New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-11-30

mettle of the brave general" Prosecutions
were begun: arrests were talked or ana
RoulanQer's liberty was threatened. NOW all hiS
friends and supporters agreed that at SUCH !"
crisis it was his plain duty to stand MS grouho
to submit to arrest and imprisonment anu 'h"s
to secure all the political and popular results OIL
martyrdom without really undergoing more IMAM
a little discomfort and inconvenience. but the
general thought differently. 1t appears tnaV ne
always thought differently when it was ques-
ton of personal endurance. NJ Mermeix gives
a most entertaining account of this episode; de-
scribes how his friends labored to put sano IN
him, as a Westerner would say, and how ne per,
sisted in whiting: how finally he lodged tnem an
and fairly bolted for Brussels. ms hrs' 'hsn''
NJ Merme,x declares, was never known to the
rublic The generals friends were in consterna-
ton when they discovered it, and several OF them
instantly pursued the fugitive and succeeded IN
persuadne him to return so speedily that his ao-
sence was not generally known. On the second
fight. which proved final, NJ Mermeix intimates
that the generals nerves were deliberately
shaken by the crafty Government which, APP
parently understanding his temperament, sent
agents to worm Themselves into his commence,
and then to hint at all manner Of dark lnten-
tions on the part Of the Cabinet II once he was In
their clutches. He was thus, it is said, brought
to believe that his life was In DANGER
wherrupon he caioled sundry leading men among
his followers into writing letters begging him to
fly from the country, for the sake of the cause.
Whatever the motives that impelled him, ne
fed for the second time, and this was the BE-
ginning of tile end. One desperate enort re-
NAMED to be made to regain lost ground, and 10
this end the Anti-Monarchical party was solicited
for pecuniary aid. Some twelve hundred thousand
fhron mil n
the Duchcssc d'Uzes had by this time been wholly
dissipated, and there was nothing to show for It,
Now the "brave general entered the field for the
last time. allied by the strongest pledges with two
Numerically opposed parties, and calmly resolved
in his own mind to cheat them both. NJ Mer-
meix. indeed accuses him of carefully neglect!ns
to organize his own (ostensible) party, and thus
leaving the field to the Right. But it does not
aunear that he himself really did more for one
side than for the other; that is to say. ne was
equally false to EACH The grievance of NJ Mer-
meix seems to be that Boulanger did not use the
Royalst funds to perfect the republican organ
ization. That course, one gathers, would nave
appeared TO him quite justi'iabe, ana 10
politician educated in Boulangsm such view
NAV naturally be acceptable Every reader OF
these amazing revelations must judge Tor hiinsei'
in what particular crooked and dishonoraoie ways
tho brave GENERAL" most distinguished hlmseH'
but a plain critic may be excused Tor thinKlhg
that it would be hardly possible to pursue ls-
nominy in all ways more successfully ohah IL wac
pursued by this adventurer
NJ. Mermeix's volume is document OF more
than ephcmeral significance. and treasury OF
facts relating to political chcauery OF the most
curious kind. The author leaves nothing undis-
covered. He describes the advertising system EN-
Moved to keep Boulanger before tie people
He tells how the "camelots" Anglice-fakrs) were
engaged to distribute handbilis. portraits, songs
emblems, etc. He gives abundant extracts from
the thousand and one songs written to order
about the general lie reveals Count Dllons
tortuous activities and shows how many admlraole
qualifications that engmatical parsonage possessed
for the conduct of political, and especially d
Boulanrist campaign. 1t Is wonderful reading
and most wonderful Of all are the concluding
letters from Bouanger and Naquet. and the Pieces
Justifcativesn by and through which nearly
every statement made in the body OF the doom
is confirmed by the accused parties, ever whiie
they are struggling desperately to disentange
and to vindicate themselves. NJ. Mermeixs vol
urne really ought to be Engshcd, for Boulangis'i'
| is a phenomenon deserving Of study hy Aincii-
| cans no less than Frenchmen. ard even those
who do not care for the politics OF the
case would find this narrative entertaining vi
tic ethical aspects we have forborne TO speak.
They are so clear AMI SO directly In view that theS
can hardly escape the attention OF the most
obtuse or unready reader.