The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1870-11-05
The Late Emperor.

In looking over foreign files, we discover a dis
position to vilify Napoleon and his antecedents in
such a way as would have been regarded alto
gether OutrG a few months ago. For the larger
part of human nature, this is exceedingly natural.
When a man is down, or on the inclined plane
descending, a friendly kick to help him down at
an accelerated pace is common. We are by no
means the apologist of Napoleon,-if, in our far
off isles, We could possibly have the vanity to
think it could do him any good. But what we
mean to say is, that it is not always a trait of a
magnanimous mind to triumph over fallen great
ness, even if it should be coupled with many
we have no doubt that many that
are now his bold detractors would have been
foremost among admirers of his profound genius
and brilliant valOr, had he been successful in his
unfortunate war with Prussia. We do not be-
lieve in blindly idolzing everything and every
body that succeeds, nor in abusing everything
and everybody that fails,-or, in other words,
that because a person happens to-day to be at
the highest spoke of Fortunes wheel, to fall
down and worship him and tomorrow, because
in the wheels revolution he brings up at the bot
tom of it, to turn suddenly round and deride
him. Success, like charity in this world, covers
a multitude of faults, and failure all of a sudden
discloses any quantity of defects, that no one
possibly could have seen before.
Napoleon, to our mind, has simply been an in
strument in the omnipotent hand of Providence
to work out his mission. We cannot doubt but
that much, if not all of the misery, now being
inflicted on France. might have been averted had
he exercised his influence to that end. Here, he
has been guilty of not only a grave error, but of
a very great deed of wickedness. 1t may be that
according to the idea of the poet, from seeming
evil, good is to be educed. 1t seems hard that
the good could not have been accomplished with
out such awful sacrifice however, we have to
accept the situation as it is. That Napoleon has
done much for France is not to be disputed,
and his %triumphs of peace would have far out
shone any Prussian victories he might have
gained.
Emperor as he was, he was like the rest of US,
of the earth, earthly. He delighted in pompous
display he, to himself, was the great centre to
which the rays of admiration were to converge
and add new and intense lustre to the Napoleonic
dynasty. Only a short time ago he was the en-
tertainer of sovereigns. Now, in almost the
twinkling of an eye, stripped of that false
RTdDueuT. DuG, SUCH Is HE bright pO-udy,
dark tomorrow. He enjoys no exemption from
the universal lot. AS his illustrious uncle said,
it is only a step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
We subjoin a few "saws' - and sayings"
that lately fell in our way "Poor Napoleon!"
exclaims everybody. Yet he is said to have sent
to England vast sums of money. The Boston
Transcript suggests +" Mexico as the future resi-
dence of Napoleon" Heading to a Geographic
dispatch 1.-The movements of Mr.. Napoleon
and family" A western paper annihiIates Napo-
leon by calling him " the drugged somnambulist
of n crumbling dream" But this is the best :
% The deserted rooms of the Emperor were found
strewn with bottles of tonic, of which he is said
to have stood greatly in need. He abandoned his
iron tonic for steel and lead applications that
were entirely Teu-tonic."