NAPOLEON AT BOULOGNE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2785, 31 July 1907, Page 78

NAPOLEON AT BOULOGNE.

That visit of Napoleon to Boulogne^ — the invasion of England, prepared at such vast expense and apparently with so much ,care and deliberation, quite suddenly abandoned and never properly explained or explained away —here is one of the points in the career of Napoleon which has never been made very clear. The book before me' has evidently been prepared with the greatest care; the author has certainly not omitted any source of information that "was open to him, and yet the problem remains tinsolved to thVehd. Perhaps the best thing I can 6ay,of the impression the book makes upon me is that it reveals very clearly the marvellous qualities that made the greatness;of Napoleon and equally the singular miscalculations that explain his downfall. ' " Apd I put in the forefront of his great qualities the marvellous" activity of mind and body which riot only enabled him to get through- as' much work as half a score 'of ordinary men himself, but also served ! as such aa impetus and inspiration to those - around him as t»' convert them into the wofidrous>' fighting forces they became. . Commanding ■so many millions of Human beings-^-their bodies, their souls, their hopes, their 'fears, all their interests—Nai poleon** personality had a power of in- , fluencing his whole world which no other r&ler in the history of mankind ever obtained. And thus it wa6 that so many momentous events were decided by something even trivial and light in this man's state of body or mind. • There k little doubt that the Waterloo campaign mighthave told a very different tale if Napoleon had been in better health when th>> campaign^ began. A slight fit of indigestion, a bad headache in t-Tbe small body of this little man, and a battle was lost, and the whole course of the world's 6tory transformed And nothing in the world is calculated to' make one realise the gigantic greatness of the temperament of- Napoleon more than to see the magnificent purposes to which it was able to put such vast masses of human, beings. The soldiers whom he made invincible on almost every battlefield in Europe were the fathers, of men who- went down in the next generation under a different Napoleon at Metz and Sedan. The mighty administrative machine which worked so smoothly over the greater part of Europe, with every member of it conscious that he was working under the eye of a master ready to award merit-and to strike down dishonesty or incompetence, became under another master incompetent, dishonest, and a shame and danger to France. This little man had but to breathe, and millions took on his own soul of fire. If you want an example of this —Power of Extraordinary Inspiration —• in the personality of Napoleon, jusfc reflect on the following passage, which describes not a whole day for Napoleon, but jxwt the early morning: — The extraordinary activity Napoleon displayed was the object of everybody's actmiraition. For instance, on the j occasion of his visit to Boulogne on June | 20, 1803, we read in Bertrand's account that, having reached his destination wt 10 o'clock at night, he worked with Decree, Minister of the Navy, till 1 o'clock, when he took a bath and went to bed. By a quarter to 3in tbe dawn he was already on the ramparts accompanied by Generals Soult and Lauriston. He visited the harbour, inspecting the gains and giving orders as he went along that certain angles of houses should be demolished, as they obstructed the view. Then- he stepped into a boat, after arousing the sailors' who were asleep in it; paused for a while to watch the workmen, of whom there were 150 ft employed in the docks, and made inquiries as to which of the forts most distinguished itself in repelling a recent attack. Then he went down to the beach, mounted his horse, and rode to the Fort de la Creche, surveyed the plain on which the Right Gamp * was afterwards situated, ! rode over the surrounding jcountry nori east and west, had a target set up at sea, i the shot Seated, and tested the range j of tbe guns. After this he went over - W^-ffitf^cliffs'ori; the western side, visited thY plateau ai Outreau, where the Left Camp was sitnated, and came back to the town at' W o'clock in the morning. j Here is a wondrous record of on© man's I work in Ices than the half of one day. It is now easy to understand how such a chief could annihilate tbe spirit of sloth in even the most slothful of mankind. Another of the great qualities of Napoleon which comes out abundantly in this book is his power of taking pains and hit* —Immense Grasp of Detail. — ! If you look at Napoleon on one side of | his complex personality you will see that ! no man" was more cruel or insistent in i having his power and high, uplifted posi- ; tion recognised by others ; that from this i point of view he Vas the most aristocratic ;of men. On the other hand, there never 1 was a human being who was so conscious ' of the necessity of seeing and hearing 1 everyone, and he conversed freely with tlie humblest and even the basest. Of tftris side of bit character you see an illustration i/i the description oi the pavilion which formed his headquarters at Boulogne: In the middle of the room stood a large oval table, having a cover of plain green cloth with do fringe. The only chair at the table was his Majesty's ; it was . made of perfectly plain wood stuffed ', with horse-hair covered with green mo- . rocco, and could be taken to pieece i when necesary. On the table stood an i inkstand and powder-box made of boxwood, half a dozen brass candlesticks, sheets of paper of all sizes, and quill pens ready cut. A huge map of the * " Napoleon at the Bou'cgne Camp." By Fernand Xicolay. Translated by Georgma I It. Davia. (Casiell.)

Channel hong on Ihe waS. This is all tbe fnrnitfnre there was in tihe Council Chamber, in which no one was allowed to sit down save his Majesty, the generals having to stand in front of h,un ■w^th no other suj>port " than the hilte of their swords during the whole of the I meetings, which lasted som© three or four hottrs. One's first instinctive impression after reading each a description is the almost brutal cruelty which such a 6cene reveals on the T&rt of Nanoleon, and the observation, perhaps, ib quite natural. But reflect also on the immense, on the illimitable power of self-assertion which such a scene involves — the power ,to demand these more than regal honours by this little parvenu who a few years before was a hungry lieutenant, pawning his* clothes and getting his cleap dinners on credit. In this pavilion,, too, he was surrounded by men who but a few years ago had been his equals, or i even his superiors. Nobody can deny ; that Napoleon was entitled by the divine i right of natural gifts — & much higher form of regal divinity than mere heritage — to stand above and beyond all those other . men ; but assuredly *ifc -required enormous self-esteem as well as enormous callousness to push these pretentions to such extremities as are depicted in eubh a scene. [ — The Plebeian. — This is Napoleon the aristocrat. __ Let us now regard him as the plebeian. — ready to rub shoulders with the lowest and the basest men who can do him a service. "Napoleon," says our author, "who could I be over-bearing and self-willed, blunt-, and ! imperious with the generals of his army 1 and with high functionaries ; .who spoke in rough and strident tones suggestive of reproach, was careful 'to enlighten himself and to make persoi-a* inquiries among the ' people of tbe lower classes, and by contact with tftem he formed and reformed his ; own ' opinions; so that when the time came | for di^cusfVn h* ,<ra«- fully equipped and I prepared tf er^rae r.n the authority of hi* \ acquired experience." This side of his character was weM ovreesed in a saying of his which is recorded by Constant, hi» ' valet : "The Envpercr \rae in the habit of saying that h« x laid before tbe peasants the difficulties of the State Council, and he gave the Council tbe benefit of the peasants' observations." And here is a striking example of the methods to which Napoleon resorted in order to keep himself in touch with the opinions of, and the knowledge of, the people about him: Towards evening Napoleon might often be seen wending his way Vithout an 1 escort towards the little edifice at TerI Kncthun wrapped in a big cloak and a } soft felt hat of irregular shape which j readily lent itself to various guises. And strolling about in tbe Httle hamlet, Na- • poleon was sure of coming across a group of men exchanging ideas after a day of feverish activity, imparting to each other their hopes and fears and discussing the events of the day and the plans of to-morrow. He listened to their remarks and forecasts and criticisms with all the ! more attention that their* quaint and I peculiar language was unfamiliar to I him. I — Plan of Invasion. — p I come to the most remarkable example I find in this book of this desire and readi- ! ness of Napoleon to seek for and' obtain ' evidence and knowledge wherever he could I get it with regard- to any business on J which he> was for the moment engaged 1 . It was' part of his plan of invasion to land a good mahv of his men in flat-bot-tomed boats which could easily be beached. It seems a ridicujous expedient, but let that pass. Now, one of the difficulties which beset the use of such boats was that which was- pointed out by Cesar when he gives hi& account of Irs invasion of England. C«sar relates that his chief difficulty in landing his troops was tbe size of his vessels, and that these vessels compelled him to land at a much higher point than he had intended by being driven by the wind towards the north. This gave Napoleon the idea that he must have bis flatbottomed boats manned by oarsmen capable of resisting tide and wind. This in turn led to the idea that he mm* study the working of the old, galleys, and that in turn led to his idea that the best author'ties he could consult on 6uch a question were tibe old galley slaves. And thus came about this strange episode. One day several ex-convicts were seen to arrive at the Admiral's pavilion ; They had been chosen among the more intelligent, and were sent by the Minister of Marine "to the two great organisers of the fleet. . . . Let us reflect for an , instant over this scene. ... On one side Napoleon and Brnix, both, illustrious — one as the chief of an army, the 'other as seaman — questioning professional galley slaves, learning from them, consulting them without any false pride in order to obtain information that might lead to improvement of the flotilla, to better fitting of the modern galleys in the dockyards, and to the saving of labour for the oarsmen. Oh the other side, these convicts offering information acquired during their period of terrible expiation in order that they too might serve their country and add glory to the French flag. To realise this extraordinary scene better, it is necessary to add that galley slaves , in those days were regarded Tritn a fcoyror 1 far deeper than even present -day society in England has for the convict. The galley j slave was chained to the seat, cruelly i punished was starved, exposed to all kinds of weather ; in short, was condemned !to life in death. One of the naval cap- ! tains of the eighteenth century—not usu- ' ally a sentimental type— was led >to ex- ! claim, "Life on the galley is hell. Here ! i 3 a little glimpse into eighteenth-centnrv life, and especially into its id«as witn regard to nrieon treatment. I take it from tlie memoirs of a man who had served as a galley slave himself: j Two wardere are stationed, one amidships, the other at the prow. Each of ! them is armed with a whip, which ia used without pity on the bare backs of j the poor wretches. . • • Sgflwtfljftes

a galley slave has to row for 10 or 12 hours, sometimes: even for .20 at astretch, without ceasing. The warders or some of the' sailors' come round now and then and put' pieced of bread' soaked" in 'wine into the months of the unfortu* nate rowers to keep them from fainting! Should this happen the captain shouts ! to the warders to flog harder. If a man swoons over, his oar —which frequently happens —he is flogged till he is givenr up for dead, whea they fling his oody. overboard. This will help one to realise what fcha galley slave- was, and' will enable one to understand the courage-and thoroughness —perhaps even * oertam trace of humanity in Napoleon—-in calling such beings into counsel. —Majstery of Detail — Let me give an example'or two of that? mastery of .detail which" Napoleon: sought; t> get by such various means. You have only to read his correspondence to see how. omniscient and all-seeing this wondrous man appeared to be when it came to theorganisation of an army. Here is at sample letter which speaks for itself, and. for Napoleon: To General Dejeaoi, Minister of War.. Boulogne, November 16 r 1803. Citizen Minister, —l send you a requisition in respect to the 36tih Regiment. Thati regiment's effective-should be 1800 men;f it must be supplied wi£b 20& more great coots.' The men' of tbe wrecked gunboats are in need of s newt outfit; please > give it to them. Only 8000 water-bottles I have come to hand 1. It would he nece&- ; sary to ©end a good many more,- as each of the soldiers must have one. Onh} 10,000 blankets have arrived: I haveri reason to be satisfied' with tbe shoes E ' saw in the store and with blankets antf ; kettles. Bat I arm not equally so witiha f the camp tootle, which arc not of tih» • i slightest use; they are mere store rem- | nants, and not worthy the transport-. F i am fairly content witb the biscuit;( - I tolerably so with, tbe bread and meat ;| | and thanks to tiie extraordinary mea«/ sures which were taken with regard t«£ tbe forage, J am satisfied with thait*. Altogether, I notice a great improvement? in tbe quality oi the supplies, and it isr only fair- to attribute it to tbe zeal you. have displayed. In snob a letter yon have w good glimpse of this extraordinary man,., who seemed? to know everything, to- see everythfpgi. to divine everything. It is no wonder ihait the high officials of sucfc a man trembled^ and obeyed. It is bo wonder that tJwr common soldier scßoredl a commander whotwas so caineful about his smallest wantsr and comforts, ami who led" him across ttoet wor?d< from one> glorious victory to} 1 another. . , ' And now for the great; defect, that kinkl | which ultimately wrecked all those other}i great qualities and sent Napoleon to di«f !of a broken heart in a desert isle. It> \ was well for Kapojeon that his expedition ! against England came to nought, for •foere I is, little doubt that it wouW hay© ended in failure. Napoleon may have come td that conclusion in the eraf himself, and have sought an escape from an impossible task in his dtescent on Austria and tlb? middle of tbe Continent. But this is wihafi he said himself: "Like Charlemagne I took' my army across tihe Alps j I reckoned! On crossing the Straits with my soldfera like Julius Caesar." There spoke not thtf most effective man of genius tihe world. feas ever seen, but tS» megalo-Baaniac.-* | T. P.*s Weekly. | I i i I