New-York tribune., 1912-02-10

6cial DaVs. BY the Widow Of an Amer
ican Diplomat. PrOfusely lIIst'
syo, pp. y, S3G. Dodd Mead q ~
This is one OF the most entertaining
hooks Of its class yet published IN 'hlS
country. The author, We are lniorlheu'
spent twenty years Of her lite In Europe
durine her husbands connection WlIh
o,,r diplomatic service as attache. MN
lister or ambassador in Paris rome o''
Petersburg. Berlin and London 0he
closes the record Of her wanderlnsS III
pleasant places with an account ol he'
altogether unofficial season at Govern
rnent House. i'm ottawa. She betra!s no
secrets Of state she commits no diplo-
matte indiscretions; she deals almost eN-
clusivelv with the social, the woman s.
side of official life; but she is amazingly
outspoken, for a diplomats wife Where
ROYALTY is concerned, and she mas a
knack of recountng gossip without
turning il into scandal Most Of what
she has TO tell has long been current IN
the social circles of Europe.
After an Introductory chapter on the
service" the author takes up Paris, Win
it's double social life Of the Champs
Elysees and the Faubourg ST. German
She enthusiastically praises the trench
upper middle class, the men who govern
the country, who do things who Ito the
true American are the most interesting
and sympathetic of any to be found III
Europe" But as for the capitals OH
cal hospitality-that is another matter
The author frankly prefers the enter
tanning younger set of the FauDo(rg TO
the solemnity and pomp of the Presiden-
tial palace.
in Rome she found a similar state OF
affairs, the division between Quirinal and
Vatican, between white" and "blacE
society. but the present Pope, she in
forms u.s. let it be known on his acces-
zion that he would not be displeased II
the two met at the same houses, the new,
more tolerant state of affairs thus Gre
ated giving rise to the employment of
the adjective gray" as an easy means
of social identification 1t is in Rome, by
the way, so the author affirms, That
Americans are more sincerely welcome
and moro heartily liked than anywhere
else in Europe. The present Queen Of
italy, IL appears. has won her way TO the
affections Of her husbands family and
people only after struggle. Her con-
slant fear is that King Victor Emmanuel
may share the fate Of his father;
The King shares this fear and since he
vas q Young 10y he has instructed the
men in mis- suite 10 keep close behind, say
fra stabbed. 7
he IN the back.
The author was "A great admirer Of
Crisni. and tells the story Of his belated
marriage and Of his wifes peculiar posi-
tion in official society. She also, relates
the romance Of Prince Won Buelow's
eIopement and ultimate wedding.
II is in its sririted descriptions of the
splendor and extravaganza, the charm
and recklessness Of Russian social life
that the book is at its best, The author
witnessed the coronation Of the Emperor
Nicholas 1.-THE surprising event of
lifetime"-and discusses with the utmost
frankness that mighty ruler and his tall.
beautiful. sad-faced consort. Much oC
what is told here as well as elsewhere
in The book has long been familiar in
the capitals Of the world, but it will he
news to many to learn that several at
tempts have been made 10 take the En-
presss life. She. whose standards Of
conduct are as strict as those of her
grandmother Queen Victoria. herself, is
not liked by the pleasure-loving. gay,
easygoinr court circle at st. Peters
burg. AS the author saw the shadow of
the assassin in Rome, 50 she came upon
il again in 81. PotersbYre in dramatic
manner:
It was at one Of the state balls. brill
liant and magnificent in it's Urodigal display.
All the guests were gathered. stand
ing in complete silence as the doors were
thrown open for the entrance Of the SOW
ereigns. Just as they stepped across the
threshold there was distinctly heard in the
hushed room sharp unexpected click
click 1t was only the electric light as an
extra battery was turned on, but the En-
press uttered cry and the Emperor stag
gered and turned deadly pale. while
moment Of agoniZirg fear neld the room
full OF guests.
Unlike her daughter n-law, the Dow
aker Empress of Russia automatically
accepted the lax views and ways Of Rus
alan society. She did not adopt them
she simply pretended not 10 see them
Since the death of her masterful hus-
band. whom the world is but tardily be-
ginning 10 recognize as one of Russia's
ablest rulers, she has. moreover, become
the one power always to be reckoned
with in the empire. She is able to cope
with the shrewdest political intriguers;
she sees everything, she knows every
thing" and she has controlled her son,
the Emperor. since his infancy. The
picture of the life Of we'll born, cultured
Russia drawn by the author is a capital
piece OF work. She does not enter into
abstruse psychological analysis, but
makes the facts and conditions of that
life tell their own story-and it is largely
n story of temperament.
The Berlin social life she describes is,
in part, that of the closing days of the
reign of William l, when simplicity
reigned, and the court circle was made
up chiefly of retired officers and their
wives. The author is Of two opinions
attempting to be impartial. but. on the
whole. she remains decidedly unsympa-
thetic. One wonders, moreover about
the measure of her knowledge of Ger
man society. when she informs us in all
seriousness that young army officers,
whose cheeks are SCARED with wounds
from many duels. talk Wagner and
Schopenhauer with serious appreciation.
and whisper in the fraulein's ear, in the
midst of the waltz 'IOu are aS eautifrIl