Page:Napoleon (O'Connor 1896).djvu/69

Rh is convenient to keep silent about certain victories, or to convert the defeat of this or that Marshal into a success. Sometimes a General learns from a bulletin of an action that he was never in, and of a speech that he never made."

When the General complains, he is given the right to get rich by pillage, or has a title bestowed upon him. But even yet he does not feel the grasp of the iron hand of Napoleon removed.

"On becoming Duke or Hereditary Prince, with half a million or a million of revenue from his estate, he is not less held in subjection, for the creator has taken precautions against his own creatures. 'Some people there,' said he, 'I have made independent, but I know when to lay my hand upon them and keep them from being ungrateful.' In truth, if he has endowed them magnificently, it is with domains assigned to them in conquered countries, which ensures their fortune being his fortune. Besides, in order that they may not enjoy any pecuniary stability, he expressly encourages them and all his grand dignitaries to make extravagant outlays; thus, through their financial embarrassments, he holds them in a leash. 'We have seen most of his Marshals, constantly pressed by their creditors, come to him for assistance which he gives as he pleases, or when he finds it for his interest to attach some one to himself.

There is an even deeper depth than this:―