Napoleon and Josephine [pp. 713-718]

SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER.
ed in the British oakl, and which no violence could
reach, no blandisl.hments seduce, notr menace awe.
To effect this a continental system was devised:
and hostile proclamations against maritime rights and
the freedom of trade covered the ocean and the earth.
A governmental control over any man's bread controls
his allegiance, merely because the power of the state is
greater than his. But, for one man to control the bread
of a whole nation, and not only the bread of his own
nation, but of a whole continent of nations, and actually to deprive them of it, was a tyranny of state never
yet attempted with impunity even in a barbarous age.
To this system which recommended living without
food, and the discharge of obligations without means,
a resistance naturally arose; and spreading quickly,
drove away from the immediate aid of Napoleon all
vho had the power to go; and prepared others to follow upon the first conviction of their ability to do it.
He who would rive the gnarled oak, should always
calculate the force of the rebound; and strike not when
he can prevail not. A failure to make this useful calculation roused that formidable coalition before whose
united vengeance no solitary dynasty could stand. All
the great powers of Europe, with England in the lead,
mustered the elements of war, and bore down upon
the gallant French, until Napoleon deserted the throne,
to mourn his fortunes in a dreary isle.
But, Elba was no place for one who had scarce
dreamed of limits to his sway. Far better with the
dying or the dead to be, than cease to amaze and to
agitate the world with the celebrity of his deeds and
the power of his name. And, with almost marvellous
intrepidity, celerity and address, Napoleon reappeared
at the Tuileries, unscathed himself, and guiltless of another's blood. But, if this return was marvellous, it
was disastrous too. The elements of war soon lowered again over the destinies of Europe; and Napoleon
had once more to face that united and indomitable host
that laid his fortunes forever in the dust; and compelled proud, beautiful and gallant France to ground
her arms before the arbiters of her fate. And soon, in
the far distant isle of St. Helena, the eye of Napoleon;-that eye that used to soften and to charmn,-to
dazzle and to lead,-to threaten and to subdue, had to
gaze on memory's hoard of irreparable woes, in pining
solitude.
If, during the several years of peace that attended
the early period of his imperial powver, Napoleon had
strengthened the national resources of his country-by
wise, liberal and pacific dispositions towvards the continental powers, and had, by a generous policy cultivated their good feelings and opinions until lie had made
it their interest to appreciate and befriend him; had he
mlagnanimously granted an amnesty for the past, and
guarded the future by a firm but respectful proclamation that he would take away the crown from the first
national wrong-doer that should thenceforth wrong the
people or the governmlent of France, and that he would
allow the people of every such dethroned monarch
freely to choose their future form of government and
the Magistrate who should preside over it,-he might
still adorn the throne of Charlemagne, and be the living wonder and admiration of the world. For, there
vas an advantage in his friendship, a power in his
hand, and a terror in his threat that would have peace
ably subdued opposition, and augmented tile number of
his adherents in every quarter of Europe. It is obvious that such a course of elevated justice, dignity
and wisdom, would have made the aggregate of every
nation friendly to him;-the people from principle and
respect;-and the monarchs from policy and fear.
And, had any bold disturber of the French repose forced Napoleon to execute this proclamation, a single
example of his firmness and ability had sufficed to
intimidate the rest, and to insure tranquillity to future
times.
Instead of this —he placed upon the various thrones
he subverted, potentates whom the people neither elected, loved nor knew. And, by the general scope of his
conduct, created a prevalent belief that he was quarrelsome because he was strong; selfish in council, and
tyrannous in war; —and an intermeddler with his comonarchs because they wore crowns he coveted to rule,
and wanted his own family dependents to enjoy.
It is impossible to reflect on the actions of this most
extraordinary man, without a firm belief that he was
long before the close of his days, a fatalist in the fullest sense of the term; and that he greatly presumed
on the countenance of Providence for a continuance of
his career, and the consummation of the vast schemes
of ambition in which his fatal genius delighted to indulge. Under the prevalence of this notion, he traversed the earth with hostile bands, from the burning deserts of the East to the frozen regions of the North; —
and roused up enemies from the pyramids of Egypt to
the palace of the Russian Czar.
'Fame is the spur which the clear spirit doth raise,
To scorn delights and live laborious days;
But the fair guerdon when we hope to find,
And think to burst out into sudden blaze,
Comes the blind fury with abhor'd shears
And slits the thin-spun life.'
The blaze of Napoleon was sudden, effulgent, and
protracted. But it was a blaze that lured him firom the
paths of peace, true glory and felicity;-the highest
aspirations of virtuous ambition.
It puzzles the understanding to conceive how one,who had the unquestioned power and inclination to
leave a mighty name to after ages, and who struggled
wvith suchi persevering assiduity to effect it,-should
have formed such false and inaccurate notions of renown: and should have turned so coldly and so heedlessly away firom tlhat matchless and beautiful celebrity
he might have wooed and won. He might have conferred more blessings on the human race than any other
individual of the age he lived in. If, after his return
from his memorable campaigns, adorned with victorious
wreaths, crowned with the accumulated trophies of the
vanquished foe, and elevated to the summit of political
power, he had given freedom to his own land, and
broken the iron thraldom that weighed his neighbors to
the earth, there would not, at the period of his death,
have remained a tyrant's dungeon on the continent of
Europe.
Then, had the muse of history enrolled with a pencil
of imperishable light-NAPOLEON-dux et princeps et
liberator homnitine reliquorum. And, what an immortality for any mortal to deserve!
But Napoleon secured, enlarged and consolidated his
own imperial powers, in derogation of the great origi
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