The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1921-06-17
HE SHOOK THE WORLD
But Napoleon Died on Lonely South
Atlantic Island.
Exchange.

Exchange.
On a lonely wind-swept island in
the South Atlantic one hundred years
ago a gigantic storm was blowing,
The wind hurled itself against the
rocky bit Of land after endless empty
miles of the open sea; it ripped
through the gumwood trees, uproot,
ing them, crashing among the banana
groves, whipping broad leaves to
shreds. 1t fingered the caves of the
few isolated buildings, now and again
it took roof, or crushed in a stable
shed.
At small villa on the island, she.-
tered by a thiaket of scrubwood, the
curtain was about to fall on the last
act of one of the worlds great dra-
mas. Here within the villa stood
Marchand, there Dr.. Antonmarchi,
by the window Montholon, on the bed
lay a man. Death was in the anti
Room. Vignail already had admins
tered the last rites of the church.
There was only the waiting left.
All day, May 4, the storms ragged,
and all the next day. The villa rock
ed on its foundations, trees round
about it broke under the weight of
the wind or were plucked out by the
roots. Inside the sick room the man
was in a delirious stupor; dreams of
old battlefelds drifted like smoke
wreathes in the moonlight across the
clouded mind; plaudits of the old
splendid dimly in his ears and he
murmured his pleasure at the COM
forts of these memories had for him.
Friendly seekers afterword of the
dying man came and went through
the storm, but there was no word
save the reiterated 'Not yet"
At length the day of the 5th wore
to an end, the tempest was blowing
itself out. About 6 in the evening
the words teta d'armee fell from the
lips of the dying man. A moment
later he had passed forever from his
earthly dreams of empire; the cur
tain had falien-Napoleon Bonaparte
was dead.
Wrecker, waster of great oppor-
tunities, an adventurer accomplish
ing what he did that he might daze
the folks at home, "the man who bor-
ed God" the ''antithesis of Christ, ="
the greatest egotist the world has
produced-suchh has been called. On
the other hand he stands the insplra-
ton of who would struggle up
ward to the peaks Of success-Napo-
leon of industry, Napoleon of fl
nance-who stands at the head of his
fellows in Napoleonic-eternal SYM
Dol of ambition, of achievement, of
success. To all men he has been
i all these things; a century has not
fixed his place, only has testified
that his name is written indelibly in
history.
An obscure little Corsican, short
and square of stature, nevertheless
he was destined to shake the civiliz-
ed world, to bring more than the
half of Europe under his domination
He came to the surface in the latter
DAYS of the French revolution; there
followed the Italian campaign, Jose
phine, Egypt, first consul of France,
Marengo, emperor of the French,
Ulm and Austerlitz, Maria Louisa of
Autria, Moscow, Elba, the Hundred
Days, Waterloo-so runs the course
of his remarkable life.
Waterloo was the end; there was
no twilight, for he was thrust immc-
diately by the allies, who had beaten
him into the oblivion of st. Helena.
America had appealed to him as a
WIFI IlS sui "S@S SNl, apOS
there was no escaping the English,
His strategems gone astray at Roche
fort, there was nothing to do but go
abroad the Bellerophon and trust
himself to the generosity of his
enemies.
He was taken to London, where he
was held on shipboard while his fate
was being decided, trans-shipped to
the Northumberland and without hav-
ing set foct on English soil, on Au-
gust s, 1915, he began his long jour
ney to st. Helena in the South At
lantic. On October 5 he had his
first view of his destined exile. Wea-
ry of life aboard ship he went ashore
with his small following Of friends
who had accompanied him and took
up temporary quarters in the Briars,
a cottage that was provided until the