The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1914-09-13
AEsEas.t esssHPlsE As sSesssss " IS

Of the races, and there IL sim some time
remaining even within the limit Of the
| century which the prophet of St Helena
set for the fulfilment Of his prophecy,
when he assured his listener. Il see into
| futurity farther than most men"
Blinded by Power.
All of Napoleon's feIlow-sovereigns
shared in some degree his distrust OF
Russia, when in the spring of 1913, the
avenging Gar entered Germany in pur-
suit Of the wreck of the retreating grand
army. Napoleon or I, I or Napoleon"
Alexander had exclaimed; I'VE cannot
reign side by side" The earth was not
large enough to be divided with the Cor
sican.
But the subjugated monarchs Of the
west drew back from the offer Of the
Car TO be their defender. They pre-
ferred even the chains OF the French and
the ills they had rather than fly to others
unknown which the Slavs might bring
upon them. The Emperor Of Austria
and the King Of Prussia equally dreaded
the thirst Of the Russian bear for the
waters of the HeIlespont and the vistuls.
But while the crowned heads Of Eu-
rope hesitated between choice OF evils,
their subjects hailed Alexander as a
savior and welcomed as friends and
brothers the wild horsemen from the VAL
ley of the Don as they Hoped across the
German plains clear to the gates of Ham
burg. Prussian soldiers mutinied against
King Frederick William III and rallied
to the standard of the Gar. The Ger
man people sprang to arms and, throwing
of the CALLING yoke Of the French, drew
around the hated conqueror Of Jena a
guerdon of fire and iron.
Napoleon might still be the ally OF kings
but he was no longer the son of the revo-
luton and the hope and champion of
inspiring title of Liberator, which he
wore in his magic youth, caught up by a
Russian Gar and Haunted on the banners
of the Cossacks, who snatched from him
the watchwords Of patriotism and liberty,
which in other days had fired his legion
with an irresistible passion. For patriots
were no longer behind him but were in
front Of him and challenged him which
ever way he turned, whether IN Spain,
in Russia or in Germany.
4 Byron and Tom Moore sing the unhappy
lot of the eagle which saw his own feath-
ers plucked to wing the ! darts that
brought him to his doom. Such was the
fate of Napoleon.
His wonderful fortunes had blinded
him; but who is there that could have
kept a cool head and a clear vision under
such intoxicating favors? At the diz-
Tying altitude of his sudden elevation he
lost sight Of the true source OF his pow
er and success in the breasts Of the peo-
pie and forgot the sentiments that sway
mankind. cynicaIly holding the human
heart to be ''only one Of the entrails,
and that cit is the pit Of the stomach
which moves the world" But he had ar
rayed both those organs in dual al
lance against him by his subjugation Of
the nations, his heavy toll of blood, his
war taxes and his vexatious restrictions
on trade which were raising the cost Of
living to ever higher levels.
The Rising of the People.
In vain he appealed to his new allies,
the kings and princes, to help him beat
back the tide of popular feeling. Fatu-
ously imagining that the bond of blood
was as sacred and strong among the
Hapsburgs as the Corsicans, he looked
upon Marie Louise and her baby as host
ages of peace between Austria and
France, and humored his imperial faith
er-in-law by planning a special corona
| ton for the Empress and the King of
Rome.
But while he was relying on a young
woman and a teething child, poor lit
tie German girl, without a crown and
without a title, Influenced the destinies OF
| nations far more than the daughter and
| the grandson of the Hapsburgs. For
| rings for $50 and gave the money for
the triumph Of her fatherland, the loyal
women of Germany caught the infection
of her spirit of sacrifice and heaped upon
the altar of patriotism not only their
rings but all their gold and silver as we'll
AS many as 10000 German fraus, We are
told, pulled the wedding rings on their
fingers and dumped them in the mint
gladly taking and proudly wearing in ex-
change iron rings inscribed, Gold gave
for iron"
Although Goethe might smile and say
to the Germans, Shake your chains II
YOU will: Napoleon is too strong for you;
YOU will not break them" simpler minds
were drawer and truer. The spirit of
Queen Louise walked abroad; songs Of
freedom burst upon the land and the
church. the school and the home were
leagued for German independence.
The Emperor Francis, at Vienna and
King Frederick William III, at Berlin
were helpless to resist the tidal wave that
was sweeping over their lands. Even
while il rose from their ankles to their
knees. they went on haggling and bar
tering with the French diplomats to
make the best terms they could with Ma
poIeon. They feared the Gar and the
clamoring populace and were slow to
yield to either.
Napoleon's own ambassadors tried to
warn him of the strength and swiftness
Of the current, with which his monarch
ial allies were contending. But he was
as deaf to the ,counsels of prudence in
1913 as he had been in 1872. Metternich
notified him that his own life had been