The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1874-02-13
Napoleon tHac FIRST.
From Temple Ear,N q

81 From Temple Ear. u &S&
History has not represented the FRS
Napoleon as he was in reality. P0ets
private secretaries, courtiers, enthusi
asts, enemies and clamorers have draw
the portrait. We propose to exalnin
his character from the point of view 0
Psychologist and positivist. Napoleon
was neither dark nor fair. He had darl
chestnut halr, eyes gray, complexion o
q pale brown, without any red in it, ant
q smooth skin. The brain was large
the skull belonged to the largest devel
opment ever known his circulation wa!
slow, the pulse counting forty beats a mi,
mute he perspired little, and was in sen.
slble alike to heat and cold, hunger anC
thirst his chest was prominent, and his
limbs were prOpOrtiOned his height was
five feet two inches. Of a lymphatit
temperament, he could support alike ex-
cess of physical and intellectual exer-
ton. 1t was a constitution OF granite.
Warm baths, coffee and strong wines
restored his circulation.
his intellect was vast and nlany-sided,
applying itself to details and gcneraliza-
lions; made up of Il prOdigioUs memory
that rapidly took accounted place, mum
Der and CAUSE and the bearings of things;
a genius, in tine, eminently practical and
posltlvlst. Discrimination, an extraor-
binary power OF generalization, and a
sluggish temperament, make up this
wonderful man these qualities are the
sources of his greatness.
He was a fatalist. Events are brought
about by a power superior to human
will, he said. There is neither good nor
bad in the world. The morality of an
action is to be judged by its expediency.
Religions are human institutions, serv-
ing as o sort OF vaccine to protect us
against lower superstitions, to be de-
tended, not i'll the interests of society,
but in the interests of the priests. Such
was his creed, and he naturally hated
those who possessed a higher one.
Consul, Emperor, prisoner and exile,
ne hated philosophy and philosophers
from the firsttO last, n daccused them of
the mlsfOrtunes he had himself brought
upon France-the failure of the Russian
expedition, the sore discomfort of the
nation, and so IN. "They believe neither
n myself nor in my priests" he said,
Constant, L. Chenier, Guigncnc, and
Others, who showed hostility to the Con-
cOrdat, and are good for nothing but to
be thrown into a pond. Je les al CONNIE
CerIn&ne Il mes habits"
1t was natural that being, as he enin-
entity was, a mystitier of the people, daz-
cling them with charlatanry and words,
he should fear and hate the spirit of in
curry and independence. Thus, Tacitus
was a mere writer of romance, Gibbon
p brawler, because these two writer's ex-
posed the crimes of the Roman EmDer-
1rs. HOltaire, Rousseau, Necker, De
otael, J.B. Say, Gall, Montlosier, Ray
louard, Lemercler, were equally hateful
20 MIN, as were all writers, ancient and
modern, who dared to think for them
selves. For the exaltation of Cesarism,
ne wanted the Roman history to be writ
'en over again, and maintained a host
u HtteIateurs for that purpose-Barbre.
Ime. de Genlis, Fierce, Monteaillard,
4~acepedes, etc. Authors who yentured
lpOn criticism were either exiled or
into prison. Foreign books and
ournals We're prohibited-and quite log
.ally. Free thought treads down the !
trlcture OF falsehO0d and mystification ,
allied Bo%napartism,
lie loved noise, movement, martial |
re, drums, trumpets, and the d~estruc- ]
ION OF life upon a large scale. Though
lrcumspect in no small degree, he re- {
called this by n of his dispatches: !
!Sur espGce dune Heue caree, 5000 q :
O,0O0 cddGures, ct 1000 a 5000 cheUaur I
yes; tout celia Gudit plus de relief u I'm c
de meige." The East was the land c
t his dreams. There life is nothing
here, to use his own language, son peut
'GvGltter az grand" 7
70 sum up the characteristics of Ma .
oleon, he possessed one of the yastest !
l~tellects ever known, owing such su- n
eriOrity to his utter insensibility to i'm t
ressiOns, his sluggish temperament, his v
'Onderful faculty of combination and q
easoning; war was to him a pastime: a
Olitics a personal affair only; he pos s
'ssed neither religious, moral nor polit- e
al beliefs; he held the human race in Q
rofound contempt, and was the great f
It egOtist ever known; a man Of pro O.
lgioqs aptitude for knaeery and mysti- I,
and for administrative power: al
/ intellectual giant, who caused the re- n
OPPRESSION Of France and of all Europe, +
who possessed one of tile worst q
carts that the history of the human E;
GO has disclosed. h
All lovers Of Progress ought to make p
pilgrimage to Waterloo once in their e:
yes; not to exult over the destruction Ia
a French army, but to contemplate it
@ spot where this great enemy of the c,
race fell a victim to his own ex- tt
sses, cC