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05 - Story of Napoleon by Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall · Story of Napoleon

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  Speaker 1: Chapter five of the Story of Napoleon the Henrietta Elizabeth Marshall.
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  Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by
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  Speaker 1: Patrick Seville. Chapter five Napoleon, as Emperor France now made
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  Speaker 1: peace with all Europe, and for the first few years
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  Speaker 1: Napoleon ruled France quietly. These few years are really the
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  Speaker 1: best part of all his life. In them he did
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  Speaker 1: many good things for his country, and these lasted when
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  Speaker 1: all his great conquests faded and his vast empire crumbled
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  Speaker 1: into pieces. Gradually his power grew greater and greater. From
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  Speaker 1: being consul for ten years, he was made consul for life.
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  Speaker 1: Then he was asked to take the title of Emperor,
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  Speaker 1: and on the eighteenth of May eighteen o four, he
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  Speaker 1: was proclaimed Emperor of the French. The little corporal had
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  Speaker 1: come far. He who a few years before had wandered
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  Speaker 1: almost penniless among the streets of Paris, was now the
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  Speaker 1: greatest man in all the land. He seemed to have
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  Speaker 1: reached the very highest power that man could hope for,
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  Speaker 1: and he was not yet thirty five years old. But
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  Speaker 1: although Napoleon had been proclaimed emperor and accepted by the
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  Speaker 1: people of France, he had not yet been crowned. Now
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  Speaker 1: he felt that to be crowned and anointed by the
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  Speaker 1: Pope would make his throne more sure, so he sent
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  Speaker 1: a friend to Rome to ask the Pope to come
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  Speaker 1: to crown him. Pope Pious the Seventh did not want
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  Speaker 1: to crown Napoleon and acknowledge him as a rightful ruler
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  Speaker 1: of France. But he saw that nearly all the other
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  Speaker 1: rulers of Europe had acknowledged him, and he thought it
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  Speaker 1: better to do so too, as perhaps he might in
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  Speaker 1: that way win something good for the Church. So he
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  Speaker 1: consented to come to Paris to crown the Emperor. The Pope,
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  Speaker 1: head of the Church, had been treated with fear and
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  Speaker 1: reverence by the proudest of kings in all ages and
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  Speaker 1: in all countries. They had knelt to him as to
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  Speaker 1: one greater than themselves. But Napoleon had grown so proud
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  Speaker 1: that he could not bear the thought of kneeling to anyone. So,
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  Speaker 1: although he very well knew the hour at which the
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  Speaker 1: Pope might be expected to arrive, he arranged to meet
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  Speaker 1: him as if by accident while out hunting. As the
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  Speaker 1: Pope's coach drove along the road leading to the palace
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  Speaker 1: of Fontainebleau, which had been prepared for him. He met
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  Speaker 1: the Emperor, booted and spurred and riding upon a horse.
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  Speaker 1: The Emperor got off his horse and the Pope, in
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  Speaker 1: his beautiful robes and white silk shoes, left his coach
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  Speaker 1: and walked a few steps along the muddy road to
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  Speaker 1: greet him. The young Emperor and the old Pope embraced
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  Speaker 1: each other. Then the servants, having received their orders before,
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  Speaker 1: drove the coach up between them. The footmen opened both
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  Speaker 1: doors at once, and as the Pope stepped in at
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  Speaker 1: one side, the Emperor stepped in at the other. So
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  Speaker 1: neither went in before the other. But Napoleon took care
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  Speaker 1: that he had the seat of honor on the right side.
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  Speaker 1: Thus Pope and Emperor drove to Fontainebleau. There were a
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  Speaker 1: great many preparations for the coronation to be made, for
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  Speaker 1: Napoleon meant it to be a very fine affair. But
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  Speaker 1: at last everything was ready, and on the second of
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  Speaker 1: December the coronation took place. The day was cold and bleak,
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  Speaker 1: but the streets of Paris were lined with people eager
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  Speaker 1: to see the Emperor and Empress as they drove in
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  Speaker 1: their gilded carriage to the church of Notre Dame. The
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  Speaker 1: church was thronged with fair ladies and splendid men, glittering
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  Speaker 1: with jewels and lace, and as the Emperor entered, rang
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  Speaker 1: upon his head a wreath of gold bay leaves like
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  Speaker 1: a caesar. The archways of the dim old church rang
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  Speaker 1: and rang again with shouts, long live the Emperor, Long
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  Speaker 1: Live the Emperor. The notes of the organ rolled, the
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  Speaker 1: voices of the choir rose and fell enchant in him.
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  Speaker 1: But as the long ceremony went on, Napoleon yawned and fidgeted.
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  Speaker 1: To him, there was nothing sacred or solemn in the service.
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  Speaker 1: The grandest play added something to his pomp and glory,
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  Speaker 1: that was all. At last, the Pope, with trembling hands,
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  Speaker 1: lifted the crown to place it upon the young Emperor's head,
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  Speaker 1: but Napoleon, seizing it out of the Pope's hand, himself,
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  Speaker 1: placed it upon his own head, took it off, placed
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  Speaker 1: it for a moment on the head of the Empress,
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  Speaker 1: and then and then returned it to the cushion upon
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  Speaker 1: which it had rested. Again, the organ pealed, and the
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  Speaker 1: exultant words of the tadeum rang out through the church.
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  Speaker 1: The Emperor was crowned a few months after the coronation,
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  Speaker 1: and Notre Dame. Napoleon went to Italy. Here in the
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  Speaker 1: Great Cathedral at Milan, he again crowned himself. This time
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  Speaker 1: the title he took was King of Italy, and this
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  Speaker 1: time the Pope sternly refused to have anything to do
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  Speaker 1: with it. At Paris, he had received only empty promises
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  Speaker 1: and insults as his reward, and he now knew that
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  Speaker 1: he had nothing to hope from the new emperor. But
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  Speaker 1: while Napoleon was placing crowns upon his own head, the
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  Speaker 1: rulers of Europe were again joining against him, for they
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  Speaker 1: saw that the Emperor's power and desire for still more
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  Speaker 1: power were becoming so great that none of the crowns
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  Speaker 1: were safe. Sweden, Russia, and Austria joined the alliance, but
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  Speaker 1: on the other hand, Spain and Britain, having quarreled, Spain
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  Speaker 1: joined with France against the others. Once more, Europe was
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  Speaker 1: ablaze with war upon the Rhine and Teyrol and Italy.
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  Speaker 1: There was noise of battle. The Tsar of Russia gathered
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  Speaker 1: the Great Army and sent it to join the Austrians.
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  Speaker 1: When they joined it, was intended that both armies should
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  Speaker 1: march together into France, but the Austrians began to fight
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  Speaker 1: before the Russians joined them. Napoleon did not wait for
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  Speaker 1: France to be invaded. He marched into Germany to meet
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  Speaker 1: his enemies, and long before the Russians could arrive to
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  Speaker 1: help them, the Austrians were shut up in the town
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  Speaker 1: of Ulm. The Austrian leader Mac was not cowardly, but
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  Speaker 1: he was stupid and unlucky, and although there was plenty
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  Speaker 1: of food within the walls, mag weekly gave in after
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  Speaker 1: six days siege, and Tyrol and Italy everywhere that the
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  Speaker 1: French and Austrians met. The Austrians were defeated, until at
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  Speaker 1: last a flying remnant of Mac's once splendid army took
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  Speaker 1: refuge in the mountains of Tyrol. There was nothing now
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  Speaker 1: to hinder Napoleon from marching on to Vienna, the beautiful
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  Speaker 1: capital of Austria, and the Emperor Francis, knowing that Vienna
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  Speaker 1: could not stand a siege more than a few days,
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  Speaker 1: made up his mind to leave the town. So on
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  Speaker 1: the thirteenth of November, less than a month after the
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  Speaker 1: taking of Ulm, the French entered the Austrian capital. While
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  Speaker 1: Napoleon was at Vienna, living in the Emperor's beautiful palace
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  Speaker 1: of Schonbron, bad tidings came to him. He heard that
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  Speaker 1: the French and Spanish fleets had been utterly destroyed in
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  Speaker 1: the Battle of Trafalgar. I cannot be everywhere, he cried angrily.
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  Speaker 1: When he heard the news that the French had again
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  Speaker 1: been defeated by sea made the emperor more eager to
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  Speaker 1: win fresh fame by land. The Austrian army was shattered,
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  Speaker 1: but the Russians were still to beat, so from Vienna
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  Speaker 1: Napoleon marched out to meet them. Upon the plain of Austrolits,
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  Speaker 1: not far from the town of Brun, a great battle
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  Speaker 1: was fought. It has been called the Battle of the
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  Speaker 1: Three Emperors, for there were three emperors present, the Emperor
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  Speaker 1: of Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, the Emperor of Russia,
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  Speaker 1: and the Emperor of the French. The morning of the
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  Speaker 1: second December dawned cold and bleak. A thick white fog
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  Speaker 1: shrouded the land, but with the first streak of day,
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  Speaker 1: both camps were astir Through the white dimness came muffled
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  Speaker 1: sounds and ghostly figures. Loomed and passed. Then suddenly the
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  Speaker 1: fog lifted and the sun shone out in golden splendor.
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  Speaker 1: The French soldiers greeted it with a shout. It seemed
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  Speaker 1: to them as if it rose to do honor to
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  Speaker 1: their own emperor, for it was anniversary of his coronation day.
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  Speaker 1: The son of Austelits has risen, cried Napoleon in exultation.
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  Speaker 1: In the fog, the two armies had moved close to
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  Speaker 1: each and now the fight began. It was a terrible battle,
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  Speaker 1: and raged all the short winter's day. It was absolute butchery,
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  Speaker 1: says one who fought there. We fought man to man.
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  Speaker 1: For a time it seemed uncertain who should win. But
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  Speaker 1: when the night fell, the Russians and Austrians were flying
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  Speaker 1: from the field. Many lay there dead, and twenty thousand
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  Speaker 1: were prisoners. Thus, once more Napoleon had triumphed, and now
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  Speaker 1: Austria made peace with France, and the Russians marched away
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  Speaker 1: to their own land. This peace was called the Treaty
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  Speaker 1: of Presbourg, from the name of the town at which
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  Speaker 1: it was signed. By this treaty, the map of Europe
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  Speaker 1: was again changed, and still more lands came under Napoleon's rule.
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  Speaker 1: Some of these lands he gave to his relations. For
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  Speaker 1: Napoleon had made up his mind not only to be
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  Speaker 1: great himself, but to make his whole family great. I
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  Speaker 1: can no longer have shabby relatives, he said, Those who
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  Speaker 1: will not rise with me shall no longer be of
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  Speaker 1: my family. I am going to make a family of kings.
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  Speaker 1: So he made his brother Joseph king of Naples. His
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  Speaker 1: brother Louis, who had married Josephine's daughter Hortens, was mid
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  Speaker 1: King of Holland. General Morat, who had married Napoleon's sister Caroline,
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  Speaker 1: was made Archduke of Burgh. He made Eugene barhonnay Mary
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  Speaker 1: the daughter of the King of Bavaria, and a little
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  Speaker 1: later he made his brother Jerome marry the daughter of
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  Speaker 1: the King of Wurtemburg. And every way Napoleon tried to
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  Speaker 1: make his family great, and so surround himself with splendor.
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  Speaker 1: End of Chapter five.