New-York tribune., 1908-01-11
LOUIS N4POLEON'S COURT.
4 Tirid Picture of Men, UOmen
and Manners.

COURT LIFE AT THE SECOND, FRENCH ;H;CIf EN- En-
PRE-. lS52-'7o Its organiza ton; Cief, CheT PEI
sor9Cps Splendor Frivolity nd Downfall by
Le Petit Homme Rouge. svo. PIP 429 Charles
Scribner's Sons.
The autbor Of this chronicle of life at the
Tuileries. at St. Cloud, at Biarritz, at Com
niAgne. has drawn upon many volumes of me-
r17oirs for intimate and picturesque details also
it would appear that he deals with matters OF
which he has had personal knowledge. His ma
teriaIs he has most cIeverly put together, pro-
ducing in truth. singularlys vivid picture OF
that gifttering court which collapsed almost IN
a dav: and there is no other narrative OF thaI
period. we think quite as impartial as THIS
To Louis Napoleon the author especially en-
deavors TO r1ete out justice. He admits that the
coup de'etat was an Illegal and brutal act al
tended by the most deplorable circumstances
,,,+ he holds that as affairs then stood in France
some such solution Of her dif1cultles was III
evitabIe. that if the nephew of his uncle had
NOT, seized power by force somebody else would
have done so There are times. says the Little
Red Man. when the knot in a nations lie Is
so inexrrica bIe that il must be cut Win the
sword, There may be truth in this contention
hl5r il does not make the coup detat any tN@
less a disreputable performance II theie WAS d
ebra5 of decencv anywhere about Il II was III
the nossibfIity that Louis Napoleon was sincere
in declaring that the empire meant peace A'le
..+la ped Man at least credits him with such
sincerity With peace. he enaeaVoIeu - -
tho country prosperity, and we need not dispute
~ ,.ea--io- that. various financial scandals
-a~+ France was prosperous enough during
,,fe reign He started and carried through many
racasea-- pubIic works he tried TO give PPlPt--
-,,77itfes Il the peasantry, he WAS not without
generous desires TO see people hapPy-as ioiis a.
l,a himself had what he wanted. A. Tor lle
st ,,., seq him in these pages as in Others d
fs+a1is+ s1lperstitious. Iymphauc, dreamy SEN
small 2 being Of intermittent energy silIl'S
- 4 ha was sbiftv in his diplomacy. The
Little Red Man notes that he was Pc
Trave and in his youth vigorous and active
.,,t1,o5 in healthy out-of-door sports. He had
a. We know literary tastes. though no great Ill
erary abilities:
f4a lacked his mothers ear for music though.
1fIz her he was fond OF pomp and dl~L!y. a -, L
-+iree= Roth before and for some years after
h. nad become Emperor NJ ieeE Z @ U' Iii ror5iaII,-
feed a solder smoke. and cllnked gases NJ ~
aridd ,i Wien his destiny was stil tremoRs
I'M the balance. II was only S,I tt bie rofInte-
lad assumed the imperial purple Lal1t M r,5 nv
arta became saturine and ms MANN Flf it, @ haS hen
dlzITnF{ exile in Italy. Switzerland: GerIfa ~,
frEland and America and IN SIC ol lnrjon IsT OF
elf.r accent in his speech nnd sGt4le I 7lIe
Of foreign customs in ms aaIlI5I 5 his 1-iIian was
nearly as good
When the court life described III 1nlS V'L''''S
t,,,, the Emperor was in his forty-fourlh year
r5e was below the middle height ne had s''d
e,~or,.d a large nose, chestnut halT, ana daIN
az-se that almost always avoided the direct gaze
Of another. ,..-.;.o
,,a- not in her first youth when she married
--.,or,- then forty-six-she was nearly
init Ff
I'D r,srag~aphers. is not common in this world
-. - vas beautv which the most grudging
,teerzar was forced to acknowledge Her figure
.,d carriage were of truly queenly grace and
,i,f+,-- her complexion exquisite, her
1,-isbt ,I,le ewes were shaded by long lashes and
the -rooning lids which seen so seldom, give
. winning dreaminess to a woman's glance
Her snlendid hair was of that gold tinGed with
chestnut which must have come from her scotch
ancestors for II is a beautiful tint Whlch pc
longs 10 the nlaidens Of the Land o cakes n
sa- ,F,a+ fair brow, we're reasonably good brains,
countless preiudices, and much bigouy- She
had = kind heart and as Empress spent most
of her mornings in the work of charity DAY
after day. with one feminine companion. she
went incognta in her plain little carriage INTO
the poorest parts OF Paris, bringing heIp and
.,,,,[orr 10 poor people who did not even know
her
did not resemble Marie Antcmette, who was IN
some respects her ideal The Little Red Man
esvs that when one day Eugene referred to
that most sorrowful victim of the Revolution as
.,oou time" she spoke perhaps more truly than
che knew. for Queen and Empress had much the
same defects Of character. The wife Of Louis
,Iauoleor would fain be meddling in politics
especially when she became grjevously unhappy
n her married lfe-and she had neither capac-
irv nor training for the part. This chronIcler
sneaks Of her faulty judgment, her narrow
views. and the fact that she never really under
stood the character OF the nation she helped
IN govern only mischief it is true, could De
the result when she endeavored 10 enforce
nolcv Of her own which was in antagonism 10
that Of her husband and his official advisers
For our part" concludes the Little Req Man,
1--WE Rave always felt that the great misfortune
af The Enur-ss's life was that, having been
raised 10 :. throne she was accorded so con-
siderable a part Of the thrones authority As
tte wife Of d mere millionaire Srandee she
would have proved a supreme leader Of fashion
and an ideal Lady Bountiful II was in her
care Of the Prince Imperial that she showed
real wisdom
The assertion that she proved a very indifferent
the time She exercised little supervision over
the imperial prince. devotng several hours a day
the boy his requirements aho intsItsts But
neither she sbe Emperor Wo4Io iet MN pc
eodsie6. and IL " their English notions