Asa H. Craig, (Asa Hollister), 1847-1934
One of the greatest generals the world ever produced was Napoleon Bonaparte — not great in deeds of charity and Christian forbearance, but great in the deeds of heroic valor. His whole life was one of restless ambition. Born under the influence of military laws, cradled in national strife, and raised to manhood at the beginning of the most terrible revolution the world ever saw, is it any wonder war and conquest was the field of his ambition?
His great strength lay in his power of perception, his swiftness of action, his courage, and his discipline. His presence commanded enthusiasm, confidence, and inspiration. By intuition he saw die conditions, and with the boldness of assured confidence he struck his fatal blows. He knew his own strength and he knew the weakness of his enemy. He planned only to conquer. Retreat to him was impossible and could not be considered. The map of the world lay at his feet and he played his armies in the great chess game of nations. In the game of checkers, e crown our kings, but m his game of nations he uncrowned them. Naught stood in the way of his ambition. Even Church laws must bend to his will. Two Popes were imprisoned for refusing to obey his requirements. Laws, rules, and edicts of the Church were changed at his command. He would conquer Europe. He would bend the knee of the proud Briton, but alas! he met his Waterloo.
The star of destiny had set. The sun of his ambition was shrouded in darkness, and he died an exile, the victim of his own aspirations.
His first appearance in the light of a powerful character was after the execution of Robespierre, July 28, 1794. The persecution against Catholics was somewhat abated. The government and people were tired of bloodshed. The Jacobin clubs were closed, and this most infamous society which, during the Reign of Terror, directed the mobs and rabbles, was forced to yield to the dictates of reason. The deputies who had been compelled to leave during this stormy period were invited to return and resume their seats in the Convention. The Catholic Church was not recognized or considered, in the reestablishment of government power, but a proper form of worship was established by special order, and religious freedom again prevailed.
The Terrorists were highly incensed at the adoption of any form of worship, declared open hostilities against the Convention, and demanded that this new law should be repealed. The Convention was awed at the boldness of these victims of apostate philosophy, and when on October 5, 1795, they gathered a mob of forty thousand men and demanded a renunciation of all Christianity on the penalty of death, they appealed to Napoleon to defend the new government. Here we find the marvelous execution of this great genius. Given command, he quickly forms into line a small army of men, and as the mob advanced, he met them with a storm of grapeshot, and before they could reform for a new attack, he had charged with all the impetuousness of his determined nature and sent them back In wiki disorder. This decisive blow won for him the confidence of the new government, and France, at last, had found a man capable of controlling and directing its tremendous energies.
The Reign of Terror had left chaos, confusion, min, and bloodshed. It had destroyed life, confiscated property, and cast a blackened cloud upon Christianity. In the name of “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” it had condemned monarchies, denied the worship of God, strangled liberty of conscience, destroyed nobility, confiscated the wealth of the rich and executed thousands in the mad frenzy of rage. France was the victim of uncontrolled passion, infuriated mobs, and Atheistic philosophy. It was one boundless field of despotism. A tear, a sigh, was evidence of distrust, persecution, and execution. While Napoleon was closer to the leaders of the great revolution than the world knows, yet in the support of government he was faithful and true. He sought position through his sublime efforts. The mob of Terrorists was but the beginning of his great career* He was not tyrannical, but stem and unyielding. If men or nations differed with him, he demanded a surrender.
A few weeks after Napoleon had# defended the Convention and won his first great achievement, the Convention adjourned, having established the new government, lows, and constitution. There were three departments, similar to all republican governments of today, only the executive department was vested in a Board of Directors. Up to this time the Republic had been on the defensive. The Board of Directors, under the great pleas of humanity, decided to fulfill its early promise to aid all nations to rise against despotism, destroy royalty, abolish class privilege, and become free and independent. The prospects of the new nation were so grand in perception, so equal in society, and so national in government, they proposed to share with all governments in the great philosophy of the brotherhood of man. She would make all Europe like herself. Her communicative genius extended to other empires, and with the recent independence of America, the doctrine of self-government received favor and spread rapidly among the people of Europe.
A prominent writer says: “Easily seduced herself, she easily seduces others.” But for the prospect of freedom, social and political equality, which ever stirs the souls of men, Napoleon would have opposition stronger and fiercer. The French armies were everywhere received and welcomed more as a friend than a foe. He was a foe to monarchies, but not a foe to man. He sought to give freedom and self-government to all people. Thus was France enabled to establish commonwealths and surround herself with powerful allies. She conquered Europe, not by her victories, but by her promises, Victor Hugo says: “An invasion of armies may be resisted, but an invasion of ideas cannot be resisted.”
The ideas of Napoleon were in advance of public sentiment. The times were not ripe for republican institutions. The people had been taught that kings held a divine right over nations. They felt the injustice of despotism, but were not competent to grasp the meaning of independence. They would follow blindly the philosophy of justice to all, but could not institute its enforcement. They were born under control and knew nothing of political opposition. Kings must exist in the future, for they had existed in the past. And thus, the republics established by Napoleon were short-lived. The people could not appreciate its meaning, and when the influence of this master mechanic was directed in other channels, the powers of royalty gained ascendency and the fruits of conquest were lost. No, not lost, for in the reestablishment of monarchies a broader government was instituted, more in harmony with the rights of man.
We will not enumerate the victories of Napoleon in Italy and in Austria, or Egypt. Republics were formed in Italy, and Austria ceded her Belgian provinces. The “Battle of the Pyramids” opened a victory to all Egypt. In 1799 he led his army to attack the Turks in Syria, but at Acre was defeated by an English army and returned to Egypt. His plans were now changed. Instead of a conquest of Persia, India, and all Southern Asia, he turned his eyes towards home. His army was worn and thinned in ranks. He was bitterly disappointed, and while he had conquered Egypt, yet he had lost the great ambition sought. He had not conquered Syria, and, like Alexander, stood at the foot of the Himalayas.
We will now return to the affairs in France. Napoleon had been sent to Egypt by the Directory, more for fear of his presence in France, than for the victories he won. They knew his power among the people and secretly invested him with command for foreign conquests, believing that discretion was the better part of valor. While Napoleon was winning victories in Egypt the armies of the Republic were victorious at home. In the year 1798 the French set up three new republics by conquest in Italy. These were the Tiberine, Helvetic, and Parthenopaean. The Tiberine, or Roman Republic, was established by the capture of Rome; the Helvetic, by an invasion of Switzerland, and the Parthenopaean was the capture of the little kingdom of Naples.
In the capture of Rome, a cruel plot was invented, which incited an insurrection against the Papal government. A street mob, which had been purposely stimulated to deeds of violence, attacked a French division, and General Dupliot was killed. Troops were immediately ordered to invade Rome, capture the Pope and proclaim the Roman Republic. On the 15th of February, 1798, the Tiberine Republic was declared and the Pope was divested of all authority and carried away a prisoner. He was taken to Siena, thence to Florence, and thence to Valence, where, in the agony of a broken heart, he died August 29, 1799.
Probably no act of this new republic was less justifiable, less honorable, less Christian, than the capture of the Pope and holding him a prisoner until death. It was the intrigue of the old doctrine — no God, no Christ, no Resurrection. The sophistry of Voltaire, the worship of Reason, still worked in the minds of the people, and this new persecution was but another attempt to overthrow the Church of Christ and establish religious anarchy, chaos, and confusion.
The Pope scarcely murmured against the demands of his enemies. Like the Apostle Peter, he patiently submitted to persecution, believing that in God’s own time wrongs would be righted, religious worship established, and the Church made stronger and more enduring. He bowed his head in meekness, and in silent supplication prayed to the God of his Fathers to protect his people, protect his Church, and protect the Great Gospel of Truth. He died August 29, 1799, a martyr to the ambition of France. But in his death grew a remonstrance of injustice, a feeling of loving pity, and a strong desire to establish the right. Like the persecutions of Roman Christians, these acts were but the workings of God’s methods to clear away the sophistry of Reason, establish Divine worship, and plant Christianity in the minds of all men.
In this act of persecution, the French Republic lost the respect of the nations of Europe. They denounced it as one of cruelty, oppression, and despotism. They sought to comfort the Pope in words of consolation. They grieved to see the head of the Church ruthlessly tom from his place of worship, disarmed of authority, condemned to exile, and bowed down in grief and agony. While France may have looked upon the event as of human benefit, yet the whole world stood aghast at this cruel demonstration of power.
What was lost in the victory of French armies was gained in the great triumph of filial love and affection. The martyrdom of the Pope broke the ice of indifference among the people of those nations who were lukewarm in worship, and in the future restoration the ties of love became stronger and the power of Truth more brilliant and everlasting.
On the 1st of December, following the death of the Pope, thirty-five cardinals met in convention, or conclave, at Venice, and proceeded to elect a new head of the Catholic Church. On May 14, 1800, Barnabas Chiaramonti was elected Pope with the title of Pius VII. Under the patronage of the allied powers of Europe he was returned to Rome.
The persecution of the Pope by the French Republic seems to have been followed with a series of disasters. The destruction of the French fleet by Nelson, the coalition of the leading powers of Europe against France, the disasters in Italy, seem to represent a judgment against the persecution of worship. While many of us may not view these defeats as a judgment sent by God, yet the connection is so close, and the effect so just, that we can see the inevitable result of tyranny, ambition, and persecution.
Early in 1799, war began in almost every part of Europe at the same time. The French were everywhere defeated in Italy and driven from their former fields of successes. It was only by the greatest efforts that the French Generals held the allied forces from entering on the soil of France. Victories were lost, the Republics of Tiberine and Parthenopaean were abolished, and in France the Directory was unpopular and the Republic on the verge of another revolution. The Jacobin clubs were again being organized. Confusion prevailed everywhere. Divisions were being instituted, and grave apprehension was felt throughout the Republic. The Directory were charged with exiling Napoleon by sending him to Egypt, and desperation reigned supreme.
The news of this desperate condition of the French people reached Napoleon soon after he returned to Egypt from his disastrous defeat in Syria. With his usual display of quickness of action, he formed a bold resolve. He would return to France, assume command of the armies, and commence a new deal. Placing his army under the command of Kleber, he disclosed his designs to his trusted officer in these significant words: “The reign of the lawyers is over” How prophetic were his words! Subsequent events are only read to see the forethought and ambition of Napoleon. He returned to France and was welcomed by the wildest enthusiasm. Thousands of people paraded the streets shouting the name of Napoleon. They instinctively felt that this military chieftain could restore the fortunes of France, establish harmony, and restore peace and prosperity. Processions of immense magnitude were seen everywhere. Floats declaring Napoleon Dictator were cheered by the populace. Fireworks were given in honor of his return, and one unbounded demonstration of joy was the reception of France, not in Paris alone, but in every city and ‘hamlet of the land.
Napoleon was immediately appointed to the command of all the armies of France. The government of France was vested in a Board of Directors and two legislative bodies: The Council of Five Hundred and the Council of the Ancients — the latter embracing two hundred and fifty persons, of whom no one could be under fifty years of age. Having planned the overthrow of this form of government, Napoleon appeared before the Council of Five Hundred and boldly made known his plans. The Council was at first thunder-struck, dismayed, and astonished at the cool demands of Napoleon. Recovering from the shock of surprise, they denounced him as a traitor, a public enemy, and a conspirator against the Republic. Napoleon did not stop to war with words, but withdrew from the chamber and sent in a file of grenadiers, who in a few minutes cleared the hall without firing a single shot.
Those of the Council of Five Hundred who were favorable to Napoleon were now brought together by his brother Lucien, who was president of the Council. These, in connection with the Council of Ancients, which was on his side, voted to abolish the Directory and establish an executive power of three persons, elected for ten years, and called Consuls. Napoleon was given the first or supreme power, under the title of First Consul. There was also established a Tribunate, a Council of State, a Legislative Chamber, and a Senate. These gave to the people the appearance of a representative government, a new Republic, but in fact was the centering of all power in the hands of Napoleon. He was now in possession of absolute control. He was commander of all the armies, the head of legislative power, and in the eyes of the French people was a king of kings. His brilliant achievements in the overthrow of the Reign of Terror, his conquests in Italy and Egypt, had dazzled their eyes, and when this new constitution was referred to them for endorsement the vote stood three million against fifteen hundred.
Napoleon was now the Cromwell of France. He had ’I overthrown the first French Republic. He stood as the to First Consul, Dictator, Despot, and while it had closed forever the French Revolution and had established freedom of worship, yet the ambition of this Autocrat was to come in conflict with the Church erf Rome. He was to demand the amendment of Church edicts, laws, rules, and regulations, because they were not in harmony with his views, plans, or relations. If the French Republic had persecuted the head of the Church while Napoleon was in Egypt, he, on his return, had not only persecuted the new Pope, but had sought to extort from him changes in Church authority that were not in the interest of Christian discipline. Not content with absolute dictation over the physical conditions of France, he sought to dictate its spiritual wants. He would stand at the head of both Church and State. The new government was really a veiled military despotism. Its name was Republican, but in fact there was no absolute government except a military despotism.
Napoleon was disappointed in not securing the recognition of his government by Austria and England. These two countries regarded him as an upstart, a fortunate usurper, an arbitrary egotist, and in no way worthy of recognition. They believed that the throne of France belonged, by virtue of divine right, to the royal family of Bourbons. But Napoleon determined to teach these countries the necessity of recognizing him as the head of a great nation. He mustered his armies and planned to attack Austria by a double blow. One army, under Moreau, was sent to invade Germany, and the other, under his own command, crossed the Alps, and in the spring of 1800 gained his memorable victory upon the renowned field of Marengo. In this battle the Austrians were completely overwhelmed, and for a second time Italy lay at the feet of Napoleon. On the very day of the battle of Marengo, Kleber was assassinated, and the French army in Egypt soon surrendered to the English. But these reverses were soon balanced by fresh victories in Europe. Moreau won a decisive victory over the Austrians at Hohenlirtden, and Emperor Francis II was forced to sue for peace, which was signed February, 1801. The emperor also recognized the Batavian, Helvetian, Ligurian, and Cisalpine Republics. In March, 1802, the English government Was Willing to recognize the sovereignty of Napoleon and sign articles of peace, which was done, and for some time it remained unbroken.
Having accomplished his desire to compel the Austrians and English to acknowledge his government, he now turned his attention to the improvement and reform of the internal affairs of France. That he was powerful in the establishment of Industries, of architecture, of engineering, was evidenced by the wonderful prosperity which followed. His great military road over the Alps surpasses in bold constructure the most difficult feats of ancient Roman engineering. His far-reaching mind saw that the strength of government was not alone in arms, but in education, commerce, arts, and sciences, and all that advances the pride and prosperity of a nation. These he established with lavish outlay of public funds. Institutions of learning, museums, libraries, theaters, public works, were established on so grand a scale that the pride of the French people became a new institution of purpose. They were proud of their Napoleon, proud of their abilities, proud of their achievements. The great chieftain had won the hearts of his people in war and in peace. Not only had he expanded their abilities in all the pursuits of life, but he opened the churches, reestablished the Christian Sunday, and priests who had refused to take the oath of allegiance to the “Constitution of the year III” (1795) were released from prison, where they had been subjected to cruel tyranny for years. The Roman Catholic religion was declared to be the religion of the French people, and the clergy were provided with government annuities for their Christian service. The public credit was strengthened and general confidence among the people was established.
In order to promote a competition in all the pursuits of life, he established a system of Merits by which honor was conferred upon those who won in these distinctive features of competition. None were excluded. The lowly in birth stood upon the same platform as those of royal blood. It was the development of character and worth he sought to reward. This system was called the Legion of Honor, and was the great incentive power of action. This was the first time the people of France had been given an opportunity of developing their abilities in the equal contest of competition. Previous to the Reign of Terror there had been no avenue by which the common people could receive praise, honor, or merit. It was an incentive to higher purposes, higher aspirations, and higher plans of life. It became popular in every rank of labor, in the study of art, of language, and in the inventive genius of the people. “In the army it was the stimulus for better
discipline, better thoughts of patriotism, and better courage in the defense of right, truth, and justice. It was everywhere accepted as one of the marvelous developments of Napoleon.
Popular as was the Order of Merit, yet the adoption of the celebrated “Code Napoleon” was the crowning glory of his internal achievements. This code guaranteed to every person equal rights under the law, in the pursuits of happiness and in the protection of property. It was enacted in 1803 and 1804. It destroyed every principle of inequality, of iniquitous, oppressive customs, of all the rules, regulations and laws that were inherited from the feudal ages. It gave to the peasant the same rights as to the noble, and is today the foundation of law in France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Holland, and Belgium. It is said of Napoleon, had he done nothing else save to give this code to Europe, he would have conferred an inestimable benefit upon mankind. When it is known that there existed in France nearly three hundred different systems of laws, it is easy to understand that the adoption of the “Code Napolconi” was a grand step in the harmony of law and order.
Napoleon now held the most prominent and proudest position of any man in the world. The greatness of his military genius was rung from nation to nation and from continent to continent. Europe was bewildered by his brilliant military successes, and in the excellency of his government they saw the splendor of his power of execution. Although arbitrary in the execution of laws, yet the hearts of his countrymen swelled with pride and adoration. He had Won their love and affection, and in their abiding confidence his will was their will and his power was their power. Had he been less ambitious he might have made France the grandest and most powerful nation on earth. Not content with the development of internal energy, he sought to extend his power of empire, until all Europe was obliged to band themselves together for mutual protection, not so much against France, as against her aggressive ruler.
In 1802 the people of France were so eager to reward Napoleon for his great services, and for the purpose of continuing his magnificent schemes of government in an unbroken succession, voted him Consul for life, with the power to name his successor. Thus, was he nearing the goal of his ambition — an empire, with absolute control, and Napoleon Bonaparte its emperor.
In 1804 the enemies of Napoleon sought to conspire against his life, and in their extended activity the people resolved to increase his power, and make more stable the government he had founded. They would change their republic to an empire, and crown Napoleon as its first emperor. Accordingly, a decree was submitted to the people, and by an almost unanimous vote it was approved and ratified.
Let us now return to the relations existing between Napoleon and the Catholic Church. On becoming First Consul, he opened negotiations with Pope Pius VII for the purpose of establishing a new agreement between his government and the Church. The demands of Napoleon were so immoderate that it was with great difficulty they reached an understanding. On July 15, 1801, a new Concordat was accepted, by which the Church made great concessions to the French government. In this new agreement Napoleon guarantees public worship, if in the judgment of the government the public safety is not endangered. In article eleven he denies a return of confiscated property, leaving the possessor in undisturbed possession. This was a hard blow to the Church. Having been stripped of all property, they were now denied a right of recovery. They were poor, needy, and dependent. Yet the French government would neither restore their estates, nor endow their seminaries or institutions of learning. Also, Napoleon demanded the right to nominate the bishops, thus dispossessing the Church of its right to govern itself. But the Pope was overjoyed at the restoration of religious worship, even if it were conducted under the supervision and control of the police. The Catholic Religion was made the worship of the French people, and although the Pope had surrendered much of Church authority, yet he was happy in the freedom which had been so long denied.
Not content with concessions wrung from the Pope, Napoleon, some months later, annexed to these agreements seventy-seven “Organic Articles” which cancelled several important provisions of the Concordat, and restored Gallicanism to its ancient state, which restricted the Papal authority in France, making it dependent more upon the will of the government.
The Church authorities protested by every means possible against these articles, but no attention whatever was paid to their entreaties. Napoleon was deaf to all protestations. It was his idea of ecclesiastical duty, and his idea must prevail. Being at the head of the French nation all things, Church and State, must submit to his dictation.
On May 8, 1804, Napoleon was proclaimed Emperor. An invitation was sent to Pius VII to come to Paris and crown him under the usual forms and ceremonies. Many cardinals and Church officials tried to dissuade the Pope from accepting the invitation. The course pursued by Napoleon in regard to arbitrary authority against the Church gave the feeling that the Pope should have nothing to do with the formal dedication of the state to the authority of the new emperor. But, as the Pope always considered the best interest of his people, he overlooked his disappointment and set out for Paris in response to the wishes of Napoleon, where, on the 2nd of December, the coronation took place. Here was performed a ceremony that was peculiar and significant. The Pope, after performing the necessary rites, declined to place the crown, whereupon Napoleon took the emblem of authority and set it on his own head.
From this time forward the relations of Napoleon to the Holy See became less and less mutual. And while the emperor sought to benefit the Church in various ways, yet in return for his favors he sought complete dominion over her. It was his will that the Pope should be under his supervision, or control, and when he requested him to regard the emperor’s enemies as foes to himself, he had gone to the extreme limit of sacrifice.
Napoleon also asked the Pope to grant several other requests, among which are the following:
He would have him acknowledge his brother Joseph as King of Naples.
Recognize Talleyrand as Prince of Benevento.
Bemadotte as Prince of Ponte Corvo.
Break the marriage between his brother Jerome and Miss Patterson.
Closing his harbors to the enemies of the emperor.
These requests the Pope positively refused, and in persecution of these denials, General Miollis entered Rome February 2, 1808, where the Pope was subjected to gross outrages, and his cardinals banished. On May 17, 1809, an imperial edict was published, announcing that the remainder of the States of the Church would no longer be under Papal authority, but annexed to the French Empire.
This wholesale confiscation of Church authority was replied to by a bull of excommunication, and a special protest against the unwarranted attack against the Pope. For this execution of duty the Pope was taken prisoner by General Radet, and, in company with his Secretary of State, Cardinal Pacca, was taken to Grenoble. The Cardinal was imprisoned in the fortress of Fenestrella, while the Pope was taken to Savona.
Napoleon now determined upon a new plan to extort from the Pope a consent to his wishes. He ordered the cardinals to come to Paris. Through their influence he hoped to change the mind of the Pope, but in this he was disappointed. The Pope remained firm in his defense of Church government.
Napoleon, through the Ecclesiastical Commission, convoked a National Council at Paris, and a lengthy debate ensued. The Council demanded the liberation of the Pope, sent an address to the emperor, and declared itself incompetent to decide on the main question brought before it. Napoleon imprisoned the most courageous bishops, and by extortions obtained a portion of the concessions desired, although up to this time he had not obtained what he sought.
‘ A deputation was now sent to Savona to confer with the Pope and obtain his consent. Being thus besieged and deserted by his counsellors, and desiring to prevent greater disaster to the Church, he reluctantly granted further concessions, but positively refused to grant the full wishes of the emperor. The Pope was now taken sick, and although he was not expected to live, and had even taken the last sacrament, yet he was compelled to continue his journey, arriving at Fontainebleau, June 20, 1812.
After the memorable defeat of Napoleon by the Russians, in the winter of 1812-1813, he again extorted from the Pope new articles of concessions, but upon further consideration the Pope recalled his new agreements and insisted that these articles could not become a part of a new Concordat and law of the empire. The victories of the allied forces of Europe over Napoleon prevented any further contests between the emperor and the Church. The Pope was set at liberty in March, 1814, and on May 24 made his triumphal entry into Rome.
Thus was the Church once more freed from the tyrannical dictation of the renowned emperor. He had defeated the armies of Europe, and in return had been defeated, captured, and exiled, and in his long solitude upon the island of St. Helena he had ample time to reflect upon the atrocity of the crimes he had committed against the Pope and his authority, and how in the fullness of Divine promises the Church was made stronger and more enduring. Thus died one of the greatest military geniuses the world ever saw. But alas! his treatment of Christianity was cruel and inhuman. He thought not of the future or the here- after. He thought not of the soul or of immortality. He thought not of Christ or His Church. He played his soul in the great maelstrom of conflict, and sought wisdom only in his own strength. He came a conquering hero, but died alone and friendless. He built up edifices of man, but tore down the temples of God. He established the principles of liberty, but demanded absolute sovereignty. He was just, yet he was unjust. He was honorable, yet he was dishonorable. He was loyal, and yet he was disloyal. He professed a faith in Christ, and yet he denied His holy servants. He was the friend of France, yet he was her worst enemy. He died, yet he still lives. He lives in the successes of his energies, in the establishment of government, in the industries of his creation, and in the memory of his countrymen. Peace be to his ashes. May his wisdom be perpetuated, and may his follies and crimes be forgotten.