this moment,
until he was a prisoner in the hands of the English, Napoleon Bonaparte
was sole master of France.

The early simplicity of the republic was disappearing. The receptions
of the first consul at the Tuileries began to recall the days at
Versailles. Josephine, fascinating, and perfect in the art of dress,
knew well how to maintain the splendor of her new court; as also did
Bonaparte's sisters, with their beauty and their brilliant talents.
But outside of France, and across the channel, the consul was only a
usurper, and Louis XVIII. was king--an uncrowned but legitimate
sovereign!

Perhaps it is not too much to say that nothing in Napoleon's career has
left such enduring traces, and so permanently influenced civilization,
as two acts performed at this period: the creation of that monumental
work of genius the codification of the laws of France and the sale of
Louisiana to the United States. Spain had ceded this large territory
to France in 1763, and Bonaparte realizing that he was not in a
position to hold it now, if attacked, sold it to the United States
(1803), in order to keep it out of the hands of England.

The goal to which things were tending was realized by some. A
conspiracy against the life of the consul was discovered. Napoleon
suspected it to have originated with the Bourbons; and the death of the
young Duke d'Enghien, a son of the Prince of Conde, without pity or
justice, was intended to strike with terror all who were plotting for
his downfall. The swiftness with which it was done, the darkness under
the walls of Vincennes, the lantern on the breast of the victim, and
the file of soldiers at midnight, all conspired to warn conspirators of
the fate awaiting them. It was the critical moment at hand which
turned Bonaparte's heart to steel.

Only a few days after this tragedy at Vincennes a proposition was made
in the Tribunate to bestow upon the first consul the title of
hereditary Emperor of the French!

This new Charlemagne did not go to the pope to be crowned, as that
other had done in the year 800; but at his bidding the pope came to
him. And when on the 2d of December, 1804, the crown of France was
placed upon his head, the great drama commenced in 1789 had ended.
Rivers of blood had flowed to free her from despotism, and France was
held by a power more despotic than that of Richelieu or of Louis XIV.

At war with all of Europe, Napoleon swiftly unfolded his great plan not
only