New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-08-08
"La N1arseillaise,' the Rev0-
luti0mary Camticl@
Of France
Of + rance
Bv II. f. kREHBlEL

ton bread and few slices of ham, Dietrich
looking at De Lisle with melancholy calmness
said to him. Abundance is wanting at our
banquet, but what matters that when neither
enthusiasm is wanting at our civic feasts nor
courage in the hearts of our soldiers? | have
still a bottle of wine left in my cellar; let it
be brought up and let us drink to liberty and
TO our country There will soon be patriotic
celebration at Strasburg; may these last drops
inspire. de IiSic with one of those hymns which
convey to the soul Of the people the intoxica-
ton from whence they proceed The young
girls applauded, brought in the wine and filled
the glasses of their aged father and the young
officer. until the liquor was exhausted. 1t was
midnight. The night was cold. De Lisle was
in a dreamy state his heart was touched; his
head was heated. The cold overpowered him,
and he tottered into his lonely room slowly,
seeking inspiration, now in his patriotic soul,
now in his harpsichord; sometimes composing
the air before the words, sometimes the words
before the air, and so combining them in his
thoughts that he himself did not know whether
the notes or the verses came first and that it
was impossible to separate the poetry from
the music or the sentiment from the expires
sion. He sang all and set down nothing.
"Overpowered with this sublime inspiration,
de Iise went to sleep on the harpschord and
did not wake until day. He recalled the song
Of the previous night with a difficulty like that
with which we recall the impressions of a
dream. He now set down the words and mu-
sic and ran with them to Dietrich, whom he
found at work in the garden. The wife and
e +bo a. otriof boI vat
Dietrich awakened them and invited somc
friends who were as passionatey fond Of mu-
sic as himself and were capable of executing
de Isles composition. His eldest daughter
played the accompaniment while Rouget sang.
At the first stanza all faces turned pale; at
the second tears ran down every cheek; at
the last all the madness Of enthusiasm broke
forth. Dietrich, his wife, his daughters and
the young officer fell weeping into each others
arms; the hymn of the country was found. 1t
was destined. alas! to he also the hymn of
terror. A few months afterward the unfortu-
nate Dietrich went to the scafod to the sound
of the very notes which had their origin on
his own hearth, in the heart of his friend and
i'm the voices of his children.
"The new song, executed some days after
ward at Strasburg, flew from city to city,
being played by all the public orchestras.
Marseies adopted it to be sung at the begin
ming and close Of every session of its clubs.
The Marseillaise spread it through France,
singing it on their route, whence it acquired
the name Of The Marseillaise.' The old
mother Of de Lisle, who was a pious Royalist,
was Mortified at hearing the echo of her sons
voice and wrote to him; What is this revolu-
tionary hymn which is sung about France by
a horde of robbers and with which our name
is connected? De Lisle himself, afterward
prescribed as a Royaiist, heard with shud-
der his own song as ne led through pass in
the Upper Alps. What IS the name Of that
hymn?' he asked his guide. The Marseillaise,'