The wars of the Revolution and of the Empire have weighed heavily upon France, have levied the tax of blood on many families; nevertheless, the name of the Emperor is still surrounded with a magic halo. Moreover, in the east of France, the marches and counter-marches of armies, with two successive invasions, have devastated the country, overburdened the peasantry with imposts, and altogether ruined many of them. For all that, enter any cottage there, and you will find the picture of Napoleon by the side of the image of the Virgin. Even on the field of battle, amid showers of shot and shell which decimated their ranks, the brave children of the people exclaimed in death: "Vive l'Empereur!" Such are the French people at heart: if there is a tendency in them to seek their own interests, there is a tendency in them, equally strong, toward devotion and self-sacrifice. {97} If, then, you would give them a right guidance, speak to them of other than petty ideas and material enjoyments: the more so, because, if you attempt to win them over by such low motives, they will become insatiable; their appetites will get the mastery over them and plunge them into every kind of excess. Material enjoyments, indeed! It may be questioned whether France, with all its fertility, and all the resources of its advanced civilization, would suffice, in that case, to furnish their first repast. In order to elevate, to control, and to satisfy this great colossus, the people, you must be provided with something more than human, something mysterious, surpassing human views and human reason; otherwise, you will continue powerless, and will never bring about any moral improvement in the world.