New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-11-29
II. VANDAL'S NAPOLEON.
A NEW HISTORY TREATING OF THE GEN
ESIs OF THE CONSULTATIVE BOOK
OF THE HOUR IN PARIS
Paris. November ~.

Paris November u.
Some sixty years ago IT was naTvely supposed
that Theirs had exhausted all the historical
data concerning the coup d'etat OF the 18TH
Brumaire. and the accession to power OF Ma
poleon But in history there seems to be no
such thing as a last word" or a final verdict"
Each generation must have its own special mar
rat!ve and Identical picture OF great events. The
renewed glorifcatlon OF Napoleon in $40 was
due to the writings OF Victor Hugo and Beren-
ger and 10 the publication In pamphlets OF
'NapoIeonIc Ideas" and "Napoleonic Legends"
During the last twenty years the Napoleonic
historians who have sought to recount some
thing new concerning the man Of immortal
genius and OF eagle eye" number eighty-nine
Henry Houssaye Baron Marriott the Due de
Fezensac. Loevy and Frederic Mason have pro-
duced works bearing upon the coup d'etat of
the 18th Brumaire which attain the rank OF
classics and nova hundred and two years
after the event-a history appears by NJ.
Albert Vandal-"L'Evenement de Bonaparte."
which is having a sale seldom reached by an
historical book
NJ. VandaTs volume is devoted to what he
terms the genesis OF the Consulate. and TO
the conception and execution Of the coup d'etat.
It is impartially written. but IS enlivened by
Just the right proportion OF enthusiasm and ad-
mlration: II Is picturesque and interesting. 1t
abounds in anecdotes. and the narrative is so
graphic. terse and absorbing as to have elected
from NJ. Ernest Daudet the opinion that it is
zone OF the finest historical works that have
appeared since a hundred years" NJ. Vandal's
description OF the hero of the 18th Brumaire.
setting forth from his house in the Rue Chan
tereine on the day that 70 decide his fate;
the ride on horseback to the Tuileries followed
by brilliant STAFF; the pale but feverish face
Of the future Emperor; the splendor Of the uni
iyid wit he
simplicity OF his own: the clanEing of sabres
and jingling OF trappings the gathering of
horses feet on the stone pavement. forms a
luminous and spirited historical picture. He
sketches in mastery manner the situation at
home and abroad bankrupt treasury. army
neither paid. clothed nor fed. and government
employees starving without pay for two months.
AT Lyons out OF fifteen thousand workshops.
only two thousand remained open. and the only
persons that prospered were the government
contractors. who "swarmed like maggots in
state fallen into decay. and who fed upon its
rottenness" Abroad there defeat and dis
aster. Jourdan had been forced TO retreat;
Moreau was beaten. so were also Scherer, and
Macdonald and Massena was in eminent peril
of being crushed between the greatly superior
armies Of Souvaroff and KOrsakoff. The depart
ments exhausted there money
anywhere even men. for the department of
the Eure out of it's required quota of 2.3OO
scripts could only supply four hundred The
sole bright spot was Bonaparte. His return to
Paris announced in the theatres caused ire
mendous enthusiasm. The Jacobins acclaimed
him as the general Of the Vendemiaire" the
neo-moderates saw in him a Washington the
Royalists regarded him a Monck. But the
masses OF the people looked upon BOnaparte
neither a Washington nor a Monck. neither
as Cromwell nor a Caesar. but the OF
victory alone able TO redeem the nation.
NJ. Vandals narrative teens with new data
presented in brilliant passages. with many poig-
nant incidents and anecdotes. and his remarka-
BILE work is cited by leading organs of opinion
In behalf of the political fads theories Of the
hour The journal des Debats" for instance
refers to the book justification Of the pro-
gressve income tax under discussion by
the budget committee and the Nationalist
newspapers seeking to draw parallels between
the France OF the year VIII and the France of
the Third Republic urge the necessity of coup
d'etat within the next twelvemonth, and declare
that the present constitution must be reformed
by the Introduction Of Deroulede's idea OF ma
by saying that q plebiscite has already been
tried on two occasions in France the first time
it led TO Napoleon I and Waterloo and the sec
ond time IT resulted in Napoleon III and Sedan
AS may readily be imagined NJ Vandars
''LEvenement de Bonaparte' is the book of the.
day. and is being eagerly discussed from every
imaginable standpoint GLIB