Napoleon! the name at whose sound all the monarchs of Europe trembled on their thrones; the mighty genius who set at defiance all the allied powers of the Continent, crushed their armies, scorned their threats, and, even while they were combining to plot his destruction, established a great empire and a powerful throne upon the ruins of a tottering republic,--his career we must admire as a great historical fact, even while we recognize his mistakes, deplore his misdeeds, and hate his despotism. Few of us there are, who do not yield to the fascination of his wonderful achievements. This fascination

has blinded to his faults our genial, popular historian, John S. C. Abbott. So, without willfully perverting or misrepresenting facts, Abbott has given us, in his Life of Napoleon Bonaparte,

a hero who justifies our wildest enthusiasm and deepest devotion. Whether we regard his Napoleon in the aspect of a soldier, a statesman, or simply as a man, he compels our admiration and exacts our homage. We are thrilled with the glowing accounts of his achievements on the parched sands of Egypt, in the inaccessible passes of the lofty Alps. We bow down before the genius of the youthful general, who, with a handful of ragged, war-worn men, could annihilate army after army of the allied European powers,-magnificent troops elated by gorgeous array, excellent discipline, abundant accoutrements; could outwit veteran generals, proud of their years of ascendancy, determined to crush that up-start boy, whose head had been turned by a few sudden victories. According to Abbott, he is fighting for the protection of his beloved country. Down with the tyrants who are plotting her ruin! Calm, self-confident, impetuous, he sweeps everything before him. Yet, with all his success, he is pictured as hating war, suing humbly for peace, treating his fallen enemies with unparalleled generosity, weeping on the field of battle for the slain, who lie in mangled heaps at his feet.

As a statesman, he is represented as wise, moderate, just, allefficient. His first, his only aim, is the glory and prosperity of France. The realms which conquest has added to his dominion, he organizes with a liberal government, and he spreads enlightenment and prosperity throughout all his subject provinces. He is the conquerer whose success advances the civilization of the whole world, whose overthrow causes the "clock of the world to go back six ages"!

In his private life, what a paragon is he not portrayed! Faithful and devoted to his beloved Josephine, he sacrifices his heart's dearest wishes to his country's safety, only when compelled by political necessity. Religious in an ireligious age, he recalls the priests who have been banished by the fanaticism of an atheistic people, he restores the sanctity of the Sabbath, so long desecrated by the ignorant and degraded mob of pas

sion-blinded Jacobins. Supremely kind-hearted, he lends a helping hand to the miserable and unfortunate, he rewards. faithfulness, never forgets a kindness, but always forgives injury to himself, he is the embodiment of all virtues.

Among the iconoclasts of the present century, must be counted Madame de Remusat, who has given to the character of Napoleon a cast so different from that given by Abbott, that our idol is thrown down from its niche and lies shattered at our feet. Although we must make due allowance for any prejudices which she may have entertained, and for the fact that she wrote after the glamour inspired by his presence had passed away, yet we cannot discredit the facts, nor wholly reject the opinions given by one who was, for so long a time, intimately associated with Napoleon and Josephine. In her memoirs, we find that this mighty general drained France of all her youth, only to lead them out to useless wars. We find that this great statesman made sad mistakes in his efforts to consolidate his power, that he debased himself and injured his cause by acts of tyranny, oppressed the countries he had conquered, and used his absolute power as a despot would employ it. We find this generous, kind-hearted monarch, a selfish egotist, who trusted no man, but lowered himself to petty intrigues and stained his character by the lowest immorality.

Conflicting as these views seem, a thorough study of the two tends to justify our kindly optimist. His is not a view with nothing to rest upon, no excuse for its blindness. The dazzling brilliancy of Napoleon's achievements is almost enough to blind one to his intellectual deficiencies. Even the most prejudiced cannot help a thrill of wonder and admiration, as they read of many of his exploits. Especially is this true of his early campaigns. That this youth should have been able to win so many signal victories over experienced veterans, seems marvelous. The marvel is scarcely less, now we know by what tactics he achieved so much, than when only the splendid results of his battles were known and his method of warfare

was a mystery. We recognize the foresight and daring independence of the general who could so cleverly disregard the rules of warfare acknowledged and obeyed for ages. Enthusiasm for the man's genius carries us away, also, and we are ready to attribute extraordinary ability to him in other places besides the battle-field. We are glad to seize upon whatever indicates that his great powers were employed in a noble cause. And in his early campaigns he seemed to be acting in a noble cause. All the European powers were pressing down upon this poor nation, weak from internal dissensions, powerless to act for want of a competent leader, striving, with almost the madness of despair, to throw off the chains that bound her, upon this struggling nation, all Europe was trying to force those Bourbon kings, whose overthrow had just been effected in a fierce and bloody civil war. We have no patience with the interference. It seemed but just that France should work out her own destiny, for better, for worse; and the illustrious youth who rose at this crisis and kept off the meddling foes, has the best wishes of every lover of freedom. Moreover, his soldiers loved him with a devotion to which history furnishes no parallel, and, in their love, we see a fertile source of illusions in regard to his military career. This man could purchase their valor in battle by a promise to shield his own person from the assaults of the enemy. When the French troops were commanded by a hostile general and were ordered to fire upon him, he could advance calmly and securely in the face of hundreds of levelled muskets and say, "Soldiers, if there is one among you who would kill his Emperor, let him do it. Here I am. It seems as if only a self-denying patriot, only a sympathetic, merciful leader, could have such an influence over his troops. Yet we all know the effect that can be produced on the mind, especially on the mind of the ignorant, by such brilliant achievements as those of Napoleon, by such personal bravery as he exhibited, and by the mere magnetism of a commanding presence. "The glory of France,"