The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-10-31
Iamarfina ON mericn.

all vain of authorship, writes from Paris TO
the Home Journal an account Of visit she
paid TO LAMARTINK, In the conclusion of
which The poet .statesman's opinion of America
and Americans lie given "a follows:
sou not ike to g to America and w,ts
sad wishing to torn the subject.
To- r. re' w nsHer Sc. @
foot on american ground The, American. know
nothing but the almighty dollar. Ihey SUM them
nave mot the aSl,s to understand their WORTH.
You did well to come where you VIII 'e Sppfe'i-
'; "t was appreciated in America replied.
Appreciated he exclaimed. there are
understand a soul like yours"
II love my country, added,
You love IN ,vain," he replied impatlently
~ GU hope In vain,' he continued. "when
was abe 60 1--we like prince, when was at the
Ia ne, the Americans were at my feet but when
was IN need, and sent De Place, to New York to
sot subscriptions to my works, whereby might be
enabled 10 pay my debts, they turned their backs
on me. was induced TO send DE Place TO America
st my own expense b, the advice and batteries of
Americans, and he returned without one subacrip-
ton, They arc deceltiu, false"
Gd hd naye many se but was
taken. / thought your great American publisher,
Monsieur Appleton, my friend but erred; Heis
'l assure you, Monsieur Lamsrtne, that If
Monsieur APP eton failed to carry out your wishes,
and es. an interest IN genus hey ond dollars and
Zen doafe. the reed broke beneath me when
had =, rosI need ct its support ne sad sadly
of lectures, you would make enough to pay your
debts, | added.
:. seas d0a!s, thev would give their twenty 1--WE
sons to see me once as they would give it to see
WIid beast then 1t would end. They would not
| come second time. Pii not crafty their curiosi
:" You would like to meet our poets, | am sure"
| continued.
lou have no poets Soul cannot live and grow
| there; 1t starves" he Tetorted.
20, yes, we have poets" went on: 1--WE have
BTy ant, haileck, Longiel Ills, Holmes MOT
They might have been poets great ones if
| they had had the proper nutriment. Come TO see
ME every day; but don't bring an American gen
| temaI with you; Will not receive him IL Ssu
do, he said, rs rose TO leave. ,
You are preJudiced, Monsieur Lamaftlne, l
Pas iu tont," he replied; "the Americans hate
| me because am poor, and 1 return the comph-
ment most cordially.
| door.
The gist of the melancholy LAMARTINEs
grievance Is set forth in these brief words :: Il
sent Dr. PLACE 10 America and he returned
without one subscription" The Almighty
Dollar, begdr'
When LAMARTINE became conspicuous, po-
IiticalIy, in the Revolution of isis, he excited
great enthusiasm in America, both on account
of his cause, and OF the grace and spirit with
which he bore himself under circumstances
we'll Gale ula:ed to test his sincerity and man
hood He had been admired before as most
elegant writer and scholar, but when he
figured in the new character OF a Revolu-
tionary hero he took all hearts by storm. H.,
was au aristocratic democrat a classical and
genteel GARIBALDI, and quite as much the
lion of the hour as our rough and ready friend
of the red shirt is now. People thought then
that the millennium of European regeneration
had arrived, just as they think now, and with
more reason. LAMARTINE was the morning
star of the millennium. But he glittered only
for moment in the sky. He proved u meteor
and not a star, flashing for 8 moment on the
edge OF thunder cloud, and then vanishing
in deeper darkness than it had illumined.-
LAMARTINE had raised a storm which ne knew
not how 10 guide which carried him before it
and landed him high and dry upon the shore
Ii was then that the world discovered that
TO his physical courage that, like many OF his
Cuuntrymrn, he was Il lion in i charge, but
child in q retreat; that he could not stand the
.uIest test OF a great soul, -mIsfortune.-
He has been whining and bowling like a dis
He has been levying loans and benevolences
from his literary subjects, begging, borrowing
and squandering vast sums in the most royal
recklessness, sending men to America TO levy
contributions, and even trying to pick a few
coppers from the ragged pouches of the Hay
ten negroes on the ground that he was always
lover of their race. The regular sale of his
SPLENDID Productions without the aid of any
10
immensely rich, and, in point of fact, he has
derived several fortunes from his works but
they were thrown away by his prodigal hand
a. fast as made. And as fast as they Were
thrown away he begged and borrowed with
hundred lazzaroni power, and never did laZ-
zaroni abuse people who wouldn't give more
roundly than LAMERTINE all who said him
nay. This is below the standard OF CARL
BALDI, who, when unfortunate, came 10
America and sold soap and candles to get al
honest living.
We are free to confess that, in all probabiIi-
ty, LAMARTINE would have been forgotten
even il he had behaved with the utmost resig-
nation, but he has continued to be remembered
and that is his misfortune Why don't he go
TO work like Sir WALTER SCOTT, who worked
himself to dea III to get out OF debt whilst the
height of LAMARTINEs ambition is to incur
obligations which he cannot pay IL is his
begging and not his beggary which has brought
him into contempt il America He talks about
American love Tor the almighty dollar. Fit is
so contemplate an object, why is he SO frantic
TO obtain il, and in such rage with everybody
who don't subscribe 2" Because we don't
"stand and deliver " al the summons of this
literary hishwayman, he is greatly disguised
with our devotion TO filthy lucre!