e round of his posts in disguise, to ascertain
the vigilance of his sentinels. He found one poor soldier, in perfect
exhaustion, asleep at his post. Napoleon shouldered his musket, and
stood sentry for him for half an hour. When the man awoke and
recognized the countenance of his general, he sank back upon the ground
in terror and despair. He knew that death was the doom for such a crime.
"Here, comrade," said Napoleon, kindly, "here is your musket. You have
fought hard and marched long, and your sleep is excusable. But a
moment's inattention might at present ruin the army. I happened to be
awake, and have guarded your post for you. You will be more careful
another time."

At the "terrible passage of the bridge of Lodi," Napoleon stood at one
of the guns, in the very hottest of the fire, directing it with his own
hand. The soldiers, delighted at this very unusual exhibition of the
readiness of their general to share all the toils and perils of the
humblest private in the ranks, gave him the honorary and affectionate
nickname of "The Little Corporal." By this appellation he was afterward
universally known in the army. The enthusiasm of the soldiers invested
him with supernatural endowments, and every one was ready at any moment
to peril life for the Little Corporal.

The government at Paris, rapidly waning in popularity, notwithstanding
their extreme jealousy of the wide-spreading influence of this
victorious general, was compelled, by the spontaneous acclamations of
the people, to give him a public triumph, when the famous treaty which
Napoleon had effected in Italy was to be formally presented to the
Directory. The magnificent court of the Luxembourg was embellished with
the flags of the armies which he had conquered, and the youthful hero of
Lodi, of Arcola, and of Rivoli made his first triumphant appearance in
the streets of Paris. The enthusiasm of the vast concourse of excitable
Parisians overleaped all bounds. The soldiers of the proud army of Italy
sang at their encampments, in enthusiastic chorus, a song in which they
declared that it was high time to eject the lawyers from the government,
and make the Little Corporal the ruler of France. Barras, the friend of
Josephine, who had selected Napoleon to quell the insurrection in Paris,
and who had secured to him the command of the army of Italy, declared in
a eulogistic speech on this occasion that "Nature had exhausted all her
powers in the creation of a Bonaparte