The Washington herald., 1914-03-29

THE Consulate of Napoleon had a
more important and lasting effect
on the United States, a country 5000
miles away from the French shore, than
on even the next-door neighbors OF
France
The people Of the New World are likely
= to think Of themselves as having been
mere iookers-on at the great drama Of
Napoleon's life, with a vast ocean be-
tween them and the theater of his activt-
ties. But even the Atlantic was not
broad enough moat to separate them en-
tirely from his fortunes and misfortunes.
The influence of America touched his
career at many points. In the frst place,
he would not have been born under the
French flag il Montcalm instead OF
Wolfe had died victorious on the Plains
OF Abraham, for .he loss Of her American
possessions was the impelling motive OF
France to seek some compensation In the
conquest Of Corsica
Napoleon was indebted for his educa-
ton as a soldier to the disasters and de-
moralization which had overwhelmed the
armies Of France IN America no less
than in Europe. 1t was to retrieve the
prestige of French arms that France
opened military schools, Brienne among
them. and made them free for the sons
OF poor noblemen.
A Pupil of American Veterans.
Still Napoleon probably never could
have been more than a captain in the
army Of France but for the French Revo-
luton. and that was the offspring of the
American Revolution. And he owed his
first practical lessons in warfare, while
a lieutenant, to officers who had fought
by the side of Washington. When Count
Rochambeau appeared at the Tuileries,
the First Consul said to that illustrious
veteran Of the American war OF inde-
pendence, while he pointed to his own
famous generals who surrounded him.
Behold, sir, yoIr pupils!
Many features of the Napoleonic tao
tics were distinctly American in their
origin and were carried back to France
by French Vficers. Berthier. chief of
stan in all the campaigns from Monte
notte to 1914. --ad fought with Lafayette
When Napoleon married, II was a
daughter of the New World that he
took to his bosom, and when he came
to power he boasted an American model
At the death of Washington he ordered
the standards and flags of France TO he
hung with Grape for ten days and a
eulogy to be pronounced in the Temple
of Mars.
The earliest treaty he made as First
Consul was a treaty OF peace and friend
ship with the United States in 1900. which
was celebrated with brilliant fetes at
Joseph Bonaparte's country estate,
Mortefontaine. near ChantiIly. in thel
suburbs of Paris. At an elaborate BAN
uuet of $50 covers Napoleon rose to toast
the names of the French and AmeH-
cans who died on the field Of battle for
the independence OF the New World. "
II was there and then that he met La
fayette for the first time, overwhelm-
ing the marquis with questions about
Washington and the nation he had
founded |
The Americans would have been dis
tracted from the pleasures Of the fetes
at Mortefontaine had they known that
the conoueror OF Italy and Egypt was
about to become near neighoor OF
theirs in the New World. II was not
disclosed TO them, therefore. that Ber-
thier was even then negotiating in Spain
for the transfer of Louisiana TO France
Within twenty-four hours after the sign
ing Of the treaty of Montefontaine an
other treaty was made with spain
whereby Napoleon was to become the
possessor of more square miles OF Ameri-
can soil than the United States then
held and be the master of the greatest
river in North America
Three European nations originally oc-
cupied the three great watersheds OF
what Is in this day the territory Of the
United States The British held the
Atlantic seaboard, the French the Miss
issippi Valley. and the Spaniards the
Pacific Slope. But when the map OF
North America was unrolled on the
palace floor and Napoleon lay down
upon II, he saw that the United States
had pushed its boundaries TO the mid
die OF the Mississippi River, while Spain
held all else clear TO the Pacific Ocean,
as well as the entire shore OF the Gulf
of Mexico from YGcatan to the Florida
Keys Louisiana. which France had