the map of marengo

the two generals were left alone. both had followed the young man with their eyes, each one inspired with different thoughts, until the door had closed upon him.

"that boy has a heart of gold," said barras. "just think, when he was only thirteen years and a half old—i did not know him then—he went to strasbourg alone in the hope of finding some papers there which would justify his father before the revolutionary tribunal. but the revolu[pg 341]tionary tribunal was in a hurry. it cut off the father's head while it was waiting for the papers the son was collecting. it was time anyway for eugene to return, for had it not been for saint-just, whom he met there, i do not know what might have happened to eugene. he attacked tétrell, one of the leaders, who was twice as big as he, in the midst of a play at the theatre. if the people, who had seen him during the day when he was fighting against the prussians, had not taken his part boldly, the poor boy would have been badly singed."

"i suppose," said bonaparte, always precise, "that you did not put yourself out to come here for the purpose of discussing this young man, since you did not know that he had come to see me."

"no," said barras, "i came to make you a present."

"me?"

"yes, you," said barras. and going to the door of the ante-chamber, he opened it and made a sign. two men entered. they were carrying an immense piece of rolled canvas on their shoulders as two carpenters would carry a beam.

"goodness! what is that?" asked bonaparte.

"you have often spoken to me of your desire to make a campaign in italy, general."

"you mean," interrupted bonaparte, "of the necessity which will some day arise for france to decide the austrian question."

"well, for some time carnot, who is of your opinion, has been occupied in making the most complete map of italy which exists in the world. i asked for it at the ministry of war, and, although they were inclined to refuse, they finally gave it to me, and i give it to you."

bonaparte seized barras's hand, and said: "this is indeed a present, especially if it is given to me as the man who is to make use of it. open it," he continued, addressing the men who were carrying it.

they knelt down and untied the cords, but when they[pg 342] tried to unroll it they found that the room was not half large enough to hold it.

"good!" exclaimed bonaparte; "here i am forced to build a house to hold your present."

"oh!" replied barras, "when the time comes for you to use it, you may be living in a house which is large enough for you to hang it between two windows. in the meantime look at the part which is unrolled. not a hill, not a brook is wanting."

the porters opened the map as far as the space permitted. the portion which they uncovered extended across the gulf of genoa, from ajaccio to savona.

"by the way," said bonaparte, "is that not where schérer, masséna, and kellermann are—here at cervoni?"

"yes," replied barras, "we received word to that effect only this evening. how could i have forgotten to tell you! augereau has won a great victory at loano. masséna and joubert, whom kellermann kept in his army despite the order of their dismissal which the committee of public safety forwarded him, displayed magnificent courage."

"it is not there, it is not there," murmured bonaparte. "what do blows aimed at the limbs amount to? nothing! they should aim at the heart. milan, mantua, verona, those are the places to strike. ah! if ever—'"

"what?" asked barras.

"nothing," replied bonaparte. then, turning brusquely to barras, he asked: "are you sure to be appointed one of the five directors?"

"yesterday," replied barras, lowering his voice, "the conventionals met to decide upon the members of the directory. they argued for some time, and the names which successfully passed the first test, are: mine, then rewbell, sièyes third, then la reveillière-lepaux, and letourneur; but one of the five will certainly not accept."

"who is the ambitious one?"

"sièyes."

"is there any talk of the man who will replace him?"

[pg 343]

"in all probability it will be carnot."

"you will lose nothing by that. but why not introduce some name like pichegru, kléber, hoche or moreau, among all those names of civilians?"

"they were afraid of giving the military too much power."

bonaparte began to laugh.

"nonsense!" he said. "when c?sar took rome he was neither tribune nor consul; he had just returned from gaul, where he had won eighty battles and subdued three hundred tribes. that is the way dictators have. but none of the men we have just mentioned is built on the plan of a c?sar. if the five men you have named are chosen you will go on well enough. you have popularity, talent for the initiative, and activity; you will naturally be the leading man of the directory. rewbell and letourneur are men who will do the work, while you represent the people. la reveillière-lepaux is wise and honest and will furnish the morality for you all. as for carnot, i do not quite know what part of the work you will assign to him."

"he will continue to make plans and to lay off victories on paper," said barras.

"let him make as many plans as he pleases. but if ever i have any command of importance, do not take the trouble to send them to me."

"why not?"

"because battles are not won with a map, a pair of compasses, and red, blue or green-headed pins. it needs instinct, an unerring glance, genius. i should like to know if hannibal had plans of the battles of trebbia, of lake trassymene, and of cannes sent him from carthage. i snap my fingers at your plans! do you know what you ought to do? you ought to give me the details which you have received concerning the battle of loano; and, since this map is unrolled at that very place, i would be interested in following the movements of our troops and the austrians."

[pg 344]

barras drew from his pocket a note written with the laconism of a telegraphic despatch and handed it to bonaparte.

"patience," said he; "you have the map, and the command will follow, perhaps."

bonaparte read the despatch eagerly.

"good!" said he. "loano is the key to genoa, and genoa is the magazine of italy." then, continuing to read the despatch, he said: "masséna, kellermann, joubert, what men! and what could not a man do with them! he who could bring them together and make the most of their diverse qualities would be the veritable olympian jove with the thunderbolt in his hand!"

then he murmured the names of hoche, kléber and moreau, and, with a pair of compasses in his hand, he stretched himself out upon the great map, of which only one corner was uncovered. there he began to study the marches and counter-marches which had led up to the famous battle of loano. when barras took his departure, bonaparte scarcely noticed it, so absorbed was he in his strategic combinations.

"it cannot have been schérer," he said, "who devised and executed this movement. neither can it have been carnot; there is too great an element of the unexpected about it. it was doubtless masséna."

he had been lying upon this map, which was never to leave him, for about half an hour, when the door opened and a voice announced: "the citizeness beauharnais."

bonaparte, in his abstraction, thought he heard the words, "the citizen beauharnais," and, imagining that it was the young man whom he had already seen who had returned to thank him for the favor which he had just granted him, he exclaimed: "let him come in, let him come in!"

as he spoke, there appeared at the door, not only the young man whom he had already seen, but also a charming woman of about twenty-seven or eight years of age. he[pg 345] half rose in his astonishment, and it was thus, with one knee on the ground, that bonaparte first saw marie-rose-josephine tascher de la pagerie, the widow of beauharnais.