The Comedy & Tragedy of the Second Empire

The Comedy & Tragedy of the Second Empire - Paris Society in the Sixties; Including Letters of Napoleon III., M. Pietri, and Comte de la Chapelle, and Portraits of the Period

It is due to the readers of The Empress Eugnie: 1870-1910, that they should know how that volume was received by the British and American Press. Leading critics like Mr. Courtney, Daily Telegraph; Mr. Richard Whiteing, Manchester Guardian; and Mr. Tighe Hopkins, Daily Chronicle, devoted much space to their analyses of the volume, as did the able reviewers of the work in the Morning Post, Daily Mail, Evening Standard, Scotsman, Illustrated London News, Observer, Athenum, Church Times, Catholic Times, Onlooker, and many other influential and widely-circulated journals. Two editions were exhausted in this country and the United States. A remarkable, and severely-critical, article appeared in La Grande Revue (Paris), from the pen of the celebrated author and publicist, M. Grard Harry, a strong anti-Bonapartist, who deprecated what he considered the excessive praise bestowed upon the Empress Eugnie. I had a distinctly good Press, and to that fact I attribute the success of the work, a French edition of which will be issued by the eminent Paris firm of Pierre Lafitte et Cie. The written words of Napoleon III., hurriedly jotted down at the hazard of the pen on his way from Sedan to Wilhelmshhe; of{viii} General Fleury by the side of the captive; of the Empress, and those about her, addressed to Mgr. Goddardall these documents, it was agreed by the Press, threw new light upon the period of the Second Empire. One of several appreciative American critics did not appear quite satisfied with the evidence authenticating the Empresss Case, the elaborate statement justifying Her Majestys severely-criticized political and domestic acts. If any doubt existed on that point I will now remove it. The assertions contained in that document were indeed those of the Empress herself, and would never have been published without her express approval and sanction. Sovereigns who have been traduced do not rush into print with signed denials of accusations published to their discredit. They adopt other means of repelling attacks upon their honour, and sometimes upon their morality. Thus, the Emperor Napoleon, during his captivity at Wilhelmshhe, wrote with his own hand a detailed explanation of his policy as the Ruler of France. It would not have been convenablenot in accordance with his dignity or with the rigid etiquette which guides Sovereigns even in their most trivial actionsfor the Emperor (who had not then been formally deposed) to have issued that statement with his signature appended to it. The Duc de Persigny refused to father the document, and it was sent forth as by the Marquis de Gricourt, although, as General Count von Monts assures us, the Emperor was the actual author of the pamphlet,[1] and{ix} gave the General a copy of it. Some extracts from the Emperors Case are printed in the present volume. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 57554
Author: Legge, Edward
Release Date: Jul 20, 2018
Format: eBook
Language: English