Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Volume II

Intercepted Letters, part iii., p. 38.

429

General Menou was the last person to whom Napoleon spoke on shore. He said to him, "My dear general, you must take care of yourselves here. If I have the happiness to reach France, the reign of ranting shall be at an end." – Las Cases, tom. iii., p. 13.

430

"In consequence of the news from Europe, I have determined to return to France. I leave the command of the army to General Kleber. The army will soon hear news of me: I cannot explain more fully. It grieves me to the heart to separate myself from the soldiers, to whom I am so tenderly attached: but the separation shall be but for a moment; and the general whom I leave at your head possesses the confidence of the government, and mine."

431

Las Cases, tom. iii., p. 13.

432

"Gantheaume informed me, that he saw, at Ajaccio, the house that was occupied by Napoleon's family, the patrimonial abode. The arrival of their celebrated countryman immediately set all the inhabitants of the island in motion. A crowd of cousins came to welcome him, and the streets were thronged with people." – Las Cases, tom. iii., p. 14.

433

Bourrienne, tom. iii., p. 4; Miot, p. 269.

434

Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 230; Madame de Staël, tom. ii., p. 211.

435

Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 176; Montgaillard, tom. v., p. 126; Jomini, tom. xi., p. 380.

436

Botta, tom. ii., p. 571; Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 145; Thiers, tom. x., p. 26; Annual Register, vol. xl., p. 38.

437

See Southey's Life of Nelson.

438

Jomini, tom. xiv., p. 316; Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 241.

439

Annual Register, vol. xl., p. 244.

440

"Suwarrow is a most extraordinary man. He dines every morning about nine. He sleeps almost naked: he affects a perfect indifference to heat and cold; and quits his chamber, which approaches to suffocation, in order to review his troops, in a thin linen jacket, while the thermometer is at ten degrees below freezing. A great deal of his whimsical manner is affected: He finds that it suits his troops, and the people he has to deal with. I dined with him this morning. He cried to me across the table, 'Tweddell, the French have taken Portsmouth. I have just received a courier from England. The king is in the tower, and Sheridan protector!'" – Tweddell's Remains, p. 135.

441

Jomini, tom. xi., p. 275; Thiers, tom. x., p. 279.

442

The term, it is scarcely necessary to say, is derived from the childish amusement, where two boys swing at the opposite ends of a plank, moving up and down, in what Dr. Johnson calls "a reciprocating motion," while a third urchin, placed in the centre of motion, regulates their movements. – S.

443

Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 58.

444

Thiers, tom. x., p. 269; Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 397.

445

See ante, vol. i., p. 56.

446

Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 61.

447

"Ducos was a man of narrow mind, and easy disposition. Moulins, a general of division, had never served in war: he was originally in the French guards, and had been advanced in the army of the interior. He was a worthy man, and a warm and upright patriot. Gohier was an advocate of considerable reputation, and exalted patriotism – an eminent lawyer, and a man of great integrity and candour." – Napoleon, Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 60.

448

Thiers, tom. x., p. 346; Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 56; Lacretelle, tom. xiv., p. 385.

449

"It was not like the return of a citizen to his country, or a general at the head of a victorious army, but like the triumph of a sovereign restored to his people." – Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 57.

450

"The news of his return caused a general delirium. Baudin, the deputy from Ardennes, who was really a worthy man, struck with the idea that Providence had at length sent the man for whom he and his party had so long searched in vain, died the very same night from excess of joy." – Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 59; Fouché, tom. i., p. 107.

451

"Having thus arrived in Paris quite unexpectedly, he was in his own house, in the Rue Chantereine, before any one knew of his being in the capital. Two hours afterwards, he presented himself to the Directory, and, being recognised by the soldiers on guard, was announced by shouts of gladness. All the members of the Directory appeared to share in the public joy." – Gourgaud, tom. i., p. 60.

452

See Mémoires de Gohier, tom. i., pp. 198-212.

453