The war drama of the Eagles — Background and Themes

ays before the meeting of the Council, he had directed a Committee to draw up a statement and offer suggestions.

The matter was brought forward at the first meeting of the Imperial Council, held at the Château of Saint-Cloud on Tuesday, June 12, 1804, after a preliminary discussion on the arrangements for the Coronation, when and where it should be held, and what was to be the form of ceremonial. The Coronation, all agreed at the outset, must take place in the current year. Rheims, Aix-la-Chapelle, and Paris, in turn, were suggested as suitable places for the ceremony, Paris being finally decided on; the scene of the event to be the Champ de Mars. Napoleon himself proposed the Champs de Mars, with a threefold ceremony there--the taking of the constitutional oath, the actual coronation, the presentation of the Emperor to the assembled people. A brief discussion followed on the form of the coronation ceremony, whether it should be accompanied by religious rites. It was put forward that, as Charlemagne had received his authority from the Pope, might not the Pope now be induced to visit Paris and personally crown the Emperor? Napoleon, intervening in the discussion, made a strong point of the necessity of some kind of religious service on the occasion. He did not care much, he cynically remarked, what religion was selected; only it must be in accordance with the views of the majority of the nation. It would be impossible to do without some sort of religious observance. In all nations, said he, Ceremonies of State were accompanied by religious services. As to asking the Pope to take part, from his point of view, at the moment, the attendance of a Papal legate would be preferable. If the Pope himself came to Paris, his presence would assuredly tend to relegate the Emperor to a secondary position: “Tout le monde me laisserait pour courir voir le Pape!” The matter, however, as the discussion proceeded, seemed to present so many difficulties, that the Council, after declaring themselves generally against having any religious ceremony at all, decided to leave the question for further consideration.

On that the Council turned to deal with the selection of the heraldic insignia and official badge of the Empire.

[Sidenote: THE GALLIC COCK PROPOSED]

Senator Crétet, on behalf of the special Committee appointed by Napoleon to prepare a statement for the Council, presented his report. The Committee, he said, had decided unanimously to recommend the Cock, the historic national emblem of Ancient Gaul, as the most fitting cognisance for Imperial France. Should that not find favour with the Council, either the Eagle, the Lion, or the Elephant, in the opinion of the Committee, might well be adopted. Individual members of the Committee, added Crétet, had further suggested the Aegis of Minerva, or some flower like the Fleur-de-Lis, an Oak-tree, or an Ear of Corn.

Miot, one of the members of the Council, rose as Crétet sat down, and protested against the re-introduction of the Fleur-de-Lis. That, he said, was imbecility. He proposed a figure of the Emperor seated on his throne as the best possible badge for the French Empire.

He was not seconded, however, and Napoleon interposed abruptly to set aside the Committee’s suggestion of reviving the Gallic Cock. He dismissed that notion with a contemptuous sneer. “Bah,” he exclaimed, “the Cock belongs to the farmyard! It is far too feeble a creature!” (“Le Coq est de basse cour. C’est un animal trop faible!”) Napoleon spoke rapidly and vivaciously. He had not yet, in those early days, acquired the impressive Imperial style that he afterwards affected. “His language at these earlier Council meetings was still impregnated with his original Jacobin style; he spoke frequently, spontaneously, familiarly; monologued at the top of his voice (avec des éclats de voix); apostrophised frequently, appearing at times as though overcome with nervousness, now almost in tears, now breaking out in a frenzy of passion, unrestrainedly emphasising his personal likes and dislikes.”

[Sidenote: THE LION--THE ELEPHANT--THE BEE]

Count Ségur, Imperial Grand Master of the Ceremonies, suggested the Lion as the most suitable emblem: “parcequ’il vaincra le Léopard,” he explained.

Councillor Laumond proposed the adoption of the Elephant instead; with for a motto “_Mole et Mente_.” The Elephant had a great vogue at that day among European heraldic authorities as being pre-eminently a royal beast. There was a widely prevalent belief, on the authority of old writers on natural history, that an Elephant could not be made to bow its knees. Further, too, the elephant typified resistless strength as well as magnanimity. And had not Caesar himself once placed the effigy of the Elephant on the Roman coinage? Nobody else at the Council, however, seemed to care for the Elephant.