New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-12-12


behaving themselves after this fashion, the
Prussian Monarchy will have a short lease OF
life.
AS the reader reaches the end Of this splenetic
epistle he wonders why the writer stops why
does he not go on until the very excess OF his
fury tires him out? This is not the protest OK
a great ruler. 1t gives us the angry shouting OF
a despot who is not gentleman AS war
measure 1t can no doubt. be defended. But
even when its military expediency has been ad-
mitted does 1t not seem to go shade too far,
does it not seem to separate its author from the
monarchs and statesmen who were not only
aware of what was due to their country but
who knew what was due to themselves from
themselves? NJ Champaign may have been the
kind Of Minister who needed explicit directions.
but he did not need to see his master gesticu-
latng with his coat OFF. We emphatic on this
point, for the whole drift of this volume is In
the same direction. We put aside the question
of NapOleon's pre-eminence. That is so firmly
fxed that it were childish to argue about it.
But the reader Of these letters Is only casually
concerned with It 1t is the personality Of Ma
poleon that they chiefly reveal. and. as we have
indicated. the least edifyng side of his person
alty at that. We the movement Of the
mind that dictated the evolution Of the Napo-
leonic state. and we forget the latter in contem-
plation Of the former as it reveals its innermost
qualities. Take. for example. the strain OF
Machiavean morality. or non morality. which
was one Of NapOleon's most conspicuous quail
ties. 1t was combined in him with insolence
for which even Machavelli. with his dry humor.
would have had distaste. This arrogant ad-
venturer. with little enough to boast Of in re-
spect to individual sanctity. il Barras is to be
believed-and these letters are remarkably con-
Of of
on the dignity Of the Napoleonc house which
would seem almost comic il they were not so
brutal If Nine. Mere was the Roman parent
that her would have had the world take
her for. she must have been amazed to say the
least at the letter she received in April 1906.
concerning Jerome. That gentleman comes in
for numbers OF the undignified diatribes which
disiigure this correspondence. and his behavior
as King Of Westphalia did little to turn away
his brothers wrath. But we win turn to the
letter sent to Nine. Letltta B5haparte. 80
Mons Jerome Bohaparie has arrived at Lis
bon. with the woman with whom he lives THAT
is to say. with his lawful wife) | have ordered
this prodigal son to proceed to Milan. passing
through Perpignan, Toulouse, GrenOble. and
Turin. l have informed him that If he diverged
from that road he would be arrested Miss Pat
terson. who lives with him. has taken the pre-
caution Of bringing her brother with her have
given orders that she is to be sent back to
have given. and TO come to Bordeaux or Paris
she would be brought back to Amsterdam and
put on board the first American vessel. | shall
treat this young man severely. if he shows him
self unworthy Of the name he bears (sc) during
the only interview l shall grant him. and il
he persists in carrying On his laison. il he shows
no inclination to wash away the dishonor with
which he has stained my name. by forsakng
his countrys flag on land and for the sake
of a wretched woman. | shall cast him off for
ever. l may make him an example which will
hA Of thair
duty, and the enormty Of the crime they COM
nit when they forsake their flag for a
The climax to this sickening hypocrisy comes
In the writer's bland request to his mother to
tell Jerome II have been a father to him. that
his duty to me is sacred" Honor. in short.
a thing of which he himself the sacred
fount. -r -
you know never harbor Spite" declares Ma
poleon to his mother In 1913. The best COM
mentary on this is offered by the many letters
to Fouche, Minister of Police. who received con-
slant orders TO arrest this one that who had
happened in some way or other, not always
clearly visible. to annoy the master of France.
rs it true" one letter runs. That engravings
are being published with the title Of Josephine
Beauharnais nee La Pagerie'? If this is true.
have the prints seized and let the engravers be
punished" He dealt out punishment with the
ease and with something of the boorish malice
of an ignorant slave put suddenly a throne.
Every was to be punished who disagreed
with him. They were called. first, all the names
that could come to his lips and he had a vocab-
ulary of explosives not to be despised. Journal
lists who made mistakes were doubie-dyed sim
pletons. Priests who forgot that he was of
more Importance than the Pope were profound