The life of Napoleon Buonaparte, emperor of the French. By Sir Walter Scott.

LIFE OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 157
ed in future a more dangerous and difficult task. But it is time to turn fiom the consideration of the
Encouraged by the success of this decisive mea- internal government of France, to its external relasure, the government proceeded against some of the tions; in regard to which the destinies of the country
terrorists whom they had hitherto spared, but whose rose to such a distinguished height, that it is hardly
fate was now determined, in order to stlike dismay possible to reconcile the two pictures of a nation,
into their party. Six jacobins, accounted among the triumphant at every point against all Europe coanmost ferocious of the class, were arrested as encou- lesced against her, making efforts and obtaining vicragers of the late insurrection, and delivered up to tories, to which history had been yet a stranger
be tried by a military commission. They were all while at the same time her affairs at houme were dideputies of the Mountain gang. Certain of their rected by ferocious blood-thirsty savages, such as
doom, they adopted a desperate resolution. Among Robespierre. The Republic, regarded in her foreign
the whole party, they possessed but one knife, but and domestic relations, might be fancifully compared
they resolved it should serve them all for the pur- to the tomb erected over some hero, presenting,
pose of suicide. The instant their sentence was without, trophies of arms and the emublemn s of vicpronounced, one stabbed himself with this weapon; tory, while, within, there lies only a mangled and
another snatched the knife from his companion's corrupted corpse.
dying hand, plunged it in his own bosom, and handed
it to the third, who imitated the dreadfiul exam- CHAPTER XVIII.
pie. Such was the consternation of the attendants,
pe. Such was the conrstedrnfation of the attendants Retrospective view of the external relations of France.that no one arrested the fatal progress of the wea- e great milir ccesses- ece hey arose.pon-all fell either dead or desperately wounded-. Her great military successes —Whence they arose.n-all fell either dead or esperately wounded- Efect of the compulsory levies. —MIilitary genins anrd
tile last were dispatched by the guillotine. character of the French generals.-New mode of training
After this decisive victory, and last dreadful ca- the troops.-Light troops.-SNccessive attacks inl colhm:t.
tastrophe, jacobinism, considered as a pure and un- -Attachment of the soldiers to the Revolutionl.-Also of
mixed party, can scarce be said to have again raised the generals.-Carnot.-Effect of the Frenkch principles
its head in France, although its - leaven has gone to preached to the countries invaded by their arms. —Close
qualify and characterize, in some degree, more of the Revolution with the fall of Robespierre.-RefJecthan one of the different parties which have stuc- tions apon what as to svcceed.
ceeded them. As a political sect, the jacobins can IT may be said of victory, as the English satirist
be compared to none that ever existed, for none has said of wealth, that it cannot be of mumch irmbut themselves ever thought of an organized, re- portance in the eye of Heaven, consideling in what
gular, and continued system of murdering and plun- unworthy association it is sometimes found. AWhile
derirg th;e rich, that they might debauch the poor the rulers of France were disowning the very existby the distribution of their spoils. They bear, how- ence of a Deity, her armies appeared to move almost
ever, some resemblance to the frantic followers of as if protected by the especial f:avour of Providence.
John of Leyden and Knipperdoling, who occupied Our former recapitulation presented a slight sketch
Munster in the seventeenth century, and committed, of the perilous state of France in 1793, surrounded
in the name of religion, the same frantic horrors by foes on almost every frontier, and with difficulty
which the French jacobins did in that of freedom. maintaining her ground on any point; yet the lapse
In both cases, the courses adopted by these parties of two years found her victorious, nay, triumphantly
were most foreign to, and inconsistent with, the victorious on all.
alleged motives of their conduct. The anabaptists On the north-eastern frontier, the English, after
practised every species of vice and cruelty, by the a series of hard fighting, had lost not only Flanders,
dictates, they said, of inspiration-the jacobins im- on which we left them advancing, but Holland itself,
prisoned three hundred thousand of their country- and had been finally driven with great loss to abanmen in name of liberty, and put to death more than don the Continent. The King of Prussia had set out
half the number, under the sanction of fraternity. on his first campaign as the chief hero of the coaliNow at length, however, society began to resume tion, and had undertaken that the Dulke of Brunsits ordinary course, and the business and pleasures wick, his general, should put down the Revolution
of life, succeeded each other as usual. But even in France as easily as he had done that of Hol'and.
social pleasures brought with them strange and But finding the enterprise which he had undertaken
gloomy associations of that Valley of the Shadow was above his strength; that his accumulated treaof Death, through which the late pilgrimage of sures were exhausted in an unsuccessful war; and
France appeared to have lain. An assembly for that Austria, not Prussia, was regarded as the head
dancing, very much frequented by the young of both of the coalition, he drew off his forces, after they
sexes, and highly fashionable, was called the "Ball had been weakened by more than one defeat, and
of the Victims." The qualification for attendance made a separate peace with France, in which he rewas the having lost some near and valued relation nounced to the new Republic the sovereignty of all
or friend in the late reign of Terror. The hair and those portions of the Prussian territorywhich lay on
head-dress were so arranged as to resemble the the east side of the Rhine. The king, to mlake iup
preparations made for the guillotine, and the motto for these losses, sought a more profitable, though
adopted was, "We dance amidst tombs." In no less honourable field of warfare, and concurred with
country but France could the incidents have taken Russia and Austria in effecting by conquest a final
place which gave rise to this association; and cer- partition and appropriation oLPoland, on the same
tainly in no country but France would they have unprincipled plan on which the first had been conbeen used for such a purpose. ducted.
I~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~glL~~laa-~-~~~