New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-02-05

Francis |. OF Austria said of his son in-law after
the battle of Waterloo: Il always thought that
man would end badly: he wrote such a yIiianoIs
hanu." And indeed It became 50 bal as TO be al
lGost wholy llieglb'e II read at ali il Is by guess,
or that second sight which the blind clerks OF the
Dead Letter ONCE are popularity suppO ed to pos
seSs Much of II is represented by blanks IN the
prescriptions. and there ere many words at the
tran station OF which 10y All expert the well-tntd
reader OF manuscript can only shake doubling
head. But this WAS not ALWAYS 50. While he was
a subaltern of artillery his hand, although never
good was at least human and clear and leg bio.
There was q sort OF correspondence between II and
his simple, direct bearing OF those days. when no
dslaned personal appearance. aud the long. Hat.
straight black nair partly Ind ana heightened the
sallow face, and everything about him WAS gave.
rude, austeIe. He was not born to a bad hand,
although, ike LamaTtIne, Byron and many ether
great men, lie cOuld never Learn to spell and alter
the Nth Brumalrc the laws OF photography Incom-
NODDED nm quit, ~ lIitle as any other, But 40
matter how bad his wiring WAS. La plume entire
sesnanis,' as Lamartne wrote, 81 nous valut une
epee"
In a recent publication. " LIIistoire de Napoleon
!. dapres son Ecdture,' the Able Jcan-lipp1ilte
MchOn graphOiOg, It. "a he calls himself. makes
an analysis oi tae EWpfrOrs writing ami character;
and a clever aId int resting book u Is. uur allow
auce being made for the ecrentucitcs aud Occa-
s,Onal Wlldne-> Of the specialist and expert. winch
Iu Themselves are often amusinL. The Able nam
taInS that 10 was the pass Onate VEN meuce Ol hIs
nature am hi lnpeuetrdllr Discrimination that
broke out IN the furious lltgiDIlty OF la, writing
and conquered the earlier habits of his pen. which
still >omrtlmcsT.apI eM'dln tie ~ Glsh exercise
he wrote az 81. Helena with Las Cases. One oi he
most remarkable facts l. that the change for tho
bad took place rapidly when the tOr~lcdn Captain
Buouapartr OF 1872, who dis ngulsheu hm,el. 80
much at the siege Of Ioulon,' became the French
General Bouapaite. Carlyle brought his IA n,h
Revolution 90 a close with the hil OF grape
shot" on the step, OF II. E0ch on the Jtb Nendc-
marie 18Th October 1880; and Il is. curUusiy
enough, from General Bouapaite's shlnlly CARRIED
drai report of that day, when ne really entered IN
the scene that NJ Alchon first has occasion 1" dcui-
OnStrate the complete graphic change. ThenretOr-
ward his writing altered but little. Frankness
has he'd lpffn spH OI,.tH
strangely scamped, often replaced by tolmlcN5
scratches which are utterly llle2lDle. The pen.
SAYS the Able, seems TO swallow the words. Which
have to be OWNED. 1t Is "A hidden hand. Ihls
a natural result says this hIOWaphrr, IN an
arch-con,prat0r against everything who had
above all to rely upon profound discrimination aud
absolute impenetrlbhty. Men who can hold their
tongues show this REGULARITY ~ their whiting; icr
the writer is the slave of the thinker. VI. MIchUn
has seen many mysterious hands; but the true
sphinx appears in Nap leon alone. from the day
when his comprehensive glance showed HIM he
mastery of Europe, aud be began to combine those
plans which astOnlShed the world. l me " gladl0-
late" strokes which sometimes terminate almost
every word. indicate that marked tnosae which,
allied to his powers OF cOncealment mai, the com
plcte diplOmat'st who shows himself in the tor
Tuous, horribly serpcntiLe, almost spiral lines OF
his writing, which Talleyrand, the KING OF IegOtla-
tors. never surpassed.
Napoeons passionate nature TO which his micro
scope historian attributes many of his gigantic
mistakes, always acted on hrst impressions when II
broke through the haDltual ilrm calm TO which he
ever tried to school himself THIS mighty Struggle
of the head with the heart shaped the whole of bis
fateful history and rs shown To this student of his
writing by the constant mixture OF upright with
soping letters. In intimate connection with tins
sign is the extreme variability Of the height OF the
letters which indicates great mobility of impress
slOns. The soul of fire was volatile rs lame"
The faculty ofthought was III continual fernen'a-
tons. The Imagination soaI5 with the long stroke
OF d.
But the volcanic portion Of his character woud
have been controlled had It not been iOI partial
organic lesion Of the BRAN which is the tue Key to
"a. liza of IL inn
but II ut st. el, ma, hc cues mad who slceps
in the bed Of kings"; ard il was this cerebral abcr
ration when, combining with hes headsir 10 pas
SION led hlm constantly 70 declare war WITHIN
twcnty-iOur hours AGAINST the first conner; TO at
a wife he loved; tn propose Kingdom oi
lIavti to Louis NNll.: or 10 take million OF men
ipro the sterpcs of Russia ChatraubriInd said OF
the NapOlcoulc ideas, syStrmr dun fou on DUN
eufantp: but the mental arrangement was made
palmer 10 The Able by the apparent unconscious
leaps and bounds OF rnC imperial pen, and c-pccaly
10y rhs strange ABNORMAL form and excessive deyel-
opment OF The letter p in Napocous Wiling. Inc
historian malDt lius that the writing 0t All me
partially deran2ei which he IN, examined EXHIBITS
some similar terrible IN. which he calls la petite
bette" This sign generally consists Of Il nervous.
disordered unusual stroke which falls fatally anu
spontaneously from the pen. Pascal, whose IN
a-inatIou was 50 ont or GEAR hat h" Away "a" On
ahVSS yawnlnC ~ hrs SHE. anG whose wiring IN us
later years Napoleon's most resembles. used an cx.
tfavagant ara accusing q.
The clear. Beadcdncss ana precision OF the General
whose whole art of war culmnafct m beng Inc
strongest at a particular point = shown by hs "lten
using a FRESH paragraph for a frc-h dea aud IN The
,roCnsiou ar sDocp and light between the lines the
words and often let vecn the letters OF MS EARLIER
But the intuition, the eagle eye
winch enabled him always ~ Seize tins point OF
concentration is manifested by the frequent seia-
ration of the letters in his words. Like MaAatin
too he runs several words together: - mark OF the
dplucnye logicIau, OF the positive. practical man
who ten Is rapidly and directly t0warI the tralna,
tlon of his aims. His strong VIII hiS lnIsteri9l
and despotc nature, are denoted by the iOrcioe
manner in which he crosses his high NJ. Wonder
full enaclty is SHOWN by tine harDoous' or hort
2onta pot hooks which terminate tue last stroke on
many words: they are. Is II were, the claws Oh VIC
EAGLE prOfusiOn of Cluh-likc strokes snow ih
domitablc resolution and obstinacS, which may Ge
seen 10 have been intractable by the implacahe
hardness and ANGULAR ripidilY OF the whole Wlling
The dash Of mcanness which was always prtSeh' III
the man who gave n name to "caPoral t'Lacco -
shown in the little crooks which sometimes COM
mence or terminate the letter IN, and IN his sigma
turc which was not royal like that ot Ions NlN,
Until ne became Emperor he always wrote his name
Baopa- or Bona Parie. or abbreviated II ~. Alter
ward he wrote NqP0Is0E or NP.