New-York tribune., 1910-02-26
Literary .Nese,s and Criticism

tract notice" All the same, when s'io
arrived in France as the bride Oh ''e
Kings brother, the fastidious sovereis"
himself was charmed with her, anu
after their first interview reported 20 'ne
family that she was "a most WHY 0Ai"
agreeable woman and danced "eh' "
fact. that the first Madame was Io'ii'iis
compared to her That "hrs' Mau"i
was Iiselotte's cousin Henrietta 'he
daughter of her granduncle, Chaiio -
she had died in agony the year peioi
and the new Madame shared. theh anu
ever after. the belief OF many peopie
.b.+ .ba voune wife had been poisoned
IF she did NOT blame for this the NUS
band TO whom she had just gwen iei
hand. the Palatine princess oiah,eo NC
evil companions, the base cour'ieis' "h'
were presently. through their inhuehce
over Monsieur, to become the curse Vi
her own life
What husband for that clever, SIN
core. warm-hearted Liselotte was this
mean, little. roughed creature, Phlhppe'
Due d'Orleans. He was being as con-
,enrtible in soul as in body, as vicious
as he was silly. When he was not en-
gagged in dissipation he was absorbed in
his own fine clothes and ornaments MY
Henderson quotes Saint-Simon's descrlp-
ton of him, "A little pot-bellied man.
looking as if mounted on stiits so hish
were his heels: always decked out like
a woman: covered all over with rings.
bracelets and jewels: with long wig. all
fluffy in front, black and powdered: Win
ribbons wherever he could bestoW theIh
and full of all sorts Of perfumes Md
dame herself once wrote OF her ioro tha'
his face was long and narrow, ms hoso
large. his mouth small, and his teeth
very had. He was fond OF caros VI
holding drawing rooms, of eating, dane
ing and dress: in short OF all the Things
+bo+ ,.-or7,en like" Only for a few short
wears was this queer parsonage partially
good to his German wife: then ne De
came brutal. as only a fool can be. She
made the best of it, and was throughout
+beir married life faithful and loyal
She even had a sort OF affection for the
selfish little man-which was odd.
As for love of the deep and enduring
sort. Iiselotte felt that only for her chill
dren and for Aunt Sophie. Arvede
Barine is absurd enough to repeat win
credulity the twaddle which the OLD
scandal monger, the Princess de Tarente'
whispered to the de Sevigne, to the erect
that Madame, while totally unaware OIL
it herself, entertained a romantic ahec-
ton for the King, her brother-ln- law.
There could hardly be more unfounded
sossip than this and 1t could hardly
come from any but an alien pen For
the French never thoroughly liked Lise-
lotte, and Arvede Barine, throughout her
racy book exemplifies even now that IN
compatibility OF nature between the
German and the French, Of which Ranke
speaks in his edition Of Madame's let
ters. King Louis and his courders could
not understand Madame's liking for a
good dish Of sauerkraut," and they un-
derstood as little her horror-struck
wrath and sorrow when the French army
ravaeed, burned. murdered. almost de-
stroyed her native Palatinate- She had
become French princess-why care!
What cut her to the heart was the pit
eous wondernent of those friends of her
youth beside the Rhine. There she was
extraordinarily beloved, said writer
of that time: and the poor people going
down to despair and death before fero-
cious soldiery could not understand why
she who had seemed to love them could
not protect them.
Yes, Madame had her troubles, and
only the vigorous. irrepressible spirits
that were born with her carried her
safely through them-helped, no doubt
by her pertinacious habit of letter writ
ing, for she wrote letters continually,
thousands of letters. letters of which
some even yet remain imprinted. Most
of them went to her relatives and friends
in Germany. especially to Aunt Sophie,
with whom she did not need to mince
matters She shows forth with startling
clearness the misery of France and the
magnificent, filthy court of the Sun
King As we read her shreWd. straight
forward accounts of what passed under
her eyes we cannot wonder that in later
Years there famed up from beneath that
filth and that obtuse cruelty and selfish
ness the equally cruel fires of revolu-
ton Madame is always loyal to the