The Washington times. (Washington [D.C.]) 1901-1902, 1901-08-25

brought up as a boy. and never know that
| she was not one; and the result of this
training naturally was somewhat iso-
| lated childhood, with little companonship
| save that of her father and the servants.
| The mother is described as anything but
| an attractive character. imperious, proud.
| selfish. and cruel. The idyllic comrade
| ship of father and daughter ended with
| the death of the former, and at fifteen,
| through the agency OF the mother the
| young girl thus strangely trained was
married to a titled roue, apparently of
| the Russian Court. Her married life,
while free from intrigue, is full of adj
| venture and eventful in the extreme and
the story ends with her marriage. after
| the death of her husband, to an English
| man.
| The book is illustrated from photo
| graphs. and there are half a dozen photo
| graphs of the princess, who is known in
J its pages first as "Pierrot, her fathers
ret name for her, then as Marguerite, her
true name. and finally as Princess Muz-
I'll" this being. as she says, "a sweet
| sounding foreign corruption of her flow
er name. sobriquet invented by her new
| friends. her new family, her new coun-
| try" There is something almost Orien-
| tai about the irreguarity and inscrItabil-
| ity of the face, something doubtless due
| to Russian Inheritance. The ideality of
| II is Celtic-that is, from the Breton side
| of the house: and Breton, for the most
part. this little princess is. Her loyalty,
| her courage, her sense of honor, all be-
| long to the people of the seafaring pro-
vince; her self-control and power of hid
! ing her thoughts and real character from
| her associates are from the other end of
| Europe.
The book is worth reading if only for its
first chapters. In the rest of it there is
possibly little too much of the self
conscious introspection native to the
Russian and French character-a ten
dency made most familiar to Anglo-S Saxon
readers through the diary of Marie Bash
kirtseff-but even so. II is Interesting, be-
cause this young girl concerns herself
more with events than with feelings.
Things happen in her life too fast to leave
much room for morbid indwelling
thoughts. But the first chapters are a
record of child-life which, like all such
records which are true. must prove de-
lightful to the student of human nature.
There are two or three quaint Breton le-
gends in it. and the atmosphere is full
of the superstitions, the traditions, and
the spirit of Brittany Those who read
"Guenn" years ago will recognize in this
child of the old seaside castle something
of the untamable fearlessness and true
hearted affection which belonged to the
little fisher girl of Piouvenec. Indeed, the
scene of Miss Towards story was laid
not very far from the birthplace of this
heroine.
The later chapters take the reader into
Court life and various parts of France,
Germany, Austria, and Russia, and wher-
ever Princess MuzZi goes she gives
vivid and picturesque description of her
surroundings and graphic character
sketches of the people whom she meets.
Intense patriotism, high sense of the
conduct demanded by family tradition.
and the obligations of ancestry, and i'm
pulsive bravery and willingness to serve,
are to be seen In all her acts and ways.
She establishes her own standard of char
acter and lives up to 1t, being. despite
her ancestry and education, almost as
untaught and unguided in all moral ques-
tions as a little savage. Finding her
self doomed to forego happiness. she ac- |
cepts her fate with the determination
not to whine about it or allow it TO drive |
her into unworthy behavior. She is not |
saint. and does not pretend to be; she |
is simply high-spirted and plucky girl. |
The story is interesting partly from the |
individuality of the heroine. and partly |
because 1t is quite unlike anything that |
has been written in recent years The |
Martyrdom OF an Empress" bears a su- |
perficial likeness to it. in being the rec
ord, by an unknown author, of real life |
in high places; but there is no other re- |
semblance (New York: Harper & Bros. |
s2.25)