Revue des dene Monies (15th June) Paul de Remusat promises a series of papers comprising the private memoirs of his grandmother, who was lady in waiting to the Empress Josephine, To judge by the introductory article, the author of these memoirs was a perfectly unbiased witness of the public and private events which preceded the fall of her mistress. Now, for the "first time the great Emperor's domestic life is to be brought into the light of day, 0 that the curious in the byways of history as well as those who love to contemplate the weaknesses of men and women highly placed, may count upon a rich treat, While Madame de Remusat was lady in waiting, her husband was "prefect of the palace," and the two were therefore plunged into the midst of the somewhat mingled society which thronged the Imperial court. Among the familiars of the Imperial circle, Madame de Remusat was noted for her caustic wit and sturdy good sense, and as far as we can gather from her papers was feared rather than loved in consequence. She was much admired by Talleyrand, who left among his papers an inventory of her charms mental and physical, proving the ex-bishop's taste if not his delicacy. The dignity of their position and its many direct and indirect advantages, made life very pleasant to husband and wife until they were rudely shocked by the murder of the Due d'Enghien. Both probably betrayed their feelings, for when the Empress was exiled and her lady in waiting elected to accompany her, the Emperor made no attempt to alter the arrangement, and meanwhile M. de Remusat separated himself as much as possible from Court and confined his official work to the administra tion of the theatres. It is easy to understand, when reading Madame de Rémusat's letters to her favourite son, letters full of tenderness and confidence yet sparkling with humour, how great a charm she must have shed around her, and what value the record. of her day by day impressions of men and things must have had. However, when the Emperor left Elba and before his arrival in the capital, M. de Remusat received an order to absent himself from Paris. Knowing that this was but the beginning of troubles, Madame de Remusat bethought herself of the danger she ran in keeping by her-a compromising manuscript. Without taking time for thought, she burned the whole—a rash act, which for many years caused her and her husband and son the most poignant regret. Five years later she undertook to reproduce from memory her early impressions, and the fruit of this resolution is soon to be before us.
'M. Jacques Vincent gives the first instalment of a story of Europeanised Exyptian life. It seems feeble, but perhaps it is too soon to judge. Admiral Gurien do la Gravitre concludes his La Marine de Varenir et la Marine des Anciens with many suggestions chiefly of importance to naval men, out of which we select one which appears eminently practical and desirable, Let us by all means, says he, educate sea soldiers on board ironclads, we cannot train sailors in them. For this, which is equally important with the other, the vessels that are condemned by the advance of naval architecture are capitally suited, By means of them the scandal of sea-sick sailors will be abolished, with all that it implies.M. Maxime clu Camp continues his thrillingly interesting recollections of the Commune. We happened the other day to be talking with a Frenchman who had lived in Paris during that reign of terror, and who narrowly escaped assassination, We asked him whether he had read these papers. He replied with a shudder that he would never read a line of any description, he had been through the horrors and could not bear to recall them. clu Camp's recital is graphic enough vividly to reproduce in anybody's mind previously witnessed scenes; it almost produces the condition of Paris before the eyes of those who have only heard it described. Amid all the ferocious license of the Communist leaders, one curious fact stands out, namely, that for some considerable time they protected Paris from men worse than themselves. Outside and beneath the fanatics of the Hotel de Ville there was a pack of madmen who howled forth denunciations of slackness in the work of assassination and destruction. Theleaders confessed that they had in great measure to follow these men, in order to keep up the appearance of controlling them. Later on, it is true, they abandoned all attempt at control and flung themselves into the wildest region of the chaos, endeavouring to make it worse confounded. The confusion of this time is all but incredible.
Madness reigned supreme, It appeared as though the end of all possibility of order had arrived. Mere theft became a virtue, but every brigand was a murderer us well. Every instinct of humanity disappeared, even the passions of men became those of wild beasts. But the story must be read it is not possible to summarise it, Students of political economy will read with interest and curiosity a hitherto unpublished paper on free trade written in 1851 by Duke Victor de Broglie. It saya much for the author's clear sight in economical matters that at so early a period and in a country so rigidly protectionist as France, he should be found concluding that "no artificial contrivances can interrupt, or even divert to any considerable extent, the natural course of commercial affairs."
The writer's well-known views were scoffed at when he propounded them in the Chamber, and by none more tartly than by 'M. Thiers, but the progress of time has amply justified his sagacity, An exposition of political theories from a German point of view and by a German Professor was not likely to pass unchallonged in France. Yet the lately translated General Theory of the State, by the eminent Professor Bluntschli, of Heidelberg, is made the subject of o calm and generously appreciative review by M. Beaussire. The author of the original work contemplates the State not as an aggregate of individuals united by contract, not as an abstraction from the particulars connoted by the term, but as fa living unity possessing not only the organs which make it up, but something of its own which makes it an organism. He credits it with will and emotions. He shews that association is a primitive need universally felt by mankind, but the State does not arise until it becomes conscious of itself. The critic, while recognising the profound truth of this doctrine, justly complains of the vagueness of its express sion. He suggests that "the State's consciousness of itself" is neither more nor Jess than the natural and inevitable moral development of the individuals composing
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.