II. MARSHAL BERTHIER. The Talents a Revolution developes-Creation of the MarshalsBerthier's Character and History-Soliloquy of Napoleon-Berthier's Death. NOTHING is more unfortunate for a great man, than to be born beside a greater, and walk, during life-time in his shadow. It is equally unfortunate to be great only in one department that is still better filled by another. Had Shakspere not lived, Massinger might have stood at the head of English dramatists; and had Alfieri kept silent, a host of writers, now almost unknown, would have occupied the Italian stage. Had it not been for Cæsar, Brutus might have ruled the world; and were it not for Bonaparte, many a French general would occupy a separate place in that history of which they are now only transient figures. Great men, like birds, seem to come in flocks; and yet but one stands as the representative of his age. peak which first catches the sunlight is crowned monarch of the hills, and the rest, however lofty, are but his bodyguard. Much injustice has been done to Bonaparte's generals by not allowing for the influence of this principle. There is scarcely a historian that will concede to such men as Lannes, Davoust, Murat, and Ney, any dominant quality, except bravery. Under the guiding intellect of Napoleon, they The 68 REVOLUTION DEVELOPES GENIUS. fought nobly; but when left to their own resources. miserably failed. Yet the simple truth is: being compelled, by their relative position, to let another plan for them, they could do little else than execute orders. A mind dependent is cramped and confined, and can exhibit its power only by the force and vigour with which it executes rather than forms plans. But if it be a misfortune for a great man to live and move in the shadow of a still greater, it is directly the reverse with a weak man. The shadow of the genius in which he walks, mantles his stupidity, and by the dim glory it casts over him, magnifies his proportions. Such was the position of Boswell to Johnson, and this is the secret of Berthier's fame. Being selected by Napoleon as the chief of his staff, and his most intimate companion; he has linked himself indissolubly with immortality. cumstances. The times in which Bonaparte lived, were well calculated to produce such men as he gathered around him. A revolution, by its upturnings, brings to the surface materials, of the existence of which, no man ever dreamed before. Circumstances make men, who then usually return the compliment, and make cirIn ordinary times, as a general rule, the souls of men exhibit what force and fire they may contain, in those channels where birth has placed them. This is more especially true in all monarchical and aristocratical governments. The iron framework they stretch over the human race, effectually presses down every throb that would otherwise send an undulation over the mass. No head can lift itself except in the legitimate way, while very small heads that happen to hit the aperture aristocracy has kindly left open, may reach a high elevation. Revolution rends this frame-work as if it were a cobweb, and lets the struggling, panting mass beneath, suddenly erect themselves to their full height and fling abroad their arms in their full strength. The surface, which before kept its even plane, except where a star or decoration told the right of the wearer to overlook his fellow, becomes all at once a wild waste of rolling billows. Then man is known by the force within him, and not by the pomp about him. There is also a prejudice and bigotry always attached to rank, which prevents it from seeing the worth below it, while it will not measure by a just standard, because that would depreciate its own excellence. Those, on the contrary, who obtain influence through the soul and force they carry within them, appreciate these things alone in others, and hence judge them by a true criterion. Thus Bonaparte-himself sprung from the middle class of society-selected men to lead his armies from their personal qualities alone. This is one great secret of his astonishing victories. Dukes and princes led the allied armies, while men headed the battalions of France. Bonaparte judged men by what they could do, and not by their genealogy. He looked not at the decorations that adorned the breast, but at the deeds that stamped the warrior-not at the learning that made the perfect tactician, but the real practical force that wrought out great achievements. Victorious battle-fields were to him the birth-place of titles, and the commencement of genealogies; and stars were hung on scarred and war-battered, rather than on noble breasts. He had learned the truth taught in every physical or moral revolution, that the great effective moulding characters of our race always |