RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS.

Whatever were the religious sentiments of this extraordinary man, such
companions were likely neither to fix nor to shake, to sway nor to alter
them. I have been at some pains to ascertain the little that can be
known of his thoughts on such subjects; and though it is not very
satisfactory, it appears to me worth recording.

In the