Iron County register., 1893-07-13
NAPOLEON THE FIRST.
Count Chaptars Reminiscepc.. ~,
Great French Soldier

ieoh' ne means to be lust but he is in
complete The Italian nature of Napo
icon was compounded of precision and
OF imagination; the latter element wa.
not understood by Chaptal. Wha,
seemed monstrous to him was the eff
1ect OF that imagination which played
with facts, fortunes, empires. armies
as with the creatures of fancy. A cal
cuiatlng spirit combines very well in
the Italian character with an extra.
ordinary contempt for realities and
with unreasonable ambition. Even in
our present time we can see proof of il
II Chaptal Were still alive he would
suppose that the house of SAVOY. bav.
ing made United Italy. having nc
more to fear from the forestieri, hayinu
made Rome its capital, might rest and
be thankful. No. it can not be con.
tented: 1t has entered into the Triplp
Alliance. and, tormented by its am
bltlon, keeps its old war cry: s.Avanti
Savoia'
There was much of that spirit in Ma.
poleon; he had succeeded in organizing
France, but he felt that his only hold
on Europe was by force He said To
Chaptal several times:
Five or six families occupy the
thrones OF Europe and see with pain
that d Corsican is come to sit among
them- can maintain myself only by
force; L can accustOm them to look up-
on me as their equal only by keeping
them down-my empire is gone as soon
as l cease to be dreaded. l can allow
no one to threaten me without striking
him. What would be Indifferent to a
king or an older race is serious to me.
Will maintain myself in this attitude
as long as live, and if my son is not a
great captain, if he does not
repeat me, he will fall from
the throne, as more than one
man Is necessary to consolidate a mon
archy. Loui, NV, after so many vic
tories, would have lost his scepter at
the end of his life if he had not received
1t from long line of kings.
At home, my position is not COM
para ble to that of the old sovereigns
They can live at leisure in their cas-
ties; nobody contests their legitimate
rights, nobody thinks of taking their
place, nobody accuses them of ingrati-
tude, because nobody helped to place
them on their throne. With me it is
quite different; there is no general who
does not think that he has the same
rights to the throne as myself: there is
no influential man who does not think
that he paved the way for me on the
18th Brumaire. l am Obliged to be
very severe with these men.
They do not love me. but they fear me,
and that is enough"
These words throw flood of light on
many of Napoleon's actions. Nothing
has Str
Mrs of Chaptal as the account he gives
of the relations of Napoleon with his
marshalS.
Napoleon" says Chaptal. ..was al
ways on his guard against the ambition
of his generals = = With the ex-
ception of two or three who had known
him in his youth. and who had main
tanned certain freedom with
him, they approached him with
trembling, and they could not say
that they ever had moment of
familiarity with him. He loaded them
with money: he gave them estates in
the conquered countries. because he
~lsLeh to create opulent houses in his
court. / never caught the
emperor eulogizing any general. and
often heard him critiaise them sharply
sometimes for their want of talent,
sometimes for their bad conduct. He
often said in speaking of his marshals:
These people think themselves neces-
sary: they don't know that l have n
hundred division generals who can
very well replace them He
never tolerated the smallest infrac-
ton of discipline in his generals. Gen.
Gouvion st. Cyr once presented him
self at his levee at the Tuileries. The
emperor asked him calmly: General,
YOU come from Naples? Yes. sire: l
have turned over the command to Gen.
Perignon, whom you sent to replace
me- You have undoubtedly received
the perm ission of the minister of ware
No. sire: but l had nothing more to
do at Naples If in two hours you are
not on your way to Naples. before
twelve o'clock YOU will be shot on the
plain of Grenelle.
Berthier and Duroc. the only generals
who lived on terms of intimacy with
him and never left him. were complete
ly submissive, and never thought of
discussing with him. Chaptal is inter-
esting on the subject of the relations of
Napoleon with the pope. He says that
this question was the sore point with
the emperor. He could not frighten
the pope: he made him n prisoner; his
elouuence, his threats, his diplomacy
were defeated by the tenacity of a man
who was an Italian, like himself,
and who well understood the
strength of his spiritual force.
His quarrel with the pope occupied
Napoleon for several years. Napoleon
was not devout, but he spoke of reli-
gion with respect; he believed that a
people can not do without a religion.
He often said that the emperor of Rus
sia had this great advantage over him.
that he could command the consciences
of his subjects. H." said he, ''can not
arrive at this height of power: at any
rate, l must not eliminate the con-
science of my subjects. ! must give
them their full rights in the matter of
religion" In speaking thus, he scan
dalized many of his high functionaries.
who. like Chaptal, were unbelievers of
the old school of the eighteenth cen.
tury.-Chicago Inter-Ocean.
Mother of Pearl Shells.
What are known to the trade as
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