The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-03-06 00:00:00

DEATH OF LAMARTINE.

THE TICHBORNE BARONETCY.
The world-known Lamartine died in Paris on Sun- We (Pail Malt Gazette) have received the following letter
day night. He had a paralytic stroke a short time from the solicitors acting or "Or Roger t; T. 1). Ticheerne,
since, and the last reports of his condition showed t "the Australian claimant of the TM:theme title and
elisea'
that there was no hope of recovery. The prominent
part M. de Lamartine took in political affairs in 1848 1 We observe that in a paragraph in your paper of the
made his name familiar then throughout the world, I 15th of February inst., in regard to the Tichborne
but it haa been rarely heard of since except in connec- Baronetcy, you Kay that a rumour is going the round of
tin with his varions literary enterprises. He retired the papers, which seems to render it doubtful whether
into private life, in fact in 1851, after the Coupi Etat. the elucidation of the mystery will ever be proceeded
M. de Lamartine was 79 years of age, having been born with in our courts of law. Upon this we wish to
in 1790. observe that the information you have collected and
The following sketch of his career is from "Men of which you set forth in your article is utterly unfounded.
the Time" "Lamartine, Alphonse.Marie-Lonis Sir Roger T. D. Tichborne has returned in safety to
Prat de, poet and historian, was born at Macon, I England, and we are actively engaged in proceedings
Oct. 21, 1790. His family name is Prat, but he adopted ' having for their object the recovery of MR title and
that by which he is best known, after his maternal estates, and of the ultimate result neither his friends or
1 uncle, Lamartine, who left him a considerable legacy. ' ourselves entertain the slightest doubt. We are not
His father was an officer of cavalry under the Hour- thin skinned on our client's behalf, but we venture to
bons. During the Reign of Terror M. de Lamartine's suggest that whilst the matters are "sub judice "it
family retired to an obscure estate at Milly, whence would only be justice to both sides that the press should
he WAS sent to complete his education at BelleY, refrain from writing either sensational or gossiping
in the College of the Plires de la Foi. After bay- articles founded upon mere hearsay. It may be in-
ing this seminary he spent some time at Lyons, teresting to your readers and the public to know that
made a short tour in Italy, and repaired to Paris, we are about applying to the Court of Chancery to
In 1818 he went & second time to Italy, applied commit for coatempt the publishers of a paper which
himself ti poetry, and in 1820 published his 'Medi- has led the van in propagating these injurious state-
tattoos Po4fiques,' which won general adrnira- rnents against our client. We venture to hope that
tion. This literary success led to his introduction to you will give our letter insertion in your next publi-
a diplomatic career, audhe because Attach 6 to the Em- cation, and remain, Sir, your obedient servants,
bassy of Florence, where he resided till 1825, and WALTER and MOOJEN, Solicitor for Sir Roger C. T. D.
having afterwards become Secretary to the Embassy Tichborne, Bart.
in London, he married Miss Birch, an English lady of i
fortune, who died at Paris, May 21, 1863. Raving '
returned to Florence as charg4 il'affaires in 182'J, he
published the collection of 'Harmonies Po6tiques
et Religieuaes,' a brilliant defence of the throne
and the altar, and the same year was elected mem-
ber of the French Academy. On the eve of that re-
volution which drove the Bourbons a second time
from France, he was nominated Minister Plenipo-
tentiary of Greece. In 1832 he undertook apolitical
pilgrimage to the East, where he had the misfortune
to lose his eldest daughter, Julia, and in 1835 pub-
lished the 'Voyage en Orient,' a work which has been
translated into English. Hearing at Jerusalem that
he had been elected deputy for the department
du Nord, he returned to France. At first he
embraced the Conservative cause, and supported
M. Guizot ; but gradually adopted extreme views.
His poem 'Jocelyn' appeared in 1835, followed by
• LaChnte dun Ange ' in 1838. The first instalment
of his great work, in eight volumes, the • Histoire des
Girondins,' appeared in 1847. IL de Lamartine, who
mingled freely in political matters, took an active part
in organising the reform banquets of January 1848,
and after the revolution in February of that year,
became a Member of the Provisional Government as
Minister for Foreign Affairs. His popularity for a
short time was very great, and at the election of 1848
he was returned for no less than ten different depart-
ments. He was, with his colleagues, driven from
power in June of that year, and at the election of
1849 was not returned for a single department. After
the coup d'etat in December, 1851, he retired into pri-
vate life. M. de Lamartiae, who has been a prolific
writer, has written, amongst other works, in addition
to those already noticed, `Le Wide du Chriatianiame ;'
Trois Mois do Pouvoir,' published in 1848 ; Histoire
de la Revolution, de 1848,' in 1849; ' Histoire de la
Restauration,' in 1851-63 ; Histoire de la Turquie,'
in 1854 ; and 'Histoire de la Rusaisn' in 1855. Acorn.
plete edition of his works have been published, and
many of them have been translated into English and
other languages."

Messrs. Walter and Moojen have also written the following
letter to the Daily Nun:—

Our attention has been directed to your leader of
yesterday in which allusion is made to our client. It
will afford your readers pleasure, as it has Sir Roger's
friends, to know that he has returned in safety to this
country, and that he has neither "been eaten up by
Red Indians nor seduced by the charms of a wild
existence ;" but, on the contrary, that lie is prosecuting
his claim to the title and estates as vigorously as ever,
and we have his instructions to say that he will be most
happy to receive both the writer of the article referred
to and yourself on the occasion of the housewarming
which he will give when he obtains possession.
Seriously, however, we would venture to suggest that,
whilst the matters are in litigation, that it would be
better, and only justice to both parties, that the press
should refrain from writing funnx articles upon mere
gossiping information. Be kind enough to give this
an early insertion in your paper.

The Debuts, in an article upon Lamartine, men. I
tions two facts in connection with his life which it says
are hut little known. His pecuniary embarrassments
being no secret, the post of President of the Senate—
now vacant by the death of M. Troplong—was
offered to him, and the emoluments of the office,
although far from inconsiderable, would have
been doubled, in order that he might rid him-
self of those embarrassments. He declined the
appointment, however, and then an uncondi-
tional offer was made to free him from his debts. This
he also declined. "His honour," says the Debots,
"had shrunk from the dignity, his delicacy made him
also refuse the honourable offer." It seems that for
the last year Ile had not put pen to paper, and for
several months past had scarcely spoken. Age and
suffering bad thoroughly worn him out.