The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-12-19
NAPOLEON rnR THIRD.
lHeH.aaHa.l

tNSGheNyS.I
 Napoleon III. lived in a perpetual dream, He was born to dwell la silenee Aad solitude rather than ln ,he din and splendor Of the TuilerieS, ! have seen hun al the Eysee. aud at St. Cloud seek ing out tree. and not maa Ca ss=sT days he nevvF awoke as ell; he was . somuAm bulist, and sut ct to hAllueina. HeSs This is vhY when people stood in his presence they asked the mselves it he vas still there, Often he pppe AEed not to hear. because he answered not. But on the mo,ro~ he proved to you that he had heard distinctly. He thrust the cup f,om reality, even when the cup wax not Iineed with bitterness. He loved everything trem siAr, even wemankind. Whca he was at the table he ate heartily aud drank tolesahly, but without knowing whether the cooking vas good or the vine ot gen- uine stock, When he went to the Boia dc B>ulosne it always seemed aa if he were there for the htst time, so lev faces did he recosn's.. He saluted with his md. hu, not with hts mind. Hence it was, those about him often said "What cAa he be thinkirg otF His political enemies wrote that he only thought of betrayiug France. Go the contrary, he only thought ot making France great and snv,ncibls. He deshed that everybody should be rich, and that the fowl In the spst spoken of by Henry " should he a chimesA no more. For the tyrant had . heart oi gold. The dread of reality, wh,le IL raised him in the cloud .land of oIa it was that after the celebrated con.
 If A 4 k.sR capital eItoIs Therefore R was that, AAving decided tha. tAs empire was peace, be waged vat tot ,he sake ot others. He f,ncied himself still A be. lisver In the snen4th of the Latin races ~nen he wished io have au emperor crowned in Mex,co. He d,d not pescs,ve, 60 bl,nd was ho that WAie he IlTove 10 govern the world, he saort6ced France. That everlasting dreamer, who did not even Awake al Sedan. was A sort of iee- bound hsii paved si;a sood .n,sn.cns. He putook ot De SAin, Pleue's lon kinRs tor perpetual peace. He gathered in- spi' i'auons from all the teformess who planned the happ'ness of pationA He retained h Ais soul the generosity of Queea Hottense, and ot Josephine, hts moIhsr and gTandmo,her. flo never re- fused ought except to himseli. That man who had s0 many enemies vas not his eusm,es' sneny. Two days afer the coup detat he though, of tho amnesty. He read " Les Condiments withou, fAl. 'eslng tn hts admiration of VictoG Hugo. lie dsslIed to enrich LAmaItine another dream. He totgAve the acts ot rcaehcty of those who surrounded hun because he made Allowancs tor A proportion of evil woile he wished ,h at good should prevail. People spoke Of his leaden eye and even oi A,s stupidity, which vas at one time legendary, but beneath a mask of impAs- sivsnsss he concealed the hss that con- sumsd him. He vas hardly ever the man Of action ca guard ai the gates of :. . Louvre as at the gates oi France. As has been sAid, hs believed in hts star, in the supsiior govsinment of things, as bossust puts it. That man who loved adventures and feared Rothing bore not audAci,y on his face A, Gut sight he vas DO, thought capable of hlling An im. postaat ? art. He was small, he walked badly. ss did DO, sLins, no,hiuE abou. hlm appeared endowed with life, nsithe1 his ha.T. nor his eyes, nor his mouth. Yet whsn spseoh or smile saim hated s!ss you felt that hs was man. On horse back particularly he broke his boads aud acqai'sd some majesty. Al table, too. he looked well, for he was ali bust Whsn he doGned his nnifovm hs had somewhat the ar of eonquersr. No one dosbsed hs bravery. h that strange lie of hts one scarcely detects here and there his will. so much did he wavsr between yes and DO. Lte a painter impressed with the tdsa of grandeur snd beauty, he as- phsI to everything. Bu, he stopped short As tho sketch. not being gitsd as are the masters of the world. Hence hls personality. wh.es he wished to bs gloh- ous, wiu remain ia hslftint history wili only devote to him pages wherein the sh adows ~iii cover the hyht.