The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-23

Boswell TO tear the envelope open and write
again
I hAd scaled this letter I must break II up and
write q little more. This 10 somewhat like YOU
I charge you once for All. De strictly honest WITH
mo. II you love mo own II. I can give you the
best advice. II you change Oeil me. II you loVe
another tell me. don't understand Q woru OF
your mystery about . certain gentleman "nom
you think OF three times o day. what DO you
mean by ht Berlin II . most delightful city.
am quite happy. I love you more than eVeF. !
would do more than ever 70 serve you. ! would
kneel and kiss your hand. n l saw you married 70
the man who could make you happy. Answer mo
this one question. II / had pretended . Passion
for you, which I might easily have done. for u is
not dInncult TO make ua believe what We are ALREADY
pleased 10 imagine. Answer you NOT
have gone with me TO the worlds endt SuppoSing
even that I had been disinheTited BY my Father
would you not have said. Sir here is my Portion
IL 10 yours. We my live g~cuteely upon III zehde.
zsiids excuse my vanity. But I tell you you GO
not know yourself II you sAy that you would NOV
have done this. You zee how freely l write ano
how proudiy. Write you with all freedom, out
with your enchanting humility Js suts 0LoTtsuSs
rare vofrs ANTE. That 10 the stils. 10 not this q
long le,tert You must not expect mo TO write
regularly. Farewell my dear zellde. heaven
blcss you and make you nationally happy.
FdrsUeu.
So ends this extraordinary letter, In which
the writer, while dlsclaimlng any view 70
mstrimony on his part, tried his best TO IN
duce the girl TO confess her own love. and
even went so far as to taxi II as an admitted
fact. But Boswell was perfectly unconscious
Of his want OF tact and delicacy. and Mile.
de Zuylen, in consideration OF his undouoteu
sincerity and kind intentions. seems to have
forgiven 10 without dif1culty.
In i7eo she visit cd England. when she was
duly lionized: the practice is much older
than the name. SO the people OF fashion ~
first con gregated around her; duchesses
came and made her talk and took a minute
survey Of her. and. declaring themselves en-
chanted, turned their backs on the newcomer
never to return any more.
We have no indication that Belle saw Bos-
we'll while she was staying in n But.
when he published his Account OF Corsica.
they red q few letters Of an almost
businesslike character. She liked the book
for the pGrti-pris it displayed against the
French. whom both cordially hated. She
proposed to make a translation. or rather 4
compendium Of II, for her excellent taste
would have soon made away with the long
winded phrases and turgid rhetoric. No
member, however, Of our trade ever admitted
that he had sent to the printer one word more
than was strictly necessary. and In this re-
spect Boswe proved 20 be a genuine man OF
letters. The giant" as he modestly called
III AAnNN ~
and SO a literary pique between two authors
was the conclusion Of the little roman.
Belle de Zuylen's after life may be summed
up in a few lines. After she had been courted
by princes she married., against her family's
advice and almost in spite Of himself, a poor
Swiss gentleman, a former tutor OF her
brother, NJ. de Charriere. and would have
made him the most wretched Of mortals II
he had not been endowed with a more than
ordinary amount Of patience and philosophy.
She INDUCED in various sentimental expert
ments, and finally. at the age OF 20, became
enamored Of an impertinent young rasoa
OF 10, destined TO be well known to the world,
under the name Of BENJAMIN Constant. as
the lover Of Nine. de Stael, the author ol
"Adolphe," the adviser OF Napoleon and
Louis Philippe. This hGisoR- whether It was
a purely spiritual one. as NJ. Godet wishes
us to believe, or whether the senses had their
claim in It, as Sainte-Beuve readily admits
brought happiness TO neither Of them.
At a critical moment in her life she hac
used literature az other women In similial
circumstances use religion. Her disap'
pointed hopes. her impatience OF rule ano
authority, her unquenchable thirst for love
her brilliant genius for satire, were thrown
by her into three or -four thin volumes which
failed 60 sobtain much attention from he
contemporaries. But thirty years after tn,
writer had been In her grave Sainte-Beuvl
raised her to a high position among the grea
masters of the French language. Prof
Goda q new book In likely to CONFIRM her II
that exalted position.