Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Volume IV. Вальтер Скотт
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chevalier should be removed to the said chapel with due ceremony; and an inscription, dictated by the Emperor himself, recording the praises of the knight 'without fear and without reproach,' was placed on the leaden box containing his heart." – Savary, tom. ii., part ii., p. 97.
18
Las Cases, tom. ii., p. 12; Savary, tom. ii., part ii., p. 151; Rapp, p. 141.
19
"The wretched young man was taken to Vienna, brought before a council of war, and executed on the 27th. He had taken no sustenance since the 24th, because, as he said, he had sufficient strength to walk to the place of execution. His last words were – 'Liberty forever! Germany for ever! Death to the tyrant!' I delivered the report to Napoleon, who desired me to keep the knife that had been found upon the criminal. It is still in my possession." – Rapp, p. 147.
20
Las Cases, tom. ii., p. 104.
21
For a copy of the treaty, see Annual Register, vol. li., p. 791.
22
Annual Register, vol. li., p. 790.
23
The verses are well known, —
24
"'A son by Josephine would have completed my happiness. It would have put an end to her jealousy, by which I was continually harassed. She despaired of having a child, and she in consequence looked forward with dread to the future.'" – Napoleon,
25
Fouché, tom. i., p. 324.
26
"Never did I see Napoleon a prey to deeper and more concentrated grief; never did I see Josephine in more agonizing affliction. They appeared to find in it a mournful presentiment of a futurity without happiness and without hope." – Fouché, tom. i., p. 324.
27
"It would ill have become me to have kept within my own breast the suggestions of my foresight. In a confidential memoir, which I read to Napoleon himself, I represented to him the necessity of dissolving his marriage; of immediately forming, as Emperor, a new alliance more suitable and more happy; and of giving an heir to the throne on which Providence had placed him. Without declaring any thing positive, Napoleon let me perceive, that, in a political point of view, the dissolution of his marriage was already determined in his mind." – Fouché, tom. i., p. 326.
28
Fouché, tom. i., p. 328.
29
Mémoires de Fouché, tom. i., p. 348.
30
"By the permission of our dear and august consort, I ought to declare, that not perceiving any hope of having children, which may fulfil the wants of his policy and the interests of France, I am pleased to give him the greatest proof of attachment and devotion which has ever been given on earth. I possess all from his bounty; it was his hand which crowned me; and from the height of this throne I have received nothing but proofs of affection and love from the French people. I think I prove myself grateful in consenting to the dissolution of a marriage which heretofore was an obstacle to the welfare of France, which deprived it of the happiness of being one day governed by the descendant of a great man, evidently raised up by Providence, to efface the evils of a terrible revolution, and to re-establish the altar, the throne, and social order. But the dissolution of my marriage will in no degree change the sentiments of my heart; the Emperor will ever have in me his best friend. I know how much this act, demanded by policy, and by interest so great, has chilled his heart; but both of us exult in the sacrifice which we make for the good of the country." —
31
"In quitting the court, Josephine drew the hearts of all its votaries after her: she was endeared to all by a kindness of disposition which was without a parallel. She never did the smallest injury to any one in the days of her power: her very enemies found in her a protectress: not a day of her life but what she asked a favour for some person, oftentimes unknown to her, but whom she found to be deserving of her protection. Regardless of self, her whole time was engaged in attending to the wants of others." – Savary, tom. ii., part ii., p. 177.
32
Maria Louisa, the eldest daughter of the Emperor of Austria and Maria Theresa of Naples, was born the 12th December, 1791. Her stature was sufficiently majestic, her complexion fresh and blooming, her eyes blue and animated, her hair light, and her hand and foot so beautiful, that they might have served as models for the sculptor.
33
Fouché, tom. i., p. 350.
34
"She had always been given to understand that Berthier, who had married her by proxy at Vienna, in person and age exactly resembled the Emperor: she, however, signified that she observed a very pleasing difference between them." – Las Cases, tom. i., p. 312.
35
"The most unfortunate presages were drawn from it; Napoleon himself was struck with it." – Fouché, tom. i., p. 355.
36
Las Cases, tom. i., p. 310.
37
Voice from St. Helena, vol. ii., p. 225.
38
"Austria had become a portion of my family; and yet my marriage ruined me. If I had not thought myself safe, and protected by this alliance, I should have delayed the insurrection of Poland: I should have waited until Spain was subdued and tranquil. I set foot on an abyss, concealed by a bed of flowers!" – Napoleon,
39
"It was in vain that Soult strove with all his power to stop the slaughter. The frightful scene of rape, pillage, and murder, closed not for many hours, and what with those who fell in battle, those who were drowned, and those sacrificed to revenge, it is said that 10,000 Portuguese died on that unhappy day! The loss of the French did not exceed 500 men." – Napier, vol. ii., p. 207. See also Southey, vol. iii., p. 249.
40
Southey, vol. iv., p. 10. The reader is requested to compare this account with that given by Lord Burghersh, in his "Memoir on the Early Campaigns of Wellington," p. 77 – where the details are somewhat differently represented – Ed. (1842.)
41
"Victor sent soldiers to every house, with orders to the inhabitants immediately to receive and accommodate the wounded of the two nations, who were lodged together, one English and one Frenchman; and he expressly directed that the Englishman should always be served first." – Southey, vol. iv., p. 49.
42
Southey, vol. iii., p. 168.
43
Southey, vol. iv., p. 159.
44
Napier, vol. ii., p. 349; Southey, vol. iii., p. 511.
45
"Various explanations have been offered of this name. One account says, that upon finding his family murdered by the French, Juan Martin Diaz smeared his face with pitch and made a solemn vow of vengeance. Another, that he was so called because of his swarthy complexion. But in the account of his life it is said, that all the inhabitants of Castrillo de Duero, where he was born, have this nickname indiscriminately given them by their neighbours, in consequence of a black mud, called
46
Southey, vol. iv., p. 405.
47
Southey, vol. iv., p. 415.
48
Southey, vol. iv., p. 482.
49
Southey, vol. iii., p. 405; Fouché, tom. i., p. 339.
50
Fouché, tom. i., p. 329.
51
Fouché, tom. i., p. 329.
52
Mémoires de Fouché, tom. i., p. 331.
53
Fouché, tom. i., p. 32.
54
"It is well known that Josephine never spoke to the Emperor otherwise than in favourable terms of all those who were about his person; she was even of service to M. Fouché, though he had attempted to become the instrument for bringing about her divorce."