Section 157 Napoleon Bonaparte. — II
In the plenitude of his resources every obstacle seemed to vanish. “There1 shall be no Alps,” he said; and he built his perfect roads2, climbing3 by graded galleries their steepest precipices, until Italy was4 as open to Paris as any town5 in France. Having (S. 55, N. 1) decided what was to be done, he did that with6 might and main. He7 put out all his strength. He risked everything, and spared8 nothing; neither ammunition, nor money, nor9 troops, nor generals, nor10 himself. If fighting11 be the best mode of adjusting national differences (as12 large majorities of men seem to agree), certainly Bonaparte was right in making it thorough13.
He fought14 sixty battles. He had never enough. Each victory was a new weapon. “My power would fall15, were I not to support it by new achievements. Conquest has16 made me what I am, and conquest must maintain me.”
Before17 he fought a battle, Bonaparte thought18 little about what he should do in18 case of success, but a great deal about what he should do in case of a reverse of fortune. The same prudence and good sense marked19 all his behaviour20. His instructions21 to his secretary at the palace are worth22 remembering. He said: “During the night enter my chamber as seldom as possible. Do not awake me when you have any good news to communicate23; with24 that there is no hurry; but when you have bad news, rouse me instantly, for then there is not a moment to be lost.” His25 achievement of business was immense, and26 enlarges the known power of man. There have been (S. 82, N. 7) many working kings, from Ulysses to27 William of Orange28, but29 none who accomplished a tithe of this man’s performance.—Emerson.
Notes
1 Es soll keine Alpen mehr geben.
2 perfect roads, Kunststraßen.
3 Say ‘through which he by means of winding, (sich schlängeln) and gradually rising passes climbed the steepest precipices (Abhang, m.) of the Alps’.
4 was = stood; to Paris = to the Parisians. The suffix er is used to form names of male persons and of the inhabitants of countries and places; as—der Italiener, the Italian, from Italien; der Hamburger, the inhabitants of Hamburgh.
5 town in France = French (S. 101, N. 1) town.
6 with — main, aus Leibeskräften.
7 Er setzte seine ganze Stärke daran.
8 schonen.
9 nor = neither.
10 und auch sich selbst nicht.
11 = war; be = is; mode, Art und Weise.
12 Say ’as the majority of men seem (S. 107, N. 13) to think (S. 64, N. 11)’.
13 to make (do) a thing thorough(ly), etwas gründlich betreiben.
14 to fight battles, Schlachten liefern.
15 = sink.
16 = Conquests have; he has made me what I am, er hat mich zu dem gemacht, was ich bin.
17 Ehe, adv.
18 to think about a thing, über etwas nach´denken, read S. 87, N. 6; in — success, im Glücksfalle; in — fortune, im Unglücksfalle.
19 aus´zeichnen.
20 Handlungsweise. All his happiness, sein ganzes Glück; all our family, unsere ganze Familie.
21 Verhaltungsbefehl, m., directions for conduct; to, an.
22 This is not worth remembering, dies ist nicht der Beachtung wert.
23 melden.
24 Say literally ‘these have no haste’.
25 His — business, Seine Arbeitskraft.
26 und erweitert unsere bisherigen Vorstellungen von den im Menschen wohnenden Kräften.
27 bis auf.
28 Oranien. Commence this period with: ‘From Ulysses’.
29 doch keinen, der auch nur ein zehntel von den Thaten dieses Mannes vollbracht hätte (App. § 33).