Note 2 — Chapter XXV
Reading edition
"I made the Moniteur the soul and life-blood of my government; it was the intermediate instrument of my communications with public opinion, both at home and abroad. Did any question arise respecting certain grand political combinations, or some delicate points of diplomacy? the objects were indirectly hinted at in the Moniteur. They instantly attracted universal attention, and became the topics of general investigation. The Moniteur has been reproached for the acrimony and virulence of its notes against the enemy: but before we condemn them, we are bound to take into consideration the benefits they may have produced, the anxiety with which they occasionally perplexed the enemy, the terror with which they struck a hesitating cabinet."—Napoleon, Las Cases, tom. iv., p. 186.