by that regenerating country, and at once root out those
deleterious plants which poison the better half of human
happiness."

Among the most remarkable passages in the book are those relating to
Marie Antoinette. As was the case when she wrote her answer to Burke, the
misery of millions unjustly subjected moved Mary more than the woes of
one woman justly deprived of an ill-used liberty. Her love and sympathy
for the people made her perhaps a little too harsh in her judgment of the
queen. "Some hard words, some very strong epithets, are indeed used of
Marie Antoinette," Mr. Kegan Paul says in his short but appreciative
criticism of this book, "showing that she, who could in those matters
know nothing personally, could not but depend on Paris gossip; but this
is interesting, as showing what the view taken of the queen was before
passion rose to its highest, before the fury of the people, with all the
ferocity of word and deed attendant on great popular movements, had
broken out." The following lines, therefore, reflecting the feelings and
opinions of the day, must be read with as much, if not more interest than
those of later and better-informed historians:--

"The unfortunate Queen of France, beside the advantages of birth
and station, possessed a very fine person; and her lovely face,
sparkling with vivacity, hid the want of intelligence. Her
complexion was dazzlingly clear; and when she was pleased, her
manners were bewitching; for she happily mingled the most
insinuating voluptuous softness and affability with an air of
grandeur bordering on pride, that rendered the contrast more
striking. Independence also, of whatever kind, always gives a
degree of dignity to the mien; so that monarchs and nobles with
most ignoble souls, from believing themselves superior to others,
have actually acquired a look of superiority.

"But her opening faculties were poisoned in the bud; for before she
came to Paris she had already been prepared, by a corrupt, supple
abbe, for the part she was to play; and, young as she was, became
so firmly attached to the aggrandizement of her house, that, though
plunged deep in pleasure, she never omitted sending immense sums to
her brother on every occasion. The person of the king, in itself
very disgusting, was rendered more so by gluttony, and a total
disregard of delicacy, and even decency, i