to what he enjoys in Sweden; he declined it, however, because, with a
warrior of his stamp, interest is the last consideration.




LETTER XV.

PARIS, September, 1805.

MY LORD:--Believe me, Bonaparte dreads more the liberty of the Press than
all other engines, military or political, used by his rivals or foes for
his destruction. He is aware of the fatal consequences all former
factions suffered from the public exposure of their past crimes and
future views; of the reality of their guilt, and of the fallacy of their
boasts and promises. He does not doubt but that a faithful account of
all the actions and intrigues of his Government, its imposition, fraud,
duplicity, and tyranny, would make a sensible alteration in the public
opinion; and that even those who, from motives of patriotism, from being
tired of our revolutionary convulsions, or wishing for tranquillity, have
been his adherents, might alter their sentiments when they read of
enormities which must indicate insecurity, and prove to every one that he
who waded through rivers of blood to seize power will never hesitate
about the means of preserving it.

There is not a printing-office, from the banks of the Elbe to the Gulf of
Naples, which is not under the direct or indirect inspection of our
police agents; and not a bookseller in Germany, France, Italy, Spain,
Portugal, Holland, or Switzerland, publishes a work which, if contrary to
our policy or our fears, is not either confiscated, or purchased on the