Folk-Tales of Napoleon - The Napoleon of the People; Napoleonder by Honoré de Balzac;Alexander Amphiteatrof
page 33 of 48 (68%)
page 33 of 48 (68%)
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religion; whereupon the bells all rang out in his honor and in honor of
the good God. Everybody then was satisfied: first, the priests, because they were protected from persecution; second, the merchants, because they could do business without fearing the "we-grab-it-all" of the law; and finally the nobles, because the people were forbidden to put them to death, as they had formerly had the unfortunate habit of doing. But Napoleon still had his enemies to clear away, and he was not a man to drop asleep over his porringer. His eye took in the whole world--as if it were no bigger than a soldier's head. The first thing he did was to turn up in Italy--as suddenly as if he had poked his head through a window; and one look from him was enough. The Austrians were swallowed up at Marengo as gudgeons are swallowed by a whale. Then the French VICTORY sang a song of triumph that all the world could hear, and it was enough. "We won't play any more!" declared the Germans. "Nor we either," said the others. Sum total: Europe is cowed; England knuckles down; and there is universal peace, with all the kings and people pretending to embrace one another. It was then that Napoleon established the Legion of Honor; and a fine thing it was, too. In a speech that he made before the whole army at Boulogne he said: "In France everybody is brave; so the civilian who does a noble deed shall be the brother of the soldier, and they shall stand together under the flag of honor." Then we who had been down in Egypt came home and found everything changed. When Napoleon left us he |
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