The Washington herald., 1914-04-19

NAV Is lS4-ProclzI1ned EmTeTof uS Nhe
July "a lsO4-Distributed the decorations Of INT
Legion Of Honor at the IuTahdeS-
SeptenbeT 2 lsos-The Pope consented 70 aueno
the coronation.
Noyeubar 3 IsO4-ArriTed at Fcntaineblesu-
November 80 lsOiNspOleOn and Josephine married
By CARDINAL Fcsch.
Ile-mtrr . lsO4-Napoleon and Josephine cTowneo
M.T s lsS-Napoleon crowned King of Italy AT
Milan.
IL the worlds a stage. and foi
q twenty brilliant seasons Napoleon
WAS the stage manager. When his
audiencp which comprised mankind, mao
grown weary of the melodrama ano
tragedy OF revolutions and wars ana shur
de-ous plots he relieved the tension Dg
putting on. in the season o. BOl-oI' tha'
.-pertaCular production which Is known
TO history as the Coronation OF Napoleon
and Josephine. Only the unparalleieu
dramatic gifts of the star performer
rould have saved such a wild eNtrava-
Eanza from degenerating into scream
ing farce and a venerable archbishop
who took part in its confessed that II any
ore in the house had laughed, the show
would have b2cr roared of the boards
= Lightning Change.
A novelty-IovIng world looked on SPELL
hound as France suddenly Was trans
-o-ued. like iightning-change artist,
from 2 Spartan Republic into a Sllded
empire. ard her fanatical patriots ana
ir-rOr;st5 into humble but Gaudy cour-
tiers. while the hOrrid guillotine. as IL
h. r7agi,. was changed into 4 sumplu-
ous throne. the bloody pike into golden
sCepte- and the red cap OF the revoiutlon
inIO a EitteriuE crowE-
E.vc1 more amazing still was the YER
sz;ilj.Y displayed by the actors in the
princi2al roles. The little charity boy
o. the King al B-ienne twenty years De-
fore, the huEgering. melancholy. wander
ing alien in the street of Paris only ten
years before strutted upon the stage IN
imperial robes as II born in The purpie-
md his wife. an alien like himself. VINO
VS. but yesterday an imprisoned ana
,,a7niless widow, looked her queenly part
To- perfection as she came on. followed by
= train Of DrinCes and pTincesses- who,
a decade ago, had been stranded on the
shore OF France, pOverty-stricken refuS-
ees from the then semi-barbarous Island
of Corsica
The crowned heads of Europe, filled
with uneasy misgiying lest their one
tine scou-ge vas plotting TO undo them
utterly by making royalty ridiculous. ma
tlIraIly viewed with alarm his exposure
Of the basic secrets of their trade and
his exhibitions Of thrones and crowns and
srcpterr as mere stage properties. The
.a.;o-g themselves hardly knew whether
70 give themselves over to the enjoyment
81 aDpoin.ing Kings TO rule by right di-
vine
The Empire Proclaimed.
The curtain raiser Of the imperial
drama WAS only a marionette show, with
FoJ,che that giOrified plain clothes man,
pulling the strings while the puppets of
H,,lx- ant
motions Of offering the crown The Sena-
Tors ran from their chambers, leaped
into their carriages and raced out to the
Palace or s. Cloud in the tumultuous
caEc-ncss Of each to be first at the foot
Of the new Caesar. There they found
him in simple military uniform with
JOseDhine beside him. and. addressing the
general Of yesterday as Sire" they duly
proclaimed Napoleon Bonaparte, En-
peror % tHc French, Whereat
the cry of Long live the En-
peror'' rang through the palace halls
and was echoed by swarm of
:;l1itors in the garden gay cavalcade
next appeared in various squares of Paris,
where With the blare of trumpets they
acclaimed Napoleon to idly curious and
sometimes laughing crowds which at the
suggestion of a monarchy few years
before would have drenched those very
streets with blood.
Last Of all. and when the empire really
had been established three months. the
wishes of the country were consulted on
the proposal to make Napoleon Bona
parte Emperor OF the French and the
imperial dignity hereditary in his natural
or adopted descent and in the descent
from his brothers Joseph and Louis" The
heirs OF LUcien and Jerome were eX-
cludcd from the line of succession be-
cause these two Bonapartes had lately
married to suit themselves and not their
brother.
NnpoIeon's Limitations.
Meanwhile, Napoleon had forsaken the
camp of his army at Boulosne and for
gotten his projected invasion of England
in his attention e; his multitude of duties
as stage director. Costumer, carpenter,
and property man of the great burlesque
which he was nusily preparing. 'Tis
Tity. but il must be said in frankness
that his scenario was wholly devoid of
invention. and that his stage business
was altogether old and hackneyed.
Prudent nature imposed sharp limi-
tations on this giant to save the world
from his thraH. For in showering her
gifts upon him she withheld two qualities
which. omitted. bound the voyage of his
wonderful life in shadows and miseries.
He lacked originality, and he had no real
he would have planned his coronation in
keeping with the revolution and the re-
public whose creat ture he was. and made
it imposing by its simplicity. Had he
been endowed With a wholesome sense of
hunor he would not have disclosed his
parvenu spirit by vainly striving to hide
his democratic origin in a wrapping OF
tinsel and by aping with Simian tricks
the meaningless ceremonials Of the dead
past.
Grand Masqueradc.
Anxious to disguise all his associates.
as well as himself he suddenly made over
his brothers, joseph and Louis; their
wives. Julie, ClaTy. and Hortense Beau
harnais. and his own sisters into princes
and princesses He tricked out Uncle
Fesch, now cardinal, as grand almoner.
and arrayed eighteen generals, all good
republican products, in the trappings of
mRrshals of the empire. while his two
colleagues in the consulate, Cambaceres
and lie Brun. became arch chancellor and
arch treasurer. and Talleyrand grand
chancellor.
He commanded Berthier to exchange
the proud rank of general. won on the
field Of battle, for the sbsurdity OF grand