The Republican journal., 1912-04-25

Museum there is fine bronze bust of
Prosper Merimee, the Partisan romancer
who died in 1870. His heroic story has
done much to make Corsica known and
appreciated.
H. Seton Merriman has written ''The
Isle of Unrest" which hardly does JUS
tice, however, except in scenic portrayal,
to these brave, simple, hardy noun
talneers and their stirring code of honor.
Several other transitory visitors to our
Isle of Delight have duly chronicled their
Impressions which make agreeable read
ing.
Miss Campbell, the Scotch lady who
adored Corsica, wrote thoroughly en-
Joyable little volume, as far back as 1868,
and gives an excellent list of the beau
teous floral wealth of these regions.
Her memory is revered still, here in
Ajaccio. Her imposing and well-loved
home, La Tour d'Albion," stands in a
bower Of tropical bloom.
This resourceful island only needs de-
velopment and willing hands to urge her
on to activity and consequent well-being.
The mineral wealth is as yet inadequate
ly known. There are many kinds of
marble and jasper.
The white city of Bastia on the north
eastern coast is paved with Corsican jas
per, and the Chapel of the Grand Duke
of Tuscany in Florence, Italy, is finished
in the same precious stone.
There are also to be found lead. COPPER.
iron, porphyry, and the hard compact
verde di Corsica" which takes a high
polish, and with which the celebrated
Medici family have adorned their magnif-
cent Florentine mausoleum.
Capital and industry are lacking in this
isle of enchantment. Life is fair and
easy, the Corsican thinks, so why exert
oneself needlessly? There are always
the Luccans for the absolutely necessary
hard labor. In the rugged north they
are, perhaps, more enterprising. In
Calvi, the seaport town of "semper-
fidelis" fame, the white heath or French
bruyere, is made into briar wood pipes,
rudely fashioned in the block, and then
sent over to France for the final shaping
and decorative work.
The mysterious charm of Corsica is al
ways with us. There is no lovelier place
in all the world in which to spend an
ideal winter than Ajaccio which COM
bines climate of exceptional softness
and salubrity with every modern comfort
and means of enjoyment and recreation.
Nature here may be found in one of
her most delightful moods. No praise is
too generous for this beautiful Eldorado
which is enve]oped, not only in the caress-
ing breezes of the south, but in the halo
of Corsica's greatest hero, who went
forth to conquer the world and found
instead the bitterness of exile on that
lonely rock at St. Helena.
In closing these few sketches of sun
kissed Ajaccio, the pearl of Corsica, I
cannot find any other words so appro-
pirate as those of Elizabeth Barrett
Browning:
"My dream is of an island place
Which distant seas keep lonely.
An island full of hills and dells
All rumpled and uneven,
With green recesses, sudden swells,
And odorous valleys driven,
So deep and straight that always there
The wind is Graded to soft air."
Vale to all the pleasant, CHEEKY hospi-
pality of Corsica's honest sons. Would
that we might give some adequate return
for so much graciousness and warmth.
Vale Ajaccio! A part of ourselves we
entrust to thy keeping, for thy lovely
memory will never leave US.
GRACE c. D. FAvRE.
Ajaccio, Island of Corsica, March 2, 1872
Children Cry
FOR FLETCHER'S