but must allow ninety-nine hundredths of what we are told to be mere
hearsay, which would not be at all the more worthy of credit even if
it were repeated by ten times as many more. As for those who profess
to have _personally known_ Napoleon Buonaparte, and to have
_themselves witnessed_ his transactions, I write not for them. _If any
such there be_, who are inwardly conscious of the truth of all they
relate, I have nothing to say to them, but to beg that they will be
tolerant and charitable towards their neighbours, who have not the
same means of ascertaining the truth, and who may well be excused for
remaining doubtful about such extraordinary events, till most
unanswerable proofs shall be adduced. "I would not have believed such
a thing, if I had not seen it," is a common preface or appendix to a
narrative of marvels; and usually calls forth from an intelligent
hearer the appropriate answer, "_no more will I_."

Let us, however, endeavour to trace up some of this hearsay evidence
as far towards its source as we are able. Most persons would refer to
the _newspapers_ as the authority from which their knowledge on the
subject was derived; so that, generally speaking, we may say it is on
the testimony of the newspapers that men believe in the existence and
exploits of Napoleon Buonaparte.

It is rather a remarkable circumstance, that it is common to hear
Englishmen speak of the impudent fabrications of foreign newspapers,
and express wonder that any one can be found to credit them; while
they conceive that, in this favoured land, the liberty of the press is
a sufficient security for veracity. It is true they often speak
contemptuously of such "newspaper-stories" as last but a short time;
indeed they continually see them contradicted within a day or two in
the same paper, or their falsity detected by some journal of an