"Let us in person convey our 'happy New-Year' to
the French!--And Thou, great God, behold Thy German children, who
are shaking off the thraldom of long years, and who have become
again brave men! Heavenly Father, bless our undertaking! Bless the
Rhine, that it may flow to the ocean again as a free German river
for German freeman!--And now, boys, forward! Build your bridges, for
Heaven sends us to France to punish Bonaparte, and sing him a song
of the Rhine! Forward!"
CHAPTER XLII.
NAPOLEON'S NEW-YEAR'S-DAY.
It was early on the morning of the 1st of January. Napoleon was
angrily pacing his cabinet, while the police-minister, Duke de
Rovigo, was standing by the emperor's desk, and waiting, as if
afraid to look at his master, lest his anger burst upon his head.
"Why did you not tell me so yesterday, Savary?" asked Napoleon, with
his flaming eyes on the police-minister. "Why did you not inform me,
immediately after the close of the meeting of the Chamber of
Deputies, of the seditious and refractory spirit of the speeches
which certain members dared to deliver?"
"Sire, I had no proofs of their guilt. Speeches, it is true, had
been made, but they vanish, and offer no solid grounds for
convicting men of crime. As I have not the honor of being a member
of the committee which your majesty has appointed to take the
condition of France into consideration, I was unable to hear the
speeches delivered at the meeting.
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