We Read Much In Modern Books
Devoted To The Era Of The Corsican About "The Napoleonic Legend." There
Seems To Be, Just Here, A Little Sporadic Napoleonic Legend, To Which
Vitality Has Been Given From Quarters Whence Have Come Some Heavy Blows
At The Larger One.
The plan adopted has been, after a preliminary sketch of the colonial
situation of Great Britain and France in
The period under review, to
bring upon the scene - the Terre Napoleon coasts - the discovery ship
Investigator, despatched by the British Government at about the same time
as Napoleon's vessels were engaged upon their task, and to describe the
meeting of the two captains, Flinders and Baudin, in Encounter Bay. Next,
the coasts denominated Terre Napoleon are traversed, and an estimate is
made of the original work done by Baudin, and of the serious omissions
for which he was to blame. A second part of the subject is then entered
upon. The origin of the expedition is traced, and the ships are carefully
followed throughout their voyage, with a view to elicit whether there
was, as alleged, a political purpose apart from the scientific work for
which the enterprise was undertaken at the instance of the Institute of
France.
The two main points which the book handles are: (1) whether Napoleon's
object was to acquire territory in Australia and to found "a second
fatherland" for the French there; and (2) whether it is true, as so often
asserted, that the French plagiarised Flinders' charts for the purpose of
constructing their own.
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