New-York tribune., 1911-02-12

A PRINCESS OF STRAuLo SAd,d;e de BoYrbon. o Lre
Sondn Duchesse du Maine. Translated
rom the French OF General de Piepape
hy J. Lewis May. With pht,otogra,yure
frontispecea, ana ns IT. TIC o'ner nebn Lane Com. %
svo. pc. XVI, 40. lHe 'Oi''
pany.
Tho minute attention bestowed py Sc
rious French historians on the minor
figures of the old regime has resulted IL
nicture of the period whose complete
ness in all its phases. diplomatic social
and intellectual stands unrivalled in the
historical literature of the world Inc
Duchesse du Maine, considered from the
wider historical point of view' deserves
no more than a paragraph in the chapter
devoted to the minority of Louis XIV
and the regency of the Duke OF Orieans'
no more than a phrase in the para
prsoh of that chapter dealing with the
story of Alberoni's plotting against the
rooort for his sovereign, Philip V Of
Spain.
One has good cause TO wonder at the
title of General de Piepape's story OF her
life. A plotting princess she was put
not "A Princess of Strategy" On the
contrary. as q conspirator she was amaz-
ingly bungling and indiscreet, an opera
bouffe plotter. whose exposure and pun
ishment were a foregone conclusion:
I-vorvvbere and always she was commit
ting indiscretions and telling her secrets 10
neonIe who Immediately disclosed theH
Gccasionallv when she did dissemble her
discrimination was not inVarlaply dPpiVvPIi
ale When a princess who was hail-IeiioW-
wel-met with any adVehtuIei S,ta, i, ,eoegD
from heaven knows where tnought IL neCes-
earv 10 disguise her movements from her
faithful servant Mile. de Launay, her mis-
trust was undeniably misplaced.
The interest of General de Piepapes
book lies not. however. IN What she
failed TO accomplish as a political plot
ter. but in tie characteristics that leu
her into conspiracy-her arrogant prlde
of race. the consciousness Of blrth OF
real princess Of the House of Bourbon
who could never forget or forgive tha'
she was married 10 a mere iIeSltifnate
son of Louis XIV and Nine. de Monte
sran. legitimatized, no doubt, loaded
with honors by his aging father at the
instance of Nine. de Maintenon, MS ers'-
while governess. charged in that fathers
will with the education of the young
Louis XIV, but a man stigmatized none
the less in the eyes Of this granddaugh-
ter of the great Conde with the bar sim
lister. She must act. since her amiable
husband lacked ambition and strength
of character, when the regent quietly
mt aside the Sun Kings will and robbed
his illegitmate progeny of the honors
arbitrarily bestowed upon them. She
NAV even have dreamt FOR moment.
the au.hor suggests, Of the throne itsel'
1t is as the chatelaine of SceauX. the
moving spirit of one OF the great INTEL
lectual salons of France. that the Duch-
esse du Maine is of most interest to us.
and it is as such that the author pre-
sents her to the reader, both before and
after his detailed account OF her disas-
trous political enterprise. Dimlnutive In
stature. undisciplined. Of violent char
acter. arrogant. she sincerely loved cult
IRE. Not a pr6cieuSe ridicuIc, she yet
was a pretentious one, stickler Tor III
erarv form even in her secret dispatches.
an adept moreover, at the somewhat
stilted art of intellectual phlandering.
Her biographer rejects as untrue the
charges of more serious tender wander
ings that have been made against her.
She drew TO her side the most polished
grand seigneurs of the ultra-elegant
school. the most renowned manufacturers
of literature d Ia mode, and kept their
allegiance through half a century. But