Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1880-02-28

T
not unreasonable are offered him
terms indeed very generous consid-
ering the helpless condition in
which Napoleon and his army
found themselves. His then army
consisted of the boy conscripts whom
he had called up from France to
take the place of his shattered and
frozen Iegions, and they have yet a
weary march before they can make
their way back to France with a
commissariat almost impossible
and with swarming enemies on his
| flank and rear.
Still the terms were reasonable;
there was no purpose at present to
dethrone him; only France was to
be reduced to her limits as they
were before the war, and he was to
be allowed to lead his army back to
defend her without molestation. As
Metternich approached the room
where Napoleon awaited him, many
of the French generals were in the
ante-room, and inplOred him to
bring about a peace on some terms,
if possible. He kept on, however,
without committing himself, and
found Napoleon standing in the
center of the room, evidently in
high state of excitement. He adj
| dressed him in the interest of peace,
on condition of the boundaries of
States as they existed before the
war. The reply Of Napoleon must
be given entire; it is the man Napo-
leon revealing himself in a blaze Of
passion. We give it exactly as it
stands in the Metternich papers
with Metternich's interpolation:
"Well, now, what do they want
me to do?" said Napoleon sharply
'do they want me to degrade my
self? Never! / shall know how to
die, but / shall not yield one hand
breadth of soil. Your sovereigns
| born to the throne may be beaten
| twenty times and still go back to
their palaces; that cannot /, the
child of fortune; my reign will not
| outlaSt the day when | have ceased
| to be strong and therefore TO be
| feared. have committed one great
/ fault in forgetting what this army
has cost me-the most sp!cn lid
army that has ever existed. 1 may
1 defy man, but not the elements;
the cold has ruined me. In one
/ II l. AGO,,-.,w,I
have lost everything except honor
and the consciousness of what 1--WE
to a brave people, who, after such
enormous misfortunes, have given
me fresh proof of their devotion and
their conviction that | alone can
rule them. [ have made up for the
losses of the past year; only look at
the army after the battles L have
just won will hold review be-
fore you'll"
"And it is that very army" 1
answered, (which desires peace"
Not the army" interrupted Ma
poleon, hastily. ''No! my generals
wish for peace. l have no more
generals. The cold of Moscow has
demoralized them. l have seen the
boIdest cry like children. They
were physically and morally bro
ken. A fortnight ago might have
concluded peace; to-day | can do so
no longer. | have won two fights;
l shall not conclude peace"
AT later period of the discussion
Metternich insisted upon the ex-
hausted condition of the French
nation through the successive con-
scriptions, and reminded the EN-
peror that the recent recruits were
boys, men being no longer available
for the purpose. We again quote
from the memoirs. Metternich con-
tinues:
Mette1nich SDeaks-"In ordinary
times" | said, "armies are formed
of only a small part of the popula-
ton; to-day it is the whole people
that you have called to arms. Has
not your present army anticipated
generation. / have seen your
soldiers; they are mere children.
Your Majesty has the feeling that
you are absolutely necessary to the
nation; but is not the nation also
necessary to you? And if this ju-
venile army that you levied but
yesterday should be swept away,
what then?''
When Napoleon heard these
words, he was overcome with rage;
he turned pale, and his features
were distorted. "You are no sol
der" he said, "and you do not |
know what goes on in the mind of
a soldier. / was brought up in the
field, and man such as l am does
not concern himself much about the |
loss of million of men,"
There is something appalling in
such egotism as is here expressed. |
Notice that it was not for France or |
for Europe that he deemed cOntin-
ued war a necessity. Europe was
implOring for peace, France was
groaning for il her manhood had |
persisted in these wars, her youth
was following-all was to be swal-
lowed up, and not for a national
purpose, not for any benefit to
France, to Europe, to humanity
but in order that the one man might
continue to be the foremost figure
in Europe. The half-niIlion who
had been subjected to unutterable
suiierings, the three hundred thous-
and who had perished in that last
war alone were to be counted as
nothing; hundreds of thousands
more, a million if necessary, were
to follow on the same path of blood
and suffering, for otherwise there
was no throne for that one man.
France was offered her ancient
boundaries and was eager to accept
the boon, but war alone could keep
on his bad eminence; SO
it must be war while France had a
man or boy to die for it. See the
with which he speaks of
the sufiierings of his generals, en-
dured for him, but which he did not
share: 81 have no more generals.
The cold of Moscow has democrat
lied them. / have seen the. boldest
cry like children"