destroyed the busts of the monsters who had disgraced their cause and
country, intrusted supreme power to five Directors, able and patriotic,
and dissolved itself.

Under the Directory, the third act of the drama of revolution opened
with the gallant resistance which France made to the invaders of her
soil and the enemies of her liberties. This resistance brought out the
marvellous military genius of Napoleon, who intoxicated the nation by
his victories, and who, in reward of his extraordinary services, was
made First Consul, with dictatorial powers. The abuse of these powers,
his usurpation of imperial dignity, the wars into which he was drawn to
maintain his ascendency, and his final defeat at Waterloo, constitute
the most brilliant chapter in the history of modern times. The
Revolution was succeeded by military despotism. Inexperience led to
fatal mistakes, and these mistakes made the strong government of a
single man a necessity. The Revolution began in noble aspirations, but
for lack of political wisdom and sound principles in religion and
government, it ended in anarchy and crime, and was again followed by the
tyranny of a monarch. This is the sequence of all revolutions which defy
eternal justice and human experience. There are few evils which are
absolutely unendurable, and permanent reforms are only obtained by
patience and wisdom. Violence is ever succeeded by usurpation. The
terrible wars through which France passed, to aggrandize an ambitious
and selfish egotist, were attended with far greater evils than those
which the nation sought to abolish when the States-General first met at
Versailles.

But the experiment of liberty, though it failed, was not altogether
thrown away. Lessons of political wisdom were learned, which no nation
will ever forget. Some great rights of immense value were secured, and