These are the French who took the Gold
that lay in the City of Lisbon.
This is Sir Arthur (whose Valour and skill
began so well but ended so ill) who
beat the French who took the Gold that
lay in the City of Lisbon.
This is the _Convention_ that Nobody owns,
that saved old Junot’s Baggage and Bones,
altho’ Sir Arthur (whose Valour and skill
began so well but ended so ill,) had beaten
the French who took the Gold that lay in the
City of Lisbon.
This is John Bull, in great dismay, at the
sight of the Ships which carried away the
gold and silver and all the spoil the French
had plundered with so much toil after the
Convention which nobody owns, which saved
old Junot’s Baggage and Bones, altho’ Sir Arthur
(whose Valour and skill began so well but ended so ill)
had beaten the French who took the Gold
that lay in the City of Lisbon.
CHAPTER XXIII
Glory at Erfurt and Humiliation in Spain
(1808-1809)
The cloud of misfortune which overshadowed the French armies in Spain
and Portugal gradually grew in size and density until it covered
practically the whole of Europe. Encouraged by the success of the
insurgents in the Iberian Peninsula and the triumph of British arms in
Portugal, both Austria and Germany took courage and prepared to throw
off the yoke. In Austria a _landwehr_, or local militia, designed
to number 180,000 of the young men of the country, came into being;
in Prussia patriotic clubs sprang up on all hands, while such able
statesmen as Stein, who had been Minister of State for Trade, and
Scharnhorst, a skilful officer and organiser, worked nobly in the
interests of military reforms which were destined to bear much good
fruit in due course.
Napoleon was more immediately concerned with the intentions of the
former Power. To a certain extent he had clipped the wings of the
Prussian eagle by forcing the King into an undertaking that for the
next ten years his army should not exceed 40,000 troops. This did not
prevent many civilians being quietly drafted into a reserve for future
service, or the formation of a school of thought with the highest
patriotic ideals. The Emperor’s policy was thoroughly sound. By still
holding the fortresses of Glogau, Stettin, and Küstrin, and reducing
the number of national troops to a minimum, the French troops which
had been kept in Prussia since the campaign of her humiliation were
set free for service in the South. Napoleon already knew of Austria’s
warlike disposition, and was even a little uncertain as to Russia.
Suspicion was mutual, and as he was about to set out for Spain to take
command of his troops, he thought it advisable to “sound” the temper of
his ally personally.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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