New-York tribune., 1910-07-23
Literary .Nete,s and Criticism

yer. The rest of the Ambassadors house
hold was in proportion: governor VI 60
| ami eouerries porfers. and twe1lty-four pos,
tilions on horseback. each leading q secoho
/ horse.
L'Ambassadeur faafap'inct Paris calieo
him. His splendor. whose cost ne oe-
frayed out of his own pocket was
greater than the Importance of his part
! in the negotiations Mr.. Williams holos
that it was confined to the transmits
sion to the court of Austria of the views
of the French government Io"dfo 'iie
end of his three years embassy ihiS
inexperienced, vaingiorious young oipio-
matist got himself mixed up in vienna
/ in a very unsavory acknowledged eA--
periment. complicated with sacrhese'
according to some, with murder accoru-
ing TO others. An obscure Count OF
Westerloo was made the scapegoat'
/ Richelieu returned to Paris, received ihe
ribbon of the Order of the Saint-Esprlt,
and found himself on the verge or rum.
/ Voltaire was among those who came 10
! his assistance. Voltaire, according 10
Mr. Williams, who was not 1nsensloie
J 70 the honor of being on terms OF IN
tfmacy with one of Frances greatest
mobiles.
Mr. Williams's biography is, OF neces-
sfty, also a history of eighteenth CEN
t11ry France, and a picture OF the man
ners and morals of the courts or the
Regent and Louis XIV. He gives us Kit
kats of the men and women VINO sur
rounded them, some of whom ne mas
drawn at greater length in earlier vol
umes of his own, the Du Barry, for IN
stance. and. to do his hero justice.
enters into minute details concerning
the intrigues of the court circle. not
only for the favor of the favorltes, but
for their installation first of all. 1t Is
merry record of rather comfortable
soiourns in the Bastile for the gentle
men. and Of occasional Involuntary re-
treats in converts for the ladies as the
usual punishment for transgresslons
and the easiest way of suppressing un-
comfortable scandals. The author tells
an anecdote of Louis XV's occasionally
tactfuI way of conveying hint. Riche-
lieu persisted in his opposition to the
Marouise de Pompadour. who, of course,
complained TO the King:
Instead of reprimandns the duke for his
insolence, Louis at first declined to inter
fere and then. one day. on his return from
the chase when Richelieu, in his capacity
az first gentleman on duty, was removing
his ma jesty's riding boots, a NUMBER @
&C Grtiers being in attendance as usual. SUD
de. lv observed:
''F3v the bye, NJ. de Richelieu how many
times have you been in the Basule?
Three times sire, answered the mar
shal, WITHOUT changing countenahce &c. oce,,+ Men
/ erthelesS. he deemed II prudent TO accept
the hint so dscreetly offered HIM.
Born on March Is. 1896, Louis FRANCOIS
Armand de Vignerot du Plessis. third
Due de Richelieu, Marshal of France,
died on August s, 1873, in his ninety
third year-eleven months before the
outbreak of the Revolution put an end
to the old regime, one of whose most
perfect products he had been. He was
married three times. the first time al the
command of his father to Nile. de San
sac, when he was but fifteen years old.
His second marriage, a love match, was
contracted with a daughter OF the
princely house of Guise. His third wife,
whom he married when eighty-three
years old, was the young widow of an
officer in the French East India Com
pany. Neither Louis XVI nor Marie
! Antoinette bestowed upon him the favor
! he had enjoyed under their predecessor.
/ but he was allowed to hold his posts at
court until increasing infirmities COM
pelled his retirement shortly before his