Question. What are the duties of Christians with reference to the princes by whom they are governed; and what are our special duties towards Napoleon I., our emperor?
Answer. Christians owe to the princes by whom they are governed, and we owe specially to Napoleon I., our emperor, love, respect, obedience, fidelity, military service, the tribute ordered for the preservation and defence of the empire and his throne; we also owe him fervent prayers for his health and for the temporal prosperity of the State.
Q. Why are we bound to perform all those duties towards our emperor?
A. First, because God, who creates empires, and distributes them according to His will, by loading our emperor with gifts, both in peace and in war, has established him as our sovereign. Secondly, because our Lord Jesus Christ, as well by His teaching as His example, has taught us Himself what we owe to our sovereign: at His birth His parents were obeying an edict of Caesar Augustus; He paid the prescribed tribute-money; and just as He has ordered us to render to God the things that are God's, He has also ordered us to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's.
Q. Are there no special motives which strengthen our attachment to Napoleon I., our emperor?
A. Yes; for it is he whom God has stirred up, during difficult circumstances, to restore the public worship and holy religion of our fathers and be its protector. He has brought back and preserved public order by his profound and active wisdom; he defends the State by his powerful arm; he became the Lord's anointed by the consecration which he has received from the sovereign pontiff, head of the Church universal.
Q. What ought we to think of those who fail in their duty towards our emperor?
A. According to the apostle Paul they resist the order established by God Himself, and render themselves worthy of eternal damnation.
Q. Are those duties which we owe towards our emperor equally binding upon us with regard to his legitimate successors in the order established by the constitution of the Empire?
A. Yes, certainly: for we read in the Holy Scripture that God, Lord of heaven and earth, by a disposition of His supreme will, and by His providence, gives empires not only to one person individually, but also to his family.