The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-09-14

the Emperor Napoleon was the sole obstacle
to the re-establishment of peace, the Empe-
ror Napoleon, faithful to his oath, declares
that he is ready to descend from the throne
to quit France and life itself for the good of
the country; but without prejudice to the
rights of his son, to those of the Empress as
Regent and to the maintenance of the laws
of the Empire.
'Given at our Palace of Fontainebleau, the
4th day of April, 1914"
On the 9Th of April this was altered SO as
to read as follows:-
''The allied sovereigns having declared
that the Emperor Napoleon is the sole obsta-
Gle to the restoration of a general peace in
Europe, the Emperor Napoleon, faithful to
his OATH declares that he renounces for him
self and his heirs the throne of France and
Italy; and that there is no personal sacrifice,
not even that of life itself, which be is not
willing to make for the interests of France"
This abdication, of course, was not final
the last and conclusive act having been made
in favor of his son, June %, 1915. The lat
ter, Napole on II, born in 1911, died July 90,
1892, at tie Palace Of Schoenbrun. 1t was
after the first abdicatiop, and Immediately
following the escape from Elba, that the
Moniteur, then the organ of Louis XVIII,
thus recorded the progress of the returning
Emperor from day TO day
'The Anthropophagist has Escaped"
''The Corsican @gre has Landed"
'"The Tiger is Coming"
''The Monster has Slept at Grenoble."
''The Tyrant has Arrived at Lyons"
''The Usurper has been Seen in the Envi-
rons of Paris"
''Bonaparte Advances Toward, but Will
Never Enter, the Capital"
Napoleon Will be Under Our Ramparts
To-Morrow."
ellis Imperial Majesty Entered the Tuile-
ries on the 21st of March in the Midst of His
Faithful Subjects"
Some of Napoleons explanatory and excul-
patory kutterances while in exile have a spe-
cial value for Americans, and it is interest
ing at this time to read them. Take for ex-
ample the following to Las Cases in st.
Helena:-
''See in the United States how, without
any effort, everything prospers; how happy
and peaceful everything is there; it is in
reality the public will and interests which
govern there. Put the same Government at
war with the will, the interests of ALL
and you will Immediately see what
confusion and what increase of armies
would ensue. Arrived at power, they
would have had me q Washington; the
words cost nothing, and surely those who
said them with such facility did SO without
knowing either times, or places, or men, or
things. If had been in America, l would
willingly have been a Washington, and 1
should have had but little merit, for / do not
see how it would have been reasonably posi-
BILE to do otherwise. For me, l could be
nothing but a crOooned Washington. 1t was
not possible in a congress of kings, in the
midst Of kings conquered or mastered, for me
to be otherwise.
And again, to Montholon:-'If 1 had not
conquered at Austerlitz l should have had
all Prussia on me. If had not been victo-
rious at Jena, Austria and Spain would have
attacked me in the rear. If L had not tri-
umphed at Wagram-w which, by-the-by, was
not SO decisive a victory-I had to fear
that Russia would abandon me, that Prussia
would rise against me; and, in the mean
time, the English were already before Ant
werp.
'Isaw that the destinies of France depended
upon me alone. The circumstances in which
the country was placed were extraordinary
and entirely new. 1t would be vain to seek
parallel to them. The stability of the edi-
flee of which was the keystone but depended
upon each of my battles. Had I been con-
| quered at Marengo, France would have en-
countered all the disasters of 1914 and 1915,
without those prodigies of glory which sue
ceeded, and which will be immortal. At
Austerlitz, at Jena at Wagram and at Eylau,
it was the same. The vulgar failed not to
DIANE my alnDlllOu as tue cause OF LleSe
wars, but they were not of my choosing.
They were caused by the nature and force of
events. They arose out of that conflict OF
the past and the future, that permanent coali-
tion of our enemies, which compelled us to
subdue under pain of being subdued."
Tie prescience of the following in the ad.
vice to his son, dictated to Montholon, is re.
markable:-
''The whole mass of the people, and the
whole army, up to the grade of captain, were
on my side. 1 was not deceived in feeling
this confidence. They owe me much. was
their true representative. My Dictatorship
was indispensable. The proof of this is that
they always offered me more power than
desired. In the present day there is nothing
possible in France but what is necessary. II
| will not be the same with my son. His power
will be disputed. He must anticipate eoers
desire for H6e1ty."
Words cost nothing, as Napoleon truly said
and the world will soon, no doubt, be favored
with the explanations and aphorisms of his
defeated successor. That he will leave to his
son, in place of the crown he was powerlesf
to keep, a legacy of wise counsel is probable
but whether that son will ever have better
opportunities to apply it to government thar
had his cousin, Napoleon II, time only car
determine.