A Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, with a Sketch of Josephine, Empress of the French. — John Shaqi
A Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, with a Sketch of Josephine, Empress of the French.Tarbell, Ida M. (Ida Minerva)
History
A Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, with a Sketch of Josephine, Empress of the French.
Tarbell, Ida M. (Ida Minerva)
Josephine, Empress, consort of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1763-1814; Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821
“Soldiers! you have precipitated yourselves like a torrent from the
summit of the Apennines; you have driven back and dispersed all that
opposed your march. Piedmont, liberated from Austrian tyranny, has
yielded to her natural sentiments of peace and amity towards France.
Milan is yours, and the Republican flag floats throughout Lombardy,
while the Dukes of Modena and Parma owe their political existence
solely to your generosity. The army which so haughtily menaced you,
finds no barrier to secure it from your courage. The Po, the Ticino,
and the Adda have been unable to arrest your courage for a single
day. Those boasted ramparts of Italy proved insufficient. You have
surmounted them as rapidly as you cleared the Apennines. So much
success has diffused joy through the bosom of your country. Yes,
soldiers, you have done well; but is there nothing more for you to
accomplish? Shall it be said of us that we knew how to conquer, but
knew not how to profit by victory? Shall posterity reproach us with
having found a Capua in Lombardy? But I see you rush to arms;
unmanly repose wearies you, and the days lost to glory are lost to
happiness.
“Let us set forward. We have still forced marches to perform,
enemies to conquer, laurels to gather, and injuries to avenge. Let
those tremble who have whetted the poniards of civil war in France;
who have, like dastards, assassinated our ministers, and burned our
ships in Toulon. The hour of vengeance is arrived, but let the
people be tranquil. We are the friends of all nations, particularly
the descendants of the Brutuses, the Scipios, and those illustrious
persons we have chosen for our models. To restore the Capitol,
replace with honor the statues of the heroes who rendered it
renowned, and rouse the Roman people, become torpid by so many ages
of slavery—shall, will, be the fruit of your victories. You will
then return to your homes, and your fellow-citizens when pointing to
you will say, ‘_He was of the army of Italy._’”
Such was his address in March, before the final campaign against the
Austrians:
[Illustration:
BONAPARTE.
Engraved by Bartolozzi, R.A., an Italian engraver, resident of
England, after the portrait of Appiani.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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