The Olneyville tribune. (Providence, R.I.) 1893-189?, 1893-09-30
JEau De THOMmERaY.

II was In the country, near the forest
not far from the Seine, in the modest
villa where / hoped TO spend my old
age, that l saw Jean dc Thommcray for
the first time. He was scarcely twenty
two. Some pages signed with my name
had won his heart TO me, and he pre-
sented himself with no other recon
mendation than his good appearanee and
his desire 10 know me. The sympathy
Of the young has an irresistible attrac-
ton. II is very sweet 20 be able to
draw them when one is approaching the
autumn OF life. ! was the more willing
TO give him welcome that could do so
without any effort, for he was really
charming. see him now as he stood at
my gate, q slender, noble-looking fellow,
his face shadowed with the down OF
youth; straight nose, blue eyes, fair
forehead his hair, fine and OF an ashy
blonde, waved above the temples. His
ease OF manner and language, the ele-
CANT simplicity that showed in his dress,
everything, reflected credit on the fire
side by which he had grown up.
II was clear April day; we walked
together In the woods OF Meudon.
Though many years divided us, we con
versed like two friends. He had gene
rous impulses, holy illusions, all the
happy and ardent feelings OF his age. lie
believed In the good. ho admired the
beautiful. he dreamed OF love and glory.
Where did he come fromf In what lati-
tude was he born2 What star had shone
over his cradlei Who and what was this
Jean de Thonmeray, who at the end Of
Rn hours talk had spoken neither OF wo-
men, nor horses, nor yet OF his friends
lncomesl
Thanks TO tho condolences he gavo me
without my asking, i soon found out
all about him. His father, who came Of
agood old Breton family, had studied
In Paris in the days when patriotism and
liberty ranked as high as letters and arts
among the young men OF modern ideas.
The Breton gentleman felt the influences
OF this awakening In the flood OF
thought, and, without giving up the
traditions Of honor In his family, he set
sail with the current He loved, with a
pure, delicate, romantic love, n poor.
young girl OF good family, OF Irish de-
scent, and married her. When his studies
ended, ho went back TO Brittany. The
hereditary domain that sheltered their
tenderness was In ono OF the wild aud
quiet valleys OF Old Amorico. II con
sisted OF u farm and manor, OF castle,
which was protected by an old grove
from the winds that swept across the
valley from the mountains. Here Mon
sieur de Thommeray lived, like his fore
fathers, the life of country gentle
man, hunting, riding horseback, visiting
neighbors, improving his land; while
his wife ''la belle Irlandaise," ns they
called her, gave herself up to domestic
affairs and governed her household with
grace and authority. Though he had
taken root in this primitive life, he was
faithful to the tastes and inclinatons Of
his youthful days. lo never went beyond
the circle of his remembrances, and for
him nothing beyond them seemed 90
exist. Time, which never stops, seemed
to have forgotten him on the way. 1t
was a happy family--he. his wife, and
three sons. The elder and the second
son showed no taste for study or litcra-
ture, but Jean, the little one, more deli.
cate than his brothers, grew up under
his mothers gentle wing with a strong
sense OF the beauties and harmones of
creation and love Of books. While his
brothers walked and rode over the farm
and led hardy and rustic life, Jean,
read, dreamed, or composed little Breton
poems that his mother proudly compared
To "Moore's Irish Melodies" and that
excited the admiration of his father. His
brothers, too, were proud OF his gifts and
his charming ways, and even of his weak
ness when little fellow, for that seemed
10 claim their protection But one morn.
ing, not long before the time first met
him. Jean embraced them all and set out
for Paris, filed with the same illusions
that his father had had before him.
Two or three years passed. did not
know what had become of Jean. sup
posed that he must have left Paris, and
that he was living peacefully In his
fathers homo. He had evidently for.
gotten me. was not surprised at that.
As for me, thought OF him from time to
time. A journey made into Brittany
revived In my heart the memory of nv
young friend, when learned one day
that was only few leagues from Tn,
Manor OF Thommeray. | arrived n,
nightfall at the house loved to think OF
as the asylum Of happiness. found
the family assembled, and, not seeing
Jean, naturally l asked for him. NJ d,
Thommeray answered me briefly. "Mon
sieur," he said, 'we have only two sou,
now-these whom you see. We never
speak OF the one we have lost"
Was Jean deadf No; the attitude o.