The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-03-23
HAO bRUAAEL' 5 EXIT
His Gradual Fading Away in
Caen, Normandy.
WHAT HIS GRAVE Is LIKE
How He Played Elegant in His
Gibbering Dotage.

New York. March PA correspondent
to the Evening Post. writing from Caen,
France says:
Among the numerous English graves in
the gloomy Protestant buryinc ground az
| Caen is found that Of George Erulnme,l.
once British consul at the capital of 3as Sc
| Normandie. who died and was buried here
in March, 1870 aged siXty-t@o years. So
| much and no more is told ~ his tomp-
| stone. plain slab shaded by a stunned
cypress and overgrown by wandering
| hunnysuckles OF the man who was AZ
bitter Of elegance Of his day, ;le favor'te
OF two courts, nothing is recorded Caen
! kncWs him only as the impecIuicUs cor SUI
and the hopeiessly insoivent deo5or.
Beau Brummell lived for ten years in
Caen, but it is unlikely that dI-ins tina.
time his high-heeled shoes ever trode this
graveyard OF the heretics, set apart from
! pious Caen in a dull suburb. The stnep
Rue du Magasin Poudre, when ltaes
| thither, recalls Balzac or F'lau5ert Ee-
/ tween its high garden walls the cu'Icss
! OF French provincial; life grows tang
I lole thing, and the fashionaol nr4s;ncts
! OF the Rue st. Jean and the Place r,ovale
! now Place de la Republique) " ere the IA
! vored haunts of the old dandy. in that
gayer quarter of the town will still he
! found memories of Beau Brummeu IN his
snun oolored surtout and white-grounded
Walstcoat." his marvellous white neck
cloth, and his bell-crowned nat which. in
difference to the set of his wig. he never
removed in the street even in sa.uting
ladies'. But it is about the Hotel 4 .Anp-
ieterre, then, AS now. the best i'm of Caen.
that he is best remembered. Cor II was
there that the Beau lived during nsarI,
al ms residence in NORMANDY, and he
rambling old hosiery has changed not at
all since his day nor probably IN the last
century or two.
01hI the pink Of fashionable deport,uent
When he arrived at Caen, he was even
then in dire pecuniary difficulties ans tho
loss Of his consu'ship two wears ,atar 70
dCced him to hopeless insolvency His
trends in England subscribed $500 wear
Tor his support; of this, $3.50. II was ar
ranged, should be paid 20 the Hotel Gang
IeIeTre Tor his board and lodging. and
hrummeH took up his abo1e on the third
n'o' OF the hotel in a room which he oc
cupieG for seven years II1olte6 n the
occupancy Of this shabb,- hedcba,nber
whose chintz-curtains bed and waved
floors are doubtless uttered in anoa.r-
a'.ce deprived Of all the little .uxurIes
""lch meant so much to hin, ne former
friend Of princes sank rapidly towards
imbeci.itv. With each Of his inIuIge,ces
went something of his self respect. ard
the substitution of a black stock for his
extensively laundered neckcloth. the dis
appearance of a particular varnish for his !
shoes, and of the cologne once sprinkled |
on his handkerchief meant each a sue
cessive stage in his descent. Even such |
painful economies could not save him later
from a short sOjourn in the debtors pri-
son, and from that disgrace his mind ne |
yer recovered.
Tt was in this room that he 2assed his |
days, crouching over the huge fire which, |
in winter as in summer, had become .his !
chief passion in life. seated meanwhile in /
a treasured green velvet armchair given /
him long ago by the Duchess Of York Ac- |
cording TO the terms of agreement he was
allowed Only so many bundles of irew0od /
a day, but so patheticaly did he gram
BILE at this that charitable people living
in the hotel often sent him presents -
fuel. The meagre furnishings Of the room
he had supplemented by a few relics saved
from his creditors-"two boxes. one Of
with brass ribs. the other with
a glass on top. covered worked birds
drinking out of a vase. the labor and gift /
Of the late Duchess of York. also a clock
and vases. brown candlesticks, and boot
Jacks that shut uD."
Here, as the northern twilight gathered.
his servant would humor him By setting
out tables as though for a card party. ond
lighting the tallow candles which had re-
placed the wax. Then. at the old mans
bidding. he would announce one distin-
suished guest after another-''Her grace
he Duchess of Devonshire,F Lord Al
rsn!ey," The Marquis Of Worcester"
And IN the sordid hotel bedroom. while
outside the door the femme de chauabre !
lirted noisily with the garcon and the
-aUc0us cries Of tripe vendors and the I
'alling Of s.. Jeans bells for benediction
Mingled with the CATER Of dishes and the
ingles Of officers spurs in the courtyard
lelow. Beau Brummeu entertained his {
-uests after his Old fashion. with tables Of Z
ixpeuny whist.
One wonders II later tenants Of tina, '
oon may possibly have seen the spectral
aTdDlavers. The windows look out upon
he crowded roofs and beifries Of the Rue
L. Jean. with close at hand the blue
-abies Of the quaint Maison Bleu and Gin
'eau Brumme-'s day) the crUmbling dor
aers II ths ancient house which was the y
.ome Of Charlotte Corday. From one q r
hasa r-trl-r-s tha Pan nrn d. in q I 1