New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-02-20
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
SOME GOSSIP OF LIFE IN ENGLAND.

SOME GOSSIP OF LIFE IN ENGLAND.
DIPLOMAT IN LONDON. Letters and Notes.
1Slls1I. Translated from the FRENCH or Charies
Gavard. Octave PIP. 3S henry bot q 20
Toward the end OF the late NJ. Gavard's vol
ume OF recoections there is this passage in
letter written from the Athenaeum. in London:
Near me. as I write. see the Cardinal (stan-
ley Dean of WestminsteD, in arm chair,
reading a magazine; Darwin. who does not
especially resemble ape; two or three old
men. who swore; little further on Emily, who
laughs TO himself while reading a satrical life
OF Dizzy: near the other fireplace the director Of
the National Gallery; Leighton, their only
painter writing at one Of the tables and card
party is going in the other room between
Hayward. Solvyns. Trollope and Forster" In
company like that. and NJ Gavard was himself
no nonentity, there ought to have been oppor-
tunities for talk that would have given the
French diplomat material for volumes AS
matter Of fact, the present souvenir OF his stay
in London. from 1871 to 1877, is a scrappy and
disappointing book. with none of the political in
formation in 1t that might have been expected
and with very few stories. The former is, per-
haps, missed more than anything else. for NJ.
Gavard went to London ct an interesting time
when France and Prussia in the thick Of
their difficulties He contents himself with scat
pains TO put together
The anecdotes however, when at rare inter-
walls they appear are not bad. There is a good
sketch Of Salisbury There are two persons In
Salisbury" writes NJ. Gavard "the simple,
charming gentleman that every one finds when
they talk to him in tete-a-ttte, and the violent.
bitter orator listens to in every assembly
in which he speaks" From Schouvaloff there is,
too. delightful sketch of trip in Germany
with His Majesty Wilhelm l.. This is the man.
ner OF it: His Majesty addresses every one that
is presented 10 him with: Your regiment? The
person addressed. with violent kick, replies:
'S0th Fusilier. dritter battalion. erste Compag-
nie,' Then he passes to the next and the same
dialogue begins all over again" From time to
time NJ Gavard met some such foreigner as
Schouyaloff. and. Of course, many English; but
with the latter he seems to have had doubtful
times Sometimes he liked them but more often
he was at a loss grasp their point of view. and
consequently did not love them. They were mar
tistic that was one thing he could not stand and
they were shocking good feeders another point to
their discredt Nevertheless. he wakes most en- |
thusastic dinner at the villa of the Roths-
childs. THE dinner was surprise he says |
"only the family was present. but such chicken.
nothing but a chicken but with the whole ami |
NAL and vegetable Kingdoms represented in the |
sauce The Lord Mayor would have sucked his |
fingers. Stomachs that can face such dishes
twice day fill me with admiration. And such |
feeders And yet. really. in the midst of all
this luxuriant uphOlstering and pamperine OF |
the flesh. a great simplicity obtains. 1t is AL |
fred. the SON. who fetches the wine from the eel
lar (The cellar to be sure, is like that of Fred
erick the Great. where he kept his treasurer He
brought up a lihtte and sherry that YOU find
onlv AT the villa of Lionel de kothschid The
superiority of the wines here is in
part due. il seems to their being laid away in
cellar as isolated as an observatory, ana TO thelr
being never moved or Jared"
a. Gavard was attached to the French En-
bassy when the Due de Broge was in charge
and his best letter tells Of reception al the
Foreign Office where the Ambassador was also
present. He proceeds We'll. the scene took
Mace on the double stairway. right and left;
the crowd mounting the steps was like picture
by Veronese. The Prince or wales upon a rfde
landing watched the coming up with Jocuiar
air: the Princess was interesting. congenlaL
touched with the distinction that suffering LENDS
beautv. At the bottom of the stairs, scraping
and blarng of violins and trumpets in uniform
Think of me- then as in the midst of aristocratic
English society; but where are the Holbein
heads and the noble personages that have
walked ont Of the frames of Van Dyck? l
sought them in vain Our bourgeois society
mute as Justly satisfies the eye. Not one pretty
woman anywhere and yet in the streets. on
foot or on horseback, there is no lack Of brill
ant conplexions nor of golden hair, real or
false. | shook hands with Mr.. Gladstone; it is
what receiving the ribbon of the Legion dion
Deur would he at Paris. Guided by franque-
Vile. we reached the Drc de Broglie, who was
centre of attention and attraction. His being
there in double capacity made sensation.
His remark upon encOuntering NJ de Bern
,torff the Prussan Ambassador. was going the
rounds; II came off at table before the recep-
ton Lady Stanley had been the only person
between the two bellgerents and had shown
herself much preoccupied with what would hap
pen when the ladies withdrew, and the time
should come to pass the Wine Don't be
a fraid III find out of it," the Duke said
TO her and them presently, addressing the bar
oarian: i have been distressed so long at see
ng the Prussians established in my home with
,ut my having invited them, that it is pleas
are al the house of a friend to meet one Oh
hem that | can exchange courtesies with.
This was in 1871. early in NJ. Gavards mar
'ative. but on this picturesque anecdote we may
AXE leave Of his book He is not an important
contributor to the memoirs Of his time, ana
his is much to be regretted, since his associa-
ions were Interesting and the moment unique.
But for an hours Idle reading he yields several
pages of excellent gossip
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