MARIE ANTOINETTE. By The Marquis de Segue. (Routledge. 12s. 6d.)—A
good translation should seldom appear to be a translation at all. We say seldom rather than never, because now and then it may be well to suggest the actual wording. of the original to the reader's mind. Miss Mary Caroline Witt has succeeded in a difficult undertaking, and has put Marie Antoinette into most pleasing English. The book is 'a study of a 'character, or indeed of a heart, -rather than the history of the French Revolution : we see the effects of the Revolution, not upon France or .Europe, - but - upon the personality of the Queen. The study is not altogether disPassionate, for the author is in a sense in love with his heroine. Yet he does not minimize her insatiable craving for pleasure, the indiscretion of her efforts to dispel the splendid boredom of the Court, her sentimentality, or her desire for money. The impression given of Louis XVI. is not so much unfavoun able so far as facts are concerned, as repellent by means of a subtly created atmosphere. He makes a picturesque foal the fascinating figure of his wife. The hmocenee-of the Fersen affair is assumed and having regard to some. new evidence almost proved. Marie Antoinette appears as a perfect mother and a perfect friend, the romantic heroine of an historic tragedY• We are told that the historical novel is dead, but this Wok proVes.thatit is. Capable of reincarnation._
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