NEW PUBLICATIONS. A STUDY OF NAPOLEON.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 45, 22 February 1908, Page 13

NEW PUBLICATIONS. A STUDY OF NAPOLEON.

"Napoleon's Men and Methods." By Alexander L. Kidland Translated by Joseph il'Cabe. Preface by Oscar Browning, King's College, Cambridge. Frontispiece, and vignettes by M. Loose. London : A. Oweu and Co., 28, Regent-street. (10s.) Innumerable books, large and small, have been written on Napoleon, historic and polemic ; every minute detail vof his life has been investigated' and given to the world by those who admired and those who detested his memoiy, and partizans have gicatly outnumbeicd impartial critics, especially in the eailicr books. In the last few years, with a revived interest — especially in the United States, where, as> a magazine stock subject, Napoleon seems to divide the field with tho War of the Secession — there has been a more judicial spirit. Mr. Ki-elland, a Norwegian author, descendant of a family some of whom came more closely into contact with the Napoleonic troubles than was convenient, acknowledges that there is little new to be said on the subject. It appears that he did not seek it, bt'.fc it was in a measure forced on him. He was engaged' in a study of the reaction that followed Napoleon's fall, v/hen "ths German piinccs returned homo chiefly with the intention of stifling as quickly as possible, the rising of tho people that had been so useful to them when their thrones weio in danger, but which was of no further use to them now," when "all the light that the movement in young Germany would havo spread over Europe, if the outbreak had been understood and' appreciated, was put out by the arch-extinguisher Metternich," and "Germany settled down again, in apparent content, in the semi-dark-ness." ("It in there still," he adds, "and a colossal amount of beer has flowed in the meantime" — which is enough to indicate where ho s-tands.) "At first it was almost worso in Franco than in Germany. The arrogance and stupidity of the •Bourbons were boundless." Ho is a thinker, and an able writer, and it is easy to infer what an inteiesting book he could have written. Cut he failed to find a starting-point, and waH driven back , from event to picceding event, in invt-iso j iscquenco, till all sesined to converge on ' "the little man with the folded arms and the hat set crosswise on his head." The Congress of Vienna, to which he had devoted much thought, did not equa l or approach in historic significance- this single personage. So, after tlneo reals' study on a different theme, ho turned to Tvhafc after all seemed the esscnlia' factor 'in the niovcftneniis ho was bracing — Napoleon. It would be futile to attempt to follow him, in any detail through the ten chapters of Vi is large volume, especially as theTo is not a pa"ge that is without interest. Familiar though the facts may be, we are everywhere conscioua of ai very decided point of view, and if tho author betrays hera and there* what looks liko a little animus against some of the characters, it adds piquancy to his work. Nothing impresses us more, or moTO conveys the stamp of originality, than his contrast between the "two Napoleons"—tho one of tho earlier years, with his clear vision and prevision, his unequalled grasp of detail, his unrivalled generalship, implicit self-reliance, and absolute command ; and the Napoleon who set out on the Russian campaign, with a divided purpose — the underlying wish, fatal to his military object, that he might gain over the Tsar to friendship and alliance, and his subsequent vacillations — taking counsel .with his generals, who thereby lost their former almost superstitious confidence in his wisdom, and his growing neglect of those points of detail which had so much to do with his curly career of success,. The study of gradual deterioration strikes us a masterly piece of analysis. Admitting Napoleon's greatness, Mr. ifeilland credits him with no high moral .ideals. He had not enough regard for religion to allow it in any way to influence his actions, and tho comman belief in bis superstition is heio utterly scouted. He found it convenie.it to talk of "his "star," and to uso like phrases to inspire the men likoly to be impressed with them. Of patriotism he had no conception. Small personal habits often give a key to character, and the following is not without interest: — "He >vas destructive by character and custom. He stuck his paper knife into the costly chairs that were provided for him everywhere. He wasted huge quantities of paper. Whenever he took up anything ihat was frail or finely worked, he was quite certain to demolish or damage it before putting it down. He pulled up the choicest plants in tho hot-houses, and when he could do it without oeing seen, he used to shoot Josephine's rare birds." The title is enough to show that the author does not confine himself to Napoleon's personal or public history and character. All the members of his family are traced and their personal qualities and characteristic actions set out. But the character sketches of ihe great generals and others in closest contact with Napoleon give a particular interest to the book. Cold and isolated as the great man ever remained — the recipient of affection and devotion, unparalleled, though yielding none in return — he cannot be studied apc.rt from these. those whose talents he enlisted, and who were more immediately concerned in effecting his designs. It is in regard to the two Bernadottes, father and son, thgt the author is most interesting. Tho most indulgent reader, we think, cannot acquit of him personal feeling, especially where the senior of the two is concerned. Casual hints as to the relations between Sweden and Norway betray the national bias of the Norseman, to whom the very name of Bernadbtte seema ; to be anathema. The first incident relatod of Bernadotte is connected with tho victory over the Prussian Army at Auerstadt on 14th October, 1806, when Davoust, who was in command, was in a critical position, and sent repeatedly imploring help of Bernadotte, who "acted as if he did not hear the guns. ' 'He even took with him some regiments of dragoons that did not properly belong to this corps — his real reason being that he did not want to share the honours with Davoust, and would have liked to see him beaten by the Prussians, which might very well have happened." Thenceforth, whenever Bernadotte ("the intriguing and untruthful Gascon") is mentioned, which is majiy times, it is always in connection with alleged doubledealing, treachery, self-seeking, or braggadocio. "Ilis narrow-mindeduess and slender intelligence" made him jealous of his leader. "I was rather amazed to hear King Oscar say in 1896 : 'Theone man who could have taken Napoleon's place was my grandfather.' Ho said it so quietly and unhesitatingly that we could see this was tho way ho had been taught hiiitory." No one, probably, would seriously support King OBrar's view, but 'Mr. Kielland's estimate seems biassed. Napoleon \\a3 not tho man to retain a gcneial whose jealousy had rnoie than once nearly caused tht' loss of a battle — ,i jioLniinus tiaitor. despise.l by all. Our author tries to account for the obvious di(iiiiilty. "In ]799, when Napoleon, was in Egypt, Jopepli Boiwpnrto married his yvife's sister to General Beniadottc.

The Miles. Clary were the daughters of a merchant at 'Marseilles, and D,esiree, who became Madame Bernadotte, had been Napoleon's first lovo. ... In the end, she married Bernadotte, and his continuous rise until he became Hng was entirely due to his marriage with Napoleon's friend." Ingenious as this is, it is not to be reconciled with the character of Napoleon an elaborately set out by the auihor himself. So far as tho womenfolk are con. cerned, the book is veritably a scandalous chronicle. Pauline (Napoleon's sister), Hortensc (wife of Napoleon's brother Louis, and mother of Napoleon 111., described by her husband in a letter to the Pope as a Messalina), Josephine, and Mine Louise (Napoleon's successive wives) — all are tarred, more or les>3, with tho same brush. Napoleon nimself was no Joseph, and had as fatal a fascination for women as for men. Needless to say, the epech-making defeats in Russia, and on the plains of Waterloo, are retold — and told well. A Polish fiiend of ours, well versed in the history of Jiis native land, xised to declare that but for Napoleon's perfidy to Poland, the ill-fitcd Russian campaign would have turned out otherwise, There i 3 a good deal in this narrative to support the contention. The translation is well done; but we are not told from what, language the text has been taken. There is no index — an omission the busy nnn finds it hard to fßrgive — and Uie chapter divisions aie of no use, as they are without titkb — not even chronological, like "1808-1815." It is neither instructive nor interesting to a reader to be told in a formal table that "Chapter III." begins on page 99, or "Chapter IX." on 314, and it is a piece of foolishness usually confihed to novels. These blemishes, however, may be forgiven, though we would rather havo had them absent from so excellent a book. "The Breath of the Runners." By Mary Mears. New York : Frederick A .Stokes Company. This is a story of tho art world in New York and London, and is chiefly occupied with the struggles of two girls of genius to obtain recognition as sculptors. To this extent both succeed, but eath in her own vay has to' pay a price for her success. Tha characters are very sharply contrasted. One, Boulah, has so intense an affection for Enid, her friend, that sho sacrifices her best opportunities on her behalf ; Enid, on the other hand, is intensely jealous of Beulah, and uses every means in her power to frustrate her efforts, even secretly destroying some of her work. When she i finds that the critic whoso opinion car- ' rios most weights ranks Bculah's achievement higher than her own, she commits suicide. .The cardina 1 faults of tho book, to our mind, i& that it lakes one aspect of life, exaggerates it, and presents it an tho wholo. There is some strong work, but there is ti lack of pioporlion which detracts from, artistic efi'ect. All tho leading figures strike us as unreal. Beulah, to wiiom the author has devoted special pains, subordinates everything else- to her affection for Enid — an affection so e-xtravag-ant as to b6 almost unnatural ; art is her secondary passion ; and she has scarcely a thought left for her worthy and devoted husband until her friend's catastrophe opens her eyes. Tho author deems that she has a message, which is many times enforced. The following pas&ago will set it forth as ■nell aB any. It is near the end of the story, and Beulah has just left Paris to find some repose after her work has been exhibited : —"But in the city left behind the grsat race novd." ceased. On its pavements all classes of people jostbdeach other. Each face bore the same- indelible stamp; on some- to lightly tiaccd as to bs scarcely discernible, on others limned boldly. It was visible in the eyes of men, opulent, well-fed, but oxcited, who had dealings on tho Bourse, and also in the' eyes of lean creatures, portfolios under arm, who had nothing in view but a higher clerkship, and who were consumed with tho fear that another would get it; it Was icvcaled »» the stooping shoulders of woiking-girlh, tho 'blanchisseuse,' the 'couturicro' with her bundle, even in the swaying gait of models and women of the half-world dis playing their grace of face and 1 form as openly as a huckster his wares ; the fact was the same. It was written in the faces of little children fighting for a piece Of bread in the gutter ; <n the attitude of beggars who formed living cringing balustrades at the church doors. Everywhere, it was the same, each creature measured against tome other, and the strongest, only, suiviving — struggle, the law of the universe. . . r "