d have no Jesus Christ, and
yet made saints of Fenelon and Las Casas--Catholic prelates."

Bourrienne, in his Memoirs, says that it was not one of the least
singular things in the policy of Napoleon, that during the first years of
his reign he retained the festival of 14th July. I will observe, as to
this, that if his Majesty used this annual solemnity to appear in pomp in
public, on the other hand, he so changed the object of the festival that
it would have been difficult to recognize in it the anniversary of the
taking of the Bastile and of the First Federation. I do not think that
there was one word in allusion to these two events in the whole ceremony;
and to confuse still further the recollections of the Republicans, the
Emperor ordered that the festival should be celebrated on the 15th,
because that was Sunday, and thus there would result no loss of time to
the inhabitants of the capital. Besides, there was no allusion made to
honoring the, captors of the Bastile, this being made simply the occasion
of a grand distribution of the cross of the Legion of Honor.

It was the first occasion on which their Majesties showed themselves to
the people in all the paraphernalia of power.

The cortege crossed the grand alley of the Tuileries on their way to the
Hotel des Invalides, the church of which (changed during the Revolution
into a Temple of Mars) had been restored by the Emperor to the Catholic
worship, and was used for the magnificent ceremonies of the day. This
was also the first time that the Emperor had made use of the privilege of
passing in a carriage through the garden of the Tuileries. His cortege
was superb, that of the Empress Josephine not less brilliant; and the
intoxication of the people reached such a height, that it was beyond
expression. By order of the Emperor I mingled in the crowd, to learn in
what spirit the populace would take part in the festival; and I heard not
a murmur, so great was the enthusiasm of all classes for his Majesty at
that time, whatever may have been said since. The Emperor and Empress
were received at the door of the Hotel des Invalides by the governor and
by Count de Segur, grand-master of ceremonies, and at the entrance of the
church by Cardinal du Belloy at the head of a numerous clergy. After the
mass, de Lacepede, grand chancellor of the Legion of Honor, delivered a
speech, followed by the roll-call of the grand officers of the Legion,
after which the Emperor took his seat,