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Las diagrammes suivants iliustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 > » '■• -- /V f ^' u ■ NAPOLEOx\ 1: A LECTURE DKLIVEUKI) BKFOIiH TIIK MKCIIAN'ICS' INSTI- TUTE, ANTI(.i,yXlSII, X. S., :,S72. ^^fiY THE REV. ])|{. CHISHOLM, vO**^"'! '^/"'tt^ii'ei'tor ation, and when armies were numerous and perfectly dis- ciplined, what took the Romans of old centuries to effect, when the greater part of the world was uncivilized and brutal— Universal Conquest. Eloquent, he could kindle in the bosom, of his soldiers by his burning words an enthusi- asm, which in most cases oii'y cooled down when victory was theirs; yet he was as logical as the keenest and closest reasoner. Shakespeare, it is said, felt, or at least mimicked, human nature in its various forms and expressions, as did no man before him or since, Napoleon saw through the charac- ter of men singly or collectively, as clearly as Shakespeare felt It sensibly. He penetrated the wiles of the most cunning diplomatist, as quickly as he did the movements of his most skilful opponent on the field ; he was as much at ease in politics, as he was in the direction of a campaign ; law and Govornmci?t bo iiiiderstood sis well us the organization of nii arni,v. In Kliort a Imrning iiDngiiiation, Mnifa cool intellect, wliich grasped and conijirelieiided at h giancte relations iniin- Tncrahie, and saw tlii" •"^h the widest^ prt-sent clearly, and divi'd almost proidietic . / into the I'utnre— an intellect above nil others practical, vet powerful in theory—combined to render him a stui)en(lons genius. The beauties of this our earth fill men with pleasure, the grandeur of thesr.n, and of the restof the heavens do so likewise; l)ut [ rather gaze upon the majesty of a powerful intellect, even tho\igh \)y its side there 1)0 a vicious will (from which however, ni the case I turn away my eyes), because it is the brightest reflex, of all the \cry dim ones in Nature's sj.here, of the (Creator of them all. Some imagine Napoleon naught else than a cruel mon- ster, wading through the rivers of blood he had caused to flow, in others liis name only calls up the thought of aii in- satiable ambition. Though [ too see his unboun(h:d selflsh- iiess, and the flelds which he has strewn with slain, yet it is his cold intellectual greatness that flashes first across my eyes, when I view his fife as a whole. History shows him nut always ambitious or marching over heaps of dead, l)ut it shows him always, from his tirst appearance till his death, whether in the Cabinet or in the field, legislating or leading armies, victorious or defeated, in exile or in the splendour of his glory, it shows him always in his remarks, addresses, con- ceptions, plans and operations, a most profound thinker. lie debased himself not so low as to be entangled in the pleasures of the lower passions, as some crowned heads ofFrance before him, and few of the Sovereigns of England, from William the Conqueror to George III, can in tJiis respect be r-garded more than he. Intemperance brutalized and ruined Alexander and Hannibal, Napoleon like Caesar ate sparinijiv and drank little. ^ .^ But he had a passion (now I pass to speak of liis heart), an unbridled yet an intellectual one, the one which whirled liis consummate abilities into action, which made him of France first Consul and Emperor, and Europe's oppressor and scourge, wdiich filled nations with sufferings and gloom, which wrought injustices the greatest and without number, which in the end made for him a tomb in St. Ilolena;— it was ambition. When a mere boy attending a Military College ho read, and re-read, and fed his imagination upon Plutarch's Lives, until he kindled in his heart a most burning desire (the germs of it were already there) to imitate, to equal and perhaps to surpass these Classical heroes. Add to this that even then he was conscious of his immense talents, and that nature had given him a boldness and courage which even impossibilities f coiihl not stiiiji^or; tlicso tiicts conihiiuMl, uiid uncontrolled by Faith, niisuii in his soul tlio nitiir of .self and lie rurtolvisd to^ jiaston which way lie r )nld oxalt that idol ahovo all. Writini^to liis nioduM- ;it thi-< n^riod ho tells hor, that wit!) his Honiei- and his Kword ho would luako lor hitnHoU" u ponition in tho world, (&oo he is thinking!; ol'Aloxandor who dtiiin^hirt cainpaiij^ns larrii'd with him lloniur which at iii^ht ho laid undor his iiillow.) This o\a<;<^oratod lo,(s of self, inoroasinj^ as success followed in tho heel of success, hlinded his other- wise clear intellect to such a doirroo, that lie whoatonco saw the injustice of a wronc' done himself, deemed a like act ^'iiilt- less, if it furthered his own desi^-ns. When still a youth, hear- iu<^ u lady, siioakinii^ of Marshal Turenne, suy, "yes ho was a jreat man hut I would admire him more had ho not burnt tho 'alatinato", he answered coolly, "what did it dilFer if it was necessary for the aciconqdishnientof his dosii^ns," IForo then is the root, the remote cause of the extensive spoliations, of tho many dethronements and of the murders oven, which he autho- rized without a feeliiii:: of remorse, and often without athou/j;ht of wrong-. This latter assertion may a))pearstran^e, hut thou, 1 have seen some honoKt men do thin«?8, which I with others thought clearly unjust, yet tho idea of wiouii^ never crossed their minds. Could it not be, that in so sinti^ular a man there might dwell a singular conscience of right and wrong? He was not naturally cruel; millions were slain at bis bidding; but he was not a Nero or a Caligula. Altho' his sympa- thies for the iiumiui kind were not strong, yet ho wa^ not without tender feelings. Kxi»lain otherwise, if you can, the filial love which his s(ddieis always bore for him, and how his memory Is cherislied in Franco. ITad not self and its in- terests darkened his mind, he would li.'vo been the wisest, the be it, the greatest of rulers. ^ There is his intellect, there is his heart. Add to tiiom ac- tion — a will, a determination, which seldom was bent, an energy which surmounted ditiiculties men believ(Ml insur- mountable, a rapidity in his operations which nigh resem- bled ubiquity — and you can understand bow the subje-jt of my lecture ascended a throne, dictated to the haughty' heads of the oldest bouses, made Europe treml)le, and astonished, astonishes and shall astonish the world. You can well imagine, and the picture lyill be true, bow he, even young, delighted to represent to bis mind the victories he was to win, the crown he was to weaiv the immortal name ho was to acquire, an opportunity once being given. There is Napoleon, — gigantic in his conceptions and plans, boundless in his aspirations, and most unscrupulous in his means of reacbing them, and like a spirit in activity ; a man 6 in ovory way most or! ^nal, and from otlior men most (lifler- cut ; tlioni^ditfl iuiotlior would not dream of w< re liis common oncH; (.luiis, ditKeult to others oven to comprehend were eiisdy conceived by liim : and deeds nnparaneled are tlie'monu- menu he Inis left behind him. NVe shall now see, how this hiH dehneation is gathered from his history. Wlion I under- took to speak of him 1 thou.i^ht my work easv, bnt when I considered a while over tlu! snbjcct— how varied, how vast It u'Rs— 1 saw It wouhl take a loni^ study to do it well, and I jud.ired myself rash in undcrtakinir to master it in a couple ol weeks. I say this not merelv to acknowledi.-e my own thoughtlessness, but in justice to the historic name an'd his- tone times I am to describe. Since, however, I have be<'-iin [must try to come to some end, thoui^d) T can well say, witli the i^'reatest of Home's orators, speakiiii; for I'ompey, *<' Jn/jtifj orahoms ditjieilius est exclluni quam prlneipinm iiiruiirc,'' to be^'-in IS not hanl, to end is. For the sJ:e of clearness I slmll speak ot him as a soldier and as a politician ; and first of him as a soldier. A cool study and feelinijless reflections upon wars and battles may appear to you not to accord with, ..r iM-rhaps to be unbec(>min,risons and gallows help to secure the 'internal order of a country, though at the expense of merited suffer. ingif.s, so too armijs aro the cjnardians of external peace, thouirh at tbe coHt ot'blood. If tlio former protect the life and i^oods of the individual, the latter defcMu! the territory of the nation, and tiphoNl its honor. An 1 you niny bo sum, that af long as there will be anibitiona and unscrupulous GovernnientR — and that will bo always, — and as long as we point to the North, to the homes ©^'peoples, who envy the sweets and pleasures of the South, so long shall wars last, arbitrations to the contrary notwithstanding. T> say what! feel, and concealing whut [judge, I am much more pleased looking at a nation girded by nii'ii, who fear not deatli, than when contemplating the degenerate Turk, smoking on his diva.i, or the Neapolitan sitting under his tig-cree, careless of war. War has its horrors, but it brings with it a (iegree of patriotism, self-denial, manliness and heroism wliieh you will in vain try t(» find in the iield of Commerce. But to retnr'i to Bonaparte as a General. T attributed to him in the begiTining i»f Uiy lecture an unsurpaBsed military mind. Of his poe-^ .on of this I feel certain, but I doubt that thero was any ie,\der before him equal to him, takin"; as promiscifl merely historical deeds. The truth is, prescinding from their latent powers of mind, and taking their exploits only, Napoleon excelled all. Ills victories on the whole were greater, his conquests more difficult than were either the victories or the conquests of heroes preceding him. Alexander's victories were won over undisciplined or half- disciplined hordes ; Caesar triumphed over rude tribes, or in civil war ; Hannibal, a greater soldier than either, contended with the Romans only. Napoleon, on the other hand, broke and at- " tuck the house, than he flew upon them like a wildcat, and " hit and scratched and spitted and hissed, and laid about him " sometmies with one hand, sometimes Avith another, — now " with a stick and then witli a stone; at one time he would '' he fifty yards away from you, the very next moment he " Avould have you by the throat. In short, what with liis " strength, and what with his contrivances and tricks (for he " had more tricks than a chained monkey,) the people began " to think he could be nothing more than a devil incarnate, " and were glad to escape with life in their bodies to their " own houses." So far the Magazine, and I believe it ilhis- trates well the rapidity of the movements wliich wore crowned with such success. Military men have extolled this campaign, and are struck with wonder at it. Plutarch brought him to Egypt, seconded !)y the Directory who were beginning to fear him. He longed to follow in the steps of ancient heroes — to be a second Alexander. His military genius shone here, as well it could, the Pyramids, or forty centuries witnessed him resume his career of success, but Acre shook him from his dreams of an Eastern Empire. Once more he planned an Italian cam|)aign, and the plan was the profoundest as well as most novel was its execution ; but the victory of Marengo, which Kellerman said, put on his liead a crown, I believe to Kellerman himself was due. After this he formed an army near the English Channel, intended for the conquest of England, — an army in every way the most perfect that the world has perhaps ever seen, — composed of the hardiest, of the bravest and most disciplined of men, headed by officers the most skilful and experienced. With this army, if his first Italian campaign was the most heroic, he fought, of all his, the most brilliant. Swiftly he crossed from the Channel to the Rhine, passed into Bavaria, and almost before Mack was aware of his presence, Ulm was surrounded, and 50 to 00,000 Austrians were prisoners in France. The Russians had left their frontiers to come to the succor of their neighbors, and were on their way to the Austrian Capitol. Napoleon was in it and out of it, before they were near it, en- countered them at Austerlitz and before that immortal December sun went down, by tactics the most splendid, anni- hilated them, though their forces were equal to his. The campaign of Jena came quickly after, and in a few days the ]U'oud army loft by Frederick the Great was not to bo found. On to the North he flew to meet the Russians, who this time were hastening to the assistance of Prussia. At Eylaw he received a check, butFriedland some months after built for 11 hirn the raft of Tilsit, on whicli he stood master of Europe, He then went to Spain ; the life of Sir John Moore will tell the rest. From Spain he hurried to Bavaria where Anstria was anrain trying her chances against him. Around Echmnl VVelhngton saw the art of war perfected ; he entered Vienna a second time ; at Aspern he was first beaten, hut AV: nam placed him, where noman in Europe was placed before. 1 hen came that ftital Russian campaign. lie essayed to subdue the North; he had defeated it before.^That North, that inhospitable region, yet the .linge of Europe, the cradle of manly races. Ihe Romans put to flight its tribes over and over, biit there they remained to destroy her power in the end. France, England, Turkey and Italy combined not many years !' o, against it. They stuck for a long year and more at Sebas- topol, then got into it; they destroyed some towns around iu shores, they went to look from a safe distance at Cronstadt, turned back : that is all. Napoleon thought when he crossed the Kiemen with 400, to 500,000 men that a grand conquest was in his hand; Smolensko was taken, but no victory was gained. At Borodino he forced the Russians to retire, he en- tered Moscow; we all know what followed. That grand army melted into nothing. He raised another arm3% almost as num- erous as the preceding. He was victorious over the Russians and Prussians at Lutzen and Bautzen, over the Russians and Austrians at Dresden, but in the end wearied out, and over- powered by numbers, he was driven from Leipsic, forced over the Rhine, and fought the French campaign — a campaign in every respect, as extraordinary as his tirst, only it was not suc- cessful. With forces one third or o^ fourth of those of the Allies, he pounced upon the army of Blucher, and after several victories put it for a while hors de combat ; right away he stood in front of the grand army under Schwartzenburg, who with double the number of men and more — iron veterans, —-and under the eyes of the Sovereigns of Russia and Prussia, after having sustained defeats at Na^^gis and Montereau, was forced to retreat, and then to solicit an armistice. There is a sketch, as short as I can make it, of his campaigns, excepting the Belgian one. If they do not prove the genius of a master mind in war, I do not know what ones would. When I see him, on the one hand, a mere lieutenant giving orders simple and few to a handful of men, and on the other a mif^hty German Potentate, who was at once an Emperor and a King, and with him Frederick the Great's successor; and then when twenty years having gone by, I behold these same Sovereigns with many minor ones in Dresden pay court to the quondam lieutenant, and send contingents to the army, which was on its way to overwhelm another Emperor, already by him twice 12 defeated — and all this through the force of his sword — T can't but bay that the intervciing period must have witnessed war- like deeds, unparalleled in the history of battles and cam- paigns. AVere I a military man, or had I even time, I would enter more into details. We might see how well he planned each campaign, how ably the plan was carried out, how complicated manoeuvres tended to one object, and that was when and where the mortal blow was to be struck. We might see how his genius appeared grander as his expedi- tions became more vast. We might see him on the battle- field, cool as thought, quick in decision, like lightning in action ; and how well he knew when to hurl forward the reserves, whifh were to give him a victory not to be forgot- ten. But then I must pass to the other part of my lecture, — his political life— which I shall embrace in a few brief re- marks. He was great in peace as in war. He was more than a Von Moltke and a Von Bismarck in one, each of whom studied him deeply. As I remarked in the beginning, he always had a throne in view. AVhen he returned from his first Italian campaign, with its laurels on his brow, he looked around, and Avith his penetrating eye saw the pear v,-as not ripe. He went to Egypt, seeking in his ambition a crown in the East. He failed. In the meantime the armies of France were beaten on every side; a weak Directory M'ere hastening her ruin ; chance brought him this news ; lie made haste back to Paris ; he at once perceived that France felt, if she did not express her desire of a stronger arm, to save her from \^v enemies, and that she Avas sileii"tly looking up to the hero of Italy and Egypt. The pear n-as now ripe. He set to work and worked well ; he upset the Directory without the sheddi'^g of blood; his ideas were those of olden times; he made" himself First Consul, But he sat not yet on a throne. He sets to work again ; again he works successfully ; step by step he climbed up, till not a regal, but an imperial Crown was placed on his head. This is rising high in a few years. The student Bonaparte be- comes not King, but Emperor of that country, which shed the blood of its Sovereign, which applauded the wildest Radicals, which rushed in a body to its frontiers to defend Republican principles, first by dazzling it by his victories, then by turn- ing to his favor its first men - t.d finally by making it ^I'os- perous. Canning, in his able Essay on JSTapoleon, attacks him for thus usurping the reins of Government in France. He comes out with that sickening cant of outraged liberty. Now I am not going to defend Napoleon's action in the case, but I say this much ; — I i^refer a decent rof^ue wh.o can help 13 ;l his nei«,^hbor, thoncrh sometimes he cheats him, to a mean miserable rogue, who always looks out for himself. And more: Canning's attack is based on the idea of people's rights. Now, I would wish to know, was there any event during the French Revolution, received with greater favor, and more approved of by the French people, unless you ex- cept the beheading of that arch-republican Robispierre, tlian the coniing of Napoleon into power. I believe, that outside of religion it was one of the greatest boons ever conferred upon Franco. The results show it. Here I cannot do better than lay before you some extracts from an article in an old French Magazine, written by a French Royalist. Here are his words : " The coming of Napoleon into dictatorial pow- " er was marked by rapid improvements in the various bran- " chcs of public administration. This extraordinary man im- " i)ressfcd upon his first acts of government the seal of the or- " der, of the loftiness, of the energy, which characterised his " powerful genius. lie saw, to make himself master of the "Revolution in France, that it was necessary at once to daz- " zle minds by the prestige of greatness and of glory, and to "restore to the social order the true moral guarantees, and to " put down parties with an iron hand. Hence we see him " re-establish in succession upon the old bases (with modifi- " cations nevertheless suitable to his policy), Religion, Public "Instruction, and the administration of Justice. The Con- " cordat,_ the University, the Codes of Law, all proclaiming " for their first principle, the respect due authority, were the " foundation upon which he based his system of government. " The first cares of the Consul were bestowed on repairino- " the evils occasioned by the civil dissensions. La Vendee " and Lyons rose from their ruins. The French exiles could " return to their country. The Sisters of Charity and the " Christian Brothers came again to take care of and to con- " sole the sick and the aged, and to instruct poor children. "At the same time, that these elements of order were placed " around his power, the greatest encouragement Avas given to " material interests. First Consul or Emperor, Napoteon ne- " ver ceased to occupy himself with prodigious activity in the " restoration of all the branches of national prosperity. Ship- " ping interests, Ports, roads, canals, agriculture, industries, " Finances, public monuments, prisons, etc., etc., nothin