Page:California Digital Library (IA recollectionsofe00abeliala).pdf/269

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
Ch. XXI.]
the Emperor Napoleon.
235

said to have included in this sweeping ab-negation of friendship, he taught himself to look upon as the means of carrying out his ambitious projects; and as they were not always subservient to his will, but came at times into political collision with him, his fraternal affection, which seldom resisted the rude shocks of contending worldly interests, was cooled and weakened in the struggle. But my own conviction is, that unless Napoleon's ambition, to which every other consideration was sacrificed, interfered, he was possessed of much sensibility and feeling, and was capable of strong attachment.

The Duchess d'Abrantes, who was intimately acquainted with Napoleon at an early age, gives him credit for much more warmth of heart than is allowed to him by the world; and brought up, as she had been, with himself and his family, she was well qualified to form an opinion of him. I think his love of children, and the de-

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.