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diff --git a/7958.txt b/7958.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ce13370 --- /dev/null +++ b/7958.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1136 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Napoleon of the People, by Honore de Balzac + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Napoleon of the People + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Katharine Prescott Wormeley + +Release Date: Release Date: April, 2005 [EBook #7958] +Posting Date: March 7, 2010 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NAPOLEON OF THE PEOPLE *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny + + + + + +THE NAPOLEON OF THE PEOPLE + + +By Honore De Balzac + + +Translated by Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell. + + + +PREPARER'S NOTE + +The Napoleon of the People was originally published in Le Medicin de +Campagne (The Country Doctor). It is a story told to a group of peasants +by the character of Goguelat, an ex-soldier who served under Napoleon in +an infantry regiment. It was later included in Folk-tales of Napoleon: +Napoleonder from the Russian, a collection of stories by various +authors. This translation is by Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell. + + + + + +THE NAPOLEON OF THE PEOPLE + + +Napoleon, you see, my friends, was born in Corsica, which is a French +island warmed by the Italian sun; it is like a furnace there, everything +is scorched up, and they keep on killing each other from father to son +for generations all about nothing at all--'tis a notion they have. To +begin at the beginning, there was something extraordinary about the +thing from the first; it occurred to his mother, who was the handsomest +woman of her time, and a shrewd soul, to dedicate him to God, so that he +should escape all the dangers of infancy and of his after life; for she +had dreamed that the world was on fire on the day he was born. It was +a prophecy! So she asked God to protect him, on condition that Napoleon +should re-establish His holy religion, which had been thrown to the +ground just then. That was the agreement; we shall see what came of it. + +Now, do you follow me carefully, and tell me whether what you are about +to hear is natural. + +It is certain sure that only a man who had had imagination enough to +make a mysterious compact would be capable of going further than anybody +else, and of passing through volleys of grape-shot and showers of +bullets which carried us off like flies, but which had a respect for his +head. I myself had particular proof of that at Eylau. I see him yet; +he climbs a hillock, takes his field-glass, looks along our lines, and +says, "That is going on all right." One of the deep fellows, with a +bunch of feathers in his cap, used to plague him a good deal from all +accounts, following him about everywhere, even when he was getting +his meals. This fellow wants to do something clever, so as soon as the +Emperor goes away he takes his place. Oh! swept away in a moment! And +this is the last of the bunch of feathers! You understand quite clearly +that Napoleon had undertaken to keep his secret to himself. That is why +those who accompanied him, and even his especial friends, used to drop +like nuts: Duroc, Bessieres, Lannes--men as strong as bars of steel, +which he cast into shape for his own ends. And here is a final proof +that he was the child of God, created to be the soldier's father; for +no one ever saw him as a lieutenant or a captain. He is a +commandant straight off! Ah! yes, indeed! He did not look more than +four-and-twenty, but he was an old general ever since the taking of +Toulon, when he made a beginning by showing the rest that they knew +nothing about handling cannon. Next thing he does, he tumbles upon us. +A little slip of a general-in-chief of the army of Italy, which had +neither bread nor ammunition nor shoes nor clothes--a wretched army as +naked as a worm. + +"Friends," he said, "here we all are together. Now, get it well into +your pates that in a fortnight's time from now you will be the victors, +and dressed in new clothes; you shall all have greatcoats, strong +gaiters, and famous pairs of shoes; but, my children, you will have to +march on Milan to take them, where all these things are." + +So they marched. The French, crushed as flat as a pancake, held up their +heads again. There were thirty thousand of us tatterdemalions against +eighty thousand swaggerers of Germans--fine tall men and well equipped; +I can see them yet. Then Napoleon, who was only Bonaparte in those days, +breathed goodness knows what into us, and on we marched night and day. +We rap their knuckles at Montenotte; we hurry on to thrash them at +Rivoli, Lodi, Arcola, and Millesimo, and we never let them go. The army +came to have a liking for winning battles. Then Napoleon hems them in on +all sides, these German generals did not know where to hide themselves +so as to have a little peace and comfort; he drubs them soundly, cribs +ten thousand of their men at a time by surrounding them with fifteen +hundred Frenchmen, whom he makes to spring up after his fashion, and at +last he takes their cannon, victuals, money, ammunition, and everything +they have that is worth taking; he pitches them into the water, beats +them on the mountains, snaps at them in the air, gobbles them up on the +earth, and thrashes them everywhere. + +There are the troops in full feather again! For, look you, the Emperor +(who, for that matter, was a wit) soon sent for the inhabitant, and told +him that he had come there to deliver him. Whereupon the civilian finds +us free quarters and makes much of us, so do the women, who showed great +discernment. To come to a final end; in Ventose '96, which was at that +time what the month of March is now, we had been driven up into a corner +of the _Pays des Marmottes_; but after the campaign, lo and behold! we +were the masters of Italy, just as Napoleon had prophesied. And in the +month of March following, in one year and in two campaigns, he brings +us within sight of Vienna; we had made a clean sweep of them. We had +gobbled down three armies one after another, and taken the conceit out +of four Austrian generals; one of them, an old man who had white hair, +had been roasted like a rat in the straw before Mantua. The kings were +suing for mercy on their knees. Peace had been won. Could a mere mortal +have done that? No. God helped him, that is certain. He distributed +himself about like the five loaves in the Gospel, commanded on the +battlefield all day, and drew up his plans at night. The sentries always +saw him coming; he neither ate nor slept. Therefore, recognizing these +prodigies, the soldier adopts him for his father. But, forward! + +The other folk there in Paris, seeing all this, say among themselves: + +"Here is a pilgrim who appears to take his instructions from Heaven +above; he is uncommonly likely to lay a hand on France. We must let him +loose on Asia or America, and that, perhaps, will keep him quiet." + +The same thing was decreed for him as for Jesus Christ; for, as a matter +of fact, they give him orders to go on duty down in Egypt. See his +resemblance to the Son of God! That is not all, though. He calls all his +fire-eaters about him, all those into whom he had more particularly put +the devil, and talks to them in this way: + +"My friends, for the time being they are giving us Egypt to stop our +mouths. But we will swallow down Egypt in a brace of shakes, just as we +swallowed Italy, and private soldiers shall be princes, and shall have +broad lands of their own. Forward!" + +"Forward, lads!" cry the sergeants. + +So we come to Toulon on the way to Egypt. Whereupon the English put to +sea with all their fleet. But when we are on board, Napoleon says to us: + +"They will not see us: and it is right and proper that you should know +henceforward that your general has a star in the sky that guides us and +watches over us!" + +So said, so done. As we sailed over the sea we took Malta, by way of +an orange to quench his thirst for victory, for he was a man who +must always be doing something. There we are in Egypt. Well and good. +Different orders. The Egyptians, look you, are men who, ever since the +world has been the world, have been in the habit of having giants to +reign over them, and armies like swarms of ants; because it is a country +full of genii and crocodiles, where they have built up pyramids as big +as our mountains, the fancy took them to stow their kings under the +pyramids, so as to keep them fresh, a thing which mightily pleases them +all round out there. Whereupon, as we landed, the Little Corporal said +to us: + +"My children, the country which you are about to conquer worships a lot +of idols which you must respect, because the Frenchman ought to be +on good terms with all the world, and fight people without giving +annoyance. Get it well into your heads to let everything alone at first; +for we shall have it all by and by! and forward!" + +So far so good. But all those people had heard a prophecy of Napoleon, +under the name of _Kebir Bonaberdis_; a word which in our lingo means, +"The Sultan fires a shot," and they feared him like the devil. So the +Grand Turk, Asia, and Africa have recourse to magic, and they send a +demon against us, named the Mahdi, who it was thought had come down from +heaven on a white charger which, like its master was bullet-proof, and +the pair of them lived on the air of that part of the world. There are +people who have seen them, but for my part I cannot give you any certain +informations about them. They were the divinities of Arabia and of the +Mamelukes who wished their troopers to believe that the Mahdi had the +power of preventing them from dying in battle. They gave out that he was +an angel sent down to wage war on Napoleon, and to get back Solomon's +seal, part of their paraphernalia which they pretended our general had +stolen. You will readily understand that we made them cry peccavi all +the same. + +Ah, just tell me now how they came to know about that compact of +Napoleon's? Was that natural? + +They took it into their heads for certain that he commanded the genii, +and that he went from place to place like a bird in the twinkling of an +eye; and it is a fact that he was everywhere. At length it came about +that he carried off a queen of theirs. She was the private property of +a Mameluke, who, although he had several more of them, flatly refused to +strike a bargain, though "the other" offered all his treasures for her +and diamonds as big as pigeon's eggs. When things had come to that pass, +they could not well be settled without a good deal of fighting; and +there was fighting enough for everybody and no mistake about it. + +Then we are drawn up before Alexandria, and again at Gizeh, and before +the Pyramids. We had to march over the sands and in the sun; people +whose eyes dazzled used to see water that they could not drink and shade +that made them fume. But we made short work of the Mamelukes as usual, +and everything goes down before the voice of Napoleon, who seizes Upper +and Lower Egypt and Arabia, far and wide, till we came to the capitals +of kingdoms which no longer existed, where there were thousands and +thousands of statues of all the devils in creation, all done to +the life, and another curious thing too, any quantity of lizards. A +confounded country where any one could have as many acres of land as he +wished for as little as he pleased. + +While he was busy inland, where he meant to carry out some wonderful +ideas of his, the English burn his fleet for him in Aboukir Bay, for +they never could do enough to annoy us. But Napoleon, who was respected +East and West, and called "My Son" by the Pope, and "My dear Father" by +Mahomet's cousin, makes up his mind to have his revenge on England, +and to take India in exchange for his fleet. He set out to lead us into +Asia, by way of the Red Sea, through a country where there were palaces +for halting-places, and nothing but gold and diamonds to pay the troops +with, when the Mahdi comes to an understanding with the Plague, and +sends it among us to make a break in our victories. Halt! Then every man +files off to that parade from which no one comes back on his two feet. +The dying soldier cannot take Acre, into which he forces an entrance +three times with a warrior's impetuous enthusiasm; the Plague was too +strong for us; there was not even time to say "Your servant, sir!" to +the Plague. Every man was down with it. Napoleon alone was as fresh as a +rose; the whole army saw him drinking in the Plague without it doing him +any harm whatever. + +There now, my friends, was that natural, do you think? + +The Mamelukes, knowing that we were all on the sick-list, want to stop +our road; but it was no use trying that nonsense with Napoleon. So he +spoke to his familiars, who had tougher skins than the rest: + +"Go and clear the road for me." + +Junot, who was his devoted friend, and a first-class fighter, only takes +a thousand men, and makes a clean sweep of the Pasha's army, which +had the impudence to bar our way. Thereupon back we came to Cairo, our +headquarters, and now for another story. + +Napoleon being out of the country, France allowed the people in Paris +to worry the life out of her. They kept back the soldiers' pay and all +their linen and clothing, left them to starve, and expected them to +lay down law to the universe, without taking any further trouble in +the matter. They were idiots of the kind that amuse themselves with +chattering instead of setting themselves to knead the dough. So our +armies were defeated, France could not keep her frontiers; The Man was +not there. I say The Man, look you, because that was how they called +him; but it was stuff and nonsense, for he had a star of his own and all +his other peculiarities, it was the rest of us that were mere men. He +hears this history of France after his famous battle of Aboukir, +where with a single division he routed the grand army of the Turks, +twenty-five thousand strong, and jostled more than half of them into the +sea, rrrah! without losing more than three hundred of his own men. That +was his last thunder-clap in Egypt. He said to himself, seeing that all +was lost down there, "I know that I am the saviour of France, and to +France I must go." + +But you must clearly understand that the army did not know of his +departure; for if they had, they would have kept him there by force to +make him Emperor of the East. So there we all are without him, and in +low spirits, for he was the life of us. He leaves Kleber in command, +a great watchdog who passed in his checks at Cairo, murdered by an +Egyptian whom they put to death by spiking him with a bayonet, which +is their way of guillotining people out there; but he suffered so much, +that a soldier took pity on the scoundrel and handed his flask to him; +and the Egyptian turned up his eyes then and there with all the pleasure +in life. But there is not much fun for us about this little affair. +Napoleon steps aboard of a little cockleshell, a mere nothing of a +skiff, called the _Fortune_, and in the twinkling of an eye, and in the +teeth of the English, who were blockading the place with vessels of the +line and cruisers and everything that carries canvas, he lands in France +for he always had the faculty of taking the sea at a stride. Was that +natural? Bah! as soon as he landed at Frejus, it is as good as saying +that he has set foot in Paris. Everybody there worships him; but he +calls the Government together. + +"What have you done to my children, the soldiers?" he says to the +lawyers. "You are a set of good-for-nothings who make fools of other +people, and feather your own nests at the expense of France. It will not +do. I speak in the name of every one who is discontented." + +Thereupon they want to put him off and to get rid of him; but not a bit +of it! He locks them up in the barracks where they used to argufy and +makes them jump out of the windows. Then he makes them follow in his +train, and they all become as mute as fishes and supple as tobacco +pouches. So he becomes Consul at a blow. He was not the man to doubt the +existence of the Supreme Being; he kept his word with Providence, who +had kept His promise in earnest; he sets up religion again, and gives +back the churches, and they ring the bells for God and Napoleon. So +every one is satisfied: _primo_ the priests with whom he allows no +one to meddle; _segondo_, the merchant folk who carry on their trades +without fear of the _rapiamus_ of the law that had pressed too heavily +on them; _tertio_, the nobles; for people had fallen into an unfortunate +habit of putting them to death, and he puts a stop to this. + +But there were enemies to be cleared out of the way, and he was not the +one to go to sleep after mess; and his eyes, look you, traveled all over +the world as if it had been a man's face. The next thing he did was +to turn up in Italy; it was just as if he had put his head out of the +window and the sight of him was enough; they gulp down the Austrians at +Marengo like a whale swallowing gudgeons! _Haouf_! The French Victories +blew their trumpets so loud that the whole world could hear the noise, +and there was an end of it. + +"We will not keep on at this game any longer!" say the Germans. + +"That is enough of this sort of thing," say the others. + +Here is the upshot. Europe shows the white feather, England knuckles +under, general peace all round, and kings and peoples pretending to +embrace each other. While then and there the Emperor hits on the idea of +the Legion of Honor. There's a fine thing if you like! + +He spoke to the whole army at Boulogne. "In France," so he said, "every +man is brave. So the civilian who does gloriously shall be the soldier's +sister, the soldier shall be his brother, and both shall stand together +beneath the flag of honor." + +By the time that the rest of us who were away down there in Egypt had +come back again, everything was changed. We had seen him last as a +general, and in no time we find that he is Emperor! And when this was +settled (and it may safely be said that every one was satisfied) there +was a holy ceremony such as was never seen under the canopy of heaven. +Faith, France gave herself to him, like a handsome girl to a lancer, and +the Pope and all his cardinals in robes of red and gold come across the +Alps on purpose to anoint him before the army and the people, who clap +their hands. + +There is one thing that it would be very wrong to keep back from you. +While he was in Egypt, in the desert not far away from Syria, _the Red +Man_ had appeared to him on the mountain of Moses, in order to say, +"Everything is going on well." Then again, on the eve of victory at +Marengo, the Red Man springs to his feet in front of the Emperor for the +second time, and says to him: + +"You shall see the world at your feet; you shall be Emperor of the +French, King of Italy, master of Holland, ruler of Spain, Portugal, and +the Illyrian Provinces, protector of Germany, saviour of Poland, first +eagle of the Legion of Honor and all the rest of it." + +That Red Man, look you, was a notion of his own, who ran on errands and +carried messages, so many people say, between him and his star. I myself +have never believed that; but the Red Man is, undoubtedly, a fact. +Napoleon himself spoke of the Red Man who lived up in the roof of the +Tuileries, and who used to come to him, he said, in moments of trouble +and difficulty. So on the night after his coronation Napoleon saw him +for the third time, and they talked over a lot of things together. + +Then the Emperor goes straight to Milan to have himself crowned King of +Italy, and then came the real triumph of the soldier. For every one +who could write became an officer forthwith, and pensions and gifts of +duchies poured down in showers. There were fortunes for the staff that +never cost France a penny, and the Legion of Honor was as good as an +annuity for the rank and file; I still draw my pension on the strength +of it. In short, here were armies provided for in a way that had never +been seen before! But the Emperor, who knew that he was to be Emperor +over everybody, and not only over the army, bethinks himself of the +bourgeois, and sets them to build fairy monuments in places that had +been as bare as the back of my hand till then. Suppose, now, that you +are coming out of Spain and on the way to Berlin; well, you would see +triumphal arches, and in the sculpture upon them the common soldiers are +done every bit as beautifully as the generals! + +In two or three years Napoleon fills his cellars with gold, makes +bridges, palaces, roads, scholars, festivals, laws, fleets, and harbors; +he spends millions on millions, ever so much, and ever so much more to +it, so that I have heard it said that he could have paved the whole of +France with five-franc pieces if the fancy had taken him; and all this +without putting any taxes on you people here. So when he was comfortably +seated on his throne, and so thoroughly the master of the situation, +that all Europe was waiting for leave to do anything for him that he +might happen to want; as he had four brothers and three sisters, he said +to us, just as it might be by way of conversation, in the order of the +day: + +"Children, is it fitting that your Emperor's relations should beg their +bread? No; I want them all to be luminaries, like me in fact! Therefore, +it is urgently necessary to conquer a kingdom for each one of them, so +that the French nation may be masters everywhere, so that the Guard may +make the whole earth tremble, and France may spit wherever she likes, +and every nation shall say to her, as it is written on my coins, 'God +protects you.'" + +"All right!" answers the army, "we will fish up kingdoms for you with +the bayonet." + +Ah! there was no backing out of it, look you! If he had taken it into +his head to conquer the moon, we should have had to put everything in +train, pack our knapsacks, and scramble up; luckily, he had no wish for +that excursion. The kings who were used to the comforts of a throne, of +course, objected to be lugged off, so we had marching orders. We march, +we get there, and the earth begins to shake to its centre again. What +times they were for wearing out men and shoe-leather! And the hard +knocks that they gave us! Only Frenchmen could have stood it. But you +are not ignorant that a Frenchman is a born philosopher; he knows that +he must die a little sooner or a litter later. So we used to die without +a word, because we had the pleasure of watching the Emperor do _this_ on +the maps. + +[Here the soldier swung quickly round on one foot, so as to trace a +circle on the barn floor with the other.] + +"There, that shall be a kingdom," he used to say, and it was a kingdom. +What fine times they were! Colonels became generals whilst you were +looking at them, generals became marshals of France, and marshals became +kings. There is one of them still left on his feet to keep Europe in +mind of those days, Gascon though he may be, and a traitor to France +that he might keep his crown; and he did not blush for his shame, for, +after all, a crown, look you, is made of gold. The very sappers and +miners who knew how to read became great nobles in the same way. And I +who am telling you all this have seen in Paris eleven kings and a crowd +of princes all round about Napoleon, like rays about the sun! Keep this +well in your minds, that as every soldier stood a chance of having a +throne of his own (provided he showed himself worthy of it), a corporal +of the Guard was by way of being a sight to see, and they gaped at him +as he went by; for every one came by his share after a victory, it +was made perfectly clear in the bulletin. And what battles they were! +Austerlitz, where the army was manoeuvred as if it had been a review; +Eylau, where the Russians were drowned in a lake, just as if Napoleon +had breathed on them and blown them in; Wagram, where the fighting was +kept up for three whole days without flinching. In short, there were as +many battles as there are saints in the calendar. + +Then it was made clear beyond a doubt that Napoleon bore the Sword +of God in his scabbard. He had a regard for the soldier. He took the +soldier for his child. He was anxious that you should have shoes, +shirts, greatcoats, bread, and cartridges; but he kept up his majesty, +too, for reigning was his own particular occupation. But, all the same, +a sergeant, or even a common soldier, could go up to him and call him +"Emperor," just as you might say "My good friend" to me at times. And he +would give an answer to anything you put before him. He used to sleep +on the snow just like the rest of us--in short, he looked almost like +an ordinary man; but I who am telling you all these things have seen him +myself with the grape-shot whizzing about his ears, no more put out by +it than you are at this moment; never moving a limb, watching through +his field-glass, always looking after his business; so we stood our +ground likewise, as cool and calm as John the Baptist. I do not know +how he did it; but whenever he spoke, a something in his words made +our hearts burn within us; and just to let him see that we were his +children, and that it was not in us to shirk or flinch, we used to walk +just as usual right up to the sluts of cannon that were belching smoke +and vomiting battalions of balls, and never a man would so much as say, +"Look out!" It was a something that made dying men raise their heads to +salute him and cry, "Long live the Emperor!" + +Was that natural? Would you have done this for a mere man? + +Thereupon, having fitted up all his family, and things having so turned +out that the Empress Josephine (a good woman for all that) had no +children, he was obliged to part company with her, although he loved her +not a little. But he must have children, for reasons of State. All the +crowned heads of Europe, when they heard of his difficulty, squabbled +among themselves as to who should find him a wife. He married an +Austrian princess, so they say, who was the daughter of the Caesars, a +man of antiquity whom everybody talks about, not only in our country, +where it is said that most things were his doing, but also all over +Europe. And so certain sure is that, that I who am talking to you have +been myself across the Danube, where I saw the ruins of a bridge built +by that man; and it appeared that he was some connection of Napoleon's +at Rome, for the Emperor claimed succession there for his son. + +So, after his wedding, which was a holiday for the whole world, and when +they let the people off their taxes for ten years to come (though they +had to pay them just the same after all, because the excisemen took no +notice of the proclamation)--after his wedding, I say, his wife had a +child who was King of Rome; a child was born a King while his father was +alive, a thing that had never been seen in the world before! That day a +balloon set out from Paris to carry the news to Rome, and went all the +way in one day. There, now! Is there one of you who will stand me out +that there was nothing supernatural in that? No, it was decreed on high. +And the mischief take those who will not allow that it was wafted over +by God Himself, so as to add to the honor and glory of France! + +But there was the Emperor of Russia, a friend of our Emperor's, who was +put out because he had not married a Russian lady. So the Russian backs +up our enemies the English; for there had always been something to +prevent Napoleon from putting a spoke in their wheel. Clearly an end +must be made of fowl of that feather. Napoleon is vexed, and he says to +us: + +"Soldiers! You have been the masters of every capital in Europe, except +Moscow, which is allied to England. So, in order to conquer London and +India, which belongs to them in London, I find it absolutely necessary +that we go to Moscow." + +Thereupon the greatest army that ever wore gaiters, and left its +footprints all over the globe, is brought together, and drawn up with +such peculiar cleverness, that the Emperor passed a million men in +review, all in a single day. + +"Hourra!" cry the Russians, and there is all Russia assembled, a lot +of brutes of Cossacks, that you never can come up with! It was country +against country, a general stramash; we had to look out for ourselves. +"It was all Asia against Europe," as the Red Man had said to Napoleon. +"All right," Napoleon had answered, "I shall be ready for them." + +And there, in fact, were all the kings who came to lick Napoleon's hand. +Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Poland, and Italy, all speaking us +fair and going along with us; it was a fine thing! The Eagles had never +cooed before as they did on parade in those days, when they were reared +above all the flags of all the nations of Europe. The Poles could not +contain their joy because the Emperor had a notion of setting up their +kingdom again; and ever since Poland and France have always been like +brothers. In short, the army shouts, "Russia shall be ours!" + +We cross the frontiers, all the lot of us. We march and better march, +but never a Russian do we see. At last all our watch-dogs are encamped +at Borodino. That was where I received the Cross, and there is no +denying that it was a cursed battle. The Emperor was not easy in his +mind; he had seen the Red Man, who said to him, "My child, you are going +a little too fast for your feet; you will run short of men, and your +friends will play you false." + +Thereupon the Emperor proposes a treaty. But before he signs it, he says +to us: + +"Let us give these Russians a drubbing!" + +"All right!" cried the army. + +"Forward!" say the sergeants. + +My clothes were all falling to pieces, my shoes were worn out with +trapezing over those roads out there, which are not good going at +all. But it is all one. "Since here is the last of the row," said I to +myself, "I mean to get all I can out of it." + +We were posted before the great ravine; we had seats in the front row. +The signal is given, and seven hundred guns begin a conversation fit to +make the blood spirt from your ears. One should give the devil his due, +and the Russians let themselves be cut in pieces just like Frenchmen; +they did not give way, and we made no advance. + +"Forward!" is the cry; "here is the Emperor!" + +So it was. He rides past us at a gallop, and makes a sign to us that a +great deal depends on our carrying the redoubt. He puts fresh heart into +us; we rush forward, I am the first man to reach the gorge. Ah! _mon +Dieu_! how they fell, colonels, lieutenants, and common soldiers, all +alike! There were shoes to fit up those who had none, and epaulettes for +the knowing fellows that knew how to write.... Victory is the cry all +along the line! And, upon my word, there were twenty-five thousand +Frenchmen lying on the field. No more, I assure you! Such a thing was +never seen before, it was just like a field when the corn is cut, with a +man lying there for every ear of corn. That sobered the rest of us. The +Man comes, and we make a circle round about him, and he coaxes us round +(for he could be very nice when he chose), and persuades us to dine +with Duke Humphrey, when we were hungry as hunters. Then our consoler +distributes the Crosses of the Legion of Honor himself, salutes the +dead, and says to us, "On to Moscow!" + +"To Moscow, so be it," says the army. + +We take Moscow. What do the Russians do but set fire to their city! +There was a blaze, two leagues of bonfire that burned for two days! The +buildings fell about our ears like slates, and molten lead and iron +came down in showers; it was really horrible; it was a light to see our +sorrows by, I can tell you! The Emperor said, "There, that is enough of +this sort of thing; all my men shall stay here." + +We amuse ourselves for a bit by recruiting and repairing our frames, +for we really were much fatigued by the campaign. We take away with us +a gold cross from the top of the Kremlin, and every soldier had a little +fortune. But on the way back the winter came down on us a month earlier +than usual, a matter which the learned (like a set of fools) have never +sufficiently explained; and we are nipped with the cold. We were no +longer an army after that, do you understand? There was an end of +generals and even of the sergeants; hunger and misery took the command +instead, and all of us were absolutely equal under their reign. All we +thought of was how to get back to France; no one stooped to pick up +his gun or his money; every one walked straight before him, and armed +himself as he thought fit, and no one cared about glory. + +The Emperor saw nothing of his star all the time, for the weather was so +bad. There was some misunderstanding between him and heaven. Poor man, +how bad he felt when he saw his Eagles flying with their backs turned +on victory! That was really too rough! Well, the next thing is the +Beresina. And here and now, my friends, any one can assure you on his +honor, and by all that is sacred, that _never_, no, never since there +have been men on earth, never in this world has there been such a +fricasse of an army, caissons, transports, artillery and all, in such +snow as that and under such a pitiless sky. It was so cold that you +burned your hand on the barrel of your gun if you happened to touch +it. There it was that the pontooners saved the army, for the pontooners +stood firm at their posts; it was there that Gondrin behaved like a +hero, and he is the sole survivor of all the men who were dogged enough +to stand in the river so as to build the bridges on which the army +crossed over, and so escaped the Russians, who still respected the Grand +Army on account of its past victories. And Gondrin is an accomplished +soldier, [pointing at Gondrin, who was gazing at him with the rapt +attention peculiar to deaf people] a distinguished soldier who deserves +to have your very highest esteem. + +I saw the Emperor standing by the bridge, and never feeling the cold at +all. Was that, again, a natural thing? He was looking on at the loss +of his treasures, of his friends, and those who had fought with him in +Egypt. Bah! there was an end of everything. Women and wagons and guns +were all engulfed and swallowed up, everything went to wreck and ruin. A +few of the bravest among us saved the Eagles, for the Eagles, look you, +meant France, and all the rest of you; it was the civil and military +honor of France that was in our keeping, there must be no spot on the +honor of France, and the cold could never make her bow her head. There +was no getting warm except in the neighborhood of the Emperor; for +whenever he was in danger we hurried up, all frozen as we were--we who +would not stop to hold out a hand to a fallen friend. + +They say, too, that he shed tears of a night over his poor family of +soldiers. Only he and Frenchmen could have pulled themselves out of such +a plight; but we did pull ourselves out, though, as I am telling you, +it was with loss, ay, and heavy loss. The Allies had eaten up all our +provisions; everybody began to betray him, just as the Red Man had +foretold. The rattle-pates in Paris, who had kept quiet ever since the +Imperial Guard had been established, think that _he_ is dead, and +hatch a conspiracy. They set to work in the Home Office to overturn the +Emperor. These things come to his knowledge and worry him; he says to +us at parting, "Good-bye, children; keep to your posts, I will come back +again." + +Bah! Those generals of his lose their heads at once; for when he was +away, it was not like the same thing. The marshals fall out among +themselves, and make blunders, as was only natural, for Napoleon in his +kindness had fed them on gold till they had grown as fat as butter, +and they had no mind to march. Troubles came of this, for many of them +stayed inactive in garrison towns in the rear, without attempting to +tickle up the backs of the enemy behind us, and we were being driven +back on France. But Napoleon comes back among us with fresh troops; +conscripts they were, and famous conscripts too; he had put some +thorough notions of discipline into them--the whelps were good to set +their teeth in anybody. He had a bourgeois guard of honor too, and fine +troops they were! They melted away like butter on a gridiron. We may +put a bold front on it, but everything is against us, although the army +still performs prodigies of valor. Whole nations fought against nations +in tremendous battles, at Dresden, Lutzen, and Bautzen, and then it was +that France showed extraordinary heroism, for you must all of you bear +in mind that in those times a stout grenadier only lasted six months. + +We always won the day, but the English were always on our track, putting +nonsense into other nations' heads, and stirring them up to revolt. In +short, we cleared a way through all these mobs of nations; for wherever +the Emperor appeared, we made a passage for him; for on the land as on +the sea, whenever he said, "I wish to go forward," we made the way. + +There comes a final end to it at last. We are back in France; and in +spite of the bitter weather, it did one's heart good to breathe one's +native air again, it set up many a poor fellow; and as for me, it put +new life into me, I can tell you. But it was a question all at once of +defending France, our fair land of France. All Europe was up in arms +against us; they took it in bad part that we had tried to keep the +Russians in order by driving them back within their own borders, so +that they should not gobble us up, for those Northern folk have a strong +liking for eating up the men of the South, it is a habit they have; I +have heard the same thing of them from several generals. + +So the Emperor finds his own father-in-law, his friends whom he had made +crowned kings, and the rabble of princes to whom he had given back their +thrones, were all against him. Even Frenchmen and allies in our own +ranks turned against us, by orders from high quarters, as at Leipsic. +Common soldiers would hardly be capable of such abominations; yet these +princes, as they called themselves, broke their words three times a day! +The next thing they do is to invade France. Wherever our Emperor shows +his lion's face, the enemy beats a retreat; he worked more miracles for +the defence of France than he had ever wrought in the conquest of +Italy, the East, Spain, Europe, and Russia; he has a mind to bury every +foreigner in French soil, to give them a respect for France, so he lets +them come close up to Paris, so as to do for them at a single blow, and +to rise to the highest height of genius in the biggest battle that ever +was fought, a mother of battles! But the Parisians wanting to save their +trumpery skins, and afraid for their twopenny shops, open their gates +and there is a beginning of the _ragusades_, and an end of all joy and +happiness; they make a fool of the Empress, and fly the white flag out +at the windows. The Emperor's closest friends among his generals forsake +him at last and go over to the Bourbons, of whom no one had ever heard +tell. Then he bids us farewell at Fontainebleau: + +"Soldiers!"... I can hear him yet, we were all crying just like +children; the Eagles and the flags had been lowered as if for a funeral. +Ah! and it was a funeral, I can tell you; it was the funeral of the +Empire; those smart armies of his were nothing but skeletons now. So he +stood there on the flight of steps before his chateau, and he said: + +"Children, we have been overcome by treachery, but we shall meet again +up above in the country of the brave. Protect my child, I leave him in +your care. _Long live Napoleon II._!" + +He had thought of killing himself, so that no one should behold Napoleon +after his defeat; like Jesus Christ before the Crucifixion, he thought +himself forsaken by God and by his talisman, and so he took enough +poison to kill a regiment, but it had no effect whatever upon him. +Another marvel! he discovered that he was immortal; and feeling sure of +his case, and knowing that he would be Emperor for ever, he went to an +island for a little while, so as to study the dispositions of those folk +who did not fail to make blunder upon blunder. Whilst he was biding his +time, the Chinese and the brutes out in Africa, the Moors and what-not, +awkward customers all of them, were so convinced that he was something +more than mortal, that they respected his flag, saying that God would be +displeased if any one meddled with it. So he reigned over all the rest +of the world, although the doors of his own France had been closed upon +him. + +Then he goes on board the same nutshell of a skiff that he sailed in +from Egypt, passes under the noses of the English vessels, and sets foot +in France. France recognizes her Emperor, the cuckoo flits from steeple +to steeple; France cries with one voice, "Long live the Emperor!" The +enthusiasm for that Wonder of the Ages was thoroughly genuine in these +parts. Dauphine behaved handsomely; and I was uncommonly pleased to +learn that people here shed tears of joy on seeing his gray overcoat +once more. + +It was on March 1st that Napoleon set out with two hundred men to +conquer the kingdom of France and Navarre, which by March 20th had +become the French Empire again. On that day he found himself in Paris, +and a clean sweep had been made of everything; he had won back his +beloved France, and had called all his soldiers about him again, and +three words of his had done it all--"Here am I!" 'Twas the greatest +miracle God ever worked! Was it ever known in the world before that a +man should do nothing but show his hat, and a whole Empire became his? +They fancied that France was crushed, did they? Never a bit of it. A +National Army springs up again at the sight of the Eagle, and we all +march to Waterloo. There the Guard fall all as one man. Napoleon in his +despair heads the rest, and flings himself three times on the enemy's +guns without finding the death he sought; we all saw him do it, we +soldiers, and the day was lost! That night the Emperor calls all his old +soldiers about him, and there on the battlefield, which was soaked with +our blood, he burns his flags and his Eagles--the poor Eagles that had +never been defeated, that had cried, "Forward!" in battle after +battle, and had flown above us all over Europe. That was the end of +the Eagles--all the wealth of England could not purchase for her one +tail-feather. The rest is sufficiently known. + +The Red Man went over to the Bourbons like the low scoundrel he is. +France is prostrate, the soldier counts for nothing, they rob him of +his due, send him about his business, and fill his place with nobles who +could not walk, they were so old, so that it made you sorry to see them. +They seize Napoleon by treachery, the English shut him up on a desert +island in the ocean, on a rock ten thousand feet above the rest of the +world. That is the final end of it; there he has to stop till the Red +Man gives him back his power again, for the happiness of France. A lot +of them say that he is dead! Dead? Oh! yes, very likely. They do not +know him, that is plain! They go on telling that fib to deceive the +people, and to keep things quiet for their tumble-down government. +Listen; this is the whole truth of the matter. His friends have left him +alone in the desert to fulfil a prophecy that was made about him, for I +forgot to tell you that his name Napoleon really means the _Lion of the +Desert_. And that is gospel truth. You will hear plenty of other things +said about the Emperor, but they are all monstrous nonsense. Because, +look you, to no man of woman born would God have given the power to +write his name in red, as he did, across the earth, where he will be +remembered for ever!... Long live "Napoleon, the father of the soldier, +the father of the people!" + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Napoleon of the People, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NAPOLEON OF THE PEOPLE *** + +***** This file should be named 7958.txt or 7958.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/9/5/7958/ + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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