New-York tribune., 1890-07-13
L" THE AUSTRIAN.'
4 PICTURESQUE VOLUME.


LIMO, PIP 300. Charlie, ~croncrs NonN.
There have always been. and perhaps there al
WAYS will he two radically opposed views OF
Marie Antoinetie The one regards her as an
utterly bad and dcpravcd creature, the lncarha-
ton of all That was worst and vicst IN The 'id
Regime. The other looks upon her a me peSo
and purest Of women and queens, noplc ana
sanity MARTYR If il is impossible 10 acccP' 'Ae
teachings of either Of these schools lmplcuN' II
is al least quite safe 70 reject the conclusions o
the first pcrcmptorily. for there Is no doupt thab
they rest almost wholly upon a kind OF evidence
which it would be simply Infamous TO condemn Il
dog on. The filthy lampoons. calumnies ana SIAN
dcrs oC malignant and rihald hircllngS, working
under the direction of such scoundrcls as the Du<e
Of Orleans: the brutal and disgusting spawn OF
the Paris CUTTERS showcrcd broadcast III time
of mcasurccss hate license and cruelty the ahom-
Unable imputati0nS Of Jacobln asSasNlnN seeking
to create some excuse for the hidcous crimes upon
which they were resolvcd-thcse are the sources
of the representations even now advanced hN pro-
fcsscdly serious historians in regard to the uh-
fortunate Queen of Louis the sixteenth
NJ de Sant-Amand fortunately makes it I'M
neccssor. 70 say more Of this revolving view Of
Marie Antoincttc, for he is Of those enthusiastic
advocates who see nothing but good IN the Queen
character and conduct. But his position, If free
from the objections which apply to that oi Marie
Antoincttc'S dctractorS, is nevertheless such aS
10 call for a few words of warning llls Dook ls
interesting, picturesque. ingenious ana luH oi
color and life: but II is the Revolution viewed
from the poin, of view of the Old Regime and
il cannot, for that reason, he accepted 2S ruS'-
worthy account Of the events. We a@c shown III
this volume an arisrocracy which has purified
itself from all the vices of the preceding rci@ns
which is bent only upon the establishment Of re-.
forms and the contcntmcnt and prosperity ol
France: which, moreover. could and would have
avcrtcd the Revolution but for the taial weak
ness Of the King Now that Is not faithful repre-
sentation Of the facts The Revolution must nav"
come shortly had Louis the Sixteenth been LOUIS
the Fourteenth. II was no mushroom growth u ma"
been terminating since the first years of tie ei-n-
,ccntb century, and the agencies which gave to IFS
final fruitior the character when 'appaUed the
world had beer silently al work for ccntur w hat
Louis NNI really did was - prccipitatc ih" OUT
break but il was precisely because the Revolution
had come foo far 10 be- checked before his time th"t
ali attempts NJ reform during his rci-n proF"I
futile and affected the course of things not at ALL
Louis YVES very weak but had he been vcrv
strong the result would have been almost me
same The lives Of the royal family might per
haps have been saved 10y timcl; resort !" l"I''
4 heavy bloW struck AT the beginnings oi S"c'
yiolrncc mich, have checked il long enough to
admit Of escape But Il is not crcdlhI" thai Tie
King could successfully have conducted civil
war. and even had his resistance TO the Ee'oln-
tion been as prolonged and vigorous ~ thar Of
Charles the First. hr too would have found his
Cromwell W. dc S3iut-Amond docs not or VIII
not see that the explosions Of popul-r hatred
agaius, the Government which preceded the
formal attack upon il testified 10 tAc c\'~"H'r 'i
deep seated disahcc'ion. and of "a KIND WhIch j.
always ntamcd instead of mol.ii"d h' c"h'r~-
sonS The fierce feeling manifested AGAINST Marie
Antoincttc tn. deadly hatred shown .u th' rIrh-
ranc " The Austrian" popuar,y applied - her.
- doubt had it, origin iu pure harhausm. u WIS
akin - the sentiment of hostIllt" shown hf all
- wages toward Strangers, mcwll hc'rl~' thr} ai'
strangers, but in this case il was taken advantage
Of famed AMI encouraged, r. tAos" who wcrr too
enlightened - share Il. The part played bN
Orleans in orqauizing the Revolution has not yet
been adequately treated That he himself was the
dupc Of his selfish ambitions. and th't hr va mao"
the instrument Of cr.ftcr and more i19."r'nc
men. admits of no doubt Blt who wcr tho>'
men Dcmoustr,tio; Oh this bead maF no. bc
attainahlc bat there are grounds for the brhei
! that Frcema.oury. or 10 be- more precise, rs OIL
shoot Illumiu ~iu, counted for much ia oreanlNr@
the Revolution.
Historians and ossayis'S have generally slurcd
over or disrcgar!c3 tins kind Of evidence ana H.
is only Of late ycars that certain German students
/ have taken up flc subject and gone int D. VIII
some thorouehrc,,. Wien every prr'aH' ou hats
/ been taken against puhiciiy hy AN association
having the strorgr,' reason for keeping liz own
4 secrets. much must lcmaln c'niccturcd; bat u
is certain that from l'-0 ouwards I'm" planting of
/ lodges Of the lllumuat throughout France VS.
! carried on scdulousv and il is equally certain
that the main objects Of thcsc lodgc, were rcvo!u-
! tonary. II is ia this connection that CachDstro
! figures The view cf him e., an advcnurcr and
an impos,or has obscure! what my very well
/ have teen the nam purpose Of his rrc5cr"- IN
/ France II is siprilic,;.t tha; no cr'wnal com
phctv could hc brought home H. HIN in :hc mo-
torous case Of the diamond necklace. Al fnat is
shown is that he assured The Cardinal Gc Roha1
that great results would proceed from the prose
cution Of the affair Obviously suc'i a doc,ra-
tou is susceptible Of dop1r meaning Grco'
rceut did follow tie scandal II helped
powerfully 10 deStroy the monarchy. taeho>trr,
as the agent oi the Iuminatl. might h1y" had
that cni IN view in what lac said liGt thc>'
underground agencies were unquc>tioroh'y AT
work both inside and outside Of the Paois Royal:
and if eventually the Revolution pissed beyond
III. control Of all who hod been Instrumental in
bringing il - a head. tie work Of the pioneers WAS
none the less important and 10 be rcckonrd with
ON the side of the Government there was the
blind optimism which more than any hlunderS
| prccpitotcs disaster. \ more incompetent King
than Louis the Sixteenth 10 dcaI with such crisis
was never seen; buj, then, the Incompetence Of Il
Government is always the opportunity Of It's
| enemies Moric Antoincttc was certainly much
| letter fitted - rule than her husband. She at
least knew her own mind, and had the courage
of her convictions She would have used the
army and perhaps with some m0nrntary effect.
Yet she was not a strong woman, nor an educated
one OF statccraft and politics She knew nothing.
| ENtravagant fond of pleasure, proud of her rank
birth and beauty, fun Of ndlsIcIIons, it was