New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-11-07
uIDENOiELLE De Id VIGNE.

|
In the year l7}2 there appeared III the NercNrc ~
FraRoe-the great literary periodical OF the dayai
| ode addressed to Voltalre apr0pos OF me lcn
| riade" in Il tone which extremely ndtterlne u
| him The production was signed by IA Mile An
toinctte Macrais de ia Flgno, and datcd ron
| CroiSo in Brittany NoltaiFe' wnose YahIly ma'
g-atItied by 80 audatOry an eilusl0n, was not con
! tent with writing short note to the lazy ackhoWI
edgIng his of her appreciation; but wlNhlhe
| 10 show the world how gracefully he couIa pen "a
reply addressed long letter IN verse 10 AilIe. l'
In Nigne AT the time sending her copies OF thc
| Ucnriadc - and Charles Nil" In the later cdl-
tions of the poet, works the greater portion of tins
letter has been suppressed so that few have had an
! opportunity of Judging of the lpdicrous aduaton
| which marked the original. nor of the ridlcnions
! history that attaches to It. But the high-iiown
terms in which it was written can be easily realized
il we consider the sensation its appearance IN PRINT
produced all over Paris. II made Mile; dc la
Nigue the heroine OF the hour; in the Cafe FrOcopc
that mirror of literary opinion IN the 6uIcaar
Tc,pJji m the theatres her name was on every ZIP.
Some called her the modern DcShoulIercs, some the
Breton Sappho some the Siren OF the Lore. Mean
time she wrote to thank NOltarc for the DrcScHt1-
ton copies. her letters shifting alternately from
French to Italian AZ from prose to verse ms
new sample of the ,iadY IS WORK received rs much
applause her first cOri, ana all the critics con-
rmed the words of their leader Lamuttc, who sad
that Mile. dr H. Nignc knew not only how 20 be
free and natural IN verse, but subllm" AMI
measured in prose. The general enthusiasm did
not stop at the verdict of Lauoc: the distance Of
her residence, the Ignorance OF all parties rs 10 who
she was, lent 10 Mile. de la |gna identity all the
charm surrounding great unknown; and all the
smaIi-fry Of poets who gathered round volatile
seized their pens % celebrate the lady praise, MI
at Last There was nothing in the Wvcurc 6c frGHcc
bat ulqdugals, Odrs. ANA SOnucts dedlcatcd to her
When the sensation was at It's highest pItch .
dreadful Nemesis suddenly visited TINS crowd OF
idolatOrs. Their Idol was worse than broken: their
efforts at genius and gallautGy counted for moth
Ing. Nile. de la Ni2ur, VINO bad bcen diNiucy
mysterious. turned on not to bee lady M all but a
provincial lawyer named Dc>iOr-c,-N alilard. The
revelation came about in manner crrdltaLIc to
the new poet. An author named Tllct. who had
trrI is4u d 40
posed poete>s Ind in his cticrs ii en- evidence Of
such sincerity TrgTcttinV Mile. de la NIgnc, alb
srnce from PARIS and Offering his services 10 bring
her to that centre Of culture That DcSlOrgcs-5lall-
lard felt it only fair To unmask himself 10 one so
loyal. He therefore wrote 10 Tllct explaining that
the name under which ne had 50 far known him
was a fiction, adding that hc much wished to make
Tihct's acquaintance, bat that ne could not afford
the Journey To Paris. lIict who's" admiration was
moi rounded on "a spirit of calamity was rather
pleased than othcrws". and showed himself more
than ever mporunatc IN his desire to the poet,
20 the same time !placnG his house ana servants at
his disposal. DoslOrgcS- Malldrd accepted the in
yitaion; and. all curiosity to soc his new fTcnd
and the motley cIIclc of his admirers. he started
without delay Tor Paris. Meanwhile Iilct had IN
Il mysterious way brUItcd about the expected visit
Of friend, thus giving rise to good deal OF IN
few days later Tillet gave great dinner. to
which he invited many Of those who had publicly
manifested their admiration for the Breton >apphO.
On the host, right hand sat the new conner, all
resent looking at him with interest; none knowing
Mile. de Ia Nignc. The poet was overwhelmed
with congratulations, while his declared admirers
hung back, but finally we're obliged to add then
compliments to those of the TEST. THIS seems was
but the prelude to hundred others in which the
poet found himself the central figure. Society
formed itself into camps 10 defend AMI dccry the
new poet, and many anecdotes Fare told winch Illus
tratc the situations IN which he found himself dur
ing his solouIn IN Paris. NOtaiTo, the chief among
Dc,forges MaiIards dupes, soon recovered from the
surprise made joke of the mistake into which he
had been led and treated him, when he was intro
duced to him, with courtesy and good humor. All
this delighted the new poet, but drew from the
more experienced Tilict the remark that Noltare
possessed peculiar power OF hiding his secret feel
ings. and that it would be best TO await tine cad Of
the adventure. His warning proved well founded.
Noltaire showed deep interest in DesiorgcsMail-
lard. writing inn several letters and placing his
patronage at the BretOns disposal But Oh the
appearance of a edition OF his works, Noltairc
modified and curtaed his famous reply to Mile. de
la NIgne. while he took his revenge IN malicious
fOot-nOte and many years after avaIled himself of
every opportunity to attack and dccry DeSfoIgeS
Maillard