Napoleon smiled. “Very well,” he said; “you believe the hearts of my subjects to be very prodigal. I am not, however, and I repeat to you I shall not pay that sum now. But as you tell me that this eagle, which costs so much money, will crush the Austrians, you will doubtless wait until it has done so, and then I will pay your bill with the rix-dollars of the Emperor of Germany and the Fredericks d’or of the King of Prussia.” [Footnote: Napoleon’s own words.—Constant, vol. i., p. 246.]
He dismissed him smilingly with a wave of his hand, and returned to his maps.
A few hours later Napoleon, followed by all his generals and adjutants, repaired to the camp. Ascending a small mound, specially prepared for the occasion, he surveyed with radiant eyes the surging, motley, and brilliant sea of soldiers who surrounded him on all sides, and who greeted his appearance with thundering shouts of exultation.
A wave of his hand commanded them to be still, and, as if fascinated by a magician’s wand, the roaring masses grew dumb, and profound silence ensued. Amidst this silence, Napoleon raised his clear, ringing-voice, and its sonorous notes swept like eagle-wings over the sea of soldiers.
“Brave soldiers of the camp of Boulogne,” he said, “you will not go to England. The gold of the English government has seduced the Emperor of Austria, and he has again declared war against France. His army has crossed the line of demarcation assigned to it, and inundated Bavaria. Soldiers, fresh laurels are awaiting you beyond the Rhine; let us hasten to vanquish once more enemies whom we have already vanquished. On to Germany!” [Footnote: Napoleon’s own words.—Constant, vol. i., p. 282.]
“On to Germany!” shouted the soldiers, jubilantly. “On to Germany!” was repeated from mouth to mouth, and even the sea seemed to roar with delight and its waves, thundering against the beach, to shout, “On to Germany!”
CHAPTER XLIII. NAPOLEON AND THE GERMAN PRINCES.
The Emperor of France with his army had crossed the boundaries of Germany. He had come to assist his ally, the Elector of Bavaria, against the Austrians who had invaded Bavaria; not, however, in order to menace Bavaria, but, as an autograph letter from the Emperor Francis to the elector expressly stated, to secure a more extended and better protected position.