New-York daily tribune., 1856-03-22
ABBOT7rS NAPOLEON.
From The Lc,ds, Itiesesm.

The art of illustration belongs to all periods OF msssI
history; and the "pctures in this lte OF NspoheI
Bonararte are evidently relics OF Sinstc rock i'll
which certain zesous theorist saw pateha q
knee.psn. designed with anatomical fidelity" and M
three irregular scratches, an entire horse. On an
lar principle the engravings In Abbotrs volumes ~
be supposed to represent scenes IN the career On o
Flint Consul. Some Cosmas Indc0pleustes cf o.
owl dsy might remark that "they scar all the traeU
OF age and bsrbarity;" but Mr.. Abbott, who ousk
to be good judge, considers them " beaotnuh Al
all events we know where sn abundance OF smax
kind NAV be found In printed sheet of the last
century describing the Dutch cruelties at Amboyons
in CAPTAIN John Smiths relation of his adyentur
among Uslmucks and " salvages in song collectio
TO the memory Of tie "Jolly Young Waterman'-M
la the "Six Feet Tor Penny" which represent
rural ewes the sca,let and gold Of a Lord Mayo,
Show-the counterpars oil these beauties msy
sen. "a,
Never VIVA an illustrated work" replete with
feeble and ludiorous caricature. Napdeon Doaa-
psrte had some personal dignity; but IN this ponder
Gus book he comes before us In coarse pasches d
black and white Ike a fraudulent butler or super.
aDDusted beadle. Wlt tle ehcepti1 OF TWO or enres
portraits and sketches badly copied from we.knoss
originals there are few among the wood-cuts THAI s
no: ridiculous. Those at the end representing u
tomb of Napoleon, have appeared IN other wortS.
We suspect indeed, that the narrative has been writ
ten to accompany mass Of poor, secondhand I'm.
prt ssiops from blocks that have been transported
from Paris TO London and, after Illustrating dieront
publications in each VI those cities, have been shppe4
printed Some have certainly undergone this process.
The narrative itself is amusing example OF weak
ness and perversity. II resembles some OF those
Aorid little books full OF Nap0leonienne fables which
are written by authority for the French peasentry 70
spell How far il may be worth while 10 engage Mr.
Abbott for such purpose is questionable he
"revtres and loves the first Emperor, " because ne
abLorred war;" because he was regardless of lux
ury;" "had a high sense of honor" "revered RED
ieion" respected the rights Of conscience" and
"noby y advocated equality Of privileges and the uni
versal brotherhood of man." scribe OF the Lower
Empire, worshPing in the sy Of Caprae could say ne
plagiarism, he has transcribed from the most servle
memoirs the most preposerous anecdotes and, adopt
| ing the puerile maignites of the most inveterate
Bonapalsts before aud after the peace Of 1915, re-
ioices that England must sink " beneath the bnden
of four thousand million dollarsof debit Mr.. Abbott
il too serious to make angry. Ii Is not often that
Chinese folly initiated in English tongue, or that
W. have two weghty volumes of modern biography
written in the style of a narrative by Szema Ching.
Canton commentator with whose views Mr.. Aobots
would concur tells that fauo, according to ono k
the histories attributed 10 Confucius, "psoiied tho
"word, but not like Napoleon, who waged war merely
" for the love of peace" though peace and Napo-
leon never did reign together When BonaParte oOn-
mitted his first massacre Of citizens, he said This u
my seal which have impressed upon Paris" In fu
ture, boodshed his seal, which he set upon tho
weri though it is impossible to refuse him the honor
of having developed some credtable civil projects
planned by the Convention exactly as his nephew has
adopted some OF the admirable designs or the Sepub-
lie which he overthrew.
or course it must BE- possible for writers such a.
Mr. Abbott to defend every action, however vile.
Otherwise some historical characters, now concealed
under motley Of eulogiuin, would have no ad-
yocates to apologize for bots and stains. Thus Mr.
Abbott, with pleasant scern Of logic, dwes on the
execrabe details Of the Egyptian massacre, and jut
es the indscrminate carnage perpetrated under the
direct orders Of Napoleon " B0mbshells cannot be
thrown a1ectionstey, charges of cavalry cannot be
rnade in n meek and lowy spirit red-hOt shot vii
not turn from the cradle Of the Infant the couch
"of the dying maiden The murder of about Q
"thousand or twelve hundred manacled Turkish pris-
" ers" is next excused on the same plea: " Bomb
shells are thrown into cities TO explode in the chan
bers of maidens and in the cradles Of infsnts an1
the incidental destruction Of innocence and helpless
"ness is disregerded." But what analogy earth
exists between Incidental destruction" in town
under the fire of batteries and the slaughter Of help
less multitude "frmly fettered," divided into smsA
squares, and mown down by successive discharges Of
musketry7 After this we are not astonfshed 10 be
told that Napoeons desire to poison Of his sick
warriors to be nd Of them arose from mistakes
views of Christian duty"
In the same spirit the Emperor's treatment Of Jo-
sephne is not only paiated, but extolled, well a.
the execution of the Due dEnghien. The little
episode Of Cantlon with its denOHement in our own
time, is conv eniently forgotten.
As is the su5stsnce, 80 is the style. Whrlwinds,
thunde. bolts torrents tides and hurricanes rush from
page to page, scattering the English language In
Imaginable confusion around and through the wild
mazes of the authors invention. II is scarcely to be
supposed in America where the common school should
teach the difference between good and bad writing,
productions of tbs character attain to popularity
In England trashy tales and obsolete compilations
have hitherto had . realm Of their own. Education,
if it have any social influence, must weed tho falow
ground, for while there only thistes to be had.
We have night to complain If but one class of AMI
nnals consume them.