But hero-worship which can stand the strain of actual converse is rare indeed, especially when the expectant devotee is endowed with keen insight and habits of trenchant expression.

One phrase has come down to us as a result of the interview; but this phrase contains a volume of meaning.

After Paoli had explained the disposition of his troops against the French at Ponte Nuovo, Buonaparte drily remarked to his brother Joseph, "The result of these dispositions was what was inevitable." [13] For the present, Buonaparte and other Corsican democrats were closely concerned with the delinquencies of the Comte de Buttafuoco, the deputy for the twelve nobles of the island to the National Assembly of France.

In a letter written on January 23rd, 1791, Buonaparte overwhelms this man with a torrent of invective .-- He it was who had betrayed his country to France in 1768.

Self-interest and that alone prompted his action then, and always.