h foolishness? Suppose
it were true, what good would it do me? The Dukes of Florence were
inferior in rank to the Emperors of Germany. I will not place myself
beneath my father-in-law. I think that as I am, I am as good as he. My
nobility dates from Monte Notte. Return him these papers.' Metternich
was very much amused."

Francis of Austria must have felt confounded at the rebuke of his
unceremonious relative, who was always the man of stern reality--too
big to be dazzled by mouldy records of kingly blood. Neither did pomp
or ceremony attract him, except in so far as it might serve the
purpose of making an impression on others. Bourrienne, a shameless
predatory traitor, has said in his memoirs that when the seat of
government was removed from the Luxembourg to the Tuileries, the First
Consul said to him, "You are very lucky; you are not obliged to make a
spectacle of yourself. I have to go about with a cortege; it bores me,
but it appeals to the eye of the people."

Roederer in _his_ memoirs relates pretty much the same thing, only
that it bears on the question of title, and presumably the researches
for confirmation of his royal descent.

Here again, his strong practical view of things, and his utter
indifference to grandeur or genealogical distinction, are shown. He
says: "How can anyone pretend that empty names, titles given for the
sake of a political system, can change in the smallest degree one's
relations with one's friends and associates? I am called Sire, or
Imperial Majesty, without anyone in my household believing or thinking
that I am a different man in consequence. All those titles form part
of a _system_, and therefore they are necessary." He always ends his
ebullitions of convincing wisdom by making it clear precisely where he
stands.

The writer might quote pages of eulogies of him from the most eminent
men of every nationality. There is no trustworthy evidence that he
ever sought the flattery that was lavished on him; indeed, he seems
to have been alternately in the mood for ignoring or making fun of it.
On one occasion he writes to King Joseph, "I have never sought the
applause of Parisians; I am not an operatic monarch."[15]

Seguier says:--

"Napoleon is above human history. He belongs to heroic periods and is
beyond admiration."[16]

A notable Englishman, Lord Acton, says (like Mueller) that "his
goodness was the most splendid that has appeared on earth." And there
are innumerable instance