The Romance of Royalty. By Fitzgerald Molloy. 2 vols. (Hutchinson
and Co. 244. net.)—" Romance" is hardly the right word for some of the stories which Mr. Fitzgerald Molloy has to tell. It may be used legitimately for the tragedy of Maximilian of Mexico. There was something in his personality, something, too, so unusual in the character and fate of his wife, which answers to the term. Then the remoteness and strangeness of the scene of action lend themselves to the situation. And there is the unquestionable pathos and dignity of the end. It was a foolish business from the beginning, and some of the actors in it were more than foolish ; but Maximilian, as we see him on the Corro de la Campana, was at least lets nobilis. The story of King Ludwig of Bavaria is largely the story of Wagner ; possibly it would have been better to read about the musician without the King than with him. A few pages are given to the Duchesse d'Alencon, one of a family of five daughters, in whose case certainly might be seen "beauty and anguish walking hand in hand" (the eldest died young, the others were the Queen of Naples, the Countess Trani, and the Empress of Austria). The Duchess's married life was unhappy, and she perished tragically in the frightful catastrophe of the Rue Jean Goujon. The re- mainder of the two volumes is given to Isabel II. of Spain and Napoleon III. " Romanee " is too fine a word for either of these potentates. However this may be, Mr. Fitzgerald Molloy has done his work well enough. It is not his business to write history ; but there is much in his books that historians cannot afford to neglect, and they are unquestionably good to read.
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