The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 30, 1902, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CALL. [+ ure to bé able ntion to so lications as ardy, Pratt & whicl ve the es Histe to p- interest'ng n Louis XIII 1 the throne. ining the Saint-Simon; and another volume, ven Princess , in which Madame pondence , mother of the Regent; of Marie de Savoie, Duchesse of Bour- d of Madame de Maintenon, in Saint-Cyr. se five volumes are uniform in typo- y, illustration and binding with )se three books that contain the me- molrs of Madame de Mottville. This series is profusely fllustrated by splendid color of ancient por- reproductions as well as for their traits; anc binding and printing, deserves the position tpat he eXxce e of the matter con- tained should receive Saint-Simon as origin- to some twenty »od size. In thie present ated by Katharine Pres- , these twenty books have to four. The work has 1an well done, and as it now to give us a more lifelike of the days of Louis XIV than s of mounted serv be gathered from any other pen of t time. In explaining the abridgment translator says [he translation as follows: The outline of Saint- T career, a selection of such por- s as may be read with interest.by the or, several of the great his- nes, and something of the mere p and intrigue. The parts re- e campalgns have been omit- as they now stand can- r most interesting to & history, dealing as they do od of French history when 16 most »ortant and en- of t world. Saint- at painter and brings the » you sa clearly 1 to live with them and go ppenings of those most monarchial France. s ght and record- nt man, whose close ndered him such observation and s little points of s entertaining as fc- dry historical facts as ed the student pale speaking of the and his travels in -observ «ERY O mere hem. In begun his travels. He much noise in the world be succinet about a prince o known and one who no doubt latest posterity, for having ng to all Europe and in the affairs of this part a court which had never urt, and a nation Gespised ded for its barbarism. This , Holland to Jearn for him- his own hands at the build- Although incognito, pursuing his not allowing his raak or his hamper him, he made everything but after his own fashion and ari with ships. e, and ndeur to was inwardly displeased that England @id mot hesten to send him an embassy when be was thus in ber close nelghborhood, and all the more because, Without committing himself, he was very desirous of allying himself with her for commerce. The embassy at last ar- rived. At first he postponed giving it audi- ence; finally he named a day and hour, but the place was on board a large Dutch vessel which he wished to examine. xn were two Embassadors and they thoughtffhe place bar- berous, but they had to mocept it. Matters worse when they got on board. The them word he was in the maintop, and it was there he would receive them. The Embassadors, whose sea legs Were Dot sui- ficiently steady to risk the shrouds, excused the Czar insisted and the Emn- themselves; bassadors were much disturbed by so strange and obstinate & proposal. At last, after a few rough answers to their next message, théy Zelt they must needs attempt the horrid ladder and up they went. In that narrow space and swinging in midair the Czar received them with as much majesty as if he were sitting oo his throne. He listened to thelr harangue and answersé obligingly to the King and the mation; then he joked at the fear he saw de- pioted on the Embassadors’ faces and laugh- ingly let them feel it was a punishment for baving come to him too late. Baint-8imon was an Indefatigable worker on his memoirs. He did not wait untll time had taken events and conver- sations out of his memory or colored and distorted them: on the contrary, he wrote esch dey. He began his writing at the early age of 19 and continued it without intermission for sixty years, He probably inherited his taste from his father, who 'was an old man at the time of the birth of Baint-Simon, and who enjoyed nothing better than relating the anecdotes of his youth, when he had been a favorite of the King, Louis XIIL Coupled with this in- berited talent is the even more important one of truth telling; for even if Saint- Simon feels for a person & personal dis- e ——— “HUAERREEATT Will be repaid for scad- mg for our fllustrated catalogve of original ... EASTER Cards and books, newly de- signed and published for this season by..... ELDER and SHEPARD 238 Post Street San Francisco like, as was his attitude toward the Dug du Maine, son of Louis XIV by his mis- try Mme. Montespan, and also toward that remarkable woman, Mme. de Maln- tenon, wife of Louis, still he does them the justice of acknowledging their good points and producing their great quallities, Hig portraits are vivid and convincing. Here for example is what he has to say about the Dauphin Louis, son of Louis XIV and the Infanta Maria Theresa, called by his father “Mocnseigneur,” a name given to him In jest but which in time came to be his only name: Monseigneur was tall rather than short, very stout but not thickset; his air was proud and but never harsh; and he would have had able face If the Prince de Contl o0 dled iast) had not broken his nose when they were both children, in He was a very handsome biond, with ruddy skin and full cheeks, but with no coun- tenance whatever; the finest legs in the world, the feet siender and singularly small. He ti toed in walking, that is, he put his foot down twice; he was always afrald of falling, and calied for help if the path was not perfectly straight and smooth. He looked very well on horseback and had a noble mien, but he was not boid. Casau always rede before him in hunting. I he 'lost sight of him he. thought himself lost; would never ride beyond a slow gallop, and would often wait under a tree to see what became of the hunt, and then follow slowly or else return home. He had alw been fond of eating, but never with {ndecenc after his great atteck of indigestion, which was thought to be apoplexy, he made but one real meal a day, and restrained himself much— although a grest eater, ke the rest of the poval family. Nearly all his portraits resemble him. As for character, he had none; some sense, but absolutely no mind; haughty and dignified by nature, by deportment and by copying the king: obstinate beyond nature, with a series of regulated pettinesses that made the tissue of his life; gentle from laziness and a sort of stu- pidity; hard at bottom, with an external kind- ness shown chiefly to subalterns and valets, and only expressed in common ways. With them he was extremely familiar; insensible, how- ever, to the misery and sorrow of others, which was, perhaps, more the result of his careless- ness and imitation than from hardness of na- ture; incredibly sflent, consequently very secret, so much so that people thought he had never spoken of state affairs to the Choin—perhaps because neither couid understand them. Den- sity on the one hand, timidity on the other, put a reserve into this Prince which has few ex- amples; at the same time he was vainglorious to excess, which is an odd thing to say of a Dauphin; very exacting of respect, and almost solely solicitous and occupied about what was due to him. He once said to Mile. Choin, who spoke to him of his silence, that the words of men In his position had great weight and com- pelied great reparations if they were not very cautiously measured, and for that reason he often preferred to keep silence rather than to speak. Also, it was easier done for his laziness and indifference. This excellent maxim, which he exaggerated in practice, was apparently one of the lessons given him by the King or the Duc de Montausier which he had best retained. His methodical arrangement of all his pri- vate affairs was extreme; he himself wrote down all his ftems of expense. He knew what the slightest thing cost him, though he spent immensely on buildings, furnitare, jewels-of all kinds, trips to Meudon, and his wolf-hunting equipment, for he had made himself believe that he liked to hunt. He was fond of all sorts of heavy play, but after he began to build he reduced himself to moderate stakes. In other respects, miserly beyond all propriety, except on very rare occasions, when he gave a few pen- slons to valets and his lower servants; but he always gave alms to the vicar and the capu- ching of Meudon. This love for building seems to have been an inherited quality in “Monscig- neur,” for we find in his royal father the came taste. In this connection Saint- Simon has an interesting anecdote to tell that brings out more than one point re- garding the character of Loufs and of the great Louvois as well: The war of 1088 hed an equally strange origin, the narrative of which, alike authentic and curious, serves %o well to characterize both the King and Louvols that It ought to find & place here. Louvols, on the death of Coibert, took his place as superintendent of buildings. The little porcelain Trianon, buflt for Mme. de Montespan, dissatisfied the King, who always wanted palaces. He amused himgélf immense- iy in bullding; he had & compass In his eye for proportions, accuracy and symmetry, but taste was lacking, as we shall see elsewhers. The new chateau was going up when the King observed & defect in @ window which was just being finished along & line of others on the range of the ground floor. Louvols, who was rude by nature and so spoilt that he would scarcely allow his master to find fault with him, disputed the matter stoutly and maintain. ed that the window was right. The King turn- ed his back upon him and walked off eisewhers, Next day he saw Le Notre, a good archi- tect, though more famous for his taste in gardens, which he was the first to introduce into France, bringing them to & state of the bighest perfeetion. The King asked him 12 he had been to Trianon. He said no. The King then explained what had struck his eye and told him to go and look at that window. Next dey the same question, same answer; and the day after, the same. The King saw that Le Notre would not risk finding either himself or Louvois to blame. He was angry, d ordered him to be st Trianon the next y. when he should be there himself and Louvols also. This time there was no means of getting out of it. The King found them both at Trianon when he arrived there. The question of the window came up &t once. Louvols disputed the polnt; Le Notre sald Y accident playing. ure it by foot _ule and come and tell the result. While he was doing this Louvois, furious at the proceedings, grumbled aioud, crossly declaring that the window was exactly the same size as all the others. The King sald nothing and waited; but he was plainly displeased. When the measurements were made he asked Le Notre the result. Le Notre hesitated. - The King wa# angry and or- dered him to speak out. Le Notre then ad- mitted that the King was right by several inches. He had scarcely said the words before the King, turning to Louvois, told him he could mot put up With his obstinacy any longer: thag 1f 1t had not been for his own eye that window would have been crooked and the whole bullding must have been torn down as soon as fintahed; in short, he washed his head for him. Louvols, incensed at this rebuke, given in the presence of the courtlers, the workmen and the valets, went home furious. He there found Saint-Pouange, Villacert, the two Tilladets and others of his henchmen, Who were much alarm ed to see him in such a state. ‘It is all over, he sald to them; "I am ruined with the King after his treating me In this way about a mere window. I have no recourse but a war which will put bullding out of his head and make me necessary to him, and by — he shall have it.” He kept his word, and within a few months, tn spite of the King and the other powers, war was general, Saint-Simon puts a life and vigor into his descriptions that is particularly tell- ing In the dramatic narrative of. the crises in the reign of ‘Louis and later in the history of France under the regency. At these times, of course, there is the danger of bias on the part of the writer, and his partisanship must be allowed for. His anecdotes In the nature of court gos- sip are extremely amusing and give as nothing else can a colored and vivid pic- ture of the age and its customs. Here is a story that he has to tell concerning two remarkable robberies from the King, which is one of the many that gives to us the inside life at court: A very bold robbery took place in the great stables at Versailles during the night of t 2d and 4th of June. The King was at Ver- sailles and all the hammer-cloths and capari- sons were carried off, to the valuc of ons hundred and fifty thouw. d fra The thieves' measures were o well taken that not a person perceived anything in a bullding fully inhabited, and in that very short night ali was carried off and no news obtained of it. Forces were sent along the roads and Paris and Versailles were searched, quite usele sly. AnA this reminds me o another robbery. which happened just before the time I began these memoirs. The grand apartment, that Is to say, from the gallery to the chapel, was fur- nished in crimson velvet with gold glmps and morning it was found that the off. This seemed amazing in a place where persons were passing all day long, which was closed at night and watched at all hours. Bontems, in despair, made and caused to be made every possible inquiry, but all without the slightest success. Five or six days later I was ‘at the King's supper: there was no one but Daquin, the King's physlcian, between me and the King, and no one at all between me and the table. As the entremets were being scrved I saw, I can't say what, that was blg and as if black in the air above tife table,) which I had no time to discern or point out before the blg thing fell on the end of the table in front of the places of Monsleur and Madame, who happened that day to be in Paris, but always sat at table on the left of EPUBLIS 22500 T, the King with their backs to tne Windows look- ing on the courtyard. The noise the thing made in falling was great, and its weight seemed like to break the table, making all the dishes jump, though none were Broken, for luck- fly it fell upon the cloth and not up- on the dishes. The King, at the blow it gave, half turned his head and with- out the slightest emotion said, I belleve those are my fringes.”” It was in fact a pack- age about the breadth of a priest’s bat, tied up in & badly made pyramid about two feet long. It was thrown from far behind me, through the two antechambers, and a scrap of the tringe getting detached in maldair, fell on the King's wig, which Livry, who was on bis left, saw and lifted off. He went to the edge of the table and found it was really, the fringes twist- ed up in a bundle; and we all saw them, as he did. As Livry was about to lift the bundle he eaw a note attached to it. He left the bundle and took the note. The King held out his hand for it, saying, “Let me see; but Livry very properly would not, and stepping backward read it, and gave it to Daquin, behind the King, with whom I read It as he held it in his hands. It was written in a long, feigned hand, like that of a woman, and sald: “Take back your fringes, Bontems; the trouble was more than the pleasure; my kiss-hands to the King. It was folded, but not sealed. The King wished to take it from Daquin, who drew back, smelt it, rubbed it, turned it, and returned it, and then showed it to the King, but would not let him touch it. The King told him to read it aloud, and read it himself at the same time. ““That is very insolent,”” sald the King; but he said it in an equable, and, as it were, his- torical tone. Then he told them to take away the package. Livry found it so heavy that it To the EGyptian Sphinx ULL thrice a million suns have burned in Yon sky since first thy solemn face looked down Upon the world.. From one wide wilderpess Thou hast beheld the Earth emerge to take Its place among the fairest of the stars. From the dull twilight of the early world, Half time without a compass or a star, Thou hast beheld the imperial mind of man March upward to the full-orbed light of Day. From out the virgin soil thine eyes have seen A thousand empires rise; and thou hast seen As many trampled into dust, as the Iron tread of war went thundering through The earth. But in majestic silence thou Hast gazed upon it alll No word has passed Thy stony lips. No tear has dimmed thy cold Gray eye. No thought has leaped to life in thy Deserted brain, nor dream disturbed the deep Sleep of thine adamantine soul. Imperturbable, thou sittest like But silent, A god in dreams, looking straight into Eternity! DENISON ALEXANDER RUSSELL. was all he could do to lift it from the tabin. From that moment the King said no more about it, and no one else dared to say anvthing. at any rate, out loud, and the rest of ( supper passed as if it had never happened. thing was discovered about this theft, nor about the bold manner of restitution. Every page of the fainf-Simon memoirs as they now stand In their abridged form is of interest. These four volumes give us the best cf the twenty that went to make up the original writing and un- Goubtedly will I e read and enjoyed where the original would have been considered too great a task to Le undertaken Volume ht of the Versailles series is quite a necessary adjunct to the me- moirs. Fron Saint-Simon we have heard so much of 1 as she. is called, the sister-in-law of Louis XIV, and of Marie Adelaide de Savoie, Duchesse de Bourgegne, and also of Magame de Main- tenon, that it scems culte necessary that we should read their correspondence and form our own opinfons of them through their letters. The correspondence of Modame de Maintenon s in relation to Saint-Cyr, the school for needy but weil- born young women that she founded, and is not so interesting as that of the frank “Madame.”” From Saint-Simon we get enough, however, to realize that Madame de Maintenon was the most important HED B EIX32 AND CO. woman of her age and to have our at- tention held by anything concerning her. The introduction to both memoirs and correspondence is by C. A Sainte- Beuve and will be found of material aid to the reader. The books are all well indexed The Americanization of the World. A timely book glving a vigorous picture of the American dominance of the world is “The Americanization of the World," by W. T. Stead. Published by Horace Markley, New York. There is no sub- Ject so prominent to-day as the wonder- ful world mastery of the United States. ‘We are dominating the world socially, politically and commercially. Our daugh- ters have been in the vanguard of this foreign invasion. Then followed the en- terprising° manufacturer, who captured or is capturing forelgn markets. America stands for an idea—for all that 18 best in progress and the higher life, and what we are doing to-day is an evolu- tionary process, in which the fittest will survive, ‘Mr. Stead realizes all this, and he draws a wonderful picture of the new era in the world's progress, which is to be the outcome of it all. He portrays the United States as the crucible of nations, as a great smelting pot in which the world’s populations have been reduced to that richest ingot—the modern America. He shows how we have invaded Eur&pflo and the futility of its resistance. Cen and South America—“the little brothers of the United States”—are treated In a new light—The Monroe Doctrine, What it ‘was and What it 1s—8Shall Canada be an- Dexed?—The unspeakable Turk, his ef- facement by Uncle Sam—Religion, Mar- riage and Soclety, Literature and Jour- nalism, Rallway Shipping and Trusts. Price 1. 2 The American Horse. An excellent little manual of great in- terest to all lovers of those splendid ani- mals, the American trotting and pacing horses, is one recently written and pub- lished by Henry T. Coates of Philadel- phia. It is hardly correct to credit Mr. Coates with all the contents of the voi- ume, for the book is really divided into several distinct parts. The first part is devoted to a history of the American trotting horse. This history, though con- cise, is rich in facts. A second part gives “The American Trotting Turf in 1899 and 1900, by A. M. Gillam. Another sectlon contains some ‘Useful tions and Opinions on Tra * compiled from vz ther t, nd one ilue to the horse; ‘What- to Do BEefore t Hi of famous k that givi will be fo that arise of A chapter ¢ the rules for track to answer many qu that subject. cent: fes The price of the book The Color of His Soul. ‘The Color of His Soul « Norris, is a scries sketehes held together by th sto! Ala nount of small talk goes to make vp the cont of the book that is fairly Interesting, but rather long drawn out. The story by one of the characters—a woman. The hero is a man endowed with wonderful powers as a lecturer and is particularly fascinating to some wome: He ha A m t T s that recemb s peculiar is bel it out during the cou ; also the tendency total disbellever: | things regarding God or a future life. The tale ends with a tragedy, the direct result of the selfishness of this soulless young man. Funk & Wag , New York, the publishers, have given the book & very attractive appearance both inside and-out. (Price $1.) New Edition of Delsarte. The Edgar 8. Werner Publishing Com- pany of New York has just issued the sixth edition of “Delsarte System of pression,” by Genevieve Stebbins. Its 500 pages give Delsarte’s address before the Philotechnic Soclety of Paris; the Del- sarte system arranged in lessons for class or individual use; the theory and practice of the Delsarte system, pantomime, phy ical culture, esthetic culture and statue posing, and thirty-two full-vage illustra- tions of famous Greek statues. 1ts author, Genevieve Stebbins. is Steele able pair of a cat, and t stuntly orou the narrati youth to be a VIsSIoN OF \PEAUTY) 's greatest pupll, while Mac- kaye himself was Delsarte’s greatest pu- pil. Mackaye, however, left no book, while Mrs. Stebbins is the author of sev- eral, all treating on expression. Her task has been to Americanize the Delsarte sys- tem—to put it into intelligible, practical workinz shape. One of the aims of the Delsarte system 1s 50 to train the body that those muscles only that should operate to perform any glven act are used. Lack of physical cul- ture, or lack of physical control, is shown by muscles that should not move in any given act operating, thereby inter- fering with those muscles whose rightful function it is to perform that given act. There can be no grace, no rightful ex- pression untll this interference Is stopped. Delsarte did a great thing when be taught relaxation as well as tension, repose as well as action. This law ap- plies to vocal as well as to physical ex- pression. The price of the book is 3 A New Edition. Last year the Baker & Taylor Company, New York, published “The Salt Box House,” by Jans &e Forest Shelton. The story is & charming ome of Colonial life and met with well deserved success. In fact it has been so favorably received dur- ing the last season that the publishers have brought out a special edition this year. The volume as it now is has not only the extra attraction of elaborate binding and a very artistic cover, but the illustrations are extraordinarily good ‘The frontisplece is a fine -tone re- production of a typical salt- house, with slave quarters and barn. Literary Notes. Little, Brown & Co. recently published the Versallles edition (subscgiption) of Dumas’ works In forty yolumes, price 360 net. This same Boston house is now issu- ing the La Salle edition of Francis Park- man’s works (§5 net per volume in cloth, $10 net per volume in three-quarter levant) complete In twenty volumes: also three limited editions of the works of Samuel Lover, In ten volumes as follows: Cioth, $3 50 net per volume; half morocco, $§ 50 net per volume, and de luxe editions (three-quarter levant), $12 net per volume. The Abbey Press, New York, has just published a volume of poems called “Vis- fons of Life,” by Martha Shepard Lippin- to nature are sever fst poem res of Osborne W , one of the scholars In America, died on Thursd after a tessor Ward, who had been tra or t Federal Bureau of Labor for twenty years, spent thirty At years writ ory of the on peaple from the earliest hi 1es to Constantire. In 1368 he was ated with the eminent Charles Darwin and at that early period he had g well along in his I ork. at 1 hed [ st and historian, the world’s libraries s great his- nd miles, mastered 1 the and Greece, ted aby logy and archaeology and ran down known clew to unlock the secrets of the pa Colone. Carroll D. Wright, United ates Commissioner of Labor, considered Mr. Ward the greatest authority in the world on the subject of ancient soclalism and the industrial teachings of Christ. The t work that Mr. Ward did was the dictation of a great deal of matter and the careful writing of many notes, even in his feeble condition, for the use of his literary executor, Leigh H. Irvine, who recently returned from the bedside of the aged sufferer. Mr. Irvine will paraphrase and abridge much of the work of his eminent friend and a volume embraecir the gist of the life work of Ward wiljappear in about a year in a volume outliled by him in his dying hours. Russla is scarcely a good country to be famous in. Besides Tolstol there is an- other eminent writer who has fallen un- der the Government's displeasure, and has reason to know it. This is Maxime Gorky, like the Count, a novelist and also a dramatist, with an objectionable ten- dency to.search the barbarous survivals of Russian life “for secrets better hid.” His movements are subjected to so much scrutiny that he has had to obtain Gov- ernment authorization to winter in Cri- mea. It is granted on condition that he goes nowhere near Yalta. At Moscow, through which city his route lay to the south, some hundreds of people, not hav- Ing the official proprieties before taeir eyes, had organized a little platform re- ception and demonstration of sympathy. But they know how to manage these things in the Russian prefectures. The demonstrators were allowed to organize their little party and to assemble on the platform in gleeful anticipation. But the express was pulled up just outside the city, Gorky was ordered out, transferred to the guard’'s van of a goods’ train, un- der strict orders not to show himself, and in this way was whisked through Moscow under the very eyes of his friends, with- out their ever suspecting his presence. The last book of his storles Is an- nounced under the title “Twenty-six and One.” This volume will contain a preface by Ivan Strannik, giving a brief account of Gorky, and will be followed by three examples of his best work—“Twenty-six and One,” “Malva,” “Tchelkache.” It is to be published by J. F. Taylor & Co. —— Books Received. THE POLITICAL FRESHMAN—By Bushrod Washington James. Bushrod Library, Phila- delphia, Pa. THE MASTERY OF THE PACIFIC—By A. R. Colquhoun. The Macmillan Company, New York. $4. FOODS FOR THE FAT—By Dr. Yorke-Da- vies. Brentano's, New York. FRANCESCA DA RIMINI—By George More- head. J. S. Ogfivie Publishing Company, New York. 25 cents. LITTLE ITALY—A Tragedy by Horace B. Fry. R H. Russell, New York THE BLACK CAT CLUB—By James D. Cor- rothers. Fusk & Wagnalls Company, New York. $L “VISIONS OF LIFE—By Martha Shepard Lip- pincott. The Abbey Press, New York. 3$1 25. LETTERS FROM EGYPT AND PALES- TINE—By Maltbie Davenport Babeock. Charles Scribner’'s Sons, New York §L ALIENS—By Mary Tappan Wright. Charles Scribner’s Bons, New York. &1 50 THE YELLOW FIEND—By Mre. Alexander. Dodd, Mead & Co., New'York. 51 36 lHam C. Ulyst. The Abbey Press, New York # 23 THE LADY OF NEW ORLEANS—By Mar ocelras The Abbey Press, New The Abbey Press, New York Charles Warren Stoddard’s “In the Footprints of the Padres.” Mr. Stoddard sets forth in this work his recollections of early days in California. Beautifully illustrated. Book collectors should place orders at once in or- tdicl' to secure copies of first edi- jon. PRICE $150 NET. A. Fl. ROBERTSON, Publisher. 26 Post Strest.