A Very Special Correspondent
Pauline de Meulan’s magazine Publiciste was close to going out of business when an anonymous contributor stepped in.
1807
King George III 1760-1820
Pauline de Meulan’s magazine Publiciste was close to going out of business when an anonymous contributor stepped in.
1807
King George III 1760-1820
François Guizot (1787-1874) was the 17th Prime Minister of France, and a historian with a particular affection for England. ‘If he was treated with harshness by his political enemies,’ wrote Samuel Smiles, ‘his consolation was in the tender affection which filled his home with sunshine.’
THE circumstances connected with M Guizot's courtship and marriage are curious and interesting.*
While a young man living by his pen in Paris, writing books, reviews, and translations, he formed a casual acquaintance with Mademoiselle Pauline de Meulan, a lady of great ability, then editor of the Publiciste.
A severe domestic calamity having befallen her, she fell ill, and was unable for a time to carry on the heavy literary work connected with her journal. At this juncture a letter without any signature reached her one day, offering a supply of articles, which the writer hoped would be worthy of the reputation of the Publiciste. The articles duly arrived, were accepted, and published. They dealt with a great variety of subjects — art, literature, theatricals, and general criticism.
When the editor at length recovered from her illness, the writer of the articles disclosed himself: it was M Guizot. An intimacy sprang up between them, which ripened into mutual affection, and before long Mademoiselle de Meulan became his wife.*
M Guizot’s literary standing in Victorian England was very high. In the comic opera ‘Patience’, W. S Gilbert included his ‘narrative powers’ in a recipe for a Dragoon in the British Army, along with Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, Daniel Defoe and Anthony Trollope. Find in our Music Library.
Society found the alliance intriguing. The two differed greatly in character: Pauline was as lively, outgoing and unsure of her beliefs as François was retiring, bookish, and crusading. Pauline was his elder by 14 years.
1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
How did François Guizot make his living at the time when he first met Pauline?
He was a freeland writer in Paris.
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Pauline was editor of ‘Publiciste’. She fell ill. She could not do her job properly.