he army. As a
lieutenant of artillery he did good service in behalf of the French
revolutionary government at the siege of Toulon, which had revolted in
1793.

Two years later that government was threatened by the rising of the
people of Paris, headed by the National Guard. General Barras gave
Napoleon an opportunity of showing his military skill in defence of the
authorities, and the young officer, with his well-directed volleys of
grape-shot, speedily quelled the insurrection. From that time Napoleon's
name became familiar to the French people.

In 1796 he married Madame Josephine Beauharnais, a West Indian lady,
whose husband had been guillotined during the Revolution. About the same
time Napoleon received the command of the French army of Italy, and with
his successful Italian campaign against Austria his reputation as a
general began.

From that date until his final abdication in 1815, he was almost
constantly engaged in active war, or in preparations for it. During that
period of twenty years he fought nearly the whole of Europe; and up to
his fatal Russian campaign in 1812, he was victorious in every great
battle which he personally directed in the open field. This constant
success inspired him with the belief that he was invincible. As one of
his friends said, "He appeared like a man walking in a halo of glory";
and as an eminent statesman declared, "France gave herself to him,
absorbed herself in him, and seemed, at one time, no longer to think,
except through him." From a simple artillery officer Napoleon had risen
to be the greatest military commander in the world. His adopted country
had placed him at the head of the government, and ended by making him
Emperor. By his conquests he had enlarged France so that his imperial
dominions extended to the Baltic on the north, and beyond Rome on the
southeast.

To increase his glory and strengthen his power, he established a circle
of dependent thrones and principalities, occupied by his brothers and
his favorites, who were bound to obey his will and extend his sway.

Of all the nations of Europe, England alone had been able to withstand
him; and in 1812 London, Moscow, and St. Petersburg were the only
leading capitals whose streets his triumphant armies had not entered.

It was when he was at the apparent summit of his power that Napoleon
divorced his faithful Josephine, in order that he might marry the
Princess Maria Louisa, daughter of the emperor of Austria