ictory they were abased by the shameful conduct
of their comrades. He must have expressed himself freely, for he was
mobbed by the sailors in the square of Bonifacio. The men from
Bocagnano, partly from the Buonaparte estates at that place, rescued
him from serious danger.[32] When he entered Ajaccio, on March third,
he found that he was no longer, even by assumption, a lieutenant-colonel;
for during his short absence the whole Corsican guard had been
disbanded to make way for two battalions of light infantry whose
officers were to be appointed by the directory of the island.

[Footnote 32: For the original of this protest see
Napoleon inconnu, II, 439.]

Strange news now greeted his ears. Much of what had occurred since his
departure from Paris he already knew. France having destroyed root and
branch the tyranny of feudal privileges, the whole social edifice was
slack in every joint, and there was no strong hand to tighten the
bolts; for the King, in dallying with foreign courts, had virtually
deserted his people. The monarchy had therefore fallen, but not until
its friends had resorted to the expedient of a foreign war as a prop
to its fortunes. The early victories won by Austria and Prussia had
stung the nation to madness. Robespierre and Danton having become
dictators, all moderate policy was eclipsed. The executive council of
the Convention, determined to appease the nation, gathered their
strength in one vigorous effort, and put three great armies in the
field. On November sixth, 1792, to the amazement of the world,
Dumouriez won the battle of Jemmapes, thus conquering the Austrian
Netherlands as far north as Liege.

The Scheldt, which had been closed since 1648 through the influence of
England and Holland, was reopened, trade resumed its natural channel,
and, in the exuberance of popular joy, measures were taken for the
immediate establishment of a Belgian republic. The other two armies,
under Custine and Kellermann, were less successful. The former, having
occupied Frankfort, was driven back to the Rhine; the latter defeated
the Allies at Valmy, but failed in the task of coming to Custine's
support at the proper moment for combined action. Meantime the
agitation in Paris had taken the form of personal animosity to "Louis
Capet," as the leaders of the disordered populace called the King. In
November he was summoned to the bar of the Convention and questioned.
When it came to the con