New-York tribune., 1908-07-19

| tho
robbcr had had ample time to get clear axxy -
told the story OF his adventure to his rrisnds
and an honest man should never break his 80
even when il has been given TO knayes-
His career was almost uniformly success,,,
His turning F'rondeUr for time. and alvin,
himself with Nine de IongueviDe. could hay.
no permanent effect on the loyalty which was
indeed, part and parcel OF his character Tn.
King honored him as the popuiace adored hin
and his death on the battlefield stirred the whole
nation He was buried at ST Denis. at the H.
sistence Of Louis XIV. Bossuet paying tribute I.
.the prcfundity Of his genius and the inex
haustibl1ity Of his courage When In tse
Revolution, the tonbs at St Denis were violated
and the bones OF kings, queens and heroes ser.
DESTROYED or scattered. the great uEarshars body
was preserved through odd train OF csrcIr-
stances. The story is thus told:
After II had been ordered 70 De thrown into re
common tomb. two of the officers OF the Museu-
"a weii-preeerved mummy" which might BE
Vice to the science OF eornpars5ive an s5~tomy L
the Jardin des PlAntes where y lay for nine Yeas
IN a storehouse between the skeletons cf . men
heard Of the circumstance, ard had the body o.,
the iIiustrious warrior removed 70 the Cnurch q
the IuvalideS. where IL now reposeS beside his
mortal remains During the French Revolution
from Ss his portraits. had ben exposed in gas
case for the amusement OF the poputaee
nfr H Noel -Fr'sms has written several yo-
unnes about beautiful figures in the old csGzt III.
oR France, and he has usually made hb pas-s
entertaining In "A Princess Of Intrfeve- how
ever. he has very nearly achieved the d1acni
esak q writing . dun book about Nine d.
Icn<ueyfle q woman with a personality anI
career richly colored enough to inspire even th.
makes matters worse by stringing his story out
through two thick volumes His excuse, ve SUD
pose, would be that he wished not only to por
tray the beautiful duchess but to survey the
events in which she shared and the society she
adorned Unfortunately he has not cuntryed
To yitalize his account of these things by t.
touch which lifts the hard facts OF history b
sympathetic plane and gives them atmosphere
His inadeQuacy is the more to be regretted De-
cause. al we have Indicated. Nine. de Lonsu-
vile lived a life Of extraordinary romance
She had not only loveIiness but intellectual
poverS of no mean order She bore her part
with skill in the witty transactions Of the Hotel
de Rambouillet, and at court she suffered a kind
of spiritual expansion. flingins herself upon pa
Iitical interests and proving herself to be what
Mr. Williams calls her. a princess Of intrs1s
Iitical indiscretions easily forgiven for the
sake Of her sincerity and courage. The woman
who could win over Turenne to her side must
have had unique qualities. We may say of he-
what We have said Just now of him-she had
heart It was made to suffer by the failure Of
her intrigues. by the painful termination of her
intimacy with La RochefOucauld and by faaai7
griefs, notably the death of her beloved son. the
Cornte de Saint-PanI. and she is. the end &
draws near. a peculiarly pathetic figure YET &
throughout there is certain gallant s2Tf &
about her career. IL she was not without leyT 8
neither was she without elements Of strengA
Beside the average woman at the court q s
France in her time she looms with something
like masculine force and dignity. With all ns
faults she fingers pleasantly in the mind Of tas
reader of-S'rench history.
Maria Carolina, of Naples. has not found
Mrs Bearne any better biographer than Mr.
de Longueville has found in Mr.. Williams. d. /
commercially high spirited. and. within be-
limits, clever. but she inherited from the srsa
Maria Theresa none Of that formidable vouan
instinct Tor statecraft and little Of her roH
stamina NrA Bearne, prattfing compiacenl
about Neapolit1n and Sicilian Affairs in III
eighteenth century. shows no insight into D.
Aerpine's responsibility where they were con
oerned. Her criticism Is almost entirely r
served for the hapless Ferdinand. In uleaSu'