EMILE SOUVESTRE O one succeeds in obtaining a nent place in literature, or in su ing himself with a faithful and circle of admirers drawn fr fickle masses of the public, un possesses originality, constant and a distinct personality. It possible to gain for a moment readers by imitating some original feature in a but these soon vanish and the writer remains ald forgotten. Others, again, without belonging distinct group of authors, having found their stan themselves, moralists and educators at the sam have obtained undying recognition. Of the latter class, though little known out France, is Emile Souvestre, who was born in M April 15, 1806, and died at Paris July 5, 1854. the son of a civil engineer, was educated at the of Pontivy, and intended to follow his father's ca entering the Polytechnic School. His father, ho died in 1823, and Souvestre matriculated as a la dent at Rennes. But the young student soon himself entirely to literature. His first essay, a t Le Siège de Missolonghi (1828), was a pronounc Disheartened and disgusted he left Par ure. [v] established himself first as a lawyer in Morlaix. Then he became proprietor of a newspaper, and was afterward appointed a professor in Brest and in Mulhouse. In 1836 he contributed to the Revue des Deux Mondes some sketches of life in Brittany, which obtained a brilliant success. Souvestre was soon made editor of La Revue de Paris, and in consequence early found a publisher for his first novel, L'Echelle de Femmes, which, as was the case with his second work, Riche et Pauvre, met with a very favorable reception. His reputation was now made, and between this period and his death he gave to France about sixty volumes-tales, novels, essays, history, and drama. A double purpose was always very conspicuous in his books: he aspired to the rôle of a moralist and educator, and was likewise a most impressive painter of the life, character, and morals of the inhabitants of Brittany. The most significant of his books are perhaps Les Derniers Bretons (1835-1837, 4 vols.), Pierre Landais (1843, 2 vols.), Le Foyer Breton (1844, 2 vols.), Un Philosophe sous les Toits, crowned by the Academy (1850), Confessions d'un Ouvrier (1851), Recits et Souvenirs (1853), Souvenirs d'un Vieillard (1854); also La Bretagne Pittoresque (1845), and, finally, Causeries Historiques et Littéraires (1854, 2 vols.). His comedies deserve honorable mention: Henri Hamelin, L'Oncle Baptiste (1842), La Parisienne, Le Mousse, etc. In 1848, Souvestre was appointed professor of the newly created school of administration, mostly devoted to popular lectures. He held this post till 1853, lecturing partly in Paris, partly in Switzerland. His death, when comparatively young, left a distinct gap in the literary world. A life like his could not be extinguished without general sorrow. Although he was unduly modest, and never aspired to the rôle of a beacon-light in literature, always seeking to remain in obscurity, the works of Emile Souvestre must be placed in the first rank by their morality and by their instructive character. They will always command the entire respect and applause of mankind. And thus it happens that, like many others, he was only fully appreciated after his death. Even those of his confrères who did not seem to esteem him, when alive, suddenly found out that they had experienced a great loss in his demise. They expressed it in emotional panegyrics; contemporaneous literature discovered that virtue had flown from its bosom, and the French Academy, which had at its proper time crowned his Philosophe sous les Toits as a work contributing supremely to morals, kept his memory green by bestowing on his widow the "Prix Lambert," designed for the "families of authors who by their integrity, and by the probity of their efforts have well deserved this token from the Republique des Lettres." Bertrand de l'Académie Française. |
