Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-12-30
EVENING STAR.
P A RIS OsS I P .

enter by glass gallery, sort of verandah,
which serves as an aute-chamber Then you
pass a dark chamber which conducts 10 the
saloon. This saloon looks upon a handsome
little garden, de PA1giatSe, in the rear. The
furniture is mostly antique, but yet simple q
sofa, a few f1utsniis, chairs, a large centre
table, two consoles filled with flowers. OF
objects of art, handsome marble clock, de-
signed by Madame Lamartine, two busts of
! NJ. Lamartine himself, one Of them il bronse
by the Count ID 0rsay, the other in marble by
M. Salomon; a picture by Gudin, another by
Gigoux, some pictures by Madame Lamartine,
and portrait of the poet by Gerard.
M Lamartine writes in his bedroom on the
second floor In this room you see a bed,
| come flowers ON the mantle piece, a small ia
| BILE covered with books, two chairs, faUteUtL
q la Voitoire, and that is all He gets up at
| six in the morning, as well In winter as In
summer Scarcely dressed, he installs him
self on his fauteuti and commences his daily
labor He writes on his knees, his feet on the
fre-fender. While he works, three or four
grayhounds sleep or play at his side. At noon
the servant announces breakfast, and the poet
throws down his plume only to be resumed, in
his literary labor, the following morning.
NJ Lamartine has written and published,
fifty volumes, and, what will appear singular,
| he has not a single one of these volumes iD
his house He gives away his own copies
Neither does he make much use of books of
reference, for his memory is prodigious. II
you ask him, for instance, in what year Cf
| RIme any OF its noted heroes died, he will tell
| you on the instant.
No man Of celebrity Of modern times has
been more inundated with laudatOry poetry
| than NJ Lamartine. 81 know" said be one
| day, & the number Of cotemporaneous poets by
| the number Of pieces Of poetry they have ad-
dressed me-" France has more than ten thou
| sand poets
| In the afternoon, n Lamartine occupies
himself with private correspondence and his
| proper business affairs, and when the weather
| IS pleasant takes a promenade Every even
| ing he receives visitors from eight to eleven
| o'clock, without ceremony. His saloon IS GER
| taniy one of the most curious in Paris The
| admixture Of political cOlors" and OF nation
alities, is the chief feature Of novelty in these
| reunions. Scarcely a celebrated foreigner
| comes to Paris that does hot seek t. be pre-
| sented to the illustrous poet he numbers
among his admirers people Of every pSrty
| ana OF every nation. His door is the halfway
| ground where extremes meet; it is the court
| of ececticism.
In this novel society M. LamaTtine finds re-
| lief from his fatguing labOrs and he finds
qualification for the vanity the brilliant vicis-
STUDIES of his life has naturally engendered.
h receives 1T the same moment the homage
Of the ancient peers Of France and Of imperial
sian Prince; the legitiDiss is seated by the
republican; you hear pronounced the old
names of the aristOcraCy and the names Of tie
young tItterGteureS of the day; admirals gen
| erals, fallen ministers of fallen governments,
illustriOus refugees, journalists artists in re-
nOwn. Americans are sure 10 receive warm
reception from NJ. Lamartine.
Madame Lamartine, who does the honors Of
| the saloon with much grace and a marked
distinction, is one of the busiest women in tho
world. 1t is no Insignificant labor to receive
each evening new set Of visitors to fad an
agreeable word for this one; 4 phrase not too
thread bare for that one to 60 from one place
to another at each instant; and 10 endea avor to
keep up between groups 10 her and to one an
other almost unknown, the fire of conversati n.
At NJ Lamartine's, as elsewhere, the con-
ventlon has its hazards the host, whose con-
verSatiOn has all the magic of poesy. only |
gives himself up TO it in select cOteries and |
theE he recOunts the adventures of his youth |
the events in which he has been mixed ap
more or less intimately, and the episodes of the
drama in which he played 80 grand a role in |
lS4S
Madam Lamartine, as you knew, is an En- |
glish lady. who, inspired with love for the |
poet, without ever having seen him, placed |
her hand and fortune at his disposal Was it |
this circumstance or the present occupation of |
NJ. Lamartiue IN preparing fox the columns IF /
forth the following curious history OF the |
great English poet! The story is repeated |
By spirited French chronicler, who was oGe |
OF N. Lam artineis listeners but should hes
itate to be the echo of such history if it had
not fallen from the lips cf NJ Lamartine, and
formed one OF the singular episodes in the life
Of that singular genius, Lord Byron. FOR
fear the reader might not see - mach poetry
In the history as did n. Lamartine, he had
better first send the Children 10 he'd
DO you recOliect, commenced NJ Lamartine !
the little Myrrs of whom Lord Byron spoke
two or three times in his letters can give
you her history: which mas never yet been |
told At the period when tho celebrity of the
poet burst suddenly upon England, Byron,
beseged by thousands of curious and annoy
ing visitors, at last wGs compelled to deny his
door. One day his domestic told him that
among the strangers who wished to speak to
bis lordshlp, there was young girl who came
every morning Byron maintaised the de-
fence OF his door against her a. we'll as all
others. But the young gi-!. continuing to re-
turn each morning, as last said to the dOmes-
tic, " lnforna your master that shall yet tri.
unpA over his obstilacy in refusing TO see
me" In eject, Byron, tired of hearing that !
the unknown girl had not failed for two months
to call regularly every day, admitted her al
last into his library
She was blonde child Of seventeen, frail
anu uellcaEs oeauty,-one OF those dlaphanOus |
creatures who seem born from the foam of the
sea and the vapors of the fog
!" My Lord, she said, q 1 have the greatest
admiration for the talent Of your L0rdssIp,
and you will understand how deep and how
fixed is my admiration when l shall hays.tall !
you the motive which brings me here. -
Whereupon the exalted girl, who was the
daughter OF clergyman Of the euviroES,
avowed resolutely to Lord Byron that she
came to him upon the same mission as did the
Queen Of Sheba to Solomon. Byron was stu
pihed and endeavored by paternal tone to
bring the young enthusiast back into the chan
mel Of common sense. But she insisted "The
child which shall be born of you," she said
will be the greatest genius the world has
yet seen!'
Notwithstanding his resolution Of showing
hiIaseif to the end an honest man, Byron sue
cumbed 1t was from this adventure, which
could have only occurred in England and
from the fantasy of a hysterical fanaticism,
that was born the little Myrra, Of whom By.
ron says few words in his correspondence
IL Ii i