The Lincoln County herald., 1871-01-05
Catherine dc Medicts..

Catherine dc Medicis led the revclties,
the fashions and the politics OF the age.
Her youth had been sineuarly uniottu-
mute. No friendly voice had awakened
in her cold heart trace of aliaI or mater
nal love. Her father, Lorenzo de Medi-
els, had deserved by his vices the miser
les be endured her mother was no less
unhappy; aud Catherine. the deceuden'
of the wealthiest mercantile house in
Europe, was born penniless and child
Of evi! omen. It was forctold Of her ut
her birth that she would bring destruc
ton to the city in which she was born
the towns.people Of Florence would have
exposed the infant in the basket to the
tails of her enemies, but she was preserved
alive, was shut up in convent, and in
the school Of Machiavelli and Of Rome
learned dissimu!ation and self control.
Her uncle became Pope, and Francis l,
anxious to win support Of Clement, mar.
ried his son Henry to the portion less
orphan, then a girl Of founieen. But
misfortune still followed tho child Of
OWL omen. The Pope. her uncle, soon
died Francis reapcd no benefit from the
hasty marriage, and Catherine came into
the family of Valos only to be neglected
by her husband for niana Of Poiters, and
to be condemned by her legal relatives as
the pennilcss descendant Of o race Of
merchants.
For many years she lived poverlcss
aud obscure, tho nominal wife Of q de
PRAYED king. Yet she was singularly
beautiful. Her brilliant complexion, her
large lustrious eyes, the inheritance Of
the Medicean family, her graceful form,
hand and arm that no painter or sculptor
could initiate, were set of by manners so
soft and engaging as to win the esteem
even of her foes. Few left her presence
without being charmed by that graceful
courtesy which had descended to her
from Lorenzo the Magnificent; few
could believe that her placid courtenance
concealed the passions. the resenments,
the unsparing malice of the most ambi.
tious OF women. From Lorenzo, Gather.
ine had inherited, too, love for exterior
beauty in ires. or form-a taste for lavish
elegance. She shonc at tourneys, and
glittercd in stately professions. Fol
political intrigue that seemed the only
vigorous impulse Of the placid nature
and for which at times shc became u mur
dercss, revellng in the spectacles Of hc'
, bleeding victims, or medta,ed and pre-
! pared the corruption, the degradation
or the death Of her own sons.
! BY some ardent Roman Catholic
writer's, Catherine is adorned with al
, sanity virtues as the guardian aud dc
: fender Of the Church by most HISTORIANS
, she is looked upon as an incomprehcnsi
Bile mystery. Not even her contempora
: rio, could penetrate tho ohiil and 10!
, heart, where no maternal or friendI,
affections ever dwelt, where pity an'
compassion never game, which was deaf
, to the sufferings of others and even t,
her own, and discover the secret spring
that guided her crratic policy of vascilla
tion and crime. Yet it is possible tha
the true mystery lay in her boundles
. superstition. For the common modes o
. belief she hsd nothing but skep,icsu
y She. toyed with the Iugunots; she wa
not afraid to cajole and'asfs. the Catho
lies and the Pope. But before the SOL
= cerer or the fortuncteller all her narro
y intellect wus bowed in abject submission
. Her credulity was perhaps the cause Q
> her impassive cruelty.
} She obcyed implicitly the decrecs {
. the stars she consulted with awe th
), famous seer Of Salon, Nostrudamu
whose name and writings are still cher
y ished by the lovers Of curious mystcrie
and whose rude oracles were freely pu
- - chased by the noble and the great Of h
II superstiIious age. She wore myst
- amulet or chain that still exists she kel
"a !. around her astrologers and alchemist
l. and possibly believed that in all her cr'
J }, : elites and crime she was governed by ,
y overruliug fate. 1t is probable that
Is secret insanity clouded the human mil
~ Of the French Medea. Yet at the age
) thirty nine Catherine held in her u
N steady hand the destinies Of France,
ie iTe From the "Huguenots," by Eugc
~ Lawrence.