The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-04-08


correspondence in France and England
was laborious, affected. finecal and illus
i've. Women expressed the complex emo
, tons of their hearts with complex in
sipidity and with an elaborate effort at
rhetoric which was at once wearisome
and irritating. 1t indeed seemed. as Tai
leyrand expressed it, that words were
used to disguise their feelings, rather than
express them.
short preface to the ''Lettres Portu-
guese" which We're publised in Paris,
states that they were written to a gen
tleman of quality" who was soldering in
Portugal. of whose name the publisher
was ignorant
tie book was called for. Its success was
immediate and unprecedented. Countless
repetitions of the text and numerous
translations appeared. Hosts of imita-
lions flooded the book stores but the gen.
uine letters held their own.
Who was the woman? How came 1t
that any man who received such letters
could have allowed mortal eye other
than his own TO rest on them?
All that the letters told was that the
name of the writer was Mariana, that
she was nun, that her convent windows
overlooked the plains of Martoli, that she
had loved and lost.
So direct, and so eloquent in their clas-
sic simplicity We're the expressions of a
forsaken woman, that the eyes of the
world were at once opened to its own de-
fciency and from the day of the appear
ance Of the Portuguese Letters began to
express themselves in simple direct and
sincere language.
The letters are valuable as a revelation
of the heart pure and simple. They con-
tain no incident, no attempt at rhetoric
~ ALo lie nj
an unhappy woman who repeats her pro-
testations of love without any effort al
sensation OF effect. Whilst she clamors
at the door for mercy, she is fully con-
scious that the impassioned incident of
her life is closed for ever, but she Is alb
solutely powerless to moderate her emo
tions.
In her first letter, which begins abrupt
| " and angrily, for ID would appear that
| her lover had ridden off without per-
sonal farewell, she says:
Your lieutenant tells me that storm
| forced you to put into a port few miles
| from here. Are you quite sure that your
| lieutenant takes more interest in all that
| happens to you than ] do? Why do you
| keep him better informed than you do me !
| / am very unfortunate If you find no OPP
portunity of writing to me before your
| departure. and still more so If you found
| one and did not use it in writing 10 me
| You take advantage of the excuses which
| YOU had for going hack to France. A ship
| was starting. Why did you not let he
start? How can Ii be that, having known
| the depths of my heart and affections
| YOU are able to persuade yourself to aban-
| don me to the terrors Of believing that
| for the future, l shall be forgotten and
| sacrificed to the memory of some new
| passion"
Her misery eliminates in the third let
| ter which is unsurpassed as a revelation
| of the self-torture of a sensitive mind.
| II can not persuade myself that you
| may no longer be thinking of me and
indeed I am feverishly jealous of what
| ever may give you happiness and Of all
| that may touch your heart and please
your tastes in France. do not know wha
| | write to you. l see well enough that you
will only pity me, but l do not wish your
pity"
She recognized fully the hopelessness oil
| her lot, but write she must. In the fourth
letter she says:
Dora Brtes has been prosecuting m,
| for the last few days to leave my room
| fancyng that 1t would amuse me- Sh'
took me for a tour on the balcony from
| which one has a view of Martola, bu
once there a cruel memory surged me an,
kept me company for the rest of the day
- Whatever is done to solace m,
=
dies therefore, l find infinite reasons VIII,
III should be miserable. 1 hav'
often seen you pass this spot ant
III was on that balcony on tn
fatal day when | first began TO fee
symptoms of my III starred passion.
fancied that you wished to please me, al
though you did not know me. / persuad
ed myself that you had noticed M
amongst all the ladies that were will
me. Your air charmed me and I fanciet
that you were pleased that l should ad
mire."
It was many years before the clue givei
by the allusion to the plains of Martol
brought forth even a part of the roman
tic history Of the immortal letters, which
were to create such a sensation and exer
else such an extraordinary influence II
their way
At length Saint Simon and Duclos, tn
French philosopher informed the worlt
that the parsonage TO whom the letter.
were addressed was the Marquis d.
| Chantilly, brave soldier and afterward
| marshal OF France, and subsequently,
| student, peruslng the Quaint old book
| found marginal note IN faded ink. stat
ing that the letters have been written by
| one Mariana Altaforado, "a nun in a con
vent at Beja, in the province OF Aluntijo
| Research proved this to be correct ant
led TO the calculation Of such scant par
| ticulars as we are now possessed Of. o.
| Mariana nothing more is known. But
| of the Marquis Of Chantllly, history fire.