consequently could suspect nothing, and my communication with Bernadotte
did not occupy five minutes. Bernadotte always expressed himself much
gratified with the proof of friendship I gave him at this delicate
conjuncture. The fact is, that from a disposition of my mind, which I
could not myself account for, the more Bonaparte'a unjust hatred of
Bernadotte increased the more sympathy and admiration I felt for the
noble character of the latter.

The event in question occurred in the spring of 1802. It was at this
period that Bonaparte first occupied St. Cloud, which he was much pleased
with, because he found himself more at liberty there than at the
Tuileries; which palace is really only a prison for royalty, as there a
sovereign cannot even take the air at a window without immediately being
the object of the curiosity of the public, who collect in large crowds.
At St. Cloud, on the contrary, Bonaparte could walk out from his cabinet
and prolong his promenade without being annoyed by petitioners. One of
his first steps was to repair the cross road leading from St. Cloud to
Malmaison, between which places Bonaparte rode in a quarter of an hour.
This proximity to the country, which he liked, made staying at St. Cloud
yet pleasanter to him. It was at St. Cloud that the First Consul made,
if I may so express it, his first rehearsals of the grand drama of the
Empire. It was there he began to introduce, in external forms, the
habits and etiquette which brought to mind the ceremonies of sovereignty.
He soon perceived the influence which pomp of ceremony, brilliancy of
appearance, and richness of costume, exercise over the mass of mankind.
"Men," he remarked to me a this period, "well deserve the contempt I feel
for them. I have only to put some gold lace on the coats of my virtuous
republicans and they immediately become just what I wish them."

I remember one day, after one of his frequent sallies of contempt for