New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-05-20
FRENCH LITERARY HEROES.
RIES OF RACINE, coRNEILLE
AND BALZAC.
NOTABLE FEATURES OF THE BALZAc cENru.
NARY-NEw PLAYS AND OPERAS IN PARIS
cHABRIER's "BRIsEIs"-cARRE AND
BILHAUD's INA BRU."


Paris. May g.
| Seldom has the desire to honor the memories
| OF great men been manifested throughout
| France with such enthusiasm and public spirit
| an characterize the celebrations for Racine Cor
nellie and Balzac. This retrospective hero-wor-
ship Is largely attributed TO the Dreyfus reveiaA
| lions, which cause people TO turn with a sense
| OF relief to more congenal personalities and IL
| is. oddly enough. the very Deputies who have
| taken the most active part in the various
| phases Of the Dreyfus affair who now PROPOSE
that the remains OF Balzac Edgar Quinet
| Michelet Lamartine and Alfred de Musset shall
be transferred to the Pantheon. Profting bv
| the experience OF their overzealous colleagues
| who moved that the remains OF Turgot be
| placed in the Pantheon-a proposition which
| brought. forth a vigorous contemplation from
| Turgot's descendants. who stated that II was in
accordance with Turgots will that his body
| had been buried in its present resting place
where his family now begged IT might be al
| lowed to remain-the Chamber has appointed q
committee to confer with the descendants Of all
the candidates for the honors OF the Pantheon.
before taking further steps In the matter.
The Balzac Centennial. which began last Sun
day at Tours where the author Of the "Comed,s
| n
tinue through the present month. The Socialist
| Municipal Councillors felt offended because tho
clergy and landed gentry of Touraine had an
tlcipated them In their preparations The Mu-
nicipal Councillors were. moreover Indignant be-
! cause NJ. Brunetlere had been invited TO deliver
an address on the occasion. and they jumped
to the conclusion that the eminent academican
and member Of the Ligue de la Patrie Fran
! Ral1 into
reactionist" and "anti-revlsionst" The Muno-
ipal Council consequently refused to vote the
money for the opening Balzac fetes and decided
| to have a Balzac celebration OF its after
the Royasts and Clericals had finished" This
furnishes a striking example OF the hatred and
bitterness that Frenchmen show toward ono
another even when seeking 70 honor their own
great men.
| The address which NJ. Brunetisre delivered on
Sunday is considered by many the ablest and
clearest appreciation Of Balzac that has been
made since Taines remarkable essay. N.
Brunetiere after drawing a happy parallel be-
tween Balzac and Walter Scott reminded his
hearers that BaIzac's influence novels could
be compared only to that exercised by Moliere
on the drama Among those present at the Bal
FAC celebration Sunday was lie Pere Tasse"
sturdy octogenarian tailor who for many years
made Balzacs clothes. In the course Of an in
terview with NJ. Adolphe Brisson. OF the Paris
Temps" lie Pere Tasse" said:
"Oh / remember NJ. de Bslzac distinctly He
used to write all the time He was always kind
and afYable He used TO wear the most extraor-
binary trousers | ever saw. He would insist
unon nv making them Of a peculiar nut-brown
colored cloth. with wide straps fastening be-
trousers were cut so 10 fall in deep, volumi-
nous folds so as to keep the calves OF his legs
warm while writing" lie Pere Tasse" lives at
the hospice OF Tours and he has plentiful
store Of "reminiscences OF his renowned Gus
toner. The venerable tailor Of Balzac Is likely
n he one Of the great sights OF Tours during the
coming travelling season.
On Sunday evening representation OF Bal
zac's "Mercadet" was given in the Tours Thea
ire by the actors Of the Coincide FRANCHISE. and
! on Monday the literary and artistic visitors In
large breaks and motor carriages and on pc
troleum tricycles and bicycles visited the places
in the Valley Of the Indre wherein Balzac re-
sided from time TO time. where he placed the
characters Of 'Lys dams la vallee" and where
| Felix de vandenesse and Nine. de Mortsauf had
their quarrels and firtations
The spring crop OF new plays Is unusually
| abundant No fewer than eleven new comedies.
vaudevilles farces balle.s and operas have been
brought out in the last ten days. "Briseis. the
first act OF an unfinished opera by the late En-
manuel Chabrier with libretto by Epnran
/ Mikhael (also dead and Catulle Mendes. which
WAS produced at the Grand Opera House last
night contains some delicious music The or
cbestration is charming and brilliant II Is NOT
the Briseis of Achilles and Agamemnon, as one
might suppose. but another Brises who lived
et Corinth during the reign OF the Emperor
Hadrian Hylas a young Corinthian. VINO Is oe-
trothed to the blond Briseis is about 70 en-
bark for Syria to obtain the wealth which VIII
enable him TO marry the object OF his love-
Tbanasto Brtseis's mother who has been se-
cretly converted TO Christianity. and who 10 on
her deathbed, implores her daughter TO renouncs
na9anisr and makes the conversion OF Hylas
to Christianity the condition OF the projected
marriage To this Briseis consents. There 10
triumphal hymn to the glory Of the Saviour ana
a duo sung by Hyas and Briseis This opers''o
fragment here comes to an abrupt enuins'
which causes the most profound regret tha'
Chabrier could not have lived to complete tn'
work Catulle Mendes the only one OF TINS
| three collaborators on "Briseis' now alive W.
| present at the first performance last night, anu
said that he considered It sacred duty 70 'h'
| memory OF ChabrIer to produce the work eA'
! actly as the composer left II, without ADDING
| a line or note. II will be recollecteu 'hes
| Lamoureux al his concerts two years ago CAV.
| some selections from the music or brse'
which were received with unusual enthusiasm
Ma Bru' c'My Daughter-in-Law) the ~.
! markaby clever comedy by Fabrice Care ana
! Bilhaud which was produced at the Odeon' -
| the latest theatrical success or the season. ~
10 ned Of MI
| Is tyrannical mother-n-law who. from ne.
apartments in a fiat situated just above tnat oi
| her son and his wife. Nine. Leverdier Jeuhs.
! exercises a scrutinizing supervision or All hs'
| goes on below There Is a speaking tube con-
Meeting the two apartments. At dinner parry
in the elder lady's dining-room. both ladies': ~