642 
ever, made bad dispositions previdus to 
a battle ;: and it was mot until the dead 
began to fallabout him, that he began 
to act, with that judgment! which. he 
ought to bave displayed before: In the 
midst of the dying and the dead, of balls 
swecping. away those who.encircled him, 
then Massena. was bimsclf; gave his 
orders, and, made his dispositions with 
the greatest sung froid and judgment. 
This is trae nobleness of blood, | It was 
truly said of Massena, that he never be- 
gan to act with judgment until the bat- 
tle was going against him. He was, 
however, un voleur, He went halves 
along with the contractors and ecommis- 
saries of the army. I signified to him 
often, that if he would discontinue his 
peculations, I would make hima present 
of eight hundred: thousand, or a million 
of franes; but le had acquired such a 
habit, that he could not keep his hands 
from money. On this account he was 
hated ,by. the soldiers, who mutinied 
against him three or four times. How- 
ever, considering the circumstances of 
the times, he was preciows ; and had not 
his bright parts been soiled with the vice 
of avarice, he would bave been a great 
man.” 
PICHEGRU. 
“ Pichegru,” continued Napoleon, 
“ was répétiteur at Brienne, and in- 
structed me in mathematics, when I was 
about ten years old. _He possessed con- 
siderable knowledge in that science. 
“Asa general, Pichegru was a man of no 
ordinary talent, far superior to Moreau, 
although he had never done any thing 
extraordinarily great, as the success of 
the campaigns in Holland was in a great 
measure owing to the battle of Fleurus. 
Pichegru, after he had united bimsclf to 
the Bourbons, sacrificed the lives of up- 
wards of twenty thousand ofhis soldiers, 
by throwing them. purposely into the 
enemy’s hands, whom he had informed 
before hand of bis intentions.” 
ALEXANDER. 
Asked his opinion of the, Emperor 
Alexander, “ C'est un. homme, extréme- 
ment faux. Un Gree du bas empire,” 
replied Napoleon. _‘‘ He is the only one 
of the three,* who has any talent, He 
is plausible, a great dissimulator,, very 
ambitious, and a man who studies to 
make himself popular, It is his foible 
to believe himself skilled in the art, of 
war, and he likes nothing so well as to 
be complimented upon it, though every 
thing that originated with himself rela- 
* Alexander, Fraticis, and the king of 
Prussia. 
A Voice from St. Helena. 
tive to | military | operations,. was) ill- 
judged jandabsurd.|| At Tilsit, :Alexan- 
dervand the Kibg of Prassianused: fre- 
quentlyto, oceupy themselves, in) con- 
triving dresses.for dragoons ; debating 
upon’ What button de cresses.of the wer- 
ders ought to, be hubg; andy such other 
fooleries. «They fancied themselyes\.on 
an equality, withthe best .generalsoin 
Europe, because they knew, bow) many. 
rows of buttons there wereupon a dra- 
goon’s jacket.» I-could, seatcely. keep 
from Jaughivg sometimes, whend)heard 
them. discussing these) coplonerieowilb 
as much gravity and earnestness as, if 
ihey were planning an impending action 
between’ two | hundred) thousand men. 
However, 1 encouraged, them in, their 
arguments, as L saw/it|was, their weak 
point. We rode out) every; day toge- 
ther, "Phe king of Prassia was un béte, 
ct nous a tellement ennuyé;, that Alexan- 
der and myself frequently galloped away 
in order to.get rid of him.” on 
HIS RISEoIN EIRESorg orig 
Napoleon afterwards, recounted tome 
some part of his early lifes:said, jthat 
after having been at school, at Brienne, 
he was sent to Paris, at; the) age) off fil- 
teen or sixteen ; ‘‘ where; at the;general 
examination,” continued » he,c)*, being 
found to have given the-best answers,;in 
mathematics, 1 was appointed to the ax- 
tillery. After the revolution, abautjone- 
third of the artillery officers emigrated, 
and I became ehef de bataillow, at; Abe 
siege of Toulon; having been proposed 
by the artillery officers themselves ,as 
the person who, amongst them, possess- 
ed the most knowledge) of ihe scienee. 
During the siege, 1 commanded,the ar- 
tillery, directed the, operations against 
the town, and took O'Hara prisoner, as 
I formerly told you. After, the siege, 
was made commandant of the artillery 
of the, army. of, Italy, and, my , plans 
caused. the capture. of .many, considera- 
ble fortresses'iin Switzerland. and Italy. 
On my return to Paris, 1 was made ge- 
neral, and the command of the,army in 
La Vendée. offered to me, which I re- 
fused, and replied that such a command 
was onlyfit for a genera] of gendarmerie. 
On ‘the 13th of Vendemiaire;, I com- 
manded,, the, army of the conyention in 
Paris-against,the sections, whem I de- 
feated, aficr an action.of a few. minutes. 
Subsequently L got the command of the 
army of Italy, where L established, my 
yeputation,. Nothing,” continued he, 
“has been:more simple than my, eleva- 
tion. It was not the result of intrigue 
or crime, » It. was owing to the peculiar 
' circumstances 
