" The Bourbons, thus unheroically
restored, were destined for fifteen years to maintain in peace their
compromise between revolution and reaction.
[Sidenote: Napoleon at St. Helena 1815-1821 ]
On 15 July, the day following the anniversary of the fall of the
Bastille, Napoleon, who had gone to Rochefort on the French coast, with
some vague idea of taking refuge in America, delivered himself over to
the commander of a British warship which was lying in the harbor. For
us who live a century after the stirring events whose narrative has
filled this chapter, it is easy to perceive that the British government
might safely have extended hospitality to their famous captive and
might have granted him an asylum in England. He was finally discredited
in the eyes not only of the European despots but also of the vast
majority of the French people; no matter how much he might burn with
the flame of his old ambition, he could never again be in a position to
endanger the safety or prosperity of the United Kingdom.
Pages:
1198
1199
1200
1201
1202
1203
1204
1205
1206
1207
1208
1209
1210
1211
1212
1213
1214
1215
1216
1217
1218
1219
1220
1221
1222