The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-06-23
THE FRENCH ACADEMY.

of Theirs, Claude Bernard and de Lone
ME. Ts Thiers' seat Bon-Louis Henri
Martin, q senator and historian, was cleo
ted by 1S votes to Is cast for II. A. Taine,
called wherever the English language 10
spoken, Henry Taine. To Bernardo seat,
the vile atheist, Joseph Ernest Renan was
elected, receiving also 10 voteB to Is cast
for Mr.. WALTON. 1t wac decided to post
pone the election of Lomenie's euccessor
till next November.
In connection with the above the follow
Ing article, copied from an exchange, may
not prove uninterestiDg:
1t is not necessary to inform American
readers that the French literary senate
ted it in 1885 for the improvement and
regulation of the national tongue. II the
Academy had no other claim upon Gallo
gratitude than the composition of its die
tioDary, the frat edition of which appeared
in 1894 and the seventh in IS79-curiously
enough the London Daily Nescs says, in
an editorial article, that after two CEN
turies of work this book has only been
completed as far as L-its generations of
member might be said to have earned
their $500 year. AS it's dictionary Is in
effect part of the legal code of the coun-
UTys oO bu0 <1Chu0uly 10 bu0 RTcHc COuEJ
Of literature, and keeps Jealous watch
over that beautiful language of infinite
niceties which only Victor Hugo is said to
possess perfectly. Though to the IEmo
tai the surprises which await and puzzle
the tyro as the fact that there are mascu-
line nouns ending In ton and other nouns
that change their gender with their number,
and so on be but as child's play, the fact
remains that at slmost every reception of
o new Imm ortal q grammatical or rhetori-
cal flaw is found in the addresses. If last
year the Due d'Audiffret. Pasq uier had not
spelled Academic" with q plurality of
''cs, ;" Victorien Sardon would not now be
favorite amusement at Compiegue to devise
difficult sentences for dictation to the
courtiers, he being accounted winner of
the sweepstakes whose version contained
fewest errors. Merimee, himself an I'm
mortal, came to grief in such a competition,
and his host, the author of the "Vie de
Cesar" displayed several "brave" neglects
in his imperial version. Besides seeing to
the purity OF the language, the Academy
frequently makes the reputation of o good
but neglected author by ''crowning his
work, and with it's two Mouthyon prizes,
on the author Of the beet work on public
morals aud the individual of the working
classes who performs the most virtuous
action in the course of the year, its Colbert
prise of2, 600 francs annually for the most
eloquent work on French history, and its
Landry prize, biennially, Of 800 francs
for some struggling genius, it has a con-
usually Is judiciously bestowed. There
may be such an accident as having Alex
andre Dumas to deliver q Monthyon prize
for virtue, and there may be such q eoRtre
temps as having Emile Olivier preparing
his reception address at the moment that
hN~ - -
the way, he has never yet delivered it, the
Academy last year declining to fix date
for it's hesring-but these are merely the |
result OF fortuitous condolences.
As rule the Academy has fairly repre- |
sented French literature and eioquence, in !
spite Of occasional personal jealousies and !
occasional subserviency to the court. True, |
it passed over Moliere; that only Louis |
XIV e perempto order opened its doors
to Boileau and Labruyere that Piron |
wrote his epitaph disparagingly-
fsn WSa sS hS5S sHFshS s1sa s
that Jean jacques Rousseau, Beranger, |
Hoaore de Balzac aud the elder Dumas |
died not having inherited the black coat |
with its embroidery of green silk paine, |
and take it by force but in many cases |
there has been fair reason for exclusion |
or tardy recognition. Rousseau, Damas !
pere and de Balzsc were hardly in ''perfect
form" in the matter of morale, and bat for |
his. death coon after his marriage and
moral rehabilitation, BalEac would doubt.
less have obtained the coveted honor, for
he was yet a young man. BeraDger's
unwilingness to undergo the ordeal of the
visits to the electors piqoed them and kept
him from seat.
These same academical visits are for
midable affairs, wherein ambitions Ettera
tours have doubtless had to suffer many
slighta from peppery aud vinegary littera-
teure, who in their day went through
similar experiences. Roger Collard treated
Alfred de Viguy boorishly, did not invite
him to q seat, eaid he had never heard of
the candidates. name nor read his books.
ri do not read now, sir; I am doing my
reading over again." jules Janin was
rejected once, but re elected four years
later, though at the second time he refused
pay a single visit: 81 would sooner blow
out my brains," he said. Sainte Beuve has
made his revelations, notably of Flenrens,
the father of the brilliant young Commu
MET killed in 1871, who was all courtesy
and promises and good wishes-and voted
against him, One of the thirty seven