which stands out most glaringly in his Correspondence, betrayed his descent. He shows himself an inveterate plunderer. It will be seen that he always had peace on his lips, but war was in his heart. His professions in favour of peace were rapidly followed by bloodshed and rapine. That he alone was the author of "those big wars," which, to many, "make ambition virtue," is proved by the calm which succeeded his removal from the throne. The principles upon which he governed are no longer in favour in France; he certainly did not succeed in establishing the dynasty he was so anxious to found. Imperialism has for the moment few adherents; and yet the work of the Great Napoleon has not been obliterated; his Code, his administration, and many of his vast public works bear witness to his genius and his glory. The stranger who visits Paris must be struck with the magnificence of the monuments dedicated to his memory: the triumphal Arch, which four régimes helped to construct -Empire, Restoration, Constitutional Monarchy, Republic -the Column of Vendôme, the splendid tomb under the dome of the Invalides-these, and the broad avenues, the streets and the bridges called after his marshals or his victories, speak of his fame. The Legion of Honour which he founded is the only order which survives. capitals have good reason to remember the great soldier— Moscow and Madrid, Florence and Milan, Berlin and Vienna; everywhere traces of him in Rome, Naples, Lisbon, Cairo, Munich, and Amsterdam. By sea alone

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he was powerless; no naval victory figures in the list of his triumphs. There are islands which may almost be said to belong to him-Corsica where he was born, Elba where he was confined, and St. Helena where he died.

If some of the letters we have selected exhibit Napoleon in an unfavourable light, we must remember what Dr. Johnson wrote, that-" No person ever rose to supreme power in whom great qualities were not combined with a certain meanness which would be deemed inconceivable in ordinary men." But in few heroes has this mixture been more evenly distributed. His last letter, craving the hospitality of England, and written when escape was impossible, is a sad example of this want of dignity which excited the epigram of the Abbé de Pradt and some of the severest stanzas of Byron.