ON account of my friendly connection for more than thirty years with the late Dr. Thomas W. Evans and in compliance also with his frequently expressed desire that I should be the editor of his "Memoirs" and manuscript remains, these writings were placed in my hands soon after his death; and I have, since, been requested by his executors to prepare for publication that portion of them which gives the sub-title, and forms the subject-matter of this volume.

Dr. Evans's long and close attachment to Napoleon III and his family, the confidential relations he maintained with other sovereigns and princely houses and his large and intimate acquaintance among the men and women who, from 1848 to 1870, were the governing powers in Europe, afforded him unusual opportunities of observing the evolution of political ideas and institutions in France, and the conditions and the causes that immediately preceded and determined the fall of the Second French Empire as seen from within; and supplied him also with facts and very valuable information concerning the same subjects as seen, or gathered in, from without. No man, moreover, was better acquainted than he with what may be termed the moral atmosphere of the several Courts to which, for so many years, he was professionally attached. In a word, he had acquired an unusual amount of that kind of knowledge which is derived from frequent and informal intercourse with persons filling the highest official and social positions in widely separated political communities, and which especially qualified him to form and pronounce correct judgments, with respect to the significance of the events that were the most remarkable, and the character of the rulers and of the men who were the most prominent, during a very interesting period of French and European history.

Although Dr. Evans could make very little pretension to literary ability, he possessed the gift of saying what he had to say with such evident sincerity, that it is greatly to be regretted he has placed on record so little, when he might have told us so much, concerning the personal qualities, opinions, habits, and manner of life of the great personages with whom it was his privilege to become acquainted. Indeed, I am quite sure that whoever reads this book---whatever defects he may find in it---will sometimes feel that he is a very near and sympathetic witness of events and incidents which the writer himself saw and has with such distinctness and soulfulness described.

The writings entitled "Memoirs," by Dr. Evans were, as left by him, in two parts. The first contained a sketch of the political and military situation in France and Germany that immediately preceded the Franco-German War, together with a very full account of the escape of the Empress Eugénie from Paris, and the establishment of the Imperial family at Chislehurst, in England. This formal narrative was prepared in 1884, but remained unpublished---principally from a sentiment of delicacy on the part of the writer. Twelve years later, in 1896---the year before his death---Dr. Evans began to make a record of his reminiscences in an autobiographical form, but composed in substance of occurrences and experiences personal to himself during his life as a court dentist, together with numerous character sketches of the distinguished people it had been his good fortune to meet and to know. This record was the second part of the "Memoirs." Unfortunately no attempt had been made, while preparing it, to give to it a literary form. The subjects were treated separately and with little regard to their proper order. Many of the pages contained merely notes or memoranda; and, as was inevitable under the circumstances, incidents were re-told, and there were numerous minor repetitions, especially with respect to matters that had already been set forth in the first part. The work of coordinating and assimilating the materials had been left for a more convenient season---and, as it has proved, for another hand to do.

In preparing the contents of the present volume I have selected from the two parts the portions in which, in my opinion, the public is most likely to be interested, and which at the same time are of the greatest value historically. They tell the story of the flight of the Empress from her capital, of which no complete and authentic account has ever before been published, and include practically everything in the "Memoirs," that relates to the Second French Empire.

The greatest difficulty that I have encountered, in the course of my editorial work has arisen from the necessity of suppressing one or the other of the repetitions, or very similar statements in the parts referred to, and then, so fusing or, rather, stitching the paragraphs and sections together as to give to the whole sufficient continuity and unity to be acceptable to myself without doing violence to the original text. The plan adopted, and which I believe to be the best in view of the facts above mentioned, has been to keep together, and in the body of this book, what relates directly to the Fall of the Empire, and to include in the opening and closing chapters most of the author's more strictly personal reminiscences and appreciations of the Emperor Napoleon III. and the Empress Eugénie.

I certainly should feel, however, that I had altogether failed to accomplish what I have sought to do, were I not aware that it is the generally conceded privilege of the writer of memoirs and reminiscences to remember only what he chooses to remember, and to say it just when it pleases him to say it. And in according with me this liberty to the author, I trust the reader may be equally generous toward the editor of this book, so far as he may be disposed to hold him responsible for an arrangement of its contents that may occasionally seem wanting in sequence, or for a style of writing that is perhaps, at times, a little too décousu.

But there is one point of more importance than any question of form with respect to which I have no desire to disclaim my responsibility. For the accuracy of the narrative where it relates to matters of which I have a personal knowledge---and they are many---I hold myself equally responsible with the author. And I may also say that I have felt it to be a part of my editorial duty to verify his statements. where errors of fact seemed possible, whenever I could do so conveniently; to compare with the originals the passages he has cited from various writings and reports; to name his authorities, when they were not given by him; and to contribute a few appendices and foot notes, in one or two of which I have not hesitated to express my own opinion of persons with some freedom.

EDWARD A. CRANE.
22 Rue ST. AUGUSTIN, PARIS.