expression meant to designate the art of
defaming individuals and nations, he possesses it in the highest
degree. Nations are not affected by it; but he has acquired in the
revolutionary times he has passed through, a certain tact in
calumnies suitable to vulgar comprehension, which makes him find the
expressions best adapted for circulation among those whose wit is
confined to repeating the phrases published by the government for
their use. If the Moniteur accused any one of robbing on the
highway, no French, German, or Italian journal could admit his
justification, It is almost impossible to represent to one's self
what a man is, at the head of a million of soldiers, and possessed
of ten millions of revenue, having all the prisons of Europe at his
disposal, with the kings for his gaolers, and using the press as his
mouth-piece, at a time when people have hardly the intimacy of
friendship to make a reply; finally, with the ability of turning
misfortune into ridicule: execrable power, whose ironical enjoyment
is the last insult which the infernal genii can make the human race
endure!

Whatever independence of character one had, I believe that no one
could refrain from shuddering at the idea of having such power
directed against one's self; at least I confess having felt this
movement very strongly; and in spite of the melancholy of my
situation, I frequently said to myself, that a roof for shelter, a
table for sustenance, and a garden for exercise, formed a lot with
which one must learn to be contented; but even this lot, such as it
was, no one could be certain of retaining in peace; a word might
escape, a word might be repeated, and this man, whose power was
continually on the increase, to what a point might he not at last be
irritated? When the sun shone brightly, my courage returned; but
when the sky was covered with clouds, travelling terrified me, and I
discovered in myself a taste for indolent pursuits, foreign to my
nature, but which fear had given birth to; physical happiness
appeared to me then greater than I had previously regarded it, and
every sort of exertion alarmed me. My health also, cruelly affected
by so many troubles, weakened the energy of my character, so that
during this period I put the patience of my friends to a most severe
test, by an eternal discussion of the plans in deliberation, and
overwhelming them with my uncertainties.

I tried a second time to obtain a passport for America; they mad