New-York tribune., 1907-12-14
"a Police officers RecolIections of
the Second Empire.

EeeoICE UNDER Iah 9ESOp P5aSco+ y1ElPiRE- 11a,d5a
gTTts portraits svo, PIP sz1- Houghton Mfiin
co.
~ French fiction, and especially of
~-~i,ings OF Gaboriau, have been made very
fhe .o,,ainted with the type of man who serves
"e II to an examining judge, recording ali
q os,ions addressed TO a prisoner before his
fhe " ,,tsvise noting ali his replies. The nov
tl"A' Tia, bave made so much of the sagacity and
ems .ho ipdge as Balzac has done, for example
- ,o-trait Of the official assigned to the case
u -. marouis d'Espard. have not neglected the
80, who sits at his elbow. In the present
iS vre have the recollectiOns OF a man who
,,ch a factotum for a considerable period
os thereby enabled to strengthen his in
c.. for the detection OF crime and ultimately
SIN - the position Of Chief of Police of Paris
" ,rrstit Of criminals began while Louis
.,n,e WAS still the throne, but the Revo-
-. of rs4S came soon after and the bulk of
voerience was enjoyed under Napoleon H.
m &c ..enioved" advisedly, for this detective
.;sed his gifts with something like the pas
-. If an artist Il was born a policeman, he
&c ~as a greyhound is born to course ana
ra:es the salient incidents OF his career
..r ,os;tive gusto. Miss Wormeley has con-
- herself 10 those incidents, extracting them
- the yoluminous narrative LETT by NJ Clac0e
- making a brief. readable volume where
,lafat lallOn NOA.N, SAAoASs ~
rather weaFlso4i-e- ..
NJ clever Frenchman can come II contact
:, ,uhJic affairs without proving, when ne
-, ro write his memoirs, more or less OF an
--;.n III Claude was hunter OF CRIMINALS
- nrofesson, but incidentally he was an oo-
-, Of life at large. His book Is the more
.,e-asfing because il is not mere reclIdi "a
tornous crimes. but a collection OF soclai anu
,t,,cal impressions. He was not man Oh
.nuslons. He saw people and things as tney
.ns he saw a great deal Not criminals
o,o,e or politicians merely, passed peioie MS
- The whole world Of Paris was spread out
ssora him and if he tells you Of murderers IKE
1aoonaire or Tropmann he tells you also OF
.-.-,o,ists and romancers He says:
.saer after the events of June. 1SiS,-I have
10 80 rly own eyes Prince l1ouls-Nato -,
bonapa n,srnle appear the box of theatre Win b
K lace ana hands dirty. 10 curry i"'0i WIN
sorerelsh I'm Victor Hugo standing on one fooL,
reuse stool offered 10 him IRON, 1ron De6M eonSin1e the
Tnosure of all the eyes OF the adorins cro"u
scclanleu an nm Rachel the greatest tragedenne OF
,roderr times, who had had iot n' S -,nnarchies
s cSuTsTs Of fns Before the footghts and
then tb drive off in the carriage OF lhe C'Ss'-'
Reralh hpTe not seen7 All that human, folly can an
produce down to Lpcien oe "a crowd at the
The morr9w % tbe Gf Pc Porte saintar before he Tss s
7p7
eessn and again sold to the pohce-
o,,so,,sIv the experiences Of NJ Clauoe "eie
= calculated to confirm the cynlclsni III III"
...r-e and whether because he was cSliio "
h.,euse he was wise enough to see lhio
t,nsel Of the Second Empire and 10 PEI
cor-7,ntiou beneath it. he gives raliiei -.
,-r,ression of nearly all the personaseS
,boro he comes in contact VINO shall say 'ii"'
,e Was without justification? The Parlslan So
a
c,etv of his day, from top to bottonn' "AS Al
ssdv unwholesome state. Now ana lhel lac
tnuches upon the brighter side as In one s'o-y
,aich reminds US that Louis Philippe for al
his weakness could have on occasion hiiisiS
vsy with him. It relates to that fantasnc ei-
fo-- ,oads in 1881 by Prince Louis Bonaparte
.ra bis r,o-her the Duchesse de Saint-Leu 10
res,o-e the Napoleonic dynasty by a spec'acu-
lar demonstration in Paris. Louis Phliippe
knew all about it, but when the ouchesse
ehrevdIy called upon him, as though holiliis IL
imical TO his rule were toward, ne gave hef d
warm welcome and declined to worry ABOUT her
proceedings Thus the story continues;
The day after this friendly meeting OF the agsT rev
AtbsIin exasoerated 6y the mildness and nneekness
OF hls sovereign-master, summoned 9O1-
.Wbat is the .' news. gentlemen? said the King
" Serions news SIRE" replied the Minister OF
War have constant infor5aasloin MlsGi and ner
son have passed through the South OF fah0-
Sire Ag said ctssinir-Perier Minister Of the In
terror complete the infer6ta59R d Gid al @ Queen
essncy The Mirls'eE ms o Of France but she
Il Paris and your majesty TeceiTeo her SeS''-
9e 3e ks M se sun ei inored my dear minister. that
Eon leave me no time 1 70 e to see ne. as you say
sS pTssented 3e the excuses Of her son. who was
eeanea e. 70 nS eaig the Minister of the Interior
in grave tone your majesty neea Lee rseived I'VE the
rofbeT p the son was in conference with the leaoe1s
ot The Republican psCty to r. All is ready for
the corning re--oution If the Prince ana ms iiio'
nonp ,os renfernen. said the King in nasferd ond
ful OF voice. 'I have connoene1 nnnt M succeed
F5nngt OF rsa beeD said abot't the. King OF the
French: LET us talk of France
With dramatic anecdotes like the loresoi''e
NJ Claude revives the feverish atn1ospiiei' :"
pbtcr bs learned TO expect any political change
to distrust most IL not all men, ano TO cui'iN"
with enthusiasm his faculty for the exposure oi
v;,,.,,- TN. oil famous detectives. he has to
record some failures. One Of his chapters. en-
ti.,s5 arIo,, Prot ected the Interests Of Great
LADY" shows actually how the protectloh was
afforded through no fault Of his own Ii is wen
knourn the. the Empress Eugene in her girl
hood might perhaps have married ehe Duhe VI
Alba and il is easy TO believe thaI IL amy i'
letters had ever passed between them ""o4"
have been embarrassing fer them to nave zee"
the iigh. al the time of her engagement "
the Emperor, notoriousiy jealous
Claude's contribution TO the gossip on TINS SUI
feet is a curious and exciting tale OF Ms Dei'is
summoned by Mime. de MontiJo 10 the houSe "a .
prince who had Just killed himself and from
whose desk she wished him to extract certain
letters which. IL placed in the hands OF tne au
thorities would disturb the repose OF her daus"
! ter The austere Claude. Of COURSE retuseo hei