The Sun.
London, England, 1848-09-07 00:00:00

(elYi
,t
, Arat4

LONDON, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1848.

When M. DE CORMENIN, with that delicate eccen-
tricity which is the characteristic of his sublime rant,
cast his eyes back through " the bloody and
dishevelled dramas of the Revolution" until his gaze
turned from the agonies of ANDRE CHENIEIL on the
scaffold of the guillotine, to the musings of the young
DE PRAT under the seven lime trees of Milly—he
little anticipated the futurity reserved for the latter,
its glory and its sorrow, its height and its depth, its
many sufferings and its insufficient consolations.
Half of that strange destiny which is only yet par-
tially accomplished presented itself to the retrospec-
tion of the biographer, and it was then that TiMOll
exclaimed—" At the moment when the gentle
CRENIER drops his lyre, a noble youth, with fair hair,
is growing up on the borders of the Saone ;
that youth will pick up CHENIER'S Greek
lyre ; he will join on to it a Christian
string ; and the world, surprised, rapt with this new
melody, will repeat with love the name of LAMAR-
TINE." Only half, we say, of the career of this
remarkable man was then visible to M. DE CORMENIN.
He was altogether incapable of appreciating the
genius of the Lyrist who had scarcely at that time
afforded a glimpse of his versatility, and upon whose
fame were about to be inscribed so many titles to
immortality Orator Poet Diplomatist —His-
torian Patriot Philanthropist —Administrator—
Statesman ! Latterly, it is true, the various abilities
of M. DE LAMARTINE hare manifested themselves in
an extraordinary manner, and have gone very far in-
deed to verify the predictions which were pronounced
many years back by Lady HESTER STANHOPE on
the occasion of his pilgrimage to her residence on the
mountains of Lebanon. The Revolution of February
elicited all the powers of LAMARTINE, and at once
ranked his name among those of the most memorable
men who have ever lived. He showed himself to be
as great in action as ho had previously been in
thought. He showed that his sensibility was accom-
panied by courage, and that while he could enrapture
the soul with his song, he could save a country by
his heroism. One thing was alone wanting to render
the narrative of his life in some degree kindred to the
personal histories of the great men of antiquity. It
was necessary that his memoirs should illustrate
anew the fickleness of popularity, and that he should
experience in all their poignancy the calamities of
an undeserved dovvnfal. He has done this.
The resemblance has been so far perfected that mis-
fortune has imparted to it an air classic in every
shade of its contour. LAMARTINE, after being the
salvation of the Republic, has been the object of its
calumny and ingratitude. Every action of his offi-
cial career has been distorted into a crime against the
People; he has, with that inconsistency of slander
-which is sufficient of itself to prove its absurdity,
been accused at once of an ambition the most daring
and of a weakness the most pitiable; he has been
taxed with embezzling the public monies, and with
jeopardizing the democratic Government. At last
LAMARTINE has descended into the arena and con-
fronted his assailants, more out of consideration, as he
the
himself asserts, to
ten departments which nomi-
nated him a representative
.of the people with the ac-
clamation of two million
1c
of solicitude in regard tovh°ieos reputation.
'than from any feeling
In compliance with thpemsown
demandss of the occurrence,
and in fulfilment of our
roe of yesterday, we feel
ourselves compelled to allude in a P
ticular manner
to the pamphlet* just addressed to his electors by M.
DE LAMARTINE.

The opening of the " Letter " is written in a strain
of dignity and simplicity expressive of the reluctance
with which a reserved mind is compelled to
print and publish its vindication. No less
than twenty-four distinct charges are there
enumerated, the author announcing his determine_
tion to reply to each of those inculpations, one by
one, in deliberate rotation, and to do so merely by
stating facts, not by attempting their refutation. We

* In a few days wo shall resume our translations from
this pamphlet, and continue them until its completion.