Note 288 — THE AGE OF BRONZE.
Reading edition
[The material for this description of Napoleon on his return from Moscow is drawn from De Pradt's Narrative of an Embassy to Warsaw and Wilna, published in 1816, pp. 133-141. "I hurried out, and arrived at the Hôtel d'Angleterre.... [Warsaw, December 10, 1812]. I saw a small carriage body placed on a sledge made of four pieces of fir: it had stood some crashes, and was much damaged.... The ministers joined me in addressing to him ... wishes for the preservation of his health and the prosperity of his journey. He replied, 'I never was better; if I carried the devil with me, I should be all the better for that (Quand j'aurai le diable je ne m'en porterai que mieux).' These were his last words. He then mounted the humble sledge, which bore Cæsar and his fortune, and disappeared." The passage is quoted in the Quarterly Review, October, 1815, vol. xiv. pp. 64-68.]