Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1882-10-05

Napoleon III. and the Empress nat
urally attached importance to drawing
eminent men of letters to Court; but
for the very reason that honors and
more substanlia l things were showered
upon those who came, every author and
journalist who declared himself Bo-
napartist got accused of selling his pen,
and lost influence. From his rock at
Guernsey Victor Hugo exercised
dreaded pontiiicate over the world of
letters, laundering anathemas against
those who held any parley with the
"Man of December" He had sworn
in magnificent verses written in his
"Chatiments," never to re-enter France
so long as the Empire lasted; and he
kept his word; yet on one or two Occa-
sions the Emperor caused him to be
treated with dignified courtesy. When
Lies Miserables" was published, The
ophile Gautier, who was literary critic
of the Moniteur, wrote brilliant pan
egyric on this book; but the editor was
afraid to insert it until he had submit
ted proof to the Emperor. Napoleon
III. at once ordered that the article
should appear; and when next he saw
Gautier at one of the Empress's Mon
day night receptions. said few kindly
words to him in praise of Victor Hugos
genius. He was always gracious i'm
this way to those who approached him
in friendly spirit, and il may truly be
said that no sovereign ever treated
writers with such high consideration
as he did. There is story of the Prin-
cess Adelaide, Louis Philippe's sister,
having, in the fondness of her heart.
sent fifty francs by footman to re-
nowned critic, who, she had heard, was
in straitened circumstances: Napoleon
LII. never affected to regard writers
after this lofty fashion, as Bohemi-
ans. He put Prosper Merimee,
Ponsard and Sainte Beuve into the
Senate, thereby giving them sal
aries of $1,000 year. He made
the Corps Legtislatif vote a pen
sion of 10000 francs year to Lamar
tine, Republicans; Octave Feuillet he
appointed Librarian at Fontainebleau;
and Jules Sandeau Librarian at Com
peigne, sung and well-paid little sine
cures. Edmond About was sent by
him on special missions, and commits
stoned TO write pamphlets; and num-
bers of other agreeable writers, taking
the definition given in Lothian of
agreeable people, were made happy
with inspectorships of fine arts, custo-
dianships of museums, and so forth.
The Emperor was even sedulous to
provide halfway houses for men of
talent who were willing to forsake the
Opposition without going over at once
to the Tuileries. The Princess Mathilde
used TO offer charming hospitality to
these demi-rallies, and at one time
Prince Napoleon made of the Palais
Royal a place of resort for men like
Ernest Renan, Emile de Girardin, Emile
Olivier. and others, who were trying
to form an Imperialist Liberal party.
All this was of no use, however, and
the Emperor got little more assistance
from the authors whom he petted than
from the loyal cures whom he promot-
ed to be bishops. The cures, when they
had obtained their mitres. ceased to
gush about the Napoleons and tried to
curry favor with the Vatican: while
the men of letters who went to Court,
avoided writing line in favor of the
Empire, hut rather gave that institu-
tion SLY little digs with their pens to
avoid the reproach of servility.
Among the papers found at the
Tuileries after Sedan. was the plot in
the Emperor's own hand of a novel
which he had desired that some popu-
lar writer should work up for him. 1t
was TO describe the adventures of one
Jean Bernard, who, coming up to
Paris full of disloyal ideas put into his
head by Republicans, was to be con-
verted to Bonapartism by the splendors
of the capital, and the sight of the
many great and good things which the
Empire had done for the working man.
The novel was never written, but the
hero, Bernard, whether he came from
the French provinces, from England or
from across the Atlantic, was type of
Bonapartist proseltye common enough.
London Times.