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anagram of Gazul), and giving itself out as translated from the Illyrian of a certain Hyacinthe Maglanovich. This book, which has greater formal merit than Clara Gazul, is said to have taken in See also:

Sir See also:

John See also:

BOWRING, SIR JOHN (1792-1872)

Bowring, a competent Slav See also:

SCHOLAR, SCHOLARSHIP

scholar, the See also:

RUSSIAN

Russian poet Poushkin, and some See also:

German authorities, although not only had it no See also:

ORIGINAL

original, but, as Merimee declares, a few words of Illyrian and a book or two of travels and See also:

topography were the author's only materials.

In the next See also:

YEAR

year appeared a See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short dramatic See also:

ROMANCE

romance, La See also:

JACQUERIE, THE

Jacquerie, in which are visible Merimee's extraordinaryfaculty of local and See also:

HISTORICAL

historical colour; his command of See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language, his grim See also:

IRONY (Gr. dipaweLa, from eipwv, one who says less than he means, eiepees, to speak)

irony, and a certain predilection for tragic and terrible subjects, which was one of his numerous points of contact with the men of the See also:

RENAISSANCE, THE

Renaissance. This in its turn was followed by a still better piece, the Chronique de See also:

Charles IX. (1829), which stands towards the 16th century much as the Jacquerie does towards the See also:

MIDDLE

middle ages. All these works were to a certain extent second-See also:

hand. But they exhibited all the future See also:

LITERARY

literary qualities of the author See also:

SAVE, or SAVA (Ger. Sau; Hungarian Szdva; Lat. Savus)

save the two chiefest, his wonder-fully severe and almost classical style, and his equally classical solidity and statuesqueness of construction. He had already obtained a considerable position in the See also:

CIVIL

civil service, and after the revolution of See also:

JULY

July he was chef de See also:

CABINET

cabinet to two different ministers. He was then appointed to the more congenial See also:

POST

post of inspector-See also:

general of historical monuments. Merimee was a born archaeologist, combining linguistic See also:

FACULTY (through the French, from the Lat. facultas, ability to do anything, from facilis, easy, facere, to do; another form of the word in Lat. facilitas, facility, ease, keeps the original meaning)

faculty of a very unusual See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind with accurate scholarship, with remark-able historical appreciation, and with a sincere love for the arts of See also:

DESIGN (Fr. desiin, drawing; Lat. designare, to mark out)

design and construction, in the former of which he had some See also:

PRACTICAL

practical skill. In his See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official capacity he published numerous reports, some of which, with other similar pieces, have been republished in his works. .He also devoted himself to See also:

HISTORY

history proper during the latter years of the July See also:

MONARCHY (Fr. monarchic, from Lat. monarchia, Gr. uovapXia, rule of one, µbvos, alone, apXi7, rule)

monarchy, and published numerous essays and works of no See also:

GREAT

great length, chiefly on Spanish, Russian and See also:

ancient See also:

ROMAN

Roman history. He did not, however, neglect novel See also:

writing during this period, and numerous short tales, almost without exception masterpieces, appeared, chiefly in the Revue de Paris. The best of all, Colomba, a Corsican See also:

story of extraordinary See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power, appeared in 1840.

He travelled a See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good See also:

DEAL

deal; and in one of his journeys to See also:

Spain, about the middle of See also:

Louis Philippe's reign, he made an acquaintance destined to influence his future See also:

LIFE

life not a little—that of Mme de Montijo, mother of the future empress See also:

EUGENIE

Eugenie. Merimee, though in manner and language the most cynical of men, was a devoted friend, and shortly before the See also:

ACCESSION (from Lat. accedere, to go to, to approach)

accession of See also:

NAPOLEON

Napoleon III. he had occasion to show this. His friend, Libri Carucci dalla Sommaja, was accused of having stolen valuable See also:

MANUSCRIPTS

manuscripts and books from French See also:

LIBRARIES

libraries, and Merimee took his See also:

PART

part so warmly that he was actually sentenced to and underwent See also:

FINE

fine and imprisonment. He had been elected of the See also:

Academy in 1844, and also of the Academy of See also:

INSCRIPTIONS (from Lat. inscribere, to write upon)

Inscriptions, of which he was a prominent member. Between 1840 and 1850 he wrote more tales, the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief of which were Arsene Guillot and Carmen (1847), this last, on a Spanish subject, hardly ranking below Colomba. The See also:

EMPIRE

empire made a considerable difference in Merimee's life. His sympathies were against See also:

DEMOCRACY (Gr. 3np.oKparia, from S)µos, the people, i.e. the commons, and Kparos, rule)

democracy, and his habitual cynicism and his irreligious prejudices made legitimism distasteful to him. But the See also:

MARRIAGE

marriage of Napoleon III. with the daughter of Mme de Montijo at once enlisted what was always strongest with Merimee—the sympathy of See also:

PERSONAL

Personal friendship—on the See also:

EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor's side. He was made a senator, but his most important role was that of a See also:

CONSTANT, BENJAMIN (1845-1902)

constant and valued private friend of both the " See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master and See also:

MISTRESS

mistress of the See also:

house," as he calls the emperor and empress in his letters. He was occasionally charged with a kind of irregular See also:

DIPLOMACY (Fr. diplomatic)

diplomacy, and once, in the See also:

MATTER

matter of the emperor's See also:

Caesar, he had to give literary assistance to Napoleon. But for the most part he was strictly the See also:

ANTI, or CAMPA

anti de la maison. At the Tuileries, at See also:

COMPIEGNE

Compiegne, at See also:

BIARRITZ

Biarritz, he was a constant though not always a very willing See also:

guest, and his influence over the empress, was very considerable and was fearlessly exerted, though he usea°'to See also:

CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call himself, in See also:

IMITATION (Lat. imitatio, from intitari, to imitate)

imitation of See also:

SCARRON, PAUL (1610-166o)

Scarron, " le bouffon de sa majeste." He found, however, time for not a few more tales, of which more will be said presently, and for correspondences, which are not the least of his literary achievements, while they have an extraordinary See also:

INTEREST

interest of matter.

One of these consists of the letters which have been published as Leitres a une inconnue, another of the letters addressed to Sir See also:

Anthony See also:

PANIZZI, SIR ANTHONY (1797-1879)

Panizzi, librarian of the See also:

BRITISH

British Museum. After various conjectures it seems that the inconnue just mentioned was a certain Mlle Jenny Daqin of See also:

BOULOGNE, or BOULLONGNE

Boulogne. The acquaintance extended over many years; it partook at one time of the See also:

CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character of love, at another of that of See also:

SIMPLE

simple friendship, and Merimee is exhibited in the letters under the most surprisingly diverse See also:

LIGHTS, CEREMONIAL USE OF

lights, most of them more or less amiable, and all interesting. The See also:

correspondence with Panizzi has somewhat less personal interest. But Merimee often visited See also:

England, where he had many See also:

friends (among whom the See also:

LATE

late Mr See also:

ELLICE (LAGOON) ISLANDS

Ellice of Glengarry was the chief), and certain similarities of See also:

TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

taste See also:

drew him closer to Panizzi personally, while during part of the empire the two served as the channel for a kind of unofficial diplomacy between the emperor and certain English statesmen. These letters are full of shrewd apergus on the See also:

state of See also:

EUROPE

Europe at different times. Both See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series, and others since published, abound in See also:

GOSSIP (from the O.E. godsibb, i.e. God, and sib, akin, standing in relation to)

gossip, in amusing anecdotes, in See also:

sharp literary See also:

criticism, while both contain evidences of a cynical and Rabelaisian or Swiftian See also:

HUMOUR (Latin humor)

humour which was very strong in Merimee. This characteristic is said to be so prominent in a correspondence with another friend, which now lies in the library at See also:

AVIGNON

Avignon, that there is but little See also:

CHANCE (through the O. Fr. cheance, from the Late Lat. cadentia, things happening, from cadere, to fall out, happen; cf. " case ")

chance of its ever being printed. A See also:

FOURTH

fourth collection of letters, of much inferior extent and interest, has been printed by See also:

BLAZE (A.-S. blaese, a torch)

Blaze de See also:

Bury under the See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of Lettres a une autre inconnue (1873), and others still by d'See also:

HAUSSONVILLE, JOSEPH OTHENIN BERNARD DE CLERON, COMTE

Haussonville (1888), and in the Revue See also:

des Deux Mondes (1896). In the latter years of his life Merimee suffered very much from See also:

ill-See also:

HEALTH

health. It was necessary for him to pass all his winters at See also:

CANNES

Cannes, where his constant companions were two aged English ladies, friends of his mother. The Terrible Year found him completely broken in health and anticipating the worst for See also:

France.

He lived See also:

long enough to see his fears realized, and to See also:

EXPRESS (through the French from the past participle of the Lat. exprimere, to press out, by transference used of representing objects in painting or sculpture, or of thoughts, &c. in words)

express his grief in some last letters, and he died at Cannes on the 23rd of September 187o. Merimee's character was a peculiar and in some respects an unfortunate one, but by no means unintelligible. Partly by temperament, partly it is said owing to some childish experience, when he discovered that he had been duped and determined never to be so again, not least owing to the example of See also:

HENRI

Henri See also:

BEYLE, MARIE HENRI (1783-1842)

Beyle (Stendhal), who was a friend of his See also:

FAMILY

family, and of whom he saw much, Merimee appears at a comparatively See also:

early See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age to have imposed upon himself as a See also:

DUTY (from " due," that which is owing, O. Fr. deu, dil, past participle of devoir; Lat. debere, debitum; cf. " debt ")

duty the See also:

MAINTENANCE (Fr. maintenance, from maintenir, to maintain, support, Lat. manu tenere, to hold in the hand)

maintenance of an attitude of sceptical indifference and sarcastic criticism. Although a man of singularly warm and affectionate feelings, he obtained the See also:

CREDIT (Lat. credere, to believe)

credit of being a See also:

COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold-hearted cynic; and, though both See also:

INDEPENDENT

independent and disinterested, he was abused as a hanger-on of the imperial See also:

court. Both imputations were wholly undeserved, and indeed were prompted to a great extent by See also:

POLITICAL

political spite or by the resentment felt by his literary equals on the other side at the cool ridicule with which he met them. But he deserved in some of the See also:

BAD, BCD

bad as well as many of the good senses of the See also:

TERM

term the name of a man of the Renaissance. He had the warm partisanship and amiability towards friends and the See also:

SCORPION (Lat. Scorpio)

scorpion-like sting for his foes, he had the ardent delight in learning and especially in matters of See also:

art and belles lettres, he had the See also:

SCEPTICISM (o-Kesrroµai, I consider, reflect, hesitate, doubt)

scepticism, the voluptuousness, the curious delight in the contemplation of the horrible, which marked the men of letters of the humanist period. Even his literary See also:

WORK

work has this Renaissance character. It is tolerably extensive, amounting to some seventeen or eighteen volumes, but its bulk is not great for a life which was not short, and which was occupied, at least nominally, in little else. About a third of it consists of the letters already mentioned. Rather more than another third consists of the official work which has been already alluded to—reports, essays, short historical sketches, the chief of which latter is a history of Pedro the Cruel (1843), and another of the curious pretender known in Russian story as the false See also:

DEMETRIUS

Demetrius (1852). Some of the literary essays, such as those on Beyle, on See also:

TURGUENIEV, IVAN (1818-1883)

Turgueniev, &c., where a personal See also:

ELEMENT (Lat. elementum)

element enters, are excellent.

Against others and against the larger historical sketches—admirable as they are—See also:

TAINE, HIPPOLYTE ADOLPHE (1828-1893)

Taine's criticism that they want life has some force. They are, however, all marked by Merimee's admirable style, by his See also:

sound and accurate scholar-See also:

SHIP

ship, his strong intellectual grasp of whatever he handled, his cool unprejudiced views, his marvellous faculty of designing and proportioning the treatment of his work. In purely arckaeo-logical matters his Description des peintures de See also:

SAINT (lat. sanctus, " holy ")

Saint-Savin is very noteworthy. It is, however, in the remaining third of his work, consisting entirely of tales either in narrative or in dramatic See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form, and especially in the former, that his full power is perceived. He translated a certain number of things (chiefly from the Russian); but his fame does not See also:

REST (O. Eng. rest, reste, bed, cognate with other Teutonic forms, e.g. Ger. Rast, Riiste, rest, and probably Gothic Rasta, league, i.e. resting or stopping place)

rest on these, on his already-mentioned youthful supercheries, or on his later semi-dramatic works. There remain about a See also:

SCORE (O.E. scor, from sceran, to cut, notch, cf. " shear ")

score of tales, extending in point of See also:

composition over exactly See also:

FORTY

forty years and in length from that of Colomba, the longest, which fills about one See also:

HUNDRED

hundred and fifty pages, to that of l'Enlevement de la redoute (1829), which fills just See also:

HALF

half a dozen. They are unquestionably the best things of their kind written during the century, the only nouvelles that can See also:

CHALLENGE (O. Fr. chalonge, calenge, &c., from Lat. calumnia, originally meaning trickery, from calvi, to deceive, hence a false accusation, a " calumny ")

challenge comparison with them being the very best of See also:

Gautier, and one or two of See also:

Balzac. The motives are sufficiently different. In Colomba and Mateo See also:

FALCONE, ANIELLO (x600–x665)

Falcone (1829), the Corsican point of See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour is See also:

DRAWN

drawn on; in Carmen (written apparently after See also:

READING

reading See also:

BORROW, GEORGE HENRY (18o3-1881)

Borrow's Spanish books), the gipsy character; in la See also:

VENUS

Venus d'Ille (1837) and Lokis (two of the finest of all), certain grisly superstitions, in the former See also:

case that known in a milder form as the See also:

RING (O.E. hring; a word common to Teutonic languages; and probably cognate with the Lat. circus, Gr. KtpKOS or KpLKOS, Skt'. chakra, wheel, circle, cf. also " harangue "); in art, a band of circular shape of varying sizes, made of any material and used f

ring given to Venus, in the latter a variety of the were-See also:

wolf fancy. Arsene Guillot is a singular See also:

SATIRE (Lat. satira, satura; see below)

satire, full of sarcastic pathos, on popular morality and See also:

religion; la Chambre bleue, an 18th-century See also:

CONTE

conte, worthy of C. P. J.

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