The Twin Lieutenants | Page 7

armies !' They are wrong--"
Napoleon struck his forehead.
"My strength is here !"
Then, extending both his arena, he added:
"And here are my armies. You would like to know how I can get
together four hundred thousand men? I will tell you."
"Sire--"

"I will tell you--not for you, Cambaceres, who may perhaps yet have
faith in my fortune--I will tell you that you may repeat it to others. My
army of the Rhine counts one-and-twenty regiments of infantry, which
are four battalions each; they ought to have five; but in face of reality,
not illusion ! that will make me eighty-four battalions strong; that is to
say, seventy thousand infantry. I have, over that, my four divisions,
Carra, St. Cyr, Legrand, Boudet and Molltor; they are only three
battalions, say thirty thousand men; that makes a hundred thousand,
without reckoning the five thousand men of the division Dupas. I have
fourteen regiments of cuirassiers, which will give me twelve thousand
horsemen at least, and taking all that remain disposable in the depots, I
shall bear away fourteen thousand. I have seventeen regiments of light
cavalry, put them at seventeen thousand men; besides, my depots
overflow with dragoons ready formed; they will come from Languedoc,
Guieene, Poitou, and Anjou, so I shall easily have five or six thousand.
We have already a hundred thousand infantry and thirty-five thousand
cavalry,"
"Sire, all that only amounts to one hundred and thirty-five thousand
men, and your Majesty said four hundred thousand."
"Wait; twenty thousand artillery, twenty of the guard, a hundred
thousand Germans."
"That sire, makes in all two hundred and seventy-five thousand men."
"Good ! I will draw fifty thousand from my Italian army; they will
march by Tarvis and join me in Bavaria. Add to them ten thousand
Italians and ten thousand Frenchmen drawn from Dalmatia, and we
have seventy thousand men the more."
"Which makes us three hundred and forty-five thousand men."
"Well, you will see that we shall have too many in a moment."
"I seek for the balance, sire."
"You forget my conscripts, sir, you forget that your senate authorized,

in last September, two levies of men."
"One, that of 1809, is already under arms; that of 1810 ought not,
according to the law, serve the first year, save in the interior."
" Yes, sir; but do you believe that one hundred and fifty departments
are not sufficient for eighty thousand men? No; I shall carry the levy to
a hundred thousand, and I will have a recall of twenty thousand upon
the classes of 1809, 1808, 1807, and 1806. That will give me eighty
thousand men, and eighty thousand men made, men of twenty,
twenty-one, two, and three years of age, whilst those of 1810 are but
eighteen years old, so I can, without inconvenience, let them grow up."
"Sire, the one hundred and fifteen departments every year have never
furnished more than three hundred and thirty-seven thousand men of
the age of military service; take one hundred thousand men from three
hundred and thirty-seven thousand, that is, taking more than a quarter,
and there is not a population that would not soon perish if they took
each year a quarter of the males who have reached the age of
manhood."
"And who told you they are to be taken every year? These eighty
thousand men are to form my guard; it will be for them but a three
months' affair. Once is not always, it is the first and the last. Before the
end of April, I shall be upon the Danube with four hundred thousand
men; then, as she has done today, Austria may count my legions, and I
tell you, if she forces ma to strike, Europe will be forever dismayed at
the blows I will strike!"
Cambaceres sighed.
"Your Majesty has no other orders to give me?" said he.
"Tomorrow let the legislative body assemble."
"It has been in session since your departure, sire."
"That is true--tomorrow it will know my will."

Cambaceres made a movement to withdraw; but returning, he said:
"Your Majesty spoke of a certain General Malet--"
"Ah! you're right--but it is with M. Fouche, I will speak of that. Say, as
you pass, that they may send me M. Fouche, who ought to be in the
green saloon,"
Cambaceres bowed and went toward the door, when, as he reached it,
Napoleon cried in his most gentle voice, accompanying the farewell
with a friendly sign:
"Adieu, my dear Archchancellor."
This made the latter leave the room more tranquil for himself, but no
less uneasy for France.
Again alone, Napoleon paced the room with long strides.
Since nine years of reigning, for the consulate had been a reign, be had
seen, beneath the admiration he had inspired, mistrust and
disapprobation even, but