The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-17
THE TWO NAPOLEONS.

festivities, and by an act OF amnesty on the
part of the Emperor towards all press and
political offenders, prisoners convicted oil
evasion of taxes, deserters from the army and
navy. and sailors who had abandoned their
ships.
The first Napoleon was the wonderful but
legitimate product of the French revolution.
OF all the men who figured during that
terrible period, he was the only one who APP
peared to have a right understanding of the
situation, or the ability to grapple with the
shifting events and ideas of the day and
mould them to his purpose. The elevation
to the Imperial throne of this plebeian, who
did not possess the merit even of being
Frenchman, excited the awe and wonder
ment of the other powers of Europe no
less than their hatred and rage. He COM
pletely upset the old notion of the divine
right of kings, and while welding his sceptre
with despotic rigor, he made boast that his
right to the throne was obtained from the
people themselves. While treading them
under foot with an iron heel, leading them in
army after army to battle and slaughter, until
finally he and his system were crushed
together by the united forces of all Europe,
he nevertheless obtained a hold upon the
affections of the people such as no monarch
has obtained before or since; and his sudden
downfall was as remarkable as his elevation,
His darling dream of bequeathing the throne
of France to his son came to nothing but that
there was a vital principle in Napoleonism
was shown by the revival of the empire under
his nephew, the grandson of the discarded
Josephine. There was a poetical justice IN
this occurrence which has not failed to elicit
commentator from those who are no admi-
rers of Napoleonism
The first Napoleon was a man necessary for
his period: he reduced order out of chaos,
and with the intellect of great statesman
he not only rescued France from the ruins of
the revolution, but by the encouragement he
gave to science, art manufactures, COM
merce, and all the devices that could promote
the welfare and prosperity of the nation,
he gave her fresh start and
a position as the first nation in Eu-
rope that she has continued to maintain
until the present day. Napoleon was a
strange compound of liberality and selfish
ness: he used his enormous power to promote
the welfare of the people, and to make France
great; but his leading thought, after all, was
his own ACKNOWLEDGMENT and the perpetuation
of his dynasty.
The second empire is but reflex of the
first. 1t is founded different principles
andunder different circumstances. The present
Emperor obtained the throne by trick,
intrigue, and violence, and he lacks that per-
hot tn
his uncle. The policy which was well adapted
to the condition of France at the end of the
last century will not suit the present time, and
after nearly twenty years of endeavor to make
| the French people esteem the revived Napo-
leOnic system a blessing, it has resulted in a
practical failure The present Emperor,
it is true, has done much for France;
but the conviction is deepening in mems
minds that there can be but one Napoleon,
and the son of Hortense is beginning to be
| the butt of the wits and satirsts, whose hits
at his weaknesses are hugely enjoyed by the
people-a fact that proves conclusively how
feeble his hold is upon their regards. When
a man becomes ridiculous he is no longer
either feared or admired. The first
empire was a government of force, but
then the times required a strong arm
and firm will. The second empire is also a
government of force; but the times have
changed, and the men of the present day ask
why they should submit to be ruled like
children; why the foremost nation of the world
in science, art, manufactures, and all the evi-
dences of the highest civilization, should be
practically under the same system of govern
ment as the savage nomads of the AsatiC
deserts? The Emperor has been slow
to read the signs of the times, and such
concessions as he has made have been forced
from him by an unmistakable popular de.
mand that he could not resist These con,
cessions seem to us like mere childs play,
and so they must seem to intelligent French
men. The celebration of the great Napo
Icons one hundredth birthday by an amnesty
to political offenders has the appearance of a
bid for popularity among the ignorant peas.
antry who still worship the name of Napoleon,
but it will probably ymake but little impression
on the men for whose benefit it appears to be
particularly designed Such men as Victor
Hugo and Rochefort are not to be propitated
thus, for they do not acknowledge having
committed offense, and it is their enmity thai
the Emperor has most to fear. The indica
tions are clearly that another great upheava
in France is imminent. Napoleonism, what
ever its other merits may be- has not appa
rently that of stability, and the world now
awaits anxiously to see what the next change
will be.