ed the library of
books which he had requested Bourrienne to purchase for him. The
composition of this library is of interest as showing the strong trend
of his thoughts towards history, though at a later date he was careful
to limit its study in the university and schools which he founded. He
had with him 125 volumes of historical works, among which the
translations of Thucydides, Plutarch, Tacitus, and Livy represented
the life of the ancient world, while in modern life he concentrated
his attention chiefly on the manners and institutions of peoples and
the memoirs of great generals--as Turenne, Conde, Luxembourg, Saxe,
Marlborough, Eugene, and Charles XII. Of the poets he selected the
so-called Ossian, Tasso, Ariosto, Homer, Virgil, and the masterpieces
of the French theatre; but he especially affected the turgid and
declamatory style of Ossian. In romance, English literature was
strongly represented by forty volumes of novels, of course in
translations. Besides a few works on arts and sciences, he also had
with him twelve volumes of "Barclay's Geography," and three volumes of
"Cook's Voyages," which show that his thoughts extended to the
antipodes; and under the heading of Politics he included the Bible,
the Koran, the Vedas, a Mythology, and Montesquieu's "Esprit des
Lois"! The composition and classification of this library are equally
suggestive. Bonaparte carefully searched out the weak places of the
organism which he was about to attack--in the present campaign, Egypt
and the British Empire. The climate and natural products, the genius
of its writers and the spirit of its religion--nothing came amiss to
his voracious intellect, which assimilated the most diverse materials
and pressed them all into his service. Greek mythology provided
allusions for the adornment of his proclamations, the Koran would
dictate his behaviour towards the Moslems, and the Bible was to be his
guide-book concerning the Druses and Armenians. All three were
therefore grouped together under the head of Politics.

And this, on the whole, fairly well represents his mental attitude
towards religion: at least, it was his work-a-day attitude. There were
moments, it is true, when an overpowering sense of the majesty of the
universe lifted his whole being far above this petty opportunism: and
in those moments, which, in regard to the declaration of character,
may surely be held to counterbalance whole months spent in tactical
shifts and diplom