1 XX. 49. Las tion, made any attempts to disguise. It was his CHAP. fortune to witness both the mob which inundated the Tuileries on the 20th June, and that which over- 1796. turned the throne on the 10th August; and on both he strongly expressed his sense of the ruinous consequences likely to arise from the want of resolution in the government. No man knew better the consequences of yielding to popular clamour, or how rapidly it is checked by proper firmness in the depositaries of power. From the weakness shown on the 20th June, he predicted the disastrous effects which so speedily followed on the next great revolt of the populace. When he saw the monarch, in obedience to the rabble, put on the red cap, his indignation knew no bounds. "How on earth," he exclaimed, "could they let those wretches enter the palace! They should have cut down four or five hundred with grape-shot, Bour. i. and the rest would speedily have taken to flight." Cas. i. 146. The first military exploit of Napoleon was in his native country. The disturbances in Corsica having His first led the revolutionary forces into that island, he was Corsica, dispatched from Bastia, in spring 1793, to surprise and at the his native city of Ajaccio, and succeeded in making Toulon. himself master of a tower called the Torre di Capitello, in its vicinity, where he was shortly afterwards besieged, and compelled to evacuate it; thus, like Frederick of Prussia, and Wellington, his first essay in arms proved unfortunate. His talents, and the high character which he had received from the masters of the military academy, ere long, however, led to a more important employment. At the siege of Toulon, the command of the artillery, after the operations had advanced a considerable length, was intrusted to his direction, and he soon communicated a new impulse to the hitherto languishing progress service in siege of XX. 1796. CHAP. of the siege. By his advice, the attack was changed from the body of the place to the forts on the Hauteur de Grasse, and on the Mountain of Faron, which proved so successful, that the siege, which before his arrival was on the point of being abandoned in despair, was speedily crowned with complete success. During this operation he was first struck by the firmness and intrepidity of a young corporal of artillery, whom he immediately recommended for promotion. Having occasion to send a despatch from the trenches, he called for some person who could write, that he might dictate the order. A young soldier stepped from the ranks, and resting the paper on the breastwork, began to write as he dictated, when a shot from the enemy's batteries struck the ground close to him, and covered the paper with earth. "Thank you," said the soldier; "we shall have no occasion for sand on this page." Napoleon asked him what he could do for him. "Everything," replied the young private, blushing with emotion, and touching his left shoulder with his hand; "you can turn this worsted into an epaulet." A few days after, Napoleon sent for the same soldier to order him to reconnoitre in the enemy's trenches, and recommended that he should disguise himself, for fear of his being discovered. "Never," replied he. "Do you take me for a spy? I will go in my uniform, though 1 Scott, iii. I should never return." And in effect he set out instantly, dressed as he was, and had the good fortune to return unhurt. Napoleon immediately recomCas. i. 166. mended him for promotion, and never lost sight of Nap. i. 10, his courageous secretary. He was JUNOT, afterwards Marshal of France, and Duke of Abrantes.1 So strongly did Napoleon's character impress Junot at that time, that he quitted his regiment to de 21. Duchess D' Abr. ii. 191. Las 13. XX. vote himself to his fortunes as aide-de-camp, and CHAP. wrote to his father in 1794, in answer to his inquiries, what sort of young man he was to whom he had at- 1796. tached himself,-" He is one of those men of whom Nature is sparing, and whom she does not throw upon the earth but with centuries between them." quaintance On another occasion, an artilleryman having been shot while loading a gun, he took up the dead man's First acramrod, and with his own hands served the piece for with Junot a considerable time. He first took notice, at the same and Duroc. siege, of another young soldier named DUROC, whom he never afterwards lost sight of, made Marshal of the Palace, and ever treated with the most unlimited confidence, till he was killed by his side on the field of Bautzen. Duroc loved Napoleon for himself, and possessed, perhaps, a larger share of his confidence than any of his other generals; and none knew so well, in after years, how to let the first ebullitions of the imperial wrath escape without producing fatal effects, and allowing the better judgment of his sovereign to resume its sway in cooler moments. The reputation which Napoleon acquired from the successful issue of this siege was very great. All the generals, representatives, and soldiers, who had heard the advice which he gave at the councils, three months before the capture of the town, and witnessed his activity at the works, anticipated a future career1 Las. i. of glory to the young officer. Dugommier wrote to the 150, 157. Committee of Public Safety in these words:"Re- D'Abr. ii. ward and promote that young man ; for if you are un- iii. 35. grateful towards him, he will raise himself alone." 163, and ii. 193. Scott, bion's army This success procured for Napoleon the command Is attached of the artillery of the army of Italy during the cam- to Dumorpaign of 1794. Dumorbion, who was advanced in in the Mayears, submitted all the operations to a council of ritime Alps. XX. 1796. CHAP. younger officers, among whom Napoleon and Massena soon acquired a decided lead; and the former, from the force of superior talents, gradually came to direct the whole operations of the campaign. It was his ability which procured for the French armies the capture of Saorgia, the Col di Tende, and all the higher chain of the Maritime Alps. These successes awakened in his ardent mind those lofty visions of ambition which he was so soon destined to realize: one night in June 1794, he spent on the summit of the Col di Tende, from whence at sunrise he beheld with delight the blue plains of Italy, already to his 15, 26, 34. prophetic eye the theatre of glorious achievement.. In July 1794, Napoleon was sent by the Commissioners of the Convention to Genoa upon a secret mission, in which he was connected with Robescommand of pierre's brother, then intrusted with the supreme al Guard of command at Toulon. This mission saved his life; 1 Nap. iii. Sent to Genoa, and refuses the the Nation Paris. ; the younger Robespierre, for whom, at that period, he had conceived the highest admiration, earnestly entreated Napoleon, instead of going, to accompany him to Paris, whither he was returning to support his brother; but he was inflexible in his refusal. Had he yielded, he would infallibly have shared the fate of both; and the destinies of Europe might have been changed. The situation he was offered was that of Heuriot, commander of the National Guard, of whose capacity the Committee of Public Safety had become somewhat doubtful. It was brilliant enough, however, in those days to awaken the ambition of his brothers Joseph and Lucien, who urged him to close with the offer. "No," said Napoleon, "I will not accept it; this is not a time to play the enthusiast; it is no easy matter to save your head at Paris. Robespierre the younger is an honourable man, but his XX. 1796. brother is no trifler; if I went to Paris, I should be CHAP. obliged to serve him. Me serve such a man! Never. I am not ignorant of the service I might be of in replacing that imbecile commander of the National Guard of Paris, but I do not choose to do so; this is not the time for engaging in such an undertaking. What could I do in that huge galley? At present there is no honourable place for one but the army; but have patience, the time is coming when I shall rule Paris." What momentous destinies hung on Lucien this decision; for if he had been in the place of parte, Heuriot on the 9th Thermidor, to which side would Mem. i. 56, victory in all probability have inclined!1 Buona 57. liberated. 1794. As it was, Napoleon was exposed, from his con nexion with these leaders, to no inconsiderable dangers even on his Italian mission. Within a month after, he was, in consequence of the fall of Robes- He is arpierre, arrested by the new commissioners, whom the rested and Thermidorian party sent out to the army of Italy, and made a narrow escape with his life. He addressed, in consequence, an energetic remonstrance to the 6th Aug. commissioners, remarkable for the strong sense, condensed thought, and powerful expression which it contains; while his friend Junot was so penetrated with grief at his misfortune, that he wrote to them, 20th Aug. protesting his innocence, and imploring to be allowed to share his captivity. The generous application was Returns to attended with complete success; a fortnight after-Paris. wards, he was provisionally set at liberty, and imme- 15th Sept. diately returned to Paris. He was there offered a Bour. i. command in La Vendée; and, having declined it, he was deprived of his rank as a general officer, and duced to private life." 2 CO, 61, 69, Las re- Cas. 167. D'Abr. ii. 194. Nap. iii. 15, 26, The period which now intervened from the dis- 34. missal of Napoleon to the attack of the Sections on |