The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-09-20

warm and spontaneous. with generous
instincts.' She was also @ subtle student
Of character. beginning. Hike q modern.
with self-introspection. Her frankness
was full OF courage The discerning
author Of this book does not fail to mark
that. as In the case Of many intellectual
people, Marguerite's mind did not match
with her temperament. Her mind,
though full of feminine intuitons, was
large and virile; she was polished and 80
p~histicated, but she had q direct grasp
Of ideas independent of any personal
interest. Her temperament was that Of
primitive woman. She could not see Q
man without setting out to conquer him.
and the moral sense was left out Of her.
Eat once philosopher and m Of gal
lentry. who q define herr She was
rather immoral than immoral. and the
notion OF an obligation to any one Of the
long procession Of lovers who crowded
the canvas Of her life did not 90 much as
enter her ken" Edith Sichel thinks that
this Objectionable side Of Marguerite's
nature has been too much dwelt Onto
the eclipse Of her other qualities, much
worthier Of remembrance and much
finer IN many ways than those Of most
women Of her generation. "She shamed
the greatest by her nberalty.' and "her
brothers were amazed at the gifts that
she bestowed. She was always signally
humane. though her humanity came
rather from tho head than tho heart.
Her intellect shone In all she did. She
was q great reader Of Rabelais. Of 'Plu-
terch's LIVES Of the Bible and the poeta;
and she, thought rs a pupil OF the HUI
manists would think.
1t VA characteristic OF many contem-
porary great ladies, but especially Of
Marguerite de valois, that the passions
and tntrigues which they indulgej while
discoursing Of philosophical and pious
subjects had nothing to do with their
idea Of goodness. The author Of this
book reminds us that the difference be-
tween goodness and virtue was lever
more dangerously emphasized than In
the days Of the Renaissance. and recog-
mixes that 1t is hard to deal with a woman
whose goodness was better than her vir-
tue. and almost impossible to Judge her.
She might behave like q vivandiere-she
could forgive like q queen. It is related
that one Of her ladies had caused her great
displeasure, but she did not treat her the
worse for that, and the lady falling very
iii she came to visit her. She was with
her when she died. whatever she has
done. the poor girl Is 10 a suff ering crea-
ture. God forgive her as I dol
Such stories show the best OF her.
There Is Of course another side. Wherever
she went she plotted, and mischief sprang
up in her footsteps. It was Marguerite's
wont to seek adventures, the more COM
promising the better; and till her death
she had q hearty appetite for forbidden
fruit. AN expert in ef~rontery' she has
been called; she liked 10 give heroic names
to light adventures, running risks under
pretext Of fidelity, Drawing custom In the
name Of generous pride and committing
all her outre acts gay hesrtedly.' with
no grudge toward the world. Like the
rest Of her family. she wa an actor. and.
more than the rest Of them. an artist. In
hne, Marguerite was the essence OF what
modern Frenchmen call chic-a style Of
It's nature artificial, though coupled with
the charm which iiss in frank self-oon-
sciousness. s~S1'eFTf"'' M. w. n.
H.Na."
The United States ass World Power.
Many importa1ba and some urgent ques-
lions connected With our exterior rela-
tons are discussed with d large measure
OF knowledge end with sound judg-
ment in a book sattbisd ,TAs Usied States
a. a World Power. ~ AHo1IsALD CARY
COOLIDGE Of Harvard Uniyersity (MaS-
miilans). The author vss selected II
the winter Of is9eIV5 : o 'deAyer at the Sor-
bonne the Harvard isctures ON the Hyde
Foundation, and u 10 the substance Of
these, thoroughly revised and care
fully adapted 70 an American or neutral
rather than 0 foreign sudienoe, which win
be found embodied IA tbs present volume.
The topic IL relatively new. Indeed, the
term world power was unknown in most
languages q gu arter OF q century ago,
and the author shows himself in his pref
ace keenly alive to tho fact thatit might
be discussed from several points Of view.
For example, an American writer might
oonane himself to examining the eco
nomic position now occupied by his
country among civilized people, or he
might prefer to investigate the spiritual
influence Of the United States, or. In
other words, tho diffusion Of American
ideals Of liberty, government and social
organization. Mr.. Coolidge has, indeed,
devoted one chapter to the economic
considerations that bear upon our in
te~rnational attitude, and another to
our national ideals and shibboleths. In
conjunction with which he does not omit
to examine the Monroe Doctrine. Neither
are rare questions, immigration questions
and colonial problems passed over. Never
theless. q large part Of the work, covering
ten out OF the nineteen chapters, 10 al
lotted to an inspection of the actual and
prospective relations OF the United States
TO England, France, Germany and Russia;
to the Panama I~nterooeanio Canal.
Canada and Latin America; to the Pacific.
It's islands and It's shores. particularly. and
to China and Japan. We may say
at onoe that the authors comments upon
all OF these themes. any q Of which at
any moment may become Of surprising
interest, will commend themselveS as
timely. useful and suggestive.
In o chapter on race questions Mr..
Coolidge points out that all the evidence
thus far forthcoming tends to prove
that white men considered a q working