tions with Baron Grimm - the subject of curiosity and scandal-will explain her early knowledge of it. She records it in a letter to the very remarkable Italian Abbé Galiani, under date of May 3, 1778. And she proceeds to give a translation in French verse, which she. says "D'Alembert made the other morning on waking." Galiani, who was himself a master of Latin versification, and followed closely the fortunes of America, must have enjoyed the tribute. In a letter written shortly afterwards, he enters into all the grandeur of the occasion. "You have," says he, "at this hour decided the greatest revolution of the globe, the question whether America shall rule Europe, or Europe shall continue to rule America. I would wager in favor of America." In these words the Neapolitan said as much as Turgot. I cannot quote Galiani without adding that nobody saw America with more prophetic eye than this inspired Pulcinello of Naples. As far back as May 18, 1776, several weeks even before the Declaration of Independence, and much longer before it was known in Europe, he wrote: "The epoch is come for the total fall of Europe and for transmigration to America. . . . . Do not, then, buy your house in the Chaussée d'Antin, but at Philadelphia. The misfortune for me is that there are no abbeys in America."3 Once a favorite in the very circle where Franklin was welcomed, he left Paris for Italy before the arrival of the negotiator, so that he 1 Mémoires et Correspondance de Madame D'Épinay (3me édit.), Tom. III. p. 431. 2 Lettre à Madame D'Épinay, 25 Juillet, 1778: Correspondance, Tom. II. p. 280. 3 Ibid., 1 p. 285. p. 203. See, also, Grimm, Correspondance, Oct., 1776, Tom. IX. knew the tribute only through a faithful correspond ence. Shortly afterwards the verse appears in a different scene. It had reached the salons of Madame Doublet, whence it was transferred to the " Mémoires Secrets" of Bachaumont, under date of June 8, 1778, as "a very beautiful verse, quite proper to characterize M. Franklin and to serve as an inscription for his portrait."1 These Memoirs, as is well known, are the record of news and town-talk gathered in the circle of that venerable Egeria of gossip; and here is evidence of the publicity this welcome had promptly obtained. The verse was now fairly launched. War was flagrant between France and Great Britain. No longer was there any reason why the new alliance between France and the United States should not be placed under the auspices of genius, and why the same hand that had snatched the lightning from the skies should not have the fame of snatching the sceptre from King George the Third. The time for free speech had come. It was no longer "blasphemous." It will be observed that these records of this verse fail to mention the immediate author. Was he unknown at the time? or did the fact that he was recently a Cabinet Minister induce him to hide behind a mask? Turgot was a master of epigram, -as witness the terrible lines on Frederick of Prussia; but he was very 1 Tom. XII. p. 9 (Londres, 1780). 2 The dictionaries of Michaud and Didot concur in the date of her death; but there is reason to suppose that they are both mistaken. 3" Hai du Dieu d'Amour, cher au Dieu des Combats, Il inonda de sang l'Europe et sa patrie: Cent mille hommes par lui reçurent le trépas, Et pas un n'en reçut la vie." Biographie Universelle, Tom. XLVII. p. 67, note, art. TURGOT. prudent in conduct. "Nobody," said Voltaire, "so skilful to launch the shaft without showing the hand." There is a letter from no less a person than D'Alembert, which reveals something of the "filing" which the verse underwent, and something of the persons consulted. Un-* happily, the letter is without date; nor does it appear to whom it was addressed, except that the "cher confrère" seems to imply that it was to a brother of the Academy. This letter is found in a work now known to have been the compilation of the Marquis Gaëtan de la Rochefoucauld,1 entitled "Mémoires de Condorcet sur la Révolution Française, extraits de sa Correspondance et de celles de ses Amis," and is introduced by the following words from the Marquis: "It is known how Franklin was fêted when he came to Paris, because he was the representative of a republic. The philosophers, especially, received him with enthusiasm. It may be said, among other things, that D'Alembert lost his sleep; and we are going to prove it by a letter which he wrote, while racking his brain to versify in honor of Franklin." 'Eripuit cœlo fulmen, mox sceptra tyrannis.' You should surely cause it to be put in the Paris paper, if it is not there already. "I am inclined to agree with La Harpe that sceptrumque is better first, because mox sceptra is a little hard, and then 1 See Quérard, La France Littéraire, art. LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIAN COURT. because mox, according to the dictionary of Gesner, who adduces examples, signifies equally statim or deinde, which makes an ambiguity, mox eripuit or mox eripiet. "Be that as it may, here is how I have attempted to translate this verse for the portrait of Franklin : 'Tu vois le sage courageux Dont l'heureux et mâle génie If you find these verses sufficiently tolerable, so that people will not laugh at me, you can have them put into the Paris paper, even with my name. I shall honor myself in rendering this homage to Franklin, but on condition once more that you find the verses printable. As I make little pretension on account of them, I shall be perfectly content, if you reject them as bad. "The third verse might be put, A ravi le tonnerre aux cieux or aux dieux. I should prefer the other; but you shall choose." From this letter it appears that the critical judgment of La Harpe, confirmed by D'Alembert, sided for sceptrumque as better than mox sceptra. The verse of Turgot was not alone in its testimony. An incident precisely contemporaneous shows how completely France had fallen under the fascination of the American cause. Voltaire, the acknowledged chief of French literature in the brilliant eighteenth century, after many years of busy exile at Ferney, in the neighborhood of Geneva, where he had wielded his far-reaching sceptre, was induced in old age to visit Paris once again before he died. He left his Swiss retreat on the 6th of February, 1778, the very day on which Franklin signed the alliance with France, and, after a journey 1 Mémoires de Condorcet, Tom. I. pp. 165-167. B which resembled the progress of a sovereign, reached Paris on the 10th of February. He was at once surrounded by the homage of all most illustrious in literature and science, while the Theatre, grateful for his contributions, vied with the Academy. There were two characters on whom the patriarch, as he was fondly called, lavished a homage of his own. He had already addressed to Turgot a most remarkable epistle in verse, the mood of which may be seen in its title, " Épître à un Homme"; but on seeing the discarded statesman, who had been so true to benevolent ideas, he came forward to meet him, saying, with his whole soul, “Let me kiss the hand which signed the salvation of the people." The scene with Franklin was more touching still. Voltaire began in English, which he had spoken early in life, but, having lost the habit, soon changed to French, saying that he "could not resist the desire of speaking for one moment the language of Franklin." The latter had brought with him his grandson, for whom he asked a benediction. "God and Liberty," said Voltaire, putting his hands upon the head of the child; "this is the only benediction proper for the grandson of Franklin." A few weeks afterward, at a public session of the Academy, they were placed side by side, when, amidst the applause of the enlightened company, the two old men rose and embraced. The political triumphs of Franklin and the dramatic triumphs of Voltaire caused the exclamation, "Solon and Sophocles embrace!" It was more than this. It was France and America embracing beneath the benediction of "God and Liberty." Only a month later Voltaire died. But the alliance with France had received new assurance, and the cause of American independence an immutable impulse. |