CHAPTER XVI

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THE LAST PICTURES

UR pictures change little as they show the next stage of Napoleon's progress.

For when in the summer of 1801 he is made Consul for life, he appears still to be the same ardent lover of liberty that he was when he became First Consul. He is still the idol of

the French people - as well he may be for

what ruler has ever done so much for them? When once things are in his own hands he codifies the laws, gives security to all forms of religion, and organizes the educational system of France. He does everything possible for the rebuilding of the state. He regulates taxes, that the burden may fall equitably on all classes. He helps manufactures of every kind. He proves himself a masterly road-builder. He establishes museums, and orders the construction of great public buildings. In peace he seems to be greater even than he has shown

himself in war. He encourages literature, art, and music, and makes Paris so beautiful that its citizens are justified in their pride.

He surrounds himself with capable men. In no way does he more clearly show his own superiority than by letting it be seen that he is free from jealousy. He is always ready to reward publicly those who help him in any of his undertakings. Not all Napoleon's plans are carried out during his Consulship, but they are begun with such vigor that no one doubts that they will be completed. The country is the better for his firm hand. Yet in some ways we admired him more in his earlier years. His ambition now casts a shadow that should warn him that the middle way is the best.

In one way at least Napoleon's ambitions do not get the better of him. As he advances in power he does not forget old friends. They share his prosperity, these schoolmates and associates of his earlier years. They are given honors that some of them find it hard to wear gracefully.

"Here we are at the Tuileries," he exclaims to an old friend, when made Consul for life. "We must remain here."

In the short breathing spell made possible by the Peace of Amiens, France accomplishes more in all directions than the other countries of Europe. Yet those whose sight is clearest may, perhaps, see a cloud likely to deepen and blur the picture. Does it come from England, now making great efforts to gather her strength for a long contest? Or does the growing ambition of Napoleon mean the overthrow of the very things he is working for?

Though the gorgeous spectacle of the Imperial Coronation in the great Cathedral has seldom been surpassed, we incline to turn away from it. It had been better for Napoleon to remain First Consul rather than to make himself Emperor. His plain gray suit became him better than this trailing cloak of purple velvet embroidered in gold and trimmed with ermine. We recognize the golden bees, and the insignia of the Legion of Honor, but the diamond collar and the great Pitt diamond blazing in the pommel of his sword seem unsuited to the young Corsican who once delighted in simplicity. The laurel wreath that he first wears suits him better than the Imperial crown that he takes from the hands of

the Pope and places on his own head. But the Pope has anointed him, and Napoleon is now Emperor of that shadowy Holy Roman Empire, for which in the past rivers of blood have been shed.

Is Napoleon really happier now than when he roamed, a fearless boy, over the rough hills of Corsica? Is Josephine as contented wearing the crown of an Empress as she was wandering light-hearted in the forests of Martinique? Josephine is indeed fond of jewels and beautiful clothes, and nothing could be more splendid than her coronation robe of white satin and silver and gold, with its ornaments of pearls and diamonds. But Josephine has a long memory. She often recalls the poverty of her childhood, of her early married life. When Empress she tells one of the ladies in attendance on her that no present ever made her happier than a pair of shoes given her for Hortense, her little daughter, who otherwise would have had to go barefoot part of her voyage from Martinique to France.

Josephine is a sensible woman. She is not ashamed of her early poverty. Like Napoleon she had suffered during the Revolution and

had even for a time been thrown into prison. Like Napoleon she, too, had sometimes not known when she should get her next meal. She had even had to borrow money to pay her rent. She had suffered everything, when the execution of her first husband, Alexandre de Beauharnais, during the Reign of Terror, had left her and her two children destitute.

All the circumstances of her past life may not have flashed before Josephine's mind at the moment of the Coronation. Yet it is not improbable that wearing the crown and realizing the responsibilities of her new position, she may have sighed for a day of freedom from care, such as she had known in Martinique.

On that December day in 1805 when Napoleon puts on the Imperial crown more than three years have passed since England signed the short-lived Peace of Amiens. The war that is now renewed between France and England is to continue until Waterloo. As Emperor, however, Napoleon seems to be master of Europe. All the European courts, except England, Russia, and Sweden, acknowledge his new title.