The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1868-07-02


prising" in all that; and, as the Commission
ers claim for the object of their panegyric
little less than supernatural qualities, 1t Is
superfuous for them to be surprised at his
capacity for details. But that is only a par
tial statement of this matter of detail. Not
only did Napoleon mark out new States aud
supervise hamlets but, as the reviewer before
us says,
"At the very zenith of his power, with one
half of Europe under his rule aud the other ali
in arms against him. he concocled little police
plots planned scurrilous pamphlets for literary
hirelings, suggested carlcatures Wnich ne
thought might be telling against his enemies,
found time for ordering or ietes and monu-
ments. read reports of the chitchat of the salons
of Paris, and, with great pride in his superior
vigilance, himself denounced their intrgues TO
his mortified Minister Of Police. This activity
might have been admired had IL been success
ful; but, unfortunately, the pamphlet, the carl
cature, and the monument designed by the In
perial meddler were generally bad. In spite OF
his police ana counter police, ms empire was SO
insecure that-as was shown by the mOmentary
success of the Malet conspiracy-its very exist
.ence was at the mercy of handful OF resolute
men. Neither literature nor art, neither trade
nor agriculture, Jhrove under his unvarytng
and sitting solicitude. In France, all was done
by the Governments; and all, or almost all, was
i'll done"
All this certainly shows a capacity for de-
tail but there is nothing in it to command
respect, and surely nothing to warrant pane
gyric. 1t indicates littleness, not greatness, of
character. AT the same time, it indicates mere
littleness; it involves no moral dereliction,
properly so called. But as the investigation
proceeds, the colors deepen and the character
grows dark.
Napoleon was one of the few men who
spring, per sait,Hl, TO full and complete
development, without toiipg through the
intermediate stages Of learning, experience,
and progress. In all things, except, indeed,
the possession of unlimited power-for, up
to that time, he was not independent of the
! DirectOry-he was the same man at the be-
| ginning of his campaigns in Italy, as he was
| at the peace of Tllsit. From the moment of
his crossing the Alps he had nothing to learn
! in the art of war, and nothing to acquire in
the "science" of rapine, violence, and deceit.
AS the wars thrust upon Italy, Egypt, Spain,
| ETC., were in the gross, grstuitous, wanton,
upprovOked aggressons on innocent and
helpless people; so were the details of those
wars marked by reckless and unscrupu-
lous barbarity. The lives, property and
private rights of inolfensive citizens were
treated severally and collectively, as if they
belonged to Napoleon by right of inherit
ance. Nothing was spared, which an ill
gTasping general coveted, or q rapacious
soldiery could destroy. Private mansions, as
well as "humble hamlets' and villages, were
burned for psstime; prisoners were butchered
in cold blood; and, in short, all the demons of
war were impressed into the service of this
ferocious conqueror, tobe set loose at the close
of every victory.
The aninus of all this is foreshadowed in
NapoleOn's first proclamation to the army of
Italy,
Soldiers, you Gre naked and i'll fed. France
owes you much but cen give you nothing.
will lead you TO the most fertile plains of the
world Wealthy provinces and greet towns
VIII be IN your power; you Will reap honor,
glory, and riches etc. etc
AS fitting CONNIE ntary on this promise of
general pillage the great deyastator writes
after his first battle;-
The furious excuses Of my halt-sterved SOL
diers are enough TO make humanity blush.
And two days later he says:
There is less pillage. The first thirst OF an
army destitute of everything has been slaked.
The poor wretches Sre eScusaOle. After signing
for the promised land for three years, they
have at last reached it and wish to enjoy it.
Among his orders about private property,
is this
Tax the lord Of Arqusta go, 600 livres. In de-
fanlt of payment, raz5 his house TO tue ground
and lay his land waste He is furious oil isarch,
an enemy Of France and OF the army.
After time, the casualties of even success
full war having reduced the number of his
troops, he writes to the Directory that he has
already sent them twenty millions of francs
in money Wrung from the Italians and that
if they will send him thirty thousand more
men, he will be able to produce out of the yet
uncOnquered States, twice that sum in
money, besides innumerable treasures in the
way of works of art, jewelry, museum. cOlec-
tiOns, and whatever other trifes might be
scraped together by his skilful marauders.
In Egypt, this game of pillage could not be
played to much purpose on account of the
poverty of the peoples therefore, the deficiency
was made up with heads. After the first pun
ishment of the Tevolters at Cairo had been in
1cted with a barbarity that would be iucre-
dible, did not the correspondence attest it,
Napoleon ordered all the prisoners to be be-
headed. Soon after that he writes that "order
is now re-established in Cairo. Every night
we cut off thirty heads. / think this will be
Napoleon's own order for the massacre of the
two thousand Jaffa prisoners.
This system Of governing q conquered peO-
pie by means of good LESSONS" continued to
be one of NapoleOn's favorites during his
whole career. In 1906, after making his
brother Joseph present of the kingdom OF
Naples, he writes
The fate Of your reign depends on your con-
duct when you return to Calabria. There must
be no forg Yeness. Shoot at least six hundred
rebels. They have murdered more soldiers
/ than that Burn the houses of thirty of the
principal persons in the villages and distribute
all arms from the Inhabitants. and give up TO
pillaee five or six of the large villages When
PlacenzR rebelled, ordered Junot TO burn two
villages, and shoot the chiefs, among whom
were six priests. II will be some time before
they rebel again.
A week later he writes:-
1 wish the rabble at Naples would revolt,
Until you make an example you Will not be
master. should consider an instruction in
Naples in the same light as q father of family
! would regard the small pOX for his children,
provided it did not weaken the invalid too
/