davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22
Making the Code

The two achievements of his consulate that gave Napoleon the most pride was his restoration of the fallen altars," as he said and the adoption of the code Ma poleon, through which, as he boasted, "I have hallowed the revolution by infusing it into our laws. My code is the sheet anchor which will save France. and en- title me to the benedictions of posterity."
 Voltaire complained that a traveller in France before the revolution had to change laws about as often as he changed horses, so many systems were there in the country. The revolution replaced that confusion with chaos It destroyed the old laws without defining new ones.
 Napoleon early set committee of his council of state at work on this prob lem, and himself gave more time and thought to the subject than to any other that engaged his energies while he was consul. To be sure, he left to the able statesmen and jurists whom he had called to his council the task of drafting and codifying the laws. but 1t was he who remorselessly held them to the task until they had fashioned more than 2000 articles into code, a body of laws framed to meet every conceivable occasion in the intercourse of a civilized community, every question that could arise between. in bus mess. in the home. in the street. He presided in person at most of the 112 sessions devoted to this immense labor, and prolonged sittings for five and six hours at a stretch, until members fell asleep in their chairs or were so wrung out they had to be aided to their car riages.
 He frankly owned up to the councillors that his own opinions were of little con- sequence, and modestly added, II have sometimes said things here which quar- ter of an hour later I have found were all wrong But he was forever bringing the council back to the questions, 'Is it just? Is it useful?''
 As Abraham Lincoln was introduced to
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22
A Career for Every Talent

Under Napoleon the government ceased to be a government by faction, and France no longer was a prey to the bitter strife between the ins and the outs. He coined for the new era that alluring watchword, "a career open to every talent and rightly calculated that nobody is interested in overthrow ing government in which all the de- serving are employed"
 When the task of organizins, the na- tio nsuddenly fell to him he knew al- most no one in the country except sol d1ers. He had to spy out statesmen cs he had spied out the lay of the land in his military campaigns in strange coun- tries. He prospected for human gifts as another might prospect for gold mines
 Inviting the written opinions of polit- lcal leaders he shrewdly sifted out the men of ability and integrity. When asked to be shown a mans book for the purpose of estimating his worth he was told that it would be a useless test, since the volume was only trans lation. But he persisted, never mind :: I'll read the preface"
 His eye and his intuition seldom de- ceived him, and men soon lost their courage to try to foist a knave upon him. All stood in terror of his glance which shot through them like an X.ray.
 
 adopted colored glasses to screen his soul from that searching gaze.
 'l do not know you" he said to q member of his cabinet, but I was told you are the honestest man in the mag istracy and that is why I selected you for minister of justice" Gaudin, whom he chose minister of finance, served throughout the Napoleonic era; Talley- rand remained minister of foreign af- 1alrs as long as fair weather lasted. Maret secretary of state, and Berthier, minister of war. served for years.
 once he had chosen he held to men While shred of them remained, and bore with mediocrity and even be- trayal beyond the point where patience In ruler ceases to be virtue He framed for himself the motto "There IS no fool that is not good for some thlng; there is no intelligence equal to eVerything.' Men rated as incompetent' [ surprised their friends with the latent abilities which he drew out of them T have lucky hand" he chuckled Those on whom I lay it become fit for anything"
 It was his belief and boast above all that he was the peasants consul "If Louis XIV" he said had not been born King, he would have been d great man-but he did not know man. Kind he could not know them for he never knew misfortune" This man knew what the people needed, for had he not just sprung from among them? Had he not only yesterday gnawed the crust of poverty and hungered in the very streets of Paris?
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

the study of the principles of government by an old book containing the statutes of Indiana, on which he happened in his boolSless boyhood, the Digest which Napoleon. when lieutenant, found on the shelf of the bare room at Auxonne in whicl he was imprisoned for 24 hours, probably served him we'll as the lawgiver of France Roederer says that the councillors never adjourned without knowing more than the day before, if not through Napoleon, then by the researches he directed.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22
Mechanics of His Mind

His own explanation of the mechanics of his mind is as good as it is familiar: Various subjects and affairs are slowed away in my brain as in chest of draw CTS. When l take up any special busi- ness I shut one drawer and open an- other. None of them ever get mixed, and never does this incommode me or fatigue me. When l feel sleepy, l shut all the drawers and fall asleep.''
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

intention of hissing the piece if they do not find it amusing"
 If any one thinks of hissing. I will have him put out of doors by the gren- adiers,' Napoleon replied
 But if the grenadiers hiss like the others?"
 My old soldiers will go to Notre Dame exactly as they went to the mosque in Cairo They will watch me, and seeing their general remain qui et and reverent. they will do he does. saying to themselves, that is the coun- tersign.'" "
 q have just left Augureau," Joseph Bonaparte put in, and he was vomiting fire and fury against going back into the pale of our holy mother, the church."
 "Bah! his brother exclaimed. He is a brawler and makes a great noise. But if he has a little imbecile cousin he puts him in the priests college for me to make a chaplain of him. That reminds me-" turning to the rebellious Camba- ceres when is your brother going to take possession of his see of Rouen? That matter is already arranged for him." And the second consul bowed gratefully.
 It was Easter Sunday of 1892, when the great bell of Notre Dame broke a still ness of 10 years. Salvos of artillery an hcbhtpu tht StiNi'cS hc UT ioiiSN in the ancient sanctuary and the soldiers of the republic presented arms at the elevation of the host.
 Many grumblers were in the brilliant retnue of the first consul. who came in splendid coach drawn by eight horses wioh lackeys, who now appeared in livery for the first time. Someone remarked that Napoleon, although dressed for the occasion in the scarlet coat of a consul. wore his black military stock instead of lace cravat. But he said: No harm done; there's always something about me that smells of the army
 "Well. what do you think of the cere mony?" he asked General Delmas after the services.
 Nothing was wanting" the general bluntly answered. "except the 100000 men who have died to put an end to what you have just set up again."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22
Napoleon and the New Woman
In 1902

Women III these days require restraint. They go where they like they do what they like. It is not French to give the upper hand. There are more women who wrong their husbands than who wrong their wives. don't say that every woman but the majority of women think of nothing but their pleas ure and their fneryo the Council of State in debating the code
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22
Restoring Relipiou

His great passion was to reunite the French people of all classes and, re- sardless of their past differences, to call Into the government the ablest men In the nation. He found 145,O0O Frenchmen in exile as aristocrats or priests. while 200.000 were living on suffrance at home, deprived of all civil rights. He restored the rights of the latter and recalled the former from their banishment.
 Summoning to the Tuileries the most stubborn opponent of the republic in rebellious and Bourbon Vendee, vil- lage priest he won him over at a word and made him a mediator between the state and the church. While never much of ;t churchman himself, he was Catholic in his emotions and recon ciliationist in his policies He had re-
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22
An EniOyable Furct;o,

From the Louisville Courier-Journal
 You missed the most enjoyable ar- fair of the season, Mrs. Wombat's auc- tion'
 T do not play bridge
 You don't understand. Her husbansl failed in business and she held an auc- ton. Her friends had such good time paving over her things"
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22
His Ideas on Divorce

more interested in the injured hus- band than in the wronged wife, but that was the/universal bias of law givers in those good old times Often his utterances sound like naive con- fessions or his own troubles with Jos said: If il was not for growing. old, should want no wife.'
 He would have the brides VOW to obey as strong as possible. "Every day the husband hears people talking about his wife saving Mme x has been doing such and such things, each of which is fresh outrage upon him. self. How many of us could say, like the old Greek, that we wished our houses were of glass so that all might see our happy home life?'
 The first draft of the code did not pro- vide for divorce. but this modern soor was insistent on facilitating a means of escape from the bonds of wedlock Yet he said: "A man has no right to put away woman who has given him chil- dren. No person should be allowed to claim a second divorce. Divorced people should not be allowed to marry again for five years. This would prevent either from suing for divorce in order to marry"
 The code finally allowed divorce for adultery, cruelty and conviction of fel- ony. and it also provided. at Napoleon's suggestion, for divorce on nos ground at all but by mutual consent given in the privacy of a family council presided over by a magistrate. Divorce by mutual con sent, however, was permitted only after the parties had been married two years and it was forbidden after 20 years of marriage. Notwithstanding this simplifed process. method of divorce without public scandal, divorces decreased in num- Der as the Napoleonic era advanced. While the system has long been abol- ished, or greatly modified in France, 1t has been taken up by Japan and it still has some force in Belgium.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22
Easter at NOtre Dame

Well" Napoleon said to Cambaceres. the second consul. as he was dressing for church. we are going to mass What do they think of that in Paris?"
 Many persons Cambaceres replied. VII go to the representation with the
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

This is a story of Napoleon's great, est victories Tn peace, of the golden age of his rule, when, with the en- thusiasm of youth, he bound up the wounus or his country, restored her fallen altars" with the famous Con cordat, opened "a career to every talent" and reared a new France on the granite foundation of the cele- brated Code Napoleon.
 It is a picture of the man at work night and day, flashing with maximS and brilliant sayings.
 1t is a report of what Napoleon thought of medicine and health, re- ligion and the deity, criminal punish ment, laws and law making, marriage and divorce and the relations of wives and husbands.
 It is like an interview with Napo- leon on current topics.
 DATES AND EvENTs-AGE S1-SS
 July 15, 1S01-Concordat with Rome-the Catholic religion restored in France.
 April Il. 1S02a Napoleon attended Easter services at the cathedral of Notre Dame.
 March 5, 1s03-The code Napoleon de- creed.
 "-1F Napoleon never had fought IMu battle. he would yet stand forth as one of the worlds greatest lSSNs&l statesmen. Where, indeed, shall we look for his peer in statecraft?
 Laying aside his sword after the battle of Marengo, in the early summer of 1890, he won in four years of peace victories which deserve to be no less renowned than those of war, and which were far more en- tIa Ia ata in the spirit of a patriot and servant of the people, the greatness and glory of his country were his ruling passion. Ma Belle France" as he fondly called her, was his mistress.
 He would rather toll for the nation than sleep or eat. T work all the time," he said to the sluggards, "at dinner and at the theatre" He could work Is hours without resting.
 Generally men are grown old and stale by the time they attain to power. If was this mans fortune while yet in the full flush of youthful enthusiasm to find himself the rule of France. He held his councillors to their tasks from to D. with only 15 minutes intermission for eating, and again from 10 at night until in the morning. Come, come," he enid ed his exhausted helpers far in the night, let US bestir ourselves. It is only o'clock. and We must earn the money the French people pay us" If Bourrienne stole away to the theatre he had to come back at to take up the days duties again.
 Corvisart protested, but he laughed at the doctors warning and said: T must use the night to keep my shop going, as the day is insufficient. l should certainly like more rest, but the OK is harnessed and he must plow."
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22
Progressive Lava

Although primogeniture and entail had been abolished in the United States, France was the first to wipe out those
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22
The Code Napoleon Today

The Code Napoleon as whole, has borne the test of time and change. Buor- bons and Orleansts and republics have come and gone but it remains the chart and compass of justice in France. More over. the code in text or spirit is not less firmly rooted in most of the other nations of continental Europe and in Latin Amer ica, upon which it was imposed by the force of a good example. It is the under lying law even of one state in the Amer ican union. and the justice of the supreme court of the United States whose circuit, embraces Louisiana, must have knowledge of the Code Napoleon as we'll as of Eng fish common law.
 Towering above his battle monuments and his arches of triumph. the code stands to this day the greatest and most endur- ing single achievement associated with the name of Napoleon. It was the gran ite foundation on which he reared | new Trance amid the smoking ruins of the old institutions that the revolution had de stroved. France that has withstood the winds and floods of stormy century because it was founded on the rock of law and order.
 Copyright. 1912-19i4, by James Morean)
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

Next Sunday-A Dramatic Story of Ma poleon's Sale of an Empire to the United States-Why He Sold Louisiana and How the Americans Bought It.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

twin survivors of ancient injustice in the old world, leading England by many years in establishing an equality of in- heritance regardless of age and sex
 Europe had made no substantial ad- vance in criminal law in 1000 years. Ma poleon's code moderated the punishment of crime. While other European nations continued to hang men for all manner of simple offenses, the infiiction of the death penalty in France greatly declined under Napoleon. Before the code went into force at all, England with only half the population of France, was condemning to death 3400 persons a year, as against SS2 so condemned in France. A few years after the code was adopted, France then, with nearly three times the population of England put to death only 392 persons in year, while the number of English hangings had risen to 4409.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

Napoleon never had fought a
 battle, he would yet stand forth
 as one of the worlds greatest statesmen. Where, indeed, shall
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

marriage as if it were a picnic. "Ii would be well if we could forbid mar rying between persons of disproportion- ate ages; two persons one IS years old the other 40, can never see things eye to eye"
 Men speak of marriage as an act of iature. Marriage does not originate in nature but in the laws necessary fol the preservation of society and morals Most marriages are made for reasons of convenience; they can be hallowed by time" You cannot compare mar riage to srafting two branches on D fruit tree and forming them into one Human nature differs from vegetable. q
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-22

DATES AND EVENTS-AGE S1-s9. July 15, 1S0l-Concordat with Rome-the Catholic religion restored in France. April Il, 1S02aNa poleon attended Easter services at the cathedral of Notre Dame. March ,, 1s03-The code Napoleon de- creed.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-19
BRING SENSATIONAL CHARGES AGAINST
 EGG DEALERS RING

New York, December 1S.-Remarkable allegations regarding system of graft and bribery practiced by ring" of New York egg dealers that they might sue the railroads were made today by William s. Meek, an investigator for the Trunk Lines association, at the resumption of Attor- ney General Parsons so-called butter and eggs inquiry.
 By this system, Meek testified, insprc- tors were bribed to report hundreds of crates of eggs as damaged in transit when in reality only few had been injured. Drivers, he declared, were paid to break a layer in each case at the receiving naints. after which the dealers sold all the unharmed eggs and then sued the roads Ior the full value of each case. In one year, the witness asserted, one of the farms obtained $3S0o0 for supposed damages.
 Out of 13 inspectors, he said, 10 had ,c- cepted bribes Figures were introduced to show that in 1913 the railroads paid claims to egg dealers of nearly s70o,0o0, while in the last year, under more rigid insrection, the claims have been less than $200,000. In suit brought in this connec- ton sometime ago, eight big firms were heavily fined, and cases against two others are pending
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-19
TEXAS MAN CHARGED
 WITH ENTERTAINMENT

New Orleans, December 1S.-James E Foster was arrested here last night by United States postoffice authorities charged with having embedded s166( from the Dearborn, Tex, postoffice local postal officials announced today Foster confessedf the official said. that while left in charge of the Dearborn postoffioe during the absence of the postmistress last November he appro- priated registered mail and the great CT part of the proceeds from ctamp sales.
 Foster was arrested on board the steamship Parismina on its arrival from Colon, Panama. After he disappeared from Dearborn postoffice inspectors learning that a woman with whom he was intimate in Dearborn was in New Orleans, located her here. She informed them that Foster had gone to Colon Colon authorities were unable to arrest the fugitive as he had left there on his return to New Orleans. A message to local officials reached here before the vessel.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-19
THE DAY IN CONGRESS

the House voted down special rule to make in order new legislation reducing the pay of postmasters, revising the railway pay system, authorizing experimental sub stitution of contracts for the salaried rural carrier system in one county of each
 state and providing for organization changes. The rule was defeated, JAS to 131. many democrats opposing it.
 Chairman Moon of the postoffice com mittee criticized democrats who voted against the rule, asserting that railway
 influence has been hard at work to de-
 feat provisions of this bill revising the
 railway pay system" He declared the
 defeat of the rule was "a betrayal of
 democratic principles and betrayal of
 the democratic administration by the ma
 jority on the floor"
 Washington. December 1S.--(Speciaio ]
 Like virtually every state group in the ifouse the Alabama delegation today split In the vote on the question of
 mileage for members on the legislative
 appropriation bill, four voting for ac- tual travelling expenses for members and dependent members of their inn |, mediate families, five voting for , cents mile aud one not being record ed. Instead of carrying the usual 20 cents mile, the present bill provided for cents
 Just as a vote was to be taken, how ever, Representative Hardy of Texas
 moved an amendment providing for ac- | tual expenses of members and their
 families. and this was adopted I'll to 159. The Alabama delegation divided as follows:
 For travelling expenses Abercrombie, Dent, Blackmon, Burnett. For cents a mile. Taylor, Mulkey, Heflin, Hobson, Underwood. Not recorded, Harris, As the first man on the roll call, Rep resentative Abercrombie shouldered the responsibility, while many members would have been relieved if Mir. Under- wood had come higher In the list. so that they might have taken their cue from him.
 Either provision. however, was re-
 garded as a great improvement over the former rate.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-19
WANT AMERICAN
 WAR MATERIAL

Washington, December 1S.-Rou- mania's special commission sent to in- quire into the ability of American man ufacturers to furnish military supplies and equipment for the Roumanian army reached Washington today and paid a visit of courtesy to Secretary Bryan. The commissioners expect to spend sew eral months in this country, visiting principal manufacturing cities to ac- quaint themselves with American pro- cesses and resources.
 It is understood their purpose is to determine whether the Roumanian gov ernment shall buy in the United States a considerable quantity of arms, ann intuition and supplies formerly ob- tained in Germany and Austria.
The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-12-19
SENATE.

|
 Hearings resumed on the Phil ippine bill.
 Agriculture committee began in- quiry into recent epidemic of hoof and mouth disease among cattle. Senator Sheppard spoke on his constitutional prohibition amend ment.
 Rejected the nomination of W. N. Collins as postmaster at Kan sas City. Mo.
 Adjourned at 4:s2 p. m.. to noon Saturday.
 Representative Gardner testified before naval committee urging in- creases of sea defenses.
 Hearings continued on bill to limit cold storage of food.
 Passed legislative, executive and judicial appropriation bill. carry ing about S36,0000 900.
 Began consideration of postof- flee appropriation bill.
 Indian appropriation, carrying $S,135.6 500. reported.
 Naval affairs committee con cluded hearings on annual appro- priation bill, heated argument be- tween Representative Gardner of Massachusetts and committeeman marking closing session.
 Adjourned at 5:25 p. m, to noon Saturday.