The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-06-04

Spain. Inc lettoT is VIC ohiy O'V VI "0A
revelation amid the multitude OF papers
that make UP GATHERINGS correspondence.
AZ such 1t Is a precious human document
touching enough from such woman.
~M'amye," she wrote, commend yoursen
very much to God. for you have seen me
OF old as contented as you are now ana
believing that I should never have any
trouble but this one, that was not loved
in the way wished by the King. your
father. who doubtless honored mo beyond
INV deserts But loved him % much that
I was always afraid Of him, as you know
we'll enough. And now God has taken him
away from mo
Diane dc poitiers, GATHERINGS successful
rival. was nearly twenty years older. sne
was almost 81 when in 1885 she first met
Catberine's husband, who was then barely
TO- She was old enough to be his mother.
How. then, did she manage to captivate
him and hold him subjugated until his
accidental death in 1859? A beauty Diane
was not. Her lover himself, IN his most
fervid moments, never pretended that ene
was 80. The author OF this book has found
1t curious to compare the writer's OF DANES
own time. or Immediately after, with one
another, and to discover how, with more
or less evasion, they all agree about her.
Brantome, the professional liar, TO whom
every great lady was a paragon, is the
only one who mentions her beauty. saw
Madame la Duchesse de Valentinois, ne
saws, when she was 10. as fair OF counte-
nance and as amiable as when she was 80.
Unfortunately for his veracity. she died
at "a. Other writer's are moro trutniul'
though discreet. .She came into the
Kings life," writes Venetian, when ne
was only Dauphin. He has loved her
dearly. and loves her still. old though she
be. She has, IL must be said, never used
paint, yet (perhaps by virtue OF the minute
pains she takee) she is very far from ap-
pearing "a old as she is French chroni-
cler Ia less confederate. " was gr1evous
thing" said he, ito SEQ q young prince
adore q faded face, covered with Wrinkles
and head fast turning gray and eyes
which had grown dim and were even some
times red" This rather unkind descrip-
ton is borne out by some Latin verses,
written when she was 50, about eighteen
months after her first meeting with Henri.
They begin not overoomplimentartly; nor,
for all their elegance, do they spare
her white hair or her wrinkles. It is true,
nevertheless, that many women no more
beautiful than she have been Of tenn
permanent 80 romantic chat they have woven
around themselves a sort OF aureole a web
Of glamour and OF mystery. Here again
has legend been at work, this time upon
Diane, and here again, according TO our
author, the legend is unwarranted by facts.
The truth is that Diane de P oitiers was not
in the least romantic or poetic, but the most
matter Of fact woman In the world-as
practical as only French woman can be,
and utterly absorbed In concrete things.
The secret Of DANES influence over
GATHERINGS husband is, after all, not in
scrutable. She was the first to find out
and to draw forth his latent powers, powers
that his father had never discened and
that he himself had never realized, though
he suffered from all the discomfort Of unex-
pressed and unused energies. Diane her,
self had sufficient penetration TO see that
his gloom was the gloom Of q concentrated
nature. He was inarticulate; she taught
him to speak. He was awkward and
morose from diffidence; she gave him
self-confidence and success. Above all. he
needed affection. His father, absorbed in
his eldest son, had never liked the second.
Il do not care for dreamy, sullen. sleepy
children he oncs ga id Of Henri. His
mother who might have found out what
was in him. died while he was still child.
Diane de Poitiers was the first woman to
come into his life, the first person to show
him any tendeness-passion. devotion,
leaped forth In response. While she was
making man Of him she was also maxim G
poet: the lyrics addressed to her we're few
but fervent, and we're all written in his own
delicate hand. She was much more intent
on making a king, however, and IL one
source Of her power lay in his need Of affec-
ton, another. as potent, lay in his need for
a mentor.
In word, Diane de Poitiers found Gather
ines husband morose and tonguetied
boy. She evoked In him a man Of sagacity
and force, a monarch. She was unique In
this respect, that, from frst to last.
she conducted the education OF king.
Touching this singular historical phenom-
enon our author remarks: Perhaps no
woman. before or after, has formed ruler
az completely as Diane de Poitiers formed
Henri H., though had Louis XIV. been
younger when he first met Nine, de Main
tenon, that great lady would have We'd with
her. 1t might even be said that few women
have moro completely formed any man or
kept steadier hold upon him The
illegitimate alliance OF Henri III. and Diane
de Poitiers has become such a classic OF
historical scandal, has been 80 overlaid
with gossip and political considerations,
that its ardor and its indestructibility have
been too much overlooked. Our author,
for her part, suggests that it should count
as one Of the rare things in biography-a
passion that lasted, rarer still among royal
personages. who are moro apt TO deal in
gallant episodes than in faithful love.
Careful investigation has shownthat there
was absolutely no ground for the charge
that Diane de Poters had irregular rela.
tons with Francois l. before she became
the mistress Of his son. 1t has also proved
impossible to discover in her life anything
to justify the imputation OF inhdelity to
Henri II. She always led the exist enct
OF faithful wife, whether legitimate OF
an illegitimate one. and the absurd report
Of liaison with the poet Marot was nevel
really believed. It was important that
the author Of this volume should examine
these accusations. for had they provec
well founded they would have affect &c
materially the place Of Diane in history