New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1891-01-21
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
pFv,IJTIONARY PORTRAITS.

Charlotte Corday. Madame Roland, the Princess
dc Lamballe and Madame dc Genlis, are In what
NAV he called Mr. DUbsons earlier velh. They
arc bright sometimes even brilliant; they CON
dnse the moi, facts in the history Of the heroineS,
md they afford reasonably accurate pictures of
the society in which these persons played their
mart or Mile. dc COrday not much Is known.
Uer parentaqe her descent from the great Cor
nellie the outlines of her uneventiul youth, are
familiar: but whatever understanding of her char
acter is attained must be deduced from one or
two ftagmentary memorials. There is, indeed,
no mystery about Charlotte Corday's self-assumcd
mission What is really mysterious is the failure
of the soil of France to produce Charlotte Cordays
by the hundred during the period when the Ter
rorists were in power. That hieh-st!ung ami
resoute young woman should devote herself to the
killing of monster like Marat seems perfect;
natural Had the same thing happened 10 eaci
one of his .murderous associates il would have
been in no way surprising. or course Charlotte
Corday was short sighted and Oneideaed. She was
mistaken in suppOSing that the removal OF Narau
would restore peace to France. BIT Il Is az
surd to pretend to be shocked by her action AZ
Mr.. Dobson does. Under circumstances snch as
those of the Terror, all ordinary conventions
cease TO be binding. The killing Of man like
Marat was no more assassination and no more to
would he He and all his associates were self
unclaimed and sefdemOnsratcd enemies OF tie
human race and every instinct of humanity, nay
every prompting of true morality. demanded their
ruthless determination Charlotte Corday was
noble girl. and her intrepidity sham"s the men,
her contemporaries, who covered under the shado"
Of the guillotne, and permitted handful OF san
culinary rUfiians to drench France liz innocent
blood.
II is curious TO reflect upon the commences OF
the fate during the Revolution, which beiell Mad
anne Roland. She. too. was an emanclpat2d woman
an enthusiastic defender of ,hc revolutionary move
mcnt, a hater Of the old regime and n friend oi
the people Her fatal error was in retaining
prudence and reason She attempted. with the
Grondc, TO halt half way. As a matter of course
she was swept down with the food. Madame
Roland was a brilliant woman hampcred by an
UNEQUAL marriage Had she been her CON
tcmporarcs her elderly mate would not have
stood in her way for at 10 time were the on-
legations Of the married state more IlghtN re-
earied. But she happened ~ be woman WIN
a conscience and strong ideal of duty. Nhe
did not love her husband, who was twenty years
older than she. and III time she came TO love
some ono else though the identity of this person
remained unknown until the accidental recovery
OF some OF her letters to BIzot. Ircsc revealed
tllat the later Che man. Sire. however, WAS
not unfaithful - her husband. and 10 the last she
did lcr iu:y lr linn Wien trouble came and
Size IVES thrown into prison her courage mounted
and She prepared 70 show her little world how
70 cary of misfortune. Her preliminary CON
frrrcrt WIS lnr enough t. have broken down
O LIS, robust spirit. lUt SIC did Mt sink under 1t.
and 10 tie eul Icml ned tic life and soul Of the
prison community. y sn@ularlY fresh, vigorous
and wiO'cs omc natu,c cAhac' from all we know
Of hcr: nature fag toe strong and pure to 'e
tor toI = te laSc and hordH wretcteN VINO
hoI ;he ccHmt.y in their grip Madame Roland
W, % ''a' p"t%ot a0d ihy "Nr' sham ones.
r cr,.o!c, II fer TOO other reason. tAc} must sup
rgcs her. The inevitable dCStiGcS hat ALREADY
pronounced tie downfall Of the Mount''n bat
tee coGll not read the handwriting on the wall,
and fat icusy believed that if they only killed
enough people tier authority would lie es-
tahlishod.
Nadine Roland aid her friends could not per-
hans l,vc stlycI tie I3cvo!rt on save in the way
tic G.. 49, bit.in. t!.,'i hoats Ter tie razor
O.. Q tat GA. b or" TIER deaths unIucs-
ton hy h,.t'ncd tie cn1 o. the Terror, for the
IT, >.1c h,.u rhi.s'inc Of the EpbcSpleTris''
c,"' 3; COD eyCH tc most c"aycn t'mo'"fF'fs thai
70 ia, >, wore ar; ;on.cc safe. In dealing witt
ter. -crtua II Ge Lamha c, Mr. b0b>on
l.as 80 e. to 'caYc c;ti-cY ont of tie account al
Ii" rc,H.,1'o.s lerrl!c3 al her Possibly this
rc-''o consists with duo regard Tor The train
o. hs1"y. s.nrc tAcre is good ground fer suspect
in: D.: tie gr-otcr p1rt o: these stories are maig-
~ en,oas and b'sCle>s cil'mncs But 10
urGcr.,a ~ tie roonl-r loircd which unquest on
att. - pursue tac Princess long before the out
brc~': ~ the l,cvoluiio1 il i absolutely re esaY
10 ,.rv 50 no. = 81 tie CUR nj rumors which
hrar'.c:.d la.rhrlic wifi Tie Austrian" in all
nar9c, Of Stand rous gossip II was hcr devotion
10 ga i. Antoine L that doomed the Prince de
Ian,allc auG though Mr. Do son seems 10 think
il not p:;c &C. ain that hcr murder was pfcNed-
i;2tc tie c>id"1cc ,cc:iS 20 rs 10 leave 40 room
f.. any cOuht on that point. Size was condemned
chi'!y as tire bosom friend of tie Queen ard the
will bcass who Judged equally with the wild
re ass Who killed her thought that quite sufli-
cicat reason for assaSsinating her or any one TIE
contrast rc-wccn the real life of the Princess AMI
The popular iciions concerning her is indeed
ch1stv cnoueh There seems no reason TO doubt
that she was "A sweet, pure and tendcr-heartrd
woman a true daughtcr-in-law OF the good old
Duke &c Pcn'hcvrc. whose virtues were 50 shin
ing that they actually kept his head on his Shout
de-s throughout the Terror. But the temper Of
the lower classes of Paris such at the time
that if an Archanscl had appeared as the intimate
friend OF THE AUSTRIAN, the heavenly visitor
would have been condemned and Denounced as
fercely as was the poor, harmless Princess. She
hardly he said to have died for a an idea.
1t was the perycrse malcvolcnce of mob ignorance
that slew her.
Mr. Dobson devotcs at least half his volume
TO the fourth Frcnchwoman in his list-Madamc
de Gcnls. That is no doubt mainly because he
had before him the eight volumes of her proliX
and frivolous memoirs, but in sense it may
be said that the subject deserves the attention
bestowed upon il, for Madame de Genlis GER
tainly illustrates in many and interesting way
the society which preceded and in so large a
measure preciptatcd the Revolution. Endowed
by nature with many talents but no genius. and
tempted by fatal facility in learning. this