Even in the twenty-first century, royal weddings still required rehearsals, and so did the canal's groundbreaking ceremony. As Lucien had said, Napoleoni liked grand spectacles. Perhaps all fifty thousand soldiers stationed in Paris had been mobilized.
The French Times was a conservative newspaper. Genoude had long served as editor of the leading royalist paper, though he was not an unrepentant absolute monarchist supporter of the Bourbon royal family.
Gaudin, who loved writing plays, published an article in the French Times. On April 11, 1764, 130 merchant ships laden with grain weighed anchor from Chesapeake and sailed for French ports. The British Navy had been ordered to intercept them, while the French fleet went to protect them. After a fierce naval battle, France's Vengeur was sinking after being hit. It sent out a distress signal, and a British ship sailed over, rescuing 400 of its 723 sailors.
Those surviving sailors, untouched by death or injury, stood atop the masts and cried, "Long live the Republic!" as the warship sank. On August 29, 1801, France purchased fifty thousand piculs of grain from the Netherlands. The Royal Navy also opened a path through the blockade, allowing the merchant ships to deliver their grain-laden cargoes to French ports.
A gentleman's war did not harm civilians. The more tightly one ship's anchor tangled with another's, the less likely they were to fire upon each other.
Humanity in war was often the shining point of human nature. The atmosphere of peace stripped the cavalrymen in their beautiful uniforms of that murderous air, making them seem more like a splendid honor guard. Even the artillery's ceremonial salutes did not sound quite so frightening.
No matter how the parliamentarians objected, the rehearsal began. Even the gendarmes and patrolmen had formal uniforms to wear.
Davout was escorting Georgiana. He