Memoirs of the Empress Eugenie
edited by . New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1920. Two vols. 12mo, 473 and 561 pp. $7.50.
‘TALK not to us about the meaning of this statute,’ said a Plantagenet lawmaker to a court of the realm. ‘We know the statute better than you do, for we made it.’ In narrating the story of the Second Empire, it is obvious that Eugénie de Montijo is qualified to speak with similar assurance. She had a large part in making that brilliant but short-lived régime what it was. No other woman, and very few men, knew so much about what was happening in the arena of European politics two generations ago. She was a good listener, a close observer, and in a great many important things an active participant. It is almost needless to say, therefore, that her Memoirs give us the inner and intimate side of events which profoundly impressed whole nations in their day, and which have not ceased to form the theme of controversy among historians ever since.
But a good deal more than the annals of politics and diplomacy are spread upon these pages. Even an emperor is better known to his wife than to anyone else; and Eugénie tells the story of Napoleon III’s intimate ambitions and motives in a way which no one else could hope to do. The tragic story of the Prince Imperial is here narrated with a poignancy of appeal that no mother can resist. There are whole chapters of gossipy chat about the intrigues and rivalries and flirtations of these resplendent days, with vivid descriptions of all that went on within the Court circle at Saint Cloud, Compiègne, and the Tuileries. One by one the notables of the period pass in review. With a frankness which is at times amazing, the chief figures in this long procession are silhouetted against the bright background of Imperial France. Their failings and their foibles, quite as well as their solid merits, are thrust into cold print; although it is only fair to say that Eugénie saw far more good than evil in the vast majority of her contemporaries. The reader will easily understand, nevertheless, why these Memoirs, although prepared nearly a dozen years ago, were not permitted to be published until after her death.
The Empress had an exceedingly retentive memory, especially for details which busy men are prone to forget. The lapse of a half-century did not dull her recollection of little episodes which, trivial enough in themselves, throw sharp lights upon some of the personalities of the age. Besides, she made notes and put them away. These jottings, together with the Emperor’s private papers, have been freely drawn upon by Count Fleury, who proves himself an editor of far more than ordinary skill.
No historian of the future can disregard these Memoirs, which greatly supplement, and in some measure modify, the impressions which La Gorce has given the world concerning the brilliance of the Second Empire. Yet it is not for the benefit of historians that these volumes were written, nor is it to cloistered scholars that they will make their chief appeal. They are rather for that world-army of readers who can appreciate a thoroughly human story, for they are not alone the memoirs of an Empress, but the recollections of a wife and mother. They discharge an obligation which Eugénie believed, and quite rightly, to be due to the memory of her husband and her son. It is a fair guess that no book will be more widely read or more earnestly discussed during the next few months.
W. B. M.