Файл:Ils viennent se bruler à la Chandelle (NAPOLEON 108).jpg

This drawing satirizes the heated debates in the Chamber of Deputies after Napoleon's return from the defeat at Waterloo. Napoleon is shown on the Mont Saint-Jean, surrounded by skulls and bones testifying to battles he has led (and lost). But he continues to brandish the torch of war, while holding a scroll in his left hand that lists the promises he made to the Chamber of Representatives on his return from Elba; taken together, they show the juxtaposition between Napoleon’s republican views as first consul and his despotic use of power as emperor. Napoleon’s supporters (his generals and politicians, shown here as bats) are attracted by the light, but burn their wings on the flame and fall into the void. The politicians, all members of the Chamber, lament “we will die on our chairs.” Queen Hortense of the Netherlands, labeled a "yenne" (hyena), is shown with sagging breasts and tries to flirt with Napoleon, alluding to the widely-circulated slanderous rumors that there was a sexual relationship between the two (Hortense was his grown step-daughter). Hortense was active in the attempt to have Napoleon's son proclaimed emperor. The inscriptions Espagne (Spain), Moscou (Moscow), Egypt are there to remind the public where Napoleon learned that his power had limits.

Reference Source: Clerc #101, George #12569.

• Geographic coverage: France
• Subjects (LCSH): Political cartoons; History--Caricatures & cartoons; Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 1769-1821; Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815