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ATKINSON'S CASKET
Or Gems of Literature, Wit and Sentiment
Philadelphia, June, 1832NAPOLEON'S WHOLE HISTORY SUMMED UP BY HIMSELF IN A FEW WORDS
"I closed the gulph of anarchy and cleared the chaos. I purified the revolution, dignified nations, and established kings. I excited every kind of emulation, rewarded every kind of merit and extended the limits of glory! This is at least something! And on what point can I be assailed on which a historian could not defend me? Can it be fore my intentions? But even here I can find absolution. Can it be for my despotism? It may be demonstrated that the dictatorship was absolutely necessary. Will it be said that I restrained liberty? It can be proved that licentiousness, anarchy, and the greatest irregularities still haunted the threshold of freedom. Shall I be accused of having been too fond of war? It can be shown that I always received the first attack. Will it be said that I aimed at universal monarchy? It can be proved that this was merely the result of fortuitous circumstances, and that our enemies themselves led me step by step to this determination. Lastly, shall I be blamed for my ambition? This passion I must doubtless be allowed to have possessed, and that in no small degree; but, at the same time, my ambition was of the highest and noblest kind that ever perhaps existed! That of establishing and consecrating the empire of reason, and the full exercise and complete enjoyment of all the human faculties! And here the historian will probably feel compelled to regret that such ambition should not have been fulfilled and gratified; then, after a few moments of silent reflection, "this," said the emperor, "is my whole history in few words."
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-Napoleon Bonaparte
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