The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-09

lHe lHueceHI TdllleTy or LOUIS AlN, lHo
 old voluptuary often expressing for him
 the utmost contempt He was designat-
 ed " un jmbecile," ''un bete," "a mass
 of insensibe fesh," ''the big fat pig"
 etc. Mime. DuBarry called Louis ''that
 ill-mannered boy" In person he was
 short, being only five feet five inches in
 height. His face was fat and pufry,
 with retreating forehead and a weak
 chin. His near-sighted eyes did not
 light up even in conversation. He was
 untidy in his dress, he had but few
 traits of gentle birth. "If he had not
 been born in a palace he would not have
 graced even a novel; He was a glut-
 ton. Do not overload your stomach"
 exclaimed Louis XIV, fearing that his
 grandson would fall Into convulsions at
 the table. Why not?" was the reply;
 q always sleep best after a hearty
 meal" This was upon the occasion of
 his wedding feast. Instead of paying
 court and attention to his lovely bride,
 he was gorging himself with food until
 old Louis XIV was afraid that he was
 going to lose right there and then his
 successor to the throne of France After
 the feast Louis XVI accompanied Marie
 Antionette to her chamber, bade her
 good night and retired to his own room
 to sleep off the effects of his meal, which
 he had washed down with fiagons of
 wine, for he was a doughty drinker as well eater The last entry Louis XVI
 made in his diary, the month of May,
 in which he was married, reads: T have
 had the stomachache''-he evidently had
 not taken the advice of Louis XIV.
 Thomas Jefferson wrote home to his friend, MT. Jay, about Louis XVI: "The
 king hunts one half the day, is drunk the other.''
 Louis XVI inherited the revolution from his ancestors. He would have been
 a pliable, an easy-going ruler if his reign had fallen in peaceful times. But for a revolution he was about the last
 man in all the kingdom fitted to cope with its violence. Marie Antionette was looked upon as the evil genius of the
 king. It was claimed that she had ad- vised him in all the mistakes he had
 made and that she was responsible for his attitude towards the public Her name had been mentioned in connection with several scandals and Dame Rumor in Danton's time had ceased whispering and was now talking aloud. All sorts of stories refiecting upon the queens character as a ruler, woman mother, and wife were put in circulation and spread broadcast. Why do the people
 hate me sop she exclaimed. By her extravagances and apparent indifference to the sufferings of the poor, she had provoked the resentment of the entire community. story was current that when she was told that the people were hungry and wanted bread she innocent ly asked: Why do they not eat cake?' Whether this was spoken ignorantly facetiously or contemptuously, 1t was successfully used by her enemies to dis credit her in the estimation of the French people. She seldom appeared in public without being insulted.
 In 1790 Red Book was published giv- ing an account of the expenditures and the taxes, etc., of France paid to the reigning family. The secret expenses of the court reached the highest mark in 17S3, when the total was 145 million livres; the lowest point in 1787, when they amounted to S2 million livres The people had no voice. they were not con- suited in the matter of appropriation and spending of their money The peo- pie dared not express themselves under Louis XIV, they only whispered in the days of Louis XIV, but now with weak king they spoke aloud. Notwithstanding the financial distress of the country, the
 king abated not a jot of his luxury. He owned more palaces than he could oc- cupy, and the expenses of his house. hold amounted to 250 million francs an- nually, or, in our money, s5O, ,O00, 900. There were 300 cooks in Louis kitchen and more than 2000 horses standing in his stables. Nobles and also churchmen in
 
 such degree that their conduct pro- voked the bitter hatred of the people and destroyed respect for authority and government and even reverence for holy things. The taxes of the government amounting to 200 million francs annually fell almost wholly upon the peasantry, neither the church nor the vast majority of the nobles paid a sou The privileged classes, consisting of the nobility and upper clergy, numbered about 190,0O0 per sons out of a population of 25,O00,00O, and these few received and enjoyed all the benefits of government. It was calcu- lated that if one acre of land afforded 75 1 francs of gross produce ($16 two-thirds or sl0 went to pay taxes and after the landlord was paid the wretched farmer
 received about one-half of the remaining
 third. or 12h francs (s2.5O) for one years
 labor on an acre of ground
 Language can not fully describe the
 real wretchedness that prevailed among
 the peasantry They lived on black
 bread and slept in the mud; their homes
 were as comfortless and often as filthy
 as pig stiles. In some districts of France women and men were harnessed to the
 plough and driven to the cart.
 These were the conditions that history
 tells us brought on the French revolu-
 ton. This second of the three books to
 cover the revolution deals specifically
 With the reign of terror, at the head of
 which was Danton. MT. Warwick cov-
 CTS the whole ground; he tells us all
 about the happenings during Danton's authority; we read most intimate de- scriptions of Marat ''the dirty little doc tor" who was murdered in his bath by Charlotte Corday. The descriptions of the September massacres' are awful blots upon the pages of history. There Is one point which MT. Warwick has
 made clear and one that most readers
 have thought of, which Is this: While all of the murdering, terror, etc. was
 going on for years in France generally
 and Paris particularly, what were the
 business men, the ordinary merchants
 etc., doing? Was there any peace at all
 during those years? The book does not read like the usual dry -as-dust historical document; 1t really is more like ro
 nance. The only possible objection to , "Danton, etc." Is that MT. Warwick does not use foot-notes on his uuotations so that his readers may differentiate them. But taken altogether, it is one of , the most interesting books written in a
 long time. "Robespirre, fs to ha n,,h lished in the fall of 19OS
 That Man From Wall Street." by Rutb Everett George Theill Long, New York.)
 Mrs. Ola Del" the heroine of ssrhat
 Man From Wall Street." had been treated very badly-smply awfully-by "Lieuten- ant Benners" of the revenue cutter Grant, stationed in and about New York CftV Mrs Ola DaI woc Io,x.r..