A Conspiracy of the Carbonari

the pages of history, the day which brought to Napoleon the first dimming of his star of good fort

er of victory which endured ten years, Napoleon on the 22d of May, 1809, had sustained his first defeat, lost his first battle. True, he had made this victory cost dearly enough. There had been two days of blood and carnage ere the confl

he thunder of their artillery, the stamping of their steeds; the air resounded with the shouts of the combatants, who assailed each other with the fury of rage and hate, fearing not death, but d

haracterized by such animosity, such fierce fury on both sides. Austria was struggli

cross three bridges from the island of Lobau in the middle of the Danube, and whom the Austrians hated doubly that day, because another painful wound had

ienna from the mastery of the foe, the opening the way to

ood fortune was paling; that he, too, was merely a mortal who must bow to the will of a higher po

h actual pleasure, with exulting rage. Each yawning wound was hailed with a shout of joy by the person who inflicted it; each man who fell

, though ill and suffering, had himself lifted upon his horse, and, in the enthusiasm of the struggle, so completely forgot his sickness that he grasped

ith heaps of corpses, rivers of blood. Every foot of ground, every position conquered, however small, was the scene of furious strife. For the church in Aspern, the chu

and the gathering darkness found the foes almost in the same position which they had occupied at the beginning of the conflict. The Austrians were still in dense masses

ible butchery, the most desperate strug

h the left shore. The wind and the foaming waves of the river seemed on this day to be allies of the Austrians; the wind swept the ships directly upon the bridges, densely crowded with dead bodies, wounded men,

French army uttered cries of angu

usually kindled enthusiasm so promptly: "I myself ordered the destruction of the bridg

e truth of his words and did not answer wi

y word which fell, weighty and momentous as a sentence of death, from the white, compressed lips. But a higher power than Napoleon was sending its decrees of death even into the group of generals gathered around the master of the world; cannon balls had no reverence for the C?sar's presence; they tore from his s

the island of Lobau, whose bridges had been severed by the burning ships; the triumphant Austrians were enca

ld alarum to the mournful dirge of men, the storm-lashed waves of the Danube thundered around the island, dashed their foam-crested surges on the shore, and, in many places, created crimson lakes where, instead of boats, blood-stained bodies

world bowed in reverence and admiration; he who, with a wave of his hand, had overturned and founded

on face supported by his small white hands, glittering with diamonds, gazing at t

the mountains of corpses, to the moaning wounded men, the pools of blood which everywhere surrounded them, then gazed once more at him whom they were wont to hail exul

s in his own breast, to whose gloomy words the wail

Bessières, who, with his wounded arm in a sling, s

ing to the captured Austrian General Weber, and the Russian General Czernitschef, who had arrived at Napoleon's headquarter

wn to the shore. A boat with four oarsmen lay waiting for him, and his two va

iff, a glance before which the bravest of his marshals would have trembled, but which the insensible waters, tossing and surging below, swallowed as they had swallowed that day so many of his soldiers. Then, sinking slowly down upon the seat which Roustan had prepared for him of cushions an

loud oaths and jeers of the soldiers who had rushed down to the shore, and, with clenched fists, hurled execratio

s soldiery; he was listening to the tempest, the

d an angry glance at the foaming water as if he wished to lash the

red me," he cried in a loud, angry voice. "Ay, all Nature must rise in rebellion an

our power. Beware of offending us, for we are bearing you on our backs in a fragile boat, and the C?sar and his empire weigh no more than the lightest fisherman with his nets. Beware of offending us, for you are nothing but an ordinar

rie, which no one ventured to dist

one addressed him, that some on

have lost a battle! But when one has gained forty victories, it r

t seem to expect it; perhaps he did not even know that any one

e carriages were ready to convey the

their lord and master, the august emperor, expecting a gracious greeting. But he passed on without looking at them, without even saluting them by a wave of his

y talked with them, Napoleon had already vanished in h

had to give them his commands for the next day, his orders concerning what was to be done on the island of Lobau, what pro

an glided through the little door of the private room into the hall, and, with a very important air, whispered to the listeni

scussed outside the measures which they must now adopt on their own account to rescue the luckle

Lobau-slept when bodies of his infuriated guards rushed into the castle and, unheeding the emperor's presence, plundered the cellars and storerooms[B

ommon petty need of human nature in these hours when every second's delay might decide the destiny of many thousands. This sleep could be no natural one; perhaps the emperor, exhausted by fatigue and menta

ber. The officers followed, stealing along on tiptoe, and gazed curiously, anxiously, into the quiet, curtained room. Yes, there on the low camp-bed, lay the emperor. He had not even undresse

flushed, his eyes were calmly closed. The emperor was sleeping! His generals need feel no anxiety; they might return to the drawing-room with relieved hearts

y looked at each other with wo

y asleep; he

the whole army was lost. He need only remain encamped with his troops on

round the drawing-room. No one was present except the group of marshals, generals and colonels. No one could overhear th

everently, every voice whisp

important things are being planned, and we must be re

ll who were present. "We awai

ready; for the great hour of vengeance and deliverance is approachin

head you are," replied Gene

have an opportunity to avenge his perfidy. Keep your hands on your swords and be watchful; strive to spread the spirit of our order more and more through the army; initiate more and more soldiers into our league as brother

constantly plunges us into new wars, rouses the hatred of all Europe against France, an

es of their husbands, fathers of their sons, labor of sturdy arms. The fields lie untilled, the w

to seize him, bind him, and deliver him to those whose prison doors are always open to receive the hated foe who blockades their harbo

e courage to dare the great deed, a brilliant reward; she offers a million florins and p

g enough to venture such a deed," said Colonel Oudet. "Form connections

ate," they all replied submissiv

ed to caprice, to chance; every door to intrigue will be opened. We must secure France from every peril. We have now seen, for the first time, that the proud emperor is only a mere mortal. Had the bullet which wounded his foot at Regensburg struck his head, France would probably be, at the present moment, in the midst of civil war, and the Legitimists, the Republicans, and the adherents of Napoleon would dispute the victory with ea

" replied Ge

And I!

. Will you tell us the name of the person who s

the head of the Carbonari has n

l be better to exercise caution and not let the walls themselves hear what we determine. So form a circle around me

slender figure towered above them all, and whose handsome pale face, with its enthusiastic

n!" said Oudet, in hi

ng into his ear, then he stepped back and made way fo

unanimity, and, in my position as one of the heads of the great society, I give your choice my approval. The invisible ones-the heads who are above us all, and from whom I, like the other three chiefs of the league, receive my orders-the invisible ones have also chosen Eugene Beauharnais for the future emperor of

seen in the repose of sleep, was now again instinct with power and energy; his large eyes were fixed upon his generals with an expression of strange anger, and seemed striving to

ished from the emperor's countenance, and his fea

a hasty nod the officers who had all bowed respectfull

r ammunition, in order not only to keep the enemy from the left bank, but also to drive him out of all the islands in the Danube. You will all take care to execute my orders with the utmost rapidity and punctiliousness. The Austrians disputed the victory with us at Esslingen; in their arrogance they will perhaps even go so far as to assert that they obtained it; so I will give them a battle in which the victory will be on my side so undoubtedly that the Austrians must bow without resistance beneath its heavy, imperious hand. The bridge-building is the first and most necessary condition of this conquest. It must be carried on swiftly, cautiously, secretly-the enemy must not suspect where the bridges will be erected; all the portions of the structures must be made on the island of Lobau, then the bridges must appear out of nothingness, like a miracle before the astonished eyes of the foe. These bridges, gentlemen, will be the road for us all to gain new la

till it finally echoed like menacing thunder through the hall, he nodded a farewell, by a haughty bend of

s room, absorbed in gloomy thought. Sometimes a flash of indignation illumined his face, and he raised his arm with a th

y successor! It is a conspiracy which extends throughout the whole army. I know it. I was warned in Spain against the plots of the Carbonari, and the caution has been repeated here. And I must keep silence. I cannot punish the tr

perseverance as if the object in view was to accomplish some useful and urgent task. Then, when the floor was covered with tiny chips, and the black, deli

ssively from his lips. "I cannot crush all the limbs, but I will make the

s soul of an oppressive burden, and lightened his heart, the gloomy express

ly the door leading into his sleeping-room opened and Roustan, gl

e a tiger-cat, noiselessly reached his side with two swift bounds, the emperor

nversation between the gen

I lost the connection. But I heard them talking about my illustrious emperor and master, so, as your majesty meanwhile had awaked, I thought it advi

at won every heart; "yes, you did right, and I will reward you for it.

l be very happy, for I shall have a hun

my hundred gold portraits, I'll give you a bit of advice which is worth more than the gold coins. Forget everything that you have heard

ng about, and what I could have said or heard. I only know that my gracious emperor and master has given me a hundr

pinched the Mameluke's ear so hard that the latter with d