vol. i., p. 158, note.]

[Footnote 11: In an after-dinner conversation on January 11th, 1803,
with Roederer, Buonaparte exalted Voltaire at the expense of Rousseau
in these significant words: "The more I read Voltaire, the more I like
him: he is always reasonable, never a charlatan, never a fanatic: he
is made for mature minds. Up to sixteen years of age I would have
fought for Rousseau against all the friends of Voltaire. Now it is the
contrary. _I have been especially disgusted with Rousseau since I
have seen the East. Savage man is a dog._" ("Oeuvres de Roederer,"
vol. iii., p. 461.)

In 1804 he even denied his indebtedness to Rousseau. During a family
discussion, wherein he also belittled Corsica, he called Rousseau "a
babbler, or, if you prefer it, an eloquent enough _idealogue_. I never
liked him, nor indeed well understood him: truly I had not the courage
to read him all, because I thought him for the most part tedious."
(Lucien Buonaparte, "Memoires," vol. ii., ch. xi.)

His later views on Rousseau are strikingly set forth by Stanislas
Girardin, who, in his "Memoirs," relates that Buonaparte, on his visit
to the tomb of Rousseau, said: "'It would have been better for the
repose of France that this man had never been born.' 'Why, First
Consul?' said I. 'He prepared the French Revolution.' 'I thought it
was not for you to complain of the Revolution.' 'Well,' he replied,
'the future will show whether it would not have been better for the
repose of the world that neither I nor Rousseau had existed.'" Meneval
confirms this remarkable statement.]

[Footnote 12: Masson, "Napoleon Inconnu," vol. ii., p. 53.]

[Footnote 13: Joseph Buonaparte, "Memoires," vol. i, p. 44.]

[Footnote 14: M. Chuquet, in his work "La Jeunesse de Napoleon"
(Paris, 1898), gives a different opinion: but I think this passage
shows a veiled hostility to Paoli. Probably we may refer to this time
an incident stated by Napoleon at St. Helena to Lady Malcolm ("Diary,"
p. 88), namely, that Paoli urged on him the acceptance of a commission
in the British army: "But I preferred the French, because I spoke the
language, was of their religion, understood and liked their manners,
and I thought the Revolution a fine time for an enterprising young
man. Paoli was angry--we did not speak afterwards." It is hard to
reconcile all these statements.

Lucien Buonaparte states that his brother seriously thought for a time
of taking a commission in the forces