New-York tribune., 1909-08-08

cessiOn 20 MacEahOn should have GevoIveG
Comparing The two IL. HanOtaux admits Crews
possession Of certain useful traits the traits OF
a highly intelligent bourgeois. but he doubt
they were adequate. "Surely more was neeIed-a .
ne says: 'the soul of the French people has al
ways been and will always be subject to emo
tions that such nature could not satisfy
Gambetta the very 20 satisfy them
Perhaps. though. he exerted influence in his
public career which lost nothing because it vas
directed from Parliament and from the platform
rather than from within the walls OF the
Elysee. Magnifcently he fought the good fight
/ fOr liberal ideals "The epoch that heard s,,ct 4
orators" says NJ HanOtaux. 'was a noble -
and mother OF great things and he shows -
he is right whenever, in his political drama Lee
brings Gambetta upon the stage. We NAV note .
in passing that the few delicate touches where j
with he sketches the man as well as the orator \
/ count most effectively in the enliyening Of bis
narrative.
Jules Grevy was temperamentally inclined 70
| dislike Ganbetta. and politically he was in no
hurry 20 profit by his assistance More 4b,-
one Cabinet came and went before he caUet
upon the strongest man in France to form -
ministry. IL was brief enough when the tim.
came, and what is more. il was not fntrnsf.al,,.
OF prodigiOus significance. Nevertheless /. +
| with a true sense of historical perspective thu,
NJ Hanotaux gives in this volume such con
spicuity 20 the man Of his peculiar adniratlo,
finally saying:
The fall and death Of Gambetta close the e-s, F
period OF the story Of the Third ReDubIic- ~
himself termed the heroic age -l~Irir WA ,H o.
| teen years his public life he bS "a ,t tas ~,
Commune fhe faiI1T5e ~ asi5lst Germany.
s1iut9n sd & od 1Sz5 MAY the Sixteenth. the oun9
these great dOings had been even more aa5eft tl +"
yl Si @ I,If'I ~ M liners Tor ne had in born
defence and az the head of the Repubiicar r,-,5
stature Of statesman The power ~ or - te u.
Sueuce vgs y biI eoinsh9 the gift Of honest e.o
explained MS generation to itself at the soTnd =
sires 1t is hard to be Brogbst n9Sh and her de
ARD nrocress De Sucn MINDS as his draw
He explained his generation to itself Gam
BETA alone among the statesmen celebrated bv
/ III hanOtaux. deserves the tribute OF thar sav-
| ing. lt is no wonder. therefore that he looms
large in this book. The author does not nv anv
means. however. neglect the rival personages
on the scene. Thiers. the Due de Brogiie Crew.
Ferry. MacMahon. Freycinet and divers Others
are all sympatheticalIy sketched and thev are
all presented with that witty and dramatic y
touch which is one of NJ HanOtaux's best re- p
sources as an historian He is admirable too, y
in his pages on those foreign statesmen. Bis
fhaFckr GOrtschakoff. BeacOnsfeId who enter i
into his account of European affairs at large !
His discussion of those affairs is possibIv a Tt
tie long drawn out. In half the space thew !.
might have been dealt with sufficiently 10 indi-
cate the not very great import of French for
eisn relations in the period considered. Sill we
cannot altogether regret the authors excursions
on The Eastern question and the Congress of
Berlin. for he is undeniabIy interesting on both
subjects.
From the start NJ. Hanotaux has been inter
estins. and il is with regret that we reach the
end of his patriotic but always judicial work
| wishing that he might be persuaded to extend
II from 1Ss2 down to the present day. No one
who would study the history OF modern France
can afford to neglect this book. Let US add that
1t has been very adequately translated. though
| this concluding volume is adorned by one of the
crollest Of slips. In a description Of the exhi
ton OF 1873 there is reference to various dec
oratlve objects, among them elephants and CHI
nocerOses from far F'remiet.' The transmogri-
hcatiOn of a celebrated sculptor into q geo
c-ranhcaI -. - IL,