Chapter Namous to Narcissus of N by Brewer's Readers Handbook

3. Empereur. The votes for the president to be emperor were 7,19,791; those against him were 1,119,000. If, now, the numbers 7119791/1119 be written on a piece of paper, and held up to the light, the reverse side will show the word empereur. (The dash is the dividing mark, and forms the long stroke of the “p.”)

4. The French Revolution, 1794.

The Revolution. 1794 1 7 9 4

1815 The battle of Waterloo. 1 8 1 5

1830 The Revolution of July. 1 8 3 0

1842 Death of the duc d Orléans.

(See Louis Philippe, p. 628.)

Napoleon and Talleyrand. Napoleon I. one day entered a roadside inn, and called for breakfast. There was nothing in the house but eggs and cider (Which Napoleon detested). “What shall we do?” said the emperor to Talleyrand. In answer to this, the grand chambellan improvised the rhymes following:—

Le bon roi Dagobert
Aimait le bon vin au dessert.
Le grand St. Eloi
Lui dit, “O mon roi,
le droit réuni
L’a bien renchéri.”
“En bien!” lui dit le roi …

But he could get no further. Whereupon Napoleon himself instantly capped the line thus—

“Je boirai du cidre avec toi.”
   —Chapus: Dicppe, etc. (1853).

Our royal master Dagobert
Good wine loved at his dessert.
But St. Eloi
Once said,” Mon roi,
We here prepare
No dainty fare.”
“We’ll,” cried the king, “so let it be,
Cider to-day I’ll drink with thee.

E. C. B.

The Napoleon of the Drama. Alfred Bunn, lessee of Drury Lane Theatre (1819–1826) was so called; and so was Robert William Elliston, his predecessor (1774–1826, died 1831).

The Napoleon of Mexico, the emperor Augusto Iturbidê (1784–1824).

The Napoleon of Oratory, W. E. Gladstone (1809– ).

The Napoleon of Peace, Louis Philippe of France (1773, reigned 1830–1848, died 1850).

Narcissa, meant for Elizabeth Lee (Mrs. Temple), the step-daughter of Dr. Young. In Night ii. the poet says she was clandestinely buried at Montpellier, because she was a protestant. “Philander” is meant for Mrs. Temple’s husband.—Dr. Young: Night Thoughts (1742–6).

Narcissa, Mrs. Oldfield the actress, who insisted on being rouged and dressed in Brussels lace when she was “laid out.” (See Nancy, p. 744.)

“Odious! In woollen? ‘T would a saint provake!”
Were the last words that poor Narcissa spoke.
“No, let a charming chintz and Brussels, lace
Wrap my cold limbs and shade my lifeless face;
One would not, sure, be frightful when one’s dead!
And, Betty, give this cheek a little red.”
   —Pope: Moral Essays, i. (1731).

Narcissus, a flower. According to Grecian fable, Narcissus fell in love with his own reflection in a fountain, and, having pined away because he could not kiss it, was changed into the flower which bears his name.—Ovid: Metamorphoses, iii. 346, etc.