Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-09-22
A GREAT CRIMINAL.
AN ENGLISH WRITER'S HARSH ESTl-
MATE OF soNAPARTE.

tho NapoIeonio Craze to the
Contagiou of Hero worship-"A Judi
cIai View, Calm and Dispnssionate,
based on Plain Evidence"
Tho Narolconic legend Is topic full of
vitality and absorbing interest. It holds
the mind with q force and tcnacity that
seem to deepen with illustration. Tho
moro men hear of Napoleon tho moro they
desire to know In his adopted country
for he was really no Frenchman-the cult
has been carried to absurd lengths. His
personality and his epoch, his transccndcnt
talents and what they achieved, his court
surroundings tho beginnings and end Of
his romantic and adventurous career from
the first roclSctlkc riso to his tragic down
fall, his apogec and his pcrigcc, have re-
ccivcd universal, even fulsoroc, attcn-
ton in Franco. Art and literature, So
cicty and the stage, all alike do him great
honor. Painters seek their inspiration in
the chief incidents in his history Writers
of every calibcr have doult with his life
and times, in diaries and memoirs, paste
and scissors records and thoughtful philo-
sophie essays toward full appreciation of
his character. Tho fashions of the directory,
tho consulate and tho empire have long
been in favor with tho fair sox. Furniture
and decorations Of the period arc largely
initiated.
Nor does tho crazo run riot I'm France
alone 1t reaches moro cxtravagant heights
beyond the Atlantic-Amcrica worshipS
tho Nopolconic idea. 1t Is the best draw"
possible in u FREQ country with "a FREQ poo
pic, who overlook tho fact that ho was the
most dcspotio ruler the world has over
known. In England, too, the country Of
his peculiar and persistent aversion, which
bo never dared attack, but would have
| ruined insidiously by his commercial sys-
| tenn, Napoleon enjoys unboundcd popu-
larity. Every book about him is read with
avdity. New works calculating new
| phases in his many sided character appear
continually and are welcomed widely.
Tho walls Of the academy year after year
bear witness to the hold no has on the
artistic Imagination.
1t Is easier to state these facts than to
explain them. They orc largely due, no
doubt, to tho contagion Of hero worship,
the ready admiration accorded by the
crowd Of smaller men to ono Of tho great
giants of tho human race; tribute rem
dered with ungrudging enthusiasm, yet q
little inconsideratcly, even blindly, for
getting that its object more often deserves
detestation than respect The effect of all
this culogy and pancgyric laid ON so
thickly and with such largo brush is to
obscure tho truth, to cover up the faults,
tho shortcomings, tho really malignant
nature of the man himself. He is present
ed to us us tho mighty conqucror, tho in
parable statesman, tho farsccing, large
minded administrator; we hear of his un'
errng gcncralship, his mastery manipu'
lation of his fellowmen from kings to con-
scripts; of his capacious brain, in which
details innumerable wero stored ready fol
immediate use; Of his kindly, winning
smile, his unfailing generosity to migrate
full relativcs-everything in short, to his
credit, nothing of his crimes.
For il he were q great genius, the great
est perhaps the world has seen, he wa!
also one Of the greatest criminals. 1t may
seem to pass the bounds Of historical crit
icism to call him u murderer a brigant
and thief, yet the Indictment Gun b.
maintained that he was all these. and OF
tho largest scale. Ho sent men wholesale
to their deaths; couple OF million French
men, as many more of other rnccs-allic
or cnemies-wero butchercd to create
maintain or defend his power. Ho re
morselessly slew tho Due d'Enghicn 4
clear his way to tho throne. Ho begal
his robberics in his first italian campaign
after the spoliation of srocio and cash b
stolo territories and crowns. He was
scourgc to Europe; his path was bloodshc'
and rapino as devastating as tho choier
or the black DEATH And oil this for per
sonal ACKNOWLEDGMENT, the qualification
OF his greed and lust Of power, Of his in
satiablc hunger for conquest, his craving
for military renown. He was no patriot
he had no country of his own. Since Cor
sica had discarded him, nc fought for hi
I own hand, not for France. And France
which he had raised for short space to
, pinnacle of great glory, he left torn an
bleeding, dcpopulated, impoverished.
This is the truer estimate Of ono VIII
was, under some aspects, devil incarnat
"a monster in human FORM as he ha
been described in tho pages of Taine, Lar
. frey, Seelcy and fcw more This is th
E judicial view, calm and dispassionat'
based ON the plain evidence Of acts an
conduct, rising superior to sentiment
Taine explains Napoleon as flfteent
e century survival, u throw back" to al
;. other race In an earlier epoch. He Is
y freak Of nature reproducing the grc'
o Italian tyrants, the all powerful condo
n teri, the soldiers OF fortune who, strikin
a out boldly at great stakes, raised then
s selves to thrones or persisted in the n
= tempt. Napoleon YVES ono by inheritance
C an Italian Of clear, straight descent,
!. child of the land that produced tho Sforza
y tho Viscontis, tho Borgias, "a posthumo'
brother Of Dante and Michael Angelo,
n ranking with them in mental qualitic
v His genius" says Taine, "is of tho san
stature, tho Same structure. He Is ono
= tho three sovereign minds of tho tia
ian renaissance, except that while Il
= first two work on paper or marble the la
y operates on tho living being, on the sens
tive, suffering flesh of humanity" 1t
II this which constitutes Napoleon an evi
y doer. Crime has been well defined as
o refusal to abide by rules that men, f
u their general protection, agree to ca
q binding, Napoleon accepted no such OBJ
J. CATION. He set all such rules ut dofianc
s his arrogant, all embracing egotsm VI
o above tho law. Tho eternal moi, tho liz
= itless selflshness, cold blooded and Gale
e lating, that gathered in everything to h
IS support, needed in his opinion no explain
% ton or ustification.-New lllustrat'
y Magazine.
= Degeneration.
;. "You don't know who l am" exclair
~ Il ~, ,rnt. .ofi Nv