COSMOPOLITAN RECOLLECTIONS.* PERHAPS there is not ranch in these volumes

which is likely to prove of permanent value, though it is impossible to say what scrap of fact may be a thing of price to the historian of the future ; but they are very rich in the gossipy material which never fails to attract the contemporary reader. The author's harvest of reminiscence must at first have been very plentiful, for it was reaped in the work mentioned on the title- page, and yet the present gleaning has clearly not been made from a bare field. Here and there a page is padded with some rather trite reflections which we could spare without regret, and the criticisms are not always of the most illuminating kind; but, as a rule, both reflection and criticism are sub- ordinated to fact, and the fact is of a kind in which all readers, with the exception of a few very superior persons, are more or less interested.

Every year renders less truthful the saying that one half the world does not know how the other half lives. The ordinarily educated middle-class man or woman is nowadays familiar enough with "Court life" in both senses of the term; but curiosity concerning the details of existence in social worlds other than our own is a craving not easily satisfied, and so long as society and human nature remain what they are, 'there will always be an audience which increases our familiarity either with the life of the Prince or with the life of the pauper. In one important respect these Cosmo- politan Recollections compare very favourably with many works in the class of literature to which they belong : they contain very little scandal, and are absolutely devoid of malice. We are not in the secret of the author's identity, but from internal evidence we should say that the book is from the pen of a woman, probably a lady who is closely con- nected with Ambassadorial circles ; for she is familiar not merely with general Court gossip, but with the "local colour" of various capitals—such as Belgrade and Sofia—not frequently visited by ordinary travellers. The style is vivacious, and in general fairly respectable from a literary point of -view, though sometimes there are odd words and turns of expres- sion which suggest the thought that the author may be using a language which is not her native tongue. When we read that the present Empress of Germany "remembers without fausse hosts the days when she was a modest, almost penurious little Princess," we feel at once that the writer has been misled by the resemblance between the words "penurious" and "penury," and that the word intended here was not " penu- rious," but "impecunious." Then, too, when we are told that the same Empress has realised her husband's "paternal hopes," we know that what is meant are hopes of paternity ;

and there is another sentence in which we read that. the con- dition of the Queen of Roumania after the death of her father, "inspired alarm to her entourage," a notably un- English combination of verb and preposition. These, how- ever, are trifles : we will pass at once from form to substance. In many of the princelings and minor personages who figure in these pages, few readers will feel at the outset much interest, though some of the most vivacious pages in the book are devoted to people of whom we in Eng- land know comparatively little. The story of Madame de Kolemine is, for example, a very curious romance, and there are few more interesting sketches than that of the career of Dr. Schweninger, Prince Bismarck's physician and intimate friend, who has been enabled by the influence of his patron to live down a scandal by which most men would have been crushed. Some of the chapters which best repay perusal are those devoted to the Imperial families of Germany and Russia, especially the pen-and-ink portraits of the reign- ing Empress of Germany and her two predecessors. The

pride in her youthful beauty which was so dominant an emo- tion in the Empress Augusta, the artistic tastes of the Empress Victoria, and the domestic instincts of the Empress who combines the names of her two predecessors, found on

one occasion a simultaneous and curiously apt illustration :--

"The salient characteristics of the three first ladies of the German Empire stood confessed, by a mute and humble testimony at a fancy-fair held for charitable purposes at Berlin in December, 1887. The centre of attraction seemed to be a table on which a. few articles were offered for sale, apparently inferior in quality and value to other more important and pretentious exhibits. One was a photograph of a handsome woman in the evening drew

Coemopolitan Reeollectiona. By the Author of "Random Recollections of Courts and Society." In 2 vole. London Ward and Downey.

which Winterhalter loved to paint, signed with the bold, elegant ' autograph, Augusta, Imperatrix and Regina ;' another was a small Italian landscape, with the artist's name in an English hand, 'Victoria;' and close to these, six dainty pairs of tiny knitted socks, with no clue to the donor's identity. They were the contri- butions of the three Empresses of Germany."

Of the second of these ladies, the one in whom English readers must naturally be most strongly interested, we have a couple of pleasantly characteristic anecdotes. The story of her treatment of the very youthful Prince Henry after his apparently successful rebellion against his morning bath is a capital illustration of the Mikado's golden rule, "to make the punishment fit the crime ;" but we have an impression that it has appeared in print before. The following anecdote is, to the best of our belief, new :—

"A few years after the Franco-German War, the French uniform reappeared for the first time in Germany, at the great autumn military manceuvres. At the review which ended them, Colonel Grandin, who wore it, was on horseback with the staff awaiting the arrival of the Emperor. The rain fell in torrents, but as William I. appeared on the field, the officers could see, riding by his side, a woman covered by a long waterproof cape ; it was the Princess Imperial. When she reached the group of the Etat Mader, she stopped and looked around her, as if seeking some one ; then suddenly advancing towards Colonel Grandin, she said aloud : Colonel, I am particularly pleased to see you to-day.' The Frenchman bent low on the neck of his horse as the Princess continued : Yes, particularly pleased, because it is the 9th of September ;' and seeing that neither the officer addressed nor the Generals around her understood the words, she added pointedly : and the 9th of September is the anniversary of the surrender of Sebastopol—the day on which your country and mine won a victory together.' She instinctively felt the pain of the repre- sentative of the defeated nation in the midst of the triumphant troops of the enemy, and with the glorious allusion effaced the humiliation of recent disasters."

Considering the position of the speaker and the nature of the audience, there may be some doubt an to whether what the author oddly calls the "glorious allusion" was as wise as it might have been, but there can be only one opinion con- cerning its gracious and sympathetic kindliness.

The anecdotes are naturally the most quotable things in these Cosmopolitan Recollections, for many of the little bits of gossip concerning the personal habits and tastes of the great people of Europe, though interesting enough where they stand, would seem somewhat flat and pointless if separated from their context. One of the best stories in the book is told of Count Wilhelm Bismarck, the youngest son of the great Chancellor, who is familiarly known as "Bill," and is clearly very different in temperament and character from both his father and his elder brother, Count Herbert :—

" When quite a lad, at the Werner Gymnasium, he was called upon, according to custom, to make an extempore speech upon a given subject; his comrades had more or less successfully disposed of their themes when his turn came. The President, intending to be particularly complimentary to Prince Bismarck, then at the apogee [sic] of his fame, said to the student : Now, my dear Bismarck, give us your view upon the greatest man of the present day—one whose name is on every lip, and on whom the eyes of Europe are fixed with wonder and admiration.' The boy bowed, and without a moment's hesitation or change of countenance began gravely: Many years ago, in the Duchy of Posen, a child was born of poor but Jewish parents. That child is now Dr. Stromberg.

' Undismayed by the start of the Professor, whose sycophantism was recoiling upon himself, encouraged by the ill- suppressed titter of the other scholars, he gravely proceeded with the eulogy of the wealthy financier, thus intimating his contempt for the snobbish flattery which attempted to make the son pro- nounce the eulogy of the father."

In the chapter from which this anecdote is taken, we find a story which leaves a somewhat unpleasant impression con- cerning the chivalry—or rather; the want of chivalry—to be found among the officers of the German Army. M. de Bleich- roder, the Rothschild of Berlin, a millionaire, philanthropist, and patriot, had a son who held a commission. The young man was in the crowd assembled at the front of the palace,

just after the attack made upon the Emperor by the would-be assassin, Nobiling. Being flushed with wine, and irritated at having to farce his way through the throng, he exclaimed : "Well, if the Emperor is wounded, what of that ? "—

" He was sentenced by the tribunal of honour, the unim- peachable Wehm Gericht of the Army, to send in his resignation, and his sister was never asked to dance by any man wearing a uniform. At Court Balls, the Emperor always commanded some of his guardsmen to select her for a partner; they would, in obedience to an order that could not be disputed, take her round the room in absolute silence, bow and retire, till it became abso- lutely unbearable for Mademoiselle de Bleiclutder to go into society." We have seldom read anything more unpleasant than this story of moral torture inflicted upon a young and innocent girl by men calling themselves officers and gentlemen. It will be a relief to be assured by any one acquainted with the facts, that the story is as untrue as it is disgusting.

The author has a fair amount of new information concerning the present Czar, but the only conveniently quotable bit is the story of a physical feat performed by him during a visit to Denmark.

"One evening, King Christian had summoned a clever conjurer to Fredensborg, to amuse the party with his tricks, which were exceptionally clever. It the close of the performance, Alexander III., who is possessed of extraordinary athletic strength and muscular power, walked up to the prestidigitateur, and took from his hands a full pack of cards, which he smilingly proceeded to tear asunder with one single movement of his hands."

The author truthfully remarks that "any one tempted to try the experiment of rending fifty-two cards, closely placed upon the top of each other, will find it no easy task ; " and it is perhaps unfair to the Imperial performer to suggest that the trick may be the result of a knack, as is the familiar feat of bending a poker by bringing it down suddenly on the muscle of the left arm,—a feat which, wonderful as it seems to the uninitiated, does not demand more than an ordinary amount of physical strength.

We have said and quoted enough to indicate the character of these Cosmopolitan Recollections. It will be seen that they have no great literary merits, but they are very bright and entertaining. One of the pleasantest chapters in the book is that devoted to a sketch of the literary and artistic Queen Elizabeth of Roumania (" Carmen Sylva "), and just now many readers will be found for the very fully told story of the love-affair of Prince Alexander of Battenberg, which he him- self brought to such a sudden and unexpected conclusion. But our space is exhausted, and we will only add that the book can be read with pleasure by any one who will make his reading a recreation rather than a serious task.