The Express.
London, England, 1865-02-27 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, MONDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 27, 1805.

THE EMPEROR NAPOLEON'S PREFACE. i SPORTING 111TEGLIGENCIL
OPENING OF TITS TURF SEASON.

The Moniteur publishes the following preface of
the " History of Julius Comm," written by the Em-
peror of the Frmch, which will be published on the
let March :

The truths of history should be not less sacred than
these of religion. If the precepts of Faith lift our souls
shore the interests of this world, the tesoldop of history
in their turn inspire as with the lore of the beautiful and
jest, with the hatred of all that opposes the progress of
=aided. Certain oteiditiews us requisite for these hook-
lap to be profitable. Dig needful that the facts should be
reposes:4Bd with the most rigorous exactitude, that Poli-
tical and social changes should be philosophically analysed,
sad that the charm of the details of a public man's life
should not divert atteutioa from the political part which
he baslplayed, should not ranee forgetfulness of his pro-
eideatial mission.

It is too much the habit of "viten to present the different /
phases of history as spoatadons erects, without seeking
their true origin sad their natural deduction in antecedect
Leta, like the painter who in reproducing the accidents of
=tam seeks oily their picturesque effect without being /
able to demonstrate teens taiedtifioally is his piotnim The
historian should be more than • painter, like the geologist
who expounds the wonders of the Mann world, he should
dimmer the secret of the transformatiod el society.
But in writing history how is truth to be &Maned ? By
following the roles of lees. We man begin by taking for
granted that a great effect is always produced by • great
mum owes by • small ass. ; in other words, an aosideat
apparently imiguifioult is never followed by important re.
colts without a pre-mating muse which has allowed this
slight enigma to dodoes • great effect. A spark only
oceasions a greet (*Wiegmana when it falls upon combustible
materials papered beforehand. Moateequieu thus oder=
this idea :—" It is not forted (he says) which rules the
world There are general muses, moral or physical,
which operate in each meareby to raise, to melanin, or to
oast it down ; all anideate are subject to such muses, and
if the fortunes of a battle, that is to my • particular nue,
has ruined a Meta, there was • peril team to which it was
owing that this state should perish by a single defeat ; in
one word, the principle inolatlea its oodequeamm"
If during a thomand years the Romans came victorious
out of the ha-deet trials and the greatest dangers, there d-
ieted • general cause whin always rendered them superior
to their monies and mended defeats and partial diesters
from drawing after them the fall of their empire. If the
Romans, after displaying to the world the example of •
people conatituting itself and growing greet by liberty,
seemed, after Cam; to rash blindly into servitude, it was
because there txisted a general name which fatally pro-
moted the republic from returning to the parity of its
molest institutions; the new wants and interests of •
society is travail required other means to be satisfied. In
the cud way that logic proves to us the imperious reseed
of important occurrences, so we must recognise the enelleoce
of an institution in its length of duration, and the proof of
a mass genius in his unquestioned influence over his age.
The historian's task oombls, therefore, in seeking the
vital ideated which made the force of the institutios, ad
the master-idea which directed the action, of the man. By
following this rule we shall avoid the errors of those Id-
iot-has who gather together the facts handed down by former
(mentions, without claming them according to their philo-
sophical importance ; thus oftentimm praising what deserves
blame, sod leaving in the shade what calla for the full light
of day. It is net • minute analysis of Roman *Truitt-
toe which will enable us to understood the duration of so
great an empire, but • profound examination of the spirit
of its institutions ; nor is it the detailed recital of the minor
anima of a great man which will reveal to us the secret of
his ascendancy, but an attentive study of the great moving
principles of his conduct.
When extraordinary deeds proclaim en eminent man of
genius, what can be man contrary to common seam than to
attribute to him the pensions and sentiments of mediocrity ?
What can be more false than not to recognise the pre-
eminence of those privileged beings who appear from time
to time in history like beacons, dispelling the darkness of
their epoch and illumining the future? Moreover, to deity
this pre-eminence would be to libel humanity by supposing
it capable of enduring willingly and permanently a domina
lion not based upon true manor and incontestable utility.
Let us be logical, and we shall be just.
Too many historians find it easier to detract from
the merits of mou of genius than by a generous
inspiration to raise themselves to their level by under-
standing their vast designs. And therefor* it is, is
the cam of l'imar, that naiad of showing us Rome torn by
civil wan, corrupted by riches, treading under foot its an-
Cillei institutions, threatened by powerful peoples—Gaule,
Germans, and Parthims—incapable of sustaining itself
without a central power stronger, more stable, and more
just ; instead, I say, of tracing this faithful picture, histo-
rians represent Crier as meditating from his youth how to
obtain supreme power. If he opposes Scylla, if he disagrees
with Cicero, if he makes friends with Pompey, it is all ea
account of that astute foresight which divines only to en-
slave ; if he invade' Gaul, it is to acquire wealth by pillage (1)
for soldiers devoted to his projects ; if he crosses the sea to
transport the Roman eagles to an unknown country, the
conquest of which will complete that of the Gauls (2), it is
to look for pearls, which were supposed to exist in the seas
of Great Emilio (3).

If, after having conquered the formidable enemies of
Italy beyond the Alps, be meditates an expedition against
the Pal-this/le to avenge the defeat of Crams, it is, my
certain historians, because activity suited his nature, end
his health was better in a campaign (4) ; if he accepts with
gratitude from the Senate, a laurel crown which he proudly
wears, it is to bide his bald head ; end filially, if be was
murdered by men whom he had loaded with benefits, i► was
bsessuse be wanted to make himself a king—just as if both
foe aostemporarieseasd posterity he were not greater than
say king.

Each, from Suetonius to Plutarch, are the miserable in-
isrpretatioos which people delight to give to the most
noble thing•. But by what sign then will you recog-
nise the greatness of • man Is it not by the
empire of his ideas when his priaoiplss and his
s►stem triumph in spite of his death or defeat?
Is it not the characteristic of genius to survive death, and
to extend its empire over fixture generations? Cover disap-
pears, but his inftnesoe predominate. still more Ciao it did
duriag his life. His adversary Cicero is forced to exclaim,
"Every action of Caesar, his writings, his words, his pro-
mise., have more force since his death than if he ware yet
living " (n). For centuries after his death it sufficed to tell
the world that such was the will of Caesar, and the world
obeyed. _ .

What precedes sufficiently shows my object in
writing this history. That object is to prove that
when Providence raiser up such men as Cesar, Char-
lemagne, sod Napoleon, it is for the purpose
of tracing out for nations the way in which
they should go, of stamping with the seal of genius • new
era, and of accomplishing the work of several centuries in
a few years. Happy the people who understand and follow
their great men ! Woe to the people who contemn and
resist them ! They act like the Jews who crucified the
Messiah ; they are blind and culpable : blind, for they do
not see the impotence of their efforts to suspend the de.
finitive triumph of good ; culpable, for they retard progress,
by hampering its prompt and fruitful application.
And in point of fact neither the murder of Clem nor the
captivity of St. Helena succeeded in definitively destroying
two popular causes, vanquished for a time by • league
assuming the mask of liberty. Brutus in killing Cesar
plunged Rome into the horrors of civil war, but be did sot
prevent the reign of Augustus, and be rendered possible
those of Nero and Caligula. The ostracism of Napoleon by
coalesced Europe failed likewise to prevent the matura-
tion of the Empire, and yet how far off are we now from
the great questions settled, the appeased passions, and the
legitimate satisfaction given to peoples by the First
Empire !

and thus is verified every day elm* 1815 this prophecy of
the captive of St. Helena—" What struggles, what blood,
and what years will riot be required to realise the good
which I wished to do to bumaaity." (6)
Palace of the Tuileries, March 2D, 1862. NAromer.

(1) Bostonian, Clear, ==ii.
(2) C,,sar »solved to crow into &dais, the inhabitant'
et which bad in almost all the wars aided the Gaals.—Gamer
War in Gaul, iv., ix.
(3) Sustonius, Clear, lvli.
i 4) Appian, Civil Wars, i., ex. 326. Schweighoeuser's
editioe.

5) Mao, Bpieto'se ad Aitken xis., s.
) What agitations, what wars, what meantime
is since 1515 ! la Frame, Spa* Bay, Batumi,
Belgium, iluagsey, Grimes, sad Geesmay.

0111 MAI. PALACIL HALF-A-CROWN DAY.
aLTOILDAY, Vss. Z.—Lambda= cm papaw% 4090; AM
bnose MA" 4177; Isla. Oa.

TO 151 101105 01 TII WWI&
acerottly denerreeri this year to be
styled the trial mediae of the esesos, toe eves had the
rive dozen hones performing as the fiat so prepared that
their merits could have beta delenined, thes
starts that took place for the two losadkaps and . the
Brookleaby would have ptineated anything like an awards
estimate Wog taw. The prinsipal manta, for all its
two does" reap" was completely spoiled by the bad
start, far when • soled few get away with • great
advantage, and others not at all, it is • lane to
all the affair a race, and to oommeat spot the
result would only tend to miskad. Had they all
started together, it is my imam:don another We
would have ben told ; and it almost • certainty that the
bee 2-yr-old did sot win the Brookisaby, Vale:dine, Chapel
Royal, and the Mks Lavinia colt (a brother to Dr. Syntax)
hang at least as good-looking as Oscan But It was •
fieldsrs' week altogether the results of all the chief *vents
at Lineole—besides the Waterloo coundag cup at Altear—
being no dead against the public, that they ought to become
strong olives:loots for the future of the sateen of haring
spring meetings in the winter ; and did they withhold their
support they would shake their foundations coasidenthly.
The Trial was the most iateruting nee of the two days,
and started the backers of the tw
o, rival jockeys,Fordham aad J. Orkathaw eatisfutorily, for they were
first and mooed, Fadhoun. drawltig first blood both
for himself and Guardsman, an it was the lathe's
first win. He lauded with something to spare, and
angered a good eseaoo for Danbury, where there are many
superior hones, aid the or two that will ha "heard of" for
other spung handicaps than the Chester Oar. Guardsman
is in the latter race, besides the St. Li; and City
sad Suburban, and having no pinkies to oury he would
adman further attentioo, bat that it is so doubtful whether
his legs will stead • preparation. Catalogue, his stable
companion, stands • very fair thanes of following in his
footsteps at Nottingham, when we shall have an excellent
meeting ea Tuesday and Wednesday. Catalogue it in the
Trial Stakes with a Mb. penalty oily, and nothing very great
to beat, her opponents being so moderate that she could
have beaten even the old cam at the same weights last
year. The Nottingham Spring Healed), •••sods sad•
quarter, lea about • down altered that ran at Lincoln, the
best of them, at the present weights, being DT. Syntax and
Donnybrook, for GoWooks incurred • 1010. pudgy, nth
fag her weight to within 11b. of the last-eame& The hale
;hap ia • Battering one, and if The Moak, Dookeld, and
Revolver stayed awe from Lincoln merely tor the sake
of the imposts and d being more in their favour
in this contest, they are sure to beam* great favourites.
in fact, out of the forty-seven subscribes, there would be
so masks to look beyond Dr. Syntax, The Ronk, Donny-
brook, and Dunkeld for the winner, were they in anything
like form, my preference being for the two lint named.
The Innkeepers Plate appears to rest satin:ly between Le
Mancha' and Donnybrook, and all the weight an SeentelT
stop How in the Stand Plate, for whiohle Bahasa I
the of his most dangerous opponents. The ascend day's
tramp card is the Little John Stakes, for two year olds,
half a mile ; and the mulls of the two juvenile rues
already decided this year have left it very open„ ford the
five-and-twenty engaged only Bay Loaf, the Hope colt,
Novice. Hingham, and Chapel Royal have nth out, and
these were all unplead in the Brooklesby at Lisoolo.
Chapel Royal certainly did not have a fair chasm
there, and mime there is something very good in the
field he may prove worth standing again. The
Fond Plate, three-quarters of • mile, is certain to be la-
th:sued by the contests for the Inakeepan' aid Stand
Plates, which moat, however, produce socuthiog pretty
good to bed Lytham and Clair:aerate, the latter having run
very decently at Lincoln over the same distance with 3lb
more weight on her back. The other dosed events in the
programme are not of the class styled legitimate, and those
that coo be discovered in the list for the Derby Meeting—•
sort of supplement to Nottingham—are scarcely worth
glancing at, until the business to be dose is Morrie Sher.
wood is completed, although the principal nature, the
Greet Midland Steeplechase, cannot be interfered with by
any previous contest. The metropolitans have another
" outing' provided for them in the meeting at West Dray-
ton oa Thursday and Friday, the bill of fare beisideaczz
respectable ow. Bat with an acceptance yet to he
for the most important events, it is not in • condition to be
discard—l am, its., METEOR.