The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-05-19

49, ~ seq urSt consul. the Sanscufofte
recept III Ioiisef dlscoverable at his evening
BUT the project was already on for an
-41ssnslOh ana augmentation of power
tam devil was busy in the breast ~ H3cr-
Sparte. IN the alluring summer OF 1872 the
Ti NE had already possessed him of a
liie tenure OF the Consulate The N-icfo-
rlous general and popular chief eVacuTi,-.s
Mould be consul ad fnem. The senate
COlcurred in the proposal; and a consul
S W. vas prepared. There was a dispute
Mnether II should be for ten years or for
III ne; ana IN this form the question was TO
Oe submitted to the people. A plebisCite
~ sent forth, and the French nation was
ssSr. 70 pass judgment on its favorite.
Napoleon, sera-t-l Consul a Vie2' Sucn
was me inscription prepared and put up
UetSI an me voting places in France Ma
poieoh, snail he be Consul for Life2"
An extraordinary spectacle was Wit
messed. On the 4th of August 1902 the cleo
uon was held. The voters in France num-
DeTeu 5,2U,zJ9; and of these 1855. IS5 voted
IN ne afhrmatiVe leaving only N9,074 in the
negative! 1t was perhaps the most over
Mheimlng popular decree ever registered
by people. True, the soldiers voted-vot-
ed 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-vot-
cd Tor Its hope. But nevertheless, the peO-
pie voted-voted for their man. Napoleon
might well mutter, Whose are the votes
opposed to me? Those of biologists, ia
tory!' What he said was true.
But not ALL in the meantime, had been
well with the republic-and with him. For
tune IN some things had gone against the
French. The coveted occupation of EgypI
had tottered and fallen. Gen. Menou, who
succeeded to the command of the army
in that country after the assassination of
kleber, had behaved with singular IA
tuity. Failing to perceive that eccentric
lily is not genius, he had turned Moham-
medan, and taken the name of Abdallah
Rev r. sank into iDacfiOn a Alexandria .
and when in March of 1901 Admiral Keith
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 disaS-
ter with anger and modification. His cha
grin was little relieved by the death Of
Abercromby, who was fatally wounded in
the battle of Alexandria. or by the foolish
assurances of Menou that all was going
we'll 1t became necessary for the French
colony to evacuate Egypt and this was
done on Aug 30. 1901. The first consul
made no strenuous effort to retain his
conquest n Africa for the preliminaries
of peace with England were now about to
be signed: the dream OF French supremacy
in the land of the Pharaohs was forever
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 be-
come the happy date Of the new era FOR
mankind? France was regenerated. Eng
land had gold and maritime glory. Italy
had emancipation. Germany had expe-
rience-if nothing better. Russia had her
pacific Alexander /, her Suwarof and her
new provinces of Georgia. America had
a democrat for President. and a possible
Louisiana But all this was as hollow as
an echo Of the nightwind. Strange that
the vast volume of historical forces should
be turned in this direction and in that
by the interposition of straws and peb-
bles!
The fatal thing in the treaty of Amiens
was that it promised-promsed. and did
not perform There was things to be
done: and these were not done Preternat-
ural suspicion seized on the cabinets of
all Europe. Note the circumstances: Eng
land in the preceding war had emancipa-
ted the negroes of Hayt. Toussaint
rOuverture, leader of the natives, had
been made commander-in-chief by the
French in 1897. Independence 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 Islands; and
an army under Gen. Leclerc, brOther-in-
law of Bonaparte, was sent 10 SANTANA to
enforce the decree. Toussaint was put
down, treacherously seized and taken to
France, where he presently died in prison.
The civil conflict continued in Hayt; the
yellow fever broke out and an English
feet appeared off the coast Notwith-
standing the peace Of Amiens, here was
war.
agent in the east, came back to Paris.
and published in the Moniteur a report
in which there was hint Of the purpose
of France to reoccupy Egypt! Moreover,
the first consul proceeded to divide Pied
mont into departments, after the French
manner as though the country were al
together French. To the complaints of
Lord Whitworth. the English ambassador.
he simply answered: These things are
only bagatelles." England hereupQn-the
treaty of Amiens to the contrary notwith-
standing-refused to give back Malta to
the knights of st. John. This was fla
grant She had agreed to do SO; and Ma
poleon Insisted that she must Moreover,
the Cape of Good Hope, the 'caravansary
of the Indies" was not surrendered. 1t be-
came apparent that Great Britain would
not keep her compact; and this signified
the imminent renewal of war. Bondparte
himself foresaw the coming storm. In his
eagerness to prepare for it-seeing the ex-
posures of the French empire in North
America-he made haste to sell to the Uni
ted States for 60,OO0,0O0 francs the vast do
main stretching from the Mississippi to
the Paciflc.-Pitt got Malta, Napoleon an
excuse, and Jefferson louisiana
John Clark Ridpath.