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Ch. XXI.]
THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON.
243

face from the ass. "I could have borne every thing but this," the lion said. Napoleon showed the wood-cut, and added. "It is me and your governor."

Amongst other accusations against Napoleon, some writers have said that he was deficient in courage. He always gave me the idea, on the contrary, of being constitutionally fearless. I have already mentioned his feats of horsemanship, and the speed with which his carriage generally tore along the narrow mountainous roads of St. Helena would have been intolerable to a timid person. I have more than once seen gentlemen, whose horses were rather skittish, when the emperor approached them at a rapid pace, compelled to turn and gallop rapidly for some distance before him, to their great annoyance, until they reached an open space where they could pass his carriage without danger of their horses shying and going down a precipice. He had a description of jaunting-car, to which he