“Soldiers,” said he, “you are naked and badly fed; the government owes you much, and can give you nothing.  Your patience and the courage you have exhibited amid these rocks are worthy of admiration; but you gain no fame:  no glory falls upon you here.  I will lead you into the fertile plains of the world; rich provinces and large cities will fall into your power; there you will find honor, fame, and abundance.  Soldiers of Italy, would you fail in courage and perseverance?” [Footnote:  Norvins, “Histoire de Napoleon,” vol. i., p. 89.]

The mangled, ragged, half-starved soldiers answered with loud enthusiastic shouts.  When the vivats had died away, an old veteran came out of the ranks, and with countenance half-defiant, half-smiling, looking at the little general, he asked:  “General, what must we do that the roasted partridges, which are promised to us, may fly into our mouths?”

“Conquer,” cried Bonaparte, with a loud resounding voice—­“conquer!  To the brave, glory and good repasts!  To the coward, disgrace!  To the faint-hearted, misery!  I will lead you into the path of victory.  Will you follow?”

“We will, we will!” shouted the soldiers.  “Long live the little general who is to deliver us from our wretchedness, who is to lead us into victory’s path!”

Bonaparte kept his word.  He led them to Voltri, to the bridge of Arcola, to Lodi.

But amid his wild career of fights, hardships, vigils, studies, and perils, the thought of Josephine was the guiding star of his heart.  His mind was with her amid the battle’s storm; he thought of her in the camp, on the march, in the greatest conflict, and after the most brilliant victories.  This was shown in the letters he wrote every day to Josephine; and in the brilliant hymns which the warrior, amid the carnage of war, sung with the enthusiastic fervor of a poet to his love and to his happiness.

It is the mission of eminent historians, when describing his victorious campaign of Italy, to narrate his conquests; our mission is simply to observe him in his conduct toward Josephine, and to show how under the uniform of the warrior beat the heart of the lover.

The letters which Bonaparte then wrote to Josephine are consequently what concerns us most, and from which we will select a few as a proof of the impassioned love which Napoleon felt for his young wife.

Letters of general Bonaparte to Josephine.

I.

“Port Maurice, the 14th Germinal (April 3), 1796.