The morning call., 1893-12-17

II made them many reverenees, and in
my heart l said good-by. good-Dy. this
| is nv last winter among you"
In 1868 she had published over the sigma.
tnre 'Abbe de Ia Tour" a novel called
| lie Noble" Of this work not one COPY
can be found al the present time, and all
we know of the book is the passage where
| she impertinently defines high birth as
'above all. the right to hurtH
| With the English language and litera-
ture Belle was familiar. The success of
"CIarissa HarIowe" gave her the taste for
wr ting "epistolary novels" and her let
| ters penned from London in 1857 are a
graphic description of society and manners
| of the time. March, 1867, she wrote of
English women: You would be astonished
| to see so much beauty without grace.
| ladies' of the highest virtue who look like
| grisettes. great magnifcence with little
| TASTE"
| She made the acquaintance of David
| Hume, the historian, and invited him to
dinner. "For great philosopher and his
torian. he has simple, honest manners"
| was her remark.
From these extracts we begin to under-
stand Belle Van Tuyll. Many American
| girls of the present time resemble her bv
their indr pendence of character. but she
middle of the eighteenth century and in
| one of the most pious. orthodox corners
| of Europe. In 1771 she married M 90
| Charriere and left Holland. However,
| she did not say, like VoItaire. "AdIen'
canaux, canards. canailes!' Although She
always loved the Dutch people. and later.
| in Switzerland, her pen did much for The
| cause of the Netherlands.
! On her way from Holland tn Switzar-
land Nine. de Charrere stopped in
Paris a lew months, and thus was
Here, in a later visit. she made the az.
quaintance OF Benjamin Constant. She
! had known his father and uncle in Hoi-
land AT this time the future friend of
Nine. de Stael. although a mere bow, was
''unfortunate in love" and from " ,So
courts of Brunswick, where be had bean
sent by his father. he wrote to Nine de
| Charriere. who gave him some sensibie
advice. This correspondence lasted for
years, and when later Benjamin
Constant went to live at "ColOm-
bier" the home of Nine. do Char-
riere. near Neuchatel. both passed the
mornings in sending notes to each other by
the servants. Before rising, on scraps OF
paper. they discussed philosophical sub
jects, and portion of this interesting
correspondence has already been pub.
| lished.
In Paris Nine. de Charriere again saw
Latour, the painter, and through him
| made the acquaintance of Hnudon, the
| sculptor. The latter modelled her bust in
| marble, and this beautiful bust is seen to-
day in the museum of Neuc hatel
At Versailles -he frequented the court
and, among host Of famous French peo-
pie, met Nine. Necker and Nine de StaeI.
AS soon as installed in her home. Colo NJ
| bier. Nine. de Charriere recommended
writing, and ceased only the day of her
| death, in 1905. The "Letters Of Mrs. Hen
| ley" which appeared in 1883, were signed
hQr m n fOl
novel a sentimental woman relates the
| SORROWS of her married life, and proves
| that even well-meaning husband. when
he pays but little attention to his wife's
| sensibilities, causes her TO die by inches.
| I'm one year." writes the heroine, you
will hear. hope. that 1 am reasonable
and happy, or that | no longer exist"
| In 1884 were published the Neuehatel
| Letters and the Letters from Lausanne. or
| "Caliste." The Neuchatel Letters relate
! TO the life of that locality, but "Caliste" is
certainly the chef d'puvre of Nine. de
| Charriere. This epistolary novel dweIls
upon the familiarity of relations between
young men and girls. Nine. de Charriere,
with a firm but delicate hand, here de-
scribes the awakening of love in the pure,
valiant soul OF young girl, in he honest
tainly written in an hour Of supreme in
spiratioD. and Benjamin CONSTANT was
always pleased to find snlEilAnre-
| semblaDce between the be .an4
author. Among other works by -
de Charriere may be mentioned: "Trols'
| Femmes." Honorine d'Userche,"
'Sainte-Anne ct les Runes de Yelburgi
| and Sir Walter Finch" all refec.ing
more or less the ideas and conversations
of these revolutionary times.
The regular correspondence between
Nine. de Charriere and Benjamin Con-
| slant. begun in 1877. lasted until 1895. or
rather until September 10, 1894 the day
when the author of "Adolphe" for the
first time met Nine de Stael. This meet
ing changed the entire existence of Bpnja-
min Constant He followed Nine. Stael
to Paris, to Coppet, to Germany, and ever
after was her shadow
When he became the friend OF Nine. de
Charriere Benjamin Constant was IS years
old, she was already A. He considered
her fairy godmother. who, more than
any other. aided in strengthening his
mind, developing his ideas, and teaching
him to detest all ordinary maxims aud
dogmat1e formulas. And Nine. de Char
rlere believed that Ben jamin Constant had
more esprit than any writer since Voltare.
with advancing years Nine. de Char
riere's health declined. but she never COM
planned. She died at COLON bier" Decem-
Der 81 1905, surrounded by a few tried and
lifelong friends. Had not the celebrated
Sainte Beuve. in 1910, fortunately discoy-
cred copy Of "Caiste" and caused the re-
publication of Nine. de Charriere's works
we. at this day, should have ignored syen
the existence of this remarkable Dutch
woman. who. by her originality of thought
and Drllliaucy of style. has enriched the
puTest French literature.
BARONESS ALTHEA SALVADOR. s