Contempt does not, in his case, mitigate anger; he will be hideous, and he will remain ridiculous.

That is all.
History laughs and crushes.
Even the most indignant chroniclers will not help him there.

Great thinkers take satisfaction in castigating the great despots, and, in some instances, even exalt them somewhat, in order to make them worthy of their rage; but what would you have the historian do with this fellow?
The historian can only lead him to posterity by the ear.
The man once stripped of success, the pedestal removed, the dust fallen, the tinsel and spangles and the great sabre taken away, the poor little skeleton laid bare and shivering,--can one imagine anything meaner and more pitiful?
History has its tigers.

The historians, immortal keepers of wild beasts, exhibit this imperial menagerie to the nations.

Tacitus alone, that great showman, captured and confined eight or ten of these tigers in the iron cage of his style.