The sun., 1873-11-18
BEAUrIFUL OLD AGE.
An Iiiustrious Author, Nearly Ninety Years

nom Appiefoa's journal.
Francis GuiIot passes, every month"; n
week at his hnino IN fGris. sr ~ s -, sn ~ Wuo
Dcstuuchcs aud tho Faubourg Saint Honorc
NJ. Gtdlut Dought this resideuce sixty wears ago;
aud II Ia stil one uf tho architectural relics OF
the age Of Louis XIV" during whose reign u was
built Ever,thinl looks old fashioned IN II. and
there Is hardly u room hut would furnish an e1-
cellent subject for gcnrc painter. go
! entered II the other day In couphancc with
a request from NJ GuiLot, who desired to nscer-
tain from me some facts In regard to tho ltorn-
ture Of spain during the sixteenth century.
found hin seated in his truly unique library
Imagine small square room, furnished In the
truo rOcOco style, and with two curious bay WIN
dows looking out upon a small garden, laid out
exactly "a N Vatican had had u hand In IL. All
that was wanting was that the venerable old
man himself should he dressed In the costume
Of the eighteenth century, and the Illusion that
had been suddenly trdnspor ed into scene OF
one hundred and twenty years ago would nave
been complete.
hut NJ. Guizot although II was yet early in tho
morning was already dressed In the fsultless
suit Of black IN which one always finds him,
whether at his desk, In his family circle, or In
his gduteuu at the French Academy.
lie received me with the utmost kindness
Time has dealt gently with the grand old man
More than eighty Ave years have passed over
his head. and yet he stands erect, and his eyes,
those wonderful eyes, which seemed to fash
out a supernatural 1re during his great speeches
In the Chamber, were US brilliant as II he were
/ congratulated him upon his good looks, and
Yes. thank Heaven. am In good health. I
eater. | don't think yet Of dying, he added.
gaily. have SO much to do yot. My History
OF Spain Ia not half finished" "
Guizot has long been at work upon this His
tory OF spain which Il To be issued In ten
large volumes; lie showed me some cdht,rs oof
his notes, and asked my opinion. | gave II,
without concealing my surprise at his wonder
ful memory. Dates, so embarrassing To most
minds. did not bewider him Ia the least. said
that Juan Trugiler, the novelist, had lived in
the middle of the sevent, enth century.
=" Pardon me- said NJ. Guizot "he lived from
1914 till lt4q'
The notes for the Spanish history have been
collected 10y this indeiaiigable worker for nearly
twenty years past. and admired the beautiful
and arm chrography of the manuscript. NJ.
Guizot writes arm. bold hand. ami he always
read the first page Of the hfth volume, and found
not the slightest alteration.
observed that this was something very raro
Lord Byron" said ". Guizot twas famous
for the excellent condition Of his manuscript.
/ IL hardly ever happens to me To make change
In what write for the printer, and, strange to
say, "a. case page Is lost. eau rewrite 1t almost
exactly as penned II nrst."
I had often heard that NJ. Guizot was a very
early riser, and asked him what his favorite
hours for writing were.
II never write after two o'clock In the after
noon. rise at six, take a cup OF coffee, glance
over the mnrning papers, and then 60 To work.
aud take a walk generally very long walk.
| do not go very fast, bat there is hardly an
old acquaintance of mine who Can Keep step
with me.
Tho convcrsation returned to his work on
] Nldlh, ana lie tolu me that ne had studied
the spanish language at the age OF seventy
! two, and had taught IL then to his grand
| children. Inquired about the latter and tine
happy grandfather became fairly enthusiastic.
/ lie assured me that his constant intercourse
| with the little ones had given hun some Of his
| best Inspirations. His history Of France, re-
| lated to my Grandchildren" has had most
! extraordinary success. one hundred thousand
copies have been sold thus far, and the demand
| continues upab bAted.
| NJ. Guizot Is very wealthy, and for the larger
portion Of Lis riches he Is Indebted to his peu.
| lie has always commanded the largest copy
! rights. anu could not have maintained his lavish
| expenditures, while he was Prime Minister of
! France, had he not had this never failing re-
source. Since the French Government has con-
! cluded treaties with most of the European
| Governments, NJ. Guizot has received heavy
sums from foreign publishers. As \ literary
curiosity. II deserves to be mentioned that he Is
the only French author who receives a copy
right from Turkish publisher. his History of
! Civilization" having been recently translated
! into that language.
and he expressed his regret that he not
| familiar with the language; for, among the
| fruits Il his studies, now extending for almost
seventy years Is his astonishing familiarity with
So many languages. lie speaks English "a an
! Englshman, German as German, and was
hardly able To detect the slightest accent IN his
pronunciation Of spanish.
! am sure ho Is the most remarkable old author
Of our times and he bids fair to live to his one
hundredth birthday.