Part 6 (1/2)
In these intense studies Napoleon first began to appreciate the beauty and the subli sense had taught him the principles of a noble toleration; and Jew, Christian, and Moslean to apprehend the surpassing excellence of Christianity
And though the cares of the busiest life through which a ies, this appreciation and adospel of Christ, visibly increased with each succeeding year He unflinchingly braved the scoffs of infidel Europe, in re-establishi+ng the Christian religion in paganized France He periled his popularity with the ararded the opposition of his most influential friends, froion to the welfare of the state With the ini eloquence, he said to Montholon, at St Helena, ”I know ion of Christ is a mystery, which subsists by its own force, and proceeds from a mind which is not a human inated a train of words andfroe He exhibited himself the perfect example of his precepts
Jesus is not a philosopher: for his proofs are his miracles, and fro and philosophy are of no use for salvation; and Jesus came into the world to reveal the mysteries of heaven and the laws of the spirit
Alexander, Caesar, Charlene, and myself have founded eenius? upon forceJesus Christ alone founded his empire upon love And at this moment millions of men would die for hiiven back to earth, to become food for worreat Napoleon
What an abyss between dom of Christ, which is proclai over the whole earth! Call you this dying? Is it not living rather?
The death of Christ is the death of a God!”
At the tiarded all forh he considered Christianity superior, in intellectuality and refinement, to all other ion as of divine origin
At one tiypt, he said, ”Such was the disposition of the army, that in order to induce theed to speak very lightly on the subject; to place Jews beside Christians, and rabbis beside bishops But after all it would not have been so very extraordinary had circumstances induced ood reasons forat least as far as the Euphrates Change of religion for private interest is inexcusable But it may be pardoned in consideration of immense political results Henry IV
said, Paris is orth a massWill it then be said that the doation of all Asia, were not worth a turban and a pair of trousers ? And in truth the whole matter was reduced to this The sheiks had studied how to render it easy to us They had sreat obstacles, allowed us the use of wine, and dispensed with all corporeal formalities We should have lost only our small-clothes and hats”
Of the infidel Rousseau, Napoleon ever spoke in terms of severe reprobation ”He was a bad man, a very bad man,” said he, ”he caused the revolution” ”I was not aware,” another replied, ”that you considered the French Revolution such an unmixed evil” ”Ah,”
Napoleon rejoined, ”you wish to say that without the revolution you would not have had me Nevertheless, without the revolution France would have been e of Rousseau, to see his cap, table, great chair, &c, he exclaimed, ”Bah! I have no taste for such fooleries Show them to my brother Louis He is worthy of the reive a very correct idea of his prevailing feeling upon the subject of religion ”The sentiion is so consolatory, that it ift from Heaven What a resource would it not be for us here, to possess it What rewards have I not a right to expect, who have run a career so extraordinary, so tele criuilty of? I can appear before the tribunal of God, I can await his judgment, without fear
He will not find hts of s; with the infliction of violent and premeditated deaths, events so common in the history of those whose lives resereatness, the glory of France All my faculties, all my efforts, all my movements, were directed to the attainment of that object These can not be crimes
To me they appeared acts of virtue What then would be ht prospect of futurity presented itself to crown the last moments of my existence”
After a ht, he resumed: ”But, how is it possible that conviction can find its way to our hearts, e hear the absurd language, and witness the iniquitous conduct of the greater part of those whose business it is to preach to us I am surrounded by priests, who repeat incessantly that their reign is not of this world; and yet they lay their hands upon every thing which they can get The Pope is the head of that religion which is from Heaven What did the present chief pontiff, who is undoubtedly a good and a holy man, not offer, to be allowed to return to Roovernment of the church, of the institution of bishops was not too ive, to become once more a secular prince
”Nevertheless,” he continued, after another thoughtful pause, ”it can not be doubted that, as emperor, the species of incredulity which I felt was beneficial to the nations I had to govern How could I have favored equally sects so opposed to one another, if I had joined any one of thehts and of overned me under the dread of hell!” Napoleon closed this conversation, by ordering the New Testa, he read aloud as far as the conclusion of our Savior's address to his disciples upon the hest ad its purity, its sublimity, and the beautiful perfection of its moral code
For forty days the shi+ps were driven about by contrary winds, and on the 1st of October they e in the harbor of Ajaccio The tidings that Napoleon had landed in his native toept over the island like a gale, and the whole population crowded to the port to catch a sight of their illustrious countryman ”It seemed,” said Napoleon, ”that half of the inhabitants had discovered traces of kindred” But a few years had elapsed since the dwelling of Madaed by the mob, and the whole Bonaparte family, in penury and friendlessness, were hunted froht Now, the name of Bonaparte filled the island with acclamations But Napoleon was alike indifferent to such unjust censure, and to such unthinking applause As the curse did not depress, neither did the hosanna elate
After the delay of a few days in obtaining supplies, the shi+ps again weighed anchor, on the 7th of October, and continued their perilous voyage The evening of the next day, as the sun was going down in unusual splendor, there appeared in the west, painted in strong relief against his golden rays, an English squadron The adnals that he was observed, urged an immediate return to Corsica Napoleon, convinced that capture would be the result of such a manoeuvre, exclailand
I a that to France Spread all sail Let every one be at his post Steer to the northwest Onward” The night was dark, the wind fair Rapidly the shi+ps were approaching the coast of France, through the midst of the hostile squadron, and exposed to the er of capture Escape seeht of fearful apprehension and terror to all on board, excepting Napoleon He determined, in case of extremity, to throw himself into a boat, and trust for safety to darkness and the oars With the most perfect self-possession and co-boat to be prepared, selected those whom he desired to accompany him, and carefully collected such papers as he was anxious to preserve Not an eye was closed during the night It was indeed a fearful question to be decided Are these weary wanderers, in a few hours, to be in the embrace of their wives and their children, or will the next lish ering years of captivity in an English prison? In this terrible hour no one could perceive that the coree ruffled The first drawn of thevision the hills of France stretching along but a few leagues before them, and far away, in the northeast, the hostile squadron, disappearing beneath the horizon of the sea The French had escaped The wildest bursts of joy rose froazed calmly upon his beloved France, with pale cheek and ht o'clock in thethe four vessels dropped anchor in the little harbor of Frejus It was theof the 8th of October Thus for fifty days Napoleon had been tossed upon the waves of the Mediterranean, surrounded by the hostile flects of England, Russia, and Turkey, and yet had eluded their vigilance
This wonderful passage of Napoleon, gave rise to land and France One of these caricatures, which was conspicuous in the London shop s, possessed so much point and historic truth, that Napoleon is said to have laughedit Lord Nelson, as is well knoith all his heroism, was not exempt from the frailties of hu Napoleon Lady Hamilton rossed in caressing the fair enchantress, that Napoleon escapes between his legs This was hardly a caricature It was alainst adverse storms off the coast of Africa, Lord Nelson, adorned with the laurels of his nificent victory, in fond dalliance with his frail Delilah, was basking in the courts of voluptuous and profligate kings ”No one,” said Napoleon, ”can surrender himself to the dolory”
When the four vessels entered the harbor of Frejus, a signal at the mast-head of the Muiron informed the authorities on shore that Napoleon was on board The whole toas instantly in commotion
Before the anchors were dropped the harbor was filled with boats, and the shi+ps were surrounded with an enthusiastictheir decks, and rending the air with their acclaarded
The people, weary of anarchy, and tre Austrian invasion, were al thus as it were from the clouds, a deliverer, in whose potency they could implicitly trust When warned that the shi+ps had recently sailed froue, ht be coue than the Austrians,” Breaking over all the ulations of health, the people took Napoleon, almost by violence, hurried him over the side of the shi+p to the boats, and conveyed his had spread from farm-house to farm-house with almost electric speed, and the whole country population,down to the shore Even the wounded soldiers in the hospital, left their cots and crawled to the beach, to get a sight of the hero The throng becareat that it ith difficulty that Napoleon could land The gathering ht and the left, and Napoleon passed through the live the conqueror of Italy, the conqueror of Egypt, the liberator of France” The peaceful little harbor of Frejus was suddenly thrown into a state of thetheir uns in the forts rolled forth their heaviest thunders over the hills and over the waves; and the enthusiastic shouts of the ever increasingNapoleon, filled the air The shi+ps brought the first tidings, of the wonderful victories of Mount Tabor and of Aboukir
The French, huly elated by this restoration of the national honor The intelligence of Napoleon's arrival was iraph, to Paris, which was six hundred s of Napoleon's landing of Frejus, arrived in Paris, on the evening of the 9th of October, Josephine was at a large party at the house of M Gohier, President of the Directory All the uished ence produced thein the spoils of office, turned pale with apprehension; knoell the genius of Napoleon, and his boundless popularity, they feared another revolution, which should eject them from their seats of power
Others were elated with hope; they felt that Providence had sent to France a deliverer, at the very moment when a deliverer was needed
One of the deputies, who had been deeply grieved at the disasters which were overwhel the Republic, actually died of joy, when he heard of Napoleon's return Josephine, intensely excited by the sudden and totally unexpected announceht, without allowing an hour for repose, she entered her carriage, with Louis Bonaparte and Hortense, who subsequently became the bride of Louis, and set out to meet her husband Napoleon al every stop of his progress he was greeted with the most extraordinary demonstrations of enthusiasm and affection
Bonfires blazed from the hills, triumphed arches, hastily of maidens spread a carpet of flowers for his chariot wheels, and greeted him with smiles and choruses of welco The whole city was brilliant with illuminations An immense concourse surrounded him with almost delirious shouts of joy The constituted authorities received hie The ue for the occasion Napoleon had no ti silence, he said said, ”Gentlemen, I learned that France was in peril, I therefore did not hesitate to leave o hence In a few days, if you think fit to wait upon me, I shall be at leisure to hear you” Fresh horses were by this ties, and the cavalcade, which like a meteor had burst upon them, like a meteor disappeared From Lyons, for soular route to Paris and took a less frequented road When Josephine arrived at Lyons, to her utter consternation she found that Napoleon had left the city, several hours before her arrival, and that they had passed each other by different roads Her anguish was inexpressible For many months she had not received a line fro been intercepted by the English cruisers She knew that many, jealous her power, had disse her conduct She knew that these, her enemies, would surround Napoleon ie of her absence to inflaainst her
Lyons is 245 ues of hill and dale, pressing on without inter not for refresh within her with fearful apprehensions of the hopeless alienation of her husband, she received the dreadful tidings that she had missed him There was no resource left her but to retrace the steps with the utmost possible celerity Napoleon would, however, have been one or two days in Paris before Josephine could, by any possibility, re-enter the city Probably in all France, there was not, at that time, a more unhappy wo at the heart of Napoleon
Who has yet fathomed the mystery of human love! Intensest love and intensest hate can, at the sa In nothing is the will so i the impulses of this omnipotent passion