His greatest civil achievement was undoubtedly the codification of the laws, and it was the one of which he was proudest. That he contributed much to the Code Napoleon besides the driving power that insisted that it be promptly put through, there is no doubt. His great contribution was the inestimable one of commonsense. He had no patience with meaningless precedents, conventions, and technicalities. He wanted laws that everybody could understand and would recognize as necessary and just.
NAPOLEON AS FIRST CONSUL
Nothing more daring was undertaken in this period by Bonaparte than his reëstablishment of the Catholic Church and his recall of thousands of members of the old régime driven out of the country by the Revolution. It was an attempt to reconcile and restore the two most powerful enemies of the Revolution, the two that the first consul knew Europe would never cease to fight to restore to power. There was of course great opposition in radical and republican circles to both ventures.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
From the painting by Delaroche.
LIEUTENANT OF ARTILLERY
From a painting of Napoleon by Greuse.