The Dawn of the XIXth Century in England: A social sketch of the timesAshton, John
History
The Dawn of the XIXth Century in England: A social sketch of the times
Ashton, John
England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
One method was by distributing heart-stirring handbills, serious or
humorous, but all having the strongest patriotic basis. Of these very
many hundreds are preserved in the British Museum,[17] and very
curious they are. That they answered their purpose no one could doubt,
for, although the threatened invasion of England was a patent fact,
to which no one could shut their eyes, nor doubt its gravity, these
handbills kept alive an enthusiasm that was worth anything at the
time, and it was an enthusiasm, that although in its style somewhat
bombastic, and with some insular prejudice, was deep-seated and real;
and, had the invasion ever taken place, there can be little doubt but
that, humanly speaking, it would have resulted in a disastrous defeat
for Napoleon, or, had it been otherwise, it would not have been the
fault of the defenders, for, like Cromwell’s Ironsides, “Every man had
a heart in him.”
In these handbills, Bonaparte was accused of many things—that he
became Mohammedan, poisoned his sick at Jaffa, with many other things
which do not come within the scope of this work, and have been fully
treated in my “English Caricature and Satire on Napoleon I.,” and which
I do not wish to reproduce; only, naturally, Napoleon’s name can hardly
be kept out, and, as I took the best for that book, this must not
suffer therefrom. They are of all dates, as can be seen from internal
evidence, but very few are dated, so that they may be taken nearly
haphazard. The following, from its mention of Lord Whitworth, and his
recall, is evidently an early one:
“THE NEW MOSES
or
“BONAPARTE’S TEN COMMANDMENTS.
“Translated from a French Manuscript
by
_SOLIMAN the TRAVELLER_.
“And when the great man came from Egypt, he used cunning and force to
subject the people. The good as well as the wicked of the land trembled
before him, because he had won the hearts of all the fighting men; and
after he had succeeded in many of his schemes, his heart swelled with
pride, and he sought how to ensnare the people more and more, to be the
greatest man under the sun.
“The multitude of the people were of four kinds: some resembled blind
men, that cannot see; some were fearful, who trembled before him;
others courageous, and for the good of the people, but too weak in
number; and others yet, who were as wicked as the great man himself.
And when he was at the head of the deluded nation, he gave strict laws
and the following commandments, which were read before a multitude of
people, and in a full congregation of all his priests—
“1. Ye Frenchmen, ye shall have no other commander above me; for I,
Bonaparte, am the supreme head of the nation, and will make all nations
about you bow to you, and obey me as your Lord and Commander.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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