The favors granted Napoleon for his services at Toulon were extended to his family. Madame Bonaparte was helped by the municipality of Marseilles. Joseph was made commissioner1 of war. Lucien was joined to the Army of Italy, and in the town where he was stationed became famous as a popular orator—“little Robespierre,” they called him. He began, too, here to make love to his landlord’s daughter, Christine Boyer, afterwards his wife.
The outlook for the refugees seemed very good, and it was made still brighter by the very particular friendship of the younger Robespierre for Napoleon. This friendship was soon increased by the part Napoleon played in a campaign of a month with the Army of Italy, when, largely by his genius, the seaboard from Nice to Genoa was put into French power. If this victory was much for the army and for Robespierre, it was more for Napoleon. He looked from the Tende, and saw for the first time that in Italy there was “a land for a conqueror2.” Robespierre wrote to his brother, the real head of the government at the moment, that Napoleon possessed3 “transcendent merit.” He engaged him to draw up a plan for a campaign against Piedmont, and sent him on a secret mission to Genoa. The relations between the two young men were, in fact, very close, and, considering the position of Robespierre the elder, the outlook for Bonaparte was good.
44That Bonaparte admired the powers of the elder Robespierre, is unquestionable. He was sure that if he had “remained in power, he would have re?stablished order and law; the result would have been attained4 without any shocks, because it would have come through the quiet exercise of power.” Nevertheless, it is certain that the young general was unwilling5 to come into close contact with the Terrorist leader, as his refusal of an offer to go to Paris to take the command of the garrison6 of the city shows. No doubt his refusal was partly due to his ambition—he thought the opening better where he was—and partly due, too, to his dislike of the excesses which the government was practising. That he never favored the policy of the Terrorists, all those who knew him testify, and there are many stories of his efforts at this time to save émigrés and suspects from the violence of the rabid patriots7; even to save the English imprisoned8 at Toulon. He always remembered Robespierre the younger with kindness, and when he was in power gave Charlotte Robespierre a pension.
Things had begun to go well for Bonaparte. His poverty passed. If his plan for an Italian campaign succeeded, he might even aspire9 to the command of the army. His brothers received good positions. Joseph was betrothed10 to Julie Clary, and life went gayly at Nice and Marseilles, where Napoleon had about him many of his friends—Robespierre and his sister; his own two pretty sisters; Marmont, and Junot, who was deeply in love with Pauline. Suddenly all this hope and happiness were shattered. On the 9th Thermidor Robespierre fell, and all who had favored him were suspected, Napoleon among the rest. His secret mission to Genoa gave a pretext11 for his arrest, and for thirteen days, in August, 1794, he was a prisoner, but through his friends was liberated12. Soon after his release, came an appointment to join an expedition against Corsica. He set 45out, but the undertaking13 was a failure, and the spring found him again without a place.
In April, 1795, Napoleon received orders to join the Army of the West. When he reached Paris he found that it was the infantry14 to which he was assigned. Such a change was considered a disgrace in the army. He refused to go. “A great many officers could command a brigade better than I could,” he wrote a friend, “but few could command the artillery15 so well. I retire, satisfied that the injustice16 done to the service will be sufficiently17 felt by those who know how to appreciate matters.” But though he might call himself “satisfied,” his retirement18 was a most serious affair for him. It was the collapse19 of what seemed to be a career, the shutting of the gate he had worked so fiercely to open.
He must begin again, and he did not see how. A sort of despair settled over him. “He declaimed against fate,” says the Duchess d’Abrantès. “I was idle and discontented,” he says of himself. He went to the theatre and sat sullen20 and inattentive through the gayest of plays. “He had moments of fierce hilarity,” says Bourrienne.
A pathetic distaste of effort came over him at times; he wanted to settle. “If I could have that house,” he said one day to Bourrienne, pointing to an empty house near by, “with my friends and a cabriolet, I should be the happiest of men.” He clung to his friends with a sort of desperation, and his letters to Joseph are touching22 in the extreme.
46
NAPOLEON IN PRISON.
After a lithograph23 by Motte. Bonaparte, master of Toulon, had already attained fame when the events of Thermidor imposed a sudden check on his career. His relations with the younger Robespierre laid him open to suspicion; he was suspended from his functions and put under arrest by the deputies of the Convention.
47Love as well as failure caused his melancholy24. All about him, indeed, turned thoughts to marriage. Joseph was now married, and his happiness made him envious25. “What a lucky rascal26 Joseph is!” he said. Junot, madly in love with Pauline, was with him. The two young men wandered through the alleys27 of the Jardin des Plantes and discussed Junot’s passion. In listening to his friend, Napoleon thought of himself. He had been attracted by Désirée Clary, Joseph’s sister-in-law. Why not try to win her? And he began to demand news of her from Joseph. Désirée had asked for his portrait, and he wrote: “I shall have it taken for her; you must give it to her, if she still wants it; if not, keep it yourself.” He was melancholy when he did not have news of her, accused Joseph of purposely omitting her name from his letters, and Désirée herself of forgetting him. At last he consulted Joseph: “If I remain here, it is just possible that I might feel inclined to commit the folly28 of marrying. I should be glad of a line from you on the subject. You might perhaps speak to Eugénie’s [Désirée’s] brother, and let me know what he says, and then it will be settled.” He waited the answer to his overtures29 “with impatience”; urged his brother to arrange things so that nothing “may prevent that which I long for.” But Désirée was obdurate30. Later she married Bernadotte and became Queen of Sweden.
Yet in these varying moods he was never idle. As three years before, he and Bourrienne indulged in financial speculations31; he tried to persuade Joseph to invest his wife’s dot in the property of the émigrés. He prepared memorials on the political disorders32 of the times and on military questions, and he pushed his brothers as if he had no personal ambition. He did not neglect to make friends either. The most important of those whom he cultivated was Paul Barras, revolutionist, conventionalist, member of the Directory, and one of the most influential33 men in Paris at that moment. He had known Napoleon at Toulon, and showed himself disposed to be friendly. “I attached myself to Barras,” said Napoleon later, “because I knew no one else. Robespierre was dead; Barras was playing a r?le: I had to attach myself to somebody and something.” One of his plans for himself was to go to Turkey. For two or three years, in fact, Napoleon had thought of the Orient as a possible field for his genius, and his mother had often worried lest he should go. 48Just now it happened that the Sultan of Turkey asked the French for aid in reorganizing his artillery and perfecting the defences of his forts, and Napoleon asked to be allowed to undertake the work. While pushing all his plans with extraordinary enthusiasm, even writing Joseph almost daily letters about what he would do for him when he was settled in the Orient, he was called to do a piece of work which was to be of importance in his future.
The war committee needed plans for an Italian campaign; the head of the committee was in great perplexity. Nobody knew anything about the condition of things in the South. By chance, one day, one of Napoleon’s acquaintances heard of the difficulties and recommended the young general. The memorial he prepared was so excellent that he was invited into the topographical bureau of the Committee of Public Safety. His knowledge, sense, energy, fire, were so remarkable34 that he made strong friends and became an important personage.
Such was the impression he made, that when in October, 1795, the government was threatened by the revolting sections, Barras, the nominal35 head of the defence, asked Napoleon to command the forces which protected the Tuileries, where the Convention had gone into permanent session. He hesitated for a moment. He had much sympathy for the sections. His sagacity conquered. The Convention stood for the republic; an overthrow36 now meant another proscription37, more of the Terror, perhaps a royalist succession, an English invasion.
“I accept,” he said to Barras; “but I warn you that once my sword is out of the scabbard I shall not replace it till I have established order.”
It was on the night of 12th Vendémiaire that Napoleon was appointed. With incredible rapidity he massed the men and cannon38 he could secure at the openings into the palace 49and at the points of approach. He armed even the members of the Convention as a reserve. When the sections marched their men into the streets and upon the bridges leading to the Tuileries, they were met by a fire which scattered39 them at once. That night Paris was quiet. The next day Napoleon was made general of division. On October 26th he was appointed general-in-chief of the Army of the Interior.
At last the opportunity he had sought so long and so eagerly had come. It was a proud position for a young man of twenty-six, and one may well stop and ask how he had obtained it. The answer is not difficult for one who, dismissing the prejudices and superstitions40 which have long enveloped41 his name, studies his story as he would that of an unknown individual. He had won his place as any poor and ambitious boy in any country and in any age must win his—by hard work, by grasping at every opportunity, by constant self-denial, by courage in every failure, by springing to his feet after every fall.
He succeeded because he knew every detail of his business (“There is nothing I cannot do for myself. If there is no one to make powder for the cannon I can do it”); because neither ridicule42 nor coldness nor even the black discouragement which made him write once to Joseph, “If this state of things continues I shall end by not turning out of my path when a carriage passes,” could stop him; because he had profound faith in himself. “Do these people imagine that I want their help to rise? They will be too glad some day to accept mine. My sword is at my side, and I will go far with it.” That he had misrepresented conditions more than once to secure favor, is true; but in doing this he had done simply what he saw done all about him, what he had learned from his father, what the oblique43 morality of the day justified44. That he had shifted opinions and allegiance, is equally true; but he who in the French Revolution did not shift opinion was he who regarded “not what is, but what might be.” Certainly in no respect had he been worse than his environment, and in many respects he had been far above it. He had struggled for place, not that he might have ease, but that he might have an opportunity for action; not that he might amuse himself, but that he might achieve glory. Nor did he seek honors merely for himself; it was that he might share them with others.
50
PEN PORTRAIT OF BONAPARTE IN PROFILE.
By Gros. This drawing, which I discovered among the portfolios45 of the Louvre, is one of the most precious documents of Napoleonic portraiture46. It was the gift of Monsieur Delestre, the pupil and biographer of Gros. In this clear profile we see already all that characteristic expression sought for by Gros above everything, and superbly rendered by him soon after in the portrait of Bonaparte at Arcola. I imagine that this pen sketch47 was preparatory to a finished portrait.—A. D.
51The first use Bonaparte made of his power after he was appointed general-in-chief of the Army of the Interior, was for his family and friends. Fifty or sixty thousand francs, assignats, and dresses go to his mother and sisters; Joseph is to have a consulship48; “a roof, a table, and carriage” are at his disposal in Paris; Louis is made a lieutenant49 and his aide-de-camp; Lucien, commissioner of war; Junot and Marmont are put on his staff. He forgets nobody. The very day after the 13th Vendémiaire, when his cares and excitements were numerous and intense, he was at the Permons, where Monsieur Permon had just died. “He was like a son, a brother.” This relation he soon tried to change, seeking to marry the beautiful widow Permon. When she laughed merrily at the idea, for she was many years his senior, he replied that the age of his wife was a matter of indifference50 to him so long as she did not look over thirty.
The change in Bonaparte himself was great. Up to this time he had gone about Paris “in an awkward and ungainly manner, with a shabby round hat thrust down over his eyes, and with curls (known at that time as oreilles des chiens) badly powdered and badly combed, and falling over the collar of the iron-gray coat which has since become so celebrated51; his hands, long, thin, and black, without gloves, because, he said, they were an unnecessary expense; wearing ill-made and ill-cleaned boots.” The majority of people saw in him only what Monsieur de Pontécoulant, who took 52him into the War Office, had seen at their first interview; “A young man with a wan21 and livid complexion52, bowed shoulders, and a weak and sickly appearance.”
But now, installed in an elegant h?tel, driving his own carriage, careful of his person, received in every salon53 where he cared to go, the young general-in-chief is a changed man. Success has had much to do with this; love has perhaps had more.
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1 commissioner | |
n.(政府厅、局、处等部门)专员,长官,委员 | |
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2 conqueror | |
n.征服者,胜利者 | |
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3 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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4 attained | |
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况) | |
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5 unwilling | |
adj.不情愿的 | |
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6 garrison | |
n.卫戍部队;驻地,卫戍区;vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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7 patriots | |
爱国者,爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 ) | |
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8 imprisoned | |
下狱,监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9 aspire | |
vi.(to,after)渴望,追求,有志于 | |
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10 betrothed | |
n. 已订婚者 动词betroth的过去式和过去分词 | |
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11 pretext | |
n.借口,托词 | |
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12 liberated | |
a.无拘束的,放纵的 | |
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13 undertaking | |
n.保证,许诺,事业 | |
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14 infantry | |
n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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15 artillery | |
n.(军)火炮,大炮;炮兵(部队) | |
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16 injustice | |
n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利 | |
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17 sufficiently | |
adv.足够地,充分地 | |
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18 retirement | |
n.退休,退职 | |
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19 collapse | |
vi.累倒;昏倒;倒塌;塌陷 | |
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20 sullen | |
adj.愠怒的,闷闷不乐的,(天气等)阴沉的 | |
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21 wan | |
(wide area network)广域网 | |
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22 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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23 lithograph | |
n.平板印刷,平板画;v.用平版印刷 | |
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24 melancholy | |
n.忧郁,愁思;adj.令人感伤(沮丧)的,忧郁的 | |
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25 envious | |
adj.嫉妒的,羡慕的 | |
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26 rascal | |
n.流氓;不诚实的人 | |
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27 alleys | |
胡同,小巷( alley的名词复数 ); 小径 | |
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28 folly | |
n.愚笨,愚蠢,蠢事,蠢行,傻话 | |
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29 overtures | |
n.主动的表示,提议;(向某人做出的)友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 );(歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的)序曲,前奏曲 | |
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30 obdurate | |
adj.固执的,顽固的 | |
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31 speculations | |
n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 );思考;投机活动;推断 | |
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32 disorders | |
n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 );凌乱;骚乱;(身心、机能)失调 | |
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33 influential | |
adj.有影响的,有权势的 | |
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34 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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35 nominal | |
adj.名义上的;(金额、租金)微不足道的 | |
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36 overthrow | |
v.推翻,打倒,颠覆;n.推翻,瓦解,颠覆 | |
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37 proscription | |
n.禁止,剥夺权利 | |
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38 cannon | |
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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39 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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40 superstitions | |
迷信,迷信行为( superstition的名词复数 ) | |
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41 enveloped | |
v.包围,笼罩,包住( envelop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42 ridicule | |
v.讥讽,挖苦;n.嘲弄 | |
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43 oblique | |
adj.斜的,倾斜的,无诚意的,不坦率的 | |
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44 justified | |
a.正当的,有理的 | |
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45 portfolios | |
n.投资组合( portfolio的名词复数 );(保险)业务量;(公司或机构提供的)系列产品;纸夹 | |
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46 portraiture | |
n.肖像画法 | |
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47 sketch | |
n.草图;梗概;素描;v.素描;概述 | |
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48 consulship | |
领事的职位或任期 | |
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49 lieutenant | |
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员 | |
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50 indifference | |
n.不感兴趣,不关心,冷淡,不在乎 | |
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51 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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52 complexion | |
n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格 | |
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53 salon | |
n.[法]沙龙;客厅;营业性的高级服务室 | |
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