New-York tribune., 1909-07-17
TUENTY NOTED LADIES.
Heroines of Court and Stage Life IN
France.
Paris. July 10.


Bellies du vieux Temps" the latest work Of
Vicomte de Reiset, Just issued by the Librarie
Emile Paul, makes excellent summer reading.
It presents a fascinating gallery of portraits Of
women of former days, lightly and deity
sketched by the historian of the last of the
Bourbons Among the twenty women whose
"biographies intimes" have heen the objects Cf
NJ. de Resets erudition and persistent research
among family letters and records one finds
great beauties. such the. PrnCesse Lamballe
the Comtesse du Barry and La Grande Made
moiselle"-the granddaughter of Henri Quatre
and niece of Louis Quatorze, who refused the
hand of Charles the Second Of England and
/ who was deeply enamoured of the Due de Lau-
zun Queens of the stage are represented by La
NOntansier. who narrowly missed becoming the
wife of General Bonaparte Mile. Raucourt
Mile. Mars and Mile. George, the fayorite OF
Napoleon The stirring life Of Theroigne oe
Mericourt. heroine of the Revolution" ANA
zone de La Liperre' who for a brief period alb
solutely ruled Paris, who counted among her ad-
n1irers Sieyes Danton and Mirabeau, and who
died in the madhouse of La Saltpetriere, is out
lined in vivid colors. Taleyrand's devoted
niece the Duchesse de Dino. is dealt with Sc
verely, but the whole justly, by NJ de Relset-
The Princesse de Lieven, wife of the Russian
Ambassador in London, and confidential friend
of Prince MetterniCh, forms a picturesque tgUre
in this portrait gallery. NJ. de Reiset has rem
dered valuable service to history by showing
how the alert but malignant Comtesse de
Boigne whose marvellous faculties of ohserva-
ton were only equalled by her viperike ami
mostly in relating them, has maligned the
character of the Duchesse de Berry. mother of
the late Comte de Chambord, whose mercurial
temperament whose cyclones of sentimentalty
and whose cape-and-sword adventures were
never failing mine Of gossip for the court OF
Louis Philippe.
lie Fills de Fr6ron-Journaste, Sans-CulOtte
ct Thermidorien 1754-1SO2'-is the title of an
unusually interesting book by Nj. Raoul Arnaud.
repete with fresh episodes Of those stirring
days. Stanislas Freron. at first a rabd royal
ist, afterward redhOt revolutiOnist, the bosom
friend of Camille Desmoulins, son of the famous
Aristarque of VoItaire, man Of letters, regic1de
and terrorist came to MarseiIles and fell IN love
with the fascinating Pauline Bonaparte. who.
with her brothers. Joseph and Lucien, and her
sisters Elisa and Caroline was living at Mar
seilles. While her mother took in washing 10
support the family and soaped her linen in the
fountain that still exists near the Place des
Augustins Napoleon had Just been appointed
to command the army of italy. Pauline re-
turned Freron's love. but the terrorist was
then penniless and the engagement was PrU-
dently broken off by her mother Here one
finds highly diverting picture Of a miserable
period in the history Of the Bonaparte family,
each member Of which was afterward TO become
either emperor, king. queen or sovereign prin-
cess. This volume is brought out by Perrin
'Stendhal ct TAngleterre,' by NJ. Doris Gun
nel gives new and curious views OF the author
of la Chartreuse," whose talents as a critical
Philosopher have put many fertile ideas into
circulation. NJ. GunneI relates StenGhars varied
experiences in England with brightly written
descriptions Of how he lived and Of the men
and women he met. Appended TO this readable
little book is a list of the paragraphs which
StendhaI is accused of having plagiarized from
English authors.
Sur les Pas de Jeanne dare" by NJ. Daniel
de Lafotte, traces step by step the route fol-
lowed by the Maid of orleans, which IS marked
on a map of the country. What Jeanne dare
did and said each day is recorded and supported
by satisfactory evidence. TWO light and grace
full books of poetry, both tinged with somewhat
sad sentimentality, appear. one is by the
Duchesse dues, whose 'PailIettes Crises con-
tain some delightful descriptions of rural life
while the other Les Epigrammes," by NJ. Paul
Marieton, unfolds in pleasing verse the ideal
ism and pessimfsm, cynical or satiricaI of the
author Of "Vers Dores.' 9. l. B.