The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-05-29

S O., easy-chair, whore indolently slee,s the
.anorite sultana, addressing to her the
widest dithyrambics.
me OLD and bosom friends Of the house
noiu can recite dozen sonnets of which
;I" are masterpieces, composed byIaine
Al. o o.'. OF ms cats: 1t is the poet Here
9,a' out of town on the shores OF the Lake
Anhecy, where Taine passes the sum-
nef, VINO taught aim the rules Of sonnet
rna,Atng. The master composed q dozen
iu,i OF ideas, force and color.
Dorehge Mention, $. Bernard, on the
peraers OF the Lac d'Annecy. is the name
OF the estate where Taine in the midst of
ms family, passes the fine season OF the
year. his wife takes upon herself the
charge OF the vineyard, the practical and
PTou.aDie undertakings of every kind
MS MS one son is just completing his educa-
ZION, whist his only daughter. now q, Of
an intelligence animated and ardent, is
the companion of her fathers leisure
nou.s, when pause in his present great
Nofk, Les Origines de la France Contem-
Poraine, permits him some relaxation.
~ is With her and for her he reads every
tnihg new and interesting that appears in
England, from the last story of .Rudyard
N Nipiing TO the most celebrated works of
Seorge Eliot or Browning-"The Mill on
the Floss" 'The Ring and the Book" or
aurora Leigh" che of the masters fav-
orite books.
n we must not, however, think that at
Dorenge the young people are exclusively
at their studies; quite the contrary; no.
SWnere are they gayer or more active. One
uas II VIII be monster tennis party,
Where girls and boys unite; another day
an excursion on the lake or In the noun.
taihs, In which case they start at 3 a. m;
oiteh even they start the evening before
ana sleep on one of the plateaus Carry
ing with them their tents. blankets and
PROVISIONS, in this manner they have ex-
pIo1ed all the points in the neighborhood
anu know the name of each. 1t is their
great happiness, rs they mount higher
ana higher. to catch sight in the we'll
wooded hollow below of the little tile.
rooted house, the walls coquettishly hid
den by clematis and roses. summing itself
gally amidst the vines.
Inc house has been for many years in
the family and has certainly undergone
many transformations. 1t was at first
composed solely of this little building
sWnere Is now the grand salon; to it have
peen successfully added, on one side the
dlning-room and the guests pavilion, on
the other small square construction,
surmounted by a terrace, the little private
orawlng-room of Nine. Taine, and stand
ing back Taine's study, not very large and
somewhat dark, bat furnished with books
from top to bottom, and communicating
with his room above by an inside stair
case In such way that he is perfectly IN
dependent and at liberty to partake of
the noise and activity of the house as suits
him.
In general he mixes little with it. Ex-
cept for the hours consecrated to the con-
stitutlonal walk and necessary exercises
to which, for hygienic reasons, he forces
himself. he rarely quits his den changing
merely from his great armchair in the
CHIMNEY corner to the cane chair before
his writing table by the window.
In Paris he leads the same life, and
whilst his wife and daughter-who are
fond of society and very much courted-
frequent balls, dine out, ETC., Taine re-
mains at his Preside. He has formally
ablured ali claims which would call him
out in the evening, seeing only those who
come to him; but of those there are many.