Page images
PDF
EPUB

On the

devotedly attached to him, and would, with joy, have followed him once more to battle. But the marshals and officers of the highest rank considered the contest as hopeless, and would not listen to the proposal. The allies had declared that they would not negotiate with Napoleon. He hoped that by his abdication he might secure the throne to his son. 4th of April, 1814, he formally abdicated in his favor; but this was of no avail. The allies decided that he should be confined to the island of Elba. He was to retain the title of emperor; was allowed all the honors usually belonging to that dignity; was to have his army and his navy; but all upon a scale proportionate to the size of his empire. This island was about sixty miles in extent, and contained about twelve thousand inhabitants.

Resigned to his fate, for his new dominions.

Napoleon prepared to depart But first he had the sad task of bidding adieu to those who, of all the world, were most devoted to him, and to whom he was sincerely attached,—the celebrated Imperial Guard. On the 20th of April, 1814, the remnant of this chosen band were assembled in the yard of the palace of Fontainbleau. He embraced the general, and the eagle which was their standard, made a short address, and then departed, amidst the sighs and tears of the whole assembly. The scene is represented to have been touching in the extreme.

Bonaparte retired to Elba; Louis XVIII., brother of the murdered Louis XVI., being proclaimed king of France. But the mighty drama was not yet closed. On the first of March, 1815, Napoleon landed in

France, was enthusiastically received by the army, and in a few weeks was once more in Paris, at the head of the nation. The armies of Europe, which were about marching to their several homes, soon rallied, and Bonaparte met them again for a final struggle, in the field of Waterloo.

Though Napoleon had triumphed over all others, he had never been successful against the English. All Europe had submitted to him, save England alone. While he was master of the land, she was mistress

of the sea. Never, in any case, had he obtained a decisive victory over English forces in any great battle. And now, for the first time, the most renowned general of England, Wellington, was to meet Bonaparte in action.

career.

They met on the 18th of June, 1815, and after one of the most bloody of modern battles, fate decided against Napoleon, and thus put an end to his splendid From this time forward, his life was but a series of humiliations. On the 7th of July, the allied army re-entered Paris; on the 15th, Napoleon, a fugitive, went on board an English vessel, asking for an asylum in England. This was refused, and, agreeably to the decision of the allied powers, he was sent to St. Helena, a small island in the South Atlantic Ocean. Here he arrived on the 6th of August, 1815.

For a time, Napoleon was cheered with the hope of escape from exile and restoration to France. But as years wore away, this hope vanished. He then became restive, and being irritated by the petty tyranny of his keepers, his life was rendered unhappy. He spent much of his time in conversing with some

[graphic][subsumed][merged small]

of his old officers, who shared his exile; but his health rapidly failed, and on the 5th of May, 1821, he died. Such was the end--such the career of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Our story must not close with the closing scene of Napoleon's extraordinary life. We must notice the removal of his remains to France, in the year 1841. This was done in compliance with the wish of the nation, by order of Louis Philippe, the present king. His son, the P. de Joinville, was sent to St. Helena, in a frigate; the remains of Napoleon were taken from the tomb; they were borne back to France, and with vast and imposing ceremony, amid the sighs and tears of millions, they were deposited in the Hospital of the Invalids.

We

We cannot do full justice to the character of Bonaparte, better than by introducing a series of authentic anecdotes, gathered from a variety of sources. will, however, first give a brief sketch of his person and personal habits. His form has served as a model for the most skilful painters and sculptors; many able French artists have successfully delineated his seatures, and yet it may be said that no perfectly faithful portrait of him exists. His finely shaped head, his superb forehead, his pale countenance, and his usual meditative look, have been transferred to the canvass ; but the versatility of his expression was beyond the reach of imitation. All the various workings of his mind were instantaneously depicted in his countenance; and his glance changed from mild to severe, and from angry to good-humored, almost with the rapidity of lightning. It may truly be said that he

[graphic][subsumed][subsumed][merged small]
« PreviousContinue »