Force, without intelligence, is nothing. In
barbarous ages, the man of stoutest sinews was the chieftain. Now
the general is the most intelligent of the brave. At Cairo, the
Egyptians could not comprehend how it was that Kleber, with his
majestic form, was not commander-in-chief. When Mourad Bey had
carefully observed our tactics, he could comprehend how it was that
I, and no other, ought to be the general of an army so conducted.
You reason like the Egyptians, when you attempt to confine rewards
to military valor. The soldiers reason better than you. Go to their
bivouacs; listen to them. Do you imagine that it is the tallest
of their officers, and the most imposing by his stature, for whom
they feel the highest regard! Do you imagine even that the bravest
stands first in their esteem. No doubt they would despise the man
whose courage they suspected; but they rank above the merely brave
man him who they consider the most intelligent. As for myself, do
you suppose that it is solely because I am reputed a great general
that I rule France! No! It is because the qualities of a statesman
and a magistrate are attributed to me.
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