Napoleon on the death of Charles James Fox
Context: Napoleon and Fox met in person during the Peace of Amiens. Fox was a radical British politician at the time and a strong critic of Britain’s wars against France
The death of Fox, Napoleon ever deemed one of the greatest of calamities. At St. Helena he said, “Half a dozen such men as Fox and Cornwallis would be sufficient to establish the moral character of a nation. With such men I should always have agreed. We should soon have settled our differences, and not only France would have been at peace with a nation at bottom worthy of esteem, but we should have done great things together.” Again he said, “Fame had informed me of his talents. I found that he possessed a noble character, a good heart, liberal, generous, and enlightened views. I considered him an ornament to mankind, and was very much attached to him.” And again he remarked, “Certainly the death of Fox was one of the fatalities of my career. Had his life been prolonged, affairs would hare taken a totally different turn. The cause of the people would have triumphed, and we should have established a new order of things in Europe.”
Source: The Life Of Napoleon Bonaparte, by John S. C. Abbott
