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A Narrative of the Events Which Have Taken Place in France, From the Landing of Napoleon Bonaparte Till the Restoration of Louis Xviii
A Narrative of the Events Which Have Taken Place in France From the Landing of Napoleon Bonaparte Till the Restoration of Louis Xviii Author:Helen Maria Williams General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1816 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: Even the events of the 18th Brumaire, although somewhat mysterious, were insufficient to shake my credulity. He had dissolved with violence the national representation, but it was only to repress the Jacobins, and prevent the retwrn of terrorism. When he was named First Consul, I believed that liberty was about to flourish fair under his auspices, and that France was henceforth to be great and happy. It seemed as if, in a better sense, it might be said of him, that " the world was made for Caesar." All the circumstances of the Revolution had combined to effect his elevation. The nation was wearied of the great experiment it had made in politics, and for which it had paid so dear. The cruel abuses of liberty, the horrible outrages of the reign of terror were still present to every memory, and even the republicans themselves despaired of a republic. The nation, conscious, at the same time, of the wrongs it had inflicted on the race of its kings, in despair of impunity, added to its offences a new injustice, and believing that the Bourbons would never forget the past, wished to separate them for ever from the future. In this situation of things, and in this disposition of the public mind, Bonaparte took possession of the government. He had so noble, and so marvellous a part to act, that it was difficult to believe he would mar all by his performance. It might have been expected that he would have had the good taste, as well as morality, to avoid the beaten track of vulgar and ordinary ambition; and that he would seek, by other paths, the prize of purer glory. He soon, however, corrected the defect of dis...« less