Ney, Davoust, Bessieres, Kellerman, Lefebre, Perignon, Serrurier) were named Marshals of the Empire; Duroc, Grand Marshal of the Palace; Caulaincourt, Master of the Horse; Berthier, Grand Huntsman; and Count Segur, a nobleman of the ancient regime, Master of the Ceremonies.  It was in vain attempted to excite popular enthusiasm.  “It appeared,” says an eye-witness, “as if the shades of D’Enghien and Pichegru had hovered over the scene, and spread coldness on all that was meant for the manifestation of joy.”

It was not so with the soldiery.  Napoleon, with his empress, visited the camps at Boulogne, and was received with the excess of military applause and devotion.  He made a progress to Aix-la-Chapelle, and along the Rhenish frontier, flattered and extolled at every station.  Except Russia, Sweden, and England, every crown in Europe sent to congratulate him on his enrolment in the body of hereditary monarchs.  Nay, not a few of the smaller German potentates came in person, to swell, on this great occasion, the state and magnificence of the new imperial court.

In assuming the title of Emperor, not of King, it escaped not observation, that Napoleon’s object was to carry back the minds of the French to a period antecedent to the rule of the recently dethroned dynasty—­to the days of Charlemagne, 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.  It may be doubted whether, in this measure, he regarded more the mere gratification of his pride or the chance of conferring a character of greater solemnity on the installation of the new dynasty, in the eyes of the Catholic population of France.  On the 5th of November, however, the unresisting Pope left Rome, and, having been received throughout his progress with every mark of respect and veneration, arrived in Paris to bear his part in the great pageant.  On the 2nd of December Buonaparte and Josephine appeared, amidst all that was splendid and illustrious in their capital, and were crowned in Notre-Dame.  The Pope blessed them and consecrated the diadems; but these were not placed on their heads by his hand.  That office, in either case, Napoleon himself performed.  Throughout the ceremonial his aspect was thoughtful:  it was on a stern and gloomy brow that he with his own hands planted the symbol of successful ambition and uneasy power, and the shouts of the deputies present, carefully selected for the purpose, sounded faint and hollow amidst the silence of the people.