New-York tribune., 1911-04-02
HENRY ".
The Plots Against Him and HIS
Assassination.

THE FATE OF HENRY OF NAVARRO.
A True Account OF How He Was Slain.
with a Description Of the Paris OF IIs
Time and Some OF the LEADING ferson-
ages. BY John BloundelIe- Burton; IL
Company
Mr.. Bloundelle- Burton Is OF the num-
ber of historical novelists who take their
history seriously, his speciality being
France from the sixteenth century on
ward to the end OF the Revolution. This
study Of the assas assination OF Henri Nv
by the religious fanatic Ravaillac on the
very day and at the very hour at which
the Kings death was to have been COM
passed by gang Of cutthroats IN the
employ Of a band OF conspirators Is the
more important result Of his researches
I'm preparation for an earlier mover OF
his. within Four Wahs." dealing with
the life of La Comans.
The author shows. and adduces apun-
dant proof, that Ravaillac had no con-
nection with and probably no knowledge
of the conspiracy with whose existence
all Paris was familiar. and that In this
instance fact was once again stranger
than fiction by producing an almost IN
credible coincidence in whose truth MS
torians have found it difficult to put
their faith:
Nothing was more likely than that. since |
there was a plot To slay Henri. those VINO
could not help but know OF II should nave
associated the name OF me ac.uao ,,.h nere 1,,u
derer with the names or those VINO were,
and always have been accused OF laSlns
that pot. Here. Therefore. Is the or'eln
Of the error. an origin that owes .ho ho
most dramatic condolences that has ever
arisen I'm real life. Victor Hugo. Alexandre
Dumas pare. even their clever predecessor
Piyarico,lrt, never devised a more dramatlc
denouemeni than that a gang OF hired MUIR
derers should wait to slay KING az one
end of street. while at the other END was
a solitary man. who nor only psfiOr,"eu pOn 81 |
did their work and saved them and their
EMPLOYERS from the crime. and from, pos
sibiy. the punishment OF that crime.
The book opens with a brief account
of the career Of Henri w. In which
special stress Is laid upon his weakness
for women, which, indeed. played no !
small part in the many conspiracies
against his life that. to the number OF
eighteen, are known to have been started |,
before he met his fate from an unex- |
pected quarter. All Paris. the Paris or
Henri's day, which the author describes
capitally in one Of his chapters, was
aware Of these plots: he himself knew
of them. and accepted them with fatal
istic carelessness. The best loved king |
that France has ever had, he was Yet /
the subject Of violent hatreds, In addi-
ton TO those OF the women who nad |
found his fckleness even greater tnan |
his gdIdntCric, for devout Roman Catho-
lies detested him for the palpable In
sincerity OF his conversion and devout |
Huguenots for his cynical apostasy. HIS
coming death by violence was one or |
the safest predictions Of the time; II was
made as early as 1907, in almanacs sold |
at the great fair at Frankfort. which |
even gave the right year. and the added |
information that he would meet his death
at the hands OF his own courtiers and
friends. Fortune tellers In Paris freely
predicted his coming assassination. the
details Of the plots were so widely known
among the populace. On the very day
of his death Henri was told OF the
prophecy Of one Of these women by MS
file Ultimate son, the Due de Vendome.
but made light Of it. Six hours later
he was dead.
Resides undertaking to prove that
Ravaillac had no connection with the
plot whose execution he forestalled by
few moments, Mr.. Bloundelle-Burton
demonstrates that the Queen was not In
volyed. In the course of his narrative
he unfolds the nest OF intrigue and crime
of which Henri was the centre. and in
MANY ways the cause. He rObs Gabrielle
G'Estrees Of the glamour OF romance that
hovers over her and traces the RESPONSE
bility for her death at the moment when
she was about to mount the throne
on the Kings divorce from his first
wife, Marguerite de Valois. Gabrielles
successor, Henriette d'Entragues. held
similar promise of marriage from her
royal lover but he married Marie de
Medicl instead. the greatest heiress or
her day. The bitter enmity between her
and the Queen, whom she called la crosse
DUUVWNJf, DlouuNcu Il otot' VI "''"NNN'~
tension at court Of which the author
speaks at length. When, ultimately.
Henri transferred his vagrant fancy to
Mile. de Montmorency, his last infatua-
ton. Henriette may well have been driv-
en- into conspiracy. The affair was
also the crowning indignity put upon the
Queen by King who, according to Mr..
Bloundelle- Burton.
short OF his particular failings in the one
respect. ADDED To his love of gambling.
was an agreeable husband. a man Of a
light. pleasant nature, and, in spite or the
roughnesscs of his early life and training.
a very perfect gentleman. He was also
very considerate for the Queens dignity.
Mr.. Bloundelle- Burton, it will be seen
from this, views Henri detachedly from
the standpoint OF his own time. He
draws a number OF vivid pictures of the
chief personages involved In the fort
unes Of Henri w, OF Sully. the Concinis.
d'Epernon, Bassompierre. the Condos, La
Comans. and others The study Is well
documented, and at the same time has
living quality.
THE DICKENS STAMPS.