The Republican journal., 1877-12-13

King Louis, fighting the battle of tho
Convention against his native town, from
which and from the island he was ulti-
mately obliged to retire He returned il
gloom to Paris. but his steady support ot
the new condition of things and the repu-
tatiOn he had gained as an officer of ar
tlllery, procured him from the Convention
the commission OF lieutenant-col0nel. with
orders to take part in the siege Of ToulOn,
which stood ont against the Convention
by the help Of troops and war ships dis
patched from England, Spain and Naples.
Handling his great guns with the skill
of a master, Napoleon soon reduced the
place. For this he was presently made
general Of brigade, and placed in chief
command of the artillery in the army Of
the South. Then followed campaign in
Italy The young general was soon atte,
dispatched by Robespierre on Il secret
mission to Genoa. Before he returned to
France Robesperre had lost his head.
Bonaparte, being violently suspected and
distrusted hy the men who got into pow
er, ran hazard Of the guillotne as Well.
Ii took all his ability and presence of
mind to keep his head on his shoulders.
This ordeal over, another succeeded it.
Such We're the feelings arrayed against
him in the hoSoila OF ruling men. that
year which followed his return to France
from Genoa he was left to air his general
ship IN the sphere OF civil life, and wear
ont his DAYS and nights a# a citizen lodger
in quiet street in Paris. Neglected and
disappointed. condemned to 4 life of al0th,
while men beneath him far in every men
tai attribute went forward in the race Of
/ life, This hot bloodeh Corsican kept gnaW-
ing his own proud heart, and wondering
| if his day would ever come. 1t did come
and it never will he forgotten The Ma
/ tonal Guard of Paris rose in arms against
the Convention. Thirty Thousand strong.
they marched to end it. This was felt by
| the DIRECTORY tU hr Il case for cannon. and
1 the army OF France b0aslrd no such can
noncer as the general lying idle i'll his
| lodgings. The crisis Was not one that ad-
mitted of much delay. In order TO save
/ themselves the Convention We're honestly
/ ready to choose the best defender they
/ could find. Sick Of InactiOn, Bonaparte
/ suddenly found in his hands a number of
| cannon, five thousand regular troops and
a force Of rrusty rural volunteers. His
| work was to keep the Convention safe
Tending lines. and crammed his guns to
the muZZlcs with grape and canister. The
citizen guards came on They had no
cannon. Bonapartc never stirred a finger
TIL they came within a stones throw Of
his guns, then, giving the order "fire ~
he hurled upon the masses OF citizen troops
a tempest of iron and lead. N0lley after
yolley tore through the narrow streets,
packed full Of the helpless victims, who
rushed upon a dreadful fate In Il few
hours the city OF Paris was as quiet as a
lamb, and IN a few days General Bona
parte was commander n-rhief0t the Army
OF the Interior.
He met Josephine soon after. She was
the friend Of IalHen, Of his wife Of the Di-
rector Barras who had preceded Bona
parte in the chief command Of the Army
of the tntcrior-anQ. indeed, Of the most
! prominent politicians then ruling France
| and moving in the sNi0HS of Paris. Bona
! parte no doubt, was struck by her graces
of mind and person. but in view Of the
! circumstance that she was sin wears his
| senior, it is but natural to trace their
/ union in some degree to his knowledge Of
/ her influence with the very men in France
who could make soldiers fame and for
! tune. \ soldier. to be sure, must make
fame for himself; but then the greatest
strategist who ever drew the breath Of
life, might yield up that breath in con
temptible obsculity because the oppor-
tunitv OF winning ii reputation had never
| chanccd to come in his way. This Bona
| parte knew 1t was evident to him that
| Barras and TalIn would do much to please
| II al, hot
| their friends could do was to open a grand
career to any man of war like genius.
! Some historians and essaNSts would have
/ us believe that the general married the
| widow in fulillment of a practical CON
/ tract, the other article Of which was that
Barras should procure tOr him the chief
command OF the French army then at
war in Italy. This seems to us to sound
unlikely. In the first place, the army in
/ Italy had been brought to so wretched a
pass by sheer want Of able generalship,
thatthe Directory must have been anxious,
if for their own sakes only, to make choice
of their very best commander. Beyond
all comparison, the Young torsicm gen
eral was best suited for this post of dan
gerous honor He had fought before in
Italy. He was by descent 1n italian, and
thereby might be useful in rousing the
synpathy Of the people. owing his al
to the DIRECTORY, he would naturally be
more depended upon for fidelity To them
and for zeal in their behalf than those
who had only given to the new regime a
second or a third hand tealty. More than
all, he had given proof before the walls
OF Touon and in the streets of Paris, that
ne knew how 10 make the most of cam
non. An these facts Indicated Bonaparto
as the man for the army Of Italy. 10
Italy. therefore. he probably would have
cone, had Josephine never lived at all.
But Italy was not everything. 4 cam
pajrn is the mere initial of a career. He
looked ont intn the ilturc. and saw. q,
thouqht he saw. th,. value and need OF
friends of the BaIras typc tie was not
able to love as men in general do, nor
was he at all the kind of man to engage
himself in = MARRIAGE. or sentiment. or