Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1885-11-22
OUR PARIStLErTER.
Weekly Review of :Ourent Topics in the
Metropolis Of the French
Republic.
Death of Madame Iha,Ie> Life of
Varied Fortunes Mi>fortun-> "f Mar
qui> Ds Verne, Royal Marriage.
The Da, Of the Dead.

Special Correspondence 10 The Globe Republic
PARI>. France, Nov. Il. 1855.
The news ut the death in Rome Of al
American lady VIII" had spent much of hel
very remarkable life in Paris. has JUS
reached here through some Italian papers
and uCca>ioned considerable interest sine,
few lives. even OF the noyeli>t'> heroinc>
have been ~ filled with fortune and miSfor
tune A. has that of this iilUStrinus Louis
lamar. Madame Philarete ChaSl,'>. wife oi
the celebrated author Of that name.
Madame ChaSle> WAS a Creole born il
New Orleans in the early part Of the cen
tury. As Young woman she was famou,
for her extraordinary beauty. and when in
1880 she came {" Paris. she became tn,
leading belle OF the most brilliant society.
Artists Wed with each other IN securing tht
privilege Of painting her and P"et> wrote
rapturou> strains in her praise. She became
the wife Of VI. Rumien, a project of The
Seine, (Which position is the highest among
municipal offices. corresponding Ia the office
Of mayor Of New York
Her married life WAS unfortunate how
ever. for she had frequent puarrrl> with hcr
husband; and in order {" forget her d"mes-
tic troubles she turned her attention Ia lit
eiary work. and wrote her famous book Ell
titled lie Femme au DiN-neuyirmr Steele
tThe Wife of the Nineteenth Century.
This appeared under the p>eudnnym Of
Marie Sincere. and created a great sensation
At the time of publication and is not Yet for
gotten by French readers. She afterwards
wrote a book entitled. ''TTeite a Agricul-
iure Comparee" A Treatise on Compare
tive AgricuIturel. which Is now a standard
a. which agricuturiSts frequently refer
NJ. Romen died. and after a few wears of
widowhOod she married NJ. Chasle> Again
her marriage proved curse Ia her. for her
husbands relatives took great dislike tu
her and, actuated BY hatred and merCtnarN
motives, they conSpired Ia put her into an
insane asylum. where, although not At all
insane. she was confined for several wears.
Such terrible fate nearly made her insane.
but at last she succeeded in eluding her guards
and escaping into Italy, where she has sine"
lived in obscurity and poverty until her
death. a few days ago. in plainly fur
nshed house in Rome. Ii il a remarkable
instance of the turns Of the wheel ni for
tune in real life. Beautiful. brilliant. az
cOmplished, wealthy and famous i'll early
life she was made Ia suffer worse than a
criminal and endure the hartishipS of a
tramp yet she lived Ia nearly four scor.
years of age and now none 80 poor 10 do
herreyerenee."
4 saw another instance Of the reverse of
hoo i.pt, IL
good for moralizerS Ia know that the Mar
Quis Ludovic de Nerney is now employed a,
9 dresser at the Gaiete Theatre at the lordly
salary of one franc night and laborS a.
janitor for the Journal Otficiel with the
princely income of fifty francs equivalent
Ia nearly Sl0l month.
His noble wife. the Maruul>e lie Nerney
is also q dresser for the lady actresses of
the Gazette Theatre al one franc a night,
while their daughter. the Countess
Alphonsine de Nerney dances with the bal
let girls and three younger blue-blood> are
child actors in a minor play. Who says
France is not republic? Why, even my
Landlord is an eN-count. my landlady a
countess and their charming daughters. who
daily pass one the soup and sit yis-a-viS al
the dinner table. can trace their lineage
back 10 ancient princesSes. The table on
which We dine Is of solid mahogany and
has borne the costly yiandS of many a lordly
feast. or-who know-?-has felt the pres
SURE of royal hands. The curious old ma
hogany cabinet in the corner Of the room i
full of secret drawers and springs and "a
that" Just like We read about. for il is
relic of bygone glory. At the same time the
concierge OF janitor of public building in
Paris came very near being elected 10 a seat
in M sh nf at he
recent election. Yet still the French no
bility is proud and is by no means devoid Of
ambition. The recent marriage of Frances
Marie. daughter Of the Due De ChartrcS and
Prince Waldemar, of Denmark. has no
sooner ceased Ia be chief topic of gossip
when il il reported that brother uf the
Gar of Russia has proposed Ia the eldest
daughter of the Count de Paris. within the
last fortnight. and has been accepted. Thus
Is this family To be allied to England's
Denmark's and Russia's royalties: and. in
due time if the question is again asked.
who says France is not a republic?" it
may be answered by the Count de Paris.
and his answer echoed by al least three of
the powers OF Europe.
This week is the period of the feast of All
Saints, and is one Of the most notable weeks
Of the wear in France. After the close of
the feast of All Saints the social season be-
gins. and ho>teSseS. who have been al the
seaside, are expected now Ia resume their
weekly or semi-weekly receptions. On last
Monday | witnessed one of the most char
acteriStic French customs observance
of the day of the dead by visiting the GEM
eteries and reyerently placing wreaths.
made of beads or natural flowers on
the graves of all the dead. Ii was the
French decoration day-not for soldiers
alone. but for all dead. whether lord OF
pauper. None were forgotten. 1t j. a
beautiful custom distinctly French | Wis
ited one or two of the principal cemeteries
OF Paris. and was a>toniShed IL find that
forty or fifty thousand people wanted 10 see
the same cemetery at the same time did.
There were no speeches. no ceremonies Ia
attract the crowd. but everybody came. a.
by common impulse and deposited their
dOwery tokens of remembrance on the
tomb of friends OF relatives and then wall
dered about the cemetery Ia read the in
scriptions on the tOmbs and recall the histu-
ries of the IlluStriOuS dead buried there.
What struck me As peculiarly touching was
the fact that these light-hearted. frivolous
French 81 honor their dead that they haze
even erected costly monument to
the unknown dead and at the baS,
OF this common monument We're piled scores
Of wreathS and flowers. At the principa
cemetery. Pere Lachaise, the crowd was /
50 great that the police made everybody de f.
string admission form in line eight or ten |
abreast and although this great army kept |
marching through the entrance H. fast a. /
All ordinary walk. the numbers Of new ar
rivals were 50 great a. to sever the line from /
the entrance more than 200 yards down |
the street, and the line remained solid for a |
100 yards within the cemetery. And .
50 this strange procession continued 10 .
march into the cemetery for three hours. /
blocking the main entrance 81 that all exit /
must be by side gates. And not only here /
was this the ease but every cemetery III .