The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1895-05-25

dressed First Consul, the sansculott,
was no longer ~discoverable at his even
ing receptionsl
But the project was already on for ar
extension and augmentation Of power.
Glory must be added to honor. The
mountain devil' was busy in the
breast Of Bonaparte. In the allurina
summer of 1902 the dream had already
possessed him of a life tenure of the
Consulate. The victorious general and
popular chief executive would be consul
ad finem. The Senate concurred in the
proposal; and a consultum was pre-
pared. There was a dispute whether it
should be for ten years or for life; and
in this form the question was to be sub
mitted to the people. A plebiscite was
sent forth, and the French nation was
asked to pass Judgment on its favorite.
Napoleon, sera-t-il Consul a Vie?''
Such was the inscription prepared and
put up over all the voting places in
France. Napoleon, shall he be Consul
for Life?"
An extraordinary spectacle was wit
messed. On the 4th of August, 1902, the
election was held. The voters in France
numbered 3,577, 259; and of these
{, 1888, 1876 voted in the affirmative, leav-
ing only 200. OLA in the negative! 1t
was perhaps the most overwhelming
popular decree ever registered by a peo-
pie. True, the soldiers voted-voted for
their idol. True, the clientele Of the
Consulate voted-voted for the master.
True, the Revolution voted-voted for
its offspring. True, the New Order voted
voted for its hope. But nevertheless,
the people voted-voted for their Man!
Napoleon might we'll mutter, Whose
are the votes opposed to me? Those of
biologists, Jacobins and peculators I'M.
der the Directory" What he said was
true!
But not all, in the meantime, had
been we'll with the Republic-and with
him. Fortune in some things had gone
against the French. The coveted occupa.
ton OF Egypt had tottered and fallen.
General Menou, who succeeded to the
command Of the army in that country
after the assassination of Kleber, had
behaved with singular faulty. Failing
to perceive that eccentricity is not gen.
ius, he had turned Mohammedan, and
taken the name Of Abdallah Bey. He
sank into inaction at Alexandria,; and
when, in March Of 1901, Admiral Keith
and Sir Ralph Abercromby landed at
Aboukir and came against him, he was
defeated in battle, and the prospects of
the French in Egypt were ruined.
Napoleon heard of the Egyptian dis.
aster with anger and modification. His
chagrin was little relieved by the death
of Abercromby, who was fatally wound
ed in the battle Of Alexandria, or by the
foolish assurances of Menou that all was
going we'll. It became necessary for the
French colony to evacuate Egypt, and
this was done on the Both of August,
1901.
The year 1902 has been cited as the
most glorious in French history. 1t was
certainly the most fertile in promise.
Why should not the treaty of Amiens
become the happy date of a new era for
mankind? France was regenerated.
England had gold and maritime glory.
Italy had emancipation. Germany had
experience-if nothing better. Russia
had her pacific Alexander l., her Suwar-
off, and her new provinces of Georgia.
The fatal thing in the treaty of
Amiens was that it promtsed-promised,
and did not perform. There were things
to be done; and these were not done.
Profarno fural c1opioip,, co;.ol $50 A.
cabinets of all Europe. Note the circum-
stances: England in the preceding war
had emancipated the negroes Of Hayti.
Toussaint POuverture, leader Of the ma.
tives. had been made commander-in-
chief by the French, in 1897. %Independ-
ence was reached under the patronage
OF France; but when Bonaparte became
First Consul, an act was passed in the
French Council for the restoration of
slavery in the island; and an army under
General Leclerc, brother-in-law of Bona
parte, was sent to SANTANA to enforce the
decree. Toussaint was put down, treach-
erously seized and taken to France,
where he presently died in prison. The
civil conflict continued in Hayti; the
yellow fever broke out, and all English
fleet appeared off the coast. Notwith-
standing the peace of Amiens, here was
Wdr.
In the meantime, Sebastian, Napo-
agent in the East, came back to
Paris, and published in The Moniteur a
report in which there was a hint of the
purpose Of France to reoccupy Egypt!
Moreover, the First Consul proceeded to
divide Piedmont into Departments, after
the French manner-as though the
country were altogether French. To the
complaints Of Lord Whitworth, the
English ambassador, he simply answer
ed, "These things are only bagatelles."
England hereupon-the treaty Of
Amiens to the contrary Notwithstanding
refused to give back Malta to the
Knights Of st. John. This was fragrant. |
She had agreed to do SO; and Napoleon
insisted that she must. Moreover, the
Cape Of Good Hope, the ''caravansary
OF the Indies, was not surrendered. 1t
became apparent that England would
keep her compact; and this signified
the Imminent renewal Of war. Bona
parte himself foresaw the coming storm.
his eagerness to prepare for it-see-
Ing the exposures Of the French empire
In North America-he made haste to
sell to the United States for 60, 900, 900
francs the vast domain from the Missis- |
sippi to the Paoifo.-Pitt got Malta,
Napoleon an excuse, and Jefferson Lou
lslanai JOHN CLARK RIDPATH.