Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-08-31
NapoIeon,s NIarshaIs-


If a man were asked what epoch of the
past he would most gladly summon back
so as to live in it, he would choose well in
reYiving the reign ofNapOleOn and making
himself an officer in the imperial army.
To us who read of those ten sparkling
years-loO4-l4-whent the great Emperor
carried the spoils Of Europe to Paris, and
distributed crowns and coronets. batOns.
estates. and even highbOrn brides among
his victorious sOldiers-it seems as if the
excitement of being French officer must
have been so intense as to keep the nerves
in constant thrill. A single act Of bravery
in the field might bring man
under the cOnqueror's notice and
to win hOnOrs from his hand
was very different thing to getting them
from the republic, which he had improv-
ed away. The grOtesque governments of
the revolutionary period never made
General without bringing him to book at
terward to test whether he came I'D to
the full standard of republican foolish
ness, and if he did not he was sure to feel
that his head sat loosely on his shoulders.
Even under the Directorate Generals who
returned in triumph from war. had their
pleasure marred by being solicited to Join
in political intrigues, and il made matters
worse that such intrigues were often ne
cessary to secure to them not only their
hOnOrs but their pay. AT time when
1t required $1,000 francs of republic
can paper money to make a louis
fOr, all grades and dignities
which the republic conferred might
be compared to dSSigndtS-they bore no
sort of specific relation to those bestowed
under the old monarchy. Napoleon.
however, suddenly raised all these de-
preciated hOnOrs to a premium, and it
was the most signal glory of his reign to
have done so. He was greater as a
paclflcator than as a cOnquerOr. TO have
reOpened the churches, to have replaced
justice on her seat, to have put an end to
the reign of takers and writers-the men
who are at least fitted for business, but
who under republics get monopoly of it
to the general detriment-was a mighty
achievement. 1t set all things in order,
and made France once more habItable
and pleasant to dwell in But again.
when Napoleon created new aristocracy
he performed a brilliant stroke of policy,
Those who have ridiculed him for it,
as if he had INDUCED in a mere piece of
vanity, hayee not considered what were
the difficulties of his position. Until he
had converted his foremost soldiers into
Princes, Dukes and Counts, they could all
feel that he had not done so much for them
as Bourbon King would have done, and
some OF them did feel it. Many were
sprung from the poorest class, and the
prestige Of the village seigneur, to whom
they had bowed as boys, doomed very
large in their memories. The character
OF nation is not to be altered within a
few years because a number of ranters
have acclaimed about equality even to the
length Of proposing that all steeples and
towers should be RACED, so that buildings
might be of one symbOlical height, and the
persecution Of the nobility during the revo-
luton had really added to the value
of titles. Whether Napoleon wished to
lessen the worth of the old distinctions. or
merely to crafty his followers by placing
them on a level with their former mas
tiers, the mobiles, his creation of a new aris-
tOcracy was wise act, and it was imme-
diately ratified by popular approval.
Somebody TESTED with Ney about the new
nobility having no ancestors. eve are
ancestors" answered the Marshal, and
this view was so generally accepted that
even when the BourbOns were restored
the Imperial titles obtained full recogni-
ton. In 1915 Louis XVIII. actually
created the young Prince of Neufchatel
and Wagram-Berthier's son, who was
but five years old-a hereditary peer OF
France.