ve; an immemorial prejudice inclines them to award
consideration or even deference. The Revolution tried in vain to destroy
this power of words and of history; Napoleon does better: he confiscates
it; he arrogates to himself the monopoly of it, he steals the trade-mark
from the ancient Regime; he himself creates 48,000 chevaliers, 1000
barons, 388 counts, 31 dukes and 4 princes. Furthermore, he stamps with
his own mark the old nobles whom he introduces into his nobility: he
coins them anew and often with an inferior title; this or that duke
is lowered a notch and becomes simply a count: taken at par or at a
discount the feudal coin must, in order to pass, receive the imperial
stamp which gives it its recognized value in modern figures.

But, let the old-fashioned metal be what it may, whether gold, silver or
copper, even crude and plebeian, the new coin is of good alloy and very
handsome. Frequently, like the old currency, it displays coats of arms
in high relief, a heraldic crown and the name of a locality; it no
longer bears the name of territory, and it does not call to mind a
primitive sovereignty. On the contrary, it bears the name of a victory
or of a conquest and reminds one of recent exploits. Duc de
Montebello or a Prince de la Moskowa is equivalent in the imagination
contemporaries to a Duc de Montmorency or a Prince de Rohan; for, if the
prince or duke of the empire is without ancestors, he is or will be an
ancestor himself. To these prizes coveted by vanity Napoleon tacks on
every substantial and pecuniary advantage, in ready money or landed
property, not alone large salaries, adjunctive senatoreries, occasional
munificent gifts,

* a million at one time to General Lasalle, but likewise vast revenues
from the extraordinary domain[3349],

* 32,463,817 francs a year divided amongst 4970 persons,

* pensions from 250 to 5000 francs for all legionaries,

* villas, large estates, private incomes, distinct and superb endowments
for those of the highest rank, a fortune of 100,000 livres income and
more to 34 of these,

* a fortune of 450,000 livres in the public funds to Cambaceres, of
683,000 livres in the public funds to Massena, of 728,000 livres in the
public funds to Ney, of 910,000 livres in the public funds to Davout, of
1,354,000 livres in the public funds to Berthier,

* and besides all this, three "sovereign principalities," Neufchatel to
Berthier, Benevento to Talleyrand, and Ponte-Corvo to Bernad