THE FAMILY LIBRARY.*
LITERARY SPECTATOR.
TUE LIFE OF NAPOLEoN BONAPARTE, VOL. T.
WE are disappointed in this the commencement of a series of publi- cations of which we nevertheless augur good things. It is perhaps not quite fair to judge a whole work by its half ; but should the re- maining part serve to change our opinion, we shall not be slow in expressing it. The style and plan of the work, the spirit and philo- sophy of the author, may however be as well ascertained from the Lith Of BONAPARTE to the Peace of Amiens, as from the Peace of Amiens to the Abdication of Fontainbleau.
\Ve feel no hesitation in saying that the writer has not taken up his subject en maitre: he has neither made much of old materials nor added new ; he has conceived no idea of NAPoLEosis character ; he has not viewed the course of his life from any cola- inandin,, eminence' and in short, has not answ ered the just expec- tations which were formed of a new work under such auspices, and of such a subject at this time of clay. The truth seems to he, that it is an abridgment of Sir WALTER SCOTT'S Life,—equally narrow, equally •errotieous, and destitute of tliese merits which the space alone, to say nothing of the talent of the writer, enabled him to in- clude within its bounds. Viewed, however, in the light of an alwidgment of that history of N APOLEON, it is not. de::ditute of claims to attention : it is at tolerobly clear and sensil de digest of the facts of the history of Europe during NAPOLEON's career, according to the received interpretation in England. All, however, that we lately remarked as faulty in Sir WALTER. Scorn, when we had occasion to speak of the Memoirs of De 13,117RIENNE, applies with the same force to the version before us. The fault is ns great, and the excuse is less : the writer, however, like his prototype. has thought it wholly unnecessary to search for mateiials : he seems to think that so great a personage, who acted so conspicuous a part in the siold of the would, is to be drawn from the floating impres- sions en Iiie world itself. if a writer excuse himself front the pains of research, he ought to brine. a power of turning to the greatest possible account the facts which are already common property. We might have been minced if another I JouNsoN had taken up the old facts just as he found limn; for which we should have been compensated: but the present writer has no simihar paver of reading us a great moral and metaphysical lecture upon the text of generally weli-known circumstanees in the eventful of great
a- . man. At. no time should we have been satisfied with this work ; but least Of all can we be so while fresh from the perusal of the two first volumes of De BouRiENNE.
We had moreover understood that this was to be a Personal History of NAPOLEON : iu such tennis was it announced ; and the announcement implied that the author would pursue the develop- ment of N APOLE0NS character, follow him in his motives, his actions as they were absolutely performed by him, and only notice events as they related to his individual person. This, however, is by no means the aspect in which he is viewed; he and his history
* Loudon, Murray.
are made subservient to the history of Europe. In this personal history, individualities are more slightly touched upon than in almost any history we remember. in fact, the personal history of this great Agitator is not yet written: De Boo MENNE is the only writer that approaches it.
We are disposed to look forward with hope to the performance of the remainder of this very admirable undertaking. The plan is excellent; in other instances we trust the execution will be equal to the design. The artists have done their part : the plates are beau- tiful—the engravings exquisite, and the wood-cuts full of life and strength. Entitled to similar praise are the printers and the direc- tors of the inferior but very essential points of boarding and bind- ing. The appearance attic work is indeed elegantly neat, and al- together worthy of the publisher who first led the way in our present luculent style of typography.
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