had already been discussed with the Pope at great length. The personal
crowning of Josephine which occasioned her tears is more problematical,
for that gesture can be interpreted variously as caprice, love or political
manoeuvre.
Having completed the Mass, which climaxed with a singing of Vivat
imperator in aeternum (May the Emperor live for ever), the Pope then
withdrew, leaving the principals to administer the imperial oath, designed
to counterbalance the religious ceremony and satisfy the scruples of
former revolutionaries. Meticulous care had been taken to see that
nothing about the coronation ceremony could cause laughter or ridicule
or give rise to jokes, lampoons or scurrilous cartoons. But once again
Napoleon's best-laid plans were nearly undone by his family. At one
point in the proceedings there was a near-affr ay at the altar between
Josephine and her sisters-in-law who were supposed to be carrying the
train. Pauline and Caroline were the culprits, and Napoleon had to hiss
some words of ferocious warning at them before they desisted.
The wording of the oath is interesting, revealing as it does the mixture
of motives animating Napoleon's supporters and representing the
apotheosis of revolutionary principles (the practice was to be very
different).
I swear to uphold the integrity of the Republic's territory, to respect
and impose the laws of the Concordat and religious freedom, to respect
and impose the respect of equal rights, political and civil liberties, the
irrevocability of the sale of national property, to raise no duty and to
establish no tax except through the law, to uphold the institution of the
Legion of Honour, to rule only in the interests of the happiness and
glory of the French people.If we disregard the bromides and the pious obeisance to vague
principles, we are left with only one solid idea: that the sale of national
property was sacrosanct. As for raising no duties and taxes outside the
law, Napoleon was the law, so that provision was meaningless. Nothing
more clearly illustrates the bourgeois nature of the regime Napoleon
presided over than the wording of the oath.
Shortly before three o'clock on a cold, wintry afternoon the imperial
party began the return to the Tuileries, arriving there after dark by
flambeau light. Napoleon was euphoric and insisted that his Empress
wear her crown at dinner, as if it were a party hat. Despite the
mischievous efforts of Pauline and Caroline, the coronation had been a
fairly complete triumph. By getting Pius VII to officiate Napoleon had