ey are isolated and rare exceptions;
these Catherine did not possess. Nor was she influenced deeply by
her environments; the latter but encouraged and developed those
qualities which were hers inherently,--will, intelligence, inflexible
perseverance, tenacity of purpose, unscrupulousness, cruelty;
hence, to say "She is the victim rather than the inspiration of the
corruption of her time" is misleading, to say the least. If, upon
her arrival at court, "she at once pleased every one by her grace and
affability, modest air, and, above all, by her extreme gentleness,"
she could not have changed, say her defenders, into the perfidious,
wicked, and cruel creature she is said to have become as soon as she
stepped into power. "During the reign of Henry II., she wisely avoided
all danger; faithful to her wifely duties, she gave no cause for
scandal, and, realizing that she was not strong enough to overcome her
all-powerful rival, she bided her time. She was loved and respected by
everyone for her personal qualities and her benevolence." But why
may it not be true that all this was but part of her politics, the
politics in which she had been educated? Wise from experience, she
foresaw the future and what was in store for her if she remained
prudent and made the best of the surroundings until the time should
come when she could strike suddenly and boldly.

Brought up from infancy amidst snares, intrigues, the clash of arms,
the furious shouts of popular insurrections, tempests, and storms, she
could not escape the influence of her early environment. Her talent
for studying and penetrating the designs of her enemies, for facing or
avoiding dangers with such sublime calmness and prudence, was partly
inherited, partly acquired. That spirit she took with her to France,
where her experience was widened and her opportunities for the study
of human nature were increased.

It is not generally known that her mother was a French woman--a
Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne, daughter of Jean, Count of Boulogne,
and Catherine of Bourbon, daughter of the Count of Vendome; thus, her
gentler nature was a French product. Her mother and father both died
when she was but twenty-two days old, and from that time until her
marriage she was cast about from place to place. But from the very
first she showed that talent of adapting herself to her surroundings,
living amidst intrigues and discords and yet making friends. She
has been called "the precocious