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THE OVEjSEBCKMAHH-CHATBIAH.The Paris correspondent of theLondou Atkenauw, M. Edmond About, gives the following interesting account of the celebrated writers, Erckmann-Chatrian:—Pahis, Oct. 24.The Channel is not so wide as to have prevented you from hearing of the hue-and-cry which has been kept up for nearly two months against Erckmnuu Chatrinn. Three or four parties ere heart and soul engaged in it together, as in the battues organised by our lieutenants tie lonvctcrie, in which join at haphazard watch dogs, sheep dogs, ratters, and simple pugs. The object has been to form u cabal agaiiist u comedy accepted and put iu rehearsal at the Theatre Fruneais, “L’Ami Fritz,” an excellent work, touching, honest, irreproachable in every respect, but on accouu* of its authors names abused by the Bona-partists and their allies of the hour. Nothing is more hateful than an outbreak of violence and lierccnos on the part of a stupid'multitude, uud directed against nu innocent masterpiece. I hope, I am sure, that the respectable people who reason may not be outnumbered by the rascals who hoot. But, while waiting for the event, it will be well if I make you acquainted with the prey that the pack of the old parties seeks 10 devour.It is not to-day for the first time, I know, that llie pers.ui and character of Erckmann-Chatrian aroused the interest o the most cultivated of your countrymen. In 1SG7, a philosopher of the eighteenth century, who, through some lucky caprice of fate, has strayed into the uinctceatSi, Lord Houghton, formed the pleasant idea °f getting together at il»e club of the Exhibition scmijo 20 Englishmen and Frenchmen most ingeniously assorted. I had the honor to be present, and J remember that, at the end of an excellent breakfast, two or ihree Englishmen induced me to talk of Erckmann-Chatrian. I said nothing but good of them, because there was nothing else to say, :md presently, carried away by my subject, 1 began to repeat one ol the most picturesque pages in their books. 1 was applauded, and I began io laugh, and said, *' Nc vous y trompez pas, messieurs ; mu prdtendue citation n’cst qu'un pastiche improvise. Bien n’est plus simple ni plus facile que d’imiterla nutmcrc d’Erckmann Cliatrain. Ccltc impliasr rusfiqup, cette nssociaiion des details de la vie la plus vulgaire et des sentiments les plu * e.'evcs dclnmebumai/ie consiituc u:i proce-je litteraire a la per tee de fcous, mcis dans J. s ceurres d’Erckmam:-Chatrian i! y a u:t genie qui piane la dessus, ct ce genie n'esfc pas u mon service, malhcurcusement.Tliesingular personage, whom the world knows under the name of Erckmann-Chatrian, is composed or two men. robust, sound in body, and vigorous iu mind. They arc neither of them Alsatians, though they have together created an Alsatian literature.Emile Erckmann was born, 51 year.', ago, in the little Lorraine town of Plials-bourg* To Jiuve an exact idea os wluit Pimlsbourg was 10 years back, picture to yourself a statue of Marshal Cointc de Lobau, round the statue a place planted with old trees, round the place a row of very modest houses, round the houses a cluster of barracks and casemuted magazines, round the bnrraeks a rampart, round the rampart ditches, and rouud the ditches a plain, high, bare, and dry. An old legend asserts that every’ house iu Phalsbourg lias produced, on an average, a sixth of a general, a colonel, two majors, ten captains and lieutenants in proportion. In short, it is a veritable cradle of soldiers, the luok of which was dear to my old chauvauisrue. and which I never saw without pleasure, I lived a long time near it. The little warlike town which the Germans dismantled in 1S72 is five English miles from Schlittenbaeli, that dear house where lour of the six children that I hare the happines?-to possess were born. Everything ai Plialsbourg is military, and 1 once was acquainted with a lawyer, a simple notary, who knew the Annuaire by’ heart, and could name all the colonels of nil the regiments in France, and tel! their depots, and where the regiments were stationed.• Such was the singular atmosphere, one may almost call it absolutely unique, in winch Kinilo Erckmaun was born. Ilis father, a small bookseller, who combined the selling of a few groceries with his bookselling, was neither rich nor poor. He seut his son to the college, and made him study law.Chatrian, like Erckmann, is a native of Lorraine, hut like him, and like me, alas ! he is a native of the annexed portion. His native village is called iSoldatenthal, the village of the soldier, because it was founded, if the legend is to he trusted by a Swedish soldier seeded in France after the Thirty Years’ War. The collaborator of Erchrnanu is zyentilhomnic, by the same title as MM. Granier de Cassagnac, father and son. He is descended from a family of glassblowers, and himself blew glass iu his youth. But that trade not being to his liking, preferred to re-enter, as mUtlre d'etudes, the little callage of Plialsbourg, where lie had been educated, and there f ormed his friendship with ErckmanD.Their beginnings iu literature were far from successful. In 1S4S they started at Strasbourg a republican journal called the Talrwte ilu ffltin, and they brought out at the Strasbourg Theatre a grand drama. “ L’Alsace on 1S14,” but at the second performance the piece was prohibited by the censorship, and the journal died lor want of subscribers. They cnmo to Paris and knocked without success at the doors of the Publishers. Their first ’.novel, Zos Bnyumh ties Fosycs, appeared in the Jovsiut1 ties Faits of the Abbe Migne, but it was not paid for; and the two friends might have died of starvation had not the one had had some li: He means of his own and the ether a humble occupation. Chatrian ecrued 15001'. iu the office ol the Che mi n de Fcr dc l’Est. As far as I can remember, the firs: book of theirs that I read was a isutustic tale translated from Evekumnn by Chatrnin. Some periodicals more or less read, L'Artiste, La Feme deParis, Lit Conslitionnet, opened their columns ro them, not without difficulty, aud for live or six years they found it much more difficult to get a single novel published than to write two.How they are almost rich. The journals compete for the privilege of printing their stories, and Heizci, au excellent and honest publisher, sells them by the hundred thousand. However, Chatrian has ocver left the railway, and has risen to r very ho:.0:ab!c post. He is cassier des litres, and his salary must be some ten or twelve thousand francs a year. He is nlarried, and lias three children. He has a pretty house at Bainry in the banlicue, and l,c yOWMJ.es great influence in his neiebborlwod. It was lo him that thebrave G donel Laugh'!* owed Ins success at the ilK-Lions oflnst February. ^‘Erckinann. who is not married, is an gxjWrwiihout near relations. He had awho hasBTand nic«;e at Strasbourg, b • • -..... Broken aown by thismarried a German sorrow,' hev,wauaered for a long time on tbe tfordVVs'ot our clear native land, the 3bor of which is shut to him as to soman j ‘‘others: -'Before the war he had settled in Hip wet tv valley of the Ziozcl, to livev, ,r , ?__,.r jio) EV,V- jsafter the festoon of the A mil rit the best liver in the world ; he adores the eood wine of Alsace, soucrkraut, ham, the crayfish of tbe Zorn, the beer of Strasbourg, and |.e gladly loses himself in the clouds.that rise from his pipe. What ho loves, perhaps, still better, is 'hooting in the woods, long expeditions inthe mountains, and discussions without end with a small group of friends. A most worthy man, in truth, this Erckmann, and a droll fellow, too. He had decayed teeth, which gave him pain from time to time. So he had them all taken out at one sitting, and now, with a set of gums as fresh and rosy as an iufaut of six months old, he munches the most solid of food and the softest of crusts. With his cheeks u little hollow, his fat chin, his long moustaches, and his bourgeois country dress, lie looks like a colonel on half pa}*. After having long wandered like a tormented spirit near the lost paradise of Alsace-Lorraine, he has settled in the neighbourhood of Saint Hie, in the Vosges, with worthy friends who are connexions of his. 1 went to sec him there two years a o, and mechanically, in spite of ourselves, across the mountain paths we penetrated into Alsace.I learned on this occasion the secret of his joint work with the good Chatrian. The two friends sec one another very rarely, whether at Paris or in (he Vosges. When they do meet they elaborate together iu tho scheme of a work. Then Erckmann writes* it, Chatrian corrects it, and sometimes puts it into the fire. I can quote, as an example, a certain story conceived in nn anti clerical spirit, and intended for the XlXtne. Siacic. Erckmann is at this moment writing it lor the third time. We have few writers so conscientious aud I do not suppose that you have many. We have nvne more sincere, more upright, more humane, mere zealous in defending the true agaiusl the untrue, right against might. We hare no better patriots, if patriotism consists in denouncing the follies of ambition, decrying false glory, not seeking a quarrel with anyone, but wishing that a people uujustlyinvaded should deiend itself to the Inst.Such is the meaning and morality of all these national tales which the authors of our ruin denounce io the public with signal hypocrisy.For Slilft, CItCAt),. VINEYARD STILL, complete. Apply 1 L. to J. Lindsay Drown, Gooramadda.101 feb *20T OLET,FOK’dtxzmg jfurposes,FOB TWELVE MOB T H S,11,258 ACRES(More- or less), ofFINE BRAZING m 3SRI3UL7URAI.is*.SITUATED NEAR WANGAl’ATXi, OXLEY AND REN ALLA.S1EALED TENDERS, uil ircssed to Mr J Eavrsud Diih-u, euro of Air Aiuiuuoh, Commercial EoieJ, Waugutaua, are iuvhtii Irom persons drsirous of RENTING llie auucmomiomid land?, for grazing purposes only, for the ensuing twulw months, in o?ie or more lots, as hereiuufU-r uescribed, viz :—LOT 1.Gretil.—(Immediately adjoining (he township of Greta) Crown lvt3 LSos. 1, *2, I*, 4, 5, aud G, Section E, punsh of Grein. cuutaiuing 501a Or 12p, more or leas.LOT 2.Crown lots -IS undi 49, parish ofMyrheeAlyrheOi containing 277a Or 27pLOT 3.Lucehy—Ciowu Luts 1a aud li, 2a aud B, oa and s. 4a ami n, Section 24, Pariah of Lacihy, containing 570a Or 27p, more or less.LOT -1.OX Icy—Crown Lot Nu. 2, patish of Oxley, coutaiuiug 200 acres.LOT 5.JXoyUll—Crown Lots couiaiuiug 9S03a 3r lOp, moro or less.The last mentioutd may bo tendered for iu two lots, tho rood on tho southern sidcB of sections 30, 29, 23, 13, uud 14, to be taken as the boundary or dividing line of same, which uro to be toudered for as ** Mnyha Lunds, North,” and *• Aioyhu Lands, iSouih,” res pectivcly.Teuders,. accompanied by u deposit of 10 per cent, on- the gross amount of each tender, will bo opened by Air Dillon et the Commercial Hotel, Waugarattu, on 1VEDNESDAY, the 14th day of FEBRUARY, 1S77, at NoonThe highest or any tender not necesearily accepted.The lauds will be let subject to tho usual agreement for occupancy to bu entered iuto on acceptance of the tenders.Farther particulars may be hud on applica-iion to Messrs Blake nud ItiggoU,solicitors, William Street, Melbourne. 250 99TO THEE LECTORSOFDELATITEGENTLEMEN, — Having received numerous promises of support from influential Electors of your district, of well-known liberal views, and from men who are thoroughly identified with your real interests, with a practical knowledge of your requirements, and who have every confidence ia me, 1 now beg to announce myself as a Candidate for your vote aud interest at the coming election. I shall immediately visit every portion of your district, aud afford you the fullest information as to my political principles, and at tho same time I shall endeavor to make myself intimately acquainted with your wants, wishes, and requirements. Should you do me the honor to elect me, I shall devote my energy, time, and abilities zealously and persistently to advance the interests of my constituents, individually as well as collectively, and for this purpose I shall be always available and willing to render you every assistance in my power. I now in the first instance solicit your vote and interest.70I am, yours most faithfully,JAMES H. GRAVES.Becclnvortli Milling Board Election.I AM ft CANDIDATE for tho BEECH-WORTH DIVISION at tho BecchworthMining Board. 200G. MERRICK OATES.Races! Races!GOOD ACCOMMOADATION at the VINE HOTEL. Old Oats and Hay, Loose Boxes, «fcc.Mrs C. VAN DEN BERG,113 feb 8 Sydney-xoad, Eeechv:orth.Fishing aud Pic-nie Parties-ON and ailer November I8tb, 1S7G, H. VAN DEN BERG will be prepared to RUN A COACH from Evertou Station to any part of the Ovena River, Oxley, or Bowman's Forest, at CHEAP RATES. Katurn Tickets t to the Pioneer Bridgo, 3a each. 744 feb 18
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Beechworth Ovens and Murray Advertiser

Beechworth, Victoria, AU

Tue, Feb 06, 1877

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