. Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. As yetthe curse of pillage was not synonymous with conquest,as yet the free and generous ardor of youth and mihtarytradition exerted its force, as yet self-sacrifice to theextreme of endurance was a virtue, as yet the canker oflust and debauchery had not ruined the life of thecamp. Emancipated from the bonds of formahty andmere contractual relation to superiors, manhood asserteditself in troublesome questionings as to the motives andplans of officers, discussion of what was done and whatwas to be done, above all in searching criticism ofgovernment and its schemes.
. Life of Napoleon Bonaparte. As yetthe curse of pillage was not synonymous with conquest,as yet the free and generous ardor of youth and mihtarytradition exerted its force, as yet self-sacrifice to theextreme of endurance was a virtue, as yet the canker oflust and debauchery had not ruined the life of thecamp. Emancipated from the bonds of formahty andmere contractual relation to superiors, manhood asserteditself in troublesome questionings as to the motives andplans of officers, discussion of what was done and whatwas to be done, above all in searching criticism ofgovernment and its schemes. These were so continu-ously misleading and disingenuous that the lawyerpoHticaster who played such a role at Paris seemeddespicable to the soldiery, and rogue of a lawyer wasalmost synonymous to the mihtary mind with place-holder and civil ruler. In the march of events thepatriotism of the army had brought into prominenceRousseaus conception of natural boundaries. Therewas but one opinion in the entire nation concerning its. From the collection of AV. C. Crane Engraved by G. Fiesinger BUONAPARTE Drawn b) S. Guerin. Deposited in the Xational Library on the 29th Vendi-miaiie ot the year 7 of the French Republic .ET. 26] EUROPE AND DIRECTORY 327 frontiers, to wit: that Nice, Savoy, and the westernbank of the Rhine were all by nature a part of to what was beyond, opinion had been divided, somefeeling that they should continue fighting in order toimpose their own system wherever possible, whileothers, as has previously been explained, were eitherindifferent, or else maintained that the nation shouldfight only for its natural frontier. To the support ofthe latter sentiment came the general longing for peacewhich was gradually overpowering the whole country. No people ever made such sacrifices for liberty as theFrench had made. Through years of famine they hadstarved with grim determination, and the leanness oftheir race was a byword for more than a had been
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