第888章

The following year at Saint-Jean d'Acre， on the eve of the last assault， he added"If I succeed I shall find in the town the pasha's treasure and arms for 300，000 men. I stir up and arm all Syria. . . . I march on Damascus and Aleppo； as I advance in the country my army will increase with the discontented. I proclaim to the people the abolition of slavery， and of the tyrannical government of the pashas. I reach Constantinople with armed masses. I overthrow the Turkish Empire； Ifound in the East a new and grand empire， which fixes my place with posterity， and perhaps I return to Paris by the way of Adrianople， or by Vienna， after having annihilated the house of Austria." [75]

Become consul， and then emperor， he often referred to this happy period， when， "rid of the restraints of a troublesome civilization，"he could imagine at will and construct at pleasure.[76]

"I created a religion； I saw myself on the road to Asia， mounted on an elephant， with a turban on my head， and in my hand a new Koran， which I composed to suit myself."Confined to Europe， he thinks， after 1804， that he will reorganize Charlemagne's empire.

"The French Empire will become the mother country of other sovereignties. . . I mean that every king in Europe shall build a grand palace at Paris for his own use； on the coronation of the Emperor of the French these kings will come and occupy it； they will grace this imposing ceremony with their presence， and honor it with their salutations."[77] The Pope will come； he came to the first one；he must necessarily return to Paris， and fix himself there permanently. Where could the Holy See be better off than in the new capital of Christianity， under Napoleon， heir to Charlemagne， and temporal sovereign of the Sovereign Pontiff？ Through the temporal the emperor will control the spiritual，[78] and through the Pope， consciences."In November， 1811， unusually excited， he says to De Pradt：

"In five years I shall be master of the world； only Russia will remain， but I will crush her.[79] . . . Paris will extend out to St. Cloud."To render Paris the physical capital of Europe is， through his own confession， "one of his constant dreams.""At times，" he says，[80]"I would like to see her a city of two， three， four millions of inhabitants， something fabulous， colossal， unknown down to our day， and its public establishments adequate to its population. . . . Archimedes proposed to lift the world if he could be allowed to place his lever； for myself， I would have changed it wherever I could have been allowed to exercise my energy， perseverance， and budgets."At all events， he believes so ； for however lofty and badly supported the next story of his structure may be， he has always ready a new story， loftier and more unsteady， to put above it. A few months before launching himself， with all Europe at his back， against Russia， he said to Narbonne：[81]

"After all， my dear sir， this long road is the road to India.

Alexander started as far off as Moscow to reach the Ganges； this has occurred to me since St. Jean d'Acre. . . . To reach England to-day I need the extremity of Europe， from which to take Asia in the rear. . . . Suppose Moscow taken， Russia subdued， the czar reconciled， or dead through some court conspiracy， perhaps another and dependent throne， and tell me whether it is not possible for a French army， with its auxiliaries， setting out from Tiflis， to get as far as the Ganges， where it needs only a thrust of the French sword to bring down the whole of that grand commercial scaffolding throughout India.

It would be the most gigantic expedition， I admit， but practicable in the nineteenth century. Through it France， at one stroke， would secure the independence of the West and the freedom of the seas."While uttering this his eyes shone with strange brilliancy， and he accumulates subjects， weighing obstacles， means， and chances： the inspiration is under full headway， and he gives himself up to it. The master faculty finds itself suddenly free， and it takes flight； the artist，[82] locked up in politics， has escaped from his sheath； he is creating out of the ideal and the impossible. We take him for what he is， a posthumous brother of Dante and Michael Angelo. In the clear outlines of his vision， in the intensity， coherency， and inward logic of his dreams， in the profundity of his meditations， in the superhuman grandeur of his conceptions， he is， indeed， their fellow and their equal. His genius is of the same stature and the same structure； he is one of the three sovereign minds of the Italian Renaissance. Only， while the first two operated on paper and on marble， the latter operates on the living being， on the sensitive and suffering flesh of humanity.

_______________________________________________________________________Notes：

[1] Reforms introduced by Napoleon after his coup d'état 9 Nov. 1799.

(SR.)

[2] The main authority is， of course， the "correspondance de l'Empereur Napoléon I.，" in thirty-two-volumes. This correspondance，"unfortunately， is still incomplete， while， after the sixth volume， it must not be forgotten that much of it has been purposely stricken out.

"In general，" say the editors (XVI.， p.4)， "we have been governed simply by this plain rule， that we were required to publish only what the Emperor himself would have given to the public had he survived himself， and， anticipating the verdict of time， exposed to posterity his own personality and system." - The savant who has the most carefully examined this correspondence， entire in the French archives， estimates that it comprises about 80，000 pieces， of which 30，000 have been published in the collection referred to； passages in 20，000 of the others have been stricken out on account of previous publication， and about 30，000 more， through considerations of propriety or policy.