Harper's New Monthly Magazine Vol. IV, No. 19, Dec 1851Various
History
Harper's New Monthly Magazine Vol. IV, No. 19, Dec 1851
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
Traveling with great rapidity, he appeared and vanished like a meteor,
ever retaining the same calm, pensive, thoughtful aspect. A person, who
saw him upon this occasion, thus described his appearance: "I beheld
with deep interest and extreme attention that extraordinary man, who has
performed such great deeds, and about whom there is something which
seems to indicate that his career is not yet terminated. I found him
much like his portraits, small in stature, thin, pale, with an air of
fatigue, but not as has been reported in ill-health. He appeared to me
to listen with more abstraction than interest, as if occupied rather
with what he was thinking of, than with what was said to him. There is
great intelligence in his countenance, along with an expression of
habitual meditation, which reveals nothing of what is passing within. In
that thinking head, in that daring mind, it is impossible not to suppose
that some designs are engendering, which will have their influence on
the destinies of Europe." Napoleon did not remain long at Rastadt, for
all the questions of great political importance were already settled,
and he had no liking for those discussions of minor points which
engrossed the attention of the petty German princes, who were assembled
at that Congress. He accordingly prepared for his departure.
In taking leave of the army he thus bade adieu to his troops. "Soldiers!
I leave you to-morrow. In separating myself from the army I am consoled
with the thought that I shall soon meet you again, and engage with you
in new enterprises. Soldiers! when conversing among yourselves of the
kings you have vanquished, of the people upon whom you have conferred
liberty, of the victories you have won in two campaigns, say, '_In the
next two we will accomplish still more._'"
Napoleon's attention was already eagerly directed to the gorgeous East.
These vast kingdoms, enveloped in mystery, presented just the realm for
his exuberant imagination to range. It was the theatre, as he eloquently
said, "of mighty empires, where all the great revolutions of the earth
have arisen, where mind had its birth, and all religions their cradle,
and where six hundred millions of men still have their dwelling-place."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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