20 JANUARY 1900, Page 25

Louis Napoleon and Mademoiselle de Montijo. By InaLert de Saint-Amand.

Translated by Elizabeth Gilbert Martin. (Hutchinson and Co. 6s.)—M. de Saint-Amand was not one of those who held aloof from the Court of the Second Empire. On the contrary, he seems to have been in favour there, and though he modestly declines to write his own memoirs, he is prepared to tell something of what he saw and heard. The volume now before us is given to the early days of the Emperor and Empress, for it begins with the birth of Napoleon (April 20th, 1808), gives an account of the early days of Eugenie de Montijo (born May 5th, 1826), and concludes with their marriage (January 30th, 1853). The quality of our author's work is well known. It is always fresh and lively, and he holds the scales of justice fairly level.