The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1858-04-22

How true it is that adversely is often found to b
the most potent remedy for the diseases Of the soul (!
However the opinion Of men may differ as to the
real conversion OF the great Napoleon to . "iyine
| faith in the Savior Of man, the following wen-au-
thenticated incidents Of his closing life. in dreary
exile, furnish a profitable theme for the contempla-
| ton Of all. That the thoughts of this mighty hero OF
a hundred well-fought fields were first directed to the
study of the Bible, during his Punishment in st.
Helena. can hardly be doubted.
Soon after his banishment in this dreary isle, m
eminent Christian Of England, the Rev. DR.. David
Bogue. impressed with the belief that the religion OF
Christ could afford the most effective soiace to his
adversely, sent to the prisoner a copy Of his Essay on
the Divine Authority Of the New Testament
Napoleon read it; and the effect Of it was strikingly
evinced in the course Of a conversation subsequently
held between the Emperor and his friend. General
Bertrand. who accompanied him in his exile. Ber-
trand. perceiving that the divinity of Christ was fast
gaining access to the mind Of Napoleon, and being
himself an infdel, addressed him in these words:
81 cannot conceive, sire, how n great r.an like You
can believe that the Supreme Being ever exhibited
himself to men under a human form, with a body, q
face, mouth, and eyes. Let Jesus be whatever you
please-the highest intelligence. the purest heart,
the most profound legislator, and in all respects the
most singular being who has ever existed. l grant
il. Still he was simply a man, who taught his disci-
pies. and deluied credulous people, as did Orpheus.
Confucius, Brlhma-
"Jesus causel himself to he adored, because his
predecessors. Isis and Osiris. Jupiter and Juno, had
proudly made themselves objects of worship. The
6scc0ulncy o " Jesus over his fl1Ue WA tUc 6>Ccl~
dsncy of the gods and heroes of fable. If Jesus has
imprisoned and attached TO his chariot the multitude
If he has revolutionized the world see in that
only the power of genius, and the action Of a com-
manding spirit, which vanquishes the world, as so
many conquerors have doue-Alexander, Cesar, you.
Sire, and Mohammed, with n sword"
To this appeal of Bertrand Napoleon replied in a
strain Of eloquence every syllable Of whi'h burned
with the power of truth in vindication of the position
he had taken. In the course of that reply, he said:
"I know men, and l tell you that Jesus Christ is
not a man. Superficial minds see a resemblance
between Christ and the founders of empires and the
gods of other religions. That resemblance does not
exist. There is between Christianity and whatever
other RELIGION the distance Of in6nity. No! | sum-
mon entire Olympus to my tribunal judge the
gods, but am very FAR from prostrating myself before
their vain images. The gods. the Legislators of India
and of China, of Rome and of Athens, have nothing
which can overawe me
ct is not so with Christ. Everything in him
aston;shes me. His spirit overawes me. AMI his will
c~onfounds me. His birth, and the history of his life;
the profundi'y of his doctrine. which %erapples the
mighfiest difficulties (showing that he had heen no
superficial student.) and which is Of those difficulties
the most admirable solution; his apparition, his
empire, his march across the ages and the realms
everything is, for me, a prodigy, a mystery insoln-
bic, which plunges me into n reverie from which L
cannot Escape mystery which Is there before my
eye "A mystery which | can neither deny nor ex-
plain Here | see nothing human. You speak Of
Cesar, of Alexander; of their conquests. and of the
enthusiasm which they enkindled in the hearts Of
their soldiers. But can you conceive Of a dead man
making conquests, with an army faithful. and entire
~ devoted to his memory, Ny armies have forgot
ten me, even while living, as the Carthagenian army
forgot Hannibal. Such is our power! A single bat
tie lost brushes us, and adversely scatfers our friends.
Can ron conceive Of Cesar. as the eternal En-
peror of the Roman Senate, and from the depths of
his mausoleum governing the empire? Such is the
history of the invasion and conquest Of the world by
Christianity Nations pass away, thrones %crumhle,
but the church remains. What is. then, the power
Iii L. 1890 A. -I--~l 49, -,~sl ~ L
furious pillows of rage and the hostility Of ages?
Whose is the arm which, for eighteen hundred years,
has protected the church from so many storms which
have threatened TO engulf it, Alexander, Caesar,
Charlemagne. and myself, founded empires. But
upon what did we rest the creations of our genius?
Upon force. Jesus Christ alone founded his empire
upon lore, and at this hour millions of men would
die for him."
My we not exciaim, in view of the above. how
trifiing and unworthy of consideration are the bias
phemous emanations Of lesser minds against the truth
Of religion, when it requires but an honest examina-
ton of the subjec: to wrest such confessions from a
mind as great as Napoleon's philadelphia Press.