New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-02-11

Napoleon as the man Of genius hardly figures
In this book. The battles that he fought are
only mentioned If by accident. 1t Is the
man as he seemed in the more prosaic inter-
course OF ordinary life who engrosses the atten-
ton of NJ. Levy and Of his translator Mr..
Simeon Strenuous admrer OF the great SOL
der and emperor as NJ. Levy is. he cannot give
him heroic proportions in private life. he Is
content to see in him the apotheosis Of the mid
die class the bourgeois who raised himself above
the level OF kings. BY common. perhaps I'M
conscious consent Of mankind certain peculiari-
ties OF manner are supposed to be necessary In
q given social position. The man OF wealth
newly acquired is ridicued because he does not
wear his golden ornament with the same we'll
bred Indifference that characterizes the heir OF
rich ancestors. There is manner for kings
and emperors Napoleon did not have it, He
was a business man. business man whose &C.
equations embraced almost everything which the
civilized world could think about but neverthe-
less only business man. If he had been COM
- mercial traveller he could not have written to
his wife In a more matter-of-fact way than he
did in abiding to the progress Of campaigns
which changed the face Of Europe. II he had
been the head Of a mercantile house. he could
not have been more minutely anxious than he
was about the character and magnitude Of every
Dill thdt had 10 De pdlu II was all eActiicHl
thing for France to have at the head OF affairs
for almost a generation man so scrupulous In
money matters. Every will confess that the
monarchs who had come to their trade by in
heritance were anything but careful in such
things They acted as if all that their subjects
possessed belonged 10 the king: Napoleon acted
on the theory that he was only a steward, who
should be ready at any moment for the strict
examination OF his accounts. "He was, per-
haps" says NJ Levy. "the only sovereign who
never contracted a loan" In 1913. when his
power was breaking down. and when the last
complete budget of his period was made out, re-
ceipts and expenditures balanced exactly at
1900. 052. 900. and in addition there reserve
fund Of ss1. 400. 900 known the Imperial Treas
ure The tribute exacted from conquered ma
tons contributed to the wealth Of France but
the healthy condition of the national funds was
largely due to the unroyal perversity Of the
Emperor in looking after business matters like
a business man. Out of an annual appropria-
ton for the Civil List Of S. 200 900. fully $1,000,
900 was saved. In the course Of his reign. the
Emperor spent s60000O0 on bridges. s0.S00,000
canals s15400000 on roads. s20.oO0,OO0 on
ports and harbors and $50. 900 900 for the enrich
ment OF museums and imperial residences; and
yet when he abdcated, and was carried into
lie. he left France the richest nation on earth.
in possession Of larger amount OF specie than
the rest of Europe"
NJ Levy shows how the Emperor came by
this skill in the practical economy Of life. Much
has been said particularly by NJ Tame. about
heredity in the case of Napoleon. He has been
described a portentous example Of atavisn.
man born ages after the time when he would
have seemed legitimate phenomenon in the
European world. He exactly the man for
= the old days OF civic warfare in Italy, said
those who wished to establish a theory at any
cost. To NJ. Levy all this is amusing. 1T was
absurd" says he. "to try to forge a geneaogi-
cal chain connecting the man in his hereditary
simplicity with people like Cestrucc:o-Costra-
cani and other robber chiefs OF IL, fourteenth
and fifteenth centuries to establish his
descent form the princes who reigned at Trevlso
In the thirteenth century" 1t easy upon
certain doubtful data to raise hypothesis in
which Napoleon figured as royal brigand by
right of birth. He himself set value on the
assumptions that had been made for him. On
the contrary he valued himself socially by the
opinions those among whom he finally found
himself "He attached to the doctrine Of divine
right an Importance which almost simple
and nothing surprised him more than the fact
upon which he observed: THE Pope is actually
resisting the Bourbons as he resisted me-" He
for one, never recovered from the popular mad
ness Of Europe which for many ages contem-
plated princes Of the blood royal las made Of
peculiar material Like every man who finds
himself in the society of people who may have,
as he suspects. some occasion for depreciating
him. Napoleon was very susceptible to grievance
among kings. He complained one occasion
that the Emperor and Empress of Austria never
asked after him. and when he fell in 1874 almost
his first thought was. What will the kings say
now to this termination Of my reign" On the
40. %
which revolted against this involuntary conces
sion 10 antique reverence for hereditary rights
is attested by the enjoyment which he showed
in satrica reflections royalty. 4 belated
courter excused himself at the Emperor's lcvce
by saying that he had "the misfortune to get
INTO a crowd Of kings from which he found it
impossible to extrcate himself in time. Every
body who heard the remark laughed. for there
were indeed several kings in Paris at the time;
and the Emperor. much notified merely warned
the offender not to let the accident occur again.
IF the bourgeois side OF NapoleOn's character"
remarks NJ Levy. had not been made abund-
antly clear to during this study. we should
have found startling revelation Of 1t In his
relations with sovcrcigns who born kings,
q, he used to say-the only people in whose pres
.nce he tried to put restraint upon himself.
The only people whose criticism Of his private
life he dreaded" If he had felt within himself
any assurance Of a birthright, however remote.
he could easily have converted himself to a diff
ferent tone OF thought. 1t was what he himself
had attained. and the defects that necessarily
attended who rose as he had done which
figured in his thoughts. Thus when the
marriage with Maria Louisa was celebrated. he
experienced intense satisfaction. not unmxed
with keen feeling Of pride. that he. OF such
ordinary birth, should be united to the daugh
fpr Of one oft houses
world" On the other hand. The supposition.
more or less capable of proof that Bonapartes
had once rcigned at Treviso furnished The En-
peror of Austria with some qualification. Il
would rot, give him my daughter" the
old monarchs remark. were not convinced