New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-05-05
MADAME DE STAEL.
LADY BLENNERHAssETTs BOOK.

Lady Bennerhsssett, wtth porussS wniumsS
by J. 4. Gordon Cummings. In tArce @''N'
svo. London Chapman 4 Hail.
The translator Of these volumes states In prem
,orv note that they are slightly abridged uane
lu.,on Of LADY Blennerhsxsets's work. though IN
th.ir nresent form they amount TO some i'ooo
naaes. The reader has some ground Tor compAn.h'
ON the score of difuseness and dscafsVenoS'. ~.
author may be right in holding tha' inc polu".,
of this wonderful woman could only oe eA"nl'ueu .
in eonue ction with the framework OF Ohe 1ui,''
,hou rh,s and events surrounding her, ana tha''
y 80 % ~. difSculty of separating Madame de
c..p. r.,.onal history from that Of her surround
a.. ,hs various attempts. especially the English
..ssr.n,s "a nroducc an exhaustive and hfeiike
,,or,,ot of her have utterly failed" but certainly
Tndv Bleune rhassetts large canvas includes 100
,r.nv 8qures not to detract seriously from the
.I..yncss and unity Of the work. AZ o treasury
a, historical facts indeed these volumes are 1nVai
,able, and whoever hereafter writes on madame
dc Stael will have to consult them freely. But
thew are too much history OF an entire perloa 10
constitute q satisfactory biography. Inc resaef
hos. main nurpose is to comprehend the character,
rrips and actions of the central figure finds 10 nee
sssarv 70 nick out here and there widely separated
ra,+inl estimates and fragments OF narrative, ana
nainfullv 70 piece them together for the author
attempts no summarized view OF her SUBJECT anu
r,ves so much space to the description ana Analysis
81 scores of other important personalities as TO pro-
duce q feeling Of bewilderment and confusion, anu
10 diminish the effect which better-arrangeo "nu
less yoluminous narrative would have cren'eu
The work is monumental but 1t is not the plos-
raphy OF Madame de Stael which is sui "ah'ins
,na which Lady Blennerhassett intended to write
II would be possible, by careful and luaiclous oon.
6ensatiou. TO evolve such a biography from 1ness
uch
~ a single volume. would be well worth undertake
;rc Az T. is. the author has, with true German
Industry written what is almost new history Oh
Tho Ravolution She in fact includes IN her sur
,o, the close of the reign of Louis the four'echlh
and The period of the Restoration Not only
Madame dc Stacls history recorded, but thau OIL ''c
whole Necker family. Almost huhureo p"s''
81 the first volume are taken up WIN an "o'ouHV
~ what happened before Madame de Stael was
born H.. and q whole gallery OF careluhs ei"'oio"
en- ,ono,b nortraits OF her contemporaries mleht
y. oxtrsc,ed from the work. With oil her pauent
,.hor II may be questioned, moreover. whether
.I.orsr idea Of the subject Of this biography may
mot no derived from Sainte Beuvcs paper III lis
I" Portraits de Femmes': for there AT ieas' We
have the woman before us constantly anu arc NV
called from the study of her to exam4he h'N.i."
athor reople whose characters no doubt deserve
y,fnYnD
,o understand il we wish to grasp the full sighih
$50 - tho neriod. but who in the circumstances
lila be suhordjnated to the main object-wh>ca,
go, all ,s the INTERPRETATION Of one woman, anu
not of a crowd. Noo,,or,c
tn. deem interest which attaches to NecKer
daughter centres upon the fact that she repie-
SCENTS. more exactly than any other person. Vuc
pu,est and the least impractical aspiF""oi'
towards POLITICAL liberty Of her time fossesse"
OF a singuarly masculine intelligence by no hleauS
Of the standard French type. but charac'eliNcu
nv n Teutonic solidity and an Engnsh cEarhe'S,
ber GaIlic ouickness and subtlety were 80 olenueo
with these more substantial qualities as to pro
duce a rare fertility in ideas, and an equally
rare acutepess OF Judgment. OF the last her
work on Germany is q signal proof, OF the hfs'
her political views, save during her carrier year,
are sufficiently illustrative. Educated IN Vhe
school OF Jean Jacques Rousseau u was haturai
,ba. she should begin life with erroneous ideas
concerning the possibilities and the dlrectloh oi
,oIitical and social reform. Fsmiliarized from
yopth with the abuses of the old regime, she
could not be mistaken in the conviction that
,vbatever might succeed that system stood con-
demned She shared the vague theories OF
regensrstion which in her youth were current
in tbs higher circles OF French society, and she
was hearty approver O. the Revolution so long
ma IL was the Revolution of 1880. In this her
nosition somewhat resembled Lafsyette's; but
her mind was more elastic and receptive than
his and continued to develop and to adapt ltseil
70 changing conditions long after MS views
had finally crystallized into set conservatism.
The Jscobn domination and its results opened
her eyes, and as from the safe retirement OF
Coppet she watched with ever increasing grler
dismay and horror the progress of the Torrorlsts
she was forced TO acknowledge that she mao
failed to understand her countrymen, ana mao
oyerestimated both their intelligence and thell
patriotism. The Terror was the most feariuI
illustration of factiona greed and selfshness that
modern history affords It's parallel may be
found in the annals Of the Greek Republics and
municipal governments, but nowhere else. AL
,bougbt of freedom was put aside during the
Jacobin ascendancy, and the guillotins was kept
at work. not as Was prete nded, TO punish treason
and 70 destroy the enemies of the Revolution
INIT to sustain hideous tyranny which had
erected itself upon the ruins Of the monarchy
In face of the facts the contention that the Jacobn
leaders were in any true sense moved by love
of country is preposterous They were the mos
unscrupulous band Of cyclists the world has eve
seep. from Robespierre down. They were, more
over band of poltroons, for the wholesale
slaughter which they systematzed had no othe
object than the security OF their own neads
The rigorous cruelty and undiscriminating em
nlovment of murder which characterized tn.
Terror seem to have cowed Madame De Stael
She may well have been silenced by the reflection
that intellectual recourse is futile when the onl
reply TO argument is the use of the guiiioune
During this period, at all events, Shteemploye
all her resources in rescuing condemned or I'm
prisoned friends. and in mitigating the suffering
OF the fugtves who in majority OF cases ha'
lost all their property, and often all their reia"Ve
and friends Here the woman was supreme th
philosopher and politician sank out OF sght
The Ninth Thermidor, in relieving the strain
secmed TO invite her once more to take part il
publc affairs. Her influence was that OF the Salo
as this time. and. in fact, until the close OF Tn
P~xoh,tinn IL Ia an evidence OF the solldlty o