the nation seemed but one vast body, of which he was the heart, the
impulse, that sent the life-blood bounding through all its arteries, and
with whose beating pulses every, even the most remote portion, throbbed
in unison.

The same day that established the Empire, declared the rank and dignity
accorded to each member of the royal family, with the titles to be borne
by the ministers and other high officers of the Crown. The next step
was the creation of a new order of nobility,--one which, without
ancient lineage or vast possessions, could still command the respect
and admiration of all,--the marshals of France. The names of Berthier,
Murat, Augereau, Massena, Bernadotte, Ney, Soult, Lannes, Mortier,
Davoust, Bessieres, were enough to throw a blaze of lustre on the
order. And had it not been for the omission of Macdonald's name in this
glorious list, public enthusiasm had been complete; but then he was the
friend of Moreau, and Bonaparte "did not forgive."

The restoration of the old titles so long in abeyance, the return to
the pomp and state of Monarchy, seemed like a national fete, and Paris
became the scene of a splendid festivity and a magnificence unknown
for many years past. It was necessary for the new Court to make its
impression on the world; and the endeavor was to eclipse, by luxury and
splendor, the grandeur which in the days of the Bourbons was an heirloom
of royalty. To this end functionaries and officers of the Palace were
appointed in myriads; brilliant and costly uniforms adopted; courtly
titles and ceremonial observances increased without end; and etiquette,
carried to a pitch of strictness which no former reign had ever
exhibited, now regulated every department of the state.

While, however, nothing was too minute or too trivial, provided that it
bore, even in the remotest way, on the re-establishment of that throne
he had so long and so ardently desired, Napoleon's great mind was
eagerly bent upon the necessity of giving to the Empire one of those
astounding evidences of his genius which marked him as above all other
men. He wished to show to France that the Crown had devolved upon the
rightful successor to Charlemagne, and to prove to the army that the
purple mantle of royalty could not conceal the spur of the warrior; and
thus, while all believed him occupied with the ordinary routine of
the period, his ambitious thoughts were carrying him away across the
Pyrenees or beyond the Danube, to battl