The matter, with the exception of the few bracketed passages, is derived entirely from Napoleon’s own words, written and spoken. But there are abbreviations, and transpositions of words and of dates.
The abbreviations are now shown, for the reason that they are of constant recurrence, and this general warning is therefore substituted for the usual typographical indication.
The transpositions of date are made for the purpose of maintaining the journal form, and belong, in all except rare cases, to one of the two following classes: first, the placing of the details of an event that were written a day or two after it, at the very day of that even; secondly, the placing of a statement uttered at St. Helena forward under the date of the event itself. Of this second class there are not many instances.
There are also a number of cases of composite texts, as for instance the speech to the Council of Ancients on the 19th of Brumaire, or that to the Polish officers on the retreat from Leipzig, each made up from several versions. Once for all, the warning is given that such is the case, as from the nature of the book the footnotes covering this, and the other matters mentioned, appeared to be out of place; they would have been longer than the text itself.
The minor points also require notice: that the dates in terms of the revolutionary calendar have been modernized; and that the names and titles of individuals mentioned have been used with no attempt at uniformity;—thus Ney may be referred to under that name long after he had become Duke of Elchingen, and Price of the Moskowa. In an appendix the Napoleonic titles are tabulated, so that the reader can always refer back if necessary.
In conclusion, what truth this book conveys is not to be sought according to those rules for the treatment of historical documents which it avowedly contravenes, but in such psychological illumination of a great career and character as the method employed has rendered possible. For objectively Napoleon rarely, if ever, speaks the truth; yet subjectively how can he speak otherwise?
R. M. Johnston.
Cambridge, Mass., Sept., 1910.
