FRA 
a numerous train of companions in oifrrefs. But the re- 
fources of his mind rofe fuperior to his misfortunes : he 
prevailed on Salicerti to recommend him to the notice of 
Barras, who gave him an appointment in the artillery, 
and employed him to quell the infurgents at Paris. His 
activity, difcernrnent, and unfhaken courage, could not 
efcape the penetrating eyes of the directory, who rapidly 
promoted him to the rank of a general, in which capacity 
he has proved himfelf a hero, a lawgiver, and a confum- 
raate politician. 
Many and various have been the attempts of different 
writers to defcribe the qualifications, the propenfities, and 
prevailing paffions, of this extraordinary charadter : but 
furry we are to perceive that all of them are more or lefs 
tindtured with adulation or refentment; with envy, or 
overweening praife. F. Defodoard, in his Hijloire de la 
Re'publique Fravcoife, fpeaks of him as follows : 
“ No general ever carried farther than Napoleon Bona¬ 
parte, extreme valour, prefence of mind, (kill in ma¬ 
noeuvre, and the refources of ft'ratagem. The battles of 
Lodi and Archola were won by the fuperiority of his ta¬ 
lents. The foldier, perfuaded of his fuperiority, boldly 
met-dangers of which he fuppofed the importance had 
been juftly eftimated ; and this daring fpirit, by adding 
to tire reputation of the general, rendered the army in- 
vincihle. As (kilful as Frederic the Great in fcheming 
the plan of a campaign, Bonaparte knew better than that 
monarch how to lead on men to great achievements, by 
the influence of fentiment. Like Caefar, he would march 
at the head of his army, and fhare the fatigue and food of 
the foldier. Each might ,addrefs him as his comrade ; 
and this affability, which foftened the harfhnefs of com- 
*nand, gave him fuch a moral empire over his troops, 
that they would have followed him every where without 
liefitation. Hence the unlimited authority which he en¬ 
joyed in Italy, and which no other general has pofleffed 
fince the Roman emperors.” 
In drawing a parallel between the military achieve¬ 
ments of Bonaparte and Caefar, and invertigating the ana¬ 
logy which has been faid to exift between their chara£ters 
and abilities, M. Hauterive, chef de relations exterieures in 
Paris, writes thus: 
“ I am free to confefs, that with regard to all the gifts 
of nature, in point of genius, and the moral qualities 
that fpring from an elevated mind, the firft confnl and 
CaTar may be the objeft of a comparifon on a biogra¬ 
phic feale. But, from the admiflion of thefe fimilarities, 
have we any right to conclude that there exifts the fame 
identity in their views, in the object of their ambition, 
and in the nature of their deftiny ? Thofe who do not 
fee the abfurdity of fuch an inference, are entirely igno¬ 
rant of the difference which marks the career that has 
opened itfelf to thofe two great men ; the Icene of their 
focial life in a military and political point of view, toge¬ 
ther with the accedion of local and national circumftances 
of their fituation. As merely military men, Caefar and 
Bonaparte may be compared : both have vanquifhed in all 
the battles which they fought; both have carried their 
triumphant arms into Europe, Africa, and Alia; both 
added the difeoveries of their genius to ihe deep refources 
of art. In the hiftury of the illuftrious chiefs both in an¬ 
cient and modern times, the Roman and the French ge¬ 
neral can alone be contrafted in a feale of glory, in the 
greatnefs and the extent of their plans, and in the won¬ 
derful celerity of their execution : both ever infured the 
fuccefs of the boldeft expeditions by meafures of wifdom 
which feemed to command future events, and fupplied 
the accidental checks of fortune by an inexhauftible (lock 
of refources, which created new means of action againft: 
theeffeffsof unforefeen obrtacles :—thefe are the features 
of fimilarity which exilt between CaTar and Bonaparte. 
The only difparity, and which mull fit ike us at firft fight, 
is, that the glory of the one has (hone in all its fplendor 
before his attaining the age in which the other was de¬ 
ploring, before the ftatue of Alexander, his not yet having 
N C E. B9l 
done any thing to raife his fame. Bonaparte, before at¬ 
taining the age of thirty years, proved himfelf the firft 
man of his age ; and Caefar at the age'of thirty years was 
only the firft among tiie men of faftion in the forum, and 
the fiift debauchee of Rome. Caefar (pent twenty-five 
years in the fatigues of war, and in accomplifhing hisfuc- 
celles, before.he eftablifhed his reputation; the fame of 
Bonaparte, as rapid as it was early, was gained in lefs 
than five years. Caefar had only to contend, when from 
Rome, with generals of no celebrity, with barbarous 
people and nations unknown, and was indebted for his 
power folely to the victories he gained over his fellow 
citizens; on the contrary, it has been the deftiny of Bo¬ 
naparte to fubdue nations the nioft warlike, to vanquifh 
the be(l difeiplined armies, and to overcome the firft ge¬ 
nerals in Europe, and never to have fought but againft 
the enemies of his country. All thefe laurels, greater 
than ever encircled the brows of Caefar, he won before lie 
had attained his 37th year, which was completed on the 
15th of Aiignft 1806. 
“ But although the military glory of thefe two ge¬ 
nerals were perfectly equal and (imilar, what dedudicn 
can be drawn as to an identity in their views ? Is not their 
refpeftive fituations inimenfely different? Are not the 
paffions of the one directly oppofite to the temper and the 
fpirit of moderation of the other ? Belides, can any com¬ 
parifon be made between the knowledge of the refpedtive 
ages and the focial (fate of the two countries ? Can any 
analogy exift between the Roman republic, juft emerged 
from the proferiptions of Marius and of Sy 1 la—quite be¬ 
reft, after the death of Cato, of all that bore the (lamp of a. 
Roman character, inundated with foldiers and (laves, un¬ 
able to repel the numberlefs hordes of barbarians who 
every day threatened to invade her provinces, and (fill 
more unable to command over the numerous armies which 
were infufficient to maintain the dominion of Rome over 
the immenfe extent of her territory—Can any degree of 
fimilarity be faid to exift between fuch a republic and the 
French republic, well organifed and circumfcribed as to 
her proper limits; for whom a revenue by far inferior to 
that which France had before the revolution will be ade. 
quate to her expences; who requires a military effablifit¬ 
ment comparatively lefs than that of all her neighbours ; 
who is neither op p re fled by dignified calls, nor agitated 
by factions; who has a population enjoying an identity of 
rights, without (laves or opprelfors ; w hole citizens have 
a high fenfe of honour, and juft and enlightened ideas of 
liberty and of laws; and to whom peace only is wanting 
to refume all the purfuits of induftry, to enjoy the ad¬ 
vantages which they have gained, and to appreciate all 
the merit of thofe wife and liberal inllitutions which they 
have framed for themfelves.” 
Difficult indeed is the talk of drawing fuch a portrait in 
genuine colours, and of tracing its features by the linea¬ 
ments of impartiality and truth. Few men, if any, exift 
without particular predictions and averfions; which, 
when applied to national or perfonal competitions, render 
a fair and candid appreciation dill more difficult. The 
writers above referred to, are both French, and in the 
interefts of the emperor. Napoleon. The next who has 
ventured to pourtray his character is alfo a Frenchman, 
but in the interefts of the difearded royal family of France. 
This is lir Francis d’l vernois, who, in the following (ketch, 
profefles to exhibit the facility of character and verfatility 
of mind, which deified, or degraded, the fame of the 
firft confnl. His powers of penetrating the minds of men, 
and of taking every advantage of them to facilitate his 
own views, fays fir Francis, are ftrikingly obvious. Thus, 
for inftance : when he wanted to roui’e the national fade 
for crufades, he wrote to Paris, that “ he had juft lent 
citizen Arnaud to Ithaca and Corcyra, to plant the tri- 
coloured flag on the ruins of the paiace of Ulylfes and 
it may be remembered, that the er.-bilhop of Autun, 
(Talleyrand,) to whom he addreffed this difpatch, com¬ 
municated it to the admiring Pariiians, with congrattila- 
1 tionsj, 
