it would have been hard indeed , he thought , to marshal any argument in the face of the monologue , which bonaparte did not mind continuing in the absence of opposition or even response ; he ranged widely across philosophy and economics , the useless folly of government by clerks , the differences , which he detailed minutely on philosophical grounds quite beyond laurence 's comprehension , between the despotism of the bourbons and his own imperial state : they had been tyrants , parasites , holding power through superstition and for their own personal pleasure , lacking in merit ; he was the defender of the republic , and the servant of the nation .