The Story of Napoleon. By Harold F. N. Wheeler. (George
G. Harrap and Co. 3a. 6d. not.)—Mr. Wheeler's " Foreword " leads us to expect a reasonable treatment of his subject, and we are not disappointed. " Guided by no standard code of morality, ho created his own, that of expediency." The character of the man could not be better described. He absolutely ignored all the moralities of the world, real or conventional, and this want of scruple was one of the causes of his success. The world was not prepared for it. He had kindly impulses : he was not a Nero or a Domitian. But he hesitated at nothing. He murdered, for instance, the Due d'Enghien, not because he thought him guilty of conspiracy, but to overawe the Bourbons. " If 1 had a favour- able opportunity," he said, " I would get rid of the rest." The reader will find justice done to the man's qualities good and bad, and with it an excellent chronicle of his achievements and his failures. As for the St. Helena affair, Mr. Wheeler puts it quite fairly : "He threw himself on the mercy of the nation to which he had shown no mercy." There was absolutely no obligation on the part of this country, except to do the best for the peace of the world.
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