The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-09-28

For fifteen years at tho beginning OF this
century the most profitable use to which the
English caricaturlsts could turn their pencils.
or the wits their pens. or the campaign liars
their mendacity. was the vilincation Of Nspo-
leon Bonaparts. Nothing else paid 30 well.
From the innumerable lsmpoons. burlesoues
comic or satirioal pictures. handbills. broad
aides. and pamphlets that were issued In Lon
don to meet the unlimited demand. Mr.. JoHN
ASHTON. In English Carioat1e and Satire on
Napoleon H. has collected matter that fills two
very interesting volumes tScribner Il Welford)
The book gives an accurate picture Of contsm.
porary British sentiment regarding the great
cst OF adventurers. From the time when Bo-
nHparts left Egypt and began to overrun Eu-
rope and 10 menace British interests until the
day that saw him In safe durancs on board Of
the Bellorophon. no falsehood about him was
too outrsesously improbable to be eagerly 10.
hoved and no pictorial conception Of his char
aoter or deeds was 40 coarse. or brutal. or
crude that II was not scanned with delight by
the inhabitants Of the tight little island.
Let US look first at some Of the stories to
Bonaparte's personal discredit that were gem
orally accepted ~ true by Englishnsn during
this period. They are entirely apart from the
indictment that rested on his character %
disturber OF international peace. his danger
GUS and interruptions ambition. and his reckless
sacrifice OF millions Of human lives They
make up what may bs called the case Of private
infAmy. and were repeatedly hurled against
him In the prints OF the csricsturists and 10
the newspapers and sporadic political litera-
ture OF the day. 1t Is worth obsorviny that
these libels became wilder and wilder as Napo-
Icons power increased. and that there was an
especial appetite for thsm at times of renewed
talk and terror about IN invasion Of England.
Concerning tho antsoedsnts and origin Of the
Corstcan Ogre. We learn that his great Rrandfa-
ther kept q low Rroggery. was convicted Of muir
der and robbery. and ended his life as u galley
slave: and that his great-grandmother died In
the House Of Correction at Genoa. His mother.
Mme. LBtitia Bonapsrte. had been tho mistress
OF Count MsrbGuf. the Governor OF Corsica.
and Napoleon himself was not the son OF his
reputed father. Glliray draws a picture OF
the young Bonaparte and his wretched rela-
tlves In their native poverty" The slattern
mother sits In the straw on hove floor. while
half dozen young tsdderdemalions arc fight
Ing for the possession OF a beef bone. Al the
military school at Brienne Napoleon was hated
and despised by his matessas sulker and
thief When he became . sub-lieutenant. ac-
cording to q curious yarn that found accept
ance north Of tho Channel. he had applied for
place In the British army and the rejection OF
his profered services so mortified his vanity
that he conceived an undying hatred Of Eng
land and everything English.
Tho British theory OF Napoleon's promotion
to the command OF the army OF the interior was
that Barrss advanced the young soldiers for
tunes in return for his complaisancs in marry.
ing Josephine mistress OF whom the dictator
had become tired. In one shameless print
Josephine and Mime. Tallien are represented
by 6illray as dancing naked before the drunken
Barras. while Napoleon watches the orgy from
behind . curtain. The general practice Of the
British artists was to depict Josephine As fat.
coarse. and vulgar. Sometimes she was drawn
a. II she weighed Ave or six hundred pounds.
A Napoleon's military fame increased. the
efforts OF his English llbelers grew more and
moro picturesque. They affirmed that be re-
nounced the Christian faith In Egypt and be-
came Mohsmmedan; In other words. as the
phrase went. that "Bonsy turned Turk 1t
Cairo" II Was almost universally beloved In
England that Bonaparte massacred 1000 dis
Irmsd prisoners OF war at Cairo. simply be-
sause 1t was inconvenient for him to take caro-
Of them. Next comes the monstrous charge
that he poisoned with opium $50 OF his own in
valid soldiers In tho hospital ut Jaffa. In order
to get them OF his hands; nearly all English
men believed this. although the exact number
OF the victims OF Donaparte's fendish inhu.
mainly was at different times variously stated.
Then We have Napoleon running away like
coward from his army In Egypt. and stealing
the treasure chests belonging to the expedition.
The theory of Napoleon's lack OF courage az
torded great comfort to the inhabitants OF the
British Isles; although they lived In constant
terror OF invasion by him. they liked to imagine
him as q sort Of Bob Acres. He was constantly
jcered at In the English sstires and carlcatures
as a commander who. through personal cow
ardice. was Mother dangerous to his foes nor
loyal to his own soldiers.
These specimen ISLANDERS give good idea OF
the reasons afforded to Englishmen for abhor-
ring tho scourge OF Europe. In the later part OF
Napoleon's career the specifications came 80
thick and fast that 1t 10 impossible to follow
them In detail Some OF the more prevalent
and conspicuous charges may be briefly sum-
married. They formed part OF tho common
stock freely drawn upon BY the Gariosturists.
satirists. and pamphleteers:
That at Marsngo Napoleon bribed the aide
de- camp OF Desaix. whom he hated. to shoot
that General in the back;
That when Hanover oapitulsted he surren-
dersd to the lust Of his brutal soldiery the
wives and daughters OF tho foremost citizens.
including the nobility OF the highest rank:
That in the campaign Of 1901 he rid himself
OF many Of his own wounded soldiers by DELHI
erately drowning them In Lake Como:
That he carried of for bis own use the silver
ware OF tho Grand Duke Of Leghorn. and also
stole a carriage belonging to an English noble
man who was travelling In Italy;
That on his flight after the battle OF Leipsic
the bridge over the Ester WAS blown up by his
express command Just after he himself had
passed. thus cutting OF and throwing into the
snemy's hands his ambuances carrying the
French sick and wounded;
That to crafty his Unsuitable appetite for
cruelty he had the wife Of Toussaint POverturs
hound nearly naked to q stretchsr. and caused
his menials to tear the breasts and pull out the
Angernails OF the wretohsd woman with red
hot pincsrs.
Is It wonderful that while the artists and
literary men were thus occupied In supplying
the British market with information Is to
Napoleon Bonaparte's character and achieve
msnts. the speculative theoloeans should have
found It easy work to prove that he was I'M
suestionably the Beast mentioned in the thr-
tesnth chapter Of Revelations2 The mystical
number Of tho Beast In the Apocalypse Is 6G6.