Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, 1796-1812: 40 words to know before you read it
The 40 words Emperor of the French Napoleon I uses again and again in Napoleon's Letters to Josephine, 1796-1812 that are outside the 4,000 most common in English. Learn them first and the opening chapters read much more easily. Each comes with its pronunciation and a sentence from the book.
surrender/sɝˈɛndɝ/46× in the book
You cannot have inspired a boundless love without sharing it, for a cultured mind and a soul like yours cannot requite complete surrender and devotion with the death-blow.
cannon/ˈkænən/43× in the book
Austrians lose 2000 men and 20 cannon.
morrow/ˈmɑɹoʊ/32× in the book
I am at Port Maurice, near Oneille; to-morrow I shall be at Albenga.
cheerful/ˈtʃɪɹfəɫ/32× in the book
Tell me you are cheerful, in good health, and very affectionate.
bulletin/ˈbʊɫɪtən/30× in the book
For generations it was the fashion to consider "as false as a bulletin" peculiar to Napoleon's despatches; but the publication of Napoleon's correspondence, by order of Napoleon III., has changed all that.
affection/əˈfɛkʃən/28× in the book
… and the Emperor felt and spoke, not in his discourses or his proclamations—the official garb of his thought—but in the free outpourings of the most passionate or the most tender affections....
mil/ˈmɪɫ/27× in the book
Napoleon was sometimes 1200 miles away from home; he had to gauge the effect of his bulletins from one end to the other of the largest effective empire that the world has ever seen …
charm/ˈtʃɑɹm/27× in the book
A child as charming as its mamma will soon see the daylight, and will pass many years in your arms.
till/ˈtɪɫ/25× in the book
Napoleon raged and stormed about the Tallien friendship, till his final mandate in 1806; and then it was too late.
retreat/ɹiˈtɹit/24× in the book
The enemy made a general sortie on June 16th; it has killed or wounded two hundred of our men, but lost five hundred of its own in a precipitous retreat.
correspondence/ˌkɔɹəˈspɑndəns/23× in the book
… in the words of an eminent but unsympathetic divine, know something of the "domestic side of the monster," first hand from his own correspondence, confirmed or corrected by contemporaries.
grief/ˈɡɹif/23× in the book
My soul is broken with grief, and there is no rest for your lover.
honour/ˈɑnɝ/21× in the book
Like Medea, one of whose other exploits he had evoked in a bulletin, he could say—but to his honour and not to his shame—
wretched/ˈɹɛtʃɪd/20× in the book
You do not speak of your wretched indigestion—I hate it.
despatch19× in the book
Carlyle was the first to point out that his despatches are as instinct with genius as his conquests—his very words have "Austerlitz battles" in them.
favour/ˈfeɪvɝ/19× in the book
From the days of his new power—political power, first the Consulate and then the Empire—he lavished gifts and favours even on the most undeserving of his early comrades.
beloved/bɪˈɫəvd/19× in the book
Every moment separates me further from you, my beloved, and every moment I have less energy to exist so far from you.
spite/ˈspaɪt/19× in the book
He appeared to have no relish for anything gay; and in spite of the prepossessing amenity of his manners, an observation struck me often, he seemed to be of bronze.
subjoin18× in the book
I shall subjoin a copy of it."
franc/ˈfɹæŋk/18× in the book
May 9th.—Capitulation of Parma by the Grand Duke, who pays ransom of 2 million francs, 1600 artillery horses, food, and 20 paintings.
artillery/ɑɹˈtɪɫɝi/17× in the book
The Emperor will have to create a second army: artillery, pontoons, baggage, everything is taken.
glory/ˈɡɫɔɹi/17× in the book
"The letters of Napoleon can add nothing to his glory, but they better enable us to comprehend his prodigious destiny …
courier/ˈkɝiɝ/16× in the book
Soul of my life, write me by every courier, else I shall not know how to exist.
siege/ˈsidʒ/16× in the book
"By declaring that his public life dated from the siege of Toulon, Napoleon has himself determined the point of departure which the Commission should choose.
jealous/ˈdʒɛɫəs/16× in the book
… to go into the country; and in spite of that you give me to understand that you are jealous of me, who am here …
afterwards/ˈæftɝwɝdz/16× in the book
At last when Bonaparte drew up plans—afterwards followed—for the invasion of Piedmont, Schérer replied roughly that he who had drawn up the plan of campaign had better come and execute it.
thee/ˈði/15× in the book
My waking thoughts are all of thee.
grieve/ˈɡɹiv/15× in the book
But I am most truly grieved to know that you are in pain.
prosper/ˈpɹɑspɝ/15× in the book
We must admire The Man[3] who found within the fields of France the command of the Tropics, and who needed nothing but time to prosper Corsican cotton and Solingen steel.
destiny/ˈdɛstəni/15× in the book
"The letters of Napoleon can add nothing to his glory, but they better enable us to comprehend his prodigious destiny, the prestige that he exercised over his contemporaries—'le culte universel dont sa mémoire est l'objet …
realise/ˈɹiəˌɫaɪz/14× in the book
It has realised that the most conspicuous (éclatant) homage to render to this incomparable genius was to make him known in his entirety.
affectionate/əˈfɛkʃənət/14× in the book
… and to arrive at Brescia on July 25th, where the most affectionate of lovers awaits you.
cavalry/ˈkævəɫɹi/14× in the book
May 30th-31st.—Bonaparte defeats Beaulieu at Borghetto, crosses the Mincio, and makes French cavalry fight (a new feature for the Republican troops).
conquer/ˈkɑŋkɝ/14× in the book
Beaten at sea, he has but two weapons left against England—to "conquer her by land," or to stir up a maritime rival who will sooner or later avenge him.
uneasy/əˈnizi/14× in the book
Yes, my kind, kind love, I am not jealous, but sometimes uneasy.
vexed/ˈvɛkst/13× in the book
Are you vexed?
splendid/ˈspɫɛndɪd/13× in the book
Of his goodness we have the well-weighed verdict of Lord Acton, that it was "the most splendid that has appeared on earth."
reinforcement/ˌɹiɪnˈfɔɹsmənt/13× in the book
July 9th.—Bonaparte asks Kellermann for reinforcements.
genius/ˈdʒinjəs/13× in the book
Let us then each to his task, and each try, as best he may, to weigh in honest scales the modern Hannibal—"our last great man,"[4] "the mightiest genius of two thousand years."[5]
heir/ˈɛɹ/12× in the book
This is the third pilgrimage Josephine has made, under the doctor's orders, to Plombières; but the longed-for heir will have to be sought for elsewhere, by fair means or foul.
Pronunciation: ipa-dict (MIT), from Wiktionary.
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