New-York tribune., 1910-02-26
IaseTotfe, Writer of Famous
Letters.

MADAME. MOTHER OF THE REGENT;
s.;se-T-7. Nv Arveoe Rarine. Translated
IN 5eairre Mairet Mime. Charles Bigon
Illustrated. STo, PIP S4S. Il T. Fu,-
nanis Sons.
r.apy or THE OLD REGIME BY
Ernest # Henderson Illustrated t-no,
%. go The Macmillan Company
In the fftl, and sixth decades Of the
se,snteeuth century there WAS little
snub- -nosed German princess whose un-
trau,elled life in the forests and fields OF
lie Rhine Palatinate was so joyous that
81 fortified her against the many miseries
of her paternal home. Sprite of the
Busting Leaves was her nickname on
the iips Of her fathers subjects. who
fo,nd her a most friendly and talkative
little soul, and who always loved her
!. WAS a happy time never TO be for
rntfen by this Liselotte-in proper state
IL r,hrase Elizabeth Observation-Disclosures
Of The Elec;or Palatine. Charles Louis
Great heavens" she wrote when an
ole woman. how many times, up in the
mountain have l eaten cherries with a
big chunk of bread, at O'Clock in the
morning, / WAS then gayer than L
row am The wretched household in
which this sunny-hearteti child was
reared is vividly described by Arvede
Barine in pages memorable for their
portrait OF a remarkably unconventional
and hvpocrstical petty German sovereign
of two hundred years ago we are told
that among his princely contemporaries
none so auda aciously braved human and
divine laws as did Charles Louis
Il was the great good fortune Of Lise-
lo.tte that. as she grew up, her aunt
Sophia. Duchess Of Hanover. took her
in charge. and gave her as much train
ing as a great lady of that time was
likely 70 get II was not much except
IN the priceless blessing OF daily inter
course with E brilliant woman who loved
ert and the best books and who knew
how to inspire that love in others All
rfselotfefs life was the richer for that
kindness Of Sophia-and the richer. espe-
siallv. for the undying affection that
grew between aunt and niece How
,-,sr,- -eo-le hy the way. remember that
Charles Louis's daughter was nearer in
The line of succession to the Englsh
throne than MAS Sophia II is possible
that if Iiselotte had not become Cath
ogic in order to marry Monsieur. the
brother of Louis XIV, there might have
been another Queen Elizabeth in Eng
land instead Of a first George She would
have made to say the least a highly
amusing and original sovereign-but her
very originality would have made her
rule far less safe than was that of duh
Cousin George. And-woful thought
we might then have lost the inestimable
treasure Of her correspondence For this
princess. as Madame. spouse Of Mon
sieur. became one Of the most famous let
ter writers in the world, and We could as
ia snare her pictures of the intimate lie
OF the court of the SUI King as we could
those to be found in the memoirs of
Saint-SiTnon.
At eighteen Liselotte was q maiden Of
wholesome tastes. disbeleTeT IN TO-
nance and very unwilling to marry She
did. in truth. consider herself too unat-
tractive for liking. Arvede Barine de-
scribes her as short and startllngly piain-
Her eyes We're very small, her big nose
ali on one side: she had large, fat hang
ing cheeks: but she was fresh and fair,
like many Germans: illuminating this
fantastic appearance there was so much
life. such sparkling gayety that with her
there was no such thing as dulness.'
This granddaughter Of the fasci-
mating Mary Stuart was perfectly frank
and reasonable about her own personal
appearance IN her old age she wrote,
I have, all through my life, made fun
or my uncomeliness. / only laughed at
st. His Grace, our Father and our late
brother. often told me that 1 was ugly.
] merely laughed and did not make my
self unhappy about it. My brother called
me bGdGer-H0sed. which / took as a good
Joke" A joke il might have been to her,
poor Liselotte. but il is recorded that she
avoided mirror and shrank from being
looked At Il have always considered
myself as So ugly she wrote. even
when ] vas young. that / did not like to
be seen and that [ never desired any sort
,;F ornament for Jewels and finary at