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MAGNE, who with the monarchy of France combined both a wider dominion and a loftier style. As that great conqueror had caused himself to be crowned by Pope Leo, so Napoleon now determined that his own INAUGURATION should take place under the auspices of Pius VII., nay that the more to illustrate his power, the head of the Catholic church should repair to Paris for this purpose.

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"The title of king most obviously presented itself. That of emperor implied a yet higher power of sovereignty, and there existed no competitor who could challenge a claim to it. To Napoleon's own ear the word king might sound as if it restricted his power within the limits of an ancient kingdom; while that of emperor might comprise dominions equal to the wide sweep of ancient Rome herself, and the bounds of the habitable earth alone be considered as circumscribing their extent." "The "The emperor and empress received the congratulations of all the powers of Europe, excepting England, Russia, and Sweden, upon their new exaltation."+ +

"But the most splendid and public recognition of his new rank was yet to be made by the formal act of coronation, which, therefore, Napoleon determined should take place with circumstances of solemnity, which had been beyond the reach of any temporal prince for many ages. His policy was often marked by a wish to revive, imitate, and connect his own titles and interest, with some ancient observance of former days; as if the novelty of his claims could have been rendered more venerable by investing them with antiquated forms, or as men of low birth, when raised to wealth and rank, are sometimes desirous to

*Hist. of Napoleon, vol. i. pp. 300, 202.

+ Sir Walter Scott's Life of Napoleon, vol. v. pp. 147, 148. Ibid. p. 156.

conceal the obscurity of their origin under the blaze of heraldic honours. Pope Leo, he remembered, had placed a golden crown on the head of Charlemagne, and proclaimed him emperor of the Romans. Pius VII., he determined, should do the same for a successor to much more than the actual power of Charlemagne. But though Charlemagne had repaired to Rome to receive inauguration from the hands of the pontiff of that day, Napoleon resolved, that he who now owned the proud, and, in protestant eyes, profane title of Vicar of Christ, should travel to France to perform the coronation of the successful chief, by whom the See of Rome had been more than once humbled, pillaged, and impoverished, but by whom also her power had been recreated and restored, not only in Italy, but in France itself. On the 25th November, the pope met Bonaparte at Fountainbleau; and the conduct of the emperor Napoleon was as studiously respectful towards him, as that of Charlemagne, WHOM HE WAS PLEASED TO CALL HIS PREDECESSOR, could have been towards Leo.—On the 2d December, the ceremony of the coronation took place in the ancient cathedral of Notre Dame, with the addition of every ceremony which could be devised to add to its solemnity."*

"The emperor took his coronation oath as usual on such occasions, with his hand upon the Scripture, and in the form in which it was repeated to him by the pope. But in the act of coronation itself, there was a marked deviation from the universal custom, characteristic of the man, the age, and the conjuncIn all other similar solemnities, the crown had been placed on the sovereign's head by the presiding spiritual person, as representing the Deity, by whom princes rule. But not from the head of the Catholic

ture.

* Sir Walter Scott's Life of Napoleon, vol. v. pp. 158, 159.

church would Bonaparte consent to receive as a boon the golden symbol of sovereignty, which he was sensible he owed solely to his own unparalleled train of military success. The crown having been blessed by the pope, Napoleon took it from the altar with his own hands, and placed it on his brows."*

“The northern states of Italy had followed the example of France through all her change of models. They had become republican in a directorial form, when Napoleon's sword conquered them from the Austrians; had changed to an establishment similar to the consular, when that was instituted in Paris by the 18th Brumaire; and were now destined to receive as a king him who had lately accepted and exercised with legal authority the office of their president. On the 17th March, a deputation obtained an audience of the emperor, to whom they intimated the unanimous desire of their countrymen that Napoleon, founder of the Italian republic, should be the monarch of the Italian kingdom. He was to have power to name his successor."+

"The senators of the Italian republic sent in their humble petition that their president might be pleased to do them also the favour to be crowned as their king at Milan. The emperor proceeded to that city accordingly, and in like fashion, on the 26th May 1805, placed on his own head the old iron crown, said to have been worn by the Lombard kings, uttering the words which, according to tradition, they were accustomed to use on such occasions, "GOD HATH GIVEN IT ME. Beware who touches it." IN EVERY

THING it was the plan of Napoleon to sink the memory of the Bourbon monarchy, and REVIVE

*Sir Walter Scott's Life of Napoleon, vol. v. pp. 158, 159. + Ibid. p. 170.

Hist. of Napoleon, vol. i. p. 303.

THE IMAGE OF CHARLEMAGNE, EMPEROR OF THE WEST."*

On the conquest of Italy by Theodoric, the imperial power was no longer dominant over Rome, and the authority of the emperor at Constantinople ceased in Italy. The SUN shone not for a third part of the day, and the night likewise. But Charlemagne was the restorer of the western empire; and "in every thing it was the plan of Bonaparte to revive the image of Charlemagne, emperor of the West." The pope, whose toe the successors of Charlemagne had kissed, and the bridle of whose horse they had led, stood at the steps of Napoleon's throne, travelled like a vassal at the command of his lord, and officiated at his coronation, that the form of imperial inauguration might be observed; but no hand except his own put the golden crown upon the head of the emperor. He was next installed as king of Italy-and thither he went, to be crowned its monarch. And as formerly he had threatened to be a second Attila, while the region of waters was, like Attila's, his allotted sphere of action-so in the act of placing the crown of Italy on his head, as soon as the symbol of the sun was there his badge, he took up in his lips the very word of the Revelation of Jesus Christ concerning him; and out of his own mouth, whenever the crown of Italy was on his head, he supplied an illustration, that he who is higher than the highest regarded him, and that power was given him to execute still farther the just judgment of God. While he placed on his head the old iron crown, he uttered the words, "God HATH GIVEN it me." The first thing that is said of the

Hist. of Napoleon, vol. i. p. 303.

It has been stated, but I do not recollect on what evidence or on what occasion, that Bonaparte, after his exile in St. Helena, having been presented with a Bible, pushed it carelessly aside, saying, that he "knew all about it." How differently would he

SUN on which the vial was poured, is POWER WAS

GIVEN UNTO HIM.

On this important point it may not be superfluous to adduce more direct and repeated testimony-that of the school-fellow, the secretary, and the companion of the more solitary hours of Bonaparte.

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Setting aside the means, it must be acknowledged, that it is impossible not to admire the genius of Bonaparte, his tenacity in advancing towards his object, and that adroit employment of suppleness and audacity, which made him sometimes dare fortune, sometimes avoid difficulties which he found insurmountable, to arrive, not merely at the throne of Louis XVI., but at the re-constructed throne of Charlemagne. Bonaparte had a long time before spoken to me of the title of emperor, as being the most appropriate for the new sovereignty, which he wished to found in France. This, he observed, was not restoring the old system entirely, and he dwelt much on its being the title which Cæsar had borne.”†

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"The year 1804 teemed with great events, and it would be difficult to find in history so many circumstances exercising so great an influence on the destinies of Europe, crowded together within the short space of twelve months."-Bonaparte was crowned king of Italy, May 1805. The old iron crown of the kings of Lombardy was brought from the dust in which it had been buried; and the new coronation took place in the cathedral of Milan, the largest in Italy, with the exception of St. Peter's at Rome. Napoleon received the crown from the archbishop of Milan, and placed it on his head, exclaiming, ‹ Dieu

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have regarded it, if he had known, that all his glory and his fall were written in one verse, of which too his first words, as king of Italy, were a literal illustration.

* Bourrienne's Memoirs of Bonaparte, vol. iii. pp. 37, 38. 8vo ed. Bourrienne's Mem. pp. 70, 71. Ibid. p. 173.

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