dissolution, have not yet reached their historic term:
since 1800, the social order of things, notwithstanding eight changes
of political form, has remained almost intact. Our children or
grandchildren will know whether it will finally succeed or miscarry;
witnesses of the denouement, they will have fuller light by which to
judge of the entire drama. Thus far four acts only have been played;
of the fifth act, we have simply a presentiment.--On the other hand, by
dint of living under this social system, we have become accustomed to
it; it no longer excites our wonder; however artificial it may be
it seems to us natural. We can scarcely conceive of another that is
healthier; and what is much worse, it is repugnant to us to do so. For,
such a conception would soon lead to comparisons and hence to a judgment
and, on many points, to an unfavorable judgment, one which would be a
censure, not only of our institutions but of ourselves. The machine
of the year VIII,[1101] applied to us for three generations, has
permanently shaped and fixed us as we are, for better or for worse. If,
for a century, it sustains us, it represses us for a century. We
have contracted the infirmities it imports--stoppage of development,
instability of internal balance, disorders of the intellect and of
the will, fixed ideas and ideas that are false. These ideas are ours;
therefore we hold on to them, or, rather, they have taken hold of us.
To get rid of them, to impose the necessary recoil on our mind, to
transport us to a distance and place us at a critical point of view,
where we can study ourselves, our ideas and our institutions as
scientific objects, requires a great effort on our part, many
precautions, and long reflection.--Hence, the delays of this study; the
reader will pardon them on considering that an ordinary opinion, caught
on the wing, on such a subject, does not suffice. In any event, when one
presents an opinion on such a subject one is bound to believe it. I
can believe in my own only when it has become precise and seems to me
proven.

Menthon Saint-Bernard, September, 1890.

*****

BOOK FIRST. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.

CHAPTER I. HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE OF HIS CHARACTER AND GENIUS.

If you want to comprehend a building, you have to imagine the
circumstances, I mean the difficulties and the means, the kind and
quality of its available materials, the moment, the opportunity, and
the urgency of the demand for it. But, stil