The Napoleon of the People | Page 6

throne, and so thoroughly the master of the
situation, that all Europe was waiting for leave to do anything for him
that he might happen to want; as he had four brothers and three sisters,
he said to us, just as it might be by way of conversation, in the order of
the day:
"Children, is it fitting that your Emperor's relations should beg their
bread? No; I want them all to be luminaries, like me in fact! Therefore,
it is urgently necessary to conquer a kingdom for each one of them, so
that the French nation may be masters everywhere, so that the Guard
may make the whole earth tremble, and France may spit wherever she
likes, and every nation shall say to her, as it is written on my coins,
'God protects you.'"
"All right!" answers the army, "we will fish up kingdoms for you with
the bayonet."
Ah! there was no backing out of it, look you! If he had taken it into his

head to conquer the moon, we should have had to put everything in
train, pack our knapsacks, and scramble up; luckily, he had no wish for
that excursion. The kings who were used to the comforts of a throne, of
course, objected to be lugged off, so we had marching orders. We
march, we get there, and the earth begins to shake to its centre again.
What times they were for wearing out men and shoe- leather! And the
hard knocks that they gave us! Only Frenchmen could have stood it.
But you are not ignorant that a Frenchman is a born philosopher; he
knows that he must die a little sooner or a litter later. So we used to die
without a word, because we had the pleasure of watching the Emperor
do THIS on the maps.
[Here the soldier swung quickly round on one foot, so as to trace a
circle on the barn floor with the other.]
"There, that shall be a kingdom," he used to say, and it was a kingdom.
What fine times they were! Colonels became generals whilst you were
looking at them, generals became marshals of France, and marshals
became kings. There is one of them still left on his feet to keep Europe
in mind of those days, Gascon though he may be, and a traitor to
France that he might keep his crown; and he did not blush for his
shame, for, after all, a crown, look you, is made of gold. The very
sappers and miners who knew how to read became great nobles in the
same way. And I who am telling you all this have seen in Paris eleven
kings and a crowd of princes all round about Napoleon, like rays about
the sun! Keep this well in your minds, that as every soldier stood a
chance of having a throne of his own (provided he showed himself
worthy of it), a corporal of the Guard was by way of being a sight to
see, and they gaped at him as he went by; for every one came by his
share after a victory, it was made perfectly clear in the bulletin. And
what battles they were! Austerlitz, where the army was manoeuvred as
if it had been a review; Eylau, where the Russians were drowned in a
lake, just as if Napoleon had breathed on them and blown them in;
Wagram, where the fighting was kept up for three whole days without
flinching. In short, there were as many battles as there are saints in the
calendar.
Then it was made clear beyond a doubt that Napoleon bore the Sword
of God in his scabbard. He had a regard for the soldier. He took the
soldier for his child. He was anxious that you should have shoes, shirts,

greatcoats, bread, and cartridges; but he kept up his majesty, too, for
reigning was his own particular occupation. But, all the same, a
sergeant, or even a common soldier, could go up to him and call him
"Emperor," just as you might say "My good friend" to me at times. And
he would give an answer to anything you put before him. He used to
sleep on the snow just like the rest of us--in short, he looked almost like
an ordinary man; but I who am telling you all these things have seen
him myself with the grape-shot whizzing about his ears, no more put
out by it than you are at this moment; never moving a limb, watching
through his field-glass, always looking after his business; so we stood
our ground likewise, as cool and calm as John the Baptist. I do not
know how he did it; but whenever he spoke, a something in his words
made our hearts burn within