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Ch. XIX.]
the Emperor Napoleon.
217

CHAPTER XIX.

Had the sword laid thee with the mighty low,Pride might forbid e'en friendship to complain;But thus unlaurell'd to descend in vain,While glory crowns so many a meaner crest!

Byron.

MY QUESTIONS TO THE EMPEROR RESPECTING THE ATROCITIES IMPUTED TO HIM AT JAFFA.—THE SONG UPON THE DEATH OF THE DUKE D'ENGHIEN—NAPOLEON'S REMARKS UPON IT.—THE SCULPTOR.

The thoughtlessness of youth, or the consciousness of being a privileged person, prompted me more than once, whilst conversing with Napoleon, to touch upon tender, if not actually forbidden ground, and to question him about some of the many cruel acts assigned to him; entr' autres, the butchery of the Turkish prisoners at Jaffa, and the poisoning the sick in hospital at the same place, came one day on the tapis. I remember well his own explanation of

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