The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1901-01-22

as Napoleon had been, was living
grave He was allowed at first $4,000
a year for expenses, and later 100000 a
year. and he had besides a private for
tune to draw upon. This may look
large sum of money, but TO man who
had had the revenues Of Europe as
football at his feet it was mean and
sordid. Everything in this life is rela-
tive. Napoleon had reached the zenith
Of human ambition, and such sums as
We're allowed him were in his estima-
ton pitiful.
But it was not the meagerness of his
allowances which troubled him so much
as the deadly dullness of his exile, and
each member of his suite in his journal
emphasizes this fact. They were all
bored to death. One of his suite Cen
eral Gourgaud writes: "Mardi %
Ennui, Ennui Mercredi &c, idem. Jeudi
p idem. Vendredi 2S idem. Samedi 80
idem. Dimanche 30. Grand Ennui."
Which is simply record bored" from
one weeks end to another, without an
other entry to blazon the page
But even considering this, and the
temptations towards brooding on the
past, which is certainly shown when
Napoleon concentrates his regrets on
his three capital points, it is marvellous
what a sweet and gentle temper he
kept His own suite had their own
boredoms, and they did not help the
hapless Emperor, while Sir Hudson
Lowe, the tactless and foolish, served
only to keep open a sore, though this
may have been an advantage in as
much as it served to give something
TO fight over, and this helped to break
the deadly monotony of existence.
The supreme regrets that he con-
stantly required to were % that he
could not have died at some supreme
moment of his career, (2) that he left
Egypt and gave up his eastern ambi-
tons and 60 Waterloo.
Over the first he was very philosophi-
cal and considered whether he should
have died at Moscow, Dresden or
Waterloo. Many men have been more
fortunate than he in such circum-
! stances. 1t was the most happy thing
for Nelson that he fell at Trafalgar,
for kosciusko that he fell in defeat. 1t
was unhappy for Kossuth and Carl
baldi that both survived their fame.
Had the eastern ambitions of Napo-
leon been carried out, as he saw them
the world might have been changed.
]
out for Acre stopped them. As to Wa
terloo, people are still arguing that il
ought to have been a French victory.
was French victory, only it wasn't.
The charm of Lord Rosebery's bool,
is its most perfect fairness Written
| by an Englishman, written by a man
! who has been and may be again a
moving power in the State, it shows
an even balance Of mind, a perfect de-
/ sire to show the best of everything
that is reviewed without the slightest
/ prejudice which is most refreshing.
The trouble with much, if not all Napo-
leonic literature, which has recently
/ appeared, is that it is so Extensively
/ partizan. Lord ROsebery keeps an even
balance, and writes the most charming
Of prose in the process.
1t is a sad story which he tells. The
story Of the Gagged Eagle, Gagged for its
own protection and for the safety of
all who might come in contact with it.
The author quotes Madame d. Houdetot
who said of Napoleon He contracts
history and expands imagination" and
Lord Dudley's remark: He has thrown
a doubt on all past glory; he has made
all future renown impossible" But
Lord Rosebery's own closing words
ring, mo name represents so complete
ly and conspicuously dominion splen-
dor, and catastrophe. He raised him
self by the use, and ruined himself by
the abuse, of superhuman faculties. He
was wrecked by the extravaganza of
his own genius"