The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. TitmarshThackeray, William Makepeace
General
The Paris Sketch Book of Mr. M. A. Titmarsh
Thackeray, William Makepeace
Paris (France) -- Description and travel
In order to give these doctrines, such as they are, a chance of finding
favor with his countrymen, Prince Louis has the advantage of being able
to refer to a former great professor of them—his uncle Napoleon. His
attempt is at once pious and prudent; it exalts the memory of the
uncle, and furthers the interests of the nephew, who attempts to show
what Napoleon’s ideas really were; what good had already resulted from
the practice of them; how cruelly they had been thwarted by foreign
wars and difficulties; and what vast benefits WOULD have resulted from
them; ay, and (it is reasonable to conclude) might still, if the French
nation would be wise enough to pitch upon a governor that would
continue the interrupted scheme. It is, however, to be borne in mind
that the Emperor Napoleon had certain arguments in favor of his
opinions for the time being, which his nephew has not employed. On the
13th Vendemiaire, when General Bonaparte believed in the excellence of
a Directory, it may be remembered that he aided his opinions by forty
pieces of artillery, and by Colonel Murat at the head of his dragoons.
There was no resisting such a philosopher; the Directory was
established forthwith, and the sacred cause of the minority triumphed,
in like manner, when the General was convinced of the weakness of the
Directory, and saw fully the necessity of establishing a Consulate,
what were his arguments? Moreau, Lannes, Murat, Berthier, Leclerc,
Lefebvre—gentle apostles of the truth!—marched to St. Cloud, and there,
with fixed bayonets, caused it to prevail. Error vanished in an
instant. At once five hundred of its high-priests tumbled out of
windows, and lo! three Consuls appeared to guide the destinies of
France! How much more expeditious, reasonable, and clinching was this
argument of the 18th Brumaire, than any one that can be found in any
pamphlet! A fig for your duodecimos and octavos! Talk about points,
there are none like those at the end of a bayonet; and the most
powerful of styles is a good rattling “article” from a nine-pounder.
At least this is our interpretation of the manner in which were always
propagated the Idées Napoléoniennes. Not such, however, is Prince
Louis’s belief; and, if you wish to go along with him in opinion, you
will discover that a more liberal, peaceable, prudent Prince never
existed: you will read that “the mission of Napoleon” was to be the
“testamentary executor of the revolution;” and the Prince should have
added the legatee; or, more justly still, as well as the EXECUTOR, he
should be called the EXECUTIONER, and then his title would be complete.
In Vendemiaire, the military Tartuffe, he threw aside the Revolution’s
natural heirs, and made her, as it were, ALTER HER WILL; on the 18th of
Brumaire he strangled her, and on the 19th seized on her property, and
kept it until force deprived him of it. Illustrations, to be sure, are
no arguments, but the example is the Prince’s, not ours.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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