Chapter 2

In the plenitude of his resources every obstacle seemed to vanish. “There shall be no Alps,” he said; and he built his perfect roads, climbing by graded galleries their steepest precipices, until Italy was as open to Paris as any town in France. Having (S. 55, N. 1) decided what was to be done, he did that with might and main. He put out all his strength. He risked everything, and spared nothing; neither ammunition, nor money, nor troops, nor generals, nor himself. If fighting be the best mode of adjusting national differences (as large majorities of men seem to agree), certainly Bonaparte was right in making it thorough.

He fought sixty battles. He had never enough. Each victory was a new weapon. “My power would fall, were I not to support it by new achievements. Conquest has made me what I am, and conquest must maintain me.”

Before he fought a battle, Bonaparte thought little about what he should do in case of success, but a great deal about what he should do in case of a reverse of fortune. The same prudence and good sense marked all his behaviour. His instructions to his secretary at the palace are worth remembering. He said: “During the night enter my chamber as seldom as possible. Do not awake me when you have any good news to communicate; with that there is no hurry; but when you have bad news, rouse me instantly, for then there is not a moment to be lost.” His achievement of business was immense, and enlarges the known power of man. There have been (S. 82, N. 7) many working kings, from Ulysses to William of Orange, but none who accomplished a tithe of this man’s performance.—EMERSON.

+Es soll keine Alpen mehr geben.+

perfect roads, +Kunststraßen+.

Say ‘through which he by means of winding, (+sich schlängeln+) and gradually rising passes climbed the steepest precipices (+Abhang+, m.) of the Alps’.

was = stood; to Paris = to the Parisians. =The suffix +er+ is used to form names of male persons and of the inhabitants of countries and places; as=—+der Italiener+, the Italian, from +Italien+; +der Hamburger+, the inhabitants of Hamburgh.

town in France = French (S. 101, N. 1) town.

with — main, +aus Leibeskräften+.

+Er setzte seine ganze Stärke daran.+

+schonen.+

nor = neither.

+und auch sich selbst nicht.+

= war; be = is; mode, +Art und Weise+.

Say ‘as the majority of men seem (S. 107, N. 13) to think (S. 64, N. 11)’.

to make (do) a thing thorough(ly), +etwas gründlich betreiben+.

to fight battles, +Schlachten liefern+.

= sink.

= Conquests have; he has made me what I am, +er hat mich zu dem gemacht, was ich bin+.

+Ehe+, adv.

to think about a thing, +über etwas nach´denken+, read S. 87, N. 6; in — success, +im Glücksfalle+; in — fortune, +im Unglücksfalle+.

+aus´zeichnen.+

+Handlungsweise.+ All his happiness, +sein ganzes Glück+; all our family, +~unsere ganze~ Familie+.

+Verhaltungsbefehl+, m., directions for conduct; to, +an+.

This is not worth remembering, +dies ist nicht der Beachtung wert+.

+melden+.

Say literally ‘these have no haste’.

His — business, +Seine Arbeitskraft+.

+und erweitert unsere bisherigen Vorstellungen von den im Menschen wohnenden Kräften.+

+bis auf.+

+Oranien.+ Commence this period with: ‘From Ulysses’.

+doch keinen, der auch nur ein zehntel von den Thaten dieses Mannes vollbracht hätte+ (App. § 33).

Section 158.

THE WARLIKE CHARACTER OF THE GERMANS.

The Germans fight as a nation. Whatever their birth or (S. 10, N. 9) profession, all are trained soldiers. The nation is the army; the army is the nation. Hence they cannot be moved save at the bidding of some grand principle, and the stirring of some soul-penetrating and elevating sentiment; and yet they are as sensible as any nation that they abandon comfort, domestic ease, monetary independence, everything which (S. 3, N. 7) men (= man) love and live for, in order to identify the nation and the army. But they are willing to pay the price. They count hardihood of body and trained courage of heart the noblest riches of a nation. They reckon that national independence and national greatness are a thousand times more precious than gold and silver, and that to die on the field of battle is better and happier than to rot and crumble away in sybaritic ease. They hold, too, that the cause of liberty, and the free noble spirit engendered by the brotherhood of a nationality which affirms its oneness by noble acts, is blessed by God, and that He will give victory to the armies who go forth to battle in (S. 3, N. 2) trust in His name. No wonder they fight and triumph.—ADMIRAL GARBETT.

supply the verb ‘be’.

= station, +Stand+, m.

= practised.

Say ‘Hence they can be moved (+erregen+) only at (+durch+) the bidding (+Gebot+, n.)’.

+Erweckung+, f.

+die Seele ergreifend.+

‘to be sensible’, here +sich bewußt sein+.

here +die Annehmlichkeiten des Lebens+.

Say ‘in short give up everything’, for the verb ‘abandon’ must be placed at the end of this clause.

Say ‘in order to prove the identity of the nation and the army’.

+halten (für).+

here +gestählt+.

Say ‘and feel that it is better and nobler to die’, etc.

+vermodern+; to crumble away, +verfallen+; ‘ease’, here +Gemächlichkeit+.

+Auch halten sie dafür.+

Construe thus: ‘that God will bless the cause (+Sache+, f.) of liberty’, and use the attributive constr. for the transl. of ‘and the — nationality’. Any other constr. would be much too clumsy.

= deeds.

to give victory, +den Sieg verleihen+; to go forth to battle, +in die Schlacht ziehen+.

+auf.+

Supply ‘then, that’.

= conquer.

Section 159.

THE WAY TO MASTER THE TEMPER.

A London (S. 157, N. 4) merchant, having a dispute with a Quaker concerning a business account, determined to institute a law-suit against him. Desirous of amicably settling the matter, the Quaker called at the house of the merchant, when the latter became so enraged that he vehemently declared to his servant that he would (App. §§ 28 and 30) not see his opponent. “Well, friend,” said the Quaker quietly, “may God put thee in a better mind.” The merchant was subdued by the kindness of the reply, and, after careful consideration, became convinced that he was wrong. He sent for the Quaker, and after making a humble apology, he asked: “How were you able to bear my abuse with so much patience?” “Friend,” replied the Quaker, “I was naturally as hot and violent as thou art, but I knew that to indulge my temper was sinful, and also very foolish. I observed that men in a passion always spoke very loud, and I thought that, if I could control my voice, I should keep down my passion. I therefore made it a rule never to let it rise above a certain key; and by a careful observance of this rule I have, with the blessing of God, entirely mastered my natural temper.”—ALCOTT.

+Wie man seinen Zorn beherrschen kann.+

Change ‘having’ into ‘had’; the object is best placed after ‘account’.

Supply ‘and’ before ‘determined’; to institute a law-suit against a person, +einen gerichtlich belangen+.

to settle a matter amicably, +eine Sache auf gütliche Weise ordnen+. Comp. S. 30, N. 4, and note that the Present Participle ‘being’ is understood at the commencement of this period.

= whereupon.

= emphatically, +nachdrücklich+.

Say ‘may God alter thy mind (+Gesinnung+, f.)’.

to be subdued, +sich besiegt fühlen+; by, +durch+.

‘that — wrong’ may be briefly turned by ‘of his wrong’.

to send for a person, +einen zu sich rufen lassen+.

‘and — asked’. This passage, literally translated, would be inelegant in German, say: ‘humbly begged his pardon, and asked then’. Abuse, +Beleidigung+, f.

+von Natur.+

= passionate.

= that it was sinful, etc.; to indulge one’s temper, +seinem Zorn freien Lauf lassen+.

= that I could (App. § 33) conquer my anger through mastering my voice (+durch Beherrschung meiner Stimme+).

We make it a rule never to let our voices rise beyond a certain key, +wir machen es uns zur Regel, unsere Stimmen nie über eine gewisse Tonstärke hinaus zu erheben+.

= with God’s help.

= my natural inclination to (+zu+) anger (S. 3, N. 2).

Section 160.

OPINIONS AS TO ENGLISH EDUCATION.