"This celebrated personage was a native of Corsica; and enjoying a
fortunate horoscope, he entered the French army, and speedily rose to
the rank of general; and afterwards, with the consent of the people
and the soldiery, made himself emperor. After this he conquered
several kingdoms, and the fame of his prowess and his victories filled
all the European world. When he invaded Russia, he defeated the
Muscovites in several great battles, and took their capital; but, in
consequence of the intensity of the cold, several thousands of his
army both men and horses, perished miserably. This catastrophe obliged
him to return to France, where he undertook the conquest of another
country. At this time George III. reigned in England; and having
collected all the disposable forces of his kingdom, appointed Lord
Wellington (the same general who was employed in the war against
Tippoo Sultan in Mysore) to command them, and sent him to combat the
French Emperor. He entered Spain, and forced the Emperor's brother,
Yusuf, (Joseph,) who was king of that country, to fly--till after a
variety of battles and incidents, too numerous to particularize, the
two hostile armies met at a place called by the English Waterloo,
where a bloody battle was fought, as famous as that of Pāshān,
between Sohrab and the hero Rustan: and Napoleon was overthrown and
made prisoner. He was then sent, though in a manner suitable to his
rank, to this island of St Helena, where, after a few years, he
finished his earthly career. His tomb is much visited by all who touch
at the island, and has become a _durgah_ (shrine) for innumerable
visitors from Europe. There are persons appointed to take care of it,
who give to strangers, in consideration of a small present, the leaves
and flowers of the trees which grow round the tomb. No other Emperor
of the Europeans was ever so honoured as to have had his tomb made a
shrine and place of pilgrimage: nor was ever one so great a conqueror,
or so renowned for his valour and victories."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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