Madame de Staets Ten Years'' Exile. 



645 



what is U site wishes ?" « Good God !" 

 replied I, " it is not wliat I wish, l)\it 

 what I think, fliat is in question." I 

 know not if this answer was reported 

 to him, but if it v/as, I am certain that 

 he attached no r:eaning to it; for he 

 believes in the sincerity of no one's 

 opinions ; he considers evciy kind of 

 morality as nothing more than a form, 

 to whicii no more meaning is attached 

 than to the conclusion of a letter ; and 

 as the having assured any one that you 

 are his most humble servant would not 

 entitle him to ask any thing of you, so 

 if any one says that he is a lover of li- 

 berty, — that he believes in God, — that 

 he prefers his conscience to his interest, 

 Bonaparte considers such professions 

 onlyas an adherence tocustom, or as the 

 regular means of forwarding ambitious 

 vi6ws or selfish calculations. 



HER COTERIES. 



On the eve of the day vvhen Benja- 

 min Constant was to deliver a speech 

 in opposition to Bonaparte's govern- 

 ment, I had a party, among whom 

 were Lucien Bonaparte, MM. •", •", 

 •", •**, and several others, whose 

 convei'sation in different degrees pos- 

 sesses that constant novelty of intei'cst 

 which is produced by tlie strength of 

 ideas and the grace of expression. 

 Every one of these persons, with the 

 exception of Lucien, tired of being 

 proscribed by the directory, was pre- 

 paring to serve the new government, 

 requiring only to be well rewarded for 

 their devotion to its power. Benjamin 

 Constant came up and whispered to me, 

 " Vour drawing-room is now filled with 

 persons with whom you are pleased : 

 if i speak, to-morrow ii will be desert- 

 ed: — think well of it." " We must 

 follow our conviction," said I to him. 

 This reply was dictated by enthusiasm ; 

 but, I confess, if I had foreseen what 

 I have suffered since that day, I should 

 not have had the firmness to refuse M. 

 Constant's offer of renouncing his pro- 

 ject, in order not to compromise me. 



On the day when the signal of oppo- 

 sition was CTchibited in the tribunate by 

 my friend, I had invited several per- 

 sons whose society 1 was fond of, but 

 all of whom were attached to the new 

 government. At five o'clock I had re- 

 ceived ten rotes of apology : the first 

 and second I bore tolerably well, but 

 as they succeeded cacli other rapidly, I 

 began to be alarmed. In vain did I 

 appeal to my conscience, which advised 

 me to renounce all the pleasures at- 

 tached to the favour of Bonaparte : I 



Monthly Mag. No. 3r>C>. 



was blamed by so many Iionorable peo* 

 pie, that J knew not how to support 

 myself on my own way of thinking. 

 CONVERSATION OF MY FATHER WITH 

 BONAPARTE. 

 Bonaparte set out in the spring of 

 1800, to make the campaign of Italy, 

 which was distinguished by the battle 

 of Marengo. He went by Geneva, and 

 as he expressed a desire to see M. 

 Necker, my father waited upon him, 

 more with the hope of serving me, than 

 from any other motive. Bonaparte re- 

 cei^'ed him extremely well, and talked 

 to him of his plans of the moment, with 

 that sort of con fidea ce wh ich is in his cha- 

 racter, or rather in his calculation ; for 

 it is thus we must always style his cha- 

 racter. My father, at first seeing him, 

 experienced nothing of the impression 

 which I did ; he felt no restraint in his 

 presence, and found nothing extraor- 

 dinary in his conversation. I have en- 

 deavoured to account to myself for this 

 difference in our opinions of the same 

 person ; and, I believe, that it arose, 

 first, because the simple and unaffected 

 dignity of my father's manners ensured 

 him the respect of all who conversed 

 with him ; and second, because the 

 kind of superiority attached to Bona- 

 parte proceeding more from ability in 

 evil action, than from the elevation of 

 good thoughts, his conversation cannot 

 make us conceive what distinguishes 

 him ; he neither could nor would ex- 

 plain his own Machiavelian instinct. 



My father uttered not a word to him 

 of his two millions deposited in the 

 public treasury; he did not wish to 

 appear interested but for me, and said 

 to him, among other things, that as 

 the first consul loved to surround him- 

 self with illustrious names, he ought to 

 feel equal pleasure in encouraging per- 

 sons of celebrated talent, as the orna- 

 ment of his power. Bonaparte replied 

 to him very obligingly, and the result 

 of this conversation ensured me, at 

 least for some time longer, a residence 

 in France. This was the last occasion 

 when my father's protecting hand was 

 extended over my iexistence; he has 

 not been a witness of the cruel perse- 

 cution T have since endured, and whicli 

 would have iiTitated him even more 

 than myself. 



I arrived in Switzerland to pass the 

 summer according to custom with my 

 father, nearly about the same time 

 when the French army was crossing 

 the Alps. Large bodies of troops were 

 seen continually passing through thes« 

 4 M peaceful 



