MARRIAGES OF MEN OF GENIUS

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2112, 21 January 1886, Page 4

MARRIAGES OF MEN OF GENIUS

W vuhiaoks of mi n ft >.' iiins h one ot t!u stran^e^t theni'S in the l.i.toiy oi lit* « .1 tare, (Juethe mairkil to become i expectable ; Nicbuiu to pkaso a inUti«'«s , Churchill because ho was irn-ei.il>le ; Nipoleon to get .1 command : Wilkes to oltligo lus friuids ; Wvcln-iloy to spire his relations. The author of "Said for the Solitary "' f'rni<-he< the following piquant tioicttiic torn lnn_' tho marriage of two Fieneh h'.tti alt n>s of cekbnty :— "M. Balzac, the Fn iich novelist, exhibits another oxamplo of eeccntritity iv matrimonial affairs. Accoiding to a Parisian corrospondi nt, the ariiv.il of tin? celehiatcd authoi fiom Ciimanv caused an immense «en«ati<>ii in coirim circles, owing to the lommtic ciniuii stances connected with his marriage When Bal/.ac was at the /<-nith of his fame In- was tia\elhng in Suit/eiland, und had .timed at the inn jiiH at the \ery nioment tho Pi met 1 and Piinre>>s Hanski were lua-\irn» it. Bil/to whs inhered into the room they had just vacattd, and was leaning fiom tho window to observe their depaiture, when his attention was amsttd by «• s-oft voice at hib elbow, asking for a book which had been left behind upon the window-seat. The lady was certainly fair, but appeared doubly so in the ejes of the poor author when she intimated that the book she was in quest of was the pocket edition of his own works, adding that she never travelled without it, and that without it she could not exist ! She drew the volume from beneath his elbow and flew downstairs, obedient to the sci earning summons of her husband— a pursy old gentleman, who was already seated in the carriage, railing in a loud voice against dilatory habits of women in general, and those of his own spouse in particular ; and the emblazoned vehicle drove off, leaving the novelist in a state of selfcomplaceny the most enviable to be conceived. This was the only occasion upon which Balzac and the Princess Hanski had met, till his recent visit to Germany, where he presented himself as her accepted husband. During these long intervening fifteen years, however, a literary correspondence was steadily kept up betw een the parties, till at length, instead of a letter containing literary strictures upon his writings, a missive of another kind, having a still more directly personal tendency, reached him from the fair hand of the princess. It contained the announcement of the demise of her husband, the prince — that he had bequeathed to her his domains and his great wealth — and, consequently, that she felt bound to requite him in tome measure for bis liberality, and had determined upon giving hi.n a successor — in the person of Balzac. It is needless to state that the delighted author waited not a second summons ; they were forthwith united in wedlock at her chateau on the Rhine, and a succession of splendid fcta> celebrated the auspicious event. The story of the marriage of Lamartine is also one of romantic interest. The lady, whose maiden name Mas Birch, was possessed of considerable property, and when past the bloom of youth she became passionately enamored of the poet from the perusal of his 'Meditations.' For some time she nursed this sentiment in secret, and, being apprized of the embirrassed state of his affairs, she wiote him, tendering him the bulk of her lortune. Touched with this remarkable proof of her generosity, and supposing it could oaly be caused by a preference for himself, he at once made an offer of his hand and heart. He judged rightly, and the poet waa promptly accepted.