The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1871-06-07

his passions" 90,
In this sentence>is the key to the
understanding of Napoleon,s greatness
and ~littlepess. But,-inzthe ccinposi-
ton Of his history, NE Theirs lays out
all ~his-srength m4eahibiling the re-
suits of Napoleon genius, aud dwells
but briefly open The faults Of his poll
cy. Each of his great battles is the
subject of a chapter 80 ,surctfarged
with Interest, that the dufiest reader
cannot escape the SPELL
Hence it was that tlrs France Of
1845 derived from the work an i'm
preston of Napoleon's genius aud
power which enhanced 4 hundred fold
their impotence with the respectable,
but petty and timorous government of
Louis Philippe. 1t was this book,
more thar any other single influence,
that sent Louis Philippe flying across
the Channel in a fishing smack. 1t
was this book that reconciied France,
in some degree, to the most contempt
BILE charlatan that ever brought de-
struction on a state-the creature
nick-named by chance Napoleon the
Third. Such is the power OF printed
matter 30
NJ. Thiers owes his importance in
the world chiefly TO the press; for if,
rs an orator, he exerts any influence,
it is from his speeches as printed, not
rs spoken. In person, he is under the
average stature ven as FreHchmen,
and the whole expression of the man,
both in countenance and figure, is the
opposite of commanding. In his
younger days, it used to be said of
him, that 'little of his face could be
seen because he wore such, large spec
tacles;" and he had a curious habit of
skipping about a room, that rendered
him a marked object in a deeorous
crowd. Nevertheless, the Yivacity Of
his conversation generally drew around
him . number of listeners, and he was
a welcome guest al some of the most
distinguished houses in Paris.
NJ. Theirs descends from 4 family
of cloth merchants, long established at
Marseiles, where he was born in 1877.
In the French. revolution the family.
were reduced to poverty, and it was
through the generosity of n relative
that he obtained his education AT
twenty three he Lad finished bis legal.
studies, and was admitted to the bar
Both at school and at college he had
shown literarystalent, %and~he-sfgnal-
ized the Fret year of his professional
life by sending an essay to compete
for a prize ofeEedzhy the Academy of
AK. His essaY4was found by the
judges to be Che best, but they hest
tated TO award the prize for a discourse
so full of Republican ideas, and there
fore they POSTPONED their decision I'M
til the foIfowfhg year, when other es-
says might baexpected. The'young
advocate playEda neat trick upon the
judges. He sent back his first essay,
without alteration ; and then, having
written another, he caused that to be
forwarded to the Academy from Paris
The prize was awarded to the new es-
say; and the one Of last year was pro-
nounced the second in point of merit.
This remarkable triumph decided
the Young man to abandon the law
and seek his fortune in Paris as a wri-
ter. a college friend, NJ. Mignet,
since famous as an historian, had pre-
ceded him n few weeks, and when
Theirs arrived they joined forces, and
lived together in great intimacy, toll
ing day and night upon any literary
work they could find. Theirs, the
bolder of the two. presented hhmsclf
to a noted liberal member of the As
sembly from Marseilles, who intro
duced him to Etienne. the famous ed
ior discerned the talent of the young
man, published portions of his prize
essay in the paper, and enlisted the
regular aid Of his pen.
His editorials were a happy mixture,
it is said, of audacity and prudence !;
they at once attracted attention, and
gave him a standing in the. profession.
Before he had been in Paris eighteen
months he was able to afford his
mother a moderate pension /; for, be-
sides the payment which he received
for his contributions, the rich German
bookseller, Gotta, conceived such an
affection for him, and attached so
much value to his spirited and liberal
writings, that he gave him the income
of one of the shares of the Constitu-
tionel.
1t was in 1921 when Theirs arrived
in Paris and begun his literary career.
Louis the Eighteenth was then upon
the throne-that good-tempored old
Bourbon, who had grown SO fat that
he could not walk, and was truddled
about. the palace in a go-cart-that
Bourbon who 'tforgot nothing, and
remembered nothing" As at a later
day, Theirs lent a powerful hand in
the revival of Cesarism, SO now, in
his youth, he contributed as much as
any other individual to the overthrow
of Bourbonism.f In 1923 appeared
the first two volumes, of his History
of the French Revolution. This work,
the product of a liberal mind and
most vivid pen, was among the potent
causes of that revival OF the liberal
spirit which preceded the Revolution
of $780,. The work had a striking
success. Under various forms it has
circulated in France to the extent of
nearly two hundred thousand. copies.
although an expensive work in ten
volumes
He continued, however, to attack
the Bourbon policy in the Constitu-
lionel. When the warfare grew hot,
he founded, with his old friend Mignet
and another colleague, a new paper,
called LIE National, each agreeing to
serve a year in turn as editor in chief.
Every number was a blow at the dy-
nasty. One editorial of M. Theirs
was so telling, and made so profound
an impression, that it perceptibly hur-
ried the catastrophe. 1t was entitled: