h'l 
monument of his industry and wisdom. 
He likewise abolished, in all its ramifi¬ 
cations, the feudal system—he esta¬ 
blished trial by jury—he abolished the 
slave trade—he created public works, 
which will perish only with the globe 
itself—he promoted manufactures, agri¬ 
culture, and every species of useful in¬ 
dustry—he cultivated the arts and 
sciences, and ennobled and dignified 
their professors—he patronised the fine 
arts with such unbounded liberality, as 
to render Paris the museum of the 
world—and, in fine, he restored reli¬ 
gion, without its monkish austerities, 
and without debasing the people by 
gloomy superstitions, incompatible with 
personal happiness. 
We have already stated more, per¬ 
haps, than the prejudices of the age in 
which we write may tolerate, particu¬ 
larly in a country which is suffering all 
the miseries of the damned, and writh¬ 
ing under a too-late repentance, as con¬ 
sequences of the wars so long waged 
against his success. But as Ave are 
speaking historically, and Avith some 
regard to our own fame, we are unwil¬ 
ling to succumb to prejudices, and com¬ 
promise the truth. Against Napoleon’s 
personal character we never heard any 
credible objection. The devotion, 
even to death, of all (hose Avho e\ r er 
lived in contact with him, proves the 
unexceptionablenes> of his manners, 
the sincerity of his friendship, and the 
liberality of his heart. Not a week 
before the intelligence of his death 
reached Europe, the writer of this arti¬ 
cle, in a conversation with M. Talma, 
who possesses a mind which places him 
at the head of an intellectual profes¬ 
sion, was assured by him that Napoleon 
exceeded most beings, as much in the 
good qualities of his heart as in his un¬ 
derstanding, while he was the kindest 
and gentlest of men; 44 and,” added 
M. Talma, 44 though in England he is 
considered as a hater of the English, 
yet I know the contrary, for 1 have 
often heard him speak in terms of the 
highest eulogy of the English people 
and character, and lament the public 
circumstances which placed him in a 
state of unceasing hostility with such a 
nation.” 
On the circumstances of his death AAe 
have not room to enlarge. It took 
place on the 5th of May last, after a 
severe illness of a few weeks. That he 
could not live in the climate of St. 
Helena, with certain tendencies to a 
[Aug. I, 
disease of the liver, has long been pro¬ 
mulgated, and since reiterated by his 
generous and intelligent surgeon, Mr. 
O’Meara, and had been announced in 
various ways to the world. His pre¬ 
mature death in the prime of life is, 
therefore, (if those opinions were cor¬ 
rect) a result which creates no surprise. 
His disease is reported to have been a 
cancer in the stomach, against which 
his habitual temperance might have 
been a security; but this affection is 
often a consequence of diseases in the 
adjoining viscera, and of such profound 
affliction of mind, as must have attend¬ 
ed his years of rigorous captivity. In 
describing the causes of his death, an 
attempt has been made to prove too 
much, by stating that the disease aabs 
hereditary —but science has exposed 
this vulgar error, of which its propaga¬ 
tors seem not to have been aAvare: and 
at present, doubts are raised by the un¬ 
explained circumstance, that his own 
physician did not sign the report of the 
military surgeons called in by the 
keeper. His last Avords Avere— 44 Mon 
fils ,” (my son), and he afterwards ar¬ 
ticulated, 44 Tete (V Armees ''— and 
44 France .” His death-bed Avas cheered 
by the faithful solicitude of Marshal 
Bertrand and his Lady, and by that 
of General Montholon, and others, 
Avho were permitted to attend him in 
the Ostracism to which he had been 
subjected by the magnanimous powers 
of Europe. 
In the career of his life, his actions 
AA'ere not less resplendent than those ol 
Alexander or Caesar—but in raising the 
military above the civil power, and 
himself oA cr the state, he more nearly 
resembled the latter. He Avas, besides, 
a great statesman, and, as a conqueror, 
far more magnanimous than either of 
them—for he conquered many Dariuses 
only to restore their crowns, on the 
simple condition of keeping peace-— 
and he never indulged in triumphs 
in Avhicli vanquished Kings Avere 
chained to his chariot Avheels. In his 
death, his fate more nearly resembled 
that of Regulus than that of auy great 
name on the historic page. Distracted 
by treasons aud factions, and unwilling 
to involve life country in civil Avar, or 
to have blood shed on his personal ac¬ 
count, he sought a peaceable exile in 
America—but this being denied him, 
he threw himself, like Regulus, or, as 
he then said, like Themistocles, on the 
magnanimity of Iris deadliest foes. The 
sequel 
Memoirs of Napoleon. 
