The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-12-04

all she has cnd.avored To do IA Al helper
in the peace movement
These details lead up 90 and furnish an
entertaining and instructive Introduction
tn larger questions.
/ The Perennial Napoleon.
! Tn" unfagGing interest in the Emperor
Napoleon il indicated by the simultaneous
, appearance of two books which revert tn
Tn" primitive sources NJ they may be M
B chara't"riz"') for the depletion 81 their
3 h"T" 'nriously enough. they very aptly
complement each other in one important
particular. The Corsican: A Diary Of
NGpoIcon's Lifo in His Orn Words though
Ton MInin Company bears As its taxi On
the mi" page: And they have dared
"a that | could not write,' MIR II. NJ.
JOHNSTON has Cnnst ructei consecutive
/ harrnIv" u Napoleon's life from his
own words written or spoken, with the
object of displaying the man himself in
way otherwise impossible. by casting
psychological illumination On his chIrac-
Ter and career, His idea ia that Napoleon
rarely II ever spok. the truth obi ect lively,
h't thi't snhJectiv.ly he could not possibly
40 oth"rwIs" The other volume. Ndpo-
leo" IN His Orn Defence CCassell and Com
pany'. by Mr.. CLEMEST SHORTER. con-
, sI,ts IT reprint II letters written by
Napoleon from 81 Helena to Lady Claver-
ing and reply hy Theodore Hook In
his Introduction. Napoleon "a a Man II
Letters MIR. Shorter discusses con-
Fincngir the proposition that the Emperor
WAS ISfinguished in that line. and not
simply ~ the great soldier and Admins
traitor, the light in which the world usu-
ally regards him. Although he never
bec'.in" n perfect adept in French, an
p~dants understand IL. he became a truly
great writer all the same, and Mr. Shorter
quotes ass-ntingly Sainte- Beuve's dictlim
tlsit n" was one ~ the masters Of speech
As matter Of fact Napoleon began
and ended his career with literature. says
MI Shorter. The poems. essays and
dramas II the beginning II his career
NAV be- prfnts-i side by side with the me-
noirs and rerniniscences Of the Sc Helena
perod. He WAS never the enemy Of
writers, a. the partisans ~ Mime de Stael
and 'hAteaubriand ara fond Of asserting,
II was the dabbling with politics under
IN" Sii-a Of literature that made both
of them impossible. OF Nine do Stahl
in particular Mr.. Shorter says that -she
bFionged 20 that trying order. tho Do
htcai woman. whom all men i'm their
hearts detest. although moro than half
"i them are ut present engaged in dis
guislng tn. fact Napoleon carried
courtesy and self RESTRAINT Ia their utmost
limit IN dealing with her. beca,is. Of her
sex and eminence. Both sh. and Chateau
BRAND were equally hysterical and both /,
w"r" outrag"ously unpatrioiic
Napoleon as a man Of letters is at his I
highest point in his proclamations. his |
dispatches. his correspondence. Mr.. |
Shorter admits. and h. does not pretend
TO present him at his literary hest. What !
he has undertaken - to provide "A com /
panIon volume 10 his Napoleon and His /.
Fellow Travellers 1905. and offer the
public an opportunity Of Judging At first |,
hand two contemporary works which are |
now entirely out Of print. Among Va /
poi""n fellow travellers on tn. Northu |
t"rland was DR.. William Warden. who's, /
account Of the voyage TO st. Helena lin
cluded Ivy Mr.. Shorter in his previous
hook was read by the Emperor on that
island. To il he mad. answer In the Let
reviewed at the time under he assumption
that It was written by Las Casas II has
since been revealed that Napoleon was
the author. and tho very Interesting ques- /
rIon Is raised Of Napoleon fighting with
his pen when he could No. longer fight with |
his sword. He aimed NJ "A return 90 Eu-
rope, and We see his literary sid. at its
best when he il working toward this,
attempting vIndication here and there Of |
this follower and that. Of hls every deed
This pamphlet one Of many. to prov. that
he had always been the Man u Peace
the Friend Of Liberty. never responsible |
for a single act Of serious cruelty is not |
the happiest example OF his literary gifts.
Mr. shorter admits but he attributes this
fact largely To the imperfections Of the /
and Ia Napoleon anxiety to
be- here rather an eff.Ctiv. journalist than
"A man of letters That Napoleon himself
wrote the book Is vouched for by thru.
of the exile. Bertrand. Mon
,hp!on and MarChand Bur tn. commits
sion appointed by Napoleon III. 20 pub
lish the Emperor correspondents. was
unable To- obtain possession Of tbs. original
ma 'ISrrlp' and was COMPELLED to make
IL translation from the third edition tn.
pn" 'is"d here. and this was printed. with
s"rn" omissions. i'll I'll. thirty first volum.
Il 'Napnl"ou' Correspondents"
The Letters from the Cape" wer. writ
ZEN To Lady Chvering. concerning whom
90 lit'le Ia known. She was a French
woman married in England. and had been
. very good and helpful friend to Las
-asas who. among other OCCUPATIONS.
Mas tutor To her childrrnJ during his
'xile in thar country Sir Hudson Lowe
lanistai Las Casas To the Cape ~ Good
Hope for having tried To- send Through "A
'crranb a letter To LIcien Bonapart, en-
'losf-i IN one for Lady Clavering. Napoleon
.iz"i upon this convenient ciruurnsfanc.
or his It'll. and a. a blind for his author
hip. In these Letters from the Cape.
We hav" the first ~ the Documents which
we're deliberately prepared TO influences,
he sympaihies ~ Europe in general. and