The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1859-09-29
From Household Words.
THE UNWELCOME COMPANION
AN INCIDENT IN TIE LIFE OF MDLIE cLArn

we are about to quote is a remarkable in
stance Of those apparently supernatural WIS.,
itations, which it has been found SO difficult,
il not Impossible, to explain and account
ior. 1t does not appear to have been known
20 Scott, brewster, or any other English
writer, who has collected and endcavored
70 expound those ghostly phenomena.
Cla'ron was the greatest tragedian that
ever appeared on the French stage, hold
ing On it supremacy similar to that
OF Siddons on our own. She was woman
OF powerful intellect, and had the merit
OF ettecting complete revolution IN the
French school of tragic acting substitut,
ing an easy varied and natural delivery
for the stted and monotonous declama.
tion which had til! then prevailed, and
being the first to consult classic taste
and propriety of costume. Her mind was
cultivated BY habits Of intimacy with the
most distinguished men OF her day: and
she was one Of the most brilliant ornament
OF those literary circles Which the conteIn-
porary memoir writer's described in such
glowing colors. In All age ofco rruption, un-
paralleIed in modern times, Mademoiselle
Clarion was not proof against the tcmpta-
tlons to which her position exposed her
But lofty spirit and some religious p,inci-
pies which she retained amidst generation
OF infdels and scoffcrs, saved her from de-
grading vices, and enabled her to spend an
old age, rrotracted beyond the usual
period of human life, in respectaLility and
honor.
She died in 1903, at the ago of eighty
She was nearly seventy when the following
letter was written. 1t was addressed to NJ
Henri Mcister,a man of some cmincnce
among the li,crati Of that period-thc asso-
ciate Of Dide'ot, Grimm, D'lIolLach, NJ.
and Madame Neckcr, etc, and the coiloLo.
'utuer of Grimm in his famous CORES.
pondence.' This gentleman was Cairon's
literary EXECUTOR having been iutrusted
with her memoirs, written by herself, and
pu' lished after her death.
With this preface we give Mademoisellc
Clalron's narrative, written in her old age,
of an occurrence which had taken place
half century cCore.
In 1743, my youth and my success on
the stage had drawn around me good
many admirers. NJ. dc s., the son
of merchant in Britlanny, about thirty
yoars old, handsome, and possessed of con-
siderable talent, was one of those who we re
most strongly attached to me. His con-
versation and manners were those Of a man
Of education and good society, and the re-
scrve and ti'uidity which distinguished lis
attention made a favorable impression Oh
me. After green room acquaintance Of
some time, permitted him to visit me at
my house, but better knowledge Of his
situation and character was not to it's ad.
vantage. Ashamed of being only Jour-
geois, he WAS squandering his fortune at
Paris under an assumed title. Ills temper
was severe and gloomy; lie knew mankind
too we'll, he said, rot to despise and avoid
them. I[c wished to see no one but me
and desired from me, in return, similar
sacrifice Of the world. l saw from this
time, the necessity for his own sake as well
as mine, of destroying his hopes by reduc,
ing our intercourse to terms Of less init
macy. My behavior.brought upon him a
violent illness, during which showed him
every mark Of friendly interest, but firm
ly refused to deviatc from the course Which
had adopted My s.eadiness only deep
encd his wound: and unhappily, at this
time, trcacherous relative to whom he
had intrusted the management Of bis affairs,
took advantage Of his helpless condition
by robbing him, and leaving him SO desti
tute that he was Obliged to accept the little
money had for his subsistence, and the
attendance which his condition required.
You must feel, my dear friend, the impor.
tance Of never revealing this secret. Ire
spect his memory, and would. not expose
him to the insulting pity Of the world.
Preserve, then, the religious silence which,
altsI ihduy sea'o' ~" pie"h ''' 'ho NOV
time.
AT length lie recovered his property,
but never his health and thinking
was doing him service by keeping him
at distance from me, I constantly re-
fused to receive either his letters or lfs
visits.
Two years and half elapsed between
this period and his death. He sent to beg
me to see him once more in his last mo-
ments, but I thought it necessary not to
comply with his wish. lie died, having
with him only his domestics and an old
lady his solo companion for long time.
He lodged at that time on the Rampant,
near the Chaussee dAntin; / resided in
Al q.