NAPOLEON'S METHOD OF ASCERTAINING THE CORRECTNESS OF HIS ACCOUNTS.

NOTWITHSTANDING his numerous occupations while on the throne of France, Napoleon revised all his accounts himself. He had his own method of doing this, and they were always made out to him in their details. He would cast his eye on the first article, sugar for example, and finding some millions of pounds set down, he would take a pen, and say to the person who drew up the accounts: "How many individuals are there in my household?" Sire, so many:" (and it was necessary to give the answer immediately.)" And how many pounds of sugar do you suppose they consume per day on an average ?" "Sire, so many."-He immediately made his calculation, and having satisfied himself, he would give back the paper, saying, "Sir, I have doubled your estimate of the daily consumption, and yet you are enormously beyond the mark. Your account is faulty. Make it out again, and let me have greater correctness." This reproof would be sufficient to establish the strictest regularity. Thus he sometimes said of his private as well as of his public administration, "I have introduced such order, and employed so many checks, that I cannot be much imposed on. If I am wronged at all, I leave the guilty person to settle the matter with his own conscience. He will not sink under the weight of his crime, for it cannot be very heavy."

IMPERIAL ECONOMY.

NAPOLEON was fond of splendour and magnificence on all public occasions, but it was his wish that economy should be observed in the interior of his household. As he was once journeying to Compeigne, finding that his carriage did not proceed so rapidly as he wished, he let down the window, exclaiming to the lancers who accompanied him: " Plus vite! plus vite!" Caulincourt, who in quality of Master of the Horse preceded the emperor in another carriage, thrust his head out at the window and declared with an oath that he would dismiss all the lance-men if they offered to quicken their pace. The horses accordingly proceeded at a moderate trot. When the emperor reached Compeigne, he complained of the tardiness of his journey: "Sire,” replied Caulin. court, very coolly, "allow me more money for the maintenance of your stalls, and you may kill as many horses as you think fit." Napoleon changed the conversation.

MALMAISON.

THIS chateau is about six miles from Paris, on the road to St. Germains. It is chiefly remarkable for its beautiful gardens, enriched with an extensive collection of the rarest shrubs and plants. It was the residence of the Ex-empress Josephine, who died here on the 29th of May, 1814, respected by every body for her amiable and benevolent mind. The major part of her fortune was devoted to charitable purposes. Such was the estimation in which she

was held that the Emperor Alexander and the King of Prussia paid her a visit a few days before her death. It was currently reported that she died of a broken heart, occasioned by the great and sudden turn in the fortune of the emperor, to whom she was greatly attached. "Ah! monsieur," said a female in the neighbourhood, "L'Empereur n'a pas eu un seul moment de bonheur après le divorce avec Joséphine!"- "Ah! sir, the emperor has not enjoyed one moment of happiness since his divorce from Josephine."

NAPOLEON'S GENEROSITY TO COUNT BERTHOLET.

THE following charming trait in the emperor's character is worthy of record: Bertholet had sustained losses which involved him in difficulties; when the circumstance having come to the emperor's knowledge, he sent him one hundred thousand crowns, adding, that he had reason to complain of him, since he seemed to have forgotten that he, Napoleon, was always ready to serve his friends.

Ber

tholet, however, behaved very ungratefully to the emperor, at the period of his disasters. His conduct deeply affected Napoleon at the time, and he was often heard to exclaim:-"What! Bertholet -on whom I thought I could rely with such confidence!"

On the emperor's return from Elba, Bertholet seemed again inclined to manifest his former sentiments of attachment to his benefactor. He ventured to show himself at the Tuilleries, and desired Monge to inform the emperor, that if he did not obtain a sight of him, he would put a period to his

existence, the moment he left the palace. The emperor could not refuse his request, and saluted him with a smile as he passed by.

THE IMPERIAL NURSE.

THE coldness of the Empress Maria Louisa, when not among her intimate friends, was so notorious that she was even reproached with extending it to her own child. This, however, was not want of affection, but rather excess of sensibility. Having never been accustomed to see young children, she scarcely dared venture to take her son in her arms or caress him, lest she should do him some injury. Thus the child naturally became more attached to his governess than to his own mother, a circumstance which excited a little jealousy on the part of Maria Louisa. The emperor, on the contrary, took him in his arms whenever he saw him, kissed him, and carried him to a looking-glass, where he would make all kinds of grimaces to divert him. When at breakfast, he sometimes took him on his knee, dipped his finger into a glass of jelly or preserves, and made him suck it, while some portion of the sweets was usually scattered over the child's face and dress; then the governess expressed her displeasure, the emperor laughed, and the child, almost always in good humour, seemed to receive with delight the rough caresses of his father.

Before the young prince was two years old, he and the empress were always present during Napoleon's breakfast.

NAPOLEON'S WHOLE HISTORY SUMMED UP BY
HIMSELF IN A FEW WORDS.

"I CLOSED the gulf 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 an historian could not defend me? Can it be for 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