* the authority of conscience,
* loyalty,
* and good faith.

In short, noble and pure motives.

Napoleon does not accept the denial thus given to his theory; when he
talks with people, he questions their moral nobleness. "General
Dumas,"[44] said he, abruptly, to Mathieu Dumas, "you were one of the
imbeciles who believed in liberty?" "Yes, sire, and I was and am still
one of that class." "And you, like the rest, took part in the
Revolution through ambition?" "No, sire, I should have calculated
badly, for I am now precisely where I stood in 1790."

"You were not sufficiently aware of the motives which prompted you;
you cannot be different from other people; it is all personal
interest. Now, take Massena. He has glory and honors enough; but he
is not content. He wants to be a prince, like Murat and like
Bernadotte. He would risk being shot to-morrow to be a prince. That
is the incentive of Frenchmen." -

His system is based on this. The most competent witnesses, and those
who were most familiar with him certify to his fixed idea on this
point.

"His opinions on men," writes M. de Metternich,[45] "centered on one
idea, which, unfortunately for him, had acquired in his mind the force
of an axiom; he was persuaded that no man who was induced to appear on
the public stage, or who was merely engaged in the active pursuits of
life, governed himself, or was governed, otherwise than by his