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

a. Q person essentially negative. We arc
told that her very vices meant lack OF
impulse; ber violence not passion. but the
rant Of II. at 10 tho same.' says Edith
Sichel. with her virtues. Her hrgeness
was equivalent to slackness. her kindness
implied an absence Of d~isoernment, a
sense that nothing Mastered, a contempt
for human nature. At highest 1t
amounted to b~enevolonce; at lowest. to
O lazy good nature. Ss with her boasted
serenity; like others. before and after her.
sho COMPOUNDED philosophy with indider-
once, and she hated enthusiasm Our
author, Of course. does not deny that
Catherine was never immoral In the spe-
cifo sense Of the word. II 10 at the same
time insisted that her morality was not
purity. On the n side 1t stood for o
deerth Of instinct, and Of warmth; on the
other, for Q dislike Of excess. for q natural
caution and q taste for etiquette. About
the genuine existence OF the virtue ! n other
women Catherine did not care at all; but
she cared greatly for appearances. and the
cult Of rospectability became with her a
superstition. Thus, although corrupt at
bottom. her court was . school for be-
havior. Our author contends that Cath
orine's federation was no moro significant
than her confluence. 1t sprang from
laxity. incapnbility OF conviction. Gather
ine'a ooldness mersly used religions as
political bawns In the game Of maintain
ing personal power. She took refuge In
o~bservances. She hardly. touched tho
morals Of priests. but was increasingly
rigorous about attendance at church.
d~ecreeinR that such gentlemen and ladies
as did not perform their Faster devotions
should be expelled from the court.
Again taking ground precisely opposite
to that occupied by Palnac. the author Of
this book will not acknowledge that Cath
crime had a spark OF. greatness. Great
ness would for her have boon impossible,
because ideas were 'n~on-existent In her
eyes. Sho made the fundamental blunder
OF a low strung mind: she mistook pru-
dence for wisdom" We find here cited
some Of the sayings scattered up and
down her correspondence which in our
authors opinion contain the essence Of
GATHERINGS short sighted insight. her
limited shrewdness. Three or four OF
these are characteristic. Fol instance:
1T Ia better to desire what n can do
until one can do what one desires" Again:
"A drowning man grasps at anything.
even at q snake Once more: Fill a
man with fine words, for you must make
every one leave you we'll o%ontented.'
III.
1t is OF course the current not to say
conventional conception OF Catherine
de Mediois which Edith Siohel gives US,
although she conveys IL In lines and tints
OF her own. Balzao's conception is
material different and essentially origi-
nal. 1t was Balzac's conviction that
In French history NJ woman, except
possibly Brunehaut or F~redesonde. has
suffered more from popular misoonoep-
ton than Catherine de Mediois, whereas
Marie de Medicis, every n Of whose
acts wa injurious to France. has es-
caped the odium which should attach
to her name. Marie squandered the
treasures amassed by Henri w.; she
never purged herself Of the reproaoh Of
having known Of the proposed assassina-
ton Of the King. her husband; D'Epernon.
who failed to turn aside Ravaillao's
blow and who knew the assassin well,
was then and remained afterward one
Of her intimate circle. s Marie de Medicis
forced her son to Danish her from France.
where she was giving encouragement
TO tho rebellious schemes OF her other
son, Gaston;' and Richelieu's triumph
over her on the Day Of Dupes was due
solely to the Cardinals disclosing to
Louis XIII. certain secret documents
concerning the death OF his father.
Henri ~. Catherine de Mediois. on the
other hand, saved the o Of France
not only to the valois but to the Bour-
bons; she upheld the royal authority
under crcumstances which would have
caused more than n great prince to
sucoumb. Confronted by such re-
bellious and ambitious subject, as the
Guises and the Bourbons. by men like
the two Cardinals OF Lorraine and the
two Dukes OF Guise, surnamed Balafre;
by the two princes Of Condo, Queen
Jeanne dAlbret and Henri w.. by the
Constable Montmorenoy. Calvin. the
Colignys and Theodore de Beze. abe was
called upon to display the rarest qualities.
the most precious gifts OF the statesman.
under the fire Of the mookeries Of the
Calvinist press. These facts are pro-
nounced by Balzac beyond question;
10 that to him who delvos in the history
of the sixteenth century In France the
figure Of Catherine de Medicis appears
like that OF a great king. The calum-
MES current in her own day about her
aving been scattered to the winds
by facts laboriously unearthed amid
fictitious anecdotes and the contra
dictory assertions Of pamphleteers,
everything Is explained to the glory Of
this extraordinary woman. who had
none Of the weaknesses Of her Sex. who
was q virtuous wife amid the intrigues
OF the most licentious court in Europe.
and who succeeded despite her scarcity
OF money In building noble monuments.
as II to make good the losses caused by
the demolishing spirit Of the C%alvinists,
who inflicted As many wounds on art a.
they did on the body polite.
In his extraordinary book Balzao thus
depicts Catherine de Medicis: placed be-
tween princes 1.-THE Guisesl who claimed to
be the heirs Of Chariemagne, and q seditious
younger branch tof the Capetian housed
that wished to bury the treason Of the
Constable OF Bourbon under the throne.
Catherine. compelled to combat q heresy
which was near devouring the monarchy,
friendless, detecting treaohery In the