NAPOLEON IN COUNCIL.

So far as our acquaintance with the Napeleonic memorials enables us.to fitrin a jedgment, (and who bus read all that has been written upon BONAPARTE?) this volume may be pronounced a valuable accession to the materials necessary to enable any one fully to ap- preciate the character of N APOLEON. In other works he is shown in his military, his diplomatic, and his public political capacities; or is drawn in private life, tool, it must be allowed, forms a very ami- able portrait. But in the pages of Baron PELET we are admitted behind the scenes, as it were, of the political drama ; we are allowed to be present at some of the rehear,als of the mighty actor ; we see the different modifications which the criticism of the assistants sometimes forced upon the " star ;" and what is still more, we not only learn the iamerial mime's opinion of his

but his estimate of his audience.

When BONAPARTE overturned the Directory, four political bodies were substituted in place of the two Chambers. 1. The Council of State; whose duty was to communicate any proposed law to the Legislative Body, and justify the proposal in the name of the Government. 2. The Legislative Bush which was to hear and decide. 3. The Tribu oat ; w hose office was to support the popular interests, and which was feigned to represent the antique Tribunitian power. 4. The Senate; which was required to interpose whenever the Tribunat declared that the constitution was violated.

Of these bodies, " The Tribunat," says Baron Fatter, " was soon altogether put down ; the Legislative hody, restricted more awl mom to its passive and silent part, wit- nessed the usurpation, day by day, of its functions bv arbitrary decrees; and the Senate became a mere ornamental appendage to the Court, its sole official duty being to register the successive permutations of the imperial constitutions. The Council of State alone preserved its character of a deliberative assembly, end took any real share in the business of the country. It inherited the attri • Lutes ef its defunct companions; and it alone could give no offence to Napoleon, for, since all its members were hominated and dismissed by him, they acted merely as his council, and their authority had no impulse or direction but in his will and pleasure. " Napoleon, however, took the greatest pains in the formation of this Coon- eil, as it afforded him the only cheek on the errors of his miniAters; in fact, it formed the only body whose concurrence really lent to his acts the countenance of publie opinion. He called to his assistance, accordingly, all the best quali- fied persons he could find in every departinent of government, and wherever he could lay his hands upon them. In this manner, Merlin and Pariahs were elected to assist in the business of legislation, Fourcroy and Chaptal in science, Mullet, in naval affairs, and Gotivion Saint-Crr in those relating to military matters. Besides tiles..., there were many others whose names are well known to the world. Having formed his Cnuncil, he divided it into sections, to each of which he referred the various projects proposed to him by his ministers to be separately ronsidered. The same ;natters were afterwards discussed by the assembled Council, and generally in his piesence."

Of this Council of State our author's father was a member from the beginning, and he himself from 1906. The purpose of his book is to paint NAPOLEON as he appeared at the most important Councils he attended ; to enutnerate the leading subjects dis- cussed; and to report the opinions expressed when they were either just in themselves or characteristic of the utterer. With these matters are intermingled some infinimation regarding NAPOLEON% secret views in domestic and foreign politics, as well as some account of his petty vanity and weakness; and we occa- sionally catch incidental proofs of the hollow and rotten nature of the despot's power, even when it seemed to the eyes of the world most firmly established. The book is divided into three pails, corresponding with the three natural divisions of the matter ; the first being introductory ; the second, containing a general coup cf mil of the principal foreign and domestic events, and of' the manner in which they affected N %MIXON; the third embracing an account of the discussions in the Couimil of State, seriatim.

The new light in which this work exhibits Nseoexost is not favourable, on the whole, to his reputation. He comes out, of' course, despotic and selfish, but with more of both qualities than one would have supposed. He also appears to have had a lore for trickery and mystery : like his great conqueror anti many other mo- dern captains, (for in the better periods of the ancient world no man was educated fora mere soldier,) he never got over the effects of his military training, but took a professional delight in ruses. Affecting magnanimity. and sometimes displaying it if magna- nimity can be exercised where there are no real gronnds for ap- prehension, he was meanly jealous of rivals ridiculously small, and not only incapable of brooking opposition, but so sensitive as to be irritated by allusions to historical events,—as though he could blot out the memory of the pail: it was even impossible to use the expression " since the Revolution" ill his presonce without giving him offence. or political and economical science hi,we* ignorant: the moment he had to deal with matters affect, ing the passions and interests of men, and in which they could not be moved as military machines, he committed the grossest blunders, and hail by his arbitrary measures the sure fowl- 'laden of his clownfal. To the same cause of ignorance may be traced his want of fixed principles; his ideas clean jug back- wards ahd forwards with his caprice, his temper, or the occur- rences of the day. For civilians, especially for trading civilians, he entertained the contempt of a vulgar soldier; yet with this contempt was mingled a degree of hatred, becatve their exertions rendered them independent of' his patronage, anti a degree of jea- lousy towards the heads of them, for, probably owing to their wealth, they seem to have run with him a sort of social rivalry, His N'anitv was as gigantic as his ambition. or, to speak more tru'y. swallowed it up. He appeared to think his will omeipment; that every thing must bend to his wishes; every b aly change as he changed ; mid that even the nature of things must alter if lie determined upon saying the word. Altogether he was a wonder- ful compound of might and meanness, calculated to excite our admiration but not to command our respect. Early training. and the state of society in which lived till middle mention& prevented him from acquiring the repose of a gentleman, anti nature had not cast his mind in the severely simple heroic mould : he had more of the ZiNGHIS or the TAMERLANE about. Itiin—.` barbaric) gold and pearl "—than of WASHINGTON, or EPAMINONDA.a, or the greater Rernans, or even of our OWt1 CROMWELL. He wanted self-respect and self-reliance : apart from his military exploits, he rewinds one of' a great theatrical hero, who cannot bear a searching scrutiny, and where, in despite of genius, and art, and splendouri there is nothing but strut and spangle afier all.

Matiy instanees for each of these opinions might be given from this volume; but we must be content with a few. The following account of the despicable weakness of BONAPARTE is not new in substance, but it is set in a new light. After narratitig the in- trigues set on foot by Box AP ANTE and his creatures, to sub- stitute the title of Emperor for that of Consul, and their success, the author continues— As it was fitting, however, to organize these matters (tlie Court) on a propel. footing, innumerable tomes were drawn out of their dusty repose from the royal I ibrary, to be consulted on this momentous occasion. A solemn old gentleman, formerly one of the King's pages, was summoned from the country to expound the traditions of Versadles. His appearance in the salons of the Tuileries was quite an event ; fur, except on the stage, such a person, powdered and frizzled, had not been seen for many years. With an air of the most pumpaus frivolity this oracle of the old Court unfolded the secrets of bygone ages, and reclasperi the links in the broken chain of time. By his means the forgotten laws of court etiquette were revived, and a volume as large as the " code civil" was concocted forthwith. Chamberlains and equerries were speedily nominated, as well as a grand muster of the cereal llll ies and a grand usher. Each person MI instructed in the place he hall to till in the long suite of halls of the palace. Eve' y functionary, at every stage of rank, wore his distinctive costume. Napo- leon himself regulated the dress of the Empress, and even made her exhibit be. fore him!

This sort of ridiculous anxiety, which after all only displayed the innate lowness it sought to hide, did not cease with the ac-

cession to the empire. It appeared in full-blown folly on his mar- riage with MARIA LOUISA, and indeed may be said to have haunted him throughout his reign. See. how the hero of Austerlitz was occupied on his rettun-

The Emperor Napoleon employed the brief interval which elapsed betweea the campaigns of Austerlitz and Jena in trying to impress the internal govern- ment of Franee with more anti more of a monarchical character, aud in this view the old nobility were sought out anti conciliated.

" It is amongst these men,' said he, " that all the great fortunes may still he found, and through their wealth they exercise a degree of influence of which the government ought to enjoy some of the benefit. Can you form a court out of the men whom the Revolution has created ? You will find amongst them only a few pub'ic functionaries very respectable but very poor, or a set of com- missaries abundantly iich but without character. A set of pensioned courtier* would prove more burdensome to the state than dignified to the crown. The old fortunes, if they have been diminished by being divided, will be again wigs molted bv succession, whereas the newly. made fortunes follow a different course. They will have nothing to leave in this way, for they are swallowed tip by poor relations. The governinent has no longer the power which it enjoyed formerly of enriching those who served its imposes, by the possessions of the crown, or by means of confiscated property, and therefore it must avail itself of ready. made pos..,,,ions." Arcot (Jingly, any person of the class alluded to, who consented to accept ens- ployment, was put in office about the court or in some public station. A great many marriages were made up between Napoleon's generals anti the heit eases of the ancient nobility ; and on these occasi llll s the confiscated forests were restored to the old 'lies. On the other hand, such of the old families as kept aloof, and held the new dynasty in contempt, were exposed to all sorts of persecution. Even women were nut exempt from this annoyance. One lady was banished for having refused to accept a place at court and another was seat away because she had returned a Lieutenant's commission given to her son. In this way, partly by solicitation and bribes anti partly by fear, the court was presently filled with the old emigrants, at which the men of the Revolution took much offence, saying that they, in their turn, would be obliged to emigrate. General officers complained that they were stopped at the entrance of the Emperor'S aptrtmenta by chamberlains who had fuught in the ranks of the enemies of France ; and in order to check these murmurs it was necessary to hang at their uniform also the chamberlain's key of Ave. • Nothing ever produced so obvious an expression of satisfaction on his counte- nance as the appearance of any member of the ancient families of distinguished rank, under the former dynasty, coming to his court to take the oaths upon the assumption of office under him. He seemed AR proud of this as of a conquest which contributed more and more to the consolidation of his power.

When he had " sunk into a king," there was probably some kind of excuse for this, in a political endeavour, as he thought it, to strengthen his throne. The following scarcely admits of this gloss ; it remilds one of tie) nutseieus stories told of GOLD- SU ITH —

It was during the discussions respecting the new organization of the Bank, that Napoleon took occasion to express his opinions on the laws which regu- lated banks uptcies. In what be said to M. Recumier of the expensive habits which brought on his ruin, and the allowance (solidarit) to which he wished him to rediwe his wife, we may recognize the bitterness with which he invari- ably expressed himself when speaking of the hankers. The Get is, they were independent class of men, who owed their fortune to nothing hut their own

industry. They oanted nothing fr the government, who, on the other hand. often required their assistance ; and this circumstance, as well as their essential independence, gave hint no small umbrage. The bankeis, wureuver, could never be sincerely favourable to his government, which took so little care of the interests of commerce or of credit in any shape. From all these eircumstances arose his frequent complaints of what lie called the bunker's faction.

nipoleon had, moreover, a personal pique against Madame Reeamier, in consequence of the little mitt she held at her own house. Mowers elevated his rank and station might he above hers, he could not see any one share the public notice with him, as Madame Recamier did, without a feeling of jealousy ; and he seemed to think that she robbed him of a portion of the public favour ! The attentions, accordingly, which Madame Recatnier and Madame de Staid received from the society of Paris, annoyed him almost as much as a dilect op- position to his government. Even the rage for M. Gall and his system of era. otology put hint out of humour, for be was prmoked that even for a moment people should be more taken up with Gall than with Napoleon.

Here are some of the crotchets he was in the habit of putting forward on commercial matters—

At the sitting of the 4th of March 1806, Napoleon spoke as follows. "The import duty on colonial produce may be raised without any inconveni- ence. It is said, indeed, that if coffee becomes too dear, people will get into the habit of using suceory powder instead, and that at the peace this habit will inter- fere nith the consumption of our coluidal coffee. 1 confess 1 ant not moved by these fears. There will always be found abundance of consumers for our colonial produce, in the countries under the influence of this great empire. Besides which, within forty-eight hours after the peace with England is concluded, 1 shall prohibit the introduction of all foreign produce, and promulgate a naviga- tion act, which will exclude from our ports all vessels not French, and which, besides being built of French timber, shall have two-thirds of their crews Friuli. Even English coals, and English ' milords.' huIl not come to our shores but under the French flag. A great outcry will he raised at first, be- cause a very bad spirit pervades the French conimeicial world ; but in the souse of six years afterwards, we shall be enjoying the greatest prosperity."

He contrived, however, to force commerce and finance to sub- Wit to hint for a time, before, to use his own words towards the economists, his management "ground the empire to powder." The currency was more unbending, and grievous a as his trouble pith the Bank of France.

The Bank soon got into hot water with Napoleon, who imagined he could regulate matters of credit by his own absolute will, as he did all other matters. In the sear XII. (1804) lie leproached a deputation of the Bank vet y sharply for permitting an opposition }tarty to rise tip amongst them, who refused to dis- count the bills of the Receiver General, and refused to furnish the necessary facilities for commercial opmations.

The truth was, that the Bank had already in its hands from five-and-twenty to thirty millions (from a million to twelve hundred thousalid pounds Stelling) d goyerniselit bonds. That with respect to the pretended bad effects on coni• merce caused by them, it consisted in their refusing to give further credit to Hervas, Michel, and other contractors, whose bills were 'wither more nor less than the obligations of the government. The Bank bad at this time seventy- five millions of notes in circulation (duce millions sterling), and was under the necessity of maintaining its power of paying these oil demand. Napoleon, how-. aver, wished them to issue for his use a hundred or a hundred and fifty millions, though at the risk of their nut being able to satisfy the bearers should they wish to change their notes. The crisis of 1805 proved that the Bank had good reason for adhering to these prudential rules, since it was exposed, even in spite of all their caution, and the government too, to the greatest embarrassments. Scarcely had Napo. Icon set out for the campaign of Austerlitz (24th September 1805) than the report get abroad that he bad carried off the money in the Bank in order to awry on the war with it, and there was not enough left to pay the notes which were in circulation. The Bank was besieged by crowds, and they could not satisfy the urgency of their demands. At first they paid slowly, and at last they stopped a,together. The notes fell ten per cent. in value and affairs were not restored to order for about a month by the operations of the Bank, arid by the restoration of confidence in she government consequent upon the military successes of' Napoleon.

He reorganized the Bank, and appointed his own officers— All these arrangements, however, were insufficient to prevent fresh colli- sions between Nupoleou and the 13ank1 for he met, even on the part of the functionaries whom he himself had named, a well-grounded resistance to his exactions, which threatened to involve not only the interests of their great establishment, but also the tranquillity of the capital, and the security of the government itself. On one occasion he became exceedingly irritated against the opposition of one of the deputy•governors, who exercised the greatest influ- ence ; and it was even said that he had thoughts of sending the offending party to a state prison. In the end, he allowed him to 'raisin, well knowing that the deputy- governor had merely done his duty, and that to destroy the credit of the Bank was tantamount to destroying his ovro,—a fatal result for the interests of his government.

One gratifying conclusion which the unbiassed and careful reader will draw from the volume, is the superior independence of judgment that springs from intellectual and business pursuits. Whilst the majority of the old nobility and of the new military ser- vilely and silently suinnitted to all NAPOLEON'S orders, scarcely daring to call their souls their own,—and whilst a few of the boldest merely muttered their displeasure,—the commercial classes offered a dogged resistance, and the men of science, letters, and faculties, an open opposition. When BONAPARTE assumed the purple, the tragic poet LEMERCIER, who lead been the personal friend of the First Consul, sent back to the Emperor his cross of the Legion of Honour ; an example which was followed by "a Member of the Senate (VoLantv) and two members of the Insti- tute, (LAREYEILLERE-LYPAux and DIIPERRON);" whilst not only did different members of the Council of State frequently oppose him, but sometimes the Council outvoted him and his projects. The passages we have quoted will give an idea of the ease and spirit with which Captain HALL has translated the work of his friend; though, from his occasional quotations of the original, we incline to think that he has sometimes sacrificed minute exact- ness to freedom, and where minute exactness would have had more of truth as well as of force.