[1239]--That, in the actual
condition of France and of Europe, the expedition is opposed to public
interests, that France deprives itself of its best army and offers
its best fleet to almost certain destruction, is of little consequence
provided, in this vast and gratuitous adventure, Bonaparte finds the
employment he wants, a large field of action and famous victories which,
like the blasts of a trumpet, will swell beyond the seas and renew his
prestige: in his eyes, the fleet, the army, France, and humanity exist
only for him and are created only for his service.--If, in confirmation
of this persuasion, another lesson in things is still necessary, it will
be furnished by Egypt. Here, absolute sovereign, free of any restraint,
contending with an inferior order of humanity, he acts the sultan and
accustoms himself to playing the part.[1240] His last scruples towards
the human species disappear; "I became disgusted with Rousseau"; he
is to say, later on, "After seeing the Orient: the savage man is a
dog,"[1241] and, in the civilized man, the savage is just beneath the
skin; if the intellect has become somewhat polished, there is no change
in his instincts. A master is as necessary to one as to the other--a
magician who subjugates his imagination, disciplines him, keeps him from
biting without occasion, ties him up, cares for him, and takes him out
hunting. He is born to obey, does not deserve any better lot, and has no
other right.

Become consul and afterward emperor, he applies the theory on a grand
scale, and, in his hands, experience daily furnishes fresh verifications
of the theory. At his first nod the French prostrate themselves
obediently, and there remain, as in a natural position; the lower class,
the peasants and the soldiers, with animal fidelity, and the
upper class, the dignitaries and the functionaries, with Byzantine
servility.--The republicans, on their side, make no resistance; on
the contrary, among these he has found his best governing
instruments--senators, deputies, state councilors, judges, and
administrators of every grade.[1242] He has at once detected behind
their sermonizing on liberty and equality, their despotic instincts,
their craving for command, for leadership, even as subordinates; and,
in addition to this, with most of them, the appetite for money or for
sensual pleasures. The difference between the delegate of the Committee
of Public Safety and the minister, prefect, or subprefect unde