s.

[Footnote 21: Napoleon was accused of having
aspired to universal monarchy. In all ages, this
desire has been imputed to powerful and ambitious
sovereigns. Let us confess that no monarch was ever
better justified in yielding to the seductions of
this brilliant phantom than Napoleon. From the
summit of his throne he held the reins which guided
the greater part of Europe, whose docile monarchs
instantly obeyed any direction which he chose to
give them. At the first word, at the slightest
signal, their subjects were arrayed beneath the
imperial eagle. Their continual intercourse with
us, the obligation of obeying Napoleon, an
obligation imposed upon them by their own princes,
had accustomed them to consider the Emperor as
their chieftain. But whatever ambition may have
been attributed to Napoleon, his good sense
restrained him from aspiring to universal monarchy.
He had another plan; he intended to re-establish
the eastern and western empires. It would now be
useless to reveal the lofty and powerful
considerations by which this grand and noble idea
was suggested to Napoleon. Then, France might have
been allowed to grasp again the sceptre of
Charlemagne: but now, we must forget that we have
been the masters of the world.]

Thus the partisans of Napoleon invented arguments by which they
palliated his faults and justified his errors. No objection, no
reproach was left without its answer. After defending him against his
accusers they became his advocates; and, turning to the fairer pages
of his history, their praises knew no bounds; these eulogiums were
certainly more just, and, perhaps, more sincere.

"Napoleon," said they, "had all the great qualities of the greatest
monarchs, whilst he was exempted from their vices. Napoleon was not
stained by the lechery of Caesar, nor by the drunkenness of Alexander,
nor by the cruelty of Charlemagne."

At an age when others scarcely start in life, his years were
outnumbered by his victories; an