made no secret of his contempt for the born kings, and for "the
hereditary asses," as he coarsely styled the Bourbons. He said that,
"in their exile, they had learned nothing, and forgot nothing."
Bonaparte had passed through all the degrees of military service, but
also was citizen before he was emperor, and so had the key to
citizenship. His remarks and estimates discover the information and
justness of measurement of the middle class. Those who had to deal
with him found that he was not to be imposed upon, but could cipher
as well as another man. This appears in all parts of his Memoirs,
dictated at St. Helena. When the expenses of the empress, of his
household, of his palaces, had accumulated great debts, Napoleon
examined the bills of the creditors himself, detected overcharges and
errors, and reduced the claims by considerable sums.

His grand weapon, namely, the millions whom he directed, he owed to
the representative character which clothed him. He interests us as he
stands for France and for Europe; and he exists as captain and king,
only as far as the Revolution, or the interest of the industrious
masses found an organ and a leader in him. In the social interests,
he knew the meaning and value of labor, and threw himself naturally
on that side. I like an incident mentioned by one of his biographers
at St. Helena. "When walking with Mrs. Balcombe, some servants, carrying
heavy boxes, passed by on the road, and Mrs. Balcombe desired them,
in rather an angry tone, to keep back. Napoleon interfered, saying,
'Respect the burden, Madam.'" In the time of the empire, he directed
attention to the improvement and embellishment of the market of the
capital. "The market-place," he said, "is the Louvre of the common
people." The principal works that have survived him are his magnificent
roads. He filled the troops with his spirit, and a sort of freedom and
companionship grew up between him and them, which the forms of his