Cambacérès， who had succeeded to his father as counselor at the bar of Montpellier， would have become president (of the tribunal) in his turn； meanwhile， he would have composed able jurisprudential treatises and invented some new paté de becfigues； Lebrun， former collaborator with Maupeou， might have become counselor in the court of excise at Paris， or chief-clerk in the Treasury department； he would have kept up a philosophical salon， with fashionable ladies and polished men of letters to praise his elegant and faulty translations. Amongst the future marshals， some of them， pure plebeians， Masséna， Augereau， Lannes， Ney， Lefebvre， might have succeeded through brilliant actions and have become "officers of fortune，" while others， taking in hand specially difficult services， like commandant Fischer who undertook the destruction of Mandrin's band， and again， like the hero Chevert， and the veteran Lückner， might have become lieutenant-generals. Rough as these men were， they would have found， even in the lower ranks， if not full employment for their superior faculties， at least sufficient food for their strong and coarse appetites； they would have uttered just the same oaths， at just as extravagant suppers， with mistresses of just the same caliber.[16] Had their temperament， character and genius been indomitable， had they reared and pranced to escape bridle and harness and been driven like ordinary men， they need not have broken out of the traces for all that； there were plenty of openings and issues for them on either side of the highway on which others were trotting along. Many families often contained， among numerous children， some hot-headed， imaginative youth， some independent nature rebellious in advance， in short， a refractory spirit， unwilling or incapable of being disciplined； a regular life， mediocrity， even the certainty of getting ahead， were distasteful to him； he would abandon the hereditary homestead or purchased office to the docile elder brother， son-in-law or nephew， by which the domain or the post remained in the family； as for himself， tempted by illimitable prospects， he would leave France and go abroad； Voltaire says[17] that "Frenchmen were found everywhere，" in Canada， in Louisiana， as surgeons， fencing-masters， riding-masters， officers， engineers， adventurers especially， and even filibusters， trappers and backwoodsmen， the supplest， most sympathetic and boldest of colonizers and civilizers， alone capable of bringing the natives under assimilation by assimilating with them， by adopting their customs and by marrying their women， mixing bloods， and forming new and intermediary races， like Dumas de La Pailleterie， whose descendants have furnished original and superior men for the past three generations， and like the Canada half-breeds by which the aboriginal race succeeds in transforming itself and in surviving. They were the first explorers of the great lakes， the first to trace the Mississippi to its mouth， and found colonial empires with Champlain and Lasalle in North America and with Dupleix and La Bourdonnais in Hindustan. Such was the outlet for daring， uncontrollable spirits， restive temperaments under constraint and subject to the routine of an old civilization， souls astray and unclassed from their birth， in which the primitive instincts of the nomad and barbarian sprouted afresh， in which insubordination was innate， and in which energy and capacity to take the initiative remained intact. - Mirabeau， having compromised his family by scandals， was on the point of being dispatched by his father to the Dutch Indies， where deaths were common； it might happen that he would be hanged or become governor of some large district in Java or Sumatra， the venerated and adored sovereign of five hundred thousand Malays， both ends being within the compass of his merits. Had Danton been well advised， instead of borrowing the money with which to buy an advocate's place in the Council at about seventy thousand livres， which brought him only three cases in four years and obliged him to hang on to the skirts of his father-in-law， he would have gone to Pondicherry or to the palace of some indigenous rajah or king as agent， councilor or companion of his pleasures； he might have become prime-minister to Tippoo Sahib， or other potentate， lived in a palace， kept a harem and had lacs of rupees； undoubtedly， he would have filled his prisons and occasionally emptied them by a massacre， as at Paris in September， but it would have been according to local custom， and operating only on the lives of Sheikhs and Mahrattas. Bonaparte， after the fall of his protectors， the two Robespierres， finding his career arrested， wanted to enter the Sultan's service； accompanied by Junot， Muiron， Marmont and other comrades， he could have carried to Constantinople rarer commodities， much better compensated in the Orient than in the Occident， namely military honor and administrative talent； he would have dealt in these two products， as he did in Egypt， at the right time and in the right place， at the highest price， without our conscientious scruples and without our European refinements of probity and humanity. No imagination can picture what he would have become there： certainly some pasha， like Djezzar in Syria， or a khedive like Mahomet-Ali， afterwards at Cairo； he already saw himself in the light of a conqueror， like Ghengis-Khan，[18] a founder like Alexander or Baber， a prophet like Mahomet； as he himself declares， "one could work only on a grand scale in the Orient，" and there he would have worked on a grand scale； Europe， perhaps， would have gained by it， and especially France.
III. Ambition and Selection.