New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-11-08

.>.a.a II might oven be said that good life In
rrench Is still TO be written but that would hard
w he exact. Lanfrey is valuable; so Is Theirs.
ana IN anv one who can make the proper deouc-
tons and additions In perusal OF these au'hors'
to any one who can check the memolris's WIN
good memory and better temper, there eA's'S
In French literature sufficient biography VII
the other hand there is nowhere extaht WORN
commemorative in scope and popular In STYLE
calculated to give the general reader just what
he wants. Professor Sloane seems to have sup
r,,ed the omission. He is generally free from
rhetorical digressions. ard is. in fact positively
anxious TO tell his story In the plainest most
common-sense way He has read widely In his
aeId and has co-ordnated the results or MS re-
search In a flexible. lucid manner. He AVOIDS, IN
the MAN, the payment OF that TRIBUTE 10 the
philosophy Of history which he would douotless
have rejoiced to pay had his scheme permitted H.
The state Of European politics and diplomacy Is
constantly In his mind and he lets fall such op-
seryations from time to time as are needed 10
keep the unfolding of Napoleons career compre-
hensible as element in the history OF na'iohs'
Nevertheless, he takes no liberties with his audi
ence which may be supposed to have more IN
terest In Napoleon than in any of his antagonists
more interest in France than in any of her neigh
bors. and the speculatons or hypothesis without
which most history is regarded as incomplete are
reduced to a minimum. To a certain extent, it
must be admitted this impression Is likely TO DC
derived from Professor Sloane's first volume be-
cause Of circumstances with which ne mas hao
nothing to do. spectacular as the events were
IN the brief period covered by the book. they
were not of such far-reaching significance as
those belonging to later years. At the same tme
the pages are curiously barren Of strong original
thought, of acute Interpretation The reader
Graves involuntarily deeper insight into indi-
yidual character, besides more imperious grasp
upon the general movement OF things Inc
subject is epical. Even matter-of-fa:t narrator
might be expected to catch its epical note. Pro-
lessor Sloane fails to do this, and throws the
reader back upon sober respect for the smooth
ness and practical value Of his text -
In nothing Is this work more practical than In
Its sane refusal to take sides. The great diff
Guilty with Napoleonic literature Is that IL IS
either bitter with hatred or maudlin with mead
long alteration. How judicious Professor Sloane
has been may be surmsed from the fact that II
does not often occur to his reader to trouble
himself about whether the text Is animated by
q feeling for against It's subject Honesty 50
Transparent that takes 1t as matter OF
course is honesty indeed. The aloofness OF our
author is not pedantic either. He is Impartial
because he cannot help himself. This, added TO
the unpretentious nature Of his style, assures
US Of at least one precious thing-hs portrait OF
Napoleon is as clear in outline as though drawn
IN black upon white canvas 1t is clear and
Il Is convincing. Napoleon Is revealed as lean
of habit and casustical Of mind. masterful
character fermenting through youth In which
the absence of wholesome influences left sundry
rank weeds Of disposition to grow and tester.
We do not think there Is anything unjust In such
q view of Napoleon as this The time has gone
by when the man can be regarded as impeccable
because the soldier was unique. 1t Is not neces-
sary to believe all the scurrilous stories in Bar
ras to get true insight into the shadowy side
of his friends fevered life II was fevered from
the start Professor Sloane clearly points out.
and not so much fevered as deliberately check
cred BY moves made according as expediency
demanded them There was neither principle
nor broad philosophy In Bonaparte. His moral
sense, having never been developed by educa-
lion. and. worse than that, having been be-
forged by the extreme sensibility Of Rousseau
and by the chaos of the times which that prophet
had brought to pass was practically lacking
It was replaced by powerful intellectually,
one of the most powerful In ancient or modern
times and it Is readily perceived that with moth
ing but intellectual genius to guide him to the
fuihlment Of a devouring ambition. Napoleon
was incapable of fixing at any time upon the
immovable rock Of moral inspiration He
moved through life with the carelessness Of an
adventurer and the effrontery Of a gambler"
but Professor Sloane lays his finger upon the
distinguishing trait IN this audacious and even
reckless player. who pitted himself against the
world with no fears Of the result, when he OBJ
serves that Bonaparte always stood at the part
ing Of the ways. leaving to other men the impul-
sive onslaught. while he coolly made up his mind
% to which path would prove the more profit
able to follow
"
n 10 crafty figure which looms through these
!, pages = figure sallow and calculated. In ap-