The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-01-25
A FEMALE DIPLOMAT.
BY A. E. cAFFEE.

"Tis chastity, my brother. chastity;
 She that has that Is ciac In complete
 steel"
 Some say no evil thing that walks by
 night,
 In fog or fire, by lake or moorish fen,
 Blue meagre hag, or stubborn unlaid
 ghost
 Ina breaks his magic chains at eurfew
 time,
 No goblin or swart fairy of the mine,
 Hath hurtful power OCT vrue virginity."
 The mail carrier, that remarkable pro- duct of the nineteenth century-young as 1t is, even In the youth of It's first gen eration, who has commenced the task of purifying this earth, brought me a letter this (Christmas) morning. with some keen remarks about the illegible di- rection on the envelope being the cause of 1t having been inspected by several of my neighbors and late getting to me. It was a chiding letter from a far-off 1 Alabama friend whom love dearly. I was taken mildly to task because I de- murred in a recent letter to the Age Herald to the many French historical eulogies of little Louis XIV. My friends French extraction and predilection lent their warm color to u judgment rarely at fault in literary matters so much as to obscure its usually correct utterances This benighted letter Is the cause of this article on a kindred subject.
 am penning these words on, perhaps, exactly the most beautiful spot of the earth. Were 1t not for the Icy grasp in which they are held, the music of ''pel- lucid waters and tumbling cascades" could be heard. and but for their white crown of snow the green laurel and the gray crags would be throwing their sun lit kisses at you; and too, the dark sum- mits and graceful outlines of sleeping "Pizgah" are hidden in white, lifting their lofty white crests above the "Hominies" and Pigeon rivers; further on, the Great Smoky Range tries to rival drowning "Mitchell' .n height and glory; and as the eye rests on sublime Beau Catcher moment, and then drops to the pass below which leads out of the Asheville plateau, 1t reminds one of the Last Sigh of the Moor '-Boabdil taking a last lingering farewell of the Alhambra and beauteous Granada, far below Strangers universally pronounce the enchanting view from Sunset Moun- tain" or the Beau Catcher" gap the per lection and consumation of grand noun tain scenery. The rugged waters of the French Broad are almost at my feet. I am within five hundred yards of the hal- lowed spot where Sidney Lanier pitched his last tent, and at times, it seems that the eolian-like strains of his magic flute or the soft measure of some Sapho-like lyric greets my car. Under such condi- tions and surroundings, with the dear est on earth to me suffering close by, how narrow must appear the views cf . modern phiosophy-how mean It's feel 1 ings, were I not taught to take this kind- ly discipline of my friend free from acridity or even one ruffied thought Mo- I have nc prejudices against the French rather the contrary; but l love true his- tory. The fact that I do value true his- tory Is the cause of this article.
 | Among the most useful of all historical publications wo must class contemporary memoirs. These are written usually with the view that they will be published when the principle personages involved will be dead and there will be no fear of anifnosities. wounded hearts and breaches in friendships The first memoirs 1 in my recollection or knowedge rather, that startled the French people, and the world at large. were those of the great diplomat-Sully. They were the forerun- ners of others which have told mankind | to measure the conduct of those in power by truer standard than they were won't The Due de Saint Simon In his lynx like nosing and peering into the mort private affairs of the happenings at Yer sailles and Little Trianon, though vile in large measure, have cleared up many rn- certainties relating to the private ard political conduct of his friend-the regent and of Louis XIV and his brilliant and blazing court of male and female pro- l figates. Then, those tawdry affairs-the l letters from the Duchess of Orleans to l Caroline-she who became the wife of beer-drinlling old George IT.. and who figures prettily as the benefactor of noble Jeanie Deans in Sir Walter Scott's Heart 1 of Midlothian" exhibit a scene of de- | pravity almost incredible certainly who'll | ly unknown in the reputable classes in this country, yet written 70 a queen and unquestlonably true. Monsieur Lemon- tey's edition of the journal of the Mar | quis de Dangeau, and memoirs of Madame de Hauset-the attendant of the cele- brated, or rather notorious Madame de 1 Pompadour. Adding Saint Simon, Madame 1 de Maintenon. of whom l am writing, the Count de Grammont written by his | brot her-in-law Hamilton. Wraxall, Mime. | Sevigne we are flooded with such a wealth of priceless inside family history that the regular course of the historian pales into insipid insignficance. of no real value to the student of the social,