New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-10-11

agreed to fit him out properly. lie, accordingly
presented himself to the duke at the appom l,e
received De MoTny, without performances, onered
him a post his private secretary with salary
which made him dizzy Dandet Was i aDo 70 70
him that he was Legltimist and really did not
cUuntenance the Napoleonic dynasty lie was Tor
a moment in doubt whether he could be unfaithinl
to Henri " for the sake of worldly success. sum
mOnlng all his courage, and feeling no doubt sub
lime as martyr to the OF royalty, be stepped
forward and said so emnly:;
"SiT, | am q Legltmist,'
"Be whatever you like" answered tho duke
lightly, b" If you'll only have your hair cut"
His smiling indifference was more than Daudet
could endure. He-he- well, he accepted the place.
Bat in order to support his sefrcSpect nc Kept his
hair still deianty faithful to the cause OF lienrl
v" He refused to cut it. The duke however, made
further allusiOn to (which must have been ais
appointing. , ,
Daudct made those intimate studies OF the second
r,pire the results of which appear III " lie Nabao
and Les ROS en- EXil." Probably no post III the
whole empire could have been more faNOrabio LOT
the education of a great novelist The death OF tuc
Due de Mora in " lie Nabab )" lin whom DE Morny
IS very transpaTentlv dSgusedl is so obviously
taken from the life that no disclaimer however en-
phatic could convince the reader TO the contrary.
The Dukes love affairs too. are the most amazingly
realistic and vivid that ever have appeared IN nc
ton. have never yet met Partisan who did not
regard them as an important contribution TO the
history of the Second Empire. For, srecu-
lation, both in love and money, had more
to do in fashoning the events of those DAYS than
foreign relations votes in the Legislature or tn
he more explicit, foreign relations and Legislative
votes could usually be referred directly or indirect
ly to subtcrranean relations sprnglng from those
two primitive passions.
have a vivid recollection of an evening spenS
with Daudet in May, $50 "a few weeks before
sailing Tor Newlork There wero half dozen
literary gentlemen present, among whom was
Edmond de Goncourt, th" author OF d" La Fanstn .
Marietta Solomon" "Chtrie" and number of
other novels Of the naturalistlc schools. Dauict
was IN excellent spirits and AIRY Drls,Ieu WIN ~,
epigrams. The subject of discussion during the
greater part of the evening was the drama.
Most if not all of the gentlemen present hac had
their plays hisSed at the Coincide francalsc ana
were proud of it. This bond OF union
bet wcfn them They believed that 1t was the
excellence of their plays which had made them nm.
successful They uttered tne most ond fhnir
writings; but 10 was apparently more IN play thah
in earnest. The drift of the conversation IN whch
Daudet and GoncOuIt bore the principal paris was
that the sensational drama OF to-day Wn"h we
followed by more quiet drama, III winch me
characters would he more str!ctY Vpcai, inc
cN ents less exceptional ana the literary workman
ship finer. They be Iged me to give an account "i
the American drama and asked If there were
American plays III which entirely new American
types with srrong national flavor, could be rcc"g-
niZed. | had to think for a moment before BEN
able to reply to tins question. ~ IaS' maip'hr ,
10 remember Mark Iwains Colonel Sellers ana
attempted To describe wherein his peculiar Amer
lean SKI consisted. If | paused gro, ~ Tor the
proper phrase. Daudct supplied II l" INC III an
undcrtOue with uncrTing instinct. Not once d' ne
mistake my unspOkcn meaning. Hall I" nv aston
ishmcnt | found that the company were enter,
tanned. They thought Colonel sellers drIlghtIul
character. This encouraged me tn Introduce SCION
Shinglc and some slight "reminiscences OF thaliran
rs the BoNery Boy. could think OF no more
American types on the stage, and wished had had
my friend Brauder Matthews NJ my elbow 10 stlhl-
uiate INV memory. .
Sardous aud numas's successes upon the
American stage and the great sLnS they had
realized FROM them were then discussed with that
brcathlesS animation with which Frcnchinen speak
when they are Interested ] was called upon 10
explain the mysteries of the American taStc-a task
to which did not feel equal.
At this moment Madame Daudct made her
appcarancs and the conversation took q different
turn She had charming baby. she informed me.
and the house was NJ present. regulated Win sole
reference to It's habits and predictions presently
the baby CAV" audible signs Oh ltS existence ahri
Dau let insisted upon It's being brought ~ ana
exhibited. 1t wa indeed a very pretty ht"y'
though it yet IN the when pulling whiSkcis
Is a source of satisfaction. " You may not KNOW,
Dau let sail when the excitement over the baby
WIS over that Madame Dau let Is also q TrlleT:
She is not a novelist. nor exactly poet either |
think might describe her rs u social phlosolhrr'
Madame paudct protested against thus title, and
said that She only wrote hcCaus" there was q
literary contlgun IN the iusc, and no one Cou ID
stay long in it. without catching the writing IcVr'.
Now that - al very me ana mn',S,, '.H',r
said laughing; " but vii convince our Alh''! an
friend that you are a social philosopher. hcIc. he
aided, gong to the book case and handing me an
uncut yellpW-c0Vrr"l volume. " IRIS ~ NADINE
Dau lets latest book / make yon present Of T.
'You will find It worth reading. cannot consent 10
take your Amcrc N admiration AZ 70 nNs~I'' l
always share everything y III my WIFE,
The volume which ! have since read, has 'he
rather cuuhr"':, titc. Impression de Ia Nainl"
AID - rt" II is full of pretty, vaguely poetic
ian les. bat brtrav> none Of the Qualities wnich
have made Madame Daudcts husband famous.
The dav aitrI this VISIT Uaudct sent me a dainty
| little velum- bound copy of = book, lcttr"S de-
/ mon Moulm.' and letter Of INTRODUCTION TO VI;
Perrin. OF tn COm@iic Frauc1i-r, which 'it"rWHI1
secured me several mu"h-coyc:cd privileges. Alter
nv return t. America h" seat ~" the grooi->hect'
OF the tr,t portion of Les ROlS cG tAll, requesting
| me to make any bargain ] could for him with
magazines or newspapers and # | consented 20
translate tn book to keep half of whatever got.
I'nfurtun Itciy | did not succeed IN making any
satisfactory arrangement: first. because the mover
was srarc5i5, "dH''t,sd for our mag 'IiherradlhH
public: secondly u cause sn JIc = ~ '"'''
national copyright those who perhaps dld want IL
preferred TO seal II icW months later. Whcn, out
side of France, 1t would be common property
HJNiMNE II. BDYE-FN.