New-York tribune., 1905-05-28

diary carry the author of "F.veFna" through the
greater part Of her service as Queen Charlotte's
reader" and through the record OF her court
ship and of the earlier years Of her married lie
Surely no other attendant at court was ever at
once so frank and so discreet in narrative as
this clever Fanny. George III and his family
live in these pages-one can almost hear the
piteous habbIe Of the King in his sudden in
sanity caIlinc, out and protesting all night long
among his bewiIdered courtiers, and see the
pale disheveHed Queen in the next room, listen
ing in silent misery Whatever the situation,
Fanny paints it with the hand OF woman Of
taste conscience and inpregnable loyalty If
some Of her phrases are rather too ObseqUious.
it must be admitted that it was the fashion Of
her time one of her most amusing stories IS
that of the way in which stout little republt-
can girl is converted into a monarchist by a
passing notice on the terrace from the good
King" and the sweet Queen" Fanny's too
fowery phrases may be forgiven for the sake
of their strain of genuine awe and genuine af-
fection.
She would have been hard hearted indeed II
she had not responded to the kindness with
which she was treated On the part of the
King it was kindness almost touching in its
anxiety to be instant and appropriate. To make
sure that Miss Burney comfortable. to in
quire after those who were dearest to her. 70
question her endlessly about her novel and the
interesting circumstances connected with tit
is in this considerate attitude that George III
is made to appear most amiable by his wife's
attendant. If Charlotte seems less so. it is
because she was bred up in theories Of etiquette
of a Teutonic severity. and was conscious Of no
reason why her ladies should not undergo rack
ing fatIgues in her service She was, on the
whole, gentle and benignant friend 10 her nov
est. and it is perhaps, a testimony, in a certain
sense, to her goodness of heart that she failed
to the tyranny with which her faithful old
German attendant, Mrs. SchweIlenberg. made
wretched Fanny's life at court This forrnality
and blindness aside, she a IOvable woman,
and did many pleasant things for her reader.
We see her in the diary as a person of some
literary taste, She apparently kept UP with all
the new books encouraged her daughters to
read. and liked to discuss authors and their
works. There is not much evidence that little
Fanny enjoyed the sermons which the Queen
recommended to her-otherwise she dutifuIly
played her part as the chief literary element in
the royal existence
We could so i'll spare the diary that We may
conclude it was worth the sacrifice Of her time
and strength during the years when she might
have written an even better book than Eve
lima" Most of her friends lamented the posi-
tiOn into which the ambition OF Papa Burney
had driven her; they thought it a cruel waste of
capacities which should have been given to lit
erature. But We are inclined to think that
novelist Fanny had shot her bolt, and that the
badness of her subsequent imaginative writings
was not due either to her distractions and
fatigues as a Bedchamber woman or to her
after absorption in domestic life. At any rate
the diary is more valuable a transcript of
Georgian life than another "Esvena' could be.
1t is an Inexhaustible storehouse Of shrewd and
burDOrOT1c Characterization
OF Fanny's romance with her handsome
French enigre it is always pleasant TO read
General d'Arblay was a good man well as
charming one modest and true hearted gen.
tIeman, and Fanny was fortunate spouse.
Those were happy years in the rustic cottage
when big Alexander dug and planted their gar
den, when little Alexander's perfectiOns filed
the rest of the horizon, and the wife and mother
toiled at her writing table for the wherewithaI
to maintain this mild prosperity The best title
to remembrance which Camilla" possesses is
that it brought to the little m6nage the sum Of
$4,000 That something remarkable in
those days, and was largely due to the fact that
the sale by subscription, the books for sig
natures being in the charge of women Of emf
nent standing. Most Of the praises OF Camilla
We're forced perfunctOry. and nobody viii
now dispute Walpole's severe judgment. He
does not care to say how little he likes it be
saT1,Rs