It is clear, then, that the France of 1796 was not the France of 1792. The change might have come even if the man had not come, but since 1792 a man had appeared in the revolutionary armies of France, whose talents for war would alone have made him powerful. But he possessed also an art in deceiving those with whom he negotiated, which bore a certain resemblance to that of Cæsar Borgia, who is said to have had a joviality and apparent simplicity of manner which, notwithstanding his often proved perfidy, amused men and put them off their guard, throwing them perpetually into his trap. His talents for war and his talents for deceiving mankind had raised this man to a great height of power; of power so great that the British Parliament was perhaps the only place in Europe where men dared to speak out their real opinions respecting him and his deeds.
It may be difficult to steer the middle course between those whom Mr. Cobden designates panic-mongers[1] and those whom others might designate confidence-mongers. We have all heard of the confidence-trick, and most of us have met with the man who while winking at his own cleverness
- ↑ "1793 and 1853," p. 58.
