The sun., 1908-04-26


$3.50, Her lodgings we're taken on a min
years lease At a rent Of about t2O7 He
rooms occupied the second and third floor
Of a modest house no. longer existing, n
the junction Of the Rue Bellechasss and N,
Rue 81. Dominique about hundred yard
from the abode Of her former prote ctress
The rooms we're ten in number, FIVE on eacl
story, On the lower floor was an anto
chamber, a salon, the bedroom Of Mile, d
Lespinasse, a dressing room and smal
bedroom for servant. On the floor above
was the bedroom Of her maid kitchen aud
empty apartment, ussd as a lumber room
and two other rooms ultimately sublet 10
| DAlembert. Narrow as her income was.
| Nile. de Lespinasse seems 10 have had
enough for her toilet. Guibert. who was
par excellence a lady's man, and hence
no contemplate Judge, credits her with
being In respect Of dress an excellent man
ager. In the inventory Of her effects mnde
after her death. there we're enumerated
no fewer than forty gowns Of silk and sHtin,
She managed in one way or another TO give
two dinners a week.
The salon Of Mile. de Lespinasse was
from the outset a great success. The gath
erings there included almost all the dis
tingGished persons OF every calling and
nationality 10 be found in Paris between
the years 1854 and l776. Fine ladies', SOL
dien. statesmen. divines, scholars, men Of
letterS-every class was there represented.
There Turgot discussed his abortive social
reforms There Condorcet, the philo-
sophie marquis. brought his ungainly per-
sonality and his wild revolutionary ideas.
There the Italian Ambassador Gallant, "the
pretty dwarf gesticulated and held forth
at win There David Hume sought ooun-
sci and sympathy from -the most sensible
woman In Paris There the fascinating
Comtesse de Boufilers, tearing herself for
awhile from the semi'royal circle where
as mistress Of the Prince de Cont she
reigned supreme, poured forth her start
ling paradoxes. There the warm hearted
Duohesse de Chatillon, who woshipped
julie de Lespinasse, hung eagerly on every
word that fell from the lips Of her idol. There
also might be seen the stately Spaniard
Amanda, and there for brief space the enig-
malio figure Of Lord Shelburne D'Alem-
bert, Of course, was always present, except
when absent from Paris.
All cont mporaries agrk that the dis
tinguiAhing characteristic Of this particular
salon was its catholioity, and that this again
was entirely ue TO the unique personality
OF the hostess, which enabled her TO attract
and combine into Homogeneous whole the
most diverse and incongruous elements
As MaTmontel observed at the time, no
ordinary woman could have started discus
sions among such remarkable men and taken
part in them as she did with closeness OF
reasoning equal TO theirs and sometimes
with an eloquence peculiar 10 herself No
ordinary woman could have varied the
at her will, introducing each
new topic with the ease Of fairy waving
her magic wand, Grimm testihes that she
possessed in the most eminent degree the
difficult and precious art Of drawing out the
best intelligence Of others. No one, La
Harpe recalled could better do the honors
Of her house. Every one found his own
place there and always TO his own satisfac-
tion "She had great knowledge Of the
world, and that most attractive kind Of
pollteness which seems to proceed from a
personal interest in each individual II Is
true that conversation was sometimes
varied with readings that terrible insti-
tuition OF the eighteenth century. From
the worst horrors Of this system, however,
Julie de Lespinasse was comparatively
secure, for such was the reputation Of her
salon In literary circles that only writer's
with something to recommend them could
aspire 10 the advertisement Of appearing
there. Thus Marmontel gave her the first
reading OF comic opera, La Harpe Of a
tragedy, and Bernardin de Saint-PieTe OF
his Voyage rIsle de France jules
salon closed theoretically at 0 O'Clock, after
which she and most Of her guests went out
to finish the evening elsewhere.