He was frugal and correct in his personal habits, quick and shrewd in his dealings with men, bold and ambitious in the affairs of state.

His greatness consisted rather in the ability to abstain from abusing the advantages presented by fortune, than in the genius which moulds the current of affairs to the will.
His success depended on the temper of the people and the peculiar circumstances of the time.

His clearest title to greatness is found in the fact that he compelled eighty millions of people to live in peace for more than forty years, He made the world to centre on one will, and the horrors which mark the reigns of his successors were the legitimate result of the irresponsible sovereignty he established.

He formed his empire for the present, to the utter ignoring of the future.

Thus it would seem that the part he played was that of a shrewd politician, rather than that of a wise statesman..