New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1848-07-26
NEW-YORK TRIBUNE.
ChatenubrinBd.

AID active portion Of her glory Is now 'ut Nom.
ory Of the Past Born even before the reign OF
medieval principles had wholly passed away, 1t
ga. his rare lot to witness the complete breaking
nj, Of old systems. aud 70 ootse more than one Of
hose terrible commissions which up 70 tins time,
are toiline to lay the foundation Of better era
Inc record Of his life, hen 1t Is given 10 the
rorlj. IN accordance with bis desires, will contain
"A experience more varied and eyeutul than often
hls 10 the lot Of man Of genius. II viii be TO
France legacy of the scne priceless value as We
await in the memoirs Of John Quincy Adams
oscessary 20 the completeness Of her history, and
re,shng only with her name and renown. We
have compiled from authentic sources the follow
Ing bret biographical sketch Of this distinguished
nan.
Francois Augustc dc Chsteaubriand was born
4, comboure, in Brittany, in the year 1863 He
vas a nephew of the celebrated Malcsherbes.
ghose travels on foot and in disguise, through
France aud Switzerland, may have supplied the
nsairation Of his own. The name OF his father
who was engaged in the Goldfish trade at St Malo,
vas originally Lepretre, but changed to Chateau
briand from his having purchased the possessions
Of an extinct family Of that name. The son, when
ia his seventeenth year served for time in the
rsgiment OF Navarro, and soon afterw ard, in con
.souence of the Revolution, sailed for America,
where he lived for some time on the banks OF the
Southern Mississippi. Here, in the luxuriant soil
aaeof primeval forests and in the barktents OF the
fiendly Natchez he seems TO have learned that in
tense sympathy with Nature and enthusiastic
- loft THAR all his
sterwritings The charming romances Of " Atala
snd Les Natchez" had sufficient truth and hdeli-
yto his own experience, TO give them novel
,sd enchanting freshness at the time they were
sntten, while they lacked nothing Of the grace
aadsentment required by the taste OF the same
,sriod Chateaubriand returned TO France IN l792
"a was wounded at the siege of Thionville.
We next find him in London, where he spent
egeral years in exile, supporting himself wholly
hhis literary labors. During this time he wrote
M"Essay on Revolutions" After the 18th of
Bunaire, he was allow ed TO live in Paris, where
noDjunction with La Harpe and others, he estab-
shed the Nercure Dc France and Journal des De-
sstt He was at this time Bonapartist aud de-
cared, in one Of his publications. that the Empe
ur was one Of those men whom the Divinity
wien he is weary Of Furnishing, sends upon the
world in token Of expation.' The "Genus OF
Christianity perhaps the most celebrated and
generally read Of all his reflective works, appeared
ia 1902 in London, at a period admirably adapted
70 Us success Bonaparte wished to restore the
Church and a book which, twenty years before
would have found few to defend it, now attained
AZ immense popularity. The sincere religious
feeling which pervades it, mounting at times into
the lofty atmosphere Of poetry, found ITS way to
the heart Of the public. then recovering from the
fatal extreme to which it had been hurried The
next year, during his residence in Rome, as Secre-
iary OF the Embassy under Cardinal Fesch, he
wrote The Martyrs, aud IN the same year was
appointed on a mission 20 the Nalois, which sta
tpn he resigned after the death OF Duke d Eng
hen la 500 he travelled to Jerusalem, by way OF
Cyprus and Rhodes, returning through Egypt Tu-
us aud Spain. His " ltineraire' is one OF the
Saet specimens of descriptive writing IN the
Trsnch language. 1t combines the fancy of a poet
With the enthusiasm OF a religious pilgrim. Less
alliant than Lamartine Voyage en- ORIENT 1t
smore simple and sincere, and contains the ele-
nents OF more general popularity. At this date
ne fame OF Chateaubriand had become European,
and he was recognized as one Of the first living
authors OF France.
In 1871 he was elected Member oil the French
Institute, in place of Chenier. After the Danish
nent of Napoleon, he published a pamphlet, Gu
tiled Bonaparte and the Bourbons, which
Louis XVIII was accustomed to say was worth
more 20 him than an army. This decided his pc.
snon as a Royalist, which political view he held
DUNG the remainder OF his life. He remained IN
Client during Napoleons second bret reign as
Minister 10 Louis XVIII and after the final resto.
ration Of this monarch was made a Niscount and
Peer Of France. From this time until ls29 he
held various important positions under the Gov
eminent, beside serving as Minister to Berlin,
Extraordinary ambassador to London and to the
Congress of Verona, and Minister to Rome. The
most important OF his literary productions, in ad
dton to his talented editorials in the Journal dcs
D,5ots, were his Notes on Greece and a very
popular essay on the abolition Of the Censorship,
Ia which he affirmed that without Freedom Of the
Press n Representative Government was worth
nothing. His complete works were published in
1929, in thirty volumes, the publishers l. 'Ayocat
and lie Feyre having offered him the enormous
sum Of $4,000 francs for the copyright.
When the July Revolution took place, he adj.
vocated the claims OF the Duke OF Bordeaux, and
refused giving the oath OF loyalty to Louis
Philippe, which obliged him to resign his title of
Peer. For the following ten years he devoted
himself principally to literature, producing among
cher works, his translation of Milton, for whose
poetry he professed an unbounded admiration,
and bis Essay on English Literature" During
the latter wears Of his life he lived in seclusion,
occupying himself with his own history under the
title OF Memories d'outrc-iombe Memoirs after the
Tomb. These "reminiscences which are the pro
gerty Of the journal La Presse, will probably be
sgst published in its columns They comprise ten
volumes. in addition 70 the other fifty volumes Of
ais selected works modern critic gives the iol-
owing concise view of Chateaubrand's genus :
His style s glowing rich in images full Of soul and
at withou, strength his descriptions especially are
sinrsby drawn. but his ideas sometimes wanting
depth and connection. Although his power OF re-
Presentation gives him distinguished place among the
ssihors Of France OF his works singly, can be
ssiied classical in the belonging 10 tree and
rfy mind. in which fertility OF ideas is hsrmoniously
e's6ined with depth and energy"