New-York tribune., 1909-03-14


Of his book His style is against him. bu, =
spite of it he makes his portrait Of the Pr,n..--
and Queen humanity interesting
Mr. II. Noel Williams. in his entertainIrv
on THE Women BOnapartes." which anDe,-.s
some three or four months ago. dealt rrat,--
haustively with a subject that is not. af,a- =,
Of the highest interest There wouI6 ar,o.-'
have been small occasion for the puttirg -
English of NJ. Turquans study OF the So
theme. But there is always room for An a..
ing book, and "The Sisters Of Napoleon" - =
denlably amusing The great mans vvo-,
folk were, after their fashion. slIperb II
mother 1t is true. was not altogether unvr,-.t
of him; she had some dignity OF charactar -
even when the fortunes of the family ,r,-. =
the zenith and she was playing her evaIte5 =. %
upon the NapOleOnic stage with consf7o-r.-
unctlon she could remember the mast m, -
with some apprehension toward the fr1tr,ra ~,
the sisters blinded themselves TO their bur,bI.
origin They regarded every benefit confa--as
upon them by their brother as nothing more ~
less than their rightful due. and carried ,bot.
nsolence to such pitch that even his -
pialsance rebelled- One reply Of his 70 ,b.--
daughters of the horse Ieech may be NOR, g.
familiar, but it is impossible To- so ~, -'-H
glance at them without recalling If asD
mesdames," he said. considering yo,- -. -
slons' one might suppose We inherited the 60
from the late King. our father" Il IS do,h+s-.,
though, If the irony of the remark touched th.--
Elsa Pauline. Caroline all three had M -
OF humor to call upon when their own int
were at stake SS
what deplOrable trio they We're and -.
innocent Of any faculty for grasping the f,r =.
port of that opportunity which NanoIeon g.,
to each one Of them. He had. for a man of -
colossal egotism. a singular devotion tn s.
He wanted his sisters to marry well. ana ~.
they had ranged" themselves. for good ~ IN
was unwearied in his efforts to aid them p..t-
money. and. what was more welcome +ba.
either. power, were theirs from the n,o-oar, a..
he was fixed firmly in the saddle Small -a--,-s
did he get for his pains. Elisa tried her -.
to govern her Italian state with good sensa a.,
posed assiduOusly enough as a patroDess ~ u.
erature and art. but her head was scantf1v -,
nished with brains. and she was utterly 5sv,.,
of morals. The Emperor might load his s,,..
with the pomp and panOpIy Of regal autbo-tv
but he could not command the magic necesv.r-
TO turn them into gentIewomen- Pauline Pr;n-
cess Borghese. was as bad as Elisa Princess ~
PiombinO and of LucCa. Grand Duchess OF Tus-
cany. and Caroline. who married Murat and rosa
to be Queen of Naples. not only exceTed her
sisters In looseness of conduct but baseIv he
trayed the man to whom she and her husband
owed everything. Decidedly. a sorry lot and
yet, as has been indicated, curi0usIv amusing
Elisa, turning from her love affairs to prove
her capacity as a public administrator; Pauira
naIvely explaining that she found no difficulty i,
posing to CanOva for his Venus" because
there was a fire in the studio" and in M
poleOns day of adversely. Offering him her
jewels; Caroline. talking Of balls and chifons
''as readily as Of new measures for maintaining
the Continental blockade" and incidentally
making her private life one long scandaI-ths
precious three at once fascinate and disgust
The fascination. however. springs largely from
their having been caught up in the Napoleonc
glamour. Isolate them in the imagination
study them as women pure and simple and II
must be confessed that the amusement to BE-
got out OF them does not last long VI Tur-
quan is evidently Of this opinion He paints his
frau types with light touch, bcEuiIes Us with
anecdotes. makes his book thoroughly readable
but finishes his task with the air OF a man
who has small respect for the material in which
he has been dealing.