New-York tribune., 1874-03-06

lives and IN the domination of a small circle a
singularly ordinary woman in appearance and man
nerr But of all the social entertainments which
were made in his honor that of Emile dc Girardin
was the most remarkable. He gives an Oriental
description of this Oriental festival, though every
word of it, he declares, is the painest prose.
Noman unacquainted with my determination never TO
cmbelsh or fanciy such accounts, coud beeVe IN tc
description shall let of when meet OF dining at
Emle GirardinsOf the three gorgeous drawing rooms
mating In dining OF unprecedented maguiheence
with two enormous Transparent plaegass doors Ia IT.
looking across an ante-chamber full OF clean plaeD
straight into the Kitchen with the cooks in their whe
paper caps dshng the dinner. From his seat IN the
stOryl beholds the Kitchen and the snOwwhite tables
and the profound order and silence there prevailing
the most wonderful feast tasted by mOrtal at the
present price Of Trues, that article alone costing of
eight people, least Eve pounds. On the table are
ground glass jugs of peculiar construction laden Win
the finest growth OF Champagne and The coolest rec,
unheard OF in n good state on this cOntlnenQ "hISn men
would fetch two gulneas DoIte ~ any sa' oh wen
placed upon the board with tue ice is Issued
Brandy buried for 100 years To that succeeds Conee,
brought by the brother OF OF the cOnyves from the
TemOtest East in exchange for an equal qnanuty VI
the drawing rOom-tables roll in by unseen agency
laden with Cigarettes from the Hareem OF inc sultan,
and with cool drinks in which the flavor OF he lemon
arrived yesterday from Algeria struggles voluptuonsy
with the delicate Orange arrived this morning from LIS
dlyans worked with many coored blossoms, big table
rolls in heavy with massive furniture OF silver. and
direct from China-tabIe ana ALL believes but cannot
swear 10 it, and am resolved TO be pr0salc. All
this time the host perpetuay repeats Ce petit dineri
NEST que pour faire la cOnnassance de Monsieur Dick
ems; COmpte pas ce n est rlen." Ana even now
have forgotten to set down half OF lt.in M &
the item of far arrer plnu pudding than ever vas
seen in England C6rs!nas time served with &c celes &
al sauce IN color like the orange oosS9u anu u d %
like the blossom powdered ana Datheu III uem,
and called in the carte carte an e3o mo A ,iinstro
ecrvain dAugeterTe" That illustTious man staggered
out al the last oool sPTe@S1no @ ns SnlJnr
der, finally; and even at that moment ms mort
10 his lips chalice set with pecous stones ana contain
ug nectar distilled from the ar tbat bleW over inc
fields Of beans in bloom for fifteen summers Ienafkea,
Le diner nous ayous eu mon cher nesl rlen-l ne
compte pas-i etc tOutaiait en- amllle-l iaut ulier
Zen v6ril6, diner) bientot. Au pidisF! AdreVor! Au
oiner'
The social characteristics Of Mr.. Dickens are
described by the author as prelude to the slngu-
larly cautious and reserved account OF his separa-
ton from his WIFE For some time previous to that
event, an unsettled feeling, which had long been
more or less observable, became almost habitual.
He had failed to find the satisiactions of home,
which were the essential demands of his nature.
| This disappointment could not be made up by the
pleasures Of society For these he had no taste. No
man was better fitted to adorn any circle be entered
but he rarely passed beyond that of intimate
| friends. lie took as much pains TO keep out of the
houses of the great as others do to get INTO them.
| Nor was this the mere contempt FOR toadyism and
| hunkcyism. He had n keen sense of the lneqnali-
ties of English society, which acted upon him moro
! strongly than he knew. "To say that he was
not a gentleman would be as true as to say he was
not a writer" but as Mr.. Forster somewhat daintily
puts it, any one shall assert mis- occasional pref
erence for what was even beneath his level over that
which was above it, this would be difficult of dis
! proofD He was passiOnatey sensitive TO praise and
blame but appeared to regard it with indifference
as a matter of pride. His early sufierings
had brought with them energy, strength OF will.
and persistence of effort, but they did not teach
him the habit Of remuneration and selfsacrice in
small things as wei as great. He had never
learned the secret of perfect mastery over him
self In spite of the singular precision of his exte-
rior his almost pedantic attention to details and
the rigid order of his arrangements he had the fiery
! and inpetuous temperament which rushes at
existence without needing its cost and yields to its
burdens as readily as il snatches its enjOyments
The signs of an approaching cataclySm began to
darken his horizon during the publication of Little
Donit" In the Autumn Of 1857, Inc writes to Mr.
Forster: "Ihave now no relief but in action. l
am become incapable of rest. am quite confident
should rust, break, and die, if spared myself.
Much better TO die doing. What am in that way,
nature made Ire first and my way of life has of late
alas confirmed. / must accept the drawback
since IT is One-WIll lue pONtIb nave anu musl
hold upon the tenure prescribed TO me-"
Again in the same year, he writes as follows:
The old days-the old days! Shall i ever won
der, get the frame Of mind back as it used to be
thenf Something of it perhaps-but never quite as
il used to be- find that the skeleton in my domes
tic closet is becoming pretty big one" Passages
like these in his letters had served in some degree
to prepare for the crisis which was at hand. The
shock, however was none the less violent, when it
came. Mr. Dickenss own feelings in anticipation Of
the event are expressed in the following extracts
from his correspondence. which are given by Mr.
Forster with manifest reluctance.
"Your letter Of yesterday so kind and hearty and
sounded so gently the many chords we have touched
together that | cannot leave it unanswered, though
have not much 90 any purpose TO say NY reference TO
what has long been pent up injury mind Poor Cath
crime and made for each other, ana there is no
help for H. 1t is not only she mikes uneasy
unhappy, hut that make her 80 tOO-and much more
able and complying; but strangely illassorted
the bond there is between God knows she would
another kind OF man. and that her avoidance OF tins
destiny would been at least equally good for both.
am often cut heart by thinking what pity It
for her own SAKE that ever lel IN her way; ana
s"rry %gIT She Would be. and how deeply greved
myself, u think how we bad lost each other.
But exactly the same iucompatibiity would
arise the moment I was wen again, and nothing on
earth could make her understand suit US 10 each
other. Her temperament Will not 20 with mine. 1t
mattered not much when we had only ourselves to
consider, hut reasons have been growing since which
make II ali but hopeless that We should even try 10
struggle on. What is now Detailing [ have
steadily coming ever since the days you remember
When Mary born, and ! know too well that you
cauuOt aud no one can, help me. Why ! have even
written l hardly know; but II is miserable sort OF
comfort that you should be clearly how matters
stand. The mere mention Of tie fact, without aDy
complaint or blame OF any is relief 10 my present
state OF sprts-and get this only from you, be-
cause can speak OF il 10 else" In the same
tone his reionder my reply. ITO the most part
Of what You say-Amen! You are not so tolerant as
perhaps you might be OF the wayward and unsettled
feeling which part suppose) or the tenure which
nne de InaginatiXe life. and which hive