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subjects to four or five secretaries , who wrote as fast as words could be uttered ; but then I was Napoleon ; now I am no longer any thing : my strength , my faculties forsake me . I do not live , I merely exist !" His sister Eliza dying also at this time , he was much dejected , and began to think seriously of his own latter end . His remarks are too striking to be omitted on this occasion . " The
Emperor rose , leant upon my arm , and looking steadfastly at me , said , ' You see , Doctor , Eliza has just shewn us the way . Death , which seemed to have overlooked my family , now begins to strike it - , my turn cannot be 4
far distant—what think you ? ' Your Majesty is not yet near the term of your existence $ you are still destined for some glorious enterprise ! ' * Ah I Doctor , your are young ., full of health ; t ) ut I—I have no longer any strength , activity or -energy left . I am no
longer Napoleon . You endeavour in vain to revive hope , to recall life on the point of escaping . Your care is without avail against fate ; its decrees are immutable , its decision without appeal . The first person of our family who will follow Eliza to the grave is that great Napoleon who here drags on a miserable existence , who sinks
under its weight , but who , however , still keeps Europe in a state of alarm ! It is thus , Doctor , that I consider my present situation . Young us you are , you have a long career before you , l ) ut for me , all is over ; and I repeat , that my days will soon end on this miserable rock !
On the 19 th of April , 1821 , the Emperor rallied , after severe paroxyms of suffering - A , when Dr . . tells us , * ' The Emperor rose at two p . m ., and seated himself in his arm chair ; he was in good spirits , finding himself
much better than usual , and asked to be read to . Seeing that General Montholon rejoiced in that amelioration of health , and that I also , without being lible to assign any cause for it , as I did not entertain any more hope than
before , gave way to the same feeling ; he looked at vis with a placid smile , and said , " My friends , you are not mistaken ; I am better to-day ; but I feel nevertheless that my end is approaching I After my death every one of you will have the consolation of returning to Europe , some of you will
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see their relations again , others their friends , and I shall join my brave companions in the Ely start fields I Yes / ' ( added he , raisin ? his vn 5 # » p >
" Kleber , Dessaix , Bessieres , Duroc Ney , Murat , Massena and Berthier * will all come to meet me ; they will speak to me of what we have done to . gether , and I will relate to them the last events of my life ! On seeing me again they will all become once more mad with enthusiasm aud glory , ami we will talk of our wars with the Scipios , Hannibal , Caesar , Frederic ! There will be pleasure in that , unless , " added he , laughing , " it should create
an alarm in the next teortd to see so many 'warriors assembled togetlier !" This sally of the imagination was , no doubt , suggested by the recollection of a tine passage in the sixth book of Virgil , where the poet thus delineates a . similar congress of warriors in the Elysian fields :
Here Teucer ' s ancient race the Prince surveys , The race of heroes born in happier days ; Ilus , Assaracus , in arms revered , And Troy ' s great founder , Dardanus , appear'd ; Before him stalk'd the tall majestic
n , And pitchM their idle lances on the plain ; Their arms and airy chariots he beheld ; The steeds , unharness'd , grazed the flowery field ; Those pleasing cares the heroes felt alive , For chariots , . steeds and arms , in death I survi
ve : Others beneath a Jaurell'd grove were laid , And joyful feasted in the fragrant shade However , this seems to have been the last effort of Napoleon to atfect pleasantry in his deplorable condition . )
Soon after we find him ( two days only sending for his priest , Vignali . When he came , " Abb 6 , said he , do you know what chambre-ardenle ( a room in which dead bodies lie in state ) is . « Yes , Sire . ' ' Have you ever officiated in one V ' Never , Sire / ' Vou ei
shall officiate in mine ! ' He , entered into the most minute dew on the subject , and gave the priest ^ " instructions at considerable tog 1 His face was animated and convu ^ and I was following with uneas y the contraction of his features , *** he observed in mine , I know not wn ^ which displeased him . ' *
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530 The Religious Opinions of Napoleon Bonaparte in his
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1825, page 530, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2540/page/18/
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