him into her
head. She became so mischievous that he bundled her out of France.
"As long as I live," said he, "she shall not return." He advised that
she should live in Berlin, Vienna, Milan, or London, the latter for
preference. There she would have full scope for her genius in
producing pamphlets. "Oh yes," says the "god who had descended on
earth"; "she has talent, much talent, in fact far too much, but it is
offensive and revolutionary." This poetess-politician, who said brave
things and wrote amazing diatribes against her "god," was in truth one
of the most servile creatures on earth. She pleaded to be allowed to
come back to her native land, and pledged herself to a life of
retirement, but the great man's faith in his own sound judgment was
not to be shaken.

"Her promises are all very fine," he said, "but I know what they mean.
Why should she be so anxious to be in the immediate reach of tyranny?"

Like all eccentric women who desire to play the part of man, she made
her appearance before Napoleon in the most absurd, tasteless attire.
This woman of genius and folly lacked the wisdom of gauging the taste
of Bonaparte, whom she desired to captivate with her sluttish
appearance and whirling words.

This man of method and order, who had a keen eye for grace or beauty
in its varied phases, was always pronounced in his opinion that women
should dress simply but with faultless taste. It improves good looks,
and, if need be, it covers up defects; but in any case it is the
bounden duty of women to dress with some regard to conventional
custom. It gives them much greater influence than they would otherwise
have. Most women know the importance of this trick, and do it, and
they are amply rewarded for their good sense.

Madame de Stael did quite the opposite. She appeared before the Man of
Destiny in a shocking garb, and he regarded it as a piece of
impertinence. It stirred up his prejudice openly against her, in spite
of his indifferent attempts to conceal it, but her egotism was so
gigantic, she actually believed she was making great strides towards
curing his callousness towards her. This woman has been used
elaborately by anti-Napoleonic writers to prove that he was an inhuman
despot and she a high-minded, virtuous Frenchwoman, and a genius in
the art of government. They quote her as a great authority. Her
knowledge of his evil deeds and mistakes of administration is set
forth as being flawless. They bemoan his tre