Count Corti's methods are in strong contrast' to" those. of other Buropean diarists who have recently been throwing an intimate light on court history in Central Europe. 'The Count sticks to facts and he never forgets that he Is dealing with the te' of a great Indy on whom great responsibilities fell, to. whom great sorrow came. and' for whom her {rlends anda company of her former ubjects have the liveliest sympathy.
Phe story of the beautiful Elizabeth of Bavaria, who became the bride of the young Francis Joseph of Aust iMlusteates how extraordinary. an. fluence personal misunderstanding may have on the course of history. Asp has often. been told, Francis Joseph was expected to twice as his bride llzabeth's elder sister Helene, Elizabeth then being only 16 years of ago and not properly out, " But on his visit {0 Duke Max's court th Emperor's attention was at once tracted by the charm and beauty of Elizabeth and the two fell helplessly Ju love, as If arranged! marriages had never "been heard of, 'The parents were wise' enough io allow this change of plan and marriage quickly followed. But neither Ellaabeth nor her husband were strong enough to dear with the "Archduchess Sophie, the Emperor's mother, From the Ast she continued "to. control the royal household, and Elizabeth, the 10 year old bride, had her frst experience of hher_mother-in-law's tyranny when afler undergoing all the strain and pomp of 9 royal wedding she was compelled "to" come toa" family breakfast. on the first-morning of her" married life in aplite of her simest tearful enteeatles {0 the con: trary. 'The result. was that when hei babies were born' the Archduchess took them over and Bilzabeth had no say in the bringing up of the Archduchess. Gisela, or the "Crown Prince Rudolf; but by the time the Archduchess Valerie was born. the Empress was able to. assert. her maternal rights and so inevitably the mothers love that she. was unable. to pour out on the other two children became extravagantly. expressed in regard to Valerie and it quite pos sible that the. Empress herself was open to the satirical criticism of the court in. that respect. The Emperor Femained devoted to his wite, but the effect of the Intervention of the Archduchess Sophie was to deprive the "Empress of the: romantic" enthistasm' of her betrothal period, She did her duty, but restlessness ments, being piloted across country by the famous English sportsman, Bay Middleton, rather than amid. the Pomp and bickerings of the court. If she had been allowed to exercise proper control over her two elder children it is easy to imagine that the tragedy which culminated in the sulelde of the Crown Prince might never have occurred, because he Was at bottom a man of paris and was ruined by the system in which his grandmother's regime had entangled him, "Husband and wife naturally drilled apart in these circumstances, but Blizaboth displayed considerable generosity and after the death of the Crown Prince she very" naturally Went into oven loser' retirement, The couple managed in some way oF other to recover the cordiallly if not the deeper affection of their early lays, Scandalous Memoirs Vienna was never a favourite city with "the Empress "and she was always happier in Hungary where in return the people showered great affection on her, Count Corti sym= pathetically stresses the circum. lances which s0 relentlessly turned the buoyant, healthy and. charming princess into the delicate, moody and frequently ailing woman of whose sanity on more than one occasion public apprehensions were expressed, Incidentally, the scandalous memoirs of Marie Larisch are caustically refuted in a footnote and it Is plainly stated that Marie ber haved very ungratefully towards an Empress who had shown her exceptional favour, Marie's position as the child of a morganatic marriage was actually a real dim culty to the Em-ress who showed considerable broad mindedness in ignoring the. rigid standards of those days by betriending' her young kinswoman, and Marle's contention that she had nothing to do with the intrigue which cost the Crown Prince his life is contemptuously dismissed, In her personality the Empress was shy, hated publicity, disliked being Photographed, and chafed at the formality of' court etiquette, Tt ig included in their introduction (o him which to some extent excused the that "his life has been spent in study-these extraordinarily arduous" and charge of insanity. Her retiring dising the lives and manners of wild dimeult tasks for which he will earn position prevented her from. being animals". "Buffo, the Baboon" makes the gratitude of writers less indus-really popular and, in fact, the Count. that very plain, for only 2 man of {rlous than himself. In endeavouring docs' not hesitate to say that in Jong experience and patient observa {to give a documented account of the Austria at all events at one time she tion could have written it, and one was by no means beloved. She was Judges that Mr. Chadwick really has breakdown of the Chinese Empire in the four years immediately preceding passionately fond of animals and her written some chapters from his own the Revolution, Dr. Reld has displayed horsemanship was outstanding, os 100 fe, "or possibly what would have all the qualities for which the ideal was her beauty, even to middle age, been his choice of life had he the research worker is commended, His and it was said that she was one of choice. index is in itself a remarkable the few princesses of her day who This is one of those books written Schlevement in attention to dotal, looked the part in every respect.
In a delightfully simple style, a peering as it does no less than 60 The author has produced a most natural history volume devoid of ages, and his bibliography, occupy-Fendable yet authoritative biography Jengthy scientite explanation or any ing six pages, is followed by the which stands on record for the as-Pronounced literary. style, yet. con notes to his 14 chapters,. covering' sistance of the historian and the Inveying a wealth of detail, and all in nearly 100 pages. These bare statistics struction of the student alike—em, such an easy, flowing manner that it indieale the quality of the inves: will be equally appreciated by a tigation which has produced this book. grown-up sportsman and his fificenyear-old son, It is a story of the Lack of Foreign Support
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.