q { 504. J [May, 
DE BOURRIENNE’S MEMOIRS.* 
THE memoirs which form the subject of the present article bear the 
stamp of authenticity. They treat of events which can scarcely yet be | 
said to come within the domain of history, and which, notwithstanding, 
are portrayed with a truth of character, and a correctness of outline, 
rarely to be found in the delineation of contemporary scenes. ‘ And this 
merit is further enhanced, when we reflect how much truth has been 
awed into silence before the powerful ascendency of a man whose singu- 
lar fortunes subdued the mighty ones of earth, and whose light, like 
the meteor’s, has left behind it the mingled emotions of admiration—of 
abhorrence—of blind and enthusiastic idolatry. 
Future ages will pronounce judgment upon Napoleon, and to them 
has he appealed. That posterity, with a view to whose applause he in-— 
variably regulated his actions, may be said to have, even now, com- 
menced for him. The tomb has for ever closed upon the mighty con- 
queror on whose individual acts the eyes of nations were fixed. The 
reign of adulation is past—that of impartial judgment has succeeded. 
The “ Memoirs of M. de Bourrienne” present some striking points of 
contrast with the historical narratives of his predecessors. Many of the 
biographers of Napoleon have laboured to prove that his actions de- 
pended on each other, by a sort of indefinable sympathy. Those who 
have formed their ideas of Napoleon from the dramas arranged by such 
authors, will be disabused on the perusal of M. de Bourrienne’s me- 
moirs. They will in vain seek indications of that innate spirit of impe- 
rialism, so ingeniously discovered in Napoleon, by writers whose imagi- 
nations enable them to divine the inmest thoughts of great men. They 
will be disappointed if they expect to find in M. de Bourrienne’s me- 
moirs a confirmation of those uninterrupted symptoms of greatness— 
those unceasing and super-human workings of lofty purpose which the 
flatterers of Napoleon have so fondly and so absurdly ascribed to his 
character. 
In the course of his memoirs, M. de Bourrienne often brings the do 
cuments of which he is in possession into collision with the assertions of 
Napoleon. He raises doubts as to the sincerity of one whom he knew so 
well: nay more, he often disproves his ipse dixits by the stubborn tes 
mony of facts. But if he plucks from Napoleon’s laurels a few artifie 
leaves, he restores, with the holy zeal of a devotee, those which the breath 
of envy would wither. . 
The two volumes now presented to the public rectify many important 
errors. M. de Bourrienne -has devoted himself to the arduous task of 
restoring to events their real colouring, of sifting their causes, and tracing 
them through the development of their effects. The companion of Be- 
naparte’s youthful studies, the private secretary and intimate friend of 
the Conqueror of Italy, the sharer of his councils, and the right hand ¢ 
the measures which emanated from the imperial throne, M. de Bo 
rienne describes events of which he was an eye-witness, and disclose 
the secret of intrigues in which he was himself personally involved, 
the web of which Napoleon wove or unwove at pleasure. 
We present our readers with the following extracts, translated from 
M. de Bourrienne’s memoirs. 
* Mémoires de M. De Bourrienne, Ministre d’ Etat, sur Napoléon, le Directoire, le 
Consulat, Empire, et la Restauration. 4 
