The Saint Paul globe., 1898-05-08
LITERATURE OF TODAY
NEW LETTERS OF THE GREAT
EMPEROR
Napoleon Seen at His WOrst-A
Late Novel by Percy White
"TwO PrisOners''-A Detective
Story by Anna Katharine Green
"A Love Story by Harriet Pres
colt SpOfYOrd.

Story by Anna Katharine Green
"A Love story by Harriet Pres
cOtt SpOffOrd.
1.-THE New Letters of Napoleon L."
which the Appletons publish in port
by volume, contains about twelve hum
dred pieces, compiled by M. Lion Sc
cestre, curator of the French archives,
and translated from the French by
Lady Mary Lloyd. OF these nearly 900
have not been hitherto published, and
over 300, which have been published
in mutilated form, are restored to
their original text.
The volume contains, of course, pre-
csely those materials which other ed
itOrS, having an eye to Napoleon'S
glorification and the favor Of the Bona
parties, have chosen to omit, and in
truth they do not show the great man
in any very heroic light; but they 10
show, with marvellous accuracy, his
grasp upon detail, so prodigious as to be
miraculous, his relations with his kim
dred, his pettiness and his bullying
tendencies. Many of the letters are
addressed to his immediate family,
whom he never hesitated to swear
at vigorously when necessity de-
manded. The brutal strength of the
man was never more thoroughly in evil
dence than in these autocratic epistles.
whose harsh tone was without doubt
most frequently deserved and advisa-
Bile. AT all events, no other man than
such a one as Napoleon could have
ruled as Napoleon did. His brutality
was the concomitant of his strength,
and the revelation Of the extent to
which he put in practice the "Off with
their heads policy Is both instructive
and amusing now, at our distance Of
time and space from the great tyrant.
His Spanish policy is worth
noting. He writes to the marshal COM
manding the imperial guard at Burgos:
There was a disturbance on the 22d
at Santander which threatened the
French. Send an officer there and warn
the inhabitants that If the fneanest
Frenchman is touched they will pay for
it dearly; that 1 know all about
1t. 1 intend, in fact, if
I hear of the slightest dis
turbance, to send a brigade with can
non and burn the town." "If any OBJ
lection is made the only answer you
ure," he writes to the minister of po-
lice about an edict to send the youths
of certain emigre families to Saint Ayr.
The minister Of police, by the way,
comes in for many seedlings which, no
doubt, were formidable. Napoleon seems
to have possessed the tongue of a fish
wife and a thousand eyes, He calls
the attention of Count Fouche to the
conversations in various obscure eating
houses. ut Is your business to keep
me informed of everything that is done
and said in Paris, and I only hear it
from other people" When he desires
to be kind to some member of his
family, he observes: II am sorry to
hear you are not we'll; go to bed early
and live by some rule" This is i'm
perial fervor and it is rare
Laying down the book, with its reve-
laItion Of infinite resources, versatility,
meanEess and force, the reader reflects
that on the whole Napoleon I. got,
perhaps, as little pleasure out of the
world in which he bulIied individuals,
menaced states and altered maps to
please himself, as any man of immense
power ever had. On the whole, one
would say after his scheming. squalid,
imperial life ST. Helena may have been
a rest and a relief to the man whose per-
sonality we find in these pages.
New Letters of Napoleon IL translated by
Lady Mary Lloyd. 50. D. Appleton &
Co., New York. For sale by the St. Paul
Book and Stationery company.