Produced by David Widger
By Lewis Goldsmith
Being Secret Letters from a Gentleman at Paris to a Nobleman in London
The present work contains particulars of the great Napoleon not to befound in any other publication, and forms an interesting addition to theinformation generally known about him.
The writer of the Letters (whose name is said to have been Stewarton, andwho had been a friend of the Empress Josephine in her happier, if lessbrilliant days) gives full accounts of the lives of nearly all Napoleon'sMinisters and Generals, in addition to those of a great number of othercharacters, and an insight into the inner life of those who formedNapoleon's Court.
All sorts and conditions of men are dealt with—adherents who have comeover from the Royalist camp, as well as those who have won their wayupwards as soldiers, as did Napoleon himself. In fact, the work aboundswith anecdotes of Napoleon, Talleyrand, Fouche, and a host of others, andastounding particulars are given of the mysterious disappearance of thosepersons who were unfortunate enough to incur the displeasure of Napoleon.
At Cardinal Caprara's
Cardinal Fesch
Episode at Mme. Miot's
Napoleon's Guard
A Grand Dinner
Chaptal
Turreaux
Carrier
Barrere
Cambaceres
Pauline Bonaparte
PARIS, November 10th, 1805.
MY LORD,—The Letters I have written to you were intended for the privateentertainment of a liberal friend, and not for the general perusal of asevere public. Had I imagined that their contents would have penetratedbeyond your closet or the circle of your intimate acquaintance, severalof the narratives would have been extended, while others would have beencompressed; the anecdotes would have been more numerous, and my ownremarks fewer; some portraits would have been left out, others drawn, andall better finished. I should then have attempted more frequently toexpose meanness to contempt, and treachery to abhorrence; should havelashed more severely incorrigible vice, and oftener held out to ridiculepuerile vanity and outrageous ambition. In short, I should then havestudied more to please than to instruct, by addressing myself seldomer tothe reason than to the passions.
I subscribe, nevertheless, to your observation, "that the late long warand short peace, with the enslaved state of the Press on the Continent,would occasion a chasm in the most interesting period of modern history,did not independent and judicious travellers or visitors abroad collectand forward to Great Britain (the last refuge of freedom) some materialswhich, though scanty and insufficient upon the whole, may, in part, rendthe veil of destructive politics, and enable future ages to penetrateinto mysteries which crime in power has interest to render impenetrableto the just reprobation of honour and of virtue." If, therefore, myhumble labours can preserve loyal subjects from the seduction oftraitors, or warn lawful sovereigns and civilized society of the alarmingconspiracy against them, I shall not think either my time thrown away, orfear the dangers to which public