things at home and abroad, and 40,000 insurgents appeared
in arms, withstanding, with varied success, the troops
of the Republic, and threatening, by their example,
to rekindle a general civil war in France. Such
was, or had recently been, the state of affairs when
Buonaparte landed at Frejus, and sent before him to
Paris, to the inexpressible delight of a nation of
late accustomed to hear of nothing but military disasters,
the intelligence of that splendid victory which had
just destroyed the great Turkish armament at Aboukir.
He arrived at a moment when all men, of all parties,
were satisfied that a new revolution was at hand; and
when the leaders of all the contending factions were
equally desirous of invoking arms to their support
in the inevitable struggle. Napoleon’s voyage
had been one of constant peril; for the Mediterranean
was traversed in all directions by English ships of
war, in whose presence resistance would have been
hopeless. He occupied his time, during this period
of general anxiety, in very peaceful studies:
he read the Bible, the Koran, Homer; conversed with
his savans on the old times and manners of the
East; and solved problems in geometry. He also
spent many hours in playing at the game of vingt-un;
and M. de Bourienne says, that he never hesitated
to play unfairly when it suited his purpose, though
he always returned whatever he had gained on rising
from the table. On the 30th of September they
reached Ajaccio, and he was received with enthusiasm
at the place of his birth. But, according to
his own phrase, “it rained cousins:”
he was wearied with solicitations, and as soon as the
wind proved favourable, on the 7th of October, the
voyage was resumed. Gantheaume, descrying an
English squadron off the French coast, would have
persuaded him to take to the long-boat; but he refused,
saying, “that experiment may be reserved for
the last extremity.” His confidence in
fortune was not belied. They passed at midnight,
unseen, through the English ships, and on the morning
of the 9th were moored in safety in the bay of Frejus;
and no sooner was it known that Buonaparte was at
hand, than, in spite of all the laws of quarantine,
persons of every description, including the chief
functionaries, both civil and military, repaired on
board to welcome him. He had looked forward with
the utmost disgust to a long quarantine: this
dread was dissipated in a moment; the deck was crowded
with persons, crying aloud, “We prefer the plague
to the Austrians!” His presence alone was considered
as the pledge of victory. The story of Aboukir
gave new fuel to the flame of universal enthusiasm;
and he landed, not so much like a general who had quitted
his post without orders, as a victorious prince, who
had returned to restore the lost hearts and fortunes
of a people that confided only in him. His progress
towards the capital, wherever his person was recognised,
bore all the appearance of a triumphal procession.
He reached his own house, in the Rue de la Victoire,
on the 16th October.