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because it abounds in hitherto unpublished notes throwing light on the administration of various politicians. But it leaves in the shadow the economic, literary, and scientific life of the nation. The questions of the budget and loans are but very briefly touched upon. Nothing whatever is said of the conditions of life of the workingmen, the peas- ants, and the bourgeoisie. It is a political history and nothing more. As such it is good. One clearly perceives the desire for impartiality of the author. But his efforts are vain. When he writes about the Commune, he cannot help showing his sympathy for M. Thiers and the Versaillais. The whole work is a panegyric of M. Thiers. He appears in this book as a great politician and a great patriot. We cannot subscribe, however, to the conclusion at which M. Hanotaux arrives, because he entirely omits to mention the personal motives of the acts of M. Thiers, which were very clever indeed, but quite shameless.
The book of M. Hanotaux is certainly a good contribution to the contemporary political history of France, but it does not constitute the definite work which one may read who wishes to know well the social and political life of France from 1871 to 1873.
A. AND H. HAMON.
La Commune vecue. Par GASTON DA COSTA. Tome I, " 18 mars 28 mai 1871." Paris: Librairie Quentin. Pp. xvi -f 474. Fr. 3.50.
M. DA COSTA took part in the Commune. He was very young then and holding an office in it. He relates what he saw and heard, either during the events themselves or in the prisons and the bagnios. He questioned others, also witnesses to this tragedy. He had in his hands unpublished records, manuscript memoirs, and official docu- ments. He is able, therefore, to state precisely some little-known facts, and to present some others quite unknown, but of great impor- tance. He discusses, besides, the works written before him treating of the Commune. M. Da Costa's work, of which the first volume alone is issued so far, shows a noble effort toward impartiality. And he would have completely succeeded if he had put in it less passion and had refrained from using certain qualifications and certain appre- ciations which are too violent. He forgot that the men, whoever they be, are always inevitably determined to act as they do. The author follows but imperfectly the chronological order of events. Thus, in
