During a tour through France shortly before Bonaparte's accession to the
throne he received the addresses of the Priests and Prefects, who vied
with each other in the grossness and impiety of their adulation. The
Prefect of the Pas de Calais seems to have borne away the palm from all
his brethren. On Napoleon's entrance into his department, he addressed
him in the following manner:--"Tranquil with respect to our fate, we know
that to ensure the happiness and glory of France, to render to all people
the freedom of commerce and the seas, to humble the audacious destroyers
of the repose of the universe, and to fix, at length, peace upon the
earth, God created Bonaparte, and rested from his labour!"