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Mr. Bonaparte of Corsica

Chapter 8 THE EMPIRE-THE CORONATION 1800-1804

Word Count: 2440    |    Released on: 29/11/2017

s new Constitution of Sieyes and another our government would be free and popular, but that under myself it has become an unlimited monarchy. That m

phs for my collection, but now they want me to get up f

lied-?" aske

this way, I cannot permit Louis to come back yet awhile. Meantime, in the hope of replenishing our cellars with a few bottles of Glenlive

s of his ministers, perceived Bonaparte's point, and replied that he was very desirous for peace himself, but th

for excitement-Penn was mightier than the sword-but here one has to be in a broil constantly; to be a chef one must be eternally cooking, and the results must be of the kind that requires extra editions of the evening pa

Minister of Police, who

sternly, "what are we he

y, Ge

artment, are you aware that no attempt to

Genera

uses, and I will add that unless an attempt is made on my life before ten o'clock to- night, you lose your place. The French people must be kept interested in this performance,

re to have had a dynamite bomb thrown at you yesterday by one of my employes, but the brave fellow who was to have stood betw

d a substitute?"

any persons in Paris who care for that kind

rother Joseph is in town, and yet you say you couldn't find a ma

o whom he expressed his indignatio

ngs up. The market is long on real assassins, fellows who'd kill him for the mere fun of hearing his last words, but when it

citing episode in this line, in which, of course, Napoleon always came out unscathed and much endeared to the populace. This, however, could not go on f

heme, General," said

to do some

suggest?" asked

of poems, or a three-v

ley

Fouche. "If they had another Consul for a few months, t

must say I find the Tuileries a very pleasant place of abode. It's more fun than you can imagine rummag

Talleyrand. "Only it wi

or the Sunday newspapers every week during my absence. I think it would be well, too, to keep a war-correspondent at work in your office night and day, writing despatches about my progress. Give him a good book on Hannibal's trip to study, and let him fill

task of starting the army in motion was begun, and on the 18th every column was in full swing. Lannes, with an advance guard

the best he can, and it is not for us to complain. Let us on. The up-trip will be cold and tedious, but once on the summit of yonder icy ridge we can seat ourselves comfortably on our guns and slide down into the lovely valleys on the other side like a band of merry school-boys on toboggans.

quite as much willingness to walk as the meanest soldier, disdaining to ride,

does us," said one of his soldiers, "and h

is troops, and the brasses of the band broke th

ghly that he was willing to sign anything I wished; and, best of all, after a few petty delays, convinced the French people that I was too big a man for a mere consulship. It was my chamois-like agility in getting down the Alps that really made me Emperor. As for the army, it fought nobly. It was so thoroughly chilled by the Alpine venture that it fought desperately to get warm. My grenadiers, congealed to their very souls, went where the fire was hottest. They seized bomb-shells while they were yet in the air, warmed their hands upon them, and then threw them back into the enemy's camp, where they exploded with great carnage. They did not even know when they were killed, so benumbed by the cold had they become.

hould consider these words, and remember that the gre

May, 1804, that the Em

his new title ami

n," he said. "This thi

shall I have

I'd send for your old hatter in the Rue de Victoire; if you want to give it a ceremonial touch, I'd send for the P

increase your salary a hundred francs a week, Fouche. I'll crow

ked into Notre Dame to-morrow on your hands, with the crown of France on one foot and the diade

want to see him officially on December 2d at Notre Dame. If he hesitates about c

or and Empress of the French on December 2, 1804, as requested. What subsequently followed the world knows. Just as the Pope

ut the joke is on you. This is my crown, and I think

en it came to the crowning of Josephine. The coronation over, Napoleon and Josephine turned to the splendid audience, and marched down the c

, me!" he added, with a sigh. "These French-these French! they are as fickle as the only woman I have ever loved. B

u if"-here the E

at?" frowned

on straight," r

n again, remember who gave you that crown, and when you remember that it was I,

own relaxed, and he b

ad break of the o

that?" aske

ed 'Tiara Boom- de-ay'?" said Bonaparte, with a roar

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