"Bourrienne had a prodigious memory; he spoke and wrote in several languages, and his pen ran as quickly as one could speak.

Nor were these the only advantages he possessed.

He knew the routine of public business and public law.

His activity and devotion made him indispensable to the First Consul.

I knew the qualities which won for him the unlimited confidence of his chief, but I cannot speak with the same assurance of the faults which made him lose it.