New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-09-27
HISTORICAL pIoeRAPHY.

rTyE TRAGEDY OF MAR STUART
nv Henry c, Shelley. Illustrated, evo'
Or. vii. 2e5. Boston; Little. Brown e o.
MEMOIRS OF THE PRINCE INPE-
RIAL. lSSs-iS79. From the FRENCH "
AuEustin Btlon. Illustrated. koSSi SVo'
pp x! ss9 EoStons Little, Brown - ~
Many battles have been fought IN
many tones over the memory or Mary
Queen Of Scots. whose last knight
militant Of the pen was Andrew Lang
The fascination she exerted over her
CONTEMPORARIES. among them many OF
her enemies. or at least many Of her
enemies agents. has survived TO TINS
day. With all her sins upon her.
she stln remains queen Of romance.
Meanwhile Mr.. Shelley has Judged, ana
not mistakenly, that the time has come
for q summing up Of her career and
of the events it shaped during the M
teen months that elapsed between the
murder Of Darnley and her flight 10
ENGLAND. The course Of her earlier
wars. from her birth 70 the death or
the pauphin. her first husband Is
briefly treated In an epilogue; her cap
ttrtty and death In England, OF which
is made the aureole OF her martyrdom.
are as briefly dealt with in an epilogue-
Thus. Mr.. Shelley believes. is the proper
historical proportion established De-
tween the three periods Of Mary Stu
arts life.
He is not q partisan; he acknowledges
the glamour Of her personality the ap-
peal to sympathy Of her fate, but nc
does not surrender to their sway. The
mass of controversial literature through
which he has worked his way In
preparstion for this book is not dealt
with In his pages. It IS the historical
facts as now established which he seeks
TO give In their sequence and relative
importance, and. on the whole, he has
succeeded in what ne set out TO 90.
At the same time. this is far from
chronicle Of dry facts. Mary's portrait
is well done. and much is made OF the
picturesque contrast between her merry
court. which took its tone from her in
tense Joy of living before crime and
tragedy clouded its sunshine, and its
dour, Puritanical Scotch environ
nent. The thickening atmosphere OF
intrigues, antagonisIns, treachery, mys-
terry and murder; the apprehensions'
observations and conclusions of the for
eign agents and representatives In
Scotland: the incorporating Cove
nanter courage for consctence's sake,
facing and denouncing Mary in her
M power, all this is well reflected in the
D pages Of the book. and gives It vivid,
popular interest. In fact, Mr.. Shelley
has carried out his purpose admirably.
The Illustrations. from old paintings
and prints. include several portraits Of
Mary at different periods of her life,
and a reproduction OF a section Of an
old map graphically picturing the muir
der OF Darnley.
NJ. Augustin Fflon became the tutor
Of the Primes Imperial when the boy
was eleven years OLD. His book is not
q set biography. but It serves all bio
graphical purposes in the oase Of &
parsonage who was cut of at the be-
ginning OF life, before he had had time
TO set. about the career planned for him
by hts mother and the leaders OF the
Bonapartist party Historically he Is
only negatively important; what in
terest attaches 10 him is that Of trag-
edy. NJ. Filon's "reminiscences are &
tribute OF deep affection and loyalty,
but, OF necessity. a chronicle of small
beer IN their early part. Try as he
may TO disguise the fact. IL is evident
that the heir TO the imperial throne Of
France was not-a bright" child Here
NJ Filon corroborates the more out
spoken DR.. Berthez, whose memoirs Of
his term of service as the Princes
physician were published only q few
weeks ago. The boy was backward:
he did not distinguish himself at
Kings College. in exile. nor. still later,
at Woolwich. He passed his examina-
tons Just like so many other princes,
because he was a prince.
acter study in the case OF young man
who died before his character had had
1me to form itself The Prince I'm
perial had amiable traits, and traits
that were the reverse. just like all
other youths at the beginning OF the
real formative period Of life. He
seems to have kept his own counsel
closely-no bad quality in a pretender.
and one inherited from his crafty. Sc
cretive father in the long days OF his
own pretendership. AS for the
Princes home environment IN Eng
land, NJ. FIlon tells us but little OF that
There is evident reticence, also. in the
narrative given here OF Bonapartist
plottings in France and the connec-
lions Herewith of the Empress and her
son. What is Of most interest is the
narrative OF the Princes death. in
which NJ. F1ion chronicles with bitter