IthasbeengenerallysupposedthatNapoleonwasabelieverinthedoctrineofpredestination.ThefollowingconversationwithLasCasesclearlydecidesthatpoint.\"Pray，\"saidhe，\"amInotthoughttobegiventoabeliefinpredestination？\"——\"Yes，Sire;atleastbymanypeople.\"——\"Well，well！letthemsaywhattheyplease，onemaysometimesbetemptedtosetapart，anditmayoccasionallybeuseful.Butwhataremen？Howmucheasierisittooccupytheirattentionandtostriketheirimaginationsbyabsurditiesthanbyrationalideas！Butcanamanofsoundsenselistenforonemomenttosuchadoctrine？Eitherpredestinationadmitstheexistenceoffree—will，oritrejectsit.
Ifitadmitsit，whatkindofpredeterminedresultcanthatbewhichasimpleresolution，astep，aword，mayalterormodifyadinfinitum？
Ifpredestination，onthecontrary，rejectstheexistenceoffree—willitisquiteanotherquestion;inthatcaseachildneedonlybethrownintoitscradleassoonasitisborn，thereisnonecessityforbestowingtheleastcareuponit，forifitbeirrevocablydecreedthatitistolive，itwillgrowthoughnofoodshouldbegiventoit.Youseethatsuchadoctrinecannotbemaintained;predestinationisbutawordwithoutmeaning.TheTurksthemselves，theprofessorsofpredestination，arenotconvincedofthedoctrine，forinthatcasemedicinewouldnotexistinTurkey，andamanresidinginathirdfloorwouldnottakethetroubleofgoingdownstairs，butwouldimmediatelythrowhimselfoutofthewindow.
Youseetowhatastringofabsurditiesthatwilllead？\"
Thefollowingtraitsarecharacteristicoftheman.Inthecommonintercourseoflife，andhisfamiliarconversation，Napoleonmutilatedthenamesmostfamiliartohim，evenFrenchnames;yetthiswouldnothaveoccurredonanypublicoccasion.HehasbeenheardmanytimesduringhiswalkstorepeatthecelebratedspeechofAugustusinCorneille’stragedy，andhehasnevermissedsaying，\"Takeaseat，Sylla，\"insteadofCinna.Hewouldfrequentlycreatenamesaccordingtohisfancy，andwhenhehadonceadoptedthemtheyremainedfixedinhismind，althoughtheywerepronouncedproperlyahundredtimesadayinhishearing;buthewouldhavebeenstruckifothershadusedthemashehadalteredthem.Itwasthesamethingwithrespecttoorthography;ingeneralhedidnotattendtoit，yetifthecopieswhichweremadecontainedanyfaultsofspellinghewouldhavecomplainedofit.OnedayNapoleonsaidtoLasCases，\"Yourorthographyisnotcorrect，isit？\"