And the conversation again turned on the war, on Bonaparte, and the generals and statesmen of the day.

The old prince seemed convinced not only that all the men of the day were mere babies who did not know the A B C of war or of politics, and that Bonaparte was an insignificant little Frenchy, successful only because there were no longer any Potemkins or Suvorovs left to oppose him; but he was also convinced that there were no political difficulties in Europe and no real war, but only a sort of puppet show at which the men of the day were playing, pretending to do something real.

Prince Andrew gaily bore with his father's ridicule of the new men, and drew him on and listened to him with evident pleasure.