The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-16

high minded, generous, sincere and anec-
tionate, she was headStrong and impetuous
and subordinated everything 70 her desires
and her passions, although how far the
escapades Of her middle life we're due to-
her natural impulses and how far 10 the
effects Of an illness from which she had
suffered In 1901 IL hard 70 cay. There can,
however. be no question THAT her influence
over Louis XIV. was, in its early phases at
least, q most aalutary one, and. constituted,
perhaps, her best claim 10 be remembered.
s-. Ey.'
Marianne .Mancini, the youngest Of the
Ave sisters, WaA brought to France at the
age Of 9 years and quickly became a great
rRvorite with the Cardinal and tho Queen.
She became. as We have said, Duchesse de
Bouillon. and lived until l7lf, preserving,
according to Saint-Simon, her beauty and
charm 20 the last. ,"She was. $. he says,
-the queen OF Paris and OF every place to
which she was exiled; husband, children,
the whole Bouillon family, the Prince de
Cont, the Duo de Bourbon, who did not
bulge. while at Paris from her house. all
were more lowly than the grass before
her." And again: Never did woman oc-
Cupy uCTHcu lCbb Will bCT NOlHcbOCt w A@N
beautiful and singular features like hers
less need Of the resources OF art. h was
intelligent, spoke well, argued freely and
always went TO the heart Of everything.
Intelligence and beauty sustained her and
the world accustomed itself to be governed
by her." Nevertheless, this great and cap
tivating lady was compromised in the Poison
Trials OF 1879, was accused Of transactions
with the abominable monster La Voisin and
was subjected to a very searching examina-
ton before the Chambre Ardente. She
was acquitted, but was exiled for a time to
Nerac.
Far less fortunate than the Duchesse de
Bouillon was her elder sister, the Comtesse
de Scissors. The latter also had been
implicated in a confession mnde by La Volsin
In October. 1870, and the resultant investi-
cation rendered it practically certain hat
Nine. de scissors nae visited the %poisoner,
had INDUCED in threats against the hing
and Mile. La VALERIE and demanded
means to get rid Of the latter. The author
OF the book before us deems 1t highly inn
probable, however, that she ever obtained
the means" she sought, either from La
Voisin or any one else, much less actually
attempted to put her criminal design into
execution. Nevertheless, the admissions
made by La Voisin brought the Countess's
career at the French court to a sudden and
sensational termination. TIL Chambre Ar
dente demanded her arrest, but the King
out Of consideration for the woman who had
been the playmate OF his childhood and the
mistress OF his youth or from a fear that
his own dignity might be compromised by
a trial that would have involved the public
discussion Of royal frailties. delayed send
ing the warrant for three days and in the
meanwhile despatched her brother-in-law 4,
the Due de Bouillon, to offer the Countess
her choice between the Bastile and exile.
She chose exile and made her way "a quickly
as possible to Brussels, where, however, the
news Of the charges against her having
preceded her, her ~soiourn was at first far
from pleasant. After remaining for som Q
wears in Flanders and Germany and after
making unavailing efforts to obtain per-
mission to return to France she vent in
1880 to Madrid, where she was suspected
of causing the death OF the Queen, Marie
Louise.
The death OF the Queen OF Spain gave rise
to the same dark surmises that had been
provoked by that OF her mother, the ill
fated Henrietta OF England Duchess Of
OrIeans), nineteen years before. As our
author points put, the mothers death is
now generally believed TO have been due
TO natural causes, but the daughters is
capable Of no such explanation; and that
she was the victim Of private Tor, more
probably, politicaD enemies was the Opin-
ion Of nearly all the best informed OF her
contemporaries. S~aint-Simon, who was to
20 to Madrid as Ambassador thirty years
later. does not hesitate to impute the poison
ing OF Marie Louise to Nine. de scissors,
The Queen, he says had expressed a desire
for some milk: The Countess, who had
! gradually usurped the privilege Of brief
tete-a-tAtes with her, boasted OF possessing
some milk that was excellent, which she
promised to bring the Queen in a glass
1t is asserted that the milk was doctoreo
at the Comte de Mansfeld's house. tn
| Comtesse de Scissors brought 1t to the
/ Queen, who swallowed it at a draught
and died shortly aiterwsrd.' Saint Simon
adds that the Countess, for who's fighi
preparations had been already made
quilted the palace the moment the Queer
had drunk the milk and succeeded in effect
ing her escape from Spain. Mr.. Williams
for his part, puts no faith in the accusation
He emind US that Salnt-Slmon never
scrupled to impute all kinds OF crimes t.
those whom he disliked, and that his mem
oirs TEEN with gross inaccuracies, II w
may describe his misstatements by 80 in
dulgent a word. One part Of his story l
certainly false. Nine. de scissors not onl!
did not hy from Spain before the Queen
death, but remained in Madrid for nbou
two months. Moreover, had there beef
good grounds for suspecting her compile
ity in the poisoning OF the Queen, the Span
ish Government might have bean expectet
to object to her subsequent return to Fla
ders. 1t was in Brussels that abe died ii
October, 1890, some three months after re
ceiving a visit there from her famous son
the great military commander, Primo
Eugene de Savoie. or Mazarin's sevel
~nieces-hve Mancinis and two Martinozzi
Olympic was the one who most nearl!
resembled him. She seemsto have resembles
him in her ambition. in her Ostentation, i
her unscrupulousness and in her love o
intrigue; on the other hand she had non
Of his discretion, none Of his foresight, an
abe was vindictive, which the Carolina
certainly was not. Hence she failed, an
had to spend the last eleven years Of he
life in exile.