欧宝娱乐

“A little while ago, I stood by the grave of the old Napoleon鈥攁 magnificent tomb of gilt and gold, fit almost for a dead deity鈥攁nd gazed upon the sarcophagus of rare and nameless marble, where rest at last the ashes of that restless man. I leaned over the balustrade and thought about the career of the greatest soldier of the modern world.

I saw him walking upon the banks of the Seine, contemplating suicide. I saw him at Toulon鈥擨 saw him putting down the mob in the streets of Paris鈥擨 saw him at the head of the army of Italy鈥擨 saw him crossing the bridge of Lodi with the tri-color in his hand鈥擨 saw him in Egypt in the shadows of the pyramids鈥擨 saw him conquer the Alps and mingle the eagles of France with the eagles of the crags. I saw him at Marengo鈥攁t Ulm and Austerlitz. I saw him in Russia, where the infantry of the snow and the cavalry of the wild blast scattered his legions like winter's withered leaves. I saw him at Leipsic in defeat and disaster鈥攄riven by a million bayonets back upon Paris鈥攃lutched like a wild beast鈥攂anished to Elba. I saw him escape and retake an empire by the force of his genius. I saw him upon the frightful field of Waterloo, where Chance and Fate combined to wreck the fortunes of their former king. And I saw him at St. Helena, with his hands crossed behind him, gazing out upon the sad and solemn sea.

I thought of the orphans and widows he had made鈥攐f the tears that had been shed for his glory, and of the only woman who ever loved him, pushed from his heart by the cold hand of ambition. And I said I would rather have been a French peasant and worn wooden shoes. I would rather have lived in a hut with a vine growing over the door, and the grapes growing purple in the kisses of the autumn sun. I would rather have been that poor peasant with my loving wife by my side, knitting as the day died out of the sky鈥攚ith my children upon my knees and their arms about me鈥擨 would rather have been that man and gone down to the tongueless silence of the dreamless dust, than to have been that imperial impersonation of force and murder, known as 'Napoleon the Great.”
― Robert G. Ingersoll, The Liberty Of Man, Woman And Child

“Sometimes a revolution turns into an actual government, or at the very least an actual way of life that contrasts with days past like blood on snow. Such was the case in France, where even as the guillotine released a steady river of gore, Royalist insurrections were suppressed by what had become a sophisticated military.

In Toulon, the Royalist insurrection in 1793 led to an actual siege by republicans, spearheaded by none other than Napoleon Bonaparte. The Royalists in Toulon, supported by the British and Spanish, were feared by the republicans as an existential threat to every hope and promise of the revolution. For months there were bombardments, cannon fire that made the windows in the prison tremble.”
― Kelsey Brickl, Wolves and Urchins: The Early Life of Inspector Javert