New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-09-20


he was a firm believer In mesmerism and In all
those premonitions and mental perturbations
ominous to soldiers on the eve of battle. he
might have found as great a mystery In his own
occasional outbreaks against authority. his IT.
resistible impulse to be where he was told not
TO be- and IN the provoking remarks when ne
made at inopportune moments. He cites THESE
things as q cause for Napoleons resentment for
getting that II was after the whole series OF
such incidents that the Emperor strove hardest
TO break down his
The GOODNESS between the two men left Tnie-
baut the master of his admiration TOT Ma
poleon's genius He could censure as Wen as
praise. At the battle Of Austerlitz, whie he
confirmed all the traditions of the presciehce
with which Napoleon anticipated and even oc-
casioned the movements Of the Russians anu
Austrians he noted also five errors that he
thinks might have been costly IL the enemy hau
possessed a capable general; and he strengthens
by almost direct assertions, the belief mat 'he
Emperor in 1919 for example. was very dlHereh'
mentally from the man who captured all i'a'!
and dictated a peace to Austria in single CAM
pagn. Against all those who have credi'ed '"e
Emperor with insight where the abilities of men
were concerned he insists that In general heh
place in the army was unworthily bestowed. or
diers only Massena and Lannes. 1t Is rather
curious that he who was ready to see mentai
decay in the Emperor defended Massena from
prec,sely the same suspicion after the misfor-
tunes In the Peninsula. He makes out gooo
case for the marshal and then forgets how me
nlea could he made for Napoleon on the
ground that in Italy he had nothing nut Datties
to think about while in later years war was
ONLY one of his many occupations. AS TO the
choice OF marshas. 1t occurs 10 him that 'he
weakness which he complains OF may nave peen
deliberately sought by Napoleon through Tear
of rivalry. But he cannot forgive the Emperor
for falling to have Soult either hanged or shot
after the disasters In Spain. The claim OF Soul'
to the victory Of Austerlitz puts him IN rage
he declares that the marshal was not on the
field at all till the battle was over, and IT was
safe to be al the front.
Everywhere among the commanding officers
he thought he saw, the Empire grew oider
a jealousy that parayzed all effort. Not only the
Emneror but others foresaw defeat. They felt
their own incapacity though only the suilen ana
cruel Marshal Davout was willing to say So
After vainly striving to write an order IN
council of war, he cried out to General THE
baut:
You know what mean; you know, too that
ont of overv twenty things I say. nineteen are
always stupid.
This unintentonal epigram at his own expense
kept his generals of division in good humor
until after Paris was taken and the emperor
sent to Elba They could not deny Davout
assertion. and so they necessarily repeated IT,
The whole description Of the downfall or the
Empire shows alteration OF genius anu un
reason and Thiebault crowns his illusions 10 inc
condition Of the Emperor's mind by reasser'lns'
in the most distinct form, the tradition OF at
tennted suicide Napoleon had in constant at
tendance a chemist with whom Thiebault had
haan on intimate terms for years. 1t was through
this friendship that Thiebaut learned how Ma
no,eon procured a dangerous poison, swallowed 1t
after the battle Of Waterloo, then changed MS
mind and desired antidote The chemist
saved his life at the moment but was horriiieu
hv the thought that some remains of the drug
nrobablv caused the lesion Of the stomach OF
which the Emperor died at st. Helena Inc IN
cident as related In these memoirs. seems better
substantiated than it is in other accounts.
In general Thebaults narrative has an air
| of eenuneness. If he praises himself, ne does II
! IN o circumstantial way with all the details OF
the actions in which he takes pride. Only MS
figures as TO the numbers of the enemy seem 10
he omen TO dispute His translator naturally
prefers Napier in battle statistics. On many
points Thiebault serves to correct the standard
histories particularly Thiers's work Inc me
noirs have been much abbreviated in its tnghsh
| form.