New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-01-24

t,c,ans hammered and pleased the people for q
while only to rouse them In the end ana p''e
On another revolution In the streets OF Fai'''
rrh. Provisional Government did little to erect
n radical change. 1t sprang. as has oeeh S"'u'
from a peculiarly popular Impulse anu
tanned the mark Of the blouse IN ''s o""'
teristics Of assumed simplicity ana p"'Ne""
manners But 1t fell into the hands OF the III
listines pretty soon and here MT. Nanoai'' -"
consciously shows how little OF the true Mp
,.oric furor was at the bottom Of Louis Ma
noleons success He sketches deity the part
which Morny and the Princess Mathlde piaycu
IN the movement which ultimately landed Tue
cousin OF the latter on the imperial throne ne
shows US Persigny and Dupin in the thick Oh
their masters ntrigues. and he displays N"po-
leon himself coquetting with Theirs ana playing
a shrewd political game with that as'ute per
sonage 1t is clever enough to dispose OF 'ne
candidature of Cavaignac with sneer III HIS
name. 10 say that the latter meant notnins u
the electors that in Napoleon they had name
to conjure with Suppose this TO be true. Inc
fact remains that Louis Napoleon rose to power
on the strength Of as devious ana assiouoo'
no,itics ne ever a ruler adopted for the further
ance OF his ends Mr.. Vandams book gives the
strongest evidence Of this. convincing the reader
ern regime was honeycombed with self-seeklng'
spcculation trickery and ali the pettnesses OF
state that Is not a nation. Owing to the policy
Of cent? aiizat icn which had been fostered ever
since the First Empire. Paris WAS the state.
Who held Paris could hold France. But recent
Frerch history testlnes to the gradual emer-
gence of the country from this ambiguous con-
dion Of things 1t is still true that Paris Is the
key 10 France, but II the nation has grown
strong. If II has become nation. 1t has been
through a steadfast exploitation Of all It's re-
sources
These two volumes. both fragmentary. but
both In their different ways eloquent and Illus
trative certain to be Of use to the historical
student Tocqueville's recollections were recog-
nized at once as Of high value when they APP
peared in Paris two or three years ago and Mr.
Vandam. II he has not approved himself mas
ter mind has at least demonstrated his ability
to throw light in an anecdotic manner upon the
time to which he has chiefly devoted his pen
Neither writer makes precisely inspiritins read
ing There Is pathcs in Tocquevilles book
The man held lofty views He was more OF
statesman than a politician and more Of phi
los opher than either. II Is positively touching
to witness his bitter disappointment before the
rising tide Of socialism in France, end the de-
velopment Of those material tastes which DON'T
mated the political and social life OF his CON
temporaries. But the depressing effect Of his
analyses cannot spoil the charm Of his story
He wrote the latter. in its three brief sections
with the judicial serenity which marked all his
literary performances but also with the vivac-
ity and picturesqueness which were among his
most conspicuous gifts. II is unfortunate that
for the proslic portrait Of him that is prefxed
beautiful drawing by tn. Chassoriau which pre-
sents Tocqueville in his most elegant. most at
tractive aspect His was ono Of the livelest in
telligencee in the Paris OF his day. His style Is
vivid sympathetic. The numberess portraits
he scattcrs through his text Of men like Odilon-
Barrot. Dufaure Lamartinc. and others. are
brilliant in their vitality and artistic dstnc-
.ion His outline OF George Sand whom he met
at dinner given by Monckton Mines. is extraor-
dnarily Hfelike. Il strongly preju Iced
against Madame Sand" nc writes. FOR loathed
women who write. especially those who syste-
disguise the weaknesses OF their sex. in
stead Of interesting us by displaying them in
their true character. Nevertheless. she pleased
me. I thought her features rather massive, but
her expression admirable: all her mind seemed 10
have taken refuge in her eyes abandoning the
rest Of her face to matter. and was parti rular-
IL struck at meeting in her something of the nat
ural ness OF behavior OF great minds. She had
real simplicity of manner and language. which
she mingled. perhaps. with some little anectation
of simplicity in her DIR ,ss. confess that more
adorned she would have appeared still more
simple" II Is for touches like this as much as
for his political narrative. that Tocquevilie in
this posthumous volume will be valued as he is
already valued in his better known master
niece Mr. Vandam's book Will also he APP
preciated for its elucida:io1 of that game of in
trieue which was blayed NTH the Second En-
pire for the stake and for his abundance OF an
ecdote. His volume IS full OF amusing stories
and personalities
~ THE EORECiSTIE.