Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1859-06-30
NAPOLEON'S PERSONAL PECULIARI.

Blackwood's Magazine for June gives some
remarks on the personal characteristics of Ma
poleon III: .Fft-rfz@ a"..- go
He has gained friends as we'll as enemies by
one most extradinary faculty that he pos
sesses-that Of holding his tongue, and of doing
so in the company Of the most LOO uacious people
in the world. perfectly undemonstrative
man, some Frenchmen respect him for it,
while Others fear him. others bate him because
he will not take them into his counsels; and
many Englishmen, again, like him because he
fatters the national vanity by being in many
respects very like an Englishman. He is cold
and reserved in his public demeanor;- more
cordial, say his friends, when seen in private
Certainly he does not "wear his heart upon his
sleeve, for davis to peck at He listens to all
that is said to him, and then takes his own
course He eonsults everybody and follows
his own advice ~ rs
Again, he has a good seat on horseback.
Other Englishmen dislike him either because
| they ride badly themselves, or because, not
being able to keep their own counsel, they
hate close character Such causes, or causes
| of no greater weight, are perhaps more nearly
the true causes of his unpopularity in England
| than any commonplace notions of his being
| the destroyer of the liberties of France. He
had equally destroyed the liberalities of France
| when he made his triumphal entry into Lon
| don. The English press, at least IN some Of its
| leading organs, has undergone many phases of
OpinIOH COnctfulng niu, anu ne complained
| in his letter to Sir Francis Head Of this con-
| duct of the English press, by that very COM
! plaint showing that he had some regard to pub
| llc opinion in England. If we venture ourselves
to express an opinion regarding his character,
/ we put it forth in all modesty, and wish it to
| be understood in as vague and general a
| sense as possible, feeling ourselves incompo-
tent to take the measure of a man who is GER
t1inly not an ordinary man. 1t is our impress
| sion that he is man whose general talent has
been rather Oyer-rated than otherwise. He
| has doubtless great power of will, an un-
daunted courage, both physical and moral
| and by that inestimable faculty of holding his
| tongue he is able to bide his time, and bring
to bear on them, at the right time all the fac
| ul;ies he possesses.
Perhaps his policy appears to be mysterious,
| simply because he has no policy at all, but is
ready to abandon one course and adopt anoth-
er, according as he stumbles against a barrier
or drifts into an opening. Doubtless it is often
the cause Of success of life. Some men of un-
conquerable strength of will and great talent
get on, as it is called, by bending the world 70
their plans. Others do so by forming no plans
at all in permanence, but fashioning and re-
fashioning those they do form in the mould of
circumstance; while the secret of i'll success
even more often than TO deficiency Of ability
consists in not knowing whether one possesses
the power to lead, or whether one must be
content to follow. Louis Napoleon is said to
be fasalist, and his extraordinary elevation
would tend to confirm him in his fatalisn
Before he takes any step, he seems to hold up
his hand and see which way the wind is blow
ing, and whether the air comes against it hot
or cold. But that holding of the tongue is his
most admirable quality.