New-York tribune., 1876-06-17


and awkward contest with her husbands family
touching the possession of his remains. They were
finally adjudged to her. and she repaired to Cannes
where Mchelet died, and where his relatives de-
sired him to he buried to bring them to Paris and
cOnsign them hOnOraby 10 the soil In which there
was an impressive fitness IN their reposing An i'm
mense concoUrse Of people followed the body 70 y"
grave. but there was p'-fcct orer an no manifss-
tation GOOD taste, doubtless for many excellent rea-
sons, Il not Away 4. " Ra heal virtue u this
OCCASION il was not wanting. 1t characterized cs-
pccaliy the very eloquent atldrcSs made at the
grave by VI. Challemel-Lacour, who as speaker had
long since his spurs in the Assembly. His eu-
Ogy of Michelet was a very happy combination OF
passion and reason. Quie'ly ~ 1t was Of
fected however. the transfer TO Paris of
the great historians remains has made Michelet
again one of the subjects of the day. and the critics
are revising and summing mp their judgments OF
him. The RerHe des LCar MOHdcs has just
begun the publication of an extended essay on tins
subject by young NJ d'iiaussOuville, The author of
the series of clever and somewhat pcvtidOus papers
upon Sainte-Beuve which appeared more than
year ago in the same pages. He will apparently
treat Michelet more synpathetically-and 1t is
rather odd he should, considering his highly con
servaive affiliations on. d'HausSonvillc is nephew
of the Duke dc Broglic and at-grandson of Mime.
dc StaGl, who certainly, if she were now living,
would not be n Republican,. In talking of Saintc-
Beuve he made a very handsome show of generosity,
but in turning the page one always found that he
took back with one hand what hc had given with
the other. His account of Michelets early life is
extremely interesting; the great historian Is
child OF ,he people, in the narrowest sense of the
term. II. father a small, struggling, unsuc-
cessful printer, and Michelefs early years wcr,
spent in damp cellar setting up types with his
little chapped hands. His whole youth was a
time of poverty and hard obstruction, and
on this point NJ. HlIausSoLyllc quotes
a few lines from a retrospect of McheetS which are
well wO.th repeating, Remember that this con
summate misfortune privatons in the present, fears
Tor the future, the enemy being but two steps of
QS14, and my own personal enemies making daily
sport of me, one day-one Thursday morning
turned back upon myself without fire. with the
snow covering everything, and my bread for TIE
evening uncertain-I turned back upon myself, and
without the least mixture of religious hope, had
pure feeling of stoicism; | struck with my hand,
split open by the cold, upon my oakcn table (which
have kept ever since, and felt yirilc joy IN my
youth and nv future"
In comparison with Mcheets early struggles to
climb the ladder of knowledge, it may seem that
such a career as that of Madame Plessy, who has
lIst bidden farewell to the stage at the Theatre
Francais offers but trivial interest but certainly
nothing that is thoroughly well done has been easily
DONE and 1 am that the extraordinary periec-
ion Of Madame PleSsy's art the fruit of great
deal of labor. Her last appearance the other
night was very brilliant solemnity. The
acted portions of three four of her most successful
parts and in conclusion. with the whole company oi
the ColnedIe FTancaise gathered about her. she de
claimed some very good verses by NJ. Sully-Prud-
= II, l,l TAT f,ns
which in spite of her advanced she might for
some time have continued to adorl. Her age was
not seriously perceptbc; she is ~ years old and
had belonged to the Th6ater Francasc from her
fifteenth year. In 1Si5 she seeded, without cere-
monv and repaired to Russia, where she enjoyed
fame and fortune for some ten years. In lo11 she
returned to the Com6dle FRANCHISE, quite hh pr'H-
ossse making her own terms and paying none oi the
fines and penalties to which she had been legally
condemned. Since then, from year 10 year, her
talent has been growing richer and more perfect,
and it has a blooming maturity which mght
long bld defiance to time The especially rcgretab.e
point is that her place will probably never he hIed
for she was the last dcpositary of certain traditions
which can never in the nature of things, be renewed
She was the perfect great lady of high comedy, as
bi,h comedy was possible before the invention ii
slang Shpreprcseutcd certain instincts and practices
which have passed ont of manners. The other night
as she finished her verses, she took McSdemoseHes
Sarah Bernhardt and Crolzette by tho hands, anu
with admirable grace, presented them To the pnoh'
~ her substitutes. II is moro than likely that she
had measured the irony of her GESTURE for from the
,,ou,ent IL takes two actresses 10 makeup Nine.
Ple,sy. the cause is obviously lost Clever as these
Young ladies' are they will not fill the void lhcH
art IL small art Nine Plessy's was great art
There are more exhibitions, but these also are
small art The customary congregation oi the
"Refus6sn of the Salon has gathered Itself at
Dnrand-Ruels; but think it can have inflicted 10
twingcs Of conscience upon the jury of admission IL
10 . melancholy collection of what are called III
parsian phrase crOdies-crusts IL occasionally hap
mems among the Refuses, that the verdict OF the
nuhic helps Young painter 10 bis revenge upon the
hearted Ccrbcr of the Salon; but TINS year
the most sentimental admrcr OF lost causes can hhd
no pretext for enthusiasm. The best things Dy Iar
are a couple of native landscapes by an American
Mr. f. Fair1nan. (There is no harm III pilntlhR ms
name "a il is in the catalogue and on the frames "i
his picturcs.) They are clever, but understand
very well why French jury should nave rciuseu
them More interesting was the exhibition of arcll-
tectural projects for the Exhibition OF lS'o' whlch
,vas lately omen for a few days at the Ecolc dcs
Beaux Arts Architectural drawings, to the uhh
itiatod. are 40 much darkness visible; but the two
ar three main conditions of the Exhibition are snch
"a IN helm one 10 infuse "a certain plcturesquenesS
INTO the diagrams The buildings are to stand on the
Charop de Mars. as before, but there Is now To be
great structure thrown across the Seine, with tho
Pont d'Icna for its foundation and the opposite
hin of the Trocadero il to be covered WIN
the dependencies of the show 1t Will be
chance for the French genius for complex ar
rangement to surpass itself. The architects
and economists wish greatly, believe, that the LE