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The Prophecy! or, Bonaparte Killed at Last by his Own Troops!

The Prophecy! or, Bonaparte Killed at Last by his Own Troops!A True Story, just brought from Paris [...] This Story is founded on a Dream of Bonaparte [...] The Dream is here given in Verse. [...]

[1803] Printed for J. Hatchard, 190, Piccadilly. 1d. each; 6d. per dozen; or, 3s. 6d. per 100. [Brettell, Printer]
Letterpress, sheet 425 x 315mm (16¼ x 12½"). Creasing on left.
Broadside published at the time when fears of an invasion of the British Isles by Napoleon were at their height. This ballad prophesises Napoleon's death in the wake of an unsuccessful invasion of Britain. As in other broadsides of the period, Napoleon's alleged killing of his own injured soldiers at Jaffa is invoked as evidence of his treachery. In the aftermath, the new rule of France is imagined: 'no more Consuls, Frenchmen shout,/ But King Louis make your Head. / With Moreau, Minister of State,/ Not made Ambition's Fool,/ But choosing a much safer Fate,/ Than over France to rule'. Victor Moreau was forced into exile in the United States by his opposition to Napoleon. The final verses defend Britain's monarchy (with a reference to the revolutionary, Thomas Paine) and the high taxes during the war as a temporary measure necessary to combat Napoleon. Published by John Hatchard (1768-1849), who founded the Piccadilly bookseller still thriving over two hundred years on.
For a contemporary portrait of Moreau, see ref. 28221.
[Ref: 33275]  £350.00


 

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