472 Count de 



Thus did Napoleon at once cause war, glory, and himself to be the* 

 object of his soldiers' love.'* 



The narrow space to which we must limit these remarks, compels 

 us to pass over the contradictions and bombast which make up the 

 contents of the fourth book; and so we pass on to the fifth, in which 

 M. de Segur tries hard to prove that the French army conquered the 

 Russians in some encounters, only because those who had all the 

 bravery on their side gave them permission. In what he says re- 

 specting Bonaparte's intentions to Poland, there is certainly a great 

 mistake ; for it is well known that he had taken all the measures ne- 

 cessary for the re-establishment of that kingdom, in case that his 

 Russian campaign should be successful : before the decision of that 

 question he could take no active steps. In the sixth book, the 

 author's account of the battle of Valontina convicts him at once of 

 great partiality and of the grossest ignorance respecting the first 

 principles of stratagy ; and in the seventh, which conducts the army 

 from Smolensk to the neighbourhood of Moscow, where was fought 

 the memorable action of Borodino, we find every thing except what 

 we should expect, namely, the noble and vivid picture of the dis- 

 asters of a great and until then a conquering army. 



Having gone so far, we have not patience to proceed ; but enough 

 has been adduced by way of refutation, to shew that M. de Segur' s 

 work is neither to be depended on for its facts nor for its impartiality. 

 The author, who has met with so many panegyrists both in this- 

 country and in his own, needs not our praise for the real merits of 

 his production; and so we have preferred, by pointing out a few of 

 its fallacies, to benefit the great cause of history, the basis of all 

 sound political philosophy. The writer of this memoir is a member 

 of no public party : he lived not under the ancien regime, nor has he 

 sworn to uphold that order of things to which France is fast approach- 

 ing ; and therefore he is perfectly free to speak the truth concerning 

 Napoleon, inasmuch as he neither regrets his government nor desires 

 its return. That he was a perfect character in any point of view, it 

 cannot be said ; and it would be unjust to deny that some of his acts 

 were marked by rapacity and oppression ; but, on the other hand it 

 may be boldly affirmed, that he possessed many of those great and 

 ennobling features which enter into the composition of those illus- 

 trious beings whom providence sends only at long intervals to infuse 

 life and action into the scene of human existence.* 



" The authorities consulted in writing the above article are : J. La Campagne 

 de 1812, par Bonterlin aide-de-camp de 1' Empereur Alexandra. 2. Examen? 

 critique de 1' histoire de M. de Se~gur, par le general Gourgaud, aide-de-camp de 

 S T apoleon. 3. Biographic des Contemporains. Biographic UniVerselle, &e. 



