The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1871-06-07
Louis- Adolphe Theirs.
By NJ PARTON.

/ wonder If Lord Lytton had Theirs
In his mind when he wrote that scene
in the play of Richelieu, wherein the
great Cardinal asserts that the pom is
nniehtier than the sword?
Twenty-Five years ago, as l remnm-
Der, appeared the first vo1umns of NJ.
THEIRS History of the Consulate and
EnIire of Napoleon. Louis Philippe
was then upon the throne of France {:
but that throne seemed unstable; po-
litical parties were excited and angry I;
and though France was commercially
prosperous, the people seemed dlscon
tented, and the future was m~enacing.
The reason was; that power was WELD
ed by a mar not great enough to rule
France by constitutional means, and
yet not bad enough to set the Consti-
tuition aside, and govern as a despot,
Louis Philippe neither captivated the
imagination of the ignorant, nor sat
isied the Judgment OF the intelligent.
At such a time appeared these in
toxicating volumns, recalling to TIE
minds of Frenchmen just those phases
of Napoieon's character, and just that
view Of his career which were best
calculated to reinvest his name with
its original prestige. They exhibited
France, in 1899, PROSTATE torn by
intestine convulsions her finances
ruined ; her armies defeated, ragged
and unpaid ; Europe in arms against
her the flower of her troops and her
ablest general pepned up in Egypt by
Nelson and his invincible fleet. Sud-
denly, as by a miracle, that young
oonqueror, in a single snip, Gliding the
foe, lands upon the soil of France
At his approach, a corrupt and imbe-
Gle government vanishes into space,
and he seizes the reins of power
In a day, what a change! Hope
.retured to the heart of France; she
believes on herself again. Within a
week there is coin in her treasury
twelve millions of it-and the most
pressing wants of the most destitute
corps in the army are supplied. The
civil service was re~organized; there is
efficiency in every department once
more; for there is now a. master at
the Tuileries-the ablest, in his way,
that ever swayed and dazzled, deluded
and drained a nation. Internal peace
restored. he goes forth to the war, and
after two campaigns, filed with VIC
tories go brilliant, that the most peace
full Quaker that ever lived cannot read
Of them without an occasional thrill of
admiration which at times will master
his judgment, the victor returns to the
capital to dictate a peace the most fiat
tering to the pride of Frenchmen
which a ruler of France had ever
signed. Then, released from the tolls
of war, the conquerer resumes what
is made to appear a more congenial
employment; the Improvement of Com
nerce, the founding of schools, and
the encouragement of art and science.
Such was the marvellous tale with
which M. Theirs RECALLED the people of
France in the latter years Of Louis
Philippe. Even at this distance from
the scene, the first volumes of the
work fascinated the minds of young
men. To myself, l remember, they
were a thrilling revelation. and 1 read
the volumes as they appeared with ex,
treme aviGity. Heretofore" I used
to say, eve have had a history of
these events only from the enemies of
Napoleon; but, at length, we have the
innermost truth of the scenes amid
which he figured" For a time. ]
must confess that 1 was completely
carried away by the power of NJ.
Theirs narrative, end felt prepared to
defend Napoleon Bonaparte against
the world.
1t was far from the intention of NJ.
Theirs to mislead his readers. He
had the letters, orders, dispatches and
bulletins of Napoleon at his command,
during the composition of the work;
although he had not the advantage,
which we possess, of reading those
documents in convenient volumes,
printed, bound and-indexed. We may
also say of him that he had some per-
eeption of the moral weakness and
mental limits of Bonapafte. He says,
in one place. after dwelling upon the
insensate folly of Napoleon in despoi-
ing the King Of Prussia, in 1907, of
more than half his Kingdom, accom-
panying tho spoliation with singing
indignitics:
"Every one will be inclined to in
quire, how it was possible to display
SO much prudence in war, and so little
in politics? The answer is easy, it is,