New-York daily tribune., 1856-05-01

a
kr,yp in literature. Nearly one balfof the mem
Ie,s ce. in (ih,y electioIeer they msi election
e,r in r~rtoB) BY iDfu' Dce of clique ooterie scci-
d,rt The luke DE- brogle. for instance, ~ not .
n,n of letters. He does not pretend to be. TIE
az. ujrs pMseIsIh Of bis inaugural speech con-
t,its all honest confession Of his unhtnes' tor
m.mb,r,bp 10 q (uoulinall,) literary society. he
w.s flecud. over literary CANDIDATE by reason
of lis old Political po'tion and relations
=. rs,scD of bis being s sob-in-law Of M,dsme Dc
=, priyate fries dship. But after hrn, within
,ts r,,t week. two new inmortsis h,ve been
ra,ei In vto have less claim than be To diP'omas
- literary in mortality ther BalDes are dot ahd
r.uou. Bot is eminent IS iDsn oil scl-Dco; no
a,o.. three lines Of @hat c-n BE- properly
Ind kLles httres. FallouI is not euiuens s'a
,'sr ,f ,cieLce; lie is eu.iDept 80 sontlemau
c.1re,. has written one or two books simost IN
I,nun ard very deservedly unknown by lovers
of literature: vas once of rOme not"ri-y rs
...,asu,n. bu, By official position rather thsn ny
Great measures Of statesmansbiP. The opposing
car didst. 8 for the sufrages OF the Acadrmiclans
we're purely literary men. Let the merit oi tneir
PRODUCTIONS be What they may. they were At least
rer of letters. They were beaten. AR astr)n0.
nor and gentleman in good society were elected
over their besds.
Tti. nav. possibly seem strange 10 you The
rr,,cb make a great Outery about 1t. The news
nsners the stately reviews, all express with more
or esrnestn.ss their surprise, their discontent
,t ,ueh distortion Of the (LOmlDal) intention aud
,ffice OF the Academy OF freLch Literature Ana
yet the fact that the gentlemen bsve been success
.;,elv elected TO tske possession of arm chairs in
a.. French Academy, who are net met OF letters
uIo can nr,s,rt no Ork that offers tho eli shtest
Glance Of Literary imnorialt! to ts author. is not,
b,toricsry spt abpg strange or ID any Way surprs-
inc II has always been So. ard probably alwsys
viii be so. At least one half of the names that
ccnpoee the list Of the members OF the Frencn
Academy are nsnes that sink into the compietcss
obliyiop as far as literature is concerned within
tuely, month O, the death Of their bearers, while
st least one half of the first names in French lit
ersture bsye no place on the list of Ac,drmcians.
I'm This ooipt refer your readers to the admirable
ard witty History Of The Forty,frst arm Char,
NV Arsfne Houssaye, of which gave note in Tis
1R,pI NE some tae elye months ago.
That your readers should take warm interest ln
the elections of the French Academy Is not t. be
txpected- certainly not to be desired. But treat
Of them Lere for two reasons: First, i an IHE
TRITuNE's Paris reporter, and on that score
noting il foreign to me that SO largely occupies
Partisan attention. Secondly since hazard OBJ
seryatiops ON French national characteristics, l
specially desire 10 iDsfarce these Academic cleo
ii, DE and their circumstances III proof the e1trem'
Injustice Of the charge of levity. hcklene.s, mo-
bty So constantly brought. against che French
tie elections of the last three candidates for Aca-
demic in mortality here is the as that Of half
Of the elections to the Acad, my since the days OF
Ricleleu. The complaints and outcry at 'heir
uLfitn, IS are almost the same as tie cJmplaluts
ard outcry that have been raised Oh similar Occa-
sioDs auy time these hundreds Of years. We hear
the ssm. hind of witty and keen mOckery ad-
dressed to the Academy that has been uttered
yearly for tie past two hundred years. The same
L L.l4 tk.t fkA analu ltnEIR
make the deeds and words of his deceased pro
decessor the text for his eUloestlc inaugural dis
cour,e 1t still holds good that although every
witty Dsn Of letters in France makes the Acad-
eny IL. but of his Wit, there is scarcely man OF
letter. in France that does not ardthty desire 10
boc,me member Of it, Really, il the Academy
is to be taken as test-and i submit that IT Is
quite as good test as passage IN C@sars Com.
mentsres or rome viyaciOus expression of hotel
wsiter-the French as much giSen to un-
char cesble routine the staidest people IN the
world.
At least one good thing has come out of the
election If The Luke oi Brcgiie In accord snco
With lie traditional custom, Le was, after his ad
mission 10 the Academy, presented to the Chief Of
the State. In bis discourse be bad taken occ ,sion
TO say good word OF Napoleon !. as well as of
/ ous Philippe. Report goes that when he was
presented at the palace, he was courteOusiy re-
ceiyed by Napoleon ILL.,, who s,id to him: :" l have
thank You for Speaking well of the Emperor
NAPOLEON !. hope thatyour grandeur Will Judge
/" my eighteenth Of Brumare as !Ou have Judged
" that Of ny uncle" "HistOry will decide upon
that point, Sire" is said to have been the quiet
reply Of tie son iL-law of Madame dc Stael.
Alter the Academic elections perhaps before
then, the town is Lucy with the last triumph of
ListOri. Tie Italian actress came out last week
in lew role, that of Medes, in NJ. Legouyes
ahx n hat "a a.
clel. Her success surpassed that Of any preceding
effort. The bs..tiDg public Wtbt "ld With tx
cittnCnt. The stage Was strewn with bouquets,
which the heroine OF the evening was called out
sCme dozen times to gather up. In the last i've
Year., can answer for ii, theie has been no sucn
IistIl, bic triumph in Psris. French enthusiasm,
generally much more moderate because much
more intelligent, or at least much more critically
educated than ours, reached American proPor-
toIs. Critics say that the pitce is much better In
Its ltalsB I, III. tLan IL the original; ~hereupon
Halt lCUs journalist advises that NJ. Ltg0uve hire
some one to retranslate NOutauellis Italian
version into French, by which process he afds
Wlo Knows whether ii. Legouyes Medea' VIII
net tec' me poem
Another theatrical success, less striking and
likely TO make much less noise in the capital, but
which tas its special interest for all Eng'h read
err, whether BritoDs or Americans, is that OF Geo
SaLOs COmne IL Ioxs Ptaira, which IL the title oi
her ingenious imtatiyn Of Shakespeares AS f0H
Like 1t. 1t was PLAYED for the third time last
evening at the iancas. The house was III !, sni
II csn Judge from that fact and from tho express
soLs ui satisfaction on the part Of the audience,
III. sbskesIeIesb piece is like to Laye long
run" And sbahesperesn it is in spite oi the
cfai ges that Madame Sand has made ia the erlsi-
ial sont Of ttese changes are for the better.
1ltre; have said it, and mean T., stick to 1t.
ARD you jenkins, who cry out h-resy oI curl yoar
iip III mid u.cekery, before you send me to the