The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1914-11-29

the common mold; mediocre in school;
an Indifferent soldier; unkempt and
awkward in the salon, emitting not a
flush of that genius which he was so
soon and suddenly to radiate before
dazzled world. We saw him unstirred
by the great revolution, when it had
been raging about his head for a half
dozen years. and deaf to the loud
knockings of opportunity, which had
aroused so many of his comrades. We
saw him stunning military service,
RAINING away from France and trying
all the while to stay in his native
Island.
We saw him aimlessly lettering in
the streets of Paris where, like a
juror at coroner's inquest, he was
called out of the crowd and placed on
horseback. Surely 500 maybe 1000,
army officers had more experience and
reputation. He was nobody, not even a
Trenchman; but authority and law,
rank wealth and seniority had all been
swept away in the revolution. The
whole structure of society was turned
upside down, and the slate was wiped
cleen. Thereupon the mighty social
forces, clamoring for an agent. seized
on this chance passerby and flooded
him with their overwhelming energy.
'"The moment the boy put on gen.
erals hat he seemed to have grown two
feet" said Massena.
The shiftless, dawdling Corsican flew
above the Alps. He leaped the Mediter-
ranean. He dashed across the desert. IT
saw the world spinning beneath me-" he
said, "as II were being carried through
the air." His young head drew dizzy.
The ruler of Italy at 26; the despot of
Egypt at Is; the dictator of France at
30; the master of Europe at 80, his youth
was a grievous misfortune. The consti-
tuition of the United States bars men even
from the Senate until they are 80, and
from the presidency until they are 50.
Caesar was 40 when he really began his
career. This man had run his course be-
fore most rulers gain supreme power.
ct am called to. revonate the social
world" he said; ''and this confidence in
sures my success" He threw himself
against the gate of the Orient, and its
hinges. rusted by 500 years Of disuse
were shattered. He smote slothful Eu-
rope and its medieval systems crumbled
to dust.
He infused with the electric force OF
the revolution armies, lawyers, artists
builders, and at his command codes were
formulated, arches and bridges rose, roads
were made and canals were dug.
The Fatal Delusion
The politicians of Europe, naturally
enough, thought his power came from
IllIlSell. He WorlQ lIlNlttQ tIc " s5oNSA
It," he said "Sovereigns and subjects
We'd with one another in Fastening be-
meath my scepter.''
His ambition grew on what 1t fed. In
evitably he came to share the general be-
lief that he was the source and not mere
ly the medium of the might with "hici
he was invested. He attributed 1t TO tht
favor of fortune He was the cnild o.
destiny. A lucky star must nave shohe
at his birth. He assumed that ne mus
have been born to rule. Therefore ne
crowned himself He could ennopie mel
by his touch. and new aristocracs
sprang into being. His omnipotence mus
be in his blood. Therefore ne crowned
his brothers and sisters and divorced his
wife that he might surely transmit thu
divine spark.
ue found himself the superman, sci
above and apart from his kind and con.
demned to solitary imprisonment in Q
splendid but pitiable isolation. His
fanaticel egotheism. his self-worship re.
PEELED his wives. his brothers. his sisters
his associates. whom he loaded will
coronets and domain without making q
friend among them all. Awe, dread ant
envy cut him off from the affections OIL
men and women and left him filled with
the bitterness Of Byron's cynical lines:
He who surpsases or subdues mankind
Must look down on the hate of those
below.
He despised men and challenged thu
impossible. IT may find the pillars O
Hercules in SPAIN he boasted. "but
shall not find the limits of my power.
But he had struck down the revolu
ton, silenced the people and chained tn,
forces that had filled him with the
strength Of a Colossus He was still
borne on, It II true, but only by thu
original momentum, and where once h,
had won campaigns with $1,000 and 5000
republicans, he now led 100000 imperialist
to disaster. At last no military geniu
was required to overthrow him, eithe
at Leipsic or at the gates of Paris Well
ington only stood still at Waterloo ant
Let him spend himself.
Nsvsrthelsss. France brought him baci