New-York tribune., 1896-03-29

ous adventures on the field or Waterioo ""'N''
he attributes to Fabrice. were undoubtedly ue
veloped out Of his own recollectons or Marehso'
Yet nothing could be more misleading ina" ~
check Stendhars stories with his plograp"!'
and because OF striking parallels here anu 'heie'
to say in the familiar phrase. that Els lie was %
romantic as any novel In some ways II i'"'
have been so; in pctur sequences, IN au'en'uie =
the I.fe Of Stendhal was occasionally rona"Vc'
But the man hal the heart OF an eighteeh'h vi,
tury "philosopht," and he lived as ne wrote VIII"
the cod-blooded temper OF the araiys' lie a'
born with this temper There Is sohe'"ihe d"
most uncanny about him When IL IL seei "'"
steadily he developed a temperament "i'i'" Z"
temperament glowing with enthusiasm o'e'
Napoleon and his regime, writne 'o'''"''
tales, and yet ntens!fying with every !."i VI
his life the egotistic. critical passion ""'O"
at the bottom of his nature.
stendhaI hated the environment OF his boy
hood His family bored him. and MS la'her
inspired him with positive dislike. AS ne
strupeled inwardly against the ennui OF MS
home in Grenobe the majesty oil Napoie'"
davned upon him. and his imagination was
kindled When an opportunity came 10 'ra'ei
N Italy In the track of the army ne sei|ed
q with eaeerness He witnessed Ma'eh-
90 with RAPTURE. and soon after he ehhsteu'
Military aervice did not at that time, as IL
happened yield him the sensations OF "h'ch he
uas in search and in a little while ne returheu
20 Grcnoble. having relinquish,d his commis-
sion But later through his friendship with 'he
Daru family. he was drawn into 'he "n'''p
of the amy again, and went to Germany "here
he saw the battle OF Jena ana the eh'rs i"'o
Berlin. He made the disastrous Russian cam
paign and made 1t with unshaken iaith III his
idol lie believed in the Emperor TO the very
"a with the return of the old monarchy he
,os, bis hold unon stirring events and followed
Tho career of a man Of letters. living for
many years in Italy. An estimate Oh
,is character must take this last TACT
into consideration as ore Of the most important
in his history. That he had the investigating
turn of mind which belonged to the eighteenth
century is necessary TO remember tha' mill
tarv genius in any man or people, bnt eSpe-
c,,llv IN Sapoleon. touched his imagination pro-
foundly is also TO be noted rs esseh'ia' 10 an
understanding of the man; but that he adored
Italy is a circumstance with wMch o''e "iuSt
CONSTANTLY reckon. no matter what phase OF
Stendhals character may be under discussion.
stendhal was an epicurean whose nature ex-
handed with least effort under the sensuous
influences Of Italian climate lie ard art. He
high reputation FOR conversational gifts and
no was even interested in London but In the
south he was more at caee-he was happi ~
IN tho pos;humous volume wherein NM. Stryi-
enski and DE Mon printed the journal of Stend-
hol for he period IsOl-lsl4. there occurs under
date OF September Il. 1913. when he was thirty.
the following passage: "Au moment on' ce
r.atin dix heures. nous avons apercu
lc dome de Milan. ic aongeais cue mes voyages
en- Italie me rendent plus original. plus mol
meme Japprends Il ch@rchcr le bonheur avec
plus d'intcligonce" These words are deeply
characteristic. But equally indicative OF MS
temperam, mt IL the brier note given III the jour
nal only nine days later: MILAN NEST insupport-
able Je pars soir pour Nenise. the TWO
fragments paInt S;endhai to the lfe. Floating
about in his consciousness was his love FOR
Italy. his belief that there rather than any
u here else his taste would always be gratihed In
the most satisfactory way. yet ennui pursued
him en- In Milan whcrr he spent some ~ the
pleasantcet years of his lifc. AMI IN his depart
ire for Venice upon the occasion not'i IN Ms
Journal there IL a convincing eloqucncc. Would
he have found any city surporiable Tor all the
wear through. for lifetime? 1t is unlikely.
lie var at once too gr".s and too Intellectual
to be long satisfied with The resources of any
one place. H. was an egotst and an epicureen.
He wanted fersations. new ones. al the tnl'.
Being "A man Of intellectual power. he wanted
the stimulus Of tte right Kind u corFtTshtlon'
and IN search of this i IL conceivable mat ne
would nave developed into a constant traveller
had fate permitted. As It w:s. he was thrown
back upon himself by the wheel Of fortune
which would not allow him to b" AZ c smopoli-
tan in fact as he was by temperament: and the
consequence Of his intrOsTcctivc meditation wax
that his literature is to-day exactly the knd
which falls into harmony with many OF our char-
acteristc sympathes