The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-09-30
CHARLES BAUDELAIRE.
Franks snd whims Of . Psssimssfic
Poet.

lines at my disposal, and would. In all Ike
libood. be, at the best, only moderately ac-
ceptable to the general reader, for whom 1
cofer Two or three Characteristic anec-
dotes. however, OF this prince OF modern
literary originals can hardly fail TO interest
every one who Is neither fool nor
nbiiosonher. To say that Baudeiaire
hos more than his fall share OF
curious quality which can
hardly be reckOned either among the
virtues or the vices OF humanity-would
no to understate the case ridiculously. In
tbis particular he Out-ROusseaued Rous-
sean bimself-ROusseau who united in
his own person all the vanity OF the typical
Frenchman, with all the vanity OF the typl-
cal man of letters. To get himself talked
about. TO make himself notorious either for
GOOD or for evil, seems really to have been
the principal aim and object OF Baudelaire's
activity. In reading of his various freaks
and pranks one Is irresistibly reminded OF
the tricks and habits OF the molly crew |
that SmolIett used to delight in collecting |
round his table every Sunday; the |
man who wore spectaces, though he
had a hawks eye when bailii
was I'm the wind; the man VINO
used crutches because he had once broken |
his leg; the man who pretended to hate the |
sight OF the country and turned his back 10
the window the man who affected absence
of mind: the man who assumed stutter, |
and the hero Of the yellow-gloyes. Like
all these worthless, Baudelaire hated being
mistaken for an ordinary mortal. lncredi-
BILE were the pans he took in order TO
avoid so dreadful a catastrophe. TO tell
him, or even to hint to him, that he i'm any
way resembled the bOtTgeOiS-that 6ete
noire OF the artist i'm every branch OF art
was the cruelest insult you could offer him.
Every one who knew Baudelaire knew this,
and there We're not wanting those who,
when provoked by his aggressive vanity
beyond endurance, took advantage OF his
conspicuous weak point In his armor to
make him suffer. Among the guests who
used to meet every Sunday at the dinner
table Of Madame s. the lady who served
as model 10 Cleinger for the statue known
AS La Femme piguee par un Serpent), The
ophile Gautier, Flaubert, Louis Boullhel,
Rayer, the musical composer; Henri Mon
nier, Preault, the sculptor; Maxine Du
Camp, whose literary "reminiscences have
lust been given to the world, and Baude-
laire were the most regular. Ernest Fey
deau. late recruit among this distln-
guished band, has left il on record
that at these conyivial meetings, over
which Madame S presided with
an amiabiity and grace equal
to her beauty, Baudelalre general
ly contrived to make himself per-
fectly intolerable. On one occasion he
took it into his head to maintain In the
presence Of Feydeau. who had translated
Byron, and might therefore be credited
with knowing something about him, that
the author OF "Childe Harold was very
poor creature as compared with NJ. VeuiI-
lot the journalist. In reply to this stupid
paradox Feydeau gave Baudelaire "a bit
OF his mind" with crushing effect. eau
tier, who was naturally OF an indulgent
turn Of mind, who hated everything that
was commonplace, and was somewhat
prone TO paradox himself, treated Baude-
Iaire with great deal Of forbearance, but he
often suffered severely whcn-impdr con-
gresSus AchHtei-he pitted himself against
Paul de Saint Victor. Louis BOulhet, Jules
de GOncourt. and, above all, the terrible
Sainte- Beuye. II was obviously not "A lit
| tie dangerous to contend before such men
that Homer was "only" trille inferior To
NJ. Barley D'Aureyilly; to compare Leo
caturst: and to treat Michael Angelo as
an impostor; but when he followed up
these absurdities with an attack upon
Shakespeare. in which the English dramatist
pdr excellence was represented rs having
been inuented by the critics. this was more
than even Sainte-Beuye, who in those later
times was by no means an out-andout RO-
manifest, could possibly endure, and the
great critic treated Baudelare to such a
riua-voce "slatng" as he had never re-
ceiyed before, either orally or in print, and
such as he was very careful not to provoke
again by renewing his assault on Shake
speare. The castigation administered by
| Sante- Beuye is, unfortunately lost to
literature. That il was rs intensely severe
as il was wel-merited is, however, obvious
from the fact that it produced so marked
an effect upon its recipient, whose conceit
must have rendered him in the main as
impenetrable to brain bullets As the hide Of
rhinoceros is to lead. How impenetrable
he was the reader may partly Judge from
the fact that before his unfortunate attack
on Shakespeare he had already been eX-
posed to what Feydeau very happily calls
4" Sainte-B euve's sly scratches" without
seeming to suffer in the least. One OF these
" sly scratches" Feydeau has luckily pre-
served for us a" a certain member OF our
circle has built himself a sort Of Chinese pa
coda which lacks even the negative merit
OF being in bad taste. He has pitched it IN
the corner OF large park, the trees OF
which are only painted pasteboard, and the
rocks crockery, and which is full OF china
dragons and terra.cOtta monsters. Having
doomed himself TO live the dreariest OF lives
| i'm this uncomfortable kiOsque, our worthy
friend feeds upon woodEce and spiders
| i'm the gulse OF beefsteaks; he drenches
himself with opium, pretends to despise the
human race rs il it were so much mud, and
yet never misses an opportunity OF playing
such mountebank-tricks as sword-swallow-
ing, fire-eating, walking on his hands with
| his head down and his heels kicking in the
air, and a hundrd other similar graces, all
| with the single object Of obtaining popular
applause" TOthose who know what man.
ner OF man Baudelaire was, it may well
seem incredible that such things could
have been said OF Baudelaire in the pres
ence of Baudelaire without driving him
stark, staring mad, especially II they re-
member that he was more than half mad
TO begin with. Yet, ~ the sequel shows,
this terrific "dressng" does not seem to
have produced any appreciate effect. As
specimens OF the tricks which Sainte-
Beuve Justly imputed to Baudelaire, we
select the following from the lately-pub-
lished Souvenirs OF NJ. Octave Du
Camp: Notwithstanding the feeling Of
constraint natural to first meeting,
our interview was cordial. Our dia-
logue began queerIy. Baudelaire told me
he was thirsty, whereupon j offered him
| heer fea a plass OF nunch His renlY