eon had steadfastly fixed his eyes
on him; he had looked through the restless, quivering face of the
youthful emperor, into the recesses of his heart; and while Alexander,
wholly absorbed in his wrongs, and alternately blushing and turning pale
with indignation and grief, was uttering his reproaches, Napoleon said
to himself, "Two sentiments of the speaker are predominant, and ought,
therefore, to be flattered: spleen against allies, burdensome like
Prussia, or selfish like England; and a very sensitive and deeply
mortified pride. I must profit by them."

As soon as Alexander paused, Napoleon said in a mournful voice: "Your
allies have taken advantage of your magnanimity, sire! They knew very
well that the heir of Peter the Great was also the heir of his fiery
spirit, and that it was only necessary to talk of a field of battle, and
let him hear a warlike flourish, to make him draw the sword. Ah, sire,
why was I not so fortunate as to be at your side? Why did we not take
the field together! What heroic deeds would you have already performed!
What laurels would not now adorn a head designed by Providence to wear
them! It was your majesty's misfortune that you were united with allies
who duped you for their own purposes--they were a king without a country
and without soldiers, and a nation composed of greedy traders and
stock-brokers, calculating whether glory would be profitable to them in
pounds, shillings, and pence; and whether stocks would not fall if they
fulfilled their engagements. Your majesty alone displayed nobleness,
energy, and courage, in this triumvirate; but your friends were unworthy
of your honorable conduct. Your majesty's mistake is to be solely
attributed to generous sentiments carried to excess, and to
misconceptions to which ministers, incompetent and bribed, have given
rise. You were wrong to persist in patronizing ungrateful and jealous
neighbors like the Germans; or in serving the interests of mere traders,
like the English. God and history have intrusted a much more exalted
task to you, and for this purpose such large and warlike forces have
been given you. I and my marshals, I can assure you, are filled with
admiration at the bravery of your soldiers, every one of whom fought
like a hero."

"Ah," exclaimed Alexander, "this praise uttered by you, sire, is a balm
for my wounds!"

Napoleon laid his hand softly on the shoulder of the young emperor, and
looked him full in the face. "Sire," he said