New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-05-15
EMILE DE GIRARDIN.

,rxAxc1Ar DrAIlNGe-uIs LAST AMDTIoN-IhE
STORY OF A LIFE or UNCERTAIN ORIGIN AND
UNsCRUPUIOUs sCCCEss.
fFRoN TIE REGUI AR CORRESPONDENT OF IHh ihlh' NJ
PARIS. April 29-Emilo De Cifirhn' oi "h"~' ne
ord deofb the journals are full was a prominently
,mccessful man. lie also man by him@'h'
His moral physiognomy afforded study full OF M
ferest 10 those who knew him. As Nillenessant
represented the low appctes OF Paris he represented
SIS fevered head although his brain was eyercoo rs
cucumber. But the Goodness Of the cucumher H.
oddly enough. the product Of tho hot-bed ana the
forcinp-framc DE Girardin had rather quick IN
tellect-which had points OF contact WIN
everything good bad and indifferent IN
che century in which no lved-than n
eanacious one. If he had soft SIDE
in him il was for women. lie was IN sympathy WIN
them through his wakeiul nerves, and fine material
eensibilities From the time that Madame EeoTfe
Sand and the founders of socialistic systems VINO
acitated the reign Of Lous Philippe broke upon the
world NJ dc Girardin with them on the
Wonans Rights question, while differing from
them as TO the manner Of its solution Reverence
for Von,anbood he had not, because the rcvcrontal
chord WAS wanting in him. But he had
great kindness for the struggling female
artisan; and he the friend OF the
unconverted MaQlaien. but in a way that did no
honor To him. She was his ally in extracting iohs
from Ministers and in drawing influential public
men into currents that he formed Thus by means
of friend Of Lady BlcsSington, Mrs Shepherd nee
de Rrassac and her daughter Nina since the famous
Nine dc Brimont he acquired hold over ionS
Napoleon which he worked to increase fortune
which was very considerable when the Orleans
DYNASTY fell. His alliance with Esther Guimond
was publicly keptup When il was thrown in ms
faco he said that morality was well enough ior
vonnV States issuing from harbarity, like the United
States but that in an old civilization corruption
was a manure which enabled new ideas and enter
prses to flourish. Corruption was only another
word. he argued, for rapid circulation. 1t was the
arch-revoutionist. 1t demolished the unhealthy
Organisms for the benefit of the healthy
Esther Guimond. be it known, was
n trader in female beauty, not her
own. She was rich, sPiritaeIlc, wanted to be
richer, gathered the celebrated men of her time
when they had place or jobs to dispose of-around
her wrote clever letters had q choice library, and
the best cook in Paris, who was born in the South
of France, and having followed diplomat over
Europe knew how to prepare dishes that suited the
palate of the Russian Prince Anatole Demidof, the
German Rothschild, the Italian CamondO, the Eng
Iish Lord Normandy, the Dutch Crown Prince. now
King of Holland and the Austrian Count dap
pony
Baroness de Kaulla was one Of his lattcr-day
he spent in breaking lances on her behalf with
Rochefort Clemenceau and II. Graux The greater
part of the spring devoted 10y him to influencing
deputies who formed the committee charged to in
quire into the De Cissey scandal. Joyous dinners
and soirees given in his palatial residence for
their delectation. Therese came to sing and the
Coquelns and Samary 60 recite II there was
Prince of Royal or Imperial blood passing through
Paris he was invited, which did not render the
entertainment the less amusing while 1t
fattered immensely the deputies and
opened their minds to De Girardin's logic. Sarah
Bernhardt, when she was in Paris had often the
honorary presidency Of such fetes. Sometimes the
queen of the company was Madame de Brim0nt.
whom he had with Madame No,ikoh and Madame
Adam. to meet, last year, Mr.. Mrs. and Miss Glad
stone at dinner.
Personal TRAITS AND APPEARANCE.
Emile de Girardn was cold, reserved and dry. Tie
said little and stared through his spectacles with
hard searching eyeat those vhovcre talking to him.
or around him. The forehead was compact and well
developed, but not very large He had tuit Of
hair combed over it. like Napoleon. The head did
not give the impression of great brain power but
the face which refined and clearly chiselled
and in shape not unlike the Empress Jo>ephines
aud her brothers. showed cerebral activity. His
nerve centres must have been very active. Emile de
Girardin had the temperament of an American
but none of the hero-worshipping faculty which
makes the United States paradise for celebrated
men and women who have health to stand being
Iionized in the acknowledging American fashion.
His sef-confdence and self-reiance were phenom-
email but il Is to be asked whether the latter quality
did not come to him through his Swiss breeding.
lie must have been fourteen before he left Switzc-
land. where he was born, some said of cook
named Lamothe, whose name he long bore,
and others Of a lady named Dupuy, the
daughter Of q Swiss fnancicr, uamcd Fagnan, whom
Neckcr had brought 10 France, and for whom be OBJ
tanned a high post in the eXchequer department in
fhe reign of Louis Seize. II So this origin would
explain the inancering instinct Of Emile de Grar-
din his cold brain, his method, industry, grit and
business talents, which were certainly not French,
and still less Partisan. He got his quicksilver prob
ably from Count Alexandra de Grardin, who was
the grand huntsman of Louis NNIlI. and of Charles
a. and man of brilliant parts with literary tastes
and of aparadoNical humor.
often dined next To Emile dc Girardin at The
houses Of friends, and was asked by him to spend
evenings at his house. went there twice He i'm
pressed INC unpleasauty. could never keep up q
conversation with him. There was no warming
geniality in him. Some people act Ike sunshine,
and bring out in the conversational aud moral or
der the flowers and fine fruits Of their nterocutors
minds There are also others Of a harder kind of
intellect, who act steel upon flint They are
provocative of sparkling thoughts. They exhiarate
like glass Of champagne or the breathing Of the
keen air of seaside down. Girardin, found, did
not act thus
GrIARDIN's BUSINESS METHODS.
once struck a subject which found |
could go on with lin. 1t was on the capabilities
of the harbOrs in New South Wales and the mineral
and agricultural wealth of that country which here
after would flow through them to other quarters of
the globe. Hewasextremely interested, andrcgTetted