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"Soldiers: You are one of the wings of the Army of England. You have made war in mountains, plains, and cities. It remains to make it on the ocean. The Roman legions, whom you have often imitated, but never yet equaled, combated Carthage, by turns, on the seas and on the plains of Zama. Victory never deserted their standards, because they never ceased to be brave, patient, and united. Soldiers, the eyes of Europe are upon you. You have great destinies to accomplish, battles to fight, dangers and fatigues to overcome. You are about to do more than you have yet done, for the prosperity of your country, the happiness of man, and for your own glory."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/53


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lee, Sophia

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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50

"I have learned, citizens, with deep regret, that an old man, between seventy and eighty years of age, and some unfortunate women, in a state of pregnancy, or surrounded by children of tender age, have been shot on the charge of emigration.

"Have the soldiers of liberty become executioners? Can the mercy which they have exercised even in the fury of the battle be extinct in their hearts?

"The law of the 19th Fructidor was a measure of public safety. Its object was to reach conspirators, not women and aged men.

"I therefore exhort you, citizens, whenever the law brings to your tribunals women or old men, to declare that in the field of battle you have respected the women and old men of your enemies.

"The officer who signs a sentence against a person incapable of bearing arms is a coward."

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Rh

"Soldiers:—You are about to undertake a conquest the effects of which, on civilization and commerce, are incalculable. The blow you are about to give to England will be the best aimed, the most sensibly felt, she can receive until the time arrives when you can give her her death-blow.

"We must make some fatiguing marches; we must fight several battles; we shall succeed in all we undertake. The destinies are with us. The Mameluke beys, who favor exclusively English commerce, whose extortions oppress our merchants, and who tyrannize over the unfortunate inhabitants of the Nile, a few days after our arrival will no longer exist.

"The people amongst whom we are going to live are Mahometans. The first article of their faith is this: 'There is but one God and Mahomet is His prophet.' Do not contradict them, Behave to them as you

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52 to the Jews—to the Italians. Pay respect to their muftis and their imaums, as you did to the rabbis and the bishops. Extend to the ceremonies prescribed by the Koran and the mosques the same toleration which you showed to the synagogues, to the religion of Moses and of Jesus Christ.

"The Roman legions protect all religions. You will here find customs different from those of Europe. You must accommodate yourselves to them. The people amongst whom we are about to mix differ from us in the treatment of women; but in all countries he who violates is a monster. Pillage only enriches a small number of men; it dishonors us; it destroys our resources; it converts into enemies the people whom it is our interest to have for friends.

"The first town we shall come to was built by Alexander. At every step we shall meet with grand recollections, worthy of exciting the emulation of Frenchmen."

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Rh

"People of Egypt: You will be told by our enemies, that I am come to destroy your religion. Believe them not. Tell them that I am come to restore your rights, punish your usurpers, and raise the true worship of Mahomet. Tell them that I venerate, more than I do the Mamelukes, God, His prophet, and the Koran. Tell them that all men are equal in the sight of God; that wisdom, talents, and virtue alone constitute the difference between them. And what are the virtues which distinguish the Mamelukes, that entitle them to appropriate all the enjoyments of life to themselves? If Egypt is their farm, let them show their lease, from God, by which they hold it. Is there a fine estate? It belongs to the Mamelukes. Is there a beautiful slave, a fine horse, a good house? All belong to the Mamelukes. But God is just and merciful, and He hath ordained that the Empire of the Mamelukes shall come to an end. Thrice happy those who shall side with us; they shall prosper in their fortune and their rank. Happy they who shall be neutral; they will have time to become acquainted with us, and will range

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/57


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lee, Thomas


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54 themselves upon our side. But woe, threefold woe, to those who shall arm for the Mamelukes and fight against us! For them there will be no hope; they shall perish."

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Rh

"Citizen Directors:—On the morning of the 2d Thermidor we caught sight of the Pyramids.

"On the evening of the 2d, we were within six leagues of Cairo, and I learned that the twenty-three beys, with all their forces, were intrenched at Embâbeh, and that their intrenchments were armed by more than sixty pieces of cannon.

"On the 3d, at dawn, we encountered their vanguard, which we drove from village to village. At 2 o'clock in the afternoon we arrived before their intrenchments and found ourselves in the presence of the enemy.

"I ordered the divisions of Generals Desaix and Reynier to take up their position on the right, between Gyseh and Embâbeh, in such a manner as to cut off the enemy's communication with upper Egypt, which is their natural retreat. The position of the army was the same as at Battle of Chobiâkhyt.

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56 "No sooner had Mourad-Bey perceived General Desaix's movements, than he resolved to charge him. He despatched one of his bravest beys with a corps of picked men, who, with lightning rapidity, charged the two divisions. They were allowed to get within fifty feet, then we greeted them with a shower of balls and grape-shot which left many of their number dead on the battle-field. They dashed into the space formed by the two divisions, where they were received by a double fire which completed their defeat.

"I seized the opportunity and ordered General Bon's division, which was on the Nile, to prepare for an attack on the enemy's intrenchments. I ordered General Menon's division, which was commanded by General Vial, to bear down between the corps that had just charged us and the intrenchments, in such a manner as to accomplish the triple end of,—

"Preventing this corps reëntering their intrenchments.

"Cutting off the retreat of those who occupied them.

"And finally, if necessary, of attacking the intrenchments on the left.

"Directly the generals, Vial and Bon, were in position, they ordered the first and third divisions of each battalion to draw up in

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Rh of attack, while the second and fourth retained their former position, forming a square battalion, now only three deep, while they advanced to support the columns of attack.

"General Bon's columns of attack, commanded by the brave General Rampon, threw themselves upon the intrenchments with their usual impetuosity, in spite of the fire from a large quantity of artillery, when suddenly the Mamelukes made a charge. They emerged from their intrenchments on a full gallop, but our columns had time to come to a halt, to face all sides, and receive them on the points of their bayonets, or by a shower of balls. In an instant the field was strewn with the enemy.

"Our troops soon razed their intrenchments. The Mamelukes fled, precipitating themselves en masse upon their left, but General Vial was ready for them. They were obliged to pass within five feet of a battalion of our riflemen, and the butchery was awful. A large number threw themselves into the Nile and were drowned.

"After the numerous combats and battles that my troops have gained over superior forces, I should not think of praising their conduct and their sang-froid on this occasion,

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58 were it not that this new method of warfare has required, on their part, a patience which contrasts with French impetuosity. Had they given way to their ardor they could not have gained the victory, which was obtainable only by great coolness and patience.

"The Mamelukes' cavalry displayed great bravery; they defended their fortunes, and upon every one of them our soldiers found from three to five hundred louis.

"All the luxury of these people is in their horses and their accoutrements; their houses are pitiable.

"It would be difficult to find a land more fertile, and a people more miserable, more ignorant, more abject. They prefer one of our soldier's buttons to a six-franc piece.

"In the villages they do not even know the sight of a pair of scissors. Their houses are made of a little mud. Their sole furniture is a mat of straw and two or three earthen pots. They eat and burn very little as a general thing. They do not know the use of mills; consequently, we frequently bivouacked on stalks of wheat without being able to obtain any flour. We live on vegetables and cattle. The little grain they do use, they grind into flour with stones, and in some of the large villages they have mills turned by oxen.

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50 Three gaudy standards flout the pale blue skies;

The shouts are France, Spain, Albion, Victory!

The Foe, the Victim, and the fond Ally

That fights for all, but ever fights in vain,

Are met—as if at home they could not die—

To feed the crow on Talavera's plain,

And fertilise the field that each pretends to gain.

XLII.

There shall they rot—Ambition's honoured fools!

Yes, Honour decks the turf that wraps their clay!

Vain Sophistry! in these behold the tools,

The broken tools, that Tyrants cast away


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Rh "We are constantly annoyed by clouds of Arabs; they are the greatest robbers and the greatest rascals on the face of the earth, assassinating alike Turks and French, or any one who falls in their way.

"Brigadier-General Mireur and several aides-de-camp and officers of the staff have been assassinated by these wretches. They lie in ambush behind banks and ditches on their excellent little horses, and woe to him who ventures to wander a hundred feet from the columns.

"By a fatality that I have often observed to follow men whose last hour approaches. General Mireur went alone, in spite of the remonstrances of the main-guard, to a little elevation about two hundred feet from the camp. Behind it were stationed three Bedouins who murdered him.

"The Republic has met with a real loss. He was one of the bravest generals I have ever known.

"There is very little coin in this country, not enough to pay the army. There is plenty of wheat, rice, vegetables, and cattle. The Republic could not have a colony better suited to its needs, nor of a richer soil. The climate is very healthy, owing to the cool nights.

"In spite of fifteen days' march, and all kinds

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60 of fatigue, the absolute deprivation of wine, in fact, of everything that could alleviate fatigue, we have no one on the sick list. The soldiers have found a great resource in the postèques, a kind of watermelon that is very abundant here."

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Rh

" There shall be in each province of Egypt a divan, composed of seven individuals, whose duty it will be to superintend the interests of the province; to communicate to me any complaints that may be made; to prevent warfare among the different villages; to apprehend and punish criminals (for which purpose they may demand assistance from the French commandant); and to take every opportunity of enlightening the people.

" There shall be in each province an aga of the Janizaries, maintaining constant communication with the French commandant. He shall have with him a company of sixty armed natives, whom he may take wherever he pleases, for the maintenance of good order, subordination, and tranquillity.

" There shall be in each province an intendant, whose business will be to levy the Miri, the feddan, and the other

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text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lee, William (d.1610?)


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62 which formerly belonged to the Mamelukes, but which now belong to the French Republic. The intendants shall have as many agents as may be necessary.

" The said intendant shall have a French agent to correspond with the Finance Department, and to execute all the orders he may receive."

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Rh

"You are, of course, already informed of my arrival on the banks of the Red Sea, with a numerous and invincible army. Eager to deliver you from the iron yoke of England, I hasten to request that you will send me, by the way of Muscate or Mocha, an account of the political situation in which you are. I also wish that you would send to Suez, or Grand Cairo, some able man, in your confidence, with whom I may confer."

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64

"Soldiers: You have traversed the desert which separates Asia from Africa, with the rapidity of an Arab force. The army, which was on its march to invade Egypt, is destroyed. You have taken its general, its field-artillery, camels, and baggage. You have captured all the fortified posts, which secure the wells of the desert. You have dispersed, at Mount Tabor, those swarms of brigands, collected from all parts of Asia, hoping to share the plunder of Egypt. The thirty ships, which twelve days since you saw enter the port of Acre, were destined for an attack upon Alexandria. But you compelled them to hasten to the relief of Acre. Several of their standards will contribute to adorn your triumphal entry into Egypt. After having maintained the war with a handful of men, during three months, in the heart of Syria, taken forty pieces of cannon, fifty stands of colors, six thousand prisoners, and captured or destroyed the fortifications of Gaza, Jaffa, and Acre, we prepare to return to Egypt, where, by a threatened invasion, our presence is imperiously demanded. A few days longer

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text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lee, William (1688-1754)


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lee, William (1809-1865)


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Rh might give you the hope of taking the Pacha in his palace. But at this season the palace of Acre is not worth the loss of three days, nor the loss of those brave soldiers who would consequently fall, and who are necessary for more essential services. Soldiers, we have yet a toilsome and a perilous task to perform. After having by this campaign secured ourselves from attacks from the eastward, it will perhaps be necessary to repel the efforts which may be made from the west."

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text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lee, William (1815-1883)


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66

"The news from Europe has determined me to proceed to France. I leave the command of the army to General Kléber. The army shall hear from me forthwith; at present I can say no more. It costs me much pain to quit troops to whom I am so strongly attached. But my absence will be but temporary, and the general I leave in command has the confidence of the Government as well as mine."

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19th Brumaire, 11 o'clock, "Frenchmen: On my return to France I found division reigning amongst all the authorities. They agreed only on this single point, that the Constitution was half destroyed, and was unable to protect liberty.

"Each party in turn came to me, confided to me their designs, imparted their secrets, and requested my support. I refused to be the man of a party.

"The Council of the Ancients appealed to me. I answered their appeal. A plan of general restoration had been concerted by men whom the nation has been accustomed to regard as the defenders of liberty, equality, and property. This plan required calm and free deliberation, exempt from all influence and all fear. The Ancients resolved, therefore, upon the removal of the legislative bodies to St. Cloud.

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68 They placed at my disposal the force necessary to secure their independence. I was bound, in duty to my fellow citizens, to the soldiers perishing in our armies, and to the national glory, acquired at the cost of so much blood, to accept the command.

"The councils assembled at St. Cloud. Republican troops guaranteed their safety from without, but assassins created terror within. Many members of the Council of the Five Hundred, armed with stilettos and pistols, spread menaces of death around them.

"The plans which ought to have been developed were withheld. The majority of the council was rendered inefficient; the boldest orators were disconcerted, and the inutility of submitting any salutary proposition was quite evident.

"I proceeded, filled with indignation and grief, to the Council of the Ancients. I besought them to carry their noble designs into execution. I directed their attention to the evils of the nation, which were their motives for conceiving those designs. They concurred in giving me new proofs of their uniform good-will.

"I presented myself before the Council of the Five Hundred, alone, unarmed, my head uncovered, just as the Ancients had received

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Rh and applauded me. My object was to restore to the majority the expression of its will, and to secure to it its power.

"The stilettos which had menaced the deputies were instantly raised against their deliverer. Twenty assassins rushed upon me, and aimed at my breast. The grenadiers of the legislative body, whom I had left at the door of the hall, ran forward, and placed themselves between me and the assassins. One of these brave grenadiers (Thomé) had his clothes pierced by a stiletto. They bore me off.

"At the same moment cries of 'Outlaw him' were raised against the defender of the law. It was the horrid cry of assassins against the power destined to repress them.

"They crowded around the President, uttering threats. With arms in their hands they commanded him to declare 'the outlawry.' I was informed of this. I ordered him to be rescued from their fury, and six grenadiers of the legislative body brought him out. Immediately afterwards some grenadiers of the legislative body charged into the hall and cleared it.

"The factions, intimidated, dispersed and fled. The majority, freed from their assaults, returned freely and peaceably into the hall, listened to the propositions made for the

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70 safety, deliberated, and drew up the salutary resolution which will become the new and provisional law of the Republic.

"Frenchmen, you doubtless recognize in this conduct the zeal of a soldier of liberty, of a citizen devoted to the Republic. Conservative, tutelary, and liberal ideas resumed their authority upon the dispersion of the factions, who domineered in the councils, and who, in rendering themselves the most odious of men, did not cease to be the most contemptible."

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Rh

"Soldiers: The Consuls of the French Republic frequently direct their attention to the Army of the East.

"France acknowledged all the influence of your conquests on the restoration of her trade and civilization of the world.

"The eyes of all Europe are upon you, and in thought I am often with you.

"In whatsoever situation the chances of war may place you, prove yourselves still the soldiers of Rivoli and Aboukir—you will be invincible.

"Place in Kléber the boundless confidence you placed in me. He deserves it.

"Soldiers, think of the day when you will return victorious to the sacred territory of France. That will be a glorious day for this whole nation."

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72

"Frenchmen: You have been anxious for peace. Your Government has desired it with still greater ardor. Its first efforts, its constant wishes, have been for its attainment. The English Ministry has exposed the secret of its iniquitous policy. It wishes to dismember France, to destroy its commerce, and either to erase it from the map of Europe, or to degrade it to a secondary power. England is willing to embroil all the nations of the Continent in hostility with each other, that she may enrich herself with the spoils, and gain possession of the trade of the world. For the attainment of this object she scatters her gold, becomes prodigal of her promises, and multiplies her intrigues."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/76


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leech, David


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leech, Humphrey


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Rh

"Soldiers: When we began our march, one department of France was in the hands of the enemy. Consternation pervaded the south of the Republic. You advanced. Joy and hope in our country have succeeded to consternation and fear. The enemy, terror-struck, seeks only to regain his frontiers. You have taken his hospitals, his magazines, his reserve parks. The first act of the campaign is finished. Millions of men address you in strains of praise. But shall we allow our audacious enemies to violate with impunity the territory of the Republic? Will you permit the army to escape which has carried terror into your families? You will not. March, then, to meet him. Tear from his brows the laurels he has won. Teach the world that a malediction attends those that violate the territory of the Great People. The result of our efforts will be unclouded glory, and a durable peace."

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74

"Sire:—It is on the field of battle, amid the sufferings of a multitude of wounded, and surrounded by fifteen thousand corpses, that I beseech your Majesty to listen to the voice of humanity, and not to suffer two brave nations to cut each other's throats for interests not their own. It is my part to press this upon your Majesty, being upon the very theatre of war. Your Majesty's heart can not feel it so keenly as does mine.

"For what are you fighting? For religion? Then make war on the Russians and the English, who are the enemies of your faith. Do you wish to guard against revolutionary principles? It is this very war which has extended them over half the continent, by extending the conquests of France. The continuance of the war can not fail to diffuse them still further. Is it for the balance of Europe? The English threaten that balance far more than does France, for they have become the masters and the tyrants of commerce, and are beyond the reach of resistance. Is it to secure the interests of the House of Austria? Let us then execute the Treaty of

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/78


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leech, John (fl.1623)


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Rh Campo Formio, which secures to your Majesty large indemnities in compensation for the provinces lost in the Netherlands, and secures them to you where you most wish to obtain them, that is, in Italy. Your Majesty may send negotiators whither you will, and we will add to the Treaty of Campo Formio stipulations calculated to assure you of the continued existence of the secondary States, all of which the French Republic is accused of having shapen. Upon these conditions peace is made if you will. Let us make the armistice general for all the armies, and enter into negotiations instantly."

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76

"The Government of the Republic, having heard read, by the Minister of Marine and Colonies, a despatch from the maritime prefect at Brest, announcing that two English frigates had taken two merchant vessels in the Bay of Andrieu, without any previous declaration of war, and in manifest violation of the law of nations,—

"All the English, from the ages of eighteen to sixty, or holding any commission from his Britannic Majesty, who are at present in France, shall immediately be constituted prisoners of war, to answer for those citizens of the Republic who may have been arrested and made prisoners by the vessels or subjects of his Britannic Majesty previous to any declaration of hostilities."

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"Most Holy Father:—The happy effect produced upon the character and morality of my people by the reëstablishment of religion induces me to beg your Holiness to give me a new proof of your interest in my destiny, and in that of this great nation, in one of the most important conjunctures presented in the annals of the world. I beg you to come and give, to the highest degree, a religious character to the anointing and coronation of the first Emperor of the French. That ceremony will acquire a new lustre by being performed by your Holiness in person. It will bring down upon our people, and yourself, the blessing of God, whose decrees rule the destiny of Empires and families. Your Holiness is aware of the affectionate sentiments I have long borne towards you, and can thence judge of the pleasure that this

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78 will afford me of testifying them anew. We pray God that He may preserve you, most Holy Father, for many years, to rule and govern our mother, the Holy Church. "Your dutiful son, "."

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Rh

"Soldiers: Behold your colors! These eagles will always be your rallying point! They will always be where your Emperor may think them necessary for the defence of his throne and of his people. Swear to sacrifice your lives to defend them, and by your courage to keep them constantly in the path of victory. Swear!"

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80

"Sir, my brother:—Called to the throne by Providence, by the suffrages of the Senate, of the people, and of the army, my first desire is peace. France and England, abusing their prosperity, may contend for ages. But do their respective governments fulfil their most sacred duties in causing so much blood to be vainly shed without the hope of advantage or the hope of cessation? I do not conceive that it can be deemed dishonorable in me to make the first advances. I believe it has been sufficiently proved to the world that I dread none of the chances of war, which indeed offer nothing that I can fear. Though peace is the wish of my heart, yet war has never been adverse to my glory. I conjure your Majesty, then, not to refuse the happiness of giving peace to the world. Delay not that grateful satisfaction, that it may be a legacy for your children; for never have arisen more favorable circumstances, nor a more propitious moment for calming every passion and displaying the best feelings of humanity and reason. That moment once lost, what term shall we set to a struggle which all my efforts have been unable to terminate. In the

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Rh space of ten years your Majesty has gained more in wealth and territory than the extent of Europe comprehends. Your people have attained the height of prosperity. What then has your Majesty to hope from war? The world is sufficiently extensive for our two nations; and reason might assist us to discover means of conciliating all, were both parties animated by a spirit of reconcilement. At all events I have discharged a sacred duty, and one clear to my heart. Your Majesty may rely upon the sincerity of the sentiments now expressed, and on my desire to afford your Majesty every proof of that sincerity."

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82

"Jerome is wrong to think that he will be able to count upon any weakness on my part, for, not having the rights of a father, I cannot entertain for him the feeling of a father; a father allows himself to be blinded, and it pleases him to be blinded because he identifies his son with himself.

"But what am I to Jerome? Sole instrument of my destiny, I owe nothing to my brothers. They have made an abundant harvest out of what I have accomplished in the way of glory; but, for all that, they must not abandon the field and deprive me of the aid I have a right to expect from them. They will cease to be anything for me, directly they take a road opposed to mine. If I expect so much from my brothers, who have already rendered many services, if I have abandoned the one who, in mature age (Lucien), refused to follow my advice, what must not Jerome, who is still young, and is known only for his neglect of duty, expect? If he does nothing for me, I shall see in this the decree of destiny, which has decided that I shall do nothing for him."

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text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leech, John (1565-1650?)


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Rh

, 16 Floréal, year 13. "My brother, your letter of this morning informs me of your arrival in Alexandria. There are no faults that a true repentance will not efface in my eyes.

"Your union with Mademoiselle Paterson is null, alike in the eyes of religion and of the law. Write Mademoiselle Paterson to return to America. I will grant her a pension of 60,000 francs during her lifetime, on condition that she will under no circumstances bear my name,—she has no right to do so owing to the non-existence of her marriage. You must yourself give her to understand that you are powerless to change the nature of things. Your marriage being thus annulled by your own consent, I will restore to you my friendship and continue to feel for you as I have done since your infancy, hoping that you will prove yourself worthy by the efforts you make to acquire my gratitude and to distinguish yourself in my armies."

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84

"Senators: It is necessary, in the present state of Europe, that I should explain to you my sentiments. I am about to quit my capital, to place myself at the head of my army, to bear prompt assistance to my allies, and to defend the dearest interests of my people. The wishes of the eternal enemies of the continent are accomplished. Hostilities have commenced in the midst of Germany; Austria and Russia have united with England, and our generation is involved anew in the calamity of war. A few days ago I still cherished the hope that peace would not be disturbed. But the Austrian army has passed the Inn. Munich is invaded; the Elector of Bavaria has been driven from his capital. All my hopes of peace have vanished."

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text:
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Rh

"Soldiers: The war of the third coalition is commenced. The Austrian army has passed the Inn, violated treaties, attacked and driven our ally from his capital. You yourselves have been obliged to hasten, by forced marches, to the defence of our frontiers. But you have now passed the Rhine; and we will not stop now till we have secured the independence of the Germanic body, succored our allies, and humbled the pride of our unjust assailants. We will not again make peace without a sufficient guarantee! Our generosity shall not again wrong our policy. Soldiers, your Emperor is among you! You are but the advanced guard of the great people. If it is necessary they will all rise at my call to confound and dissolve this new league, which has been created by the malice and gold of England. But, soldiers, we shall have forced marches to make, privations of every kind to endure. Still, whatever obstacles may be opposed to us, we will conquer them; and we will never rest until we have planted our eagles on the territory of our enemies!"

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86

"Gentlemen: War has its chances. Often victorious, you must expect sometimes to be vanquished. Your master wages against me an unjust war. I say it candidly, I know not for what I am fighting, I know not what he requires of me. He has wished to remind me that I was once a soldier. I trust he will find that I have not forgotten my original avocation. I want nothing on the continent, I desire ships, colonies, and commerce. Their acquisition would be as advantageous to you as to me."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/90


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leech, John (1817-1864)


text:
Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/91

Rh

"Soldiers of the Grand Army: In a fortnight we have finished the entire campaign. What we proposed to do has been done. We have driven the Austrian troops from Bavaria, and restored our ally to the sovereignty of his dominions.

"That army, which, with equal presumption and imprudence, marched upon our frontiers, is annihilated.

"But what does this signify to England? She has gained her object. We are no longer at Boulogne, and her subsidy will be neither more nor less.

"Of a hundred thousand men who composed that army, sixty thousand are prisoners. They will replace our conscripts in the labors of agriculture.

"Two hundred pieces of cannon, the whole park of artillery, ninety flags, and all their generals are in our power. Fifteen thousand men only have escaped.

"Soldiers: I announced to you the result of a great battle; but, thanks to the ill-devised schemes of the enemy, I was enabled to secure the wished-for result without incurring any

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88 danger, and, what is unexampled in the history of nations, that result has been gained at the sacrifice of scarcely fifteen hundred men killed and wounded.

"Soldiers: this success is due to your unlimited confidence in your Emperor, to your patience in enduring fatigues and privations of every kind, and to your singular courage and intrepidity.

"But we will not stop here. You are impatient to commence another campaign.

"The Russian army, which English gold has brought from the extremities of the universe, shall experience the same fate as that which we have just defeated.

"In the conflict in which we are about to engage, the honor of the French infantry is especially concerned. We shall now see another decision of the question which has already been determined in Switzerland and Holland; namely, whether the French infantry is the first or the second in Europe.

"Among the Russians there are no generals in contending against whom I can acquire any glory. All I wish is to obtain the victory with the least possible bloodshed. My soldiers are my children."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/92


text: Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 4.djvu/174


text: Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 4.djvu/176


text: Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 4.djvu/172


text:
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Rh

"Soldiers: The Russian army has presented itself before you to revenge the disasters of the Austrians at Ulm. They are the same men that you conquered at Hollabrunn, and on whose flying trails you have followed. The positions which we occupy are formidable. While they are marching to turn my right, they must present their flank to your blows.

"Soldiers: I will myself direct all your battalions. I will keep myself at a distance from the fire, if, with your accustomed valor, you carry disorder and confusion into the enemies' ranks. But should victory appear for a moment uncertain, you will see your Emperor expose himself to the first strokes. Victory must not be doubtful on this occasion."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/93


text: Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 4.djvu/171


text:
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90

"Soldiers: I am satisfied with you. In the Battle of Austerlitz you have justified all that I expected from your intrepidity. You have decorated your eagles with immortal glory. An army of one hundred thousand men, commanded by the Emperors of Russia and Austria, has been, in less than four hours, either cut in pieces or dispersed. Thus in two months the third coalition has been vanquished and dissolved. Peace can not now be far distant. But I will make only such a peace as gives us guarantee for the future, and secures rewards to our allies. When everything necessary to secure the happiness and prosperity of our country is obtained, I will lead you back to France. My people will behold you again with joy. It will be enough for one of you to say, 'I was at the battle of Austerlitz;' for all your fellow citizens to exclaim, 'There is a brave man.'"

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Rh

"Peace has just been signed by the Emperor of Austria. You have in the last autumn made two campaigns. You have seen your Emperor share your dangers and your fatigues. I wish also that you should see him surrounded by the grandeur and splendor which belong to the sovereign of the first people in. the world. You shall all be there. We will celebrate the names of those who have died in these two campaigns in the field of honor. The world shall ever see us ready to follow their example. We will even do more than we have yet done, if necessary to vindicate our national honor, or to resist the efforts of those who are the eternal enemies of peace upon the continent. During the three months which are necessary to effect your return to France, prove the example for all armies. You have now to give testimonies, not of courage and intrepidity, but of strict discipline. Conduct yourselves like children in the bosom of their family."

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92

"Soldiers: For the last ten years I have done everything in my power to save the King of Naples. He has done everything to destroy himself. After the battles of Dego, Mondovi, and Lodi he could oppose to me but a feeble resistance. I relied upon the word of this Prince, and was gracious toward him. When the second coalition was dissolved at Marengo, the King of Naples, who had been the first to commence this unjust war, abandoned by his allies, remained single-handed and defenceless. He implored me. I pardoned him a second time. It is but a few months since you were at the gates of Naples. I had sufficiently powerful reasons for suspecting the treason in contemplation. I was still generous,—I acknowledged the neutrality of Naples. I ordered you to evacuate the Kingdom. For the third time the House of Naples was reëstablished and saved. Shall we forgive a fourth time? Shall we rely a fourth time on a court without faith, honor, or reason? No, no! The dynasty of Naples has ceased to reign. Its existence is incompatible with the honor of Europe, and the repose of my crown."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/96


text:
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Rh

"Powerful and great is the French Empire. Greater still is our moderation. We have in a manner conquered Holland, Switzerland, Italy, Germany. But, in the midst of such unparalleled success, we have listened only to the counsels of moderation. Of so many conquered provinces, we have retained only the one which was necessary to maintain France in the rank among the nations which she has always enjoyed. The partition of Poland, the provinces torn from Turkey, the conquest of India, and of almost all the European colonies, have turned the balance against us. To form a counterpoise to such acquisitions, we must retain something. But we must keep only what is useful and necessary. Great would have been the addition to the wealth and the resources of our territory, if we had united to them the Italian Republic. But we gave it independence at Lyons. And we now proceed a step further, and recognize its ultimate separation from the crown of France, deferring only the execution of that project till it can be done without danger to Italian independence."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/97


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leedes, Edward (1599?-1677)


text:
Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/98

94

"Princes, magistrates, soldiers, citizens, we have all but one object in our several departments,—the interests of our country. Weakness in the executive is the greatest of all misfortunes to the people. Soldier, or First Consul, I have but one thought; Emperor, I have no other object,—the prosperity of France. I do not wish to increase its territory, but I am resolved to maintain its integrity. I have no desire to augment the influence which we possess in Europe, but I will not permit that we enjoy to decline. No State shall be incorporated with our empire; but I will not sacrifice my rights, or the ties which unite us to other States."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/98


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leedes, Edward (1627-1707)


text:
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Rh

"I know not why I am at war with your sovereign. He is a wise, pacific prince, deserving of respect. I wish to see your country rescued from its humiliating dependence upon Prussia. Why should the Saxons and the French, with no motive for hostility, fight against each other, I am ready, for my part, to give a pledge of my amicable disposition by setting you all at liberty, and by sparing Saxony. All I require of you is your promise no more to bear arms against France."

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96

"Soldiers: It is a year this very hour since you were on the field of Austerlitz, where the Russian battalions fled in disorder, or surrendered up their arms to their conquerors. Next day proposals of peace were talked of, but they were deceptive. No sooner had the Russians escaped by, perhaps, blamable generosity, from the disasters of the third coalition than they contrived a fourth. But the ally on whose tactics they founded their principal hope was no more. His capitals, his fortresses, his magazines, his arsenals, two hundred and eighty flags, and two hundred field-pieces have fallen into our power. The Oder, the Wartha, the deserts of Poland, and the inclemency of the season, have not for a moment retarded your progress. You have braved all; surmounted all: every obstacle has fled at your approach. The Russians have in vain endeavored to defend the capital of ancient and illustrious Poland. The French eagle hovers over the Vistula. The brave and unfortunate Poles, on beholding you, fancied they saw the legions of Sobiesky returning from their memorable expedition.

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Rh "Soldiers: We will not lay down our arms until a general peace has secured the power of our allies, and restored to us our colonies and our freedom of trade. We have gained on the Elbe and Oder, Pondicherry, our Indian establishments, the Cape of Good Hope, and the Spanish colonies. Why should the Russians have the right of opposing destiny and thwarting our just designs? They and we are still the soldiers who fought at Austerlitz."

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98

"I desire to put a period to the misfortunes of your family, and to organize, as speedily as possible, the Prussian monarchy. Its intermediate power is necessary for the tranquillity of Europe. I desire peace with Russia; and, provided the Cabinet of St. Petersburg has no designs upon the Turkish Empire, I see no difficulty in obtaining it. Peace with England is not less essential to all nations. I shall have no hesitation in sending a minister to Memil to take part in a congress of France, Sweden, England, Russia, Prussia, and Turkey. But, as such a congress may last many years, which would not suit the present condition of Prussia, your Majesty therefore will, I am persuaded, be of opinion that I have taken the simplest method, and one which is most likely to secure the prosperity of your subjects. At all events, I entreat your Majesty to believe in my sincere desire to reëstablish amicable relations with so friendly a power as Prussia, and that I wish to do the same with Russia and England."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/102


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leeds, Dukes of


text:
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Rh

"Soldiers: We were beginning to taste the sweets of repose in our winter quarters when the enemy attacked the first corps on the lower Vistula. We flew to meet him. We pursued him, sword in hand, eighty leagues. He was driven for shelter beneath the cannons of his fortresses, and beyond the Pregel. We have captured sixty pieces of cannon, sixteen standards, and killed, wounded, or taken more than forty thousand Russians. The brave, who have fallen on our side, have fallen nobly—like soldiers. Their families shall receive our protection. Having thus defeated the whole projects of the enemy, we will return to the Vistula and reënter our winter quarters. Whosoever ventures to disturb our repose will repent of it. Beyond the Vistula, as beyond the Danube, we shall always be the Soldiers of the Grand Army."

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100

"Soldiers: On the 5th of June we were attacked in our cantonments by the Russian army. The enemy had mistaken the cause of our inactivity. He perceived too late that our repose was that of a lion. He repents of having disturbed it. In a campaign of ten days we have taken one hundred and twenty pieces of cannon, seven colors, and have killed, wounded, or taken sixty thousand Russians. We have taken from the enemy's army all its magazines, its hospitals, its ambulances, the fortress of Könisberg, the three hundred vessels which were in that port laded with all kinds of military stores, and one hundred and sixty thousand muskets, which England was sending to arm our enemies. From the banks of the Vistula we have come with the speed of the eagle to those of Niemen. At Austerlitz you celebrated the anniversary of the coronation. At Friedland you have worthily celebrated the Battle of Marengo, where we put an end to the war of the second coalition.

"Frenchmen: You have been worthy of yourselves and of me. You will return to

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Rh France covered with laurels, having obtained a glorious peace, which carries with it a guarantee of its duration. It is time for our country to live in repose, sheltered from the malignant influences of England. My bounties shall prove to you my gratitude, and the full extent of the love which I feel for you."

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102

"Since America suffers her vessels to be searched, she adopts the principle that the flag does not cover the goods.

"Since she recognizes the absurd blockades laid by England, consents to having her vessels incessantly stopped, sent to England, and so turned aside from their course, why should not the Americans suffer the blockade laid by France? Certainly France is no more blockaded by England than England by France. Why should not Americans also suffer their vessels to be searched by French ships? Certainly France recognizes that these measures are unjust, illegal, and subversive of national sovereignty; but it is the duty of nations to resort to force, and to declare themselves against things which dishonor them and disgrace their independence."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/106


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leeds, Edward (1695?-1758)


text:
Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/107

Rh

"Spaniards: After a long agony your nation was on the point of perishing. I saw your miseries and hastened to apply a remedy. Your grandeur, your power, form an integral part of my own. Your princes have ceded to me the rights to the crown of Spain. I have no wish to reign over your provinces, but I am desirous of acquiring eternal titles to the love and gratitude of your posterity. Your monarchy is old. My mission is to pour into its veins the blood of youth. I will ameliorate all your institutions and make you enjoy, if you second my efforts, the blessings of reform, without its collisions, its disorders, its convulsions. I have convoked a general assembly of the deputations of your provinces and cities. I am desirous of ascertaining your wants by personal intercourse. I will then lay aside all the titles I have acquired, and place your glorious crown on the head of my second self, after having secured for you a constitution which may establish the sacred and salutary authority of the sovereign, with the liberties and privileges of the people. Spaniards: Reflect on what your fathers were;

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/107


text:
Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 4.djvu/186

152 That such as I could love—who blushed to hear

To less than monarchs that thou couldst be dear,

Go! tell thy brother, that my heart, untamed

By grief—years—weariness—and it may be

A taint of that he would impute to me—

From long infection of a den like this,

Where the mind rots congenial with the abyss,—

Adores thee still;—and add—that when the towers

And battlements which guard his joyous hours

Of banquet, dance, and revel, are forgot,

Or left untended in a dull repose,

This—this—shall be a consecrated spot!

But Thou—when all that Birth and Beauty throws

Of magic round thee is extinct—shalt have

One half the laurel which o'ershades my grave.

No power in death can tear our names apart,

As none in life could rend thee from my heart.

Yes, Leonora! it shall be our fate

To be entwined for ever—but too late!


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104 on what you are now. The fault does not lie in you; but in the constitution by which you have been governed. Conceive the most ardent hopes and confidence in the results of your present situation; for I wish that your latest posterity should preserve the recollection of me, and say: He was the regenerator of our country."

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Rh

"I have travelled this year more than three thousand miles in the interior of my empire. The spectacle of this great French family—recently distracted by intestine divisions, now united and happy—has profoundly moved me. I have learned that I cannot be happy myself unless I first see that France is happy. A part of my army is marching to meet the troops which England has landed in Spain. It is an especial blessing of that Providence which has constantly protected our army, that passion has so blinded the English counsels as to induce them to renounce the possession of the seas, and to exhibit their army on the continent. I depart in a few days to place myself at the head of my troops, and, with the aid of God, to crown in Madrid the King of Spain, and to place our eagles on the fort of Lisbon. The Emperor of Russia and I have met at Erfurt. Our most earnest endeavor has been for peace. We have resolved to make many sacrifices; to confer, if possible, the blessings of maritime commerce upon the hundred millions of men whom we represent. We are of one mind, and we are indissolubly united for peace as for war."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/109


text:
Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 2.djvu/118

84 Shall find some tidings in a future page,

If he that rhymeth now may scribble moe.

Is this too much? stern Critic! say not so:

Patience! and ye shall hear what he beheld

In other lands, where he was doomed to go:

Lands that contain the monuments of Eld,

Ere Greece and Grecian arts by barbarous hands were quelled.


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leeke, Henry John


text:
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106

"Sire, my Brother:—I thank your Royal and Imperial Majesty for the letter you have been so good as to write me, and which Baron Vincent delivered. I never doubted your Majesty, but I nevertheless feared for a moment that hostilities would be renewed between us. There is, at Vienna, a faction which affects alarm in order to drive your Cabinet to violent measures, which would entail misfortunes greater than those which are passed. I had it in my power to dismember your Majesty's monarchy, or at least to diminish its power. I did not do so. It exists as it is by my consent. This is a plain proof that our accounts are settled; that I have no desire to injure you. I am always ready to guarantee the integrity of your monarchy. I will never do anything adverse to the important interests of States. But your Majesty ought not to bring again under discussion what has been settled by a fifteen years' war. You ought to avoid every proclamation or act calculated to excite dissension. The last levy in mass might have provoked war if I had apprehended that the levy and preparations were made in conjunction with Russia.

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Rh "I have just disbanded the camp of the Confederation. I have sent a hundred thousand men to Boulogne to renew my projects against England. I had reason to believe when I had the happiness of seeing your Majesty, and had concluded the treaty of Presburg, that our disputes were terminated forever, and that I might undertake the maritime war without interruption. I beseech your Majesty to distrust those, who, by speaking of the dangers of the monarchy, disturb your happiness and that of your family and people. Those persons alone are dangerous; they create the dangers they pretend to fear. By a straightforward, plain, and ingenious line of conduct, your Majesty will render your people happy, will secure to yourself that tranquillity of which you must stand in need after so many troubles, and will be sure of finding me determined to do nothing hostile to your important interests. Let your conduct bespeak confidence, and you will inspire it. The best policy at the present time is simplicity and truth. Confide your troubles to me when you have any, and I will instantly banish them. Allow me to make one observation more—listen to your own judgment—your own feelings—they are much more correct than those of your advisers. I beseech

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108 your Majesty to read my letter in the spirit in which it is written, and to see nothing in it inconsistent with the welfare and tranquillity of Europe and your Majesty."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/112


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Rh

"Soldiers: After triumphing on the banks of the Vistula and the Danube, with rapid steps you have passed through Germany, This day, without a moment of repose, I command you to traverse France. Soldiers: I have need of you. The hideous presence of the leopard contaminates the peninsula of Spain and Portugal. In terror he must fly before you. Let us bear our triumphal eagles to the pillars of Hercules. There, also, we have injuries to avenge. Soldiers: You have passed the renown of our modern armies, but you have not yet equalled the glories of those Romans, who, in one and the same campaign, were victorious upon the Rhine and the Euphrates, in Illyria and upon the Tagus. A long peace, a lasting prosperity, shall be the reward of your labors. But a real Frenchman ought not, could not, rest until the seas are open to all. Soldiers: All that you have done, all that you will do for the happiness of the French people, and for my glory, shall be eternal in my heart."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/113


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leeke, Laurence


text:
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110

"In vain you employ the name of the people. If you cannot find means to pacify them, it is because you yourselves excited them and misled them by falsehood. Assemble the clergy, the heads of the convents, the alcades, and if between this and six in the morning the city has not surrendered, it shall cease to exist. I neither will, nor ought to withdraw my troops. You have slaughtered the unfortunate French who have fallen into your hands. Only two days ago you suffered two servants of the Russian ambassador to be dragged away and put to death in the streets because they were Frenchmen. The incapacity and weakness of a general had put into your hands troops which had capitulated on the field of battle of Baylen, and the capitulation was violated. You, M. de Morla, what sort of a letter did you write to that general? Well did it become you to talk of pillage—you, who having entered Rousillon in 1795, carried off all the women, and divided them as booty among your soldiers. What right had you, moreover, to hold such language. The capitulation of Baylen forbade it. Look what was

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/114


text:
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Rh the conduct of the English, who are far from priding themselves on being strict observers of the law of nations. They complained of the Convention of Cintra, but they fulfilled it. To violate military treaties is to renounce all civilization—to put ourselves on a level with the Bedouins of the desert. How then dare you demand a capitulation—you who violated that of Baylen? See how injustice and bad faith ever recoil upon those who are guilty of them. I had a fleet at Cadiz. It had come there as to a harbor of an ally. You directed against it the mortars of the city which you commanded. I had a Spanish army in my ranks. I preferred to see it escape in English ships, and to fling itself upon the rocks of Espinosa, than to disarm it. I preferred having nine thousand more enemies to fight, to violating good faith and honor. Return to Madrid. I give you till six o'clock to-morrow evening. You have nothing to say to me about the people, but to tell me that they have submitted. If not, you and your troops shall be put to the sword."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/115


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leemput, Remigius van


text:
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112

"I have declared, in a proclamation of the 2d of June, that I wished to be the regenerator of Spain. To the rights which the princes of the ancient dynasty have ceded to me, you have wished that I should add the rights of conquest. That, however, shall not change my inclination to serve you. I wish to encourage everything that is noble in your own exertions. All that is opposed to your prosperity and your grandeur I wish to destroy. The shackles which have enslaved the people I have broken. I have given you a liberal constitution, and, in the place of an absolute monarchy, a monarchy mild and limited. It depends upon yourselves whether that constitution shall still be your law."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/116


text:
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Rh

"The seas belong to all nations. Any vessel, sailing under whatsoever flag, recognized and avowed by her, should be as much at home in the midst of the seas as if she were in her own ports. The flag floating from the mast of a merchant vessel should be respected as much as if it floated from the top of a village spire.

"In case of war between two maritime powers, neutrals should follow the legislation of neither one. Every vessel should be protected by its flag. Every power which violates a flag declares war against the power to which it belongs. To insult a merchant vessel which carries the flag of a power, is the same thing as invading a town or colony belonging to that power. His Majesty declares that he considers the fleets of nations as floating colonies belonging to those nations. In consequence of this principle, the sovereignty and independence of a nation is a property of its neighbors. If a French citizen was insulted in an American port or colony, the Government of the United States would not deny that it was responsible for it. In the same

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/117


text:
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114 way the Government of the United States must be responsible for the violation of French property on board of a ship or floating American colony; otherwise, this Government, not being able to guarantee the integrity of its rights and the independence of its flag, his Majesty considers the American vessels which have been violated by visits, by taxes, and other arbitrary acts, as no longer belonging to the United States, and as denationalized.

"But whenever the Government of the United States shall order its vessels armed to repulse the unjust aggressions of England, to sustain its rights, against the refusal of this power to recognize the great principle that the flag covers the ship, and against its unjust pretension of searching neutral vessels, his Majesty is willing to recognize them and treat them as neutrals."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/118


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Rh

"Soldiers: The territory of the confederation of the Rhine has been violated. The Austrian general supposes that we are to fly at the sight of his eagles, and abandon our allies to his mercy. I arrive with the rapidity of lightning in the midst of you. Soldiers: I was surrounded by your bayonets, when the Emperor of Austria arrived at my bivouac in Moravia. You heard him employ my clemency, and swear an eternal friendship. Conquerors in three wars, Austria has owed everything to our generosity. Three times she has perjured herself! Our former successes are our guarantee for our future triumphs. Let us march, then, and at our aspect, let the enemy recognize his conquerors."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/119


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116

"Soldiers: You have justified my anticipations. You have supplied by bravery the want of numbers, and have shown the difference which exists between the soldiers of Cæsar and the armed rabble of Xerxes. Within the space of a few days we have triumphed in the battles of Thaun, Abersberg, and Eckmuhl, and in the combats of Peissing, Landshut, and Ratisbon. One hundred pieces of cannon, forty standards, fifty thousand prisoners, three bridge equipages, three thousand baggage-wagons with their horses, and all the money chests of the regiments, are the fruits of the rapidity of your marches, and of your courage. The enemy, seduced by a perjured Cabinet, appeared to have lost all recollection of you. His awakening has been speedy; you have appeared more terrible than ever. Lately, he crossed the Inn, and invaded the territory of our allies. Lately, he talked of nothing less than carrying the war into the bosom of our country. Now, defeated, dispersed, he flies, in consternation. Already my advance-guard has passed the Inn. In one month we will be in Vienna."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/120


text:
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I.

years!—It tries the thrilling frame to bear

And eagle-spirit of a Child of Song—

Long years of outrage—calumny—and wrong;

Imputed madness, prisoned solitude,

And the Mind's canker in its savage mood,

When the impatient thirst of light and air

Parches the heart; and the abhorred grate,

Marring the sunbeams with its hideous shade,

Works through the throbbing eyeball to the brain,

With a hot sense of heaviness and pain;

And bare, at once, Captivity displayed


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lees, Charles


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144 Stands scoffing through the never-opened gate,

Which nothing through its bars admits, save day,

And tasteless food, which I have eat alone

Till its unsocial bitterness is gone;

And I can banquet like a beast of prey,

Sullen and lonely, couching in the cave

Which is my lair, and—it may be—my grave.

All this hath somewhat worn me, and may wear,

But must be borne. I stoop not to despair;

For I have battled with mine agony,

And made me wings wherewith to overfly

The narrow circus of my dungeon wall,

And freed the Holy Sepulchre from thrall;

And revelled among men and things divine,

And poured my spirit over Palestine,

In honour of the sacred war for Him,

The God who was on earth and is in Heaven,

For He has strengthened me in heart and limb.

That through this sufferance I might be forgiven,

I have employed my penance to record

How Salem's shrine was won, and how adored.

II.

But this is o'er—my pleasant task is done:

My long-sustaining Friend of many years!

If I do blot thy final page with tears,

Know, that my sorrows have wrung from me none.

But Thou, my young creation! my Soul's child!

Which ever playing round me came and smiled,


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Rh

"In a month after the enemy passed the Inn, on the same day, at the same hour, we entered Vienna. Their militia, their levies en masse, their ramparts, created by the impotent rage of the princes of the House of Lorraine, have fallen at the first sight of you. The princes of that house have abandoned their capital, not like the soldiers of honor, who yield to circumstance and the reverses of war, but as perjurers haunted by the sense of their crime. In flying from Vienna, their adieus to its inhabitants have been murder and conflagration. Like Medea, they have with their own hands massacred their own offspring. Soldiers: The people of Vienna, according to the expression of a deputation of the suburbs, abandoned, widowed, shall be the object of your regards. I take its good citizens under my special protection. As to the wicked and turbulent, they shall meet with exemplary justice. Soldiers: Be kind to the poor peasants; to those worthy people who have so many claims upon your esteem. Let us not manifest any pride at our success. Let us see in it but a proof of that divine justice which punishes the ungrateful and the perjured."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/121


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Rh And wooed me from myself with thy sweet sight,

Thou too art gone—and so is my delight:

And therefore do I weep and inly bleed

With this last bruise upon a broken reed.

Thou too art ended—what is left me now?

For I have anguish yet to bear—and how?

I know not that—but in the innate force

Of my own spirit shall be found resource.

I have not sunk, for I had no remorse,

Nor cause for such: they called me mad—and why?

Oh Leonora! wilt not thou reply?

I was indeed delirious in my heart

To lift my love so lofty as thou art;

But still my frenzy was not of the mind:

I knew my fault, and feel my punishment

Not less because I suffer it unbent.

That thou wert beautiful, and I not blind,

Hath been the sin which shuts me from mankind;

But let them go, or torture as they will,

My heart can multiply thine image still;

Successful Love may sate itself away;

The wretchéd are the faithful; 't is their fate

To have all feeling, save the one, decay,

And every passion into one dilate,

As rapid rivers into Ocean pour;

But ours is fathomless, and hath no shore.

III.

Above me, hark! the long and maniac cry

Of minds and bodies in captivity.

And hark! the lash and the increasing howl,

And the half-inarticulate blasphemy!

There be some here with worse than frenzy foul,

Some who do still goad on the o'er-laboured mind,

And dim the little light that's left behind


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118

"Hungarians: The moment is come to revive your independence. I offer you peace, the integrity of. your territory, the inviolability of your constitutions,—whether of such as are in actual existence, or of those which the spirit of the time may require. I ask nothing of you. I desire only to see your nation free and independent. Your union with Austria has made your misfortunes. Your blood has flowed for her in distant regions. Your dearest interests have always been sacrificed to those of the Austrian hereditary estates. You form the finest part of the Empire of Austria, yet you are treated as a province. You have national manners, a national language; you boast an ancient and illustrious origin. Resume, then, your existence as a nation. Have a king of your own choice, who will reside among you, and reign for you alone."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/122


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lees, Edwin


text: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Oriel

title: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Oriel


text:
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146 With needless torture, as their tyrant Will

Is wound up to the lust of doing ill:

With these and with their victims am I classed,

'Mid sounds and sights like these long years have passed;

'Mid sights and sounds like these my life may close:

So let it be—for then I shall repose.

IV.

I have been patient, let me be so yet;

I had forgotten half I would forget,

But it revives—Oh! would it were my lot

To be forgetful as I am forgot!—

Feel I not wroth with those who bade me dwell

In this vast Lazar-house of many woes?

Where laughter is not mirth, nor thought the mind,

Nor words a language, nor ev'n men mankind;

Where cries reply to curses, shrieks to blows.

And each is tortured in his separate hell—

For we are crowded in our solitudes—

Many, but each divided by the wall,

Which echoes Madness in her babbling moods;

While all can hear, none heed his neighbour's call—

None! save that One, the veriest wretch of all,

Who was not made to be the mate of these,

Nor bound between Distraction and Disease.

Feel I not wroth with those who placed me here?

Who have debased me in the minds of men,


text:
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Rh Debarring me the usage of my own,

Blighting my life in best of its career,

Branding my thoughts as things to shun and fear?

Would I not pay them back these pangs again,

And teach them inward Sorrow's stifled groan?

The struggle to be calm, and cold distress,

Which undermines our Stoical success?

No!—still too proud to be vindictive—I

Have pardoned Princes' insults, and would die.

Yes, Sister of my Sovereign! for thy sake

I weed all bitterness from out my breast,

It hath no business where thou art a guest:

Thy brother hates—but I can not detest;

Thou pitiest not—but I can not forsake.

V.

Look on a love which knows not to despair,

But all unquenched is still my better part,

Dwelling deep in my shut and silent heart,

As dwells the gathered lightning in its cloud,

Encompassed with its dark and rolling shroud,

Till struck,—forth flies the all-ethereal dart!

And thus at the collision of thy name

The vivid thought still flashes through my frame,

And for a moment all things as they were

Flit by me;—they are gone—I am the same.

And yet my love without ambition grew;

I knew thy state—my station—and I knew

A Princess was no love-mate for a bard;

I told it not—I breathed it not —it was


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148 Sufficient to itself, its own reward;

And if my eyes revealed it, they, alas!

Were punished by the silentness of thine,

And yet I did not venture to repine.

Thou wert to me a crystal-girded shrine,

Worshipped at holy distance, and around

Hallowed and meekly kissed the saintly ground;

Not for thou wert a Princess, but that Love

Had robed thee with a glory, and arrayed

Thy lineaments in beauty that dismayed—

Oh! not dismayed—but awed, like One above!

And in that sweet severity there was

A something which all softness did surpass—

I know not how—thy Genius mastered mine—

My Star stood still before thee:—if it were

Presumptuous thus to love without design,

That sad fatality hath cost me dear;

But thou art dearest still, and I should be

Fit for this cell, which wrongs me—but for thee.

The very love which locked me to my chain

Hath lightened half its weight; and for the rest,

Though heavy, lent me vigour to sustain,

And look to thee with undivided breast,

And foil the ingenuity of Pain.

VI.

It is no marvel—from my very birth

My soul was drunk with Love,—which did pervade

And mingle with whate'er I saw on earth:

Of objects all inanimate I made

Idols, and out of wild and lonely flowers,


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lees, Harcourt


text:
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Rh And rocks, whereby they grew, a Paradise,

Where I did lay me down within the shade

Of waving trees, and dreamed uncounted hours,

Though I was chid for wandering; and the Wise

Shook their white agéd heads o'er me, and said

Of such materials wretched men were made,

And such a truant boy would end in woe,

And that the only lesson was a blow; —

And then they smote me, and I did not weep,

But cursed them in my heart, and to my haunt

Returned and wept alone, and dreamed again

The visions which arise without a sleep.

And with my years my soul began to pant

With feelings of strange tumult and soft pain;

And the whole heart exhaled into One Want,

But undefined and wandering, till the day

I found the thing I sought—and that was thee;

And then I lost my being, all to be

Absorbed in thine;—the world was past away;—

Thou didst annihilate the earth to me!


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150 VII.

I loved all Solitude—but little thought

To spend I know not what of life, remote

From all communion with existence, save

The maniac and his tyrant;—had I been

Their fellow, many years ere this had seen

My mind like theirs corrupted to its grave.

But who hath seen me writhe, or heard me rave?

Perchance in such a cell we suffer more

Than the wrecked sailor on his desert shore;

The world is all before him—mine is here,

Scarce twice the space they must accord my bier.

What though he perish, he may lift his eye,

And with a dying glance upbraid the sky;

I will not raise my own in such reproof,

Although 'tis clouded by my dungeon roof.

VIII.

Yet do I feel at times my mind decline,

But with a sense of its decay: I see

Unwonted lights along my prison shine,

And a strange Demon, who is vexing me


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"Soldiers: The second war of Poland has commenced. The first war terminated at Friedland and Tilsit. At Tilsit, Russia swore eternal alliance with France, and war with England. She has openly violated her oath, and refuses to offer any explanation of her strange conduct till the French Eagle shall have passed the Rhine, and, consequently, shall have left her allies at her discretion. Russia is impelled onward by fatality. Her destiny, is about to be accomplished. Does she believe that we have degenerated? that we are no longer the soldiers of Austerlitz? She has placed us between dishonor and war. The choice cannot for an instant be doubtful. Let us march forward, then, and crossing the Niemen, carry the war into her territories. The second war of Poland will be to the French army as glorious as the first.

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/123


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lees, William Nassau


text:
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120 But our next peace must carry with it its own guarantee, and put an end to that arrogant influence which, for the last fifty years, Russia has exercised over the affairs of Europe."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/124


text:
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Rh

"Soldiers: This is the battle you have so much desired. The victory depends upon you! It is now necessary to us. It will give us abundance of good winter quarters, and a prompt return to our country. Behave as at Austerlitz, at Friedland, at Witepsk, at Smolensk, and let the latest posterity recount with pride your conduct on this day; let them say of you, 'He was at the battle under the walls of Moscow.'"

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/125


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Leeves, William


text:
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Rh With pilfering pranks and petty pains, below

The feeling of the healthful and the free;

But much to One, who long hath suffered so,

Sickness of heart, and narrowness of place,

And all that may be borne, or can debase.

I thought mine enemies had been but Man,

But Spirits may be leagued with them—all Earth

Abandons—Heaven forgets me; in the dearth

Of such defence the Powers of Evil can—

It may be—tempt me further,—and prevail

Against the outworn creature they assail.

Why in this furnace is my spirit proved,

Like steel in tempering fire? because I loved?

Because I loved what not to love, and see,

Was more or less than mortal, and than me.

IX.

I once was quick in feeling—that is o'er;—

My scars are callous, or I should have dashed

My brain against these bars, as the sun flashed

In mockery through them;—If I bear and bore

The much I have recounted, and the more

Which hath no words,—'t is that I would not die

And sanction with self-slaughter the dull lie

Which snared me here, and with the brand of shame

Stamp Madness deep into my memory,

And woo Compassion to a blighted name,

Sealing the sentence which my foes proclaim.

No—it shall be immortal!—and I make

A future temple of my present cell,

Which nations yet shall visit for my sake.

While thou, Ferrara! when no longer dwell

The ducal chiefs within thee, shalt fall down,

And crumbling piecemeal view thy hearthless halls,

A Poet's wreath shall be thine only crown,—

A Poet's dungeon thy most far renown,

While strangers wonder o'er thy unpeopled walls!

And thou, Leonora!—thou—who wert ashamed


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122

, Sept. 20, 1812. "Monsieur, my brother:—Having been informed that the brother of your Imperial Majesty's Minister at Cassel was in Moscow, I sent for him, and we have had a conversation of some length. I have advised his making my sentiments known to your Majesty.

"The superb and beautiful city of Moscow no longer exists. Rostoptchine gave orders to burn it. Four hundred incendiaries were arrested on the spot, all of whom declared that they had received their orders from the governor and the director of the police; they were shot.

"The fire at last appears to have ceased. Three-quarters of the buildings have been burned, the other quarter remains.

"Such conduct is atrocious and useless. Was its object to make way with some treasure? But the treasure was in caves which could not be reached by the fire.

"Moreover, why destroy one of the most beautiful cities in the world, the work of centuries, for so paltry an end? It is the same line of conduct that has been followed from Smolensk, and has left 600,000 families

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Rh. The fire-engines in Moscow were either broken or made way with, and a portion of the arms in the arsenal given to malefactors, which obliged us to fire a few shots at the Kremlin in order to disperse them.

"Humanity, the interests of your Majesty and of this great city, required that the city should be confided to me as a trust, since it was exposed by the Russian army. It should not have been left without administration, magistrates, and civil guards. Such a plan was adopted at Vienna, Madrid, and twice at Berlin. We ourselves followed out this plan at the time of the entrance of Sonvarof.

"Incendiaries authorize pillage, to which the soldiers surrender themselves in order to dispute the débris with the flames.

"If I imagined for an instant that such a state of affairs was authorized by your Majesty, I should not write this letter; but I hold it as impossible that, with your Majesty's principles, and heart, with the justice of your Majesty's ideas, you could authorize excesses that are unworthy of a great sovereign and of a great nation. While the engines were carried from Moscow, one hundred and fifty pieces of field cannon, 60,000 new muskets, 1,600,000 infantry cartridges, 400,000 weights of powder, 300,000 weights of

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124, as much sulphur, etc., were left behind.

"I wage war against your Majesty without animosity; a note from you before or after the last battle would have stopped my march, and I should even have liked to have sacrificed the advantage of entering Moscow. If your Majesty retains some remains of your former sentiments, you will take this letter in good part. At all events, you will thank me for giving you an account of what is passing at Moscow."

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Rh

, Feb. 14, 1813. "I entered Russia. The French armies were constantly victorious on the fields of Ostrono, Polotsk, Mohilef, Smolensk, Moskova, Malo-Yaroslavetz. Nowhere could the Russian armies stand before our eagles. Moscow fell into our power.

"When the Russian borders were forced and the powerlessness of their arms was recognized, a swarm of Tartars turned their parricidal hands against the most beautiful provinces of the empire they had been called upon to defend. Inside a few weeks, in spite of the grief and despair of the unfortunate Muscovites, they set fire to over four thousand of their most prosperous villages, and more than fifty of their most beautiful cities; thus gratifying their ancient hatred, and, on the pretext of retarding our progress, surrounding us by a desert waste.

"But we triumphed over all these obstacles; even the conflagration of Moscow, where, in four days, they destroyed the fruits of the toil and thrift of forty generations, in no way changed the prosperous condition of my affairs. But the rigor of an extreme and premature

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/129


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126 winter laid the weight of a terrible calamity upon my army. In a few nights every thing changed. I met with great losses. My soul would have been crushed beneath their weight had I been accessible to any other feelings than the interest, the glory, and the future of my people.

"At sight of the evils that beset us, England's joy was great. Her hopes knew no bounds. She offered our finest provinces as a reward for treachery. As a condition of peace she proposed the extinction of this beautiful empire; which was in other terms a proclamation of perpetual war.

"The energy shown by my people under such grave circumstances, their devotion to the integrity of the empire, the love they have shown me, have dissipated all these chimeras and have brought our enemies to a more just appreciation of affairs.

"The misfortunes occasioned by the severity of the frosts demonstrated to their full extent the grandeur and solidity of this empire, founded upon the exertions and love of fifty million citizens, and upon the territorial resources of the most beautiful countries in the world."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/130


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Rh

"I have suppressed your address, it was incendiary. I called you round me to do good—you have done ill. Eleven-twelfths of you are well intentioned, the others, and above all, M. Lainé, are factious intriguers, devoted to England, to all my enemies, and corresponding, through the channel of the advocate Désege, with the Prince Regent, Return to your departments and feel that my eye will follow you; you have endeavored to humble me, you may kill me, but you shall not dishonor me. You make remonstrances; is this a time, when the stranger invades our provinces, and two hundred thousand Cossacks are ready to overflow our country? There may have been petty abuses; I never connived at them. You, M. Renouard, you said that Prince Massena robbed a man at Marseilles of his house. You lie! The general took possession of a vacant house, and my minister shall indemnify the proprietor. Is it thus that you dare affront a marshal of France who has bled for his country, and grown gray in victory? Why did you not make your complaints in secret to me? I would have

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/131


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128 done you justice. We should wash our dirty linen in private, and not drag it out before the world. You call yourselves representatives of the nation. It is not true; you are only deputies of the departments; a small portion of the State, inferior to the Senate, inferior even to the Council of State. The representatives of the people! I am alone the representative of the people. Twice have twenty-four millions of French called me to the throne—which of you durst undertake such a burden? It had already overwhelmed (écrasé) your Assemblies, and your Conventions, your Vergniands and your Guadets, your Jacobins and your Girondins. They are all dead! What, who are you? nothing—all authority is in the throne; and what is the throne? This wooden frame covered with velvet? No, I am the throne. You have added wrong to reproaches. You have talked of concessions—concessions that even my enemies dared not ask. I suppose if they asked Champagne, you would have given them La Brie besides; but in four months I will conquer peace, or I shall be dead. You advise! how dare you debate on such high matters (de si graves interêts)! You have put me in the front of the battle as the cause of war. It is infamous (c'est une atrocité). In all

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/132


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan


text:
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Rh your committees you have excluded the friends of the Government, extraordinary commission, committee of finance, committee of the address, all, all my enemies. M. Lainé, I repeat it, is a traitor; he is a wicked man, the others are mere intriguers. I do justice to the eleven-twelfths; but the factious I know and will pursue. Is it, I ask again, is it while the enemy is in France that you should have done this? But nature has gifted me with a determined courage—nothing can overcome me. It cost my pride much, too,—I made that sacrifice; I—but I am above your miserable declamations. I was in need of consolation, and you would mortify me,—but, no, my victories shall crush your clamors; in three months we shall have peace, and you shall repent your folly. I am one of those who triumph or die.

"Go back to your departments. If any one of you dare to print your address, I shall publish it in the Moniteur with notes of my own. Go, France stands more in need of me than I do of France. I bear the eleven-twelfths of you in my heart. I shall nominate the deputies of the two series which are vacant, and I shall reduce the legislative body to the discharge of its proper duties. The inhabitants of Alsace and Franche-Comté have a better

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text:
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130 spirit than you; they ask me for arms. I send them, and one of my aides-de-camp will lead them against the enemy."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/134


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Le Fanu, Philip


text:
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Rh

"Soldiers: The enemy has stolen three marches on us, and has made himself master of Paris. We must drive him thence. Frenchmen, unworthy of the name, emigrants whom we have pardoned, have mounted the white cockade and joined the enemy. The wretches shall receive the reward due to this new crime. Let us swear to conquer or die, and to enforce respect to the tri-colored cockade, which has for twenty years accompanied us on the path of glory and honor."

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132

"The allied powers having decided that the Emperor Napoleon is the only obstacle to the reëstablishment of peace in Europe, the Emperor Napoleon, faithful to his oath, declares that he is ready to descend from the throne, to leave Europe, and even to lay down his life for the welfare of his country, which is inseparable from the rights of his son, those of the regency of the Empress, and the maintenance of the laws of the empire."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/136


text:
1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Pavane

PAVANE, or, the name of a slow stately dance of the 16th and 17th centuries.The word has been variously derived: (1) from Lat. pavo (peacock); the dancers as they wheel and turn, spread out their long cloaks, which they retained in this dance, like the tail of a bird; (2) from Padovana, i.e. of Padua, in Italy; the dance, however, is usually taken to have come from Spain. As an instrumental composition, common in the 16th and 17th centuries, the "pavane" was usually followed by the quick and lively "galliard," as the "gigue" followed the saraband in the latter suite (see ).

title: 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Pavane


text:
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134

"Frenchmen: The defection of the Duke of Castiglione (Augereau) delivered up Lyons without defense to our enemies. The army, the command of which I had entrusted to him, was, by the number of its battalions, the courage and patriotism of the troops that composed it, in a condition to beat the Austrian troops opposed to it, and to arrive in time on the rear of the left flank of the army which threatened Paris. The victories of Champ-Aubert, of Montmirail, of Château-Thierry, of Van Champs, of Mormons, of Montereau, of Craonne, of Rheims, of Arcis-sur-Aube, and of St. Dizier, the rising of the brave peasants of Lorraine and Champagne, of Alsace, Franche-Comté and Burgundy, and the position which I had taken in the rear of the hostile army, by cutting it off from its magazines, its parks of reserve, its convoys, and all the equipages, had placed it in a desperate situation. The French were never on the point of being more powerful, and the élite of the enemy's army was lost without resource; it would have found a tomb in those vast plains which it had so mercilessly laid waste,

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text:
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Rh when the treason of the Duke of Ragusa delivered up the capital and disorganized the army. The unexpected misconduct of these two generals, who betrayed at once their country, their prince, and their benefactor, changed the fate of the war; the situation of the enemy was such that, at the close of the action which took place before Paris, he was without ammunition, in consequence of his separation from his parks of reserve. In these new and distressing circumstances, my heart was torn, but my mind remained immovable; I consulted only the interests of the country; I banished myself to a rock in the middle of the sea; my life was yours, and might still be useful to you. Frenchmen: In my exile I heard your complaints and your wishes; you accused my long slumber; you reproached me with sacrificing the welfare of the country to my repose. I have traversed the seas through perils of every kind; I return among you to reclaim my rights, which are yours."

title: Page:Napoleon's Addresses.djvu/139


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lefebure, Nicasius


text:
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136

"Soldiers: We have not been conquered; two men, sprung from our ranks, have betrayed our laurels, their country, their benefactor, and their prince. Those whom we have beheld for twenty-five years traversing all Europe to raise up enemies against us, who have spent their lives in fighting against us in the ranks of foreign armies, and in cursing our beautiful France, shall they pretend to command or enchain our eagles?—they who have never been able to look them in the face. Shall we suffer them to inherit the fruit of our glorious toils, to take possession of our honors, of our fortunes; to calumniate and revile our glory? If their reign were to continue all would be lost, even the recollection of those memorable days. With what fury they misrepresent them! They seek to tarnish what the world admires; and if there still remain defenders of our glory, they are to be found among those very enemies whom we have confronted in the field of battle. Soldiers: in my exile I have heard your voice; I have come back in spite of all obstacles and all dangers. Your general, called to the throne

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Rh by the choice of the people, and raised on your shields, is restored to you; come and join him. Mount the tri-colored cockade; you wore it in the days of our greatness. We must forget that we have been the masters of nations; but we must not suffer any to inter-meddle in our affairs. Who would pretend to be master over us? Who would have the power? Resume those eagles which you had at Ulm, at Austerlitz, at Jena, at Eylau, at Wagram, at Friedland, at Tudela, at Eckmühl, at Essling, at Smolensk, at the Moskowa, at Lutzen, at Wurtchen, at Montmirail. The veterans of the armies of the Sambre and Meuse, of the Rhine, of Italy, of Egypt, of the West, of the Grand Army, are illuminated; their honorable scars are stained; their successes would be crimes; the brave would be rebels, if, as the enemies of the people pretend, the legitimate sovereigns were in the midst of foreign armies. Honors, recompenses, favors, are reserved for those who have served with them against the country and against us. Soldiers: Come and range yourselves under the banners of your chief; his existence is only made up of yours; his rights are only those of the people and yours; his interest, his honor, his glory, are no other than your interest, your honor, and your glory.

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138 Victory shall march at a charging step; the eagle, with the national colors, shall fly from steeple to steeple, till it reaches the towers of Notre Dame., Then you will be able to show your scars with honor; then you will be able to boast of what you have done; you will be the liberators of the country! In your old age, surrounded and looked up to by your fellow citizens, they will listen to you with respect as you recount your high deeds, you will each of you be able to say with pride, 'And I also made part of that grand army which entered twice within the walls of Vienna, within those of Rome, of Berlin, of Madrid, of Moscow, and which delivered Paris from the stain which treason and the presence of the enemy had imprinted on it' Honor to those brave soldiers, the glory of their country!"

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Rh

"Soldiers: This day is the anniversary of Marengo and Friedland, which twice decided the destiny of Europe. Then, as after the battles of Austerlitz and Wagram, we were too generous. We believed in the protestations and oaths of princes to whom we left their thrones. Now, however, leagued together, they strike at the independence and sacred rights of France. They have committed unjust aggressions. Let us march forward and meet them; are we not still the same men? Soldiers: At Jena, these Prussians, now so arrogant, were three to one; at Montmirail six to one. Let those who have been captive to the English describe the nature of their prison ships, and the sufferings they endured. The Saxons, the Belgians, the Hanoverians, the soldiers of the Confederation of the Rhine, lament that they are obliged to use their arms in the cause of princes who are the enemies of justice, and the destroyers of the rights of nations. They well know the coalition to be insatiable. After having swallowed up twelve millions of Poles, twelve millions of Italians, one million of Saxons, and

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140 six millions of Belgians, they now wish to devour the States of the second order among the Germans. Madmen! one moment of prosperity has bewildered them. To oppress and humble the people of France is out of their power; once entering our territory, there they will find their doom. Soldiers: We have forced marches before us, battles to fight, and dangers to encounter; but firm in resolution, victory must be ours. The honor and happiness of our country are at stake! and, in short. Frenchmen, the moment is arrived when we must conquer or die!"

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text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lefebvre, Roland


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Rh

"To the Belgians and the inhabitants on the left bank of the Rhine: The ephemeral success of my enemies detached you for a moment from my empire. In my exile, upon a rock in the sea, I heard your complaint; the God of Battles has decided the fate of your beautiful provinces; Napoleon is among you; you are worthy to be Frenchmen. Rise in a body; join my invincible phalanxes to exterminate the remainder of these barbarians, who are your enemies and mine; they fly, with rage and despair in their hearts."

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text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Lefevre, Charles Shaw, Viscount Eversley