Napoleon Bonaparte - John S. C. Abbott (book club reads .txt) 📗

ergy did he do this, that he received from his antagonists themost complimentary sobriquet of the one hundred thousand men .Wherever Napoleon made his appearance in the field, his presencealone was considered equivalent to that force.

The following proclamation rang like a trumpet charge over thehills and valleys of France. "Frenchmen! You have been anxious forpeace. Your government has desired it with still greater ardor.Its first efforts, its most constant wishes, have been for itsattainment. The English ministry has exposed the secret of itsiniquitous policy. It wishes to dismember France, to destroy itscommerce, and either to erase it from the map of Europe, or todegrade it to a secondary power. England is willing to embroil allthe nations of the Continent in hostility with each other, that shemay enrich herself with their spoils, and gain possession of thetrade of the world. For the attainment of this object she scattersher gold, becomes prodigal of her promises, and multiplies herintri