NAPOLEON AND THE PEOPLE.
[To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR."' Sut,—In face of the acute crisis which appears to threaten the country, I cannot help sending you the following summary of the conversation held by Napoleon and his small band of followers in St. Helena, as reported in Lord Rosebery's Napoleon: The Last Phase. You will probably consider them under the circumstances very apposite :- "' He feared the people; the least discontent or disturbance, the slightest rising affecting him more than the loss of a battle. He was perpetually vigilant on this point. He would send for his Ministers, and say that there was not enough work, that the artisans would lend an ear to agitators, and that he feared an insurrection from loss of bread more than a battle against 200,000 men.' When I hear people,' writes Mme. de Rdmusat, saying how easy it is to govern by force, I think of the Emperor : of how he used to harp on the difficulties arising from the use of force against citizens : of how when his Ministers advised any strong measures he would ask : " Will you guarantee the people will not rise against it?" He would turn pale at the narration of the excesses of a revolted people. He dreaded the idea of firing on the people. He was prepared, at almost any cost, to avert and buy off the material discontent of the people.'"
St. Cuthbert:, Bathampton. '
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