New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-10-26
NAPOLEON.
I'M DaoADENoE OF THE EMPIRE.

ep9 With the last days Of the Empire tnaS ~
period from the fatal Russian invasion TO the
4eopening Of hostilities with the Holy Alliance
end tia invasion Of France. II would % dlm-
CULT TO choose historical period more adap'ea 70
picturesque treatment. one presenting more I'm
preestve Illustrations OF human perversity ana oo-
stinacy. It was thu time when Napoleon's sue
ceapes had eliminated. Their limits were
determined Tar less by the enmties he had created
I'll around him than by the deterioration OF MS
own oapAcaues-his moral deprivation anu MS
physical decline. The crucial test OF such man
b always his conduct under prosperity; and
thsrs never has lived q military genius OF the
frst class who did not fail when put to that test
With the world at his feet Napoleon became in
ordnately conoeited and his superstitious faith in
his star swelled to fanatician. At tho same time
his real competence was diminishing steadily, and
the full olearness and vgor of his mind had ceased
TO be applicable to the schemes-vaster than
ever-whioh his vanity impclled him to undertake.
Tho Moscow disaster would have crushed any
other man. but the hardness and the immoral.
rather than immoral. nature Of Napoleon. sup
ported him against all attacks Of conscience, oil
considerations Of humanity. and all thoughts OF
contemporary criticism. After losing the Grand
(, Army in the SHOWS of Russia he simply resumed
his career as il nothing of the least consequence
had occurred: and his boundlcss egotsm enabled
him TO believe that he could impose this view Of
the case upon France and upon the world BY
his fat.
The conspiracy Of Malet had really disturbed
him more than the deaths Of 100000 men; for
1t revealed. with startling clearness, the weak
ness Of the machinery. which was all he bad to
depend upon during his absence. In this affair
o half crazy fanatic. with three or four ac-
had by nd COMPLETELY
ceived military officers. secured control Of batta-
ion, arrested and imprisoned the Minister Of
Police, and had come within an ace OF securing
the Minister of War and all the other members
Of the Government. The simple announcement
that the Emperor was dead had suflced for all
this. The news had So stunned the authorities
to whom it delivered that they did not think
of demanding the credentials Of the messenger.
But what moved Napoleon most deeply was the
too obvious fact that when the false report Of
his death was thus bruited. nobody thought OF
the succession. The Empress Regent and the King
Of Rome wcrc ignored. Evidently all thought
that the Emprror's death would put an end TO his
dynasty. This gave him dis1uieting insight
to the popular view Of the stability OF the En-
pire: and this too, was the view taken by his own
most trusted officials: hy the men in whose hands
he had entrusted Paris and the Empress and his
conspiracy had failed. has:y and cruel punishment
followed. As though tie Government had been
fearful of tie masters personal examination Of
the accused. they had the latter tried by court
martial and shot in for;y-eght hours. When
the Emperor heard of this he was angry. but
he was still more alarmed.
NJ. de Saint-Amond proceeds to discuss the fol-
lowing period, during which the Emperor was
fOrcpS fO n M
hiped Europe. The examination Of this interval
In this work is particularly interesting. from the
fact that tie author has been able TO throw new
light upon Napoleon's diplomatic relations with
Austria from dispatches and correspondence never
before published. AS regards the central facts
there remained nothing 10 add. indeed; but these
dispatches from Otto and Narbonne, the successive
French ENJOYS at Vienna, serve to illustrate in
closer detail the infatuation which characterized
the course of the Emperor at this time, and which
drove him on TO his ruin. It is brought out with
a new certainty that Napoleon's obstinate refusal
to make concessions to Austria really caused
far less by his belief in his own invincibility than
by blind reliance upon the influence of his
marriage with Marie Louise upon her father. the
Emperor of Austria. IL is impossible to doubt
that, notwithstanding the many warning en-
ampes with which history abounds, he sincerely
believed that at least the neutrality Of Austria
conh be secured because of his alliance with the
house Of Habsburgh. Certainly he was amply
cautioned, and in full time, by his ambassadors
at the court of Vienna. Both Otto and Narbonne
laid before him clearly and at length all the
indications that the Austrian Government was
being detached from France both by the pressure
of public opinion and by the interests and needs
Of the country. The Napoleonic programme had
inevitably destroyed confidence in the possibility
of a genuine lasting peace while he was at the
head of the Government. After the reopening OF
bostilities his refusal to negotiate, and subse-
quenty the manifest insincerity Of his actions
when he pretended to he ready to negotiate. filed
The measure of dstrust. 1t plain that he
was still bent upon boundless conquest; that he
did not intend to yield any Of his purposes; that
he thought 1t still In his power to dictate to
Europe.
Nothing remained but tire coalition, and Leipsic
followed logically. Even then Napoleon continued
obstinate; and prepared to insert new drain In
the veins of France That French confidence Ii
him should ever diminish he was incapable OF
conceivng but he not too blind to perceive
that he could no longer count upon complete
obedience from his marshas his officers OF State
All these after protesting, expostulating and warn
ing vainly. and after realizing, on the field Of
Leipsc, that his military genius as well as hi
political Judgment was on the wane, had already
begun TO question themselves concerning thai
future from wbich-it was now apparent to all-ht
would be eliminated lie had exhausted the ne
sources Of France. lie had exhausted the devotior
of his lieutenants. He had exhausted the patience
Of Europe. While his arrogance was never 81
great as at this juncture, his administrative
faculty was never poor. The Conqueror, II
short, had reached the end Of his career. and TIT
fact that he was doomed became apparent u
nearly all but himself The army alone remained
faithful and trusting. but it was no longer the ole
army. and it had no longer behind it that nationa
enthusiasm which in earlier years hal made every
thing possible. After Lcpsic had reinforced TIL
lesson of the Moscow campaign the Emperor seem
"a have realized at last that he had blund