The Sun.
London, England, 1852-06-18 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE LIFE OF MARIE DE MEDICIS. By
Miss Pardoe. 3 Vols. Colburn.
Miss Pardoe has already distinguished herself by
her lively delineation of men and manners, by her
descriptive pictures of "cities," and her vivid por-
traits of individuals. Having some time back given
us an account of " Louis XIV. and the Court of
France during the Seventeeth Century," she has now
selected for her theme the court of the same country
during the preceding reigns, and for her heroine the
Queen of Henry IV., and the mother of Louis XIII.
Than the life of Marie of Medicis few fitter subjects
for a biography could have been selected. _ _

" All the existing records of European royalty," ob-
serves the authoress in her preface, " do not, probably,
comprise the annals of a life of greater vicissitude than
that which has been chosen as the subject of the present
work. We find numerous examples in history of queens
who have suffered exile, imprisonment, and death, but
we believe that the unfortunate Marie de Medicis is the
only authenticated instance of a total abandonment on
the part alike of her family and friends, which terminated
almost in starvation. Certain it is that after having
occupied the throne of France, presided over its councils,
and given birth to the ancestor of a long line of princes,
she was ultimately indebted to the sympathy and at-
tachment of a foreign artist (Rubens), of whom she had
once been the zealous patron, for a roof under which to
terminate her miserable existence !"
Hence the very interesting and varied character of
this work may be surmised. In the first volume we
obtain a glimpse of the court of Henri of Navarre, a
glimpse which throws no agreeable light upon the
character of that Monarch in his domestic life. After
his separation from the unworthy Marguerite of Va-
lois, and after the death of his favourite, Gabrielle, we
find the Monarch yielding to the representations of
his wisest of counsellors and truest of friends, Sully,
and consenting to espouse the Florentine Princess.
Welcomed with the most magnificent festivities by
the nation over which she was to reign, and naturally
indulging in her own heart many dreams of happi-
ness, Marie de Medicis entered France. Henri has-
toned to meet her on her way, and received her with
affection ; nevertheless, even at that time and for years
afterwards, Madame de Verneuil rained her empire
over the heart of the Monarch, and divided
with the Queen the homage of the court. If the,
at times, indignant and austere deportment of
Marie embittered the happiness of her wedded
life, there is, according to Miss Pardoe's showing,
no cause for astonishment and little room for repre-
hension. Surrounded by her Italian friends, who
felt themselves wronged in the wrongs of their mis-
tress, and who lost no opportunity of aggravating
her wounded feelings, by expatiating upon her indig-
ties, Marie of Medicis was certainly placed in a most
cruel and trying position. The embarrassments of
Sully, the would-be peace-maker between the King
and queen in their many disagreements, were of a
most perplexing nature, but to the last he retained
his power with the King, who often heard from his
lips censures and counsels such as are seldom ad-
dressed to royalty. The character of Henry of Na-
varre, notwithstanding his very reprehensible con-
duct in his domestic relations, is in many respects
most fascinating, and the narrative of his death, and
especially of its preliminary presentiments, as here re-
corded, is singularly affecting. The Queen had just
been crowned prior to assuming the dignity of re-
gent during the King's absence at the seat of war.
Public rejoicings celebrated the ceremony, but in
the midst of it all the Monarch was sad, and spoke of
death to his familiar companions, who, remonstrating
with him, reminded him of the many blessings which
he possessed. " True," replied Henry, " but I must
resign them all." A few hours afterwards the knif
of Ravillac verified those words, plunged France into
grief for a monarch who, with all his faults, was the
darling of his people, and placing a crown upau
infant brow of Louis XIII , elevated the
des an
Me-
dicis to the perilous position. of regent. A A. compli-
cated
the re • '
web of intrigues for place and power,
unhappy
of plots and counter-plots, of Mriva..raileel
heartburnings and enmities occupies
part, if not the whole, of the greater
solumes. Unhappy as a wife, mauling
To hold
Florentine e
a sovereign, Marie de Medicis was most unhappy
as
as a mother, which circumstance induces"
us to be-
lieve her not entirely faultless.
hhaeavret
boefena Kinintgneacpcnuwsteormbefd
tthoecaptive the
adulation, might not
whose marriage had necessarily Princess,
state policy, and not of affection, been a matter of
untroubled rule amid such elements
surrounded her path as regent,
' cshile to preserve
powers of a Napoleon ; but
preserve the confidence to, would have tasked then
of discord as
one might reasonably imagine,-r own son, was a task'___
fallthe ,
city of any w of h,,, win the affection a
"man having within the .cegapr4t,
facttiltehat bitterness f_
a47mpathise with Marie
doubledin her
byodealwt the blow,
we cannot but think th ~a son's hand.
ice's exercise of
maternal affection d a, e a more judicious exercise of
maternal affection during his earlY dsys
might have
uring his early
altered the character / and ameliorated
the position of of Louis X t
'I .cliiposition of the
young King
ay hise mother. Theto have been un-
amiable, and thep appears
however,brdination early ma-
nifested itself spirit of insubordination
when the Regent
(having some
hours On one occia I.
ie ordered him for some
previous Ja severe punishment)
neglect of duty to
of t° King, making the cus-
entered the
tomary presence
soulded by etiquette, " I should
prefer, M obeisanced,,desmaid the offended Sovereign,
Madame,"
" fewer fioa find fewer courtesies." Full of anec-
dotes of
alrfingdss, grope and gay, lively and severe,
be attractive to the " general
these volumesn
will
readers," who read to be entertained as well as
1 hle manuscript ,
to be informed. A VA.LIEW