_Soldats:_ True to your trust in me, I am about to lead you to
slaughter. _L'Empire c'est la paix_. Prussia would place a poor and
distant relative of mine on the throne of Spain, therefore must we
recover the natural frontier of France, which lies upon the Rhine. The
rhino is ready, and we are ready for the Rhine. Let my red republican
subjects recall Valmy and Jemappes, and their generals KELLERMANN and
DUMAURIOZ. Let every Frenchman kill a Prussian, every woman too _kill
her man_. They did much for _la patrie_ in those days, but do _more ye
to-day_. France wars for ideas only; Prussia for rapine. We have heard
this Rhine-whine long enough; it has got into our heads at last.
The spirit of my uncle has its eye upon you. Ambition was no part of his
nature. His struggles were all for the good of France, "which he loved
so much," as he himself said at his country-seat at St. Helena. Marshal,
then, to the notes of the _Marseillaise_, which I now generously permit
you to sing.
The Gallic rooster shall "cackle, cackle, clap his wings and crow,"
_Unter der Linden_. Jena judges us, Auerstedt is _our status_. The Man
of Destiny and December calls you. The God of armies (who marches with
the strongest battalions) is with us.
_La gloire et des Grenouilles_, France and fried potatoes. _L'Empire et
moi et le prince Imperial. En avant marche!_
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A District that ought to be subject to Earthquakes.
Rockland County.
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[Illustration: THE CELESTIAL SCARECROW IN MASSACHUSETTS.
IT CONSISTS OF A CHINESE GONG AND A LOT OF PUPPETS WORKED BY THE HANDS OF
CAPITAL; AND SOME PERSONS THINK IT A GOOD JOKE.]
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