The Napoleon Anecdotes: Illustrating the Mental Energies of the Late Emperor of France; and the Characters and Actions of His Contemporary Statesmen and Warriors, Volume 1

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William Henry Ireland
C. S. Arnold, 1822

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Page 39 - When he was summoned by the Russians, he replied that as soon as they sent him back the leg he had lost at Moscow, he would surrender the fortress. Many times in my life...
Page 125 - It was the spectacle of a sea and billows of fire, a sky and clouds of flame; mountains of red rolling flames, like immense waves of the sea, alternately bursting forth and elevating themselves to skies of fire, and then sinking into the ocean of flame below. Oh, it was the most grand, the most sublime, and the most terrific sight the world ever beheld!!
Page 65 - The marines occupied the front of the poop, and the officers kept the quarter-deck. An universal silence prevailed when the barge reached the side, and there was a grave but anxious aspect in all the spectators, which, in the opinion of others, as well as myself, was no small addition to the solemnity of the ceremonial. Count Bertrand ascended first, and having bowed, retired a few steps to give place to him whom he still considered as his master, and in whose presence he appeared to feel all his...
Page 124 - This terrible conflagration ruined every thing. I was prepared for every thing but this. It was unforeseen ; for who would have thought that a nation would have set its capital on fire ? The inhabitants themselves, however, did all they could to extinguish it, and several of them perished in their endeavours. They also brought...
Page 67 - ... have been connected with his former dignity — that he never offered a pinch to any one with whom he was conversing. " On the subsequent day he breakfasted at eleven. His meal consists of meat and claret, which is closed with coffee. At dinner, I observed that he selected a mutton cutlet, which he contrived to dispose of without the aid of either knife or fork. " He passed much of the third day on deck, and appeared to have paid particular attention to his toilette. He receives no other mark...
Page 103 - The work of removal now commenced in good earnest: porters with harrows, and ladders, and tackles of ropes made their appearance. The collection of the Louvre might from that moment be considered as broken up for ever. The sublimity of its orderly aspect vanished : it took now the melancholy, confused, dissolute air of a large auction room after a day's sale. Before this, the visitors had walked down its profound length with a sense of respect on their minds, influencing them to preserve silence...
Page 132 - ... Austerlitz. Between the windows there was a paltry secondhand chest of drawers ; and an old bookcase, with green blinds, stood on the left of the door leading to the next apartment. Four or five cane-bottomed chairs, painted green, were standing here and there about the room. Before the...
Page 37 - Why, you must know, Sir Emperor, we do not grow corn in this here island, and our green vegetables require a ready market. We have generally had to wait for the arrival of a fleet ; and then, rat 'em, they would sometimes all spoil ; but now, Sir General, we have a prime sale for every article." " Where is your wife ? " " Dang it, and please you, I believe she is scared, for I see my children have all run out.
Page 111 - Tuilleries, after witnessing what I have described. Between seven and eight in the evening, we heard the rolling of wheels, the clatter of cavalry, and the tramp of infantry. A number of British were in the room: they all rose and rushed to the door, without hats, and carrying in their haste their white table napkins in their hands. The horses were going past, in military procession, lying on their sides, in separate cars.
Page 131 - B, hung by a chain of the plaited hair of Marie Louise, from a pin stuck in the nankeen lining. The floor was covered with a second-hand carpet, which had once decorated the dining room of a lieutenant of the St.

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