Buonaparte.—His principal plaything.—Napoleon’s Grotto.—Buonaparte’s gratitude to his mother.—He goes to the Military School at Paris.—Made a lieutenant.—His first military service.—His address to the men under his command.—His conduct to poor tradesmen.—Reproof to his generals.—The Jaffa massacre.—Murder of the Duke d’Enghein.—Legion of honour.—Buonaparte threatens to invade England.—French invincibles.—An instance of generosity.—Napoleon’s bravery.—Battle of the Pyramids.—The battle of Lodi.—Napoleon’s return from Elba.—Campaign in Russia.—Allusion to Waterloo.—Buonaparte dies at St Helena.—The 18th of October a remarkable day.

“Now please to tell us all that you know about Buonaparte, for he was as fond of fighting as any man.”

226“That is true. The history of Buonaparte, and that of the Duke of Wellington, would be the history of almost all great battles fought since the French Revolution, fifty years ago; but you shall have a sprinkling of such things as I can remember of Buonaparte. Every soldier is pretty well acquainted with the fame of the Emperor Napoleon.”

“They say, that he was not a Frenchman: was he?”

“He was a Corsican; but as the island of Corsica became, by law, a French department two or three months before his birth, so he may be called a Frenchman. Napoleon Buonaparte was one of the greatest warriors of modern times. For many years before his death he became Emperor of the French.”

“Great as he was, Wellington beat him! Please to tell us something about him.”

“When a boy, his principal plaything was a brass cannon; and so fond was he of being alone, that when he could do so, he retired to a solitary summer-house among the rocks. The place is now called ‘Napoleon’s Grotto.’ In after-life he has been heard to say, that in childhood he was remarkable for obstinacy, and curiosity. Others say that he was high-spirited, quarrelsome, imperious, fond of solitude, and a sloven in his dress. One good thing I will tell you of him. He always spoke gratefully of the kindness of his mother. It 227was a saying of his, ‘The future good or bad conduct of a child depends entirely on his mother.’ From Brienne, where he was for a time educated, he was sent to the Royal Military School of Paris.”

“Ay! There he would learn everything about war.”

“At sixteen years of age he was made second lieutenant in a regiment of artillery, and seven years after he became a captain. During the French Revolution he took the command of a battalion of national guards; and the first military service he performed was against his own country, Corsica.”

“That was a bad beginning, to fight against his country.”

“I shall tell you about some of the battles in which he was afterwards engaged, but will now only give you a few anecdotes about him. Some of them are against him, and some in his favour.”

“That is the fairest way, to let us know both sides of the question.”

“At the age of twenty-six Buonaparte assumed the command of the army of Italy! ‘You are too young,’ said one of the directors, who hesitated about his appointment as general. ‘In a year,’ replied Napoleon, ‘I shall be either old or dead.’”

“He seems to have had a great deal of spirit.”

“‘Soldiers!’ said he, to the army under his 228command, ‘you are hungry and naked: the Republic owes you much, but she has not the means to pay her debts: I am come to lead you into the most fertile plains that the sun beholds. Rich provinces, opulent towns, all shall be at your disposal. Soldiers! with such a prospect before you, can you fail in courage and constancy?’ This was the first address he made to his army, and it ran like lightning from rank to rank. The men, who before were downhearted, became animated with hope and confidence, and the most distinguished officers of France, from that moment, determined to follow their youthful leader, as one who would assuredly lead them to victory and renown. Massena, Joubert, Augereau, Serrurier, and Lannes, were among them; though their well-tried courage and experience might have justified them in seeking the supreme command, yet they cheerfully followed one whom they were fully convinced, would be successful in his daring enterprise.”

“He was just the man for the French, then, for he knew how to call up their courage. But six-and-twenty must have been a young age for a general?”

“When Buonaparte was in his prosperity he employed, it is said, the same trades-people who supplied him in his former days. A silversmith, who had given him credit, when he set out for 229Italy, for a dressing-case, worth fifty pounds, was rewarded with all the business which his recommendations could bring to him; and being clever in his trade, he became, under the patronage of the emperor, one of the wealthiest citizens of Paris. A little hatter, and a cobler, who had served Buonaparte when a subaltern, might have risen in the same manner, had their skill equalled that of the silversmith. Napoleon’s example, however, could not persuade the good people of Paris to wear ill-shaped hats and clumsy boots; but he, in his own person, adhered to the last to his original connexion with these poor trades-people.”

“That is very much to his credit, whatever might be his faults.”

“It is, and we should act honestly when speaking of the character of an enemy. The British army and navy have furnished instances of this kind. Courage and fidelity frequently go together, so that the soldier or sailor, who is the first to face the cannon’s mouth, is often the last to turn his back on a friend. Buonaparte, once apprehensive that his generals were on the point of breaking into open mutiny, threw himself suddenly among them, and addressing the tallest of them in a threatening vehement tone, said, ‘You have been talking sedition: take care lest I fulfil my duty: your five feet ten inches would not hinder you from being shot within two hours.’”

230“That was enough to make the general that he spoke to tremble.”

“One of the blackest stains on the reputation of Buonaparte, is the massacre at Jaffa. Twelve hundred, some say nearly three thousand Turks, a part of the garrison of the place, surrendered. These were marched to some sand-hills, at a little distance from the town, and there, being divided into small parties, every man was shot or bayonetted. Not all the waters of the green ocean would ever wash that dark blot from Napoleon’s brow.”

“Shocking! shocking! That is a black mark on his brow indeed. There are quite enough soldiers fall in battle, but to shoot men when the battle is over is dreadful.”

“He is no true soldier who covers the name of an enemy with the slime of slander, but the truth must be spoken when it condemns as well as when it approves. The murder of the Duke d’Enghein, for murder it may properly be called, was another of the black acts of Buonaparte. The duke was surprised in his castle, hurried off to the citadel of Strasburgh, called up at midnight three days after, taken to Paris, and then to the Castle of Vincennes, hastily tried, and condemned, and afterwards shot in the ditch of the castle by torchlight. The seizure, trial, and condemnation, were all contrary to the laws of France.”

“Poor Duke d’Enghein!”

“Buonaparte was a man of great parts and 231much energy, but self was the centre of all he did, though many of his acts appear to manifest a love of his country. He instituted the famous legion of honour: every Frenchman is proud of it. The decoration of the legion of honour was given to those who performed any meritorious service, whether in the army or out of it. A common soldier could obtain it as well as a general. It entitles the wearer to certain precedence, and a pension. Napoleon, when made First Consul, was much thinner than in his after life. I have seen a picture of him, wherein he appeared to be taller and altogether a different kind of man to what he was when he became somewhat corpulent. Buonaparte threatened to invade England, but the attempt was never made, though he assembled one hundred thousand troops, and an immense flotilla of flat-bottomed boats, to bear them across the channel. If war can be justified at one time more than another, it is when a country is invaded. The British spirit rose at once, so that, besides the regular troops, and militia of the country, three hundred and fifty thousand volunteers were soon in arms. On this occasion Sir Walter Scott wrote his song to the Edinburgh volunteers. One of the verses runs thus:—
‘If ever breath of British gale
Shall fan the tri-colour,
Or footsteps of invader rude,
With rapine foul, and red with blood,
Pollute our happy shores—
232Then farewell home, and farewell friends!
Adieu each tender tie!
Resolved, we mingle in the tide
Where charging squadrons furious ride,
To conquer or to die!’

“Sheridan said, that the first vision of Buonaparte in the morning, was the destruction of England, and that his last prayer at night, whether he addressed it to Jupiter, or to Mahomet, to the goddess of battle, or the goddess of reason, was to bring about the same end.”

“It was a good thing the French gave it up. There would have been sad work of it. Do you think they woul............