This obscure conventional, one of the most extraordinary men of our time, and the most misjudged, was moulded, as it were, by the whirlwind of events.

He raised himself under the Directory to the height from which men of genius could see the future and judge the past, and then, like certain commonplace actors who suddenly become admirable through the light of some vivid perception, he gave proofs of his dexterity during the rapid revolution of the 18th Brumaire.

This man with the pallid face, educated to monastic dissimulation, possessing the secrets of the _montagnards_ to whom he belonged, and those of the royalists to whom he ended by belonging, had slowly and silently studied the men, the events, and the interests on the political stage; he penetrated Napoleon's secrets, he gave him useful counsel and precious information.

Satisfied with having proven his capacity and his usefulness, Fouche was careful not to disclose himself completely.

He wished to remain at the head of affairs, but the Emperor's restless uneasiness about him cost him his place.
The ingratitude or rather the distrust shown by Napoleon after the affair at Walcheren, gives the key-note to the character of a man who, unfortunately for himself, was not a great _seigneur_, and whose conduct was modelled on that of Talleyrand.