g the
council of prizes, he, at my mere suggestion, appointed M. Moreau one of
the members, with a salary of 10,000 francs. On what extraordinary
circumstances the fortunes of men frequently depend! As to Sieyes, in
the intercourse, not very frequent certainly, which I had with him, he
appeared to be far beneath the reputation which he then--enjoyed.'

--[M. de Talleyrand, who is so capable of estimating men, and whose
admirable sayings well deserve to occupy a place in history, had
long entertained a similar opinion of Sieyes. One day, when he was
conversing with the Second Consul concerning Sieyes, Cambaceres said
to him. "Sieyes, however, is a very profound man."--"Profound?"
said Talleyrand. "Yes, he is, a cavity, a perfect cavity, as you
would say."--Bourrienne.]--

He reposed a blind confidence in a multitude of agents, whom he sent into
all parts of France. When it happened, on other occasions, that I proved
to him, by evidence as sufficient as that in the case of M. Moreau, the
falseness of the reports he had received, he replied, with a confidence
truly ridiculous, "I can rely on my men." Sieyes had written in his
countenance, "Give me money!" I recollect that I one day alluded to this
expression in the anxious face of Sieyes to the First Consul. "You are
right," observed he to me, smiling; "when money is in question, Sieyes is
quite a matter-of-fact man. He sends his ideology to the right about and
thus becomes easily manageable. He readily abandons his constitutional
dreams for a good round sum, and that is very convenient."

--[Everybody knows, in fact, that Sieyes refused to resign his
consular dignities unless he received in exchange a beautiful farm
situated in the park of Versailles, and worth about 15,000 livres a
year. The good abbe consoled himself for no longer forming a third
of the republican sovereignty by making himself at home in the
ancient domain of the kings of France.--Bourrienne.]--

Bonaparte occupied, at the Little Luxembourg, the apartments on the
ground floor which lie to the right on entering from the Rue de
Vaugirard. His cabinet was close to a private staircase, which conducted
me to the first floor, where Josephine dwelt. My apartment was above.

After breakfast, which was served at ten o'clock, Bonaparte would
converse for a few moments with his usual guests, that is to say, his
'aides de camp', the persons he invited, and myself, who neve