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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Honore de Balzac, His Life and Writings, by 
+Mary F. Sandars
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Honore de Balzac, His Life and Writings
+
+Author: Mary F. Sandars
+
+Release Date: January 9, 2006 [EBook #9548]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HONORE DE BALZAC, HIS LIFE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by John Bickers and Dagny Wilson
+
+
+
+
+
+First published 1904.
+
+
+
+                           HONORE DE BALZAC
+                        HIS LIFE AND WRITINGS
+
+                                  BY
+
+                           MARY F. SANDARS
+
+
+
+                               PREFACE
+
+Books about Balzac would fill a fair-sized library. Criticisms on his
+novels abound, and his contemporaries have provided us with several
+amusing volumes dealing in a humorous spirit with his eccentricities,
+and conveying the impression that the author of "La Cousine Bette" and
+"Le Pere Goriot" was nothing more than an amiable buffoon.
+
+Nevertheless, by some strange anomaly, there exists no Life of him
+derived from original sources, incorporating the information available
+since the appearance of the volume called "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+This book, which is the source of much of our present knowledge of
+Balzac, is a collection of letters written by him from 1833 to 1844 to
+Madame Hanska, the Polish lady who afterwards became his wife. The
+letters are exact copies of the originals, having been made by the
+Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, to whom the autographs belong.
+
+It seems curious that no one should yet have made use of this mine of
+biographical detail. In English we have a Memoir by Miss Wormeley,
+written at a time when little as known about the great novelist, and a
+Life by Mr. Frederick Wedmore in the "Great Writers" Series; but this,
+like Miss Wormeley's Memoir, appeared before the "Lettres a
+l'Etrangere" were published. Moreover, it is a very small book, and
+the space in it devoted to Balzac as a man is further curtailed by
+several chapters devoted to criticism of his work. The introduction to
+the excellent translation of Balzac's novels undertaken by Mr.
+Saintsbury, contains a short account of his life, but this only fills
+a few pages and does not enter into much detail. Besides these, an
+admirable essay on Balzac has appeared in "Main Currents of
+Nineteenth-century Literature," by Mr. George Brandes; the scope of
+this, however, is mainly criticism of his merits as a writer, not
+description of his personality and doings.
+
+Even in the French language, there is no trustworthy or satisfactory
+Life of Balzac--a fact on which numerous critical writers make many
+comments, though they apparently hesitate to throw themselves into the
+breach and to undertake one. Madame Surville's charming Memoir only
+professes to treat of Balzac's early life, and even within these
+limits she intentionally conceals as much as she reveals. M. Edmond
+Bire, in his interesting book, presents Balzac in different aspects,
+as Royalist, playwriter, admirer of Napoleon, and so on; but M. Bire
+gives no connected account of his life, while MM. Hanotaux and Vicaire
+deal solely with Balzac's two years as printer and publisher. The
+Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul is the one man who could give a
+detailed and minutely correct Life of Balzac, as he has proved by the
+stores of biographical knowledge contained in his works the "Roman
+d'Amour," "Autour de Honore de Balzac," "La Genese d'un Roman de
+Balzac, 'Les Paysans,'" and above all, "L'Histoire des Oeuvres de
+Balzac," which has become a classic. The English or American reader
+would hardly be able to appreciate these fascinating books, however,
+unless he were first equipped with the knowledge of Balzac which would
+be provided by a concise Life.
+
+In these circumstances, helped and encouraged by Dr. Emil Reich, whose
+extremely interesting lectures I had attended with much enjoyment, and
+who very kindly gave me lists of books, and assisted me with advice, I
+engaged in the task of writing this book. It is not intended to add to
+the mass of criticism of Balzac's novels, being merely an attempt to
+portray the man as he was, and to sketch correctly a career which has
+been said to be more thrilling than a large proportion of novels.
+
+I must apologise for occasional blank spaces, for when Balzac is with
+Madame Hanska, and his letters to her cease, as a general rule all our
+information ceases also; and the intending biographer can only glean
+from scanty allusions in the letters written afterwards, what happened
+at Rome, Naples, Dresden, or any of the other towns, to which Balzac
+travelled in hot haste to meet his divinity.
+
+The book has been compiled as far as possible from original sources;
+as the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul--whose collection of
+documents relating to Balzac, Gautier, and George Sand is unique,
+while his comprehensive knowledge of Balzac is the result of many
+years of study--has most kindly allowed me to avail myself of his
+library at Brussels. There, arranged methodically, according to some
+wonderful system which enables the Vicomte to find at once any
+document his visitor may ask for, are hundreds of Balzac's autograph
+writings, many of them unpublished and of great interest. There, too,
+are portraits and busts of the celebrated novelist, letters from his
+numerous admirers, and the proofs of nearly all his novels--those
+sheets covered with a network of writing, which were the despair of
+the printers. The collection is most remarkable, even when we remember
+the large sums of money, and the patience and ability, which have for
+many years been focussed on its formation. It will one day be
+deposited in the museum at Chantilly, near Paris, where it will be at
+the disposal of those who wish to study its contents.
+
+The Vicomte has kindly devoted much time to answering my questions,
+and has shown me documents and autograph letters, the exact words of
+which have been the subject of discussion and dispute, so that I have
+been able myself to verify the fact that the copies made by M. de
+Spoelberch de Lovenjoul are taken exactly from the originals. He has
+warned me to be particularly careful about my authorities, as many of
+Balzac's letters--printed as though copied from autographs--are
+incorrectly dated, and have been much altered.
+
+He has further added to his kindness by giving me several
+illustrations, and by having this book translated to him, in order to
+correct it carefully by the information to which he alone has access.
+I gladly take this opportunity of acknowledging how deeply I am
+indebted to him.
+
+I cannot consider these words of introduction complete without again
+expressing my sense of what I owe to Dr. Reich, to whom the initial
+idea of this book is due, and without whose energetic impetus it would
+never have been written. He has found time, in the midst of a very
+busy life, to read through, and to make many valuable suggestions, and
+I am most grateful for all he has done to help me.
+
+I must finish by thanking Mr. Curtis Brown most heartily for the
+trouble he has taken on my behalf, for the useful hints he has given
+me, and for the patience with which he has elucidated the difficulties
+of an inexperienced writer.
+
+    MARY F. SANDARS.
+
+
+
+
+
+                           HONORE DE BALZAC
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I
+
+  Balzac's claims to greatness--The difficulty in attempting a
+  complete Life--His complex character--The intention of this book.
+
+At a time when the so-called Realistic School is in the ascendant
+among novelists, it seems strange that little authentic information
+should have been published in the English language about the great
+French writer, Honore de Balzac. Almost alone among his
+contemporaries, he dared to claim the interest of the world for
+ordinary men and women solely on the ground of a common humanity. Thus
+he was the first to embody in literature the principle of Burns that
+"a man's a man for a' that"; and though this fact has now become a
+truism, it was a discovery, and an important discovery, when Balzac
+wrote. He showed that, because we are ourselves ordinary men and
+women, it is really human interest, and not sensational circumstance
+which appeals to us, and that material for enthralling drama can be
+found in the life of the most commonplace person--of a middle-aged
+shopkeeper threatened with bankruptcy, or of an elderly musician with
+a weakness for good dinners. At one blow he destroyed the unreal ideal
+of the Romantic School, who degraded man by setting up in his place a
+fantastic and impossible hero as the only theme worthy of their pen;
+and thus he laid the foundation of the modern novel.
+
+His own life is full of interest. He was not a recluse or a bookworm;
+his work was to study men, and he lived among men, he fought
+strenuously, he enjoyed lustily, he suffered keenly, and he died
+prematurely, worn out by the force of his own emotions, and by the
+prodigies of labour to which he was impelled by the restless
+promptings of his active brain, and by his ever-pressing need for
+money. Some of his letters to Madame Hanska have been published during
+the last few years; and where can we read a more pathetic love story
+than the record of his seventeen years' waiting for her, and of the
+tragic ending to his long-deferred happiness? Or where in modern times
+can more exciting and often comical tales of adventure be found than
+the accounts of his wild and always unsuccessful attempts to become a
+millionaire? His friends comprised most of the celebrated French
+writers of the day; and though not a lover of society, he was
+acquainted with many varieties of people, while his own personality
+was powerful, vivid, and eccentric.
+
+Thus he appears at first sight to be a fascinating subject for
+biography; but if we examine a little more closely, we shall realise
+the web of difficulties in which the writer of a complete and
+exhaustive Life of Balzac would involve himself, and shall understand
+why the task has never been attempted. The great author's money
+affairs alone are so complicated that it is doubtful whether he ever
+mastered them himself, and it is certainly impossible for any one else
+to understand them; while he managed to shroud his private life,
+especially his relations to women, in almost complete mystery. For
+some years after his death the monkish habit in which he attired
+himself was considered symbolic of his mental attitude; and even now,
+though the veil is partially lifted, and we realise the great part
+women played in his life, there remain many points which are not yet
+cleared up.
+
+Consequently any one who attempts even in the most unambitious way to
+give a complete account of the great writer's life, is confronted with
+many blank spaces. It is true that the absolutely mysterious
+disappearances of which his contemporaries speak curiously are now
+partially accounted for, as we know that they were usually connected
+with Madame Hanska, and that Balzac's sense of honour would not allow
+him to breathe her name, except to his most intimate friends, and
+under the pledge of the strictest secrecy. His letters to her have
+allowed a flood of light to pour upon his hitherto veiled personality;
+but they are almost our only reliable source of information.
+Therefore, when they cease, because Balzac is with his ladylove, and
+we are suddenly excluded from his confidence, we can only guess what
+is happening.
+
+In this way, we possess but the scantiest information about the
+journeys which occupied a great part of his time during the last few
+years of his life. We know that he travelled, regardless of expense
+and exhaustion, as quickly as possible, and by the very shortest
+route, to meet Madame Hanska; but this once accomplished, we can
+gather little more, and we long for a diary or a confidential
+correspondent. In the first rapture of his meeting at Neufchatel, he
+did indeed open his heart to his sister, Madame Surville; but his
+habitual discretion, and his care for the reputation of the woman he
+loved, soon imposed silence upon him, and he ceased to comment on the
+great drama of his life.
+
+The great versatility of his mind, and the power he possessed of
+throwing himself with the utmost keenness into many absolutely
+dissimilar and incongruous enterprises at the same time, add further
+to the difficulty of understanding him. An extraordinary number of
+subjects had their place in his capacious brain, and the ease with
+which he dismissed one and took up another with equal zest the moment
+after, causes his doings to seem unnatural to us of ordinary mind.
+Leon Gozlan gives a curious instance of this on the occasion of the
+first reading of the "Ressources de Quinola."
+
+Balzac had recited his play in the green-room of the Odeon to the
+assembled actors and actresses, and before a most critical audience
+had gone through the terrible strain of trying to improvise the fifth
+act, which was not yet written. He and Gozlan went straight from the
+hot atmosphere of the theatre to refresh themselves in the cool air of
+the Luxembourg Gardens. Here we should expect one of two things to
+happen. Either Balzac would be depressed with the ill-success of his
+fifth act, at which, according to Gozlan, he had acquitted himself so
+badly that Madame Dorval, the principal actress, refused to take a
+role in the play; or, on the other hand, his sanguine temperament
+would cause him to overlook the drawbacks, and to think only of the
+enthusiasm with which the first four acts had been received. Neither
+of these two things took place. Balzac "n'y pensait deja plus." He
+talked with the greatest eagerness of the embellishments he had
+proposed to M. Decazes for his palace, and especially of a grand
+spiral staircase, which was to lead from the centre of the Luxembourg
+Gardens to the Catacombs, so that these might be shown to visitors,
+and become a source of profit to Paris. But of his play he said
+nothing.
+
+The reader of "Lettres a l'Etrangere," which are written to the woman
+with whom Balzac was passionately in love, and whom he afterwards
+married, may, perhaps, at first sight congratulate himself on at last
+understanding in some degree the great author's character and mode of
+life. If he dives beneath the surface, however, he will find that
+these beautiful and touching letters give but an incomplete picture;
+and that, while writing them, Balzac was throwing much energy into
+schemes, which he either does not mention to his correspondent, or
+touches on in the most cursory fashion. Therefore the perspective of
+his life is difficult to arrange, and ordinary rules for gauging
+character are at fault. We find it impossible to follow the principle,
+that because Balzac possessed one characteristic, he could not also
+show a diametrically opposite quality--that, for instance, because
+tenderness, delicacy of feeling, and a high sense of reverence and of
+honour were undoubtedly integral parts of his personality, the stories
+told by his contemporaries of his occasional coarseness must
+necessarily be false.
+
+His own words, written to the Duchesse d'Abrantes in 1828, have no
+doubt a great element of truth in them: "I have the most singular
+character I know. I study myself as I might study another person, and
+I possess, shut up in my five foot eight inches, all the incoherences,
+all the contrasts possible; and those who think me vain, extravagant,
+obstinate, high-minded, without connection in my ideas,--a fop,
+negligent, idle, without application, without reflection, without any
+constancy; a chatterbox, without tact, badly brought up, impolite,
+whimsical, unequal in temper,--are quite as right as those who perhaps
+say that I am economical, modest, courageous, stingy, energetic, a
+worker, constant, silent, full of delicacy, polite, always gay. Those
+who consider that I am a coward will not be more wrong than those who
+say that I am extremely brave; in short, learned or ignorant, full of
+talent or absurd, nothing astonishes me more than myself. I end by
+believing that I am only an instrument played on by circumstances.
+Does this kaleidoscope exist, because, in the soul of those who claim
+to paint all the affections of the human heart, chance throws all
+these affections themselves, so that they may be able, by the force of
+their imagination, to feel what they paint? And is observation a sort
+of memory suited to aid this lively imagination? I begin to think
+so."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 77.
+
+Certainly Balzac's character proves to the hilt the truth of the rule
+that, with few exceptions in the world's history, the higher the
+development, the more complex the organisation and the more violent
+the clashing of the divers elements of the man's nature; so that his
+soul resembles a field of battle, and he wears out quickly.
+Nevertheless, because everything in Balzac seems contradictory, when
+he is likened by one of his friends to the sea, which is one and
+indivisible, we perceive that the comparison is not inapt. Round the
+edge are the ever-restless waves; on the surface the foam blown by
+fitful gusts of wind, the translucent play of sunbeams, and the
+clamour of storms lashing up the billows; but down in the sombre
+depths broods the resistless, immovable force which tinges with its
+reflection the dancing and play above, and is the genius and
+fascination, the mystery and tragedy of the sea.
+
+Below the merriment and herculean jollity, so little represented in
+his books, there was deep, gloomy force in the soul of the man who,
+gifted with an almost unparalleled imagination, would yet grip the
+realities of the pathetic and terrible situations he evolved with
+brutal strength and insistence. The mind of the writer of "Le Pere
+Goriot," "La Cousine Bette," and "Le Cousin Pons," those terrible
+tragedies where the Greek god Fate marches on his victims
+relentlessly, and there is no staying of the hand for pity, could not
+have been merely a wide, sunny expanse with no dark places.
+Nevertheless, we are again puzzled, when we attempt to realise the
+personality of a man whose imagination could soar to the mystical and
+philosophical conception of "Seraphita," which is full of religious
+poetry, and who yet had the power in "Cesar Birotteau" to invest
+prosaic and even sordid details with absolute verisimilitude, or in
+the "Contes Drolatiques" would write, in Old French, stories of
+Rabelaisian breadth and humour. The only solution of these
+contradictions is that, partly perhaps by reason of great physical
+strength, certainly because of an abnormally powerful brain and
+imagination, Balzac's thoughts, feelings, and passions were unusually
+strong, and were endowed with peculiar impetus and independence of
+each other; and from this resulted a versatility which caused most
+unexpected developments, and which fills us of smaller mould with
+astonishment.
+
+Nevertheless, steadfastness was decidedly the groundwork of the
+character of the man who was not dismayed by the colossal task of the
+Comedie Humaine; but pursued his work through discouragement, ill
+health, and anxieties. Except near the end of his life, when, owing to
+the unreasonable strain to which it had been subjected, his powerful
+organism had begun to fail, Balzac refused to neglect his vocation
+even for his love affairs--a self-control which must have been a
+severe test to one of his temperament.
+
+This absorption in his work cannot have been very flattering to the
+ladies he admired; and one plausible explanation of Madame de
+Castries' coldness to his suit is that she did not believe in the
+devotion of a lover who, while paying her the most assiduous court at
+Aix, would yet write from five in the morning till half-past five in
+the evening, and only bestow his company on her from six till an early
+bedtime. Even the adored Madame Hanska had to take second place where
+work was concerned. When they were both at Vienna in 1835, he writes
+with some irritation, apparently in answer to a remonstrance on her
+part, that he cannot work when he knows he has to go out; and that,
+owing to the time he spent the evening before in her society, he must
+now shut himself up for fourteen hours and toil at "Le Lys dans la
+Vallee." He adds, with his customary force of language, that if he
+does not finish the book at Vienna, he will throw himself into the
+Danube!
+
+The great psychologist knew his own character well when, in another
+letter to Madame Hanska, who has complained of his frivolity, he
+cries, indignantly: "Frivolity of character! Why, you speak as a good
+_bourgeois_ would have done, who, seeing Napoleon turn to the right,
+to the left, and on all sides to examine his field of battle, would
+have said, 'This man cannot remain in one place; he has no fixed
+idea!'"[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+This change of posture, though consonant, as Balzac says, with real
+stability, is a source of bewilderment to the reader of his sayings
+and doings, till it dawns upon him that, through pride, policy, and
+the usual shrinking of the sensitive from casting their pearls before
+swine, Balzac was a confirmed _poseur_, so that what he tells us is
+often more misleading than his silence. Leon Gozlan's books are a
+striking instance of the fact that, with all Balzac's jollity, his
+camaraderie, and his flow of words, he did not readily reveal himself,
+except to those whom he could thoroughly trust to understand him.
+Gozlan went about with Balzac very often, and was specially chosen by
+him time after time as a companion; but he really knew very little of
+the great man. If we compare his account of Balzac's feeling or want
+of feeling at a certain crisis, and then read what is written on the
+same subject to Madame Hanska, Balzac's enormous power of reserve, and
+his habit of deliberately misleading those who were not admitted to
+his confidence, may be gauged.
+
+George Sand tells us an anecdote which shows how easily, from his
+anxiety not to wear his heart upon his sleeve, Balzac might be
+misunderstood. He dined with her on January 29th, 1844, after a visit
+to Russia, and related at table, with peals of laughter and apparently
+enormous satisfaction, an instance which had come under his notice of
+the ferocious exercise of absolute power. Any stranger listening,
+would have thought him utterly heartless and brutal, but George Sand
+knew better. She whispered to him: "That makes you inclined to cry,
+doesn't it?"[*] He answered nothing; left off laughing, as if a spring
+in him had broken; was very serious for the rest of the evening, and
+did not say a word more about Russia.
+
+[*] "Autour de la Table," by George Sand.
+
+Balzac looked on the world as an arena; and as the occasion and the
+audience arose, he suited himself with the utmost aplomb to the part
+he intended to play, so that under the costume and the paint the real
+Balzac is often difficult to discover. Sometimes he would pretend to
+be rich and prosperous, when he thought an editor would thereby be
+induced to offer him good terms; and sometimes, when it suited his
+purpose, he would make the most of his poverty and of his pecuniary
+embarrassments. Madame Hanska, from whom he required sympathy, heard
+much of his desperate situation after the failure of Werdet, whom he
+likens to the vulture that tormented Prometheus; but as it would not
+answer for Emile de Girardin, the editor of _La Presse_, to know much
+about Balzac's pecuniary difficulties, Madame de Girardin is assured
+that the report of Werdet's supposed disaster is false, and Balzac
+virtuously remarks that in the present century honesty is never
+believed in.[*] Sometimes his want of candour appears to have its
+origin in his hatred to allow that he is beaten, and there is
+something childlike and naive in his vanity. We are amused when he
+informs Madame Hanska that he is giving up the _Chronique de Paris_
+--which, after a brilliant flourish of trumpets at the start, was a
+complete failure--because the speeches in the Chambre des Deputes are
+so silly that he abandons the idea of taking up politics, as he had
+intended to do by means of journalism. In a later letter, however, he
+is obliged to own that, though the _Chronique_ has been, of course, a
+brilliant success, money is lacking, owing to the wickedness of
+several abandoned characters, and that therefore he has been forced to
+bring the publication to an end.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," p. 152, by Le Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+Of one vanity he was completely free. He did not pose to posterity. Of
+his books he thought much--each one was a masterpiece, more glorious
+than the last; but he never imagined that people would be in the least
+interested in his doings, and he did not care about their opinion of
+him. Nevertheless there was occasionally a gleam of joy, when some one
+unexpectedly showed a spontaneous admiration for his work. For
+instance, in a Viennese concert-room, where the whole audience had
+risen to do honour to the great author, a young man seized his hand
+and put it to his lips, saying, "I kiss the hand that wrote
+'Seraphita,'" and Balzac said afterwards to his sister, "They may deny
+my talent, if they choose, but the memory of that student will always
+comfort me."
+
+His genius would, he hoped, be acknowledged one day by all the world;
+but there was a singular and lovable absence of self-consciousness in
+his character, and a peculiar humility and childlikeness under his
+braggadocio and apparent arrogance. Perhaps this was the source of the
+power of fascination he undoubtedly exercised over his contemporaries.
+Nothing is more noticeable to any one reading about Balzac than the
+difference between the tone of amused indulgence with which those who
+knew him personally, speak of his peculiarities, and the contemptuous
+or horrified comments of people who only heard from others of his
+extraordinary doings.
+
+He had bitter enemies as well as devoted friends; and his fighting
+proclivities, his objection to allow that he is ever in the wrong, and
+his habit of blaming others for his misfortunes, have had a great
+effect in obscuring our knowledge of Balzac's life, as the people he
+abused were naturally exasperated, and took up their pens, not to give
+a fair account of what really happened, but to justify themselves
+against Balzac's aspersions. Werdet's book is an instance of this.
+Beneath the extravagant admiration he expresses for the "great
+writer," with his "heart of gold," a glint can be seen from time to
+time of the animus which inspired him when he wrote, and we feel that
+his statements must be received with caution, and do not add much to
+our real knowledge of Balzac.
+
+Nevertheless, though there are still blank spaces to be filled, as
+well as difficulties to overcome and puzzles to unravel, much fresh
+information has lately been discovered about the great writer, notably
+the "Lettres a l'Etrangere," published in 1899, a collection of some
+of the letters written by Balzac, from 1833 to 1848, to Madame Hanska,
+the Polish lady who afterwards became his wife. These letters, which
+are the property of the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, give many
+interesting details, and alter the earlier view of several points in
+Balzac's career and character; but the volume is large, and takes some
+time to read. It is therefore thought, that as those who would seem
+competent, by their knowledge and skill, to overcome the difficulties
+of writing a complete and exhaustive life are silent, a short sketch,
+which can claim nothing more than correctness of detail, may not be
+unwelcome. It contains no attempt to give what could only be a very
+inadequate criticism of the books of the great novelist; for that, the
+reader must be referred to the many works by learned Frenchmen who
+have made a lifelong study of the subject. It is written, however, in
+the hope that the admirers of "Eugenie Grandet" and "Le Pere Goriot"
+may like to read something of the author of these masterpieces, and
+that even those who only know the great French novelist by reputation
+may be interested to hear a little about the restless life of a man
+who was a slave to his genius--was driven by its insistent voice to
+engage in work which was enormously difficult to him, to lead an
+abnormal and unhealthy life, and to wear out his exuberant physical
+strength prematurely. He died with his powers at their highest and his
+great task unfinished; and a sense of thankfulness for his own
+mediocrity fills the reader, when he reaches the end of the life of
+Balzac.
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II
+
+  Balzac's appearance, dress, and personality--His imaginary
+  world and schemes for making money--His family, childhood,
+  and school-days.
+
+According to Theophile Gautier, herculean jollity was the most
+striking characteristic of the great writer, whose genius excels in
+sombre and often sordid tragedy. George Sand, too, speaks of Balzac's
+"serene soul with a smile in it"; and this was the more remarkable,
+because he lived at a time when discontent and despair were considered
+the sign-manual of talent.
+
+Physically Balzac was far from satisfying a romantic ideal of fragile
+and enervated genius. Short and stout, square of shoulder, with an
+abundant mane of thick black hair--a sign of bodily vigour--his whole
+person breathed intense vitality. Deep red lips, thick, but finely
+curved, and always ready to laugh, attested, like the ruddiness in his
+full cheeks, to the purity and richness of his blood. His forehead,
+high, broad, and unwrinkled, save for a line between the eyes, and his
+neck, thick, round, and columnar, contrasted in their whiteness with
+the colour in the rest of the face. His hands were large and dimpled
+--"beautiful hands," his sister calls them. He was proud of them, and
+had a slight prejudice against any one with ugly extremities. His
+nose, about which he gave special directions to David when his bust
+was taken, was well cut, rather long, and square at the end, with the
+lobes of the open nostrils standing out prominently. As to his eyes,
+according to Gautier, there were none like them.[*] They had
+inconceivable life, light, and magnetism. They were eyes to make an
+eagle lower his lids, to read through walls and hearts, to terrify a
+wild beast--eyes of a sovereign, a seer, a conqueror. Lamartine likens
+them to "darts dipped in kindliness." Balzac's sister speaks of them
+as brown; but, according to other contemporaries, they were like
+brilliant black diamonds, with rich reflections of gold, the white of
+the eyeballs being tinged with blue. They seemed to be lit with the
+fire of the genius within, to read souls, to answer questions before
+they were asked, and at the same time to pour out warm rays of
+kindliness from a joyous heart.
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains--Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+At all points Balzac's personality differed from that of his
+contemporaries of the Romantic School--those transcendental geniuses
+of despairing temper, who were utterly hopeless about the prosaic
+world in which, by some strange mistake, they found themselves; and
+from which they felt that no possible inspiration for their art could
+be drawn. So little attuned were these unfortunates to their
+commonplace surroundings that, after picturing in their writings
+either fiendish horrors, or a beautiful, impossible atmosphere,
+peopled by beings out of whom all likeness to humanity had been
+eliminated, they not infrequently lost their mental balance
+altogether, or hurried by their own act out of a dull world which
+could never satisfy their lively imaginations. Balzac, on the other
+hand, loved the world. How, with the acute powers of observation, and
+the intuition, amounting almost to second sight, with which he was
+gifted, could he help doing so? The man who could at will quit his own
+personality, and invest himself with that of another; who would follow
+a workman and his wife on their way home at night from a music-hall,
+and listen to their discussions on domestic matters till he imbibed
+their life, felt their ragged clothing on his back, and their desires
+and wants in his soul,--how could he find life dull, or the most
+commonplace individual uninteresting?
+
+In dress Balzac was habitually careless. He would rush to the
+printer's office, after twelve hours of hard work, with his hat drawn
+over his eyes, his hands thrust into shabby gloves, and his feet in
+shoes with high sides, worn over loose trousers, which were pleated at
+the waist and held down with straps. Even in society he took no
+trouble about his appearance, and Lamartine describes him as looking,
+in the salon of Madame de Girardin, like a schoolboy who has outgrown
+his clothes. Only for a short time, which he describes with glee in
+his letters to Madame Hanska, did he pose as a man of fashion. Then he
+wore a magnificent white waistcoat, and a blue coat with gold buttons;
+carried the famous cane, with a knob studded with turquoises,
+celebrated in Madame de Girardin's story, "La Canne de Monsieur de
+Balzac"; and drove in a tilbury, behind a high-stepping horse, with a
+tiny tiger, whom he christened Anchise, perched on the back seat. This
+phase was quickly over, the horses were sold, and Balzac appeared no
+more in the box reserved for dandies at the Opera. Of the fashionable
+outfit, the only property left was the microscopic groom--an orphan,
+of whom Balzac took the greatest care, and whom he visited daily
+during the boy's last illness, a year or two after. Thenceforward he
+reverted to his usual indifference about appearances, his only vanity
+being the spotless cleanliness of his working costume--a loose
+dressing-gown of white flannel or cashmere, made like the habit of a
+Benedictine monk, which was kept in round the waist by a silk girdle,
+and was always scrupulously guarded from ink-stains.
+
+Naive as a child, anxious for sympathy, frankly delighted with his own
+masterpieces, yet modest in a fashion peculiar to himself, Balzac gave
+a dominant impression of kindliness and bonhomie, which overshadowed
+even the idea of intellect. To his friends he is not in the first
+place the author of the "Comedie Humaine," designed, as George Sand
+rather grandiloquently puts it, to be "an almost universal examination
+of the ideas, sentiments, customs, habits, legislation, arts, trades,
+costumes, localities--in short, of all that constitutes the lives of
+his contemporaries"[*]--that claim to notice recedes into the
+background, and what is seen clearly is the _bon camarade_, with his
+great hearty laugh, his jollity, his flow of language, and his jokes,
+often Rabelaisian in flavour. Of course there was another side to the
+picture, and there were times in his hardset and harassing life when
+even _his_ vivacity failed him. These moods were, however, never
+apparent in society; and even to his intimate men friends, such as
+Theophile Gautier and Leon Gozlan, Balzac was always the delightful,
+whimsical companion, to be thought of and written of afterwards with
+an amused, though affectionate smile. Only to women, his principal
+confidantes, who played as important a part in his life as they do in
+his books, did he occasionally show the discouragement to which the
+artistic nature is prone. Sometimes the state of the weather, which
+always had a great effect on him, the difficulty of his work, the
+fatigue of sitting up all night, and his monetary embarrassments,
+brought him to an extreme state of depression, both physical and
+mental. He would arrive at the house of Madame Surville, his sister,
+who tells the story, hardly able to drag himself along, in a gloomy,
+dejected state, with his skin sallow and jaundiced.
+
+[*] "Autour de la Table," by George Sand.
+
+"Don't console me," he would say in a faint voice, dropping into a
+chair; "it is useless--I am a dead man."
+
+The dead man would then begin, in a doleful voice, to tell of his new
+troubles; but he soon revived, and the words came forth in the most
+ringing tones of his voice. Then, opening his proofs, he would drop
+back into his dismal accents and say, by way of conclusion:
+
+"Yes, I am a wrecked man, sister!"
+
+"Nonsense! No man is wrecked with such proofs as those to correct."
+
+Then he would raise his head, his face would unpucker little by
+little, the sallow tones of his skin would disappear.
+
+"My God, you are right!" he would say. "Those books will make me live.
+Besides, blind Fortune is here, isn't she? Why shouldn't she protect a
+Balzac as well as a ninny? And there are always ways of wooing her.
+Suppose one of my millionaire friends (and I have some), or a banker,
+not knowing what to do with his money, should come to me and say, 'I
+know your immense talents, and your anxieties: you want such-and-such
+a sum to free yourself; accept it fearlessly: you will pay me; your
+pen is worth millions!' That is _all I want_, my dear."[*]
+
+[*] "Balzac, sa Vie et ses Oeuvres, d'apres la Correspondance," by
+    Mme. L. Surville (nee de Balzac).
+
+Then the "child-man," as his sister calls him, would imagine himself a
+member of the Institute; then in the Chamber of Peers, pointing out
+and reforming abuses, and governing a highly prosperous country.
+Finally, he would end the interview with, "Adieu! I am going home to
+see if my banker is waiting for me"; and would depart, quite consoled,
+with his usual hearty laugh.
+
+He lived, his sister tells us, to a great extent in a world of his
+own, peopled by the imaginary characters in his books, and he would
+gravely discuss its news, as others do that of the real world.
+Sometimes he was delighted at the grand match he had planned for his
+hero; but often affairs did not go so well, and perhaps it would give
+him much anxious thought to marry his heroine suitably, as it was
+necessary to find her a husband in her own set, and this might be
+difficult to arrange. When asked about the past of one of his
+creations, he replied gravely that he "had not been acquainted with
+Monsieur de Jordy before he came to Nemours," but added that, if his
+questioner were anxious to know, he would try to find out. He had many
+fancies about names, declaring that those which are invented do not
+give life to imaginary beings, whereas those really borne by some one
+endow them with vitality. Leon Gozlan says that he was dragged by
+Balzac half over Paris in search of a suitable name for the hero of a
+story to be published in the _Revue Parisienne_. After they had
+trudged through scores of streets in vain, Balzac, to his intense joy,
+discovered "Marcas" over a small tailor's shop, to which he added, as
+"a flame, a plume, a star," the initial Z. Z. Marcas conveyed to him
+the idea of a great, though unknown, philosopher, poet, or
+silversmith, like Benvenuto Cellini; he went no farther, he was
+satisfied--he had found "_the_ name of names."[*]
+
+[*] "Balzac en Pantoufles," by Leon Gozlan.
+
+Many are the amusing anecdotes told of Balzac's schemes for becoming
+rich. Money he struggled for unceasingly, not from sordid motives, but
+because it was necessary to his conception of a happy life. Without
+its help he could never be freed from his burden of debt, and united
+to the _grande dame_ of his fancy, who must of necessity be posed in
+elegant toilette, on a suitable background of costly brocades and
+objects of art. Nevertheless, in spite of all his efforts, and of a
+capacity and passion for work which seemed almost superhuman, he never
+obtained freedom from monetary anxiety. Viewed in this light, there is
+pathos in his many impossible plans for making his fortune, and
+freeing himself from the strain which was slowly killing him.
+
+Some of his projected enterprises were wildly fantastic, and prove
+that the great author was, like many a genius, a child at heart; and
+that, in his eyes, the world was not the prosaic place it is to most
+men and women, but an enchanted globe, like the world of "Treasure
+Island," teeming with the possibility of strange adventure. At one
+time he hoped to gain a substantial income by growing pineapples in
+the little garden at Les Jardies, and later on he thought money might
+be made by transporting oaks from Poland to France. For some months he
+believed that, by means of magnetism exercised on somnambulists, he
+had discovered the exact spot at Pointe a Pitre where
+Toussaint-Louverture hid his treasure, and afterwards shot the negroes
+he had employed to bury it, lest they should betray its hiding-place.
+Jules Sandeau and Theophile Gautier were chosen to assist in the
+enterprise of carrying off the hidden gold, and were each to receive a
+quarter of the treasure, Balzac, as leader of the venture, taking the
+other half. The three friends were to start secretly and separately
+with spades and shovels, and, their work accomplished, were to put the
+treasure on a brig which was to be in waiting, and were to return as
+millionaires to France. This brilliant plan failed, because none of the
+three adventurers had at the moment money to pay his passage out; and no
+doubt, by the time that the necessary funds were forthcoming, Balzac's
+fertile brain was engaged on other enterprises.[*]
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains--Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+The foundation of his pecuniary misfortunes was laid before his birth,
+when his father, forty-five years old and unmarried, sank the bulk of
+his fortune in life annuities, so that his son was in the unfortunate
+position of starting life in very comfortable circumstances, and of
+finding himself in want of money just when he most needed it.
+
+Balzac's father was born in Languedoc in 1746, and we are told by his
+son that he had been Secretary, and by Madame Surville, advocate, of
+the Council under Louis XVI. Both these statements however appear to
+be incorrect, and may be considered to have been harmless fictions on
+the part of the old gentleman, as no record of his name can be found
+in the Royal Calendar, which was very carefully kept. Almanacs are
+awkward things, and his name _is_ mentioned in the National Calendar
+of 1793 as a "lawyer" and "member of the general council for the
+section of the rights of man in the Commune." But he evidently
+preferred to draw a veil over his revolutionary experiences, and it
+seems rather hard that, because he happened to possess a celebrated
+son, his little secrets should be exposed to the light of day. Later
+on he became an ardent Royalist, and in 1814 he joined with Bertrand
+de Molleville to draw up a memoir against the Charter, which Balzac
+says was dictated to him, then a boy of fifteen; and he also mentions
+that he remembers hearing M. de Molleville cry out, "The Constitution
+ruined Louis XVI., and the Charter will kill the Bourbons!" "No
+compromise" formed an essential part of the creed of the Royalists at
+the Restoration.
+
+When M. de Balzac[*] married, in 1797, he was in charge of the
+Commissariat of the Twenty-second Military Division; and in 1798 he
+came to live in Tours, where he had bought a house and some land near
+the town, and where he remained for nineteen years. Here, on May 16,
+1799, St. Honore's day, his son, the celebrated novelist, was born,
+and was christened Honore after the saint.
+
+[*] The Balzac family will be accorded the "de" in this account of
+    them.
+
+Old M. de Balzac was in his own way literary, and had written two or
+three pamphlets, one on his favourite subject--that of health. He
+seems to have been a man of much originality, many peculiarities, and
+much kindness of heart. He was evidently impulsive, like his
+celebrated son, and he certainly made a culpable mistake, and a cruel
+one for his family, when he rashly concluded that he would always
+remain a bachelor, and arranged that his income should die with him.
+He afterwards hoped to repair the wrong he had thus done to his
+children, by outliving the other shareholders and obtaining a part of
+the immense capital of the Tontine. Fortunately for himself he
+possessed extraordinary optimism, and power of excluding from his mind
+the possibility of all unpleasant contingencies--qualities which he
+handed on in full measure to Honore. He therefore kept himself happy
+in the monetary disappointments of his later life, by thinking and
+talking of the millions his children would inherit from their
+centenarian father. For their sakes it was necessary that he should
+take care of his health, and he considered that, by maintaining the
+"equilibrium of the vital forces," there was absolutely no doubt that
+he would live for a hundred years or more. Therefore he followed a
+strict regimen, and gave himself an infinite amount of trouble, as
+well as amusement, by his minute arrangements.
+
+Unfortunately, however, the truth of his theories could never be
+tested, as he died in 1829, at the age of eighty-three, from the
+effects of an operation; and Madame de Balzac and her family were left
+to face the stern facts of life, denuded of the rose-coloured haze in
+which they had been clothed by the kindly old enthusiast. Balzac's
+mother certainly had a hard life, and from what we hear of her
+nervous, excitable nature--inherited apparently from her mother,
+Madame Sallambier--we can hardly be astonished when Balzac writes to
+Madame Hanska, in 1835, that if her misfortunes do not kill her, it is
+feared they will destroy her reason. Nevertheless, she outlived her
+celebrated son, and is mentioned by Victor Hugo, when he visited
+Balzac's deathbed, as the only person in the room, except a nurse and
+a servant.[*]
+
+[*] "Choses Vues," by Victor Hugo.
+
+She was many years younger than her husband--a beauty and an heiress;
+and she evidently had her own way with the easy-going old M. de
+Balzac, and was the moving spirit in the household: so that the ease
+and absence of friction in her early life must have made her
+subsequent troubles and humiliations especially galling. Besides
+Honore, she had three children: Laure, afterwards Madame Surville;
+Laurence, who died young; and Henry, the black sheep of the family,
+who returned from the colonies, after having made an unsatisfactory
+marriage, and who, during the last years of Honore de Balzac's life,
+required constant monetary help from his relations.
+
+Her two young children were Madame de Balzac's favourites, and they
+and their affairs gave her constant trouble. In 1822 Laurence married
+a M. Saint-Pierre de Montzaigle, apparently a good deal older than
+herself; and Honore gives a very _couleur de rose_ account of his
+future brother-in-law's family, in a letter written at the time of the
+engagement to Laure, who was already married. He does not seem so
+charmed with the bridegroom, _il troubadouro_, as with his
+surroundings, and remarks that he has lost his top teeth, and is very
+conceited, but will do well enough--as a husband. Every one is
+delighted at the marriage; but Laure can imagine _maman's_ state of
+nervous excitement from her recollection of the last few days before
+her own wedding, and can fancy that he and Laurence are not enjoying
+themselves. "Nature surrounds roses with thorns, and pleasures with a
+crowd of troubles. Mamma follows the example of nature."[*]
+
+[*] "H. de Balzac--Correspondence," vol. i. p. 41.
+
+Laurence's death, in 1826, must have been a terrible grief to the poor
+mother; but she may have realised later on that her daughter had
+escaped much trouble, as in 1836 the Balzac family threatened M. de
+Montzaigle with a lawsuit on the subject of his son, who was left to
+wander about Paris without food, shoes, or clothes. We cannot suppose
+that any one with such sketchy views of the duties of a father could
+have been a particularly satisfactory husband; but perhaps Laurence
+died before she had time to discover M. de Montzaigle's deficiencies.
+
+Henry, the younger son, appears to have been brought up on a different
+method from that pursued with Honore, as we hear in 1821 that Madame
+de Balzac considered that the boy was unhappy and bored with school,
+that he was with canting people who punished him for nothing, and must
+be taken away. Evidently the younger son was the mother's darling; but
+her mode of bringing him up was not happy in its effects, as he seems
+to have given continual anxiety and trouble. He came back from the
+colonies with his wife; and by threatening to blow out his brains, he
+worked on his mother's feelings, and induced her to help him with
+money, and nearly to ruin herself. In consequence she was obliged for
+a time to take up her abode with Honore, an arrangement which did not
+work well. Even when Henry was at last shipped off to the Indies, he
+continued to agitate his family by sending them pathetic accounts of
+his distress and necessities, and these letters from her much-loved
+son must have been peculiarly painful to Madame de Balzac.
+
+Honore and his mother seem never to have understood each other very
+well; and she was stern with him and Laure in their youth, while she
+lavished caresses on her younger children. Likeness to a father is not
+always a passport to a mother's favour, and Madame de Balzac does not
+appear to have realised her son's genius, and evidently feared that,
+without due repression in youth, the paternal type of imaginative
+optimist would be repeated.
+
+She was not a tender mother in childhood, when indeed she saw little
+of Honore, as she left him out at nurse till he was four years old,
+and sent him to school when he was eight; but later on in all
+practical matters she did her best for him, lending him money when he
+was in difficulties, and looking after his business affairs when he
+was away from Paris. She was evidently easily offended, and rather
+absurdly tenacious of her maternal dignity; so that sometimes the
+deference and submission of the great writer are surprising and rather
+touching. On the other hand it must be remembered that Honore made
+great demands on his friends, that they were expected to accord
+continual sympathy and admiration, to be perfectly tactful in their
+criticisms, and were only very occasionally allowed to give advice.
+Therefore his opinion of his mother's coldness may have sprung from
+her failure to answer to the requirements of his peculiar code of
+affection, and not from any real want of love on her part.
+
+Certainly her severity in his youth had the effect of concentrating
+the whole devotion of Honore's childish heart on Laure, the _cara
+sorella_ of his later years. She was a writer, the author of "Le
+Compagnon du Foyer." To her we owe a charming sketch of her celebrated
+brother, and she was the confidante of his hopes, ambitions, and
+troubles, of his sentimental friendships, and of the faults and
+embarrassments which he confided to no one else. Expressions of
+affection for her occur constantly in his letters, and in 1837 he
+writes to Madame Hanska that Laure is ill, and therefore the whole
+universe seems out of gear, and that he passes whole nights in despair
+because she is everything to him. The friendship between the brother
+and sister was deep, devoted, and faithful, as Balzac's friendships
+generally were--he did not care, as he said in one of his letters, for
+_amities d'epiderme_--and the restriction put on his intercourse with
+his sister by the jealousy of M. Surville was one of the many troubles
+which darkened his later years.
+
+Occasionally, indeed, there were disagreements between the brother and
+sister, when Honore did not approve of Laure's aspirations for
+authorship. The only subject which really caused coldness on both
+sides, however--and this was temporary--was Laure's want of sympathy
+for Balzac's attachment to Madame Hanska; because she, like many of
+his friends, felt doubtful whether his passionate love was returned in
+anything like equal measure. Perhaps, too, there may have lurked in
+the sister's mind a slight jealousy of this alien _grande dame_, who
+had stolen away her brother's heart from France, who moved in a sphere
+quite unlike that of the Balzac family, and whose existence prevented
+several advantageous and sensible marriages which she could have
+arranged for Honore. Balzac, it must be allowed, was not always
+tactful in his descriptions of the perfections of the Hanska family,
+who were, of course, in his eyes, surrounded with aureoles borrowed
+from the light of his "polar star." It must have been distinctly
+annoying, when the virtues, talents, and charms of the young Countess
+Anna were held up as an object lesson for Madame Surville's two
+daughters, who were no doubt, from their mother's point of view, quite
+as admirable as Madame Hanska's ewe lamb. Nevertheless, there was
+never any real separation between the brother and sister; and it is to
+Laure that--certain of her participation in his joy--poor Balzac
+penned his delighted letter the day after his wedding, signed "Thy
+brother Honore, at the summit of happiness."
+
+Laure's own career was chequered. In 1820 she married an engineer, M.
+Midy de la Greneraye Surville, and from the first the marriage was not
+very happy, as Honore writes, a month after it took place, to blame
+Laure for her melancholy at the separation from her family, and to
+counsel philosophy and piano practice. Possibly Balzac's habits of
+ascendency over those he loved, and his wonderful gift of fascination
+--a gift which often provides its possessor with bitter enemies among
+those outside its influence--made matters difficult for his
+brother-in-law, and did not tend to promote harmony between Laure and
+her husband. M. Surville probably became exasperated by useless attempts
+to vie in his wife's eyes with her much-beloved brother--at any rate,
+in later years he was tyrannical in preventing their intercourse, and
+we hear of the unfortunate Laure coming in secret to see Balzac, on
+her birthday in 1836, and holding a watch in her hand, because she did
+not dare to stay away longer than twenty minutes. There were other
+worries for Laure and her husband, for, like the rest of the Balzac
+family, they were in continual difficulty about money matters. M.
+Surville seems to have been a man of enterprise, and to have had many
+schemes on hand--such as making a lateral canal on the Loire from
+Nantes to Orleans, building a bridge in Paris, or constructing a
+little railway. Speaking of the canal, Balzac cheerfully and airily
+remarked in 1836 that only a capital of twenty-six millions of francs
+required collecting, and then the Survilles would be on the high road
+to prosperity. This trifling matter was not after all arranged, if we
+may judge from the fact that in 1849 the Survilles moved to a cheap
+lodging, and were advised by Balzac, in a letter from Russia, to
+follow his habit of former days, and to cook only twice a week. In
+fact, they were evidently passing through one of those monetary crises
+to which we become used when reading the annals of the Balzacs, and
+which irresistibly remind the reader of similar affairs in the
+Micawber family.
+
+In spite of the friction on the subject of Madame Surville, there was
+never any actual breach between Honore and his brother-in-law; indeed,
+he speaks several times of working amicably with M. Surville, in the
+vain attempt to put in order the hopelessly involved web of family
+affairs. He evidently had great faith in his brother-in-law's plans
+for making his fortune, and took the keenest interest in them, even
+offering to go over to London, to sell an invention for effecting
+economy in the construction of inclined planes on railways. But M.
+Surville changed his mind at the last, and Balzac never went to
+England after all.
+
+Honore and Laure were together during the time of their earliest
+childhood, as they were left at the cottage of the same foster-mother,
+and did not come home till Honore was four years old. His sister says,
+"My recollections of his tenderness date far back. I have not
+forgotten the headlong rapidity with which he ran to save me from
+tumbling down the three high steps without a railing, which led from
+our nurse's room to the garden. His loving protection continued after
+we returned to our father's house, where, more than once, he allowed
+himself to be punished for my faults, without betraying me. Once, when
+I came upon the scene in time to accuse myself of the wrong, he said,
+'Don't acknowledge next time--I like to be punished for you.'"[*]
+
+[*] "Balzac, sa vie et ses oeuvres, d'apres sa correspondance," by
+    Madame L. Surville (nee de Balzac).
+
+Both children were in great awe of their parents, and Honore's fear of
+his mother was extreme. Years after, he told a friend that he was
+never able to hear her voice without a trembling which deprived him of
+his faculties. Their father treated them with uniform kindness, but
+Honore's heart was filled with love for his kind grandparents, to whom
+he paid a visit in Paris in 1804. He came back to Tours with wonderful
+stories of the beauties of their house, their garden, and their big
+dog Mouche, with whom he had made great friends. The news of his
+grandfather's death a few months later was a great grief to him, and
+made a deep impression on his childish mind. His sister tells us that
+long afterwards, when the two were receiving a reprimand from their
+mother, and he saw Laure unable to control a wild burst of laughter,
+which he knew would lead to serious consequences, he tried to stop her
+by whispering in tragic tones, "Think about your grandfather's death!"
+
+He was a child of very deep affections and warmth of heart, but he did
+not show any special intelligence. He was lively, merry, and extremely
+talkative, but sometimes a silent mood would fall on him, and perhaps,
+as his sister says, his imagination was then carrying him to distant
+worlds, though the family only thought the chatterbox was tired. In
+all ways, however, he was in these days a very ordinary child, devoted
+to fairy stories, fond of the popular nursery amusement of making up
+plays, and charmed with the excruciating noise he brought out of a
+little red violin. This he would sometimes play on for hours, till
+even the faithful Laure would remonstrate, and he would be astonished
+that she did not realise the beauty of his music.
+
+This happy childish life, chastened only by the tremors which both
+children felt when taken by their governess in the morning and at
+bedtime into the stern presence of their mother, did not last very
+long for Honore. When he was eight years old (his sister says seven,
+but this seems to be a mistake), there was a change in his life, as
+the home authorities decided that it was time his education should
+begin in good earnest. He was therefore taken from the day school at
+Tours, and sent to the semi-military college founded by the Oratorians
+in the sleepy little town of Vendome. On page 7 of the school record
+there is the following notice: "No. 460. Honore Balzac, age de huit
+ans un mois. A eu la petite verole, sans infirmites. Caractere
+sanguin, s'echauffant facilement, et sujet a quelques fievres de
+chaleur. Entre au pensionnat le 22 juin, 1807. Sorti, le 22 aout,
+1813. S'adresser a M. Balzac, son pere, a Tours."[*] Thus is summed up
+the character of the future writer of the "Comedie Humaine," and there
+was apparently nothing remarkable or precocious about the boy, as his
+quick temper is his most salient point in the eyes of his masters. It
+will be noticed, too, that the "de," about which Balzac was very
+particular, and which was the occasion of many scoffing remarks on the
+part of his enemies, does not appear on this register.
+
+[*] "Balzac au College," by Champfleury.
+
+Honore was a small boy to have been completely separated from home,
+and the whole scheme of education as devised by the Oratorian fathers
+appears to have been a strange one. One of the rules forbade outside
+holidays, and Honore never left the college once during the six years
+he was at school; so that there was no supervision from his parents,
+and no chance of complaint if he were unhappy or ill treated. His
+family came to see him at Easter and also at the prize-givings; but on
+these occasions, to which he looked forward, his sister tells us, with
+eager delight, reproaches were generally his portion, on account of
+his want of success in school work. In "Louis Lambert" he gives an
+interesting account of the college, which was in the middle of the
+town on the little river Loir, and contained a chapel, theatre,
+infirmary, bakery, and gardens. There were two or three hundred
+pupils, divided according to their ages or attainments into four
+classes--_les grands_, _les moyens_, les petits_, and _les minimes_
+--and each class had its own class-room and courtyard. Balzac was
+considered the idlest and most pathetic boy in his division, and was
+continually punished. Reproaches, the ferule, the dark cell, were his
+portion, and with his quick and delicate senses he suffered intensely
+from the want of air in the class-rooms. There, according to the
+graphic picture in "Louis Lambert," everything was dirty, and eighty
+boys inhabited a hall, in the centre of which were two buckets full of
+water, where all washed their faces and hands every morning, the water
+being only renewed once in the day. To add to the odours, the air was
+vitiated by the smell of pigeons killed for fete days, and of dishes
+stolen from the refectory, and kept by the pupils in their lockers.
+The boy who, in the future, was to awaken actual physical disgust in
+his readers by his description of the stuffy and dingy boarding-house
+dining-room in "Le Pere Goriot," was crushed and stupefied by his
+surroundings, and would sit for hours with his head on his hand, not
+attempting to learn, but gazing dreamily at the clouds, or at the
+foliage of the trees in the court below. No wonder that he was the
+despair of his masters, and that his famous "Traite de la volonte,"
+which he composed instead of preparing the ordinary school work, was
+summarily confiscated and destroyed. So many were the punishment lines
+given him to write, that his holidays were almost entirely taken up,
+and he had not six days of liberty the whole time that he was at
+college.
+
+In addition to the troubles incident to Honore's peculiar temperament
+and genius, he had in the winter, like the other pupils, to submit to
+actual physical suffering. The price of education included also that
+of clothing, the parents who sent their children to the Vendome
+College paying a yearly sum, and therewith comfortably absolving
+themselves from all trouble and responsibility. But the results were
+not happy for the boys, who dragged themselves painfully along the icy
+roads in miserable remnants of boots, their feet half dead, and
+swollen with sores and chilblains. Out of sixty children, not ten
+walked without torture, and many of them would cry with rage as they
+limped along, each step being a painful effort; but with the
+invincible physical pluck and moral cowardice of childhood, would hide
+their tears, for fear of ridicule from their companions.
+
+Nevertheless, even to Balzac, who was peculiarly unfitted for it, life
+at the college had its pleasures. The food appears to have been good,
+and the discipline at meals not very severe, as a regular system of
+exchange of helpings to suit the particular tastes of each boy went on
+all through dinner, and caused endless amusement. Some one who had
+received peas as his portion would prefer dessert, and the proposition
+"Un dessert pour des pois" would pass from mouth to mouth till the
+bargain had been made. Other pleasures were the pet pigeons, the
+gardens, the sweets bought secretly during the walks, the permission
+to play cards and to have theatrical performances during the holidays,
+the military music, the games, and the slides made in winter. Best of
+all, however, was the shop which opened in the class-room every Sunday
+during playtime for the sale of boxes, tools, pigeons of all sorts,
+mass-books (for these there was not much demand), knives, balls,
+pencils--everything a boy could wish for. The proud possessor of six
+francs--meant to last for the term--felt that the contents of the
+whole shop were at his disposal. Saturday night was passed in anxious
+yet rapturous calculations, and the responses at Mass during that
+happy Sunday morning mingled themselves with thoughts of the glorious
+time coming in the afternoon. Next Sunday was not quite so delightful,
+as probably there were only a few sous left, and possibly some of the
+purchases were broken, or had not turned out quite satisfactorily.
+Then, too, there was a long vista of Sundays in the future, without
+any possibility of shopping; but after all a certain amount of
+compounding is always necessary in life, and an intense short joy is
+worth a grey time before and after.
+
+When Balzac was fourteen years old, his life at the college came
+suddenly to an end, as, to the alarm of his masters, he was attacked
+by coma with feverish symptoms, and they begged his parents to take
+him home at once. It is curious to notice that the Fathers make no
+reference to this failure in their educational system in the school
+record, where there is no reason given for Honore's departure from
+school. Certainly his life at Vendome was not very healthy, as
+sometimes for idleness, inattention, or impertinence he was for months
+shut up every day in a niche six feet square, with a wooden door
+pierced by holes to let in air. When Champfleury visited the college
+years afterwards, the only person who remembered Balzac was the old
+Father who had charge of these cells, and he spoke of the boy's "great
+black eyes." Confinement in these _culottes de bois_, as they were
+called, was much dreaded by the boys, and the punishment seems
+barbarous and senseless, except from the point of view of getting rid
+of troublesome pupils. Balzac, however, welcomed the relief from
+ordinary school life, and indeed manoeuvred to be shut up. In the
+cells he had leisure to dream as he pleased, he was free from the
+drudgery of learning his lessons, and he managed to secrete books in
+his cage, and thus to absorb the contents of most of the volumes in
+the fine library collected by the learned Oratorian founders of the
+college. The ideas in many of the learned tomes were far beyond his
+age, but he understood them, remembered them afterwards, and could
+recall in later years not only the thought in each book, but also the
+disposition of his mind when he read them. Naturally this precocity of
+intellect caused brain fatigue, though this would never have been
+suspected by the Fathers of their idlest pupil.
+
+Honore, his sister tells us, came home thin and puny, like a
+somnambulist sleeping with open eyes, and his grandmother groaned over
+the strain of modern education. At first he heard hardly any of the
+questions that were put to him, and his mother was obliged to disturb
+him in reveries, and to insist on his taking part in games with the
+rest of the family; but with the fresh air and the home life he soon
+recovered his health and spirits, and became again a lively, merry
+boy. He attended lectures at a college near, and had tutors at home;
+but great efforts were necessary in order to get into his head the
+requisite amount of Greek and Latin. Nevertheless, at times, he was
+astonishing, or might have been to any one with powers of observation.
+On these occasions he made such extraordinary and sagacious remarks
+that Madame de Balzac, in her character of represser, felt obliged to
+remark sharply, "You cannot possibly understand what you are saying,
+Honore!" When Honore, who dared not argue, looked at her with a smile,
+she would, with the ease of absolute authority, escape from the
+awkwardness of the situation by remarking that he was impertinent. He
+was already ambitious, and would tell his sisters and brother about
+his future fame, and accept with a laugh the teasing he received in
+consequence.
+
+It must have been during this time that he grew to love with an
+enduring love the scenery of his native province of Touraine, with its
+undulating stretches of emerald green, through which the Loire or the
+Indre wound like a long ribbon of water, while lines of poplars decked
+the banks with moving lace. It was a smiling country, dotted with
+vineyards and oak woods, while here and there an old gnarled walnut
+tree stood in rugged independence. The susceptible boy, lately escaped
+from the abominations of the stuffy school-house, drank in with
+rapture the warm scented air, and often describes in his novels the
+landscape of the province where he was born, which he loves, in his
+own words, "as an artist loves art." Another lasting memory[*] was
+that of the poetry and splendour of the Cathedral of Saint-Gatien in
+Tours, where he was taken every feast-day. There he watched with
+delight the beautiful effects of light and shade, the play of colour
+produced by the rays of sunlight shining through the old stained
+glass, and the strange, fascinating effect of the clouds of incense,
+which enveloped the officiating priests, and from which he possibly
+derived the idea of the mists which he often introduces into his
+descriptions.
+
+[*] See "Balzac, sa Vie et ses Oeuvres, d'apres sa Correspondance" par
+    Madame L. Surville (nee de Balzac).
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III
+
+                             1814 - 1820
+
+  Balzac's tutors and law studies--His youth, as pictured in the
+  "Peau de Chagrin"--His father's intention of making him a lawyer
+  --He begs to be allowed to become a writer--Is allowed his wish
+  --Life in the Rue Lesdiguieres, privations and starvation--He
+  writes "Cromwell," a tragedy.
+
+At the end of 1814 the Balzac family moved to Paris, as M. de Balzac
+was put in charge of the Commissariat of the First Division of the
+Army. Here they took a house in the Rue de Roi-Dore, in the Marais,
+and Honore continued his studies with M. Lepitre, Rue Saint-Louis, and
+MM. Sganzer and Benzelin, Rue de Thorigny, in the Marais. To the
+influence of M. Lepitre, a man who, unlike old M. de Balzac and many
+other worthy people, was an ardent Legitimist _before_ as well as
+_after_ 1815, we may in part trace the strength of Balzac's Royalist
+principles. On the 13th Vendemiaire, M. Lepitre had presided over one
+of the sections of Paris which rose against the Convention; and though
+on one occasion he failed in nerve, his services during the Revolution
+had been most conspicuous. On his reception at the Tuileries by the
+Duchesse d'Angouleme, she used these words, never to be forgotten by
+him to whom they were addressed: "I have not forgotten, and I shall
+never forget, the services you have rendered to my family."[*]
+
+[*] "Biographie Universelle," by De Michaud.
+
+We can imagine the enthusiasm and delight with which the man who,
+whatever might be his shortcomings in courage, had always remained
+firm to his Royalist principles, and who had been a witness of the
+terrible anguish of the prisoners in the Temple, would hear these
+words from the lips of the lady who stood to him as Queen--the
+Antigone of France--the heroine whose sufferings had made the heart of
+every loyal Frenchman bleed, the brave woman who, according to
+Napoleon, was the one man of her family. Lepitre's visit to the
+Tuileries took place on May 9th, 1814, the year that Balzac began to
+take those lessons in rhetoric which first opened his eyes to the
+beauty of the French language. During Lepitre's tuition he composed a
+speech supposed to be addressed by the wife of Brutus to her husband,
+after the condemnation of her sons, in which, Laure tells us, the
+anguish of the mother is depicted with great power, and Balzac shows
+his wonderful faculty for entering into the souls of his personages.
+Lepitre had evidently a powerful influence over his pupil, and as a
+master of rhetoric he would naturally be eloquent and have command of
+language, and in consequence would be most probably of fiery and
+enthusiastic temperament. We can imagine the fervour with which the
+impressionable boy drank in stories of the sufferings of the royal
+family during their imprisonment in the Temple, and strove not to miss
+a syllable of his master's magnificent exordiums, which glowed with
+the light and heat of impassioned loyalty.
+
+No doubt Balzac's "Une Vie de Femme," a touching account of the life
+of the Duchesse d'Angouleme, which appeared in the _Reformateur_ in
+1832, was partly compiled from the reminiscences of his old master;
+and when we hear of his ardent defence of the Duchesse de Berry, or
+that he treasured a tea-service which was not of any intrinsic value,
+because it had belonged to the Duc d'Angouleme, we see traces of his
+intense love and admiration for the Bourbon family.
+
+Nevertheless, in that big, well-balanced brain there was room for many
+emotions, and for a wide range of sympathies. The many-sidedness which
+is a necessary characteristic of every great psychologist, was a
+remarkable quality in Balzac. He may have been present at Napoleon's
+last review on the Carrousel--at any rate he tells in "La Femme de
+Trente Ans" how the man "thus surrounded with so much love,
+enthusiasm, devotion, prayer--for whom the sun had driven every cloud
+from the sky--sat motionless on his horse, three feet in advance of
+the dazzling escort that followed him," and that an old grenadier
+said, "My God, yes, it was always so; under fire at Wagram, among the
+dead in the Moskowa, he was quiet as a lamb--yes, that's he!" Balzac's
+admiration for Napoleon was intense, as he shows in many of his
+writings, and his proudest boast is to be found in the words, said to
+have been inscribed on a statuette of Napoleon in his room in the Rue
+Cassini, "What he has begun with the sword, I shall finish with the
+pen."
+
+None of Balzac's masters thought much of his talents, or perceived
+anything remarkable about him. He returned home in 1816, full of
+health and vigour, the personification of happiness; and his
+conscientious mother immediately set to work to repair the
+deficiencies of his former education, and sent him to lectures at the
+Sorbonne, where he heard extempore speeches from such men as
+Villemain, Guizot, and Cousin. Apparently this teaching opened a new
+world to him, and he learned for the first time that education can be
+more than a dull routine of dry facts, and felt the joy of contact
+with eloquence and learning. Possibly he realised, as he had not
+realised before--Tours being, as he says, a most unliterary town--that
+there were people in the world who looked on things as he did, and who
+would understand, and not laugh at him or snub him. He always returned
+from these lectures, his sister says, glowing with interest, and would
+try as far as he could to repeat them to his family. Then he would
+rush out to study in the public libraries, so that he might be able to
+profit by the teaching of his illustrious professors, or would wander
+about the Latin Quarter, to hunt for rare and precious books. He used
+his opportunities in other ways. An old lady living in the house with
+the Balzacs had been an intimate friend of the great Beaumarchais.
+Honore loved to talk to her, and would ask her questions, and listen
+with the greatest interest to her replies, till he could have written
+a Life of the celebrated man himself. His powers of acute observation,
+interest, and sympathy--in short, his intense faculty for human
+fellowship, as well as his capacity for assimilating information from
+books--were already at work; and the future novelist was consciously
+or unconsciously collecting material in all directions.
+
+In 1816 it was considered necessary that he should be started with
+regular work, and he was established for eighteen months with a
+lawyer, M. de Guillonnet-Merville, who was, like M. Lepitre, a friend
+of the Balzac family, and an ardent Royalist. Eugene Scribe--another
+amateur lawyer--as M. de Guillonnet-Merville indulgently remarked, had
+just left the office, and Honore was established at the desk and table
+vacated by him. He became very fond of his chief, whom he has
+immortalised as Derville in "Une Tenebreuse Affaire," "Le Pere
+Goriot," and other novels; and he dedicated to this old friend "Un
+Episode sous la Terreur," which was published in 1846, and is a
+powerful and touching story of the remorse felt by the executioner of
+Louis XVI. After eighteen months in this office, he passed the same
+time in that of M. Passez, a notary, who lived in the same house with
+the Balzacs, and was another of their intimates.
+
+Balzac does not appear to have made any objection to these
+arrangements, though his legal studies cannot have been congenial to
+him; but they were only spoken of at this time as a finish to his
+education--old M. de Balzac, _homme de loi_ himself, remarking that no
+man's education can be complete without a knowledge of ancient and
+modern legislation, and an acquaintance with the statutes of his own
+country. Perhaps Honore, wiser now than in his school-days, had learnt
+that all knowledge is equipment for a literary life. He certainly made
+good use of his time, and the results can be seen in many of his
+works, notably in the "Tenebreuse Affaire," which contains in the
+account of the famous trial a masterly exposition of the legislature
+of the First Empire, or in "Cesar Birotteau," which shows such
+thorough knowledge of the laws of bankruptcy of the time that its
+complicated plot cannot be thoroughly understood by any one unversed
+in legal matters.
+
+Honore was very well occupied at this time, and his mother must have
+felt for once thoroughly satisfied with him. In addition to his study
+of law, he had to follow the course of lectures at the Sorbonne and at
+the College of France; and these studies were a delightful excuse for
+a very fitful occupation of his seat in the lawyer's office. Besides
+his multifarious occupations, he managed in the evening to find time
+to play cards with his grandmother, who lived with her daughter and
+son-in-law. The gentle old lady spoilt Honore, his mother considered,
+and would allow him to win money from her, which he joyfully expended
+on books. His sister, who tells us this, says, "He always loved those
+game in memory of her; and the recollection of her sayings and of her
+gestures used to come to him like a happiness which, as he said, he
+wrested from a tomb."
+
+Other recollections of this time were not so pleasant. Honore wished
+to shine in society. No doubt the two "immense and sole desires--to be
+famous and to be loved"--which haunted him continually, till he at
+last obtained them at the cost of his life, were already at work
+within him, and he longed for the tender glances of some charming
+_demoiselle_. At any rate he took dancing-lessons, and prepared
+himself to enter with grace into ladies' society. Here, however, a
+terrible humiliation awaited him. After all his care and pains, he
+slipped and fell in the ball-room, and his mortification at the smiles
+of the women round was so great that he never danced again, but looked
+on henceforward with cynicism which he expresses in the "Peau de
+Chagrin." That wonderful book, side by side with its philosophical
+teaching, gives a graphic picture of one side of Balzac's restless,
+feverish youth, as "Louis Lambert" does of his repressed childhood.
+Neither Louis Lambert nor the morbid and selfish Raphael give,
+however, the slightest indication of Balzac's most salient
+characteristic both as boy and youth--the healthy _joie de vivre_, the
+gaiety and exuberant merriment, of which his contemporaries speak
+constantly, and which shone out undimmed even by the wretched health
+and terrible worries of the last few years of his life. In his books,
+the bitter and melancholy side of things reigns almost exclusively,
+and Balzac, using Raphael as his mouthpiece, says: "Women one and all
+have condemned me. With tears and mortification I bowed before the
+decision of the world; but my distress was not barren. I determined to
+revenge myself on society; I would dominate the feminine intellect,
+and so have the feminine soul at my mercy; all eyes should be fixed
+upon me, when the servant at the door announced my name. I had
+determined from my childhood that I would be a great man. I said with
+Andre Chenier, as I struck my forehead, 'There is something underneath
+that!' I felt, I believed the thought within me that I must express,
+the system I must establish, the knowledge I must interpret." In
+another place in the same book the bitterness of his social failure
+again peeps out: "The incomprehensible bent of women's minds appears
+to lead them to see nothing but the weak points in a clever man and
+the strong points of a fool."
+
+Reading these words, we can imagine poor Honore, a proud,
+supersensitive boy, leaning against the wall in the ball-room, and
+watching enviously while agreeable nonentities basked in the smiles he
+yearned for. It was a hard lot to feel within him the intuitive
+knowledge of his genius; to hear the insistent voice of his vocation
+calling him not to be as ordinary men, but to give his message to the
+world; and yet to have the miserable consciousness that no one
+believed in his talents, and that there was a huge discrepancy between
+his ambition and his actual attainments.
+
+In 1820 Honore attained his majority and finished his legal studies.
+Unfortunately the pecuniary misfortunes which were to haunt all this
+generation of the Balzac family were beginning--as old M. de Balzac
+had lost money in two speculations, and now at the age of seventy-four
+was put on the retired list, a change which meant a considerable
+diminution of income. He therefore explained to his son--Madame
+Surville tells us--that M. Passez, to whom he had formerly been of
+service, had in gratitude offered to take Honore into his office, and
+at the end of a few years would leave him his business, when, with the
+additional arrangement of a rich marriage, a prosperous future would
+be assured to him. Old M. de Balzac did not specify the nature of the
+service which was to meet with so rich a reward; and as he was a
+gentleman with a distinct liking for talking of his own doings, we may
+amuse ourselves by supposing that it had to do with those Red
+Republican days which he was not fond of recalling.
+
+Great was Honore's consternation at this news. In the first place,
+owing to M. de Balzac's constant vapourings about the enormous wealth
+he would leave to his children, it is doubtful whether Honore, who was
+probably not admitted to his parents' confidence, had realised up to
+this time that he would have to earn his own living. Then, if it
+_were_ necessary for him to work for his bread, he now knew enough of
+the routine of a lawyer's office to look with horror on the prospect
+of drawing up wills, deeds of sale, and marriage settlements for the
+rest of his life. He never forgave the legal profession the shock and
+the terror he experienced at this time, and his portraits of lawyers,
+with some notable exceptions, are marked by decided animus. For
+instance, in "Les Francais peints par eux-memes," edited by Cunmer,
+the notary, as described by Balzac, has a flat, expressionless face
+and wears a mask of bland silliness; and in "Pamela Giraud" one of the
+characters remarks, "A lawyer who talks to himself--that reminds me of
+a pastrycook who eats his own cakes." It was rather unfair to decry
+all lawyers, because of the deadly fear he felt at the prospect of
+being forced into their ranks, as there is little doubt that he would
+have shrunk with like abhorrence from any business proposed to him.
+His childish longing for fame had developed and taken shape, and for
+him, if he lacked genius, there was no alternative but the dragging
+out of a worthless and wearying existence. Conscious of his powers, it
+was a time of struggle, of passionate endeavour, possibly of
+bewilderment; with the one great determination standing firm in the
+midst of a chaos of doubt and difficulty--the determination to
+persevere, and to become a writer at any cost.
+
+He therefore, to his father's consternation, announced his objection
+to following a legal career, and begged to be allowed an opportunity
+of proving his literary powers. Thereupon there were lively
+discussions in the family; but at last the kindly M. de Balzac,
+apparently against his wife's wishes, yielded to his son's earnest
+entreaties, and allowed him two years in which to try his fortune as a
+writer. The friends of the family were loud in their exclamations of
+disapproval at the folly of this proceeding, which would, they said,
+waste two of the best years of Honore's life. As far as they could
+see, he possessed no genius; and even if he _were_ to succeed in a
+literary career, he would certainly not gain a fortune, which after
+all was the principal thing to be considered. However, either the
+strenuousness and force of Honor's arguments, or the softness of his
+father's heart, prevailed in his favour; and in spite of the
+opposition of the whole of his little world, he was allowed to have
+his own way, and to make trial of his powers. The rest of the family
+retired to Villeparisis, about sixteen miles from Paris, and he was
+established in a small attic at No. 9, Rue Lesdiguieres, which was
+chosen by him for its nearness to the Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal, the
+only public library of which the contents were unknown to him. At the
+same time, appearances, always all-important in the Balzac family,
+were observed, by the fiction that Honore was at Alby, on a visit to a
+cousin; and in this way his literary venture was kept secret, in case
+it proved unsuccessful.
+
+Having arranged this, and asserted himself to the extent of insisting
+that his son should be allowed a certain amount of freedom in choosing
+his career, even if he fixed on a course which seemed suicidal, old M.
+de Balzac appears to have retired from the direction of affairs, and
+to have left his energetic wife to follow her own will about details.
+There was no doubt in that lady's mind as to the methods to be
+pursued. Her husband had been culpably weak, and had allowed himself
+to be swayed by the freak of a boy who hated work and wanted an excuse
+for idleness. Honore must be brought to reason, and be taught that
+"the way of transgressors is hard," and that people who refuse to take
+their fair share of life's labour must of necessity suffer from
+deprivation of their butter, if not of their bread. Her husband was an
+old man, and had lost money, and it was most exasperating that Honore
+should refuse a splendid chance of securing his own future, and one
+which would most probably never occur again. To a good business woman,
+who did not naturally share in the boundless optimistic views of M. de
+Balzac for the future, the crass folly of yielding to the wishes of a
+boy who could not possibly know what was best for him, was glaringly
+apparent. However, being a practical woman, when she had done her duty
+in making the household--except the placid M. de Balzac--thoroughly
+uncomfortable, and had most probably driven Honore almost wild with
+suppressed irritation, she embarked on the plan of campaign which was
+to bring the culprit back, repentant and submissive, to the lawyer's
+desk.
+
+To accomplish this as quickly as possible, it was necessary to make
+him extremely uncomfortable; so having furnished his attic with the
+barest necessities--a bed, a table, and a few chairs--she gave him
+such a scanty allowance that he would have starved if an old woman,
+_la mere Comin_, whom he termed his Iris, had not been told to go
+occasionally to look after him. In spite of the gaiety of Balzac's
+letters from his garret, the hardships he went through were terrible,
+and in later years he could not speak of his sufferings at this time
+without tears coming to his eyes. Apparently he could not even afford
+to have a fire; and the attic was extremely draughty, blasts coming
+from the door and window; so that in a letter to his sister he begs
+her, when sending the coverlet for which he has already asked, to let
+him have a _very_ old shawl, which he can wear at night. His legs,
+where he feels the cold most, are wrapped in an ancient coat made by a
+small tailor of Tours, who to his disgust used to alter his father's
+garments to fit him, and was a dreadful bungler; but the upper half of
+his body is only protected by the roof and a flannel waistcoat from
+the frost, and he needs a shawl badly. He also hopes for a Dantesque
+cap, the kind his mother always makes for him; and this pattern of cap
+from the hands of Madame de Balzac figures in the accounts of his
+attire later on in his life. It is not surprising that he has a cold,
+and later on a terrible toothache; but it _is_ astonishing that, in
+spite of cold, hunger, and discomfort, he preserves his gaiety, pluck,
+and power of making light of hardships, traits of character which were
+to be strikingly salient all through his hard, fatiguing career. In
+spite of the misery of his surroundings, he had many compensations. He
+had gained the wish of his heart, life was before him, beautiful
+dreams of future fame floated in the air, and at present he had no
+hateful burden of debt to weigh him down. Therefore he managed to
+ignore to a great extent the physical pain and discomfort he went
+through, as he ignored them all through his life, except when ill
+health interfered with the accomplishment of his work.
+
+Another characteristic which might also be amazing, did we not meet it
+constantly in Balzac's life, is his longing for luxury and beauty, and
+his extraordinary faculty for embarking in a perfectly business-like
+way on wildly unreasonable schemes. With hardly enough money to
+provide himself with scanty meals, he intends to economise, in order
+to buy a piano. "The garret is not big enough to hold one," as he
+casually remarks; but this fact, which, apart from the starving
+process necessary in order to obtain funds, would appear to the
+ordinary mind an insurmountable obstacle to the project, does not
+daunt the ever-hopeful Honore.
+
+He has taken the dimensions, he says; and if the landlord objects to
+the expense of moving back the wall, he will pay the money himself,
+and add it to the price of the piano. Here we recognise exactly the
+same Balzac whose vagrant schemes later on were listened to by his
+friends with a mixture of fascination and bewilderment, and who, in
+utter despair about his pecuniary circumstances at the beginning of a
+letter, talks airily towards the end of buying a costly picture, or
+acquiring an estate in the country.
+
+There is a curious and striking contrast in Balzac between the
+backwardness in the expression of his literary genius, and the early
+development and crystallisation of his character and powers of mind in
+other directions. Even when he realised his vocation, forsook verse,
+and began to write novels, he for long gave no indication of his
+future powers; while, on the other hand, at the age of twenty, his
+views on most points were formed, and his judgments matured.
+Therefore, unlike most men, in whom, even if there be no violent
+changes, age gradually and imperceptibly modifies the point of view,
+Balzac, a youth in his garret, differed little in essentials from
+Balzac at forty-five or fifty, a man of world-wide celebrity. He never
+appears to have passed through those phases of belief and unbelief
+--those wild enthusiasms, to be rejected later in life--which generally
+fall to the lot of young men of talent. Perhaps his reasoning and
+reflective powers were developed unusually early, so that he sowed his
+mental wild oats in his boyhood. At any rate, in his garret in 1819 he
+was the same Balzac that we know in later life. Large-minded and
+far-seeing--except about his business concerns--he was from his youth
+a _voyant_, who discerned with extraordinary acuteness the trend of
+political events; and with an intense respect for authority, he was
+yet independent, and essentially a strong man.
+
+This absolute stability--a fact Balzac often comments on--is very
+remarkable, especially as his was a life full of variety, during which
+he was brought into contact with many influences. He studied the men
+around him, and gauged their characters--though it must be allowed
+that he did not make very good practical use of his knowledge; but
+owing to his strength and breadth of vision, he was himself in all
+essentials immovable.
+
+The same ambitions, desires, and opinions can be traced all through
+his career. The wish to enter political life, which haunted him
+always, was already beginning to stir in 1819, when he wrote at the
+time of the elections to a friend, M. Theodore Dablin, that he dreamt
+of nothing but him and the deputies; and his last book, "L'Envers de
+l'Histoire contemporaine," accentuated, if possible more than any work
+that had preceded it, the extreme Royalist principles which he showed
+in his garret play, the ill-fated "Cromwell."
+
+He never swerved from the two great ambitions of his life--to be
+loved, and to be famous. He was faithful in his friendships; and when
+once he had found the woman whom he felt might be all in all to him,
+and who possessed besides personal advantages the qualifications of
+birth and money--for which he had always craved--no difficulties were
+allowed to stand in the way, and no length of weary waiting could tire
+out his patience. He was constant even to his failures. He began his
+literary career by writing a play, and all through his life the idea
+of making his fortune by means of a successful drama recurred to him
+constantly. Several times he went through that most trying of
+experiences, a failure which only just missed being a brilliant
+success, and once this affected him so much that he became seriously
+ill; but, with his usual spirit and courage, he tried again and again.
+His friend Theophile Gautier, writing of him in _La Presse_ of
+September 30th, 1843, after the failure of "Pamela Giraud," said truly
+that Balzac intended to go on writing plays, even if he had to get
+through a hundred acts before he could find his proper form.
+
+One part of Balzac never grew up--he was all his life the "child-man"
+his sister calls him. After nights without sleep he would come out of
+his solitude with laughter, joy, and excitement to show a new
+masterpiece; and this was always more wonderful than anything which
+had preceded it. He was more of a child than his nieces, Madame
+Surville tells us: "laughed at puns, envied the lucky being who had
+the 'gift' of making them, tried to do so himself, and failed, saying
+regretfully, 'No, that doesn't make a pun.' He used to cite with
+satisfaction the only two he had ever made, 'and not much of a success
+either,' he avowed in all humility, 'for I didn't know I was making
+them,' and we even suspected him of embellishing them afterwards."[*]
+He was delightfully simple, even to the end of his life. In 1849 he
+wrote from Russia, where he was confined to his room with illness, to
+describe minutely a beautiful new dressing-gown in which he marched
+about the room like a sultan, and was possessed with one of those
+delightful joys which we only have at eighteen. "I am writing to you
+now in my termolana,"[+] he adds for the satisfaction of his
+correspondent.
+
+[*] "Balzac, sa Vie et ses Oeuvres, d'apres sa Correspondance," by
+    Madame L. Surville (nee de Balzac).
+
+[+] "H. de Balzac--Correspondance," vol. ii. P. 418.
+
+We must now return to Honore in his attic, where, as in later years,
+he drank much coffee, and was unable to resist the passion for fruit
+which was always his one gourmandise. He records one day that he has
+eaten two melons, and must pay for the extravagance with a diet of dry
+bread and nuts, but contemplates further starvation to pay for a seat
+to see Talma in "Cinna."
+
+He writes to his sister: "I feel to-day that riches do not make
+happiness, and that the time I shall pass here will be to me a source
+of pleasant memories. To live according to my fancy; to work as I wish
+and in my own way; to do nothing if I wish it; to dream of a beautiful
+future; to think of you and to know you are happy; to have as ladylove
+the Julie of Rousseau; to have La Fontaine and Moliere as friends,
+Racine for a master, and Pere-Lachaise to walk to,--oh! if it would
+only last always."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i.
+
+Pere-Lachaise was a favourite resort when he was not working very
+hard; and it was from there that he obtained his finest inspirations,
+and decided that, of all the feelings of the soul, sorrow is the most
+difficult to express, because of its simplicity. Curiously enough, he
+abandoned the Jardin des Plantes because he thought it melancholy, and
+apparently found his reflections among the tombs more cheerful. He
+decided that the only beautiful epitaphs are single names--such as La
+Fontaine, Massena, Moliere, "which tell all, and make one dream."
+
+When he returned home to his garret, fresh interests awaited him.
+Sometimes, he tells us in the "Peau de Chagrin," he would "study the
+mosses, with their colours revived by showers, or transformed by the
+sun into a brown velvet that fitfully caught the light. Such things as
+these formed my recreations: the passing poetic moods of daylight, the
+melancholy mists, sudden gleams of sunlight, the silence and the magic
+of night, the mysteries of dawn, the smoke-wreaths from each chimney;
+every chance event, in fact, in my curious world became familiar to
+me."
+
+Occasionally on Sundays he would go to a friend's house, ostensibly to
+play cards--a pastime which he hated. He generally, however, managed
+to escape from the eye of his hostess; and comfortably ensconced in a
+window behind thick curtains, or hidden behind a high armchair, he
+would pour into the ear of a congenial companion some of the thoughts
+which surged through his impetuous brain. All his life he needed this
+outlet after concentrated mental labour; and sometimes in a friend's
+drawing-room, if he knew himself to be surrounded only by intimates,
+he would give full vent to his conversational powers. On these
+occasions he would carry his hearers away with him, often against
+their better judgment, by his eloquence and verve; would send them
+into fits of hearty laughter by his sallies; his store of droll
+anecdotes, his jollity and gaiety; and would display his consummate
+gifts as a dramatic raconteur. Later in life, after he had raised the
+enmity of a large section of the writing world, and knew that there
+were many watching eagerly to immortalise in print--with gay malice
+and wit on the surface, and bitter spite and hatred below--the
+heedless and possibly arrogant words their enemy had uttered in
+moments of excitement and expansion, he grew cautious; and sometimes
+because of this, and sometimes because he was collecting material for
+his work, he would often be silent in general society. To the end,
+however, he loved a tete-a-tete with a sympathetic listener--one, it
+must be conceded, who would be content, except for the occasional
+comment, to remain himself in the background, as the great man wanted
+a safety-valve for his own impetuous thoughts, and did not generally
+care to hear the paler, less interesting impressions of his companion.
+
+With what longing, in the midst of his harassing life in Paris, he
+would look back to the charming long fireside chats he had had with
+Madame Hanska; and as the time to meet her again came nearer, with
+what satisfaction special tit-bits of gossip were reserved to be
+talked over and explained during the long evenings at Wierzchownia!
+How he loved to rush in to his sister with the latest news of the
+personages of his novels, as well as with brilliant plans to improve
+his general prospects; and with what enthusiasm he poured out to
+Theophile Gautier, or even to Leon Gozlan, his confidences of all
+sorts! Plans, absurd and impossible, but worked out with a
+business-like arrangement of detail which, when mingled with
+somnambulists and magnetisers, had a weird yet apparently fascinating
+effect on his hearers; magnificent diatribes against the wickedness of
+his special enemies, journalists, editors, and the Press in general;
+strange fancies to do with the world where Eugenie Grandet or Le Pere
+Goriot had their dwelling,--all these ideas, opinions, and feelings
+came from his lips with an eloquence, a force, and a life which were
+all convincing. Yet by a strange anomaly, which is sometimes seen in
+talkative and apparently unreserved people, Balzac in reality revealed
+very little of himself--in fact, we may often suspect him of using a
+flow of apparently spontaneous words as a screen to mask some hidden
+feeling. Therefore, when people who had considered themselves his
+intimate friends tried to write about him after his death, they found
+that they really knew little of the essentials of the man, and could
+only string together amusing anecdotes, proving him to have been
+eccentric, amusing, and essentially _bon camarade_, but giving little
+idea of his real personality and genius.
+
+Even in these early days at the card-parties--where sometimes the
+hostess noticed the defection of the two young guests, and, holding a
+card in each delicate hand, would beckon them to take their place at
+the game, which they would do with humble and discomfited faces, like
+schoolboys surprised at a forbidden amusement--M. de Petigny, Balzac's
+companion, must have been struck by his openness in some respects and
+the absolute mystery with which he surrounded himself in others. Where
+he lived, what he was doing, what his life was like--all these facts
+were hidden from his companion, till he revealed himself at last, on
+the verge of his hoped-for triumph. But, on the other hand, the
+sentiments and impressions of which M. de Petigny read afterwards in
+Balzac's books seemed to him only a pale, distant echo of the rich and
+vivid expressions which fell from his lips in these intimate talks.
+Magnetism, in which he had a strong faith all his life, was exercising
+his thoughts greatly. It was "the irresistible ascendency of mind over
+matter, of a strong and immovable will over a soul open to all
+impressions."[*] Before long he would have mastered its secrets, and
+would be able to compel every man to obey him and every woman to love
+him. He had already, he announced, begun to occupy his fixed position
+in life, and was on the threshold of a millennium.
+
+[*] Article by M. Jules de Petigny.
+
+Balzac's glimpses of society were, however, rare, and ceased
+altogether during the last few months of his stay in the Rue
+Lesdiguieres. However, other more satisfying pleasures were his:
+"Unspeakable joys are showered on us by the exertion of our mental
+faculties; the quest of ideas, and the tranquil contemplation of
+knowledge; delights indescribable, because purely intellectual and
+impalpable to our senses. So we are obliged to use material terms to
+express the mysteries of the soul. The pleasure of striking out in
+some lonely lake of clear water, with forests, rocks, and flowers
+around, and the soft stirring of the warm breeze--all this would give
+to those who knew them not a very faint idea of the exultation with
+which my soul bathed itself in the beams of an unknown light,
+hearkened to the awful and uncertain voice of inspiration, as vision
+upon vision poured from some unknown source through my throbbing
+brain."[*]
+
+[*] "La Peau de Chagrin," by Honore de Balzac.
+
+There was another side to the picture, and perhaps in this
+description, written in 1830, Balzac has slightly antedated his joy in
+his creative powers, and describes more correctly his feelings when he
+wrote "Les Chouans," "La Maison du Chat-qui-pelote," and the "Peau de
+Chagrin" itself, than those of this earlier period of his life, when
+the difficulties of expressing himself often seemed insurmountable,
+and the hiatus between his ideas and the form in which to clothe them
+was almost impossible to bridge over.
+
+Writing did not at any time come easily to him, and "Stella" and
+"Coqsigrue," his first novels, were never finished; while a comedy,
+"Les Deux Philosophes," was also abandoned in despair. Next he set to
+work at "Cromwell," a tragedy in five acts, which was to be his
+passport to fame. At this play he laboured for months, shutting
+himself up completely, and loving his self-imposed slavery--though his
+want of faculty for versification, and the intense difficulty he
+experienced in finding words for the ideas which crowded into his
+imaginative brain were decided drawbacks. While engaged on this work,
+he may indeed have experienced some of the feelings he describes in
+the "Peau de Chagrin," quoted above; for, curiously enough,
+"Cromwell," his first finished production, was the only one of his
+early works about which he was deceived, and which he imagined to be a
+_chef d'oeuvre_. It was well he had this happy faith to sustain him,
+as, according to the account of M. Jules de Petigny, the circumstances
+under which the play was composed must, to put the matter mildly, have
+been distinctly depressing.
+
+This gentleman says: "I entered a narrow garret, furnished with a
+bottomless chair, a rickety table and a miserable pallet bed, with two
+dirty curtains half drawn round it. On the table were an inkstand, a
+big copybook scribbled all over, a jug of lemonade, a glass, and a
+morsel of bread. The heat in this wretched hole was stifling, and one
+breathed a mephitic air which would have given cholera, if cholera had
+then been invented!" Balzac was in bed, with a cotton cap of
+problematic colour on his head. "You see," he said, "the abode I have
+not left except once for two months--the evening when you met me.
+During all this time I have not got up from the bed where I work at
+the great work, for the sake of which I have condemned myself to this
+hermit's life, and which happily I have just finished, for my powers
+have come to an end." It must have been during these last months in
+his garret, when he neglected everything for his projected
+masterpiece, that, covered with vermin from the dirt of his room, he
+would creep out in the evening to buy a candle, which, as he possessed
+no candlestick, he would put in an empty bottle.
+
+The almost insane ardour for and absorption in his work, which were
+his salient characteristics, had already possession of him; and we see
+that he laboured as passionately now for fame and for love of his art,
+as he did later on, when the struggle to free himself from debt, and
+to gain a home and womanly companionship were additional incentives to
+effort. At the time of which M. de Petigny speaks, however, his
+troubles appeared to be over, as the masterpiece for which he had
+suffered so much was completed; and joyfully confident that triumph
+awaited him, Honore took it home with him to Villeparisis at the end
+of April, 1820. He was so certain, poor fellow, of success, that he
+had specially begged that among those invited to the reading of the
+tragedy, should be the insulting person who told his father fifteen
+months before, that he was fit for nothing but a post as copying
+clerk.
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV
+
+                             1820 - 1828
+
+  Reading of "Cromwell"--Balzac is obliged to live at home
+  --Unhappiness--Writes romantic novels--Friendship with Madame
+  de Berny--Starts in Paris as publisher and afterwards as printer
+  --Impending bankruptcy only prevented by help from his parents
+  and Madame de Berny.
+
+Evidently Balzac's happy faith in the beauty of "Cromwell" had
+impressed his parents, as, apparently without having seen the play,
+they had assembled a large concourse of friends for the reading; and
+between happy pride in his boy's genius, and satisfaction at his own
+acuteness in discerning it, old M. de Balzac was no doubt nearly as
+joyous as Honore himself. The Balzac family were prepared for triumph,
+the friends were amused or incredulous, and the solemn trial began.[*]
+The tragedy, strongly Royalist in principles, opens, according to the
+plot as given by Balzac in a letter to his sister,[+] with the
+entrance of Queen Henrietta Maria into Westminster. She is utterly
+exhausted, and, disguised in humble garments, has returned from taking
+her children for safety into Holland, and from begging for the help of
+the King of France. Strafford, in tears, tells her of late events, and
+of the King's imprisonment and future trial; but during this
+conversation Cromwell and Ireton enter, and the Queen, in terror,
+hides behind a tomb, till, horrified at the discussion as to whether
+or not the King shall be put to death, she comes out, and, as Balzac
+remarks, "makes them a famous discourse." Act II. sounds a little
+dull, though no doubt it is highly instructive, as a great part of it
+is taken up with a monologue by the King detailing the events of his
+past reign. Later on Charles, instead of keeping Cromwell's son who
+has fallen into his hands, as a hostage for his own life, gives him up
+to his father without condition; but Cromwell, unmoved by this
+generosity, still plots for his King's death. The fifth Act, which
+Balzac remarks is the most difficult of all, opens with a scene in
+which the King tells the Queen his last wishes, which Balzac
+interpolates with (Quelle scene!); then Strafford informs the King of
+his condemnation (Quelle scene!); the King and Queen say good-bye
+--(Quelle scene!) again; and the play ends with the Queen vowing
+eternal vengeance upon England, declaring that enemies will rise
+everywhere against her, and that one day France will fight against
+her, conquer her, and crush her.
+
+[*] The original MS., beautifully written out, and tied with faded
+    blue ribbon, is in the possession of the Vicomte de Spoelberch
+    de Lovenjoul.
+
+[+] "Honore de Balzac--Correspondance," vol. i, p. 28.
+
+Honore began his reading with the utmost enthusiasm, modulating his
+sonorous voice to suit the different characters, and even contriving
+for a time to impart by his expressive reading a fictitious interest
+to the dull, tedious tragedy. Gradually, however, the feeling of
+disappointment and boredom among his audience communicated itself to
+him. He lost confidence; his beautiful reading began to decline in
+pathos and interest; and when at last he finished, and, glancing at
+the downcast faces round him, found that even Laure could not look up
+at him with a smile of congratulation, he felt a chill at his heart,
+and knew that he had not triumphed after all. Nevertheless, he very
+naturally rebelled against the strongly expressed adverse judgment of
+his enemy of the copying-clerk proposal, and begged to be allowed to
+appeal to a competent and impartial critic. To this request his father
+assented, and M. Surville, who was now engaged to Laure, proposed that
+M. Andrieux, of the Academie Francaise, formerly his own master at the
+Ecole Polytechnique, should be asked to give an opinion. Honore, his
+sister says, "accepted this literary elder as sovereign judge," no
+doubt hoping against hope that a really cultured man would see the
+beauties which were unfortunately hidden from the eyes of the
+unintellectual inhabitants of Villeparisis. However, the verdict of M.
+Andrieux was, if possible, more crushing than any of the events which
+had preceded it. In the honest opinion of this expert, the author of
+"Cromwell" ought to do anything, no matter what, _except literature_.
+
+Honore had asked for an impartial judgment, and had promised to abide
+by it. His discomfiture and sense of failure ought therefore to have
+been complete. Genius does not, however, follow the ordinary road; and
+with a mixture of pluck, confidence in himself, and pride which always
+characterised him, Honore did not allow that he was beaten, and would
+not show the feelings of grief and disappointment which must have
+filled his heart. "Tragedies are not my line"--that is all he said;
+and if he had been allowed to follow his own bent, he would at once
+have returned to his garret, and have begun to write again with
+unabated ardour.
+
+Naturally, however, the Balzac family refused to allow him to continue
+the course of senseless folly which was already beginning to ruin his
+health. Madame de Balzac was specially strong on this point; and
+though he had only been allowed fifteen months, instead of the two
+years promised for his trial, she insisted that he should come home at
+once, and remain under the maternal eye. Indeed, this seemed quite
+necessary, after the privations he had gone through. His sufferings
+never made him thin at any period of his life; but now his face was
+pale and his eyes hollow, and his lifelong friend, Dr. Nacquart, sent
+him at once to recruit in the air of his native Touraine.
+
+After this followed a time of bitter trial for poor Honore. His sister
+Laure married M. Surville in May, 1820, about a month after his return
+home, and went to live at Bayeux, so that he was deprived of her
+congenial companionship; and, in spite of his fun and buoyancy, his
+letters to her show his extreme wretchedness. Years afterwards he told
+the Duchesse d'Abrantes that the cruel weight of compulsion under
+which he was crushed till 1822 made his struggles for existence, when
+once he was free, seem comparatively light. Continually worried by his
+nervous, irritable mother, deprived of independence, of leisure, of
+quiet, he saw his dreams of future fame vanish like smoke, and the
+hated lawyer's office become a certainty, if he failed to make money
+by writing. In deadly fear of this, and with the paralysing
+consciousness that his present circumstances were peculiarly
+unpropitious as a literary education, he rebelled against the hard
+fate which denied him opportunity to work for fame. "Laure, Laure," he
+cries at this time, "my two only and immense desires--to be loved and
+to be celebrated--will they ever be satisfied?"
+
+Whatever his aspirations might be, it was necessary that he should do
+something to support himself, as his parents firmly refused to grant
+him the 1,500 francs--about sixty pounds--a year for which he begged,
+to enable him to live in Paris and to carry out his vocation. He was
+therefore obliged to write at his home at Villeparisis in the midst of
+distractions and discouragements. In these unpropitious circumstances
+he produced in five years--with different collaborators, whose names
+are now rescued from absolute oblivion by their transitory connection
+with him--eight novels in thirty-one volumes. That he managed to find
+a publisher for most of his novels, and to make forty pounds, sixty
+pounds, or eighty pounds out of each, is according to his sister, a
+remarkable proof of his strength of will, and also of his power of
+fascination. The payment generally took the form of a bill payable at
+some distant period--a form of receiving money which does not seem
+very satisfying; but at any rate Balzac could prove to his family that
+he was earning something, and was himself cheered by his small
+successes. We can imagine his feverish anxiety, and the cunning with
+which he would exert every wile to induce the publisher--himself a
+struggling man--to accept his wares, when he knew that a refusal would
+mean mingled scoffs and lamentations at home, and possibly a menace
+that not much longer leisure would be allowed him for idling. There is
+pathos in the fate of one whose genius is unrecognised till his day on
+earth is over, but far harder seems the lot of the man who longs and
+struggles, feeling that the power is in him, and who yet, by some
+strange gulf between thought and expression, can only produce what he
+knows to be worthless. It speaks much for Balzac's courage, patience,
+and determination, or perhaps for the intuitive force of a genius
+which refused to be denied outlet, that he struggled through this
+weary time, and in spite of opposition kept to his fixed purpose of
+becoming a writer.
+
+These early works--"L'Heritiere de Birague," "Jean-Louis," "Le
+Centenaire," "Le Vicaire des Ardennes," "La Derniere Fee," "Wann
+Chlore," and others, published in 1822 and the three following years
+--were written under the pseudonyms of Lord R'hoone, Viellergle, and
+Horace de Saint-Aubin, and are generally wild tales of adventure in
+the style of Mrs. Radcliffe. Though occasionally the reader comes
+across a paragraph faintly reminiscent of the Balzac of later years,
+these youthful attempts are certainly not worthy of the great man who
+wrote them, and he consistently refused to acknowledge their
+authorship. The two first, "L'Heritiere de Birague" and "Jean-Louis,"
+were written with the collaboration of M. Auguste le Poitevin de
+l'Egreville, who took the name of Viellergle, while Balzac adopted
+that of Lord R'hoone, an anagram of Honore, so that these two novels
+are signed with both pseudonyms.[*] It is amusing to find that the
+sage Honore, in 1820, prudently discourages a passing fancy on the
+part of his sister Laurence for his collaborator, by remarking that
+writers are very bad _partis_, though he hastens to add that he only
+means this from a pecuniary point of view! Laure, at Bayeux, is made
+useful as an amateur advertising agent, and is carefully told that,
+though she is to talk about the novels a great deal, she is never to
+lend her copies to any one, because people must buy the books to read
+them. "L'Heritiere" brought in about thirty-two pounds, and
+"Jean-Louis" fifty-three pounds, unfortunately both in bills at long
+date; but it was the first money Honore had ever earned, and he was
+naturally excited. However, with "La Derniere Fee" he was not so
+fortunate, as both versions--one of which appeared in 1823 and the
+other in 1824--were published at his own cost. Nevertheless, he has no
+illusions about the worth of his books, "L'Heritiere" being, he says,
+a "veritable cochonnerie litteraire," while "Jean-Louis" has "several
+rather funny jokes, and some not bad attempts at character, but a
+detestable plot."
+
+[*] See "Une Page perdue de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+In the same year, 1822, he writes one of his droll, beseeching letters
+to beg M. and Mme. Surville to help him out of a great difficulty, and
+to write one volume of "Le Vicaire des Ardennes" while he writes the
+other, and afterwards fits the two together. The matter is most
+important, as he has promised Pollet to have two novels, "Le Vicaire"
+and "Le Savant"--the latter we never hear of again--ready by October
+1st. It is necessary to be specially quick about "Le Vicaire," partly
+because Auguste, his collaborator, is writing a novel of the same
+name, and Balzac's production _must_ come out first, and also for the
+joyful reason that he will actually receive twenty-four pounds in
+ready money for the two books, the further fifty-six pounds following
+in bills payable at eight months. What do the Survilles think about
+it? He throws himself on their generosity, though he is afraid Laure
+will never manage to write sixty pages of a novel every day.
+Apparently the Survilles, or at least M. Surville--for it is certain
+that the devoted Laure would have worked herself to death to help
+Honore--did not see their way to proceeding at this rate of
+composition, as the next letter from Balzac, written on August 20th,
+is full of reproaches because the manuscript has not been at once
+returned to him, that he may go on with it himself. Perhaps this want
+of help prevented the carrying out of the contract, and was the reason
+that the world has not been enriched by the appearance of "Le Savant."
+Honore, however, judging by his next letter, did not bear malice: he
+was accustomed to make continual requests, reasonable and sometimes
+_very_ unreasonable, to his family; and the large good-humour which
+was one of the foundations of his robust character, prevented him from
+showing any irritation when they were refused.
+
+From 1821 to 1824 he wrote thirty-one volumes, and it is an
+extraordinary proof of his versatility, that in 1824, in the midst of
+the production of these romantic novels, he published a pamphlet
+entitled "Du Droit d'Ainesse" which argues with singular force, logic,
+and erudition against the revolutionary and Napoleonic theories on the
+division of property; and a small volume entitled "Histoire impartiale
+des Jesuites," which is an impassioned defence of religion and the
+monarchy. "The Bourbons are the preservers of the sublime religion of
+Christ, and they have never betrayed the trust which confided
+Christianity to them," he cries. No one reading these political essays
+would think it likely that they were the work of the romantic writer
+of "La Derniere Fee" or "Argow the Pirate," which were employing
+Balzac's pen at the same time.
+
+Young men are often very severe critics of the doings of their family;
+and Balzac, cursed with the sensitiveness of genius, and smarting
+under the bitter disappointment of disillusionment and of thwarted and
+compressed powers, was not likely to be an indulgent critic; but
+making due allowance for these facts, it does not appear that his home
+was a particularly comfortable place at this time. Old M. de Balzac
+was as placid as an Egyptian pyramid and perennially cheerful; but the
+restless Madame de Balzac was now following in the footsteps of her
+nervous mother and becoming a _malade imaginaire_. This did not add to
+the comfort of her family, while the small excitements she roused
+perpetually were peculiarly trying to her eldest son, who was himself
+not of a placid nature.
+
+However, there were compensations, though the discreet Honore does not
+mention these in his letters to Laure, as in 1821 his friendship with
+Madame de Berny began, and only ceased in 1836 with her death, which
+in spite of his affection for Madame Hanska, was a lifelong sorrow to
+him. One of Honore's home duties was to act as tutor to his younger
+brother Henry--the spoilt child of the family--who, owing to supposed
+delicacy, was educated at home; and as the Bernys lived near
+Villeparisis, it was arranged that he should at the same time give
+lessons to one of M. and Madame de Berny's boys. This may have helped
+to bring about the intimacy between the two houses, and Honore was
+struck by Madame de Berny's patience and sweetness to a morose husband
+many years older than herself. Later on, the Bernys left the
+neighbourhood of Villeparisis, and divided their time between the
+village of Saint-Firmin, near Chantilly, and Paris; and Balzac
+occasionally paid them visits in the country, and saw Madame de Berny
+continually in Paris. She was twenty-two years older than Honore, and
+no doubt supplied the element of motherliness which was conspicuously
+absent in Madame de Balzac.
+
+She was a gentle and pathetic figure, the woman who understood Balzac
+as Madame Hanska did not; who made light of her troubles and
+sufferings for fear of grieving him in the midst of his own struggles;
+and who, while performing her duties conscientiously as devoted wife
+and mother, for twelve years gave up two hours every day to his
+society. She lent him money, interceded with his parents on his
+behalf, corrected his proofs, acted as a severe and candid though
+sympathetic critic, and above all cheered and encouraged him, and
+prevented him from committing suicide in his dark days of distress. On
+the other hand, the friendship of a man like Balzac must have been of
+absorbing interest to a woman of great delicacy of feeling, and
+evidently considerable literary powers, whose surroundings were
+uncongenial; and his warm and enduring affection helped her to tide
+over many of the troubles of a sad life.
+
+Recent researches have discovered several interesting facts about the
+origin of the woman to whom may be ascribed the merit of "creating"
+the writer who was destined to exercise so great an influence on his
+own and succeeding generations.[*] Curiously enough, Louise Antoinette
+Laure Hinner, destined at the age of fifteen years and ten months to
+become Madame de Berny, was, like Madame Hanska, a foreigner, being
+the daughter of Joseph Hinner, a German musician, who was brought by
+Turgot to France. Here he became harpist to Marie Antoinette, and
+married Madame Quelpee de Laborde, one of the Queen's ladies in
+waiting. Two years later, on May 23rd, 1777, the future Madame de
+Berny came into the world, and made her debut with a great flourish of
+trumpets, Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, represented by the Duc de
+Fronsac and Laure Auguste de Fitz-James, Princesse de Chimay, being
+her god-parents. When in 1784 her father died, her mother married the
+Chevalier de Jarjayes, one of Marie Antoinette's most loyal adherents
+during the Revolution. It was he who conceived the project of carrying
+off Louis XVII. from the Temple, and who was entrusted with the
+precious duty of carrying the seal, ring, and hair belonging to the
+Royal Family to the exiled Monsieur and Comte d'Artois.[*]
+
+[*] See "Balzac, Imprimeur," in "La Jeunesse de Balzac," by MM.
+    Hanotaux et Vicaire.
+
+We can easily see whence Balzac derived his strong Royalist principles
+--how from boyhood the lessons taught him by his masters, M. Lepitre
+and M. Guillonnet de Merville, would be insisted on, only with much
+greater effect and insistence, by this charming woman of the world.
+Her mother, still living, had passed her time in the disturbed and
+exciting atmosphere of plots and counterplots; and she herself could
+tell him story after story of heartrending tragedies and of
+hairbreadth escapes, which had happened to her own relations and
+friends. From her he acquired those aristocratic longings which always
+characterised him, and through her influence he made acquaintance with
+several people of high position and importance, and thus was enabled
+to make an occasional appearance in the _beau-monde_ of Paris.
+
+Her portrait gives the idea of an elegant rather than pretty woman,
+with a long neck, sloping shoulders, black curls on the temples, at
+each side of a high forehead, and large, languishing dark eyes, under
+pencilled eyebrows. The oval face has a character of gentle
+melancholy, and there is something subdued and suffering in the whole
+expression which invites our pity. She wears in the portrait an Empire
+dress, confined under the arms by a yellow ribbon.
+
+"La dilecta," as Balzac calls her, cannot have been a very happy
+woman. Of her nine children, watched with the most tender solicitude,
+only four lived to grow up; and of these her favourite son, "beautiful
+as the day, like her tender and spiritual, like her full of noble
+sentiments," as Balzac says, died the year before her; and only an
+insane daughter and a wild, unsatisfactory son survived her. This
+terrible blow broke her heart, and she shut herself up and refused to
+see even Balzac during the last year of her life. The end must at any
+rate have been peaceful, as, in order to prolong her existence as much
+as possible, it had been found necessary to separate her from the
+irritable husband with whose vagaries she had borne patiently during
+thirty tedious years; but perhaps she was sorry in the end that this
+was necessary. Madame de Mortsauf, in the "Lys dans la Vallee," is
+intended to be a portrait of her, though Balzac says that he has only
+managed to give a faint reflection of her perfections. However this
+may be, Henriette de Mortsauf is a charming and ethereal creation, and
+from her we can understand the fascination Madame de Berny exerted
+over Balzac, and can realise that, as he says to Madame Hanska, her
+loss can never be made up to him. It is possible also to sympathise
+with the feeling, perhaps unacknowledged even to himself, which peeps
+out in a letter to Madame Hanska in 1840.[*] In this he reproaches his
+correspondent for her littleness in not writing to him because he
+cannot answer her letters quickly, and tells her that he has lately
+been in such straits that he has not been able to pay for franking his
+letters, and has several times eaten a roll on the Boulevards for his
+dinner. He goes on: "Ah! I implore you, do not make comparisons
+between yourself and Madame de Berny. She was of infinite goodness and
+of absolute devotion; she was what she was. You are complete on your
+side as she on hers. One never compares two great things. They are
+what they are." Certainly Balzac never found a second Madame de Berny.
+
+[*] "Lettres a L'Etrangere."
+
+From 1822 to 1824 we know little of Balzac's history, except that he
+passed the time at home, and was presumably working hard at his
+romantic novels; but in 1824 a change came, one no doubt hailed at the
+time with eager delight, though it proved unfortunately to be the
+foundation of all his subsequent misfortunes.
+
+When he went up to Paris to make arrangements for publishing his
+novels, he stayed in the old lodgings of his family in the Rue du Roi
+Dore, and here he often met a friend, M. d'Assonvillez, to whom he
+confided his fear of being forced into an occupation distasteful to
+him. M. d'Assonvillez was sympathetic, advised him to seek for a
+business which would make him independent, and, carried away by
+Honore's powers of persuasion and eloquence, actually promised to
+proved the necessary funds. We can imagine Balzac's joy at this offer,
+and the enthusiasm with which he would take up his abode in Paris, and
+feel that he was about to earn his living, nay, more, that he would no
+doubt become enormously rich, and would then have leisure to give up
+his time to literature. What however decided him to become first
+publisher and then printer we do not know. He started his publishing
+campaign with the idea of bringing out compact editions of the
+complete works of different authors in one volume, and began with
+Moliere and La Fontaine, carrying on the two publications at the same
+time, for fear of competition if his secret should be discovered. The
+idea, which had already been thought of by Urbain Canel, was a good
+one; but unfortunately Balzac was not able to obtain support from the
+trade, and had not sufficient capital for advertising. Therefore by
+the end of the year not twenty copies were sold, and he lost 15,000
+francs on this affair alone. Consequently, in order to save the rent
+of the warehouse in which the books were stored, he was obliged to
+part with all the precious compact editions for the price by the
+weight of the paper on which they were printed.
+
+Matters now looked very black, as Balzac owed about 70,000 francs; but
+M. d'Assonvillez was evidently much impressed by his business
+capacity, and was naturally anxious to be repaid the money he had
+lent. He therefore introduced Honore to a relation who was making a
+large fortune by his printing-press; and Balzac, full of enthusiasm,
+dreamt of becoming a second Richardson, and of combining the
+occupations of author and printer. His father was persuaded to provide
+the necessary funds, and handed him over 30,000 francs--about 1,200
+pounds--with which to start the enterprise. In August, 1826, Balzac
+began again joyously, first by himself and afterwards with a partner
+named Barbier, whom he had noticed as foreman in one of the
+printing-offices to which he had taken his novels. Unfortunately a
+printing-licence cost 15,000 francs in the time of Charles X.; and
+when this had been paid, Barbier had received a bonus of 12,000 francs,
+and 15,000 francs had been spent on the necessary materials, there
+remained very little capital with which to meet the current expenses
+of the undertaking. Nevertheless, the young partners started full of
+hope, having bought from Laurent for 30,000 francs the premises at No.
+7, Rue des Marais Saint-Germain, now the Rue Visconti, a street so
+narrow that two vehicles cannot pass in it. A wooden staircase with an
+iron handrail led from a dark passage to the large barrack-like hall
+they occupied: an abode which Balzac tried to beautify, possibly for
+Madame de Berny's visits, by hangings of blue calico.
+
+There Balzac developed quickly. He learnt the struggle of a business
+life, the duel between man and man, through which thousands pass
+without gaining anything except business acuteness, but which
+introduced the great psychologist to hundreds of new types, and showed
+to his keen, observant eyes man, not in society or domesticity, but in
+undress, fighting for life itself, or for all that makes life worth
+living. In the Rue de Lesdiguieres he had struggled with himself,
+striving in cold and hunger to gain the mastery of his art. Here he
+battled with others; and since, except on paper, he never possessed
+business capacity, he failed and went under; but by his defeat he
+paved the way to future triumph. He passed through an experience
+possibly unique in the career of a man of letters, one which imparts
+the peculiar flavour of business, money, and affairs to his books, and
+which fixed on him for all his days the impression of restless,
+passionate, thronging humanity which he pictures in his books. The
+abyss between his early romantic novels and such a book as the "Peau
+de Chagrin" is immeasurable, and cannot be altogether accounted for by
+any teaching, however valuable, or even by the strong influence which
+intercourse with Madame de Berny exercised. Something else definite
+must have happened to him--some great opening out and development,
+which caused a sudden appearance on the surface of hitherto latent,
+unworkable powers. This forcing-process took place at his first
+contact with the war of life; and though he bore the scars of the
+encounter as long as he lived, he grew by its clash, ferment, and
+disaster to his full stature. In "La Maison du Chat-qui-pelote,"
+"Illusions Perdues," and "Cesar Birotteau" he gives different phases
+of this life, spent partly in the printer's office and partly in the
+streets, rushing anxiously from place to place and from person to
+person, trying vainly by interviews to avert the impending ruin.
+
+Matters seemed, however, quite hopeless; but when, towards the end of
+1827, an opportunity occurred of becoming possessed of a type-foundry,
+the partners, perhaps with the desperation of despair, did not
+hesitate to avail themselves of it. This new acquisition naturally
+only appeared likely to precipitate the catastrophe, and Barbier
+prepared to leave the sinking ship. At this juncture Madame de Berny
+came forward with substantial help, and allowed her name to appear as
+partner in his place. However, even this assistance did not long avert
+disaster--bankruptcy was impending, and Madame de Berny and Laure
+implored Madame de Balzac to prevent this. The latter, wishing at all
+costs to keep the matter from the ears of her husband, now a very old
+man and failing in health, begged a cousin, M. Sedillot, to come
+forward, and at least to save the honour of the family. M. Sedillot,
+who appears to have been a good man of business, at once set gallantly
+to work to disentangle the embroglio, and to free Honore from its
+meshes. As a result of his efforts, the printing-press was sold to M.
+Laurent, and the type-foundry became the property of the De Bernys,
+under whom it was highly successful. At the same time, to save Honore
+from disgrace, Madame de Balzac lent 37,000 francs and Madame de Berny
+45,000, the latter sum being paid back in full by Balzac in 1836, the
+year of Madame de Berny's death. "Without her I should be dead," he
+tells Madame Hanska. He was most anxious not to sell the type-foundry,
+and his parents have been severely criticised for their refusal to
+provide further funds for the purpose of carrying on that and the
+printing-office.
+
+This blame seems a little unfair. It is true that, after Balzac had
+been obliged, to his intense grief, to part with both businesses at a
+loss, a fortune was made out of the type-foundry alone. But the
+Balzacs had lost money, and had their other children to provide for;
+while Honore, though well equipped with hope, enthusiasm, and belief
+in himself, had hitherto failed to justify a trust in his business
+capacities. In fact, if his parents had been endowed with prophetic
+eyesight, and had been enabled to take a bird's-eye view of their
+celebrated son's future enterprises, which were always, according to
+his own account, destined to fail only by some unfortunate slip at the
+last, it seems doubtful whether they would have been wise to alter the
+course they adopted.
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER V
+
+                             1828 - 1829
+
+  Life in the Rue de Tournon--Privations and despair--Friendships
+  --Auguste Borget--Madame Carraud--The Duchesse d'Abrantes--George
+  Sand, etc.--Balzac writes "La Peau de Chagrin" and the
+  "Physiologie du Marriage"--His right to be entitled "De Balzac."
+
+In September, 1828, before the final winding up of affairs, Balzac had
+fled from Paris, and had gone to spend three weeks with his friends
+the Pommereuls in Brittany. There he began to write "Les Chouans," the
+first novel to which he signed his name. With his usual hopefulness,
+dreams of future fame filled his brain; and in spite of his
+misfortunes, his relief at having obtained temporary escape from his
+difficulties and freedom to pursue his literary career was so great,
+that his jolly laugh often resounded in the old chateau of Fougeres.
+It was certainly a remarkable case of buoyancy of temperament, as the
+circumstances in which he found himself were distinctly discouraging.
+He was now twenty-nine years old; he owed about 100,000 francs, and
+was utterly penniless; while his reputation for commercial capacity
+had been completely destroyed. His most pressing liabilities had been
+paid by his mother, who was all his life one of his principal
+creditors; and he was now firmly under the yoke of that heavy burden
+of debt which was destined never again to be lifted from his
+shoulders. Once again, as they had done nine years before, his parents
+cast off all responsibility for their unsatisfactory son. They had
+saved the family honour, which would have been compromised by his
+bankruptcy; but they felt that whether he lived or starved was his own
+affair. His position was infinitely worse than it had been in those
+early days in the Rue Lesdiguieres, when submission would have led to
+reinstatement in favour. He was now, as he graphically expressed it,
+"thrown into" the Rue de Tournon,[*] and apparently no provision was
+made for his wants. His parents, who had moved from Villeparisis to
+Versailles the year before, in order to be near Madame Surville,
+limited their interference in his affairs to severe criticism on his
+want of respect in not coming to see his family, and righteous wrath
+at his extravagance in hanging his room with blue calico. These
+reproaches he parried with the defence that he had no money to pay
+omnibus fares, and could not even write often because of the expense
+of postage; while anent the muslin, he stated that he possessed it
+before his failure, as La Touche and he had nailed it up to hide the
+frightful paper on the walls of the printing-office. Uncrushed by the
+scathing comments on his attempts at decoration, curious though
+characteristic efforts on the part of a starving man, he writes to his
+sister a few days later: "Ah, Laure, if you did but know how
+passionately I desire (but, hush! keep the secret) two blue screens
+embroidered in black (silence ever!)."[+] He reopens his letter about
+the screens to answer one from Madame Surville, written evidently at
+the instigation of M. and Mme. de Balzac, to blame his supposed
+idleness; and the poor fellow, to whom _this_ fault at least could at
+no time be justly imputed, asks her if he is not already unhappy
+enough, and tells her pathetically how he suffers from these unjust
+suspicions, and that he can never be happy till he is dead. In the
+end, however, he returns with childlike persistence to the screens as
+a panacea for all his ills, and finishes with: "But my screens--I want
+them more than ever, for a little joy in the midst of torment!"
+
+[*] He says himself "Rue Cassini," but this is a mistake.
+
+[+] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 82.
+
+He had now apparently completely gone under, like many another
+promising young man of whom great things are expected; and he had in
+his pride and misery hidden himself from every one, except a few
+intimate friends. With the death on June 19, 1829, of his father,
+whose last days were saddened by the knowledge of his son's disaster,
+the world was poorer by one castle in the air the less; for besides
+his natural sorrow at the death of the kind old man, who was so much
+softer than his wife, the dream of becoming a millionaire by means of
+the Tontine capital faded way, like all poor Honore's other visions.
+Even Balzac's buoyancy was not always proof against the depressing
+influence of two or three days of starvation, and he sometimes
+descended to the lowest depths, and groped in those dark places from
+which death seems the only escape. When he tells us in "La Peau de
+Chagrin" that Raphael walked with an uncertain step in the Tuileries
+Gardens, "as if he were in some desert, elbowed by men whom he did not
+see, hearing, through all the voices of the crowd, one voice alone,
+the voice of Death," it is Balzac himself, who, after glorious
+aspirations, after being in imagination raised to heights to which
+only a great nature can aspire, now lay bruised and worsted, a
+complete failure, and thought that by suicide he would at least obtain
+peace and oblivion. He knew to the full the truth of his words:
+"Between a self-sought death and the abundant hopes whose voices call
+a young man to Paris, God only knows what may intervene, what
+contending ideas have striven within the soul, what poems have been
+set aside, what moans and what despair have been repressed, what
+abortive masterpieces and vain endeavours."[*]
+
+[*] Honore de Balzac, "La Peau de Chagrin."
+
+Looking back years afterwards at this terrible time, he can find only
+one reason why he did not put an end to himself, and that was the
+existence of Madame de Berny: "She was a mother, a woman friend, a
+family, a man friend, an adviser," he cries enthusiastically; "she
+made the writer, she consoled the young man, she formed his taste, she
+cried like a sister, she laughed, she came every day, like a merciful
+slumber, to send sorrow to sleep."[*] Certainly there was no woman on
+earth to whom Balzac owed so deep a debt of gratitude, and certainly
+also he joyfully acknowledged his obligations. "Every day with her was
+a fete," he said to Madame Hanska long afterwards.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+About this time another friendship was beginning, which, though slower
+in growth and not so passionate in character, was as faithful, and was
+only terminated by Balzac's death. When Madame Surville went to live
+at Versailles, she was delighted to find that an old schoolfellow,
+Madame Carraud, was settled there, her husband holding the post of
+director of the military school at Saint-Cyr. Honore had known Madame
+Carraud since 1819; but he first became intimate with her and her
+husband in 1826, and later he was their constant guest at Angouleme,
+where Commandant Carraud was in charge of the Government powder-works,
+or at Frapesle in Berry, where Madame Carraud had a country house. She
+was a woman of much intelligence and ambition, high-principled and
+possessing much common sense. Balzac occasionally complained that she
+was a little wanting in softness; but, nevertheless, he invariably
+turned to her for comfort in the vicissitudes of his more passionate
+attachments. He was also much attached to M. Carraud, a man of great
+scientific attainments and a good husband, but, to his wife's despair,
+utterly lacking in energy and ambition; so that instead of taking the
+position to which by his abilities he was entitled, he soon retired
+altogether from public life, and Madame Carraud, who should, according
+to Balzac, have found scope for her talents in Paris, was buried in
+the country. Nevertheless, the Carrauds were a happy couple, genuinely
+devoted to each other; and Madame Carraud cited the instance of their
+affection, in spite of the difference of their point of view on many
+subjects, when in 1833 she wrote to Honore urging him to marry.[*]
+"There is no need to tell you that my husband and I are not
+sympathetic in everything. We are so unlike each other that the same
+objects appear quite differently to us. Yet I know the happiness about
+which I speak. We both feel it in the same degree, though in a
+different way. I would not give it up for the fullest existence,
+according to generally received ideas. I have not an empty moment."
+
+[*] Letter from Madame Carraud in the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul's collection, published in _La Revue Bleue_, November
+    21st, 1903.
+
+She was an ardent politician, and we gain much of our knowledge of
+Balzac's political views from his letters to her when he wished to
+become a deputy; while she also possessed the faculty which he valued
+most in his women friends, that of intelligent literary criticism. She
+could be critical on other points as well; and, like Madame Hanska,
+blamed Balzac for mobility of ideas and inconstancy of resolution,
+which she said wasted his intellect. She complained that, in the time
+that he might have used to bring one plan successfully to completion,
+he generally started ten or twelve new ones, all of which vanished
+into smoke, and brought him no advantage.[*]
+
+[*] "L'Ecole des Menages" in "Autour de Honore de Balzac," by the
+    Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+Hardly a year passed without Balzac spending some time at the
+hospitable house at Frapesle, the doors of which were always open to
+him; and there, away from creditors, publishers, journalists, and all
+his other enemies, he was able to write in peace and quietness. There,
+too, he made many pleasant acquaintances, among them M. Armand Pereme,
+the distinguished antiquary, and M. Periollas, who was at one time
+under M. Carraud at Saint-Cyr, and afterwards became chief of a
+squadron of artillery. To Madame Carraud he also owed an introduction
+to his most intimate male friend, Auguste Borget, a genre painter who
+travelled in China, and drew many pictures of the scenery there.
+Borget lodged in the same house with Balzac in the Rue Cassini, and is
+mentioned by him in a letter to Madame Hanska, in 1833, as one of his
+three real friends beside her and his sister, Madame de Berny and
+Madame Carraud being the other two. It was a very real grief to Balzac
+when Borget was away; and he says that even when the painter is
+travelling, sketching, and never writes to him, he is constantly in
+his remembrance; while in another letter he speaks of his friend's
+nobility of soul and beauty of sentiment. To Borget was dedicated the
+touching story of "La Messe de l'Athee"; and in case of Balzac's
+sudden death it was to this "good, old, and true friend" that the duty
+of burning Madame Hanska's letters were entrusted, though eventually
+their recipient performed this painful task himself in 1847.
+
+A still older friend was M. Dablin, a rich, retired ironmonger with
+artistic tastes, who left his valuable collection of artistic objects
+to the Louvre. He was known to Balzac before 1817; and in 1830 the
+successful writer remembers with gratitude that M. Dablin used to be
+his only visitor during his martyrdom in the Rue Lesdiguieres in 1819.
+At that time and later he was most generous in lending Honore money;
+and the only cloud that came between them for a long time was his
+indignation when Balzac wished to find him further security than his
+own life for a loan he had promised. Later on, in 1845, when M.
+Dablin, rather hurt by some heedless words from Balzac, and evidently
+jealous of his former protege's grand acquaintances, complained that
+honours and fortune changed people's hearts--the great novelist found
+time, after his daily sixteen hours of work, to write a long letter to
+his old benefactor.[*] In this he tells him that nothing will alter
+his affection for him, that all his real friends are equal in his
+sight; and he makes the true boast that, though he may have the
+egotism of the hard worker, he has never yet forsaken any one for whom
+he feels affection, and is the same now in heart as when he was a boy.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 115.
+
+Other early and lifelong friendships were with Madame Delannoy, who
+lent him money, and was in all ways kind to him, and with M. de
+Margonne, who lived at Sache, a chateau on the Indre, in the beautiful
+Touraine valley described in "Le Lys dans la Vallee," and who had held
+Balzac on his knees when a child. Balzac often paid him visits,
+especially when he wanted to meditate over some serious work, as he
+found the solitude and pure air, and the fact that he was treated in
+the neighbourhood simply as a native of the country and not as a
+celebrity, peculiarly stimulating to his imagination and powers of
+creation. He wrote "Louis Lambert," among other novels at the house of
+this hospitable friend. Madame de Margonne he did not care for: she
+was, according to his unflattering portrait of her, intolerant and
+devout, deformed, and not at all _spirituelle_. But she did not count
+for much; Balzac went to the house for the sake of her husband.
+
+An intimacy was formed about this time between Balzac and La Touche,
+the editor of the _Figaro_, who, as has been already mentioned, helped
+him in the prosaic task of nailing up draperies. This intimacy must
+have been of great value to Balzac's education in the art of
+literature, and is remarkable for that reason in the history of a man
+in whose writings small trace of outside influence can be descried,
+and who, except in the case of Theophile Gautier, seemed little
+affected by the thought of his contemporaries. Therefore, though a
+long way behind Madame de Berny--without whom Balzac, as we know him,
+would hardly have existed--La Touche deserves recognition for his
+work, however small, in moulding the literary ideals and forming the
+taste of the great writer. Besides this, his friendship with Balzac is
+almost unique in the history of the latter, in the fact that, for some
+reason we do not know, it was suddenly broken off; and that almost the
+only occasion when Balzac showed personal dislike almost amounting to
+hatred, in criticism, was when, in 1840, in the _Revue Parisienne_, he
+published an article on "Leo," a novel by La Touche. He became, George
+Sand says, completely indifferent to his old master, while the latter
+--a pathetic, yet thorny and uncomfortable figure, as portrayed by his
+contemporaries--continued to belittle and revile his former pupil,
+while all the time he loved him, and longed for a reconciliation which
+never took place. La Touche had a quick instinct for discovering
+genius: he introduced Andre Chenier's posthumous poems to the public,
+and launched Jules Sandeau and George Sand. But he was soured by
+seeing his pupils enter the promised land only open to genius, while
+he was left outside himself. Sooner or later, the eager, affected
+little hypochondriacal man with the bright eyes quarrelled with all
+his friends, and a rupture would naturally soon take place between the
+ultra-sensitive teacher, ready to take offence on the smallest
+pretext, and the hearty, robust Tourainean, who, whatever his troubles
+might be, faced the world with a laugh, who insisted on his genius
+with cheery egotism, and who, in spite of real goodheartedness and
+depth of affection, was too full of himself to be always careful about
+the feelings of others. How much Balzac owed to La Touche we do not
+know; but though, as we have already seen, there were other reasons
+for his sudden stride in literature between 1825 and 1828, it is
+significant that "Les Chouans," the first book to which he affixed his
+name, and in which his genius really shows itself, was written
+directly after his intercourse with this literary teacher. No doubt La
+Touche, who was cursed with the miserable fate of possessing the
+temperament of genius without the electric spark itself, magnified the
+help he had given, and felt extreme bitterness at the shortness of
+memory shown by the great writer, whom he vainly strove to sting into
+feeling by the acerbity of his attacks.
+
+Never at any time did Balzac go out much into society, but his
+anonymous novels, though they did not bring him fame, had opened to
+him the doors of several literary and artistic salons, and he was a
+frequenter of that of Madame Sophie Gay, the author of several novels,
+one of which, "Anatole," is said to have been read by Napoleon during
+the last night spent at Fontainebleau in 1814. Hers was essentially an
+Empire salon, antagonistic to the government of the Bourbons, and
+Balzac's feelings were perhaps occasionally ruffled by the talk that
+went on around him, though more probably the interest he found in the
+study of different phases of opinion outweighed his party
+prepossessions. Those evenings must have been an anxious pleasure;
+for, with no money to pay a cab fare, there was always the agonising
+question as to whether on arrival his boots would be of spotless
+cleanliness, while the extravagance of a pair of white gloves meant a
+diminution in food which it was not pleasant to contemplate. Then,
+too, he felt savage disgust at the elegant costumes and smart
+cabriolets owned by empty-headed fops with insufferable airs of
+conquest, who looked at him askance, and to whom he could not prove
+the genius that was in him, or give voice to his belief that some day
+he would dominate them all. The restlessness and discomfort, and at
+the same time the sense of unknown and fascinating possibilities which
+are the birthright of talented youth, and in the portrayal of which
+Balzac is supreme, must have been well known to him by experience; and
+his almost Oriental love of beauty and luxury made his life of
+grinding poverty peculiarly galling.
+
+Conspicuous in her mother's salon, queen of conversationalists,
+reciting verses in honour of the independence of Greece, exciting
+peals of laughter by her wit and her power to draw out that of others,
+was a brilliant figure--that of the beautiful Delphine Gay, who was,
+in 1831, to become Madame de Girardin. She is a charming figure, a
+woman with unfailing tact and a singular lack of literary jealousy, so
+that all her contemporaries speak of her with affection. She made
+strenuous efforts to keep the peace between Balzac and her husband,
+the autocratic editor of _La Presse_; and till 1847, when the final
+rupture took place, Balzac's real liking for her conquered his
+resentment at what he considered unjustifiable proceedings on the part
+of her husband. Once indeed there was a complete cessation of friendly
+relations, and even dark hints about a duel; but usually Madame de
+Girardin prevailed; and though there were many recriminations on both
+sides, and several times nearly an explosion, Balzac wrote for _La
+Presse_, visited her salon, and was generally on terms of politeness
+with her husband. She was proud of her beautiful complexion, and had a
+drawing-room hung with pale green satin to show it to the best
+advantage; while, like her mother, she wrote novels, one of which she
+called "La Canne de M. de Balzac," after the novelist's famous cane
+adorned with turquoises.
+
+One of the habituees of Madame Gay's salon was the Duchesse
+d'Abrantes; and between her and Balzac there existed a literary
+comradeship, possibly cemented by the impecunious condition which was
+common to both. In 1827 she lived at Versailles; and whenever Balzac
+went to see his parents, he also paid her a visit; when long talks
+took place about their mutual struggles, misfortunes and hopes of
+gaining money by writing. The poor woman was always in monetary
+difficulties. After the fall of the Empire and the death of her
+husband, whom she courageously followed throughout his campaign in
+Spain, she continued to live in the same luxury that had surrounded
+her during her days of splendour; and as the Bourbon Government
+refused to help her, she was soon reduced to a state of destitution,
+and turned to her pen to pay off her creditors. She wrote several
+novels, which at this time are completely forgotten; but in 1831 she
+began to bring out her Memoirs, and these give a graphic account of
+the social life under the Empire, and have become a classic. These
+Memoirs were first published in sixteen volumes, and it must have been
+a relief to the public when a second edition, consisting of only
+twelve volumes, was brought out three years later.
+
+In 1829, the time of which we are now writing, Balzac could only
+sympathise when the poor Duchess, formerly raised to great heights and
+now fallen very low, felt depressed at her reverses, and took a gloomy
+view of life. He would assure her that happiness could not possibly be
+over for ever, and would predict a bright dawn some future day; while
+as soon as he began to prosper himself, he did his best to lend her a
+helping hand. He effected an introduction to Charles Rabou, so that
+her articles were received by the _Revue de Paris_, and he assisted as
+intermediary between her and the publishers, taking infinite trouble
+on her behalf, and in the end gaining most advantageous terms for her.
+No assistance, however, was of permanent use. She, who knew so much,
+had never learnt to manage money, and, helped by her eldest son,
+Napoleon d'Abrantes, she spent every penny she earned. On July 7th,
+1838, she died in the utmost poverty in a miserable room in the Rue
+des Batailles, having been turned out of the hospital, where she had
+hoped to end her days in peace, because she could not pay her expenses
+in advance. Balzac writes to Madame Hanska: "The papers will have told
+you about the Duchesse d'Abrantes' deplorable death. She ended as the
+Empire ended. Some day I will explain this woman to you; it will be a
+nice evening's occupation at Wierzchownia."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Another of Balzac's friendships, rather different in character from
+those already mentioned, was that with George Sand, "his brother
+George" he used to call her. He first made her acquaintance in 1831,
+and would often go puffing up the stairs of the five-storied house on
+the Quai Saint-Michel, at the top of which she lived. His ostensible
+object was to give advice about her writing, but in reality he would
+leave this comparatively uninteresting subject very quickly, and pour
+out floods of talk about his own novels. "Ah, I have found something
+else! You will see! You will see! A splendid idea! A situation! A
+dialogue! No one has ever seen anything like it!" "It was joy,
+laughter, and a superabundance of enthusiasm, of which one cannot give
+any idea. And this after nights without slumber and days without
+repose,"[*] remarks George Sand.
+
+[*] "Autour de la Table," by George Sand.
+
+There were limitations in his view of her, as he never fully realised
+the scope of her genius, and looked on her as half a man, so that he
+would sometimes shock her by the breadth of his conversation. After
+her rupture with Jules Sandeau, whose side in the affair he espoused
+vehemently, he disapproved of her for some time, and contrasted rather
+contemptuously the versatility of her affairs of the heart with the
+ideal of passionate, enduring love portrayed in her novels. However,
+later on, when he himself had been disappointed in Sandeau, and when
+the latter had further roused his indignation by writing a novel
+called "Marianna," which was intended to drag George Sand's name
+through the mud, Balzac defended her energetically. About the same
+time (1839) he brought out his novel "Beatrix," in which she is
+portrayed as Mlle. de Touches, with "the beauty of Isis, more serious
+than gracious, and as if struck with the sadness of constant
+meditation." Her eyes, according to Balzac, were her great beauty, and
+all her expression was in them, otherwise her face was stupid; but
+with her splendid black hair and her complexion--olive by day and
+white in artificial light--she must have been a striking and
+picturesque figure. Later on Balzac appears to have partly reconciled
+himself to her moral irregularities, on the convenient ground that
+she, like himself, was an exceptional being; and we hear of several
+visits he paid to Nohant, where he delighted in long hours of talk on
+social questions with a comrade to whom he need not show the
+_galanteries d'epiderme_ necessary in intercourse with ordinary women.
+He says of her: "She had no littleness of soul, and none of those low
+jealousies which obscure so much contemporary talent. Dumas is like
+her on this point. George Sand is a very noble friend."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+This is all anticipation; we must now go back to 1828 and 1829, and
+picture Balzac's existence first in the Rue de Tournon and then in one
+room at the Rue Cassini. Insufficiently clad and wretchedly fed, he
+occasionally went to evening parties to collect material for his
+writing; at other times he visited some sympathising friend, and
+poured out his troubles to her; but he had only one real support--the
+sympathy and affection of Madame de Berny. It was a frightfully hard
+life. He took coffee to keep himself awake, and he wrote and wrote
+till he was exhausted; all the time being in the condition of a
+"tracked hare," harassed and pursued by his creditors, and knowing
+that all his gains must go to them.
+
+His only relaxations were little visits. He went to Tours, where he
+danced at a ball with a girl with red hair, and with another so little
+"that a man would only marry her that she might act as a pin for his
+shirt."[*] He travelled to Sache, to see M. de Margonne; to
+Champrosay, where he met his sister; and to Fougeres in Brittany, at
+the invitation of the Baron de Pommereul. During the last-named visit,
+as we have already seen, he not only collected the material, but also
+wrote the greater part of his novel "Les Chouans," which proved the
+turning-point of his career.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 82.
+
+This novel, the first signed with his name, Honore Balzac, was
+published by Canel and Levavasseur in March, 1829, and in December of
+the same year the "Physiologie du Mariage by a Celibataire," appeared,
+and excited general attention; though many people, Madame Carraud
+among the number, were much shocked by it. Each of these books brought
+in about fifty pounds--not a large sum, especially when we think that
+Balzac must at this time have owed about two thousand pounds; but he
+had now his foot upon the first rung of the ladder of fame, and
+editors and publishers began to apply to him for novels and articles.
+
+It is a curious fact that Balzac, who answered a question put to him
+during his lawsuit against the _Revue de Paris_ on the subject of his
+right to the prefix "de," with the rather grandiloquent words, "My
+name is on my certificate of birth, as that of the Duke of Fitz-James
+is on his,"[*] should on the title-page of "Les Chouans" have called
+himself simply M. H. Balzac, and on that of the "Scenes de la Vie
+Privee," which appeared in April, 1830, M. Balzac, still without the
+"de." In 1826 he gives his designation and title as "H. Balzac,
+imprimeur, Rue des Marais, St.-Germain, 31," and we have already seen
+that he was entered on the school register as Honore Balzac, and that
+his parents at that time called themselves M. and Mme. Balzac.
+Occasionally, however, as early as 1822, in letters to his sister
+Honore insists on the particle "de," and all his life he claimed to be
+a member of a very old Gaulish family--a pretension which gave his
+enemies a famous opportunity for deriding him.
+
+[*] First Preface to the "Lys dans la Vallee," p 482, vol. xxii. of
+    "Oeuvres Completes de H. de Balzac," Edition definitive.
+
+In 1836, during his lawsuit with the _Revue de Paris_, he certainly
+spoke on the subject with no doubtful voice:
+
+"Even if my name sounds too well in certain ears, even if it is envied
+by those who are not pleased with their own, I cannot give it up. My
+father was quite within his rights on this subject, having consulted
+the records in the Archive Office. He was proud of being one of the
+conquered race, of a family which in Auvergne had resisted the
+invasion, and from which the D'Entragues took their origin. He
+discovered in the Archive Office the notice of a grant of land made by
+the Balzacs to establish a monastery in the environs of the little
+town of Balzac, and a copy of this was, he told me, registered by his
+care at the Parliament of Paris."[*]
+
+[*] See First Preface to the "Lys dans la Vallee."
+
+Balzac continues for some time in this strain, giving his enemies a
+fresh handle for ridicule. After the loss of the lawsuit, the _Revue
+de Paris_, raging with indignation, answered him with "Un dernier mot
+a M. de Balzac," an article which the writer, after a reflection full
+of venom, must have dashed off with set teeth and a sardonic smile,
+and in which there is a most scathing paragraph on the vexed question
+of the "de":
+
+"He [Balzac] tells us that he _is of an old Gaulish family_ (You
+understand, 'Gaulish'--one of Charlemagne's peers! A French family,
+what is that? Gaulish!) It is not his own fault, poor man! Further, M.
+de Balzac will prove to you that the Bourbons and the Montmorencies
+and other French gentlemen must lower their armorial bearings before
+him, who is a Gaul, and more--a Gaul of an old family! In fact, this
+name 'De Balzac' is a patronymic name (patronymically ridiculous and
+Gaulish). He has always been De Balzac, only that! while the
+Montmorencies--those unfortunate Montmorencies--were formerly called
+Bouchard; and the Bourbons--a secondary family who are neither
+patronymic nor Gaulish (of old Gaulish family is of course understood)
+were called Capet. M. de Balzac is therefore more noble than the
+King!"
+
+Towards the end, rage renders the talented writer slightly incoherent,
+and we can imagine a blotted and illegible manuscript; but the
+question raised is an interesting one, and Balzac attached great
+importance to it. A favourite form of spite with his enemies was to
+adopt the same measures as did this writer, who, except in the title,
+calls him throughout "M. Balzac," a form of insult which possessed the
+double advantage of imposing no strain on the mind of the attacking
+party, and yet of hitting the victim on a peculiarly tender spot.
+
+Balzac's statement that he was entered "De Balzac" on the register of
+his birth is on the face of it untrue, as he was born on the 2nd
+Prairial of the year VII., a time when all titles were proscribed; so
+that the omission of the "de" means nothing, while his contention that
+he dropped the "de" in 1826, because he would not soil his noble name
+by associating it with trade, might very easily be correct.
+Unfortunately, however, for Balzac's argument, when old M. Balzac
+died, on June 19th, 1829, he was described in the register as Bernard
+Francois Balzac, without the "de." He does not even seem to have stood
+on his rights during his lifetime, as in 1826, after the death of
+Laurence, who had become Madame de Montzaigle--it must have been a
+satisfaction to the Balzac family to have one indisputable "de" among
+them--cards were sent out in the names of M. and Madame Balzac, M. and
+Madame Surville, and MM. Honore and Henri Balzac.
+
+Still, it might be possible for us to maintain, if it so pleased us,
+that, in spite of certain evidence to the contrary, the Balzacs were
+simple, unpretentious people, who, having dropped the "de" at the time
+of the Revolution, did not care to resume it; but here M. Edmond Bire,
+who furnishes us with the information already given, completely cuts
+the ground away from under our feet. It appears that M. Charles
+Portal, the well-known antiquary, has in his researches discovered the
+birth register of old M. Balzac. He was born on July 22nd, 1746, at La
+Nougarie, in the parish of Saint-Martin de Canezac, and is described
+in this document, not as Balzac at all, but as Bernard Francois
+Balssa, the son of a labourer! At what date he took the name of
+Balzac, and whether his celebrated son knew of the harmless deception,
+we do not know; but possibly his change of name was another of the
+little reserves which the clever old gentleman thought it necessary to
+maintain about his past life, and Honore really considered himself a
+member of an old family.
+
+At any rate, as M. Bire says, he certainly earned by his pen the right
+to nobility, and in this account of him he will be known by his usual
+appellation of "De Balzac."
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI
+
+                             1829 - 1832
+
+  Work and increasing fame--Emile de Girardin--Balzac's early
+  relations with the _Revue de Paris_ and quarrel with Amedee
+  Pinchot--First letters from Madame Hanska and the Marquise de
+  Castries--Balzac's extraordinary mode of writing--Burlesque
+  account of it from the _Figaro_.
+
+The record of the next few years of Balzac's life is a difficult one,
+so many and varied were the interests crowded into them, so short the
+hours of sleep, and so long the nights of work, followed without rest
+by an eight hours' day of continual rush. Visits to printers,
+publishers, and editors, worrying interviews with creditors, and
+letters on business, politics, and literature, followed each other in
+bewilderingly quick succession, and the only respite was to be found
+in occasional talks with such friends as Madame de Berny, Madame
+Carraud, or the Duchesse d'Abrantes.
+
+Success was arriving. But success with Balzac never meant leisure, or
+relief from a heavy burden of debt; it merely gave scope for enormous
+prodigies of labour. His passion for work amounted to a disease; and
+who can measure the gamut of emotion, ranging from rapture down to
+straining effort, which was gone through in those silent hours of
+darkness, when the man, the best part of whom lived only in solitude
+and night, sat in his monk's habit, before a writing-table littered
+with papers? Then, impelled by the genius of creation, he would allow
+his imagination full sway, and would turn to account the material
+collected by his keen powers of observation and his unparalleled
+intuition. It was strenuous labour, with the attendant joy of calling
+every faculty, including the highest of all--that of creation--into
+activity, and the hours no doubt often passed like moments. But the
+fierce battling with expression, the effort to tax super-abundant
+powers to the utmost, left their mark; and in the morning Balzac would
+drag himself to the printer or publisher, with his hair in disorder,
+his lips dry, and his forehead lined.
+
+Jules Sandeau, who had been taken by Balzac to live with him, and who
+remarked that he would rather die than work as he did, says that
+sometimes, when the passion and inspiration for writing were strong on
+him, he would shut himself up for three weeks in his closely curtained
+room, never breathing the outside air or knowing night from day. When
+utterly exhausted, he would throw himself on his pallet-bed for a few
+hours, and slumber heavily and feverishly; and when he could fast no
+longer, he would call for a meal, which must, however, be scanty,
+because digestion would divert the blood from his brain. Otherwise,
+hour after hour, he sat before his square table, and concentrated his
+powerful mind on his work, utterly oblivious of the fact that there
+was anything in the world save the elbowing, crushing throng of
+phantom--yet to him absolutely real--personages, whom he took into his
+being, and in whose life he lived. For the time he felt with their
+feelings, saw with their eyes, became possessed by them, as the great
+actor becomes possessed by the personality he represents. "C'etait un
+voyant, non un observateur," as Philarete Chasles said with truth.
+
+In 1829 Balzac was introduced by the publisher M. Levavasseur to Emile
+de Girardin, who became--and the connection was life-long--what Mme.
+de Girardin called La Touche,--an "intimate enemy." At first all was
+harmony. Emile de Girardin's letters, beginning in 1830 with "Mon
+tres-cher Monsieur," are addressed in 1831 to "Mon cher Balzac"; but
+it is doubtful whether the finish of one written in October, 1830, and
+ending with "Amitie d'ambition!!!"[*] is exactly flattering to the
+recipient--it savours rather strongly of what is termed in vulgar
+parlance "cupboard love." However, Girardin was the first to recognise
+the great writer's talents, and at the end of 1829, or the beginning
+of 1830, after having inserted an article by Balzac in _La Mode_, of
+which he was editor, he invited his collaboration, as well as that of
+Victor Varaigne, Hippolyte Auger, and Bois le Comte, in forming a
+bibliographical supplement to the daily papers, which was to be
+entitled "Le feuilleton des journaux politiques." This was a failure,
+but Balzac was associated with Emile de Girardin in several other
+literary enterprises; and it was through the agency of this energetic
+editor that he wrote his letters on Paris in the _Voleur_, which,
+extending from September 26th, 1830, to March 29th, 1831, would form a
+volume in themselves. After the Revolution of 1830 stories went out of
+fashion, the reviews and magazines being completely occupied with the
+task of discussing the political situation; and Balzac wrote
+numberless articles in the _Silhouette_, which was edited by Victor
+Ratier, and in the _Caricature_, edited by M. Philippon. A few years
+later, the latter journal became violently political; but at this time
+it consisted merely of witty and amusing articles, ridiculing all
+parties impartially.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," p. 105, by the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+With Victor Ratier, Balzac contemplated a partnership in writing for
+the theatre, though he thought Ratier hardly sufficiently industrious
+to make a satisfactory collaborator. However, he threatened him in
+case of laziness with a poor and honest young man as a rival, and, to
+rouse Ratier to energy, remarked that the unnamed prodigy was, like
+himself, full of courage, whereas Ratier resembled "an Indian on his
+mat."[*] Balzac's imaginative brain was to supply the plot and
+characters of each drama; but he was careful, as in the case of his
+early novels, that his name should not appear, as the plays were to be
+mere vaudevilles written to gain money, and would certainly not
+increase their author's reputation. Ratier was therefore to pose as
+their sole author, and was to undertake the actual writing of the
+play, unless he were too lazy for the effort, when the honest and
+unfortunate young man would take his place. The pecuniary part of the
+bargain was not mentioned, except the fact that both partners would
+become enormously rich; and that result is so invariable a
+characteristic of Balzac's schemes that it need hardly be noticed.
+However, this brilliant plan came to nothing, not, as we may suppose,
+from any failure on the part of the indolent Ratier--as there was in
+this case his unnamed rival to fall back upon--but most probably
+because its promoter had not a moment's leisure in which to think of
+it again.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 115.
+
+Towards the end of 1830 he began to write for the _Revue de Paris_, a
+journal with which his relations, generally inharmonious, culminated
+in the celebrated lawsuit of 1836. The review was at this time the
+property of a company; and the sole object of the shareholders being
+to obtain large dividends, they adopted the short-sighted policy of
+cutting down their payment to authors, a course which led to continual
+recriminations, and naturally made the office of chief editor very
+difficult. When Balzac first wrote for the review, Charles Rabou held
+this post, following Dr. Veron; but he resigned in a few months, and
+was succeeded in his turn by Amedee Pichot. With him Balzac waged
+continual war, finally dealing a heavy blow to the review by deserting
+it altogether in 1833.
+
+The cause of the dispute, in the first instance, was one which often
+reappears in the history of Balzac's relations with different editors.
+Being happily possessed of devoted friends, who allowed him complete
+freedom while he stayed with them, he found it easier to write in the
+quiet of the country than amidst the worries and distractions of
+Paris. In 1830, after travelling in Brittany, he spent four months,
+from July to November, at La Grenadiere, that pretty little house near
+to Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, which he coveted continually, but never
+succeeded in acquiring. In 1834 he thought the arrangements for its
+purchase were at last settled. After three years of continual
+refusals, the owners had consented to sell, and he already imagined
+himself surrounded with books, and established for six months at a
+time at this studious retreat. However, pecuniary difficulties came as
+usual in the way, and except as a visitor, Balzac never tasted the
+joys of a country life.
+
+From La Grenadiere he wrote a remarkable letter to Ratier,[*] full of
+love for the beauty of nature, a feeling which filled him with a sense
+of the littleness of man, and expressing also that uncomfortable doubt
+which must occasionally assail the mind of any man possessed of
+powerful physique as well as imagination--the doubt whether the
+existence of the thinker is not after all a poor thing compared with
+that of the active worker, who is tossed about, risks his life, and
+himself creates a living drama. He finishes with the words: "And it
+seems to me that the sea, a man-of-war, and an English boat to
+destroy, with a chance of drowning, are better than an inkpot, and a
+pen, and the Rue Saint-Denis."
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p 98.
+
+In May, 1831, Balzac was again away from Paris, this time taking up
+his abode in Nemours, where he describes himself as living alone in a
+tent in the depths of the earth, subsisting on coffee, and working day
+and night at "La Peau de Chagrin," with "L'Auberge Rouge," which he
+was writing for the _Revue de Paris_, as his only distraction.
+
+These absences did not apparently cause any friction; but when, in
+November, 1831, Balzac went to Sache to stay with M. de Margonne, and
+then moved on to the Carrauds, he left "Le Maitre Cornelius," which he
+was writing for the _Revue de Paris_, in an unfinished and uncorrected
+condition. Thereupon, Amedee Pichot, who naturally wanted consecutive
+numbers of the story for his magazine, committed what was in Balzac's
+eyes an unpardonable breach of trust, by publishing the uncorrected
+proofs, leaving out or altering what he did not understand. Balzac was
+furious at his signature being appended to what he considered
+unfinished work. Amedee Pichot was also very angry, because Balzac had
+unduly lengthened the first part of the story, and had kept him two
+months waiting for the finish. Therefore, as diligence was the only
+mode of transit, and it was necessary that "Le Maitre Cornelius"
+should end with the year, it was impossible to send the proofs before
+printing for correction to Angouleme. Nevertheless, as he had
+undoubtedly exceeded his rights as editor, he thought it wise to
+temporise, and wrote an explanatory and conciliatory letter; and as
+this did not pacify Balzac, he dispatched a second of similar tenor.
+However, a few days later, on January 9th, 1832, he felt compelled by
+the tone of Balzac's correspondence to send a third beginning: "Sir, I
+find from the tone of your letter that I am guilty of doing you a
+great wrong. I have treated on an equality and as a comrade a superior
+person, whom I should have been contented to admire. I therefore beg
+your pardon humbly for the 'My dear Balzac' of my preceding letters. I
+will preserve the distance of 'Monsieur' between you and me."[*]
+
+[*] "Une Page Perdue de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul; from which the whole account of the
+    dispute between Balzac and Pichot is taken.
+
+However, Balzac was furious. His respect for his own name and his
+intense literary conscientiousness were stronger even than his desire
+for money, and it was a very black crime in his eyes for any one to
+produce one of his works before the public until it had been brought
+to the highest possible pitch of perfection. This intense anxiety to
+do his best, which caused him the most painstaking labour, often
+pressed very hardly on managers of magazines. He was generally paid in
+advance, so that his money was safe; and though he could be absolutely
+trusted to finish sooner or later what he had undertaken, he showed a
+lofty indifference to the exigencies of monthly publication. Moreover,
+as is shown in the evidence given later on during his lawsuit with the
+_Revue de Paris_, he would sometimes, in his haste for money, accept
+new engagements when he already had a plethora of work in hand.
+Nevertheless, whatever the failures to fulfil a contract on his part
+might be, he was implacable towards those who did not rightly
+discharge their obligations to him; and Pichot was never forgiven. In
+September, 1832, after endless disputes about the rate and terms of
+payment, the most fertile source of recriminations between Balzac and
+his various publishers and editors, a formal treaty was drawn up
+between the great writer, who was at Sache, and Amedee Pichot, as
+director of the _Revue de Paris_. By this, with the option of breaking
+the connection after six months, Balzac undertook to write for the
+_Revue_ for a year, being still entitled during that time to furnish
+articles to the _Renovateur_, the _Journal Quotidienne Politique_, and
+_L'Artiste_. In spite of this legal document, there were many disputed
+points; and the letters which passed between the two men, and which
+now began with the formal "Monsieur," were full of bickerings about
+money matters, about Balzac's delay in furnishing copy, and about the
+length of his contributions. On one occasion Pichot is severe in his
+rebukes, because Balzac has prevented the Duchesse d'Abrantes from
+providing a promised article, by telling her that his own writing will
+fill two whole numbers of the _Revue_. On another, it is curious to
+find that Balzac, who was rather ashamed of the immoral reputation of
+his works, thanks M. Pichot quite humbly for suppressing a passage in
+the "Voyage de Paris a Java," which the director considered unfit for
+family perusal, and excuses himself on the subject with the naive
+explanation that he was at the same time writing the "Contes
+Drolatiques"![*] Finally, in March, 1833, after six months of the
+treaty had expired, Balzac withdrew altogether from the _Revue de
+Paris_. He gave no explicit explanation for this step; but in 1836, at
+the time of his lawsuit with the _Revue de Paris_, he stated as the
+reason for his desertion that he considered Pichot to be the author,
+under different pseudonyms, of the adverse criticism of his novels
+which appeared in its pages. In the _Revue_ he had, among other
+novels, brought out the beginning of "L'Histoire des Treize," and the
+parsimonious shareholders now had the mortification of seeing the
+great man carry his wares to _L'Europe Litteraire_; while the _Revue
+de Paris_, in consequence of his desertion, declined in popularity.
+
+[*] "Autour de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul.
+
+Balzac was now fairly launched on the road of literary fame, and some
+of his writings at this time had a momentous influence on his life. In
+April, 1830, Madame Hanska, his future wife, read with delight, in her
+far-off chateau in Ukraine, the "Scenes de la Vie Privee," containing
+the "Vendetta," "Les Dangers de l'Inconduite," "Le Bal de Sceaux, ou
+Le Pair de France," "Gloire et Malheur," "La Femme Vertueuse" and "La
+Paix de Menage"--two volumes which Balzac had published as quickly as
+he could, to counteract the alienation of his women-readers by the
+"Physiologie du Mariage." In August, 1831, appeared "La Peau de
+Chagrin," which so disappointed Madame Hanska by its cynical tone,
+that she was impelled to write the first letter from L'Etrangere,
+which reached Balzac on February 28th, 1832, a date never to be
+forgotten in the annals of his life. He was not, however, very exact
+in remembering it himself, and in later life sometimes became confused
+in his calculations between the number of years since he had received
+this letter, and the time which had elapsed since he first had the joy
+of meeting her. "La Peau de Chagrin" greatly increased Balzac's fame,
+and in October, 1831, another anonymous correspondent, Madame la
+Marquise de Castries, also destined to exercise a strong, though
+perhaps transitory, influence over Balzac, had written to deprecate
+its moral tone, as well as that of the "Physiologie du Mariage."
+Balzac answered her that "La Peau de Chagrin" was only intended to be
+part of a whole, and must not be judged alone; and the same idea is
+enlarged upon in a letter to the Comte de Montalembert,[*] written in
+August, 1831, which shows Balzac's extreme anxiety not to dissociate
+his writings from the cause of religion. In it he explains, with much
+insistence, that, in site of the apparent scepticism of "La Peau de
+Chagrin," the idea of God is really the mainspring of the whole book,
+and on these grounds he begs for a review in _L'Avenir_. The letter
+also contains an announcement which is interesting as a proof that two
+years before the date given by his sister, the idea of his great
+systematic work was already formulated, and that in his imagination it
+had assumed colossal proportions. He says: "'La Peau de Chagrin' is
+the formula of human life, an abstraction made from individualities,
+and, as M. Ballanche says, everything in it is myth and allegory. It
+is therefore the point of departure for my work. Afterwards
+individualities and particular existences, from the most humble to
+those of the King and of the Priest, the highest expressions of our
+society, will group themselves according to their rank. In these
+pictures I shall follow the effect of Thought on Life. Then another
+work, entitled 'History of the Succession of the Marquis of Carabas,'
+will formulate the life of nations, the phases of their governments,
+and will show decidedly that politics turn in one circle, and are
+evidently stationary; and that repose can only be found in the strong
+government of a hierarchy."
+
+[*] Letters sent by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul to the
+    _Revue Bleue_, November 14th, 1903.
+
+The "Peau de Chagrin," which is a powerful satire on the vice and
+selfishness of the day, suffers in its allegorical, though not in its
+humanly interesting side, by the vivid picture it gives of Balzac's
+youth; as, in spite of the introduction of the influence of the magic
+Ass Skin, the account of Raphael in the early part of the book, as the
+frugal, determined genius with high intellectual aspirations, does not
+harmonise with his weak, despicable character as it unfolds itself
+subsequently. The critics exercised their minds greatly about the
+identity of the heroines, the beautiful and heartless Fedora--in whom
+apparently many ladies recognised their own portrait--and the humble
+and exquisite Pauline, type of devoted and self-forgetting love.
+Mademoiselle Pelissier, who possessed an income of twenty-five
+thousand francs, and had a house in the Rue Neuve-du-Luxembourg, where
+she held a salon much frequented by political personalities of the
+day, was identified by popular gossip as the model of Fedora. It was
+said by Parisian society that Balzac was anxious to marry her, but
+that the lady, who afterwards became Madame Rossini, refused to listen
+to his suit, though she confessed to a great admiration for his
+fascinating black eyes.
+
+The original of Pauline has never been discovered, but, possibly with
+a few traits borrowed from Madame de Berny, she is what Balzac
+describes in the last pages of "La Peau de Chagrin" as an "ideal, as a
+visionary face in the fire, a face with unimaginable delicate
+outlines, a floating apparition, which no chance will ever bring back
+again."
+
+Since the year 1830 Balzac had lodged in the Rue Cassini, a little,
+unfrequented street near the Observatory, with a wall running along
+one side, on which was written "L'Absolu, marchand de briques," a name
+which Theophile Gautier fancies may have suggested to him the title of
+his novel "La Recherche de l'Absolu." Borget, Balzac's great friend
+and confidant, had rooms in the same house; and later on, when Borget
+was on one of his frequent journeys, these rooms were occupied by
+Jules Sandeau, after his parting with George Sand. In despair at her
+desertion, he tried to commit suicide; and Balzac, touched with pity
+at his forlorn condition, proposed that he should come to Borget's
+rooms, and took complete and kindly charge of him--a generosity which
+Sandeau, after having lived at Balzac's expense for two years, repaid
+in 1836, by deserting his benefactor when he was in difficulties.
+
+Balzac was now in the full swing of work. He writes to the Duchesse
+d'Abrantes in 1831:[*] "Write, I cannot! The fatigue is too great. You
+do not know that I owed in 1828, above what I possessed. I had only my
+pen with which to earn my living, and to pay a hundred and twenty
+thousand francs. In several months I shall have paid everything, and I
+shall have arranged my poor little household; but for six months I
+have all the troubles of poverty, I enjoy my last miseries. I have
+begged from nobody, I have not held out my hand for a penny; I have
+hidden my sorrows, and my wounds."
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 131.
+
+Poor Balzac! over and over again we hear the same story about the
+beautiful time in the future, which he saw coming nearer and nearer,
+but which always evaded his grasp at the last. Very often, when he
+appears grasping and dictatorial in his business dealings, we may
+trace his want of urbanity to some pressing pecuniary anxiety, which
+he was too proud to reveal. No doubt these difficulties often sprang
+from his extraordinary want of reflection and prudence, as his desire
+to make a dashing appearance before the world led him frequently into
+the most senseless extravagance. For instance, when he went out of
+Paris in June, 1832, intending to travel for several months, he left
+behind him two horses with nothing to do, but naturally requiring a
+groom, food, and stabling; and it was not till the end of July that,
+on his mother's recommendation, he sent orders that they were to be
+sold. His money affairs are so complicated, and his own accounts of
+them so conflicting, that it is impossible to understand them
+thoroughly. Apparently, however, from 1827 to 1836 he could not
+support himself and satisfy his creditors without drawing bills. These
+he often could not meet, and had to renew; and the accumulated
+interest on these obligations formed a floating debt, which was from
+time to time increased by some new extravagance.
+
+In his vain struggles to escape, he worked as surely no man has ever
+worked before or since. In 1830 he brought out about seventy, and in
+1831 about seventy-five publications, including novels, and articles
+serious and satirical, on politics and general topics; and in twelve
+years, from 1830 to 1842, he wrote seventy-nine novels alone, not
+counting his shorter compositions. Werdet, who became his publisher in
+1834, gives a curious account of his doings; and this may, with slight
+modifications, be accepted as a picture of his usual mode of life when
+in the full swing of composition.
+
+He usually went to bed at eight o'clock, after a light dinner,
+accompanied by a glass or two of Vouvray, his favourite wine; and he
+was seated at his desk by two o'clock in the morning. He wrote from
+that time till six, only occasionally refreshing himself with coffee
+from a coffee-pot which was permanently in the fireplace. At six he
+had his bath, in which he remained for an hour, and his servant
+afterwards brought him more coffee. Werdet was then admitted to bring
+proofs, take away the corrected ones, and wrest, if possible, fresh
+manuscript from him. From nine he wrote till noon, when he breakfasted
+on two boiled eggs and some bread, and from one till six the labour of
+correction went on again. This unnatural life lasted for six weeks or
+two months, during which time he refused to see even his most intimate
+friends; and then he plunged again into the ordinary affairs of life,
+or mysteriously and suddenly disappeared--to be next heard of in some
+distant part of France, or perhaps in Corsica, Sardinia, or Italy. It
+is not surprising that even in these early days, and in spite of
+Balzac's exuberant vitality, there are frequent mentions of terrible
+fatigue and lassitude, and that the services of his lifelong friend,
+Dr. Nacquart, were often in requisition, though his warnings about the
+dangers of overwork were generally unheeded.
+
+Even with Balzac's extraordinary power of work, the number of his
+writings is remarkable, when we consider the labour their composition
+cost him. Sometimes, according to Theophile Gautier, he bestowed a
+whole night's labour on one phrase, and wrote it over and over again a
+hundred times, the exact words that he wanted only coming to him after
+he had exhausted all the possible approximate forms. When he intended
+to begin a novel, and had thought of and lived in a subject for some
+time, he wrote a plan of his proposed work in several pages, and
+dispatched this to the printer, who separated the different headings,
+and sent them back, each on a large sheet of blank paper. Balzac read
+these headings attentively, and applied to them his critical faculty.
+Some he rejected altogether, others he corrected, but everywhere he
+made additions. Lines were drawn from the beginning, the middle, and
+the end of each sentence towards the margin of the paper; each line
+leading to an interpolation, a development, an added epithet or an
+adverb. At the end of several hours the sheet of paper looked like a
+plan of fireworks, and later on the confusion was further complicated
+by signs of all sorts crossing the lines, while scraps of paper
+covered with amplifications were pinned or stuck with sealing-wax to
+the margin. This sheet of hieroglyphics was sent to the
+printing-office, and was the despair of the typographers; who, as
+Balzac overheard, stipulated for only an hour each in turn at the
+correction of his proofs. Next day the amplified placards came back,
+and Balzac added further details, and laboured to fit the expression
+exactly to the idea, and to attain perfection of outline and symmetry
+of proportion. Sometimes one episode dwarfed the rest, or a secondary
+figure usurped the central position on his canvas, and then he would
+heroically efface the results of four or five nights' labour. Six,
+seven, even ten times, were the proofs sent backwards and forwards,
+before the great writer was satisfied.
+
+In the _Figaro_ of December 15th, 1837, Edouard Ourliac gives a
+burlesque account of the confusion caused in the printing-offices by
+Balzac's peculiar methods of composition. This is an extract from the
+article:
+
+
+"Let us sing, drink and embrace, like the chorus of an _opera
+comique_. Let us stretch our calves, and turn on our toes like
+ballet-dancers. Let us at last rejoice: the _Figaro_, without getting
+the credit of it, has overcome the elements and all sublunary
+cataclysms.
+
+"Hercules is only a rascal, the apples of Hesperides only turnips, the
+siege of Troy but a revolt of the national guard. The _Figaro_ has
+just conquered 'Cesar Birotteau'!
+
+"Never have the angry gods, never have Juno, Neptune, M. de Rambuteau,
+or the Prefect of Police, opposed to Jason, Theseus, or walkers in
+Paris, more obstacles, monsters, ruins, dragons, demolitions, than
+these two unfortunate octavos have fought against.
+
+"We have them at last, and we know what they have cost. The public
+will only have the trouble of reading them. That will be a pleasure.
+As to M. de Balzac--twenty days' work, two handfuls of paper, one more
+beautiful book: that counts for nothing.
+
+"However it may be, it is a typographical exploit, a literary and
+industrial _tour de force_ worthy to be remembered. Writer, editor,
+and printer have deserved more or less from their country. Posterity
+will talk of the compositors, and our descendants will regret that
+they do not know the names of the apprentices. I already, like them,
+regret it; otherwise I would mention them.
+
+"The _Figaro_ had promised the book on December 15th, and M. de Balzac
+began it on November 17th. M. de Balzac and the _Figaro_ both have the
+strange habit of keeping their word. The printing-office was ready,
+and stamping its foot like a restive charger.
+
+"M. de Balzac sends two hundred pages pencilled in five nights of
+fever. One knows his way. It was a sketch, a chaos, an apocalypse, a
+Hindoo poem.
+
+"The printing-office paled. The delay is short, the writing unheard
+of. They transform the monster; they translate it as much as possible
+into known signs. The cleverest still understand nothing. They take it
+to the author.
+
+"The author sends back the first proofs, glued on to enormous pages,
+posters, screens. It is now that you may shiver and feel pity. The
+appearance of these sheets is monstrous. From each sign, from each
+printed word, go pen lines, which radiate and meander like a Congreve
+rocket, and spread themselves out at the margin in a luminous rain of
+phrases, epithets, and substantives, underlined, crossed, mixed,
+erased, superposed: the effect is dazzling.
+
+"Imagine four or five hundred arabesques of this sort, interlaced,
+knotted, climbing and sliding from one margin to another, and from the
+south to the north. Imagine twelve maps on the top of each other,
+entangling towns, rivers, and mountains--a skein tangled by a cat, all
+the hieroglyphics of the dynasty of Pharaoh, or the fireworks of
+twenty festivities.
+
+"At this sight the printing-office does not rejoice. The compositors
+strike their breasts, the printing-presses groan, the foremen tear
+their hair, their apprentices lose their heads. The most intelligent
+attack the proofs, and recognise Persian, others Malagash, some the
+symbolic characters of Vishnu. They work by chance and by the grace of
+God.
+
+"Next day M. de Balzac returns two pages of pure Chinese. The delay is
+only fifteen days. A generous foreman offers to blow out his brains.
+
+"Two new sheets arrive, written very legibly in Siamese. Two workmen
+lose their sight and the small command of language they possessed.
+
+"The proofs are thus sent backwards and forwards seven times.
+
+"Several symptoms of excellent French begin to be recognised, even
+some connection between the phrases is observed."
+
+
+So the article proceeds; always in a tone of comic good-temper, but
+pointing to a very real grievance and point of dispute; and helping
+the reader to realise the long friction which went on, and finally
+resulted in the unanimity with which publishers and editors turned
+against Balzac after his famous lawsuit, and showed a vindictive hate
+which at first sight is surprising. However, in this case the matter
+ends happily, as the article closes with:
+
+
+"It ['Cesar Birotteau'] is now merely a work in two volumes, an
+immense picture, a whole poem, composed, written, and corrected
+fifteen times in the same number of days--composed in twenty days by
+M. de Balzac in spite of the printer's office, composed in twenty days
+by the printer's office in spite of M. de Balzac.
+
+"It is true that at the same time M. de Balzac was employing forty
+printers at another printing-office. We do not examine here the value
+of the book. It was made marvellously and marvellously quickly.
+Whatever it is, it can only be a _chef d'oeuvre_!"
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VII
+
+                                 1832
+
+  Crisis in Balzac's private life--"Contes Drolatiques"--Madame
+  Hanska's life before she met Balzac--Description of her appearance
+  --"Louis Lambert"--Disinterested conduct on the part of Madame de
+  Berny--Relations between Balzac and his mother--Balzac and the
+  Marquise de Castries--His despair.
+
+The year 1832 was a crisis and a turning-point in the history of
+Balzac's private life.
+
+Old relations changed their aspect; he received a terrible and
+mortifying wound to his heart and to his vanity; and while he
+staggered under this blow, a new interest, not in the beginning
+absorbing, but destined in time to engulf all others, crept at first
+almost unnoticed into his life.
+
+He was now thirty-three years old; it was time that he should perform
+the duty of a French citizen and should settle down and marry; and as
+a preliminary, it seemed necessary that Madame de Berny should no
+longer continue to occupy her predominant place in his life. She was,
+as we know twenty-two years older than he, and was a woman capable not
+only of romantic attachment, but also of the most disinterested
+conduct where her affections were concerned. She saw clearly that,
+having formed Balzac, helped him practically, taught him, given him
+useful introductions--in short, made him--the time had now come when
+it would be for his good that she should retire partially into the
+background; and she had the courage to conceive, and the power to
+make, the sacrifice. He, on his side, felt the idea of the proposed
+separation keenly, and never forgot all his life what he owed to the
+"dilecta," or ceased to feel a deep and faithful affection for her.
+Still, for him there were compensations, which did not exist for the
+woman who was growing old. He was famous, on the way to attain his
+goal; and he was regarded as the champion of misunderstood and misused
+women. Therefore, as the species has always been a large one, letters
+poured in upon him from all parts of Europe--England being the
+exception--letters telling him how exactly he had gauged the
+circumstances, sentiments, and misfortunes of his unknown
+correspondents, asking his advice, expressing intense admiration for
+his writings, and pouring out the inmost feelings and experiences of
+the writers. The position was intoxicating for the man who, a few
+years before, had been unknown and disregarded; and the fact that
+Balzac never forgot his old friendships in the excitement of the
+adulation lavished upon him, is a proof that his own belief in the
+real steadfastness of his character was not mistaken.
+
+Among these unknown correspondents, there were two who specially
+interested him. One of these was the Marquise de Castries, who, though
+rather under a cloud at this time, was one of the most aristocratic
+stars of the Faubourg Saint-Germain, and sister-in-law to the Duc de
+Fitz-James, with whom Balzac was already connected in several literary
+undertakings.
+
+As we have already seen, she wrote anonymously towards the end of
+September, 1831 to complain of the moral tone of the "Physiologie du
+Mariage" and of "La Peau de Chagrin." In Balzac's reply, which was
+despatched on February 28th, 1832, he thanked her for the proof of
+confidence she had shown in making herself known to him, and in
+wishing for his acquaintance; and said that he looked forward to many
+hours spent in her society, hours during which he would not need to
+pose as an artist or literary man, but could simply be himself.[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i., p. 141.
+
+Separated from her husband, and a most accomplished coquette, the
+Marquise was recovering from a serious love-affair, when she summoned
+Balzac to afford her amusement and distraction. Delicate and fragile,
+her face was rather too long for perfect beauty, but there was
+something spiritual and slender about it, which recalled the faces of
+the Middle Ages. Her health had been shattered by a hunting accident,
+and her expression was habitually one of smiling melancholy and of
+hidden suffering. Her beautiful Venetian red hair grew above a high
+white forehead; and in addition to the attractiveness of her elegant
+_svelte_ figure, she possessed in the highest degree the all-powerful
+seductive influence which we call "charm."
+
+Reclining gracefully in a long chair, she received her intimates in a
+small simple drawing-room furnished in old-fashioned style, with
+cushions of ancient velvet and eighteenth-century screens--a room
+instinct with the aristocratic aroma of the Faubourg Saint-Germain.
+There Balzac went eagerly during the spring of 1832, and imbibed the
+strange old-world atmosphere of the exclusive Faubourg, of which he
+has given a masterly picture in the "Duchesse de Langeais." In this he
+shows that by reason of its selfishness, its divisions, and want of
+patriotism and large-mindedness, the Faubourg Saint-Germain had
+abrogated the proud position it might have held, and was now an
+obsolete institution, aloof and cornered, wasting its powers on
+frivolity and the worship of etiquette. At first, gratified vanity at
+his selection as an intimate by so great a lady, and pleasure at the
+opportunity given him for the study of what was separated from the
+ordinary world by an impassable barrier, were Balzac's chief
+inducements for frequent visits to the Rue de Varenne. Gradually,
+however, the caressing tones of Madame de Castries' voice, the quiet
+grace of her language, and her infinite variety, found their way to
+his heart, and he fell madly in love.
+
+Speaking of her afterwards in the "Duchesse de Langeais," which was
+written in the utmost bitterness, when he had been, according to his
+own view, led on, played with and deceived by the fascinating
+Marquise, Balzac describes her thus: She was "eminently a woman, and
+essentially a coquette, Parisian to the core, loving the brilliancy of
+the world and its amusements, reflecting not at all, or reflecting too
+late; of a natural imprudence which rose at times almost to poetic
+heights, deliciously insolent, yet humble in the depths of her heart,
+asserting strength like a reed erect, but, like the reed, ready to
+bend beneath a firm hand; talking much of religion, not loving it, and
+yet prepared to accept it as a possible finality."
+
+In the same book are several interesting remarks about Armand de
+Montriveau, the lover of the Duchesse de Langeais, who is, in many
+points, Balzac under another name. On one page we read: "He seemed to
+have reached some crisis in his life, but all took place within his
+own breast, and he confided nothing to the world without." In another
+place is a description of Montriveau's appearance. "His head, which
+was large and square, had the characteristic trait of an abundant mass
+of black hair, which surrounded his face in a way that recalled
+General Kleber, whom indeed he also resembled in the vigour of his
+bearing, the shape of his face, the tranquil courage of his eye, and
+the expression of inward ardour which shone out through his strong
+features. He was of medium height, broad in the chest, and muscular as
+a lion. When he walked, his carriage, his step, his least gesture,
+bespoke a consciousness of power which was imposing; there was
+something even despotic about it. He seemed aware that nothing could
+oppose his will; possibly because he willed only that which was right.
+Nevertheless, he was, like all really strong men, gentle in speech,
+simple in manner, and naturally kind." Certainly Balzac, as usual, did
+not err on the side of modesty!
+
+Curiously enough, the very day--February 28th, 1832--on which Balzac
+wrote to accept the offer of the Marquise de Castries' friendship, was
+the day that the first letter from L'Etrangere reached him. At first
+sight there was nothing to distinguish this most momentous letter from
+others which came to him by almost every post, or to indicate that it
+was destined to change the whole current of his life. It was sent by
+an unknown woman, and the object of the writer was, while expressing
+intense admiration for Balzac's work, to criticise the view of the
+feminine sex taken by him in "La Peau de Chagrin." His correspondent
+begged him to renounce ironical portrayals of woman, which denied the
+pure and noble role destined for her by Heaven, and to return to the
+lofty ideal of the sex depicted in "Scenes de la Vie Privee."
+
+This letter, which was addressed to Balzac to the care of Gosselin,
+the publisher of "La Peau de Chagrin," has never been found. There
+must have been something remarkable about the wording and tone of it;
+as Balzac received many such effusions, but was so much impressed by
+this one, and by the communications which followed, that he decided to
+dedicate "L'Expiation" to his unknown correspondent. This story he was
+writing when he received her first letter, and it formed part of the
+enlarged edition of the "Scenes de la Vie Privee" which was published
+in May, 1832. On communicating this project, however, to Madame de
+Berny, she strongly objected to the offer of this extraordinary honour
+to "L'Etrangere"; and now doubly obedient to her wishes, and anxious
+not to hurt her feelings, he abandoned the idea after the book had
+been printed. In January, 1833, in his first letter to Madame Hanska,
+he explained the matter at length, and sent her a copy which had not
+been altered, and which had her seal on the title-page. The book sent
+her has disappeared; but examining some copies of the second edition
+of the "Scenes," the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul found that a
+page had been glued against the binding, and, detaching this
+carefully, discovered the design of the wax seal, and the dedication
+"Diis ignotis, 28th February, 1832,"[*] the date on which Balzac
+received the first letter from "L'Etrangere."
+
+[*] I have seen this.
+
+This letter gave Balzac many delightful hours, as, when he was able to
+write to her, he explained to Madame Hanska. In his pride and
+satisfaction, he showed it to many friends, Madame Carraud being among
+the number; but she, with her usual rather provoking common-sense,
+refused to share his enthusiasm, and suggested that it might have been
+written as a practical joke. To this insinuation Balzac gave no
+credence; he naturally found it easy to believe in one more
+enthusiastic foreign admirer, and he was seriously troubled by the
+fact that the first dizain of the "Contes Drolatiques," which
+certainly would not satisfy his correspondent's views on the lofty
+mission of womanhood, was likely to appear shortly. However, whether
+she did not read the first dizain of the "Contes," which appeared in
+April, 1832, or whether the perusal of them showed her more strongly
+than before that Balzac was really in need of good advice, Madame
+Hanska did not show her displeasure by breaking off her correspondence
+with him. Balzac had much to occupy his mind in 1832, as he was
+conscientiously, though not successfully, trying to make himself
+agreeable to the lady selected as his wife by his family. At the same
+time, while with regret and trouble in his heart he tried to relegate
+Madame de Berny to the position of an ordinary friend, and felt the
+delightful agitation, followed by bitter mortification, of his
+intercourse with Madame de Castries, we must remember that from time
+to time he received a flowery epistle from Russia, written in the
+turgid and rather bombastic style peculiar to Madame Hanska.
+
+On the other hand, we can imagine the interest and excitement felt by
+the Chatelaine of Wierzchownia as she wrote, and secretly dispatched
+to the well-known author, the sentimental outpourings of her soul. The
+composition of these letters must certainly have supplied a savour to
+a rather flavourless life; for it was dull in that far-off chateau in
+Ukraine, which, as Balzac described it afterwards, was as large as the
+Louvre, and was surrounded by territories as extensive as a French
+Department. There were actually a carcel lamp and a hospital--which
+seem a curious conjunction--on the estate, and there were
+looking-glasses ten feet high in the rooms, but no hangings on the
+walls. Possibly Madame Hanska did not miss these, but what she did miss
+was society. She, M. de Hanski,[*] Anna's governess, Mlle. Henriette
+Borel, and last, but not least, the beloved Anna herself, the only
+child, on whom Madame Hanska lavished the most passionate love, were a
+small party in the chateau; and besides two Polish relations, Mlles
+Denise and Severine Wylezynska, who generally inhabited the
+summer-house, christened by Balzac "La Demoiselliere," they were the
+only civilised people in the midst of a huge waste populated by
+peasants. M. de Hanski often suffered from "blue devils," which did
+not make him a cheerful companion; and when Madame Hanska had
+performed a few graceful duties, as chatelaine to the poor of the
+neighbourhood, there was no occupation left except reading or writing
+letters. She was an intelligent and intellectual woman; and Balzac's
+novels, not at first fully appreciated in France because of their
+deficiencies in style, were eagerly seized on in Germany, Austria, and
+Russia. She read them with delight; and her natural desire for action,
+her longing also to pour out, herself unknown, the secret aspirations
+and yearnings of her heart to some one who would understand her,
+prompted the first letter; which, according to M. de Spoelberch de
+Lovenjoul, was dictated by her to Anna's governess, Mlle. Henriette
+Borel. So she started lightly on the road which was to lead her, the
+leisured and elegant great lady suffering only from ennui, to the
+period of her life during which she would toil hour after hour at
+writing, would be overwhelmed by business, pestered by duns and
+creditors, overworked, overburdened, and over-worried. She was
+certainly not very fortunate, for she seems never to have experienced
+the passionate love which might have made up for everything.
+
+[*] Balzac invariably talks of M. de Hanski and Madame Hanska, as do
+    other contemporary writers.
+
+Till the time when she first put herself into communication with
+Balzac, her life had not been cheerful. A member of a Polish great
+family, the Countess Eve Rzewuska was born at the Chateau of
+Pohrbyszcze on January 25, 1804 or 1806. She was one of a large
+family, having three brothers and three sisters, nearly all of whom
+played distinguished parts in France or Russia; and her eldest
+brother, Count Henry Rzewuski, was one of the most popular writers of
+Poland. In 1818 or 1822 she married the rich M. Vencelas de Hanski,
+who was twenty-five years her senior, an old gentleman of limited
+mind; pompous, unsociable, and often depressed; but apparently fond of
+his wife, and willing to allow her the travelling and society which he
+did not himself care for. Madame Hanska had many troubles in her
+married life, as she lost four out of her five children; and being an
+intensely maternal woman, the deepest feelings of her heart were
+henceforward devoted to Anna, her only surviving child, whom she never
+left for a day till the marriage of her darling in 1846, and of whom,
+after the separation, she could not think without tears.
+
+She was a distinctly different type from the gentle, devoted Madame de
+Berny, whose French attributes were modified by the sentiment and
+romance she inherited from her Teutonic ancestors; or from Madame de
+Castries, the fragile and brilliant coquette. Mentally and physically
+there was a certain massiveness in Madame Hanska which was absent in
+her rivals. She was characterised by an egoism and self-assertiveness
+unknown to the "dilecta"; while, on the other hand, her principles
+were too strong to allow her to use a man as her plaything, as Madame
+de Castries had no scruple in doing. Side by side with her tendency to
+mysticism, she possessed much practical ability, a capacity for taking
+the initiative in the affairs of life, as well as considerable
+literary and critical power. Balzac had enormous respect for her
+intellect, and references to the splendid "analytical" forehead, which
+must have been a striking feature in her face, occur as often in his
+letters as admiring allusions to her pretty dimpled hands, or playful
+jokes about her droll French pronunciation. Her miniature by
+Daffinger,[*] taken in the prime of her beauty, gives an idea of great
+energy, strength of will, and intelligence. She is dark, with a
+decided mouth, and rather thick lips as red as a child's. Her hair is
+black, and is plainly braided at each side of her forehead; her eyes
+are dark and profound, though with the vague look of short sight; and
+her arms and shoulders are beautiful. Altogether she is a handsome
+woman, though there are indications of that tendency to _embonpoint_
+about which she was always troubled, and which Balzac, with his usual
+love of prescribing for his friends, advised her to combat by daily
+exercise.
+
+[*] In the possession of the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+However, in the spring of 1832, the time which we are considering,
+Madame Hanska was not even a name to Balzac; she was merely
+"L'Etrangere," an unknown woman who might be pretty or ugly, young or
+old; but who at any rate possessed the knack--or perhaps the author of
+"Seraphita" or of "Louis Lambert" would have said the power by
+transmutation of thought and sympathy--of interesting him in the
+highest degree.
+
+In June, with the hope that absence would loosen the bonds of
+affection which united him and Madame de Berny, and with an _arriere
+pensee_ about another charming personality whom he might meet on his
+travels, Balzac left Paris for six months, and began his tour by
+paying a visit to M. de Margonne at Sache. There he wrote "Louis
+Lambert" as a last farewell to Madame de Berny; and in memory of his
+ten years' intimacy with her, on the title-page were the dates 1822
+and 1832, and underneath the words "Et nunc et semper." The manuscript
+was sent to her for criticism, and she wrote a charming letter[*] on
+receipt of it to Angouleme, where Balzac was staying with Madame
+Carraud. In this she shows the utmost tenderness and gentle
+playfulness; but while modestly deprecating her power to perform the
+task he demands from her, which she says should be entrusted to Madame
+Carraud, she has the noble disinterestedness to point out to him where
+she considers he has erred. She tells him that, after reading the book
+through twice, and endeavouring to see it as a whole, she _thinks_ he
+has undertaken an impossible task, and that, trying to represent
+absolute truth in its action, he has attempted what is the province of
+God alone. Then, with the utmost tact and delicacy, she touches on a
+difficult point, and says that when Goethe and Byron attempt to paint
+the aspirations of a superior being, we admire their breadth of view,
+and wish we could aid them with our minds to reach the unattainable;
+but that an author who announces that he has swept to the utmost range
+of thought shocks us by his vanity, and she begs Balzac to eliminate
+certain phrases in his book which sound as though he had this belief.
+She finished thus: "Manage, my dear one, that every one shall see you
+from everywhere by the height at which you have placed yourself, but
+do not claim their admiration, for from all parts strong
+magnifying-glasses will be turned on you; and what becomes of the most
+delightful object when seen through the microscope?" Loving Balzac so
+tenderly, growing old so quickly, with Madame de Castries and the
+unknown Russian ready to seize the empire which she had abdicated
+willingly, though at bitter cost, what a temptation it must have been
+to leave these words unsaid, and now that she was parting from Balzac
+to accord him the unstinted admiration for which he yearned! That
+Madame de Berny thought of him only, of herself not at all, speaks
+volumes for the nobility and purity of her love, and we again feel
+that the "predilecta" never rose to her heights, and that to his first
+love belongs the credit of "creating" Balzac.
+
+[*] See "La Jeunesse de Balzac," by MM. Hanotaux and Vicaire, p. 74.
+
+During Balzac's absence from Paris, Madame de Balzac, who was
+installed in his rooms in the Rue Cassini, appears in quite a new
+light, and one which leads to the suspicion that the much-abused lady
+was not quite as black as she had been painted. The hard and heartless
+mother is now transmogrified into the patient and indefatigable runner
+of errands; and we must admire the business capacity, as well as
+bodily strength, which Madame de Balzac showed in carrying out her
+son's various behests. In one letter alone she was enjoined to carry
+out the following directions[*]: (1) She was to copy out an article in
+the _Silhouette_, which she would find on the second shelf for quartos
+near the door in Balzac's room. (2) She was to send him her copy of
+"Contes Drolatiques," and also "Les Chouans," which she would receive
+corrected from Madame de Berny. Furthermore, she was told to dress in
+her best and go to the library, taking with her the third and fourth
+volumes of "Scenes de la Vie Privee," as a present to M. de Manne, the
+librarian. She was then to hunt in the "Biographie Universelle" under
+B or P for Bernard Palissy, read the article, make a note of all books
+mentioned in it as written _by_ him or _about_ him, and ask M. de
+Manne for them. Next, Laure was to be visited, as the "Biographie,"
+which had formerly belonged to old M. de Balzac, was at her house; and
+the works on Palissy mentioned in that must be compared carefully with
+those already noted down; and if fresh names were found, another visit
+must be paid to the librarian. If he did not possess all the books and
+they were not very dear, they were to be bought. A visit to Gosselin
+was to be the next excursion for poor Madame de Balzac, who apparently
+walked everywhere to save hackney carriage fares; and as minor matters
+she must send a letter he enclosed to its destination, and see that
+the groom exercised the horses every day.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 153.
+
+Certainly, if Balzac worked like a galley slave himself, he also kept
+his relations well employed; but Madame de Balzac apparently did
+everything contentedly, in the hope, as a good business woman, that
+the debts would at last be paid off; and though there were occasional
+breezes, the relations between her and her son were cordial at this
+time. Possibly she was pleased at his removal from the influence of
+Madame de Berny, of whom she was always jealous; and certainly she was
+delighted at the idea of his marriage. The intended daughter-in-law,
+whose name is never mentioned, was evidently a widow with a fortune,
+so the affair was highly satisfactory. The lady was expected to pay a
+visit to Mere, near Sache; and Balzac felt obliged to go there three
+times a week to see whether she had arrived--a duty which interfered
+sadly with his work. If he seemed likely to prosper in his suit, she
+was to be impressed by the sight of his groom and horses. However,
+this matrimonial business transaction was not successful, as we hear
+nothing more of it, and the next direction his mother receives is to
+the effect that she had better sell all his stable equipage.
+
+Whether Madame de Balzac resented these demands on her, or whether she
+was disgusted at Balzac's failure to secure a rich wife, and thus put
+an end to the family troubles, we do not know; but when he returned to
+Paris at the end of the year, to his great disappointment she refused
+to live with him, and left him alone when he sorely needed sympathy
+and consolation.
+
+It is curiously characteristic of Balzac, that at this very time, when
+in secret he contemplates marriage, he writes to Madame Carraud that
+he is going to Aix to run after some one who will perhaps laugh at him
+--one of those aristocratic women she would no doubt hold in
+abhorrence: "An angel beauty in whom one imagines a beautiful soul, a
+true duchess, very disdainful, very loving, delicate, witty, a
+coquette, a novelty to me! One of those phenomena who efface
+themselves from time to time, and who says she loves me, who wishes to
+keep me with her in a palace at Venice (for I tell you everything)
+--who wishes that I shall in future write only for her, one of those
+women one must worship on one's knees if she desires it, and whom one
+has the utmost pleasure in conquering--a dream woman! Jealous of
+everything! Ah, it would be better to be at Angouleme at the
+Poudrerie, very sensible, very quiet, listening to the mills working,
+making oneself sticky with truffles, learning from you how to pocket a
+billiard-ball, laughing and talking, than to lose both time and
+life!"[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 161.
+
+After his stay at Sache, Balzac went on to the Poudrerie, where he
+became ill from overwork, and wrote to his sister that a journey was
+quite necessary for his health. On August 22nd he started from
+Angouleme, having borrowed 150 francs from M. Carraud to take him as
+far as Lyons. He had already spent the 100 francs sent him by his
+mother, and he expected to find 300 francs more awaiting him at Lyons.
+There he arrived on the 25th, having unfortunately fallen in mounting
+the imperial of the diligence, and grazed his shin against the
+footboard thus making a small hole in the bone. However, we can
+appreciate the excellent reasons which led him to the conclusion that,
+in spite of the inflammation in his leg, it would be wise to press on
+at once to Aix. When he arrived there, on August 26th, he was
+evidently rewarded by a very cordial greeting from the Marquise; as,
+the day after, he wrote a most affectionate and joyful letter to his
+mother, thanking her in the warmest terms for all she had done, and
+for the pleasure she had procured him by enabling him to take this
+journey.
+
+He was now established in a simple little room, with a view over
+the lovely valley of the Lac du Bourget; he got up each morning at
+half-past five, and worked from then till half-past five in the evening,
+his _dejeuner_ being sent in from the club, and Madame de Castries
+providing him with excellent coffee, that primary necessity of his
+existence. At six he dined with her, and they spent the evening till
+eleven o'clock together. It was an exciting drama that went on during
+those long _tete-a-tetes_. On one side was the accomplished coquette,
+possibly only determined to make a plaything of the man of genius, to
+charm him and keep him at her feet; or perhaps with a lurking hope
+that her skilful game would turn to earnestness, and that in the
+course of it she would manage to forget that charming young Metternich
+who died at Florence and left her inconsolable. On the other was
+Balzac, his senses bewildered by passionate love, but his acuteness
+and knowledge of human nature not allowing him to be altogether
+deceived; so that he writes to Madame Carraud: "She is the most
+delicate type of woman--Madame de Beauseant, only better; but are not
+all these pretty manners exercised at the expense of the heart?"[*]
+Nevertheless, these were only passing doubts: he could not really
+believe that she would behave as she was doing if there were no love
+for him in her heart, and he pursued his suit with the intense ardour
+natural to him. Occasionally she became alarmed, and tried to rebuff
+him by a cold, irritable manner; but he continued to treat her with
+the utmost gentleness. No doubt, she was not altogether without
+feeling: an absolutely cold woman could not have exercised dominion
+over a man of the stamp of Balzac; and though she is always
+represented as playing a game, probably there were agitations, doubts,
+questionings, and possibly real trouble, on her side, as well as on
+that of Balzac. At any rate, the admirer of his novels may give her
+the benefit of the doubt, and remember in gratitude that she
+undoubtedly added to the gamut of the great psychologist's emotions,
+and therefore increased his knowledge of the human heart, and the
+truth and vividness of his books. Balzac, who spoke of the "doleurs
+qui font trop vivre," plunged very deeply into the learning of the
+school of life at this time.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 195.
+
+At last came a final rupture, of which we can only conjecture the
+cause, as no satisfactory explanation is forthcoming. The original
+"Confession" in the "Medecin de Campagne," which is the history of
+Balzac's relations and parting with Madame de Castries, is in the
+possession of the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul. The present
+Confession was substituted in its place, because the first revealed
+too much of Balzac's private life. However, even in the original
+Confession, we learn no reason for Madame de Castries' sudden resolve
+to dismiss her adorer, as Balzac declares with indignant despair that
+he can give no explanation of it. Apparently she parted from him one
+evening with her usual warmth of affection, and next morning
+everything was changed, and she treated him with the utmost coldness.
+
+Madame de Castries, with her brother-in-law, the Duc de Fitz-James and
+his family, had settled to leave Aix on October 10th, and to travel in
+Italy, visiting Rome and Naples; and they had been anxious that Balzac
+should be one of the party. At first Balzac only spoke of this
+vaguely, because of the question of money; but as pecuniary matters
+were never allowed to interfere with anything he really wanted to do,
+his mother cannot have been surprised to receive a letter written on
+September 23rd, telling her that the matter was settled, and that he
+was going to Italy.[*] As she would naturally ask how this was to be
+managed, he explains that he will put off paying a debt of 500 francs,
+and that, being only responsible for a fourth share in the hire of
+Madame de Castries' carriage, this money would suffice for his
+expenses as far as Rome. There he will require 500 francs, and the
+same amount again at Naples; but this money will be gained by the
+"Medecin de Campagne," and he will only ask Madame de Balzac for 500
+francs--without which he will perhaps, after all, manage--to bring him
+back from Naples in March. On September 30th he writes to M. Mame, the
+publisher, to tell him about the nearly-finished "Medecin de
+Campagne," and still talks of his projected journey; but on October
+9th, as a result of Madame de Castries' behaviour towards him, he has
+left her at Aix, and is himself at Annecy, and on October 16th he has
+travelled on to Geneva. His only explanation for his sudden change of
+plan is a vague remark to his mother about the 1,000 francs required
+for the journey,[+] and about the difficulty of publishing books while
+he is away from France; while on the real reason of his change of plan
+he is absolutely silent. Before the end of 1832 he is back in Paris,
+and in spite of his success and celebrity is probably passing through
+the bitterest months of his life.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 202.
+
+[+] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 220.
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII
+
+                             1832 - 1835
+
+  Advertisement in the _Quotidienne_--Letters between Balzac and
+  Madame Hanska--His growing attachment to her--Meeting at
+  Neufchatel--Return to Paris--Work--"Etudes de Moeurs au XIXieme
+  Siecle"--"Le Medecin de Campagne"--"Eugenie Grandet"--Meets Madame
+  Hanska at Vienna--"La Duchesse de Langeais"--Balzac's enormous
+  power of work--"La Recherche de l'Absolu"--"Le Pere Goriot"
+  --Vienna--Monetary difficulties--Republishes romantic novels
+  --Continual debt--Amusements.
+
+Meanwhile, during the tragic drama of the downfall of poor Balzac's
+high hopes, Madame Hanska continued to write steadily; but she was
+becoming tired of receiving no answer to her letters, and of not even
+knowing whether or no they had reached their destination. Therefore
+she wrote on November 7th, 1832, to ask Balzac for a little message in
+the _Quotidienne_, which she took in regularly, to say that he had
+received her letters; and Balzac, in reply, inserted the following
+notice in the _Quotidienne_ of December 9th, 1832. "M. de B. has
+received the message sent him; he can only to-day give information of
+this through a newspaper, and regrets that he does not know where to
+address his answer. To. L'E.--H. de B."[*]
+
+[*] A copy of the _Quotidienne_ with this advertisement is in the
+    possession of the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, and I have
+    seen it.
+
+After this, it is amusing to see that Balzac was most particular in
+impressing on his publishers the necessity of advertising his
+forthcoming works in the _Quotidienne_, one of the few French papers
+allowed admission into Russia. On the other hand, the receipt of the
+_Quotidienne_ with this announcement made Madame Hanska so bold, that
+in a letter dated January 9th, 1833, she gave Balzac the welcome
+information that she and M. de Hanski were leaving Ukraine for a time,
+and coming nearer France; and that she would indicate to him some way
+of corresponding with her secretly. As this is the last of her letters
+that can be found, we do not know what method she pointed out to
+Balzac; and his first letter to her is dated January, 1833, and after
+their meeting at Neufchatel in September, he wrote a short account of
+his day every evening to his beloved one, and once in eight days he
+despatched this journal to its destination. As he kept to this plan
+with only occasional interruptions whenever he was absent from her,
+till his marriage four months before his death, these letters, some of
+which are published in a volume called "Lettres a l'Etrangere," form a
+most valuable record of his life. In one of the first, it is
+interesting to see that he is obliged to soothe her uneasiness at the
+strange variety of his handwritings, as Madame Carraud had answered
+one of her letters in his name; and to allay her suspicions, he makes
+the rather unlikely explanation, that he has as many writings as there
+are days in the year. In the future, however, her letters are sacred,
+no eye but his own being permitted to gaze on them; and with his usual
+reticence where his feelings are seriously involved, he ceases to
+mention to his friends his correspondent in far Ukraine.
+
+A little later he comments with joy on the fact that Madame Hanska has
+sent him a copy of the "Imitation of Christ,"[*] which represents our
+Lord on the cross, just as he is writing "Le Medecin de Campagne,"
+which portrays the bearing of the cross by resignation, and love,
+faith in the future, and the spreading around of the perfume of good
+deeds. To Balzac, believer in the power of the transmission of
+thought, this coincidence was of good augury.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+All this time he had not forgotten Madame de Berny, or the faithless
+Madame de Castries; and is profoundly miserable. On January 1st, 1833,
+he writes to his faithful friend, Madame Carraud, to pour out his
+troubles, and says: "In vain I try to transfer my life to my brain;
+nature has given me too much heart, and in spite of everything, more
+than enough for ten men is left. Therefore I suffer. All the more
+because chance made me know happiness in all its moral extent, while
+depriving me of sensual beauty. She" (Madame de Berny) "gave me a true
+love which must finish. This is horrible! I go through troubles and
+tempests which no one knows of. I have no distractions. Nothing
+refreshes this heat, which spreads and will perhaps devour me." He
+then passes on to Madame de Castries, and continues: "An unheard-of
+coldness has succeeded gradually to what I thought was passion, in a
+woman who came to me rather nobly."[*] In a letter to Madame Hanska,
+speaking of Madame de Castries, though he does not name her, he says:
+"She causes me suffering, but I do not judge her. Only I think that if
+you loved some one, if you had drawn him every day towards you into
+heaven, and you were free, you would not leave him alone in the depths
+of an abyss of cold, after having warmed him with the fire of your
+soul."[+]
+
+[*] Letters sent by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul to the
+    _Revue Bleue_ of November 21st, 1903.
+
+[+] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Gradually, however, the new love gained ground; though at first Balzac
+showed that nervous dread of repetition of pain which was, in a man of
+his buoyancy and self-confidence, the last expression of depression
+and disillusionment. "I trembled in writing to you. I said to myself:
+'Will this be only a new bitterness? Will the skies open to me again,
+for me only to be driven from them?'"[*] Nevertheless, passages such
+as the following, even taking into account the sentimental tone Balzac
+always adopted to his female correspondents, show that he was not
+destined to remain permanently inconsolable. "I love you, unknown, and
+this strange thing is the natural effect of an empty and unhappy life,
+only filled with ideas, and the misfortunes of which I have diminished
+by chimerical pleasures."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+In these words he gives himself the explanation of his overmastering
+love for Madame Hanska, a love which seems to have puzzled his
+contemporaries and some of his subsequent biographers. The man with
+the passionate nature, who cried in his youth for the satisfaction of
+his two immense desires--to be celebrated and to be loved--soon found
+the emptiness of the life of fame alone; and Madame Hanska, dowered
+with all that he longed for, came into his life at the psychological
+moment when he had broken with the old love, born into the world too
+soon, and had suffered bitterly at the cruel hands of the new. He
+turned to her with a rapture of new hope in the glories that might
+rise for him; and through trouble, disappointment and delay, he never
+once wavered in his allegiance.
+
+In the early spring of 1833, the Hanski family, after no doubt many
+preparations, and surrounded by a great paraphernalia--for travelling
+in those days was a serious matter--started on the journey about which
+Madame Hanska had already told Balzac. Neufchatel was their
+destination; and through Mlle Henriette Borel, Anna's governess, who
+was a native of the place, and Madame Hanska's confidante, the Villa
+Andrie, in the Faubourg, just opposite the Hotel du Faubourg, was
+secured for them. Mlle Borel was a most useful person, as she always
+went to the post to claim Balzac's letters, and through Madame Hanska
+he sends her many directions, and specially enjoins great caution. We
+are told[*] that she was so much struck by the solemnities at M. de
+Hanski's funeral--the lights, the songs, and the national costumes
+--that she decided to abjure the Protestant faith, and that in 1843
+she took the veil. We may wonder however, whether tardy remorse for
+her deceit towards the dead man, who had treated her with kindness,
+had not its influence in causing this sudden religious enthusiasm,
+and whether the Sister in the Convent of the Visitation in Paris
+gave herself extra penance for her sins of connivance.
+
+[*] "Balzac a Neufchatel," by M. Bachelin.
+
+From Neufchatel, Madame Hanska sent Balzac her exact address; and as
+he had really settled to go to Besancon in his search for inexpensive
+paper to enable him to carry out his grand scheme for an universal
+cheap library, it was settled that, travelling ostensibly for this
+purpose, he should go for a few days to Neufchatel, and meet Madame
+Hanska. He therefore wrote to Charles de Bernard, at Besancon, to ask
+him to take a place for him in the diligence to Neufchatel, on
+September 25th, 1833; and it is easy to imagine his qualms of anxiety,
+and yet joyful excitement, when he left Paris on the 22nd, and started
+on his fateful journey. At Neufchatel, he went to the Hotel du
+Faucon,[*] in the centre of the town, but found a note begging him to
+be on the Promenade du Faubourg next day from one to four; and he at
+once removed to the Hotel du Faubourg, so that he might be near the
+Villa Andrie. Madame Hanska no doubt shared to a certain extent his
+tremors of anticipation; but as a beauty and great lady she would
+naturally feel more confident than Balzac--especially when she had
+donned with care her most elegant and becoming toilette, and felt
+armed at every point for the encounter.
+
+[*] "Un Roman d'Amour," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul,
+    p. 75.
+
+The Promenade du Faubourg at Neufchatel overlooks the lake, and is
+terminated by a promontory known as the Cret, a splendid point of
+vantage, whence there is a view of the Villa Andrie and over the
+gardens of the Hotel du Faubourg. Here, on the afternoon of September
+26th, 1833, among others strollers, were two who might have seemed to
+an observant eye to be waiting for somebody: one was a stout,
+inelegant little man, with something bizarre about his costume, and
+the other a dark, handsome lady, dressed in the height of fashion, and
+perhaps known to some of the loungers as the rich Russian Countess.
+The manner of their meeting is uncertain; but whether Madame Hanska,
+with one of Balzac's novels in her hand, recognised him at once and
+rushed towards him joyously, or whether, as another story goes, she
+was at first disenchanted by his unromantic appearance and drew back,
+matters little.[*] In either case, according to Balzac's letter to his
+sister written on his return to Paris, they exchanged their first kiss
+under the shade of a great oak in the Val de Travers, and swore to
+wait for each other; and he speaks rapturously of Madame Hanska's
+beautiful black hair, of her fine dark skin and her pretty little
+hands. He mentions, too, her colossal riches, though these do not of
+course count beside her personal charms; but the remark is
+characteristic, and Balzac's pride and exultation are very
+apparent.[+] At last he has found his "grande dame," endowed with
+youth, beauty and riches, one who would not be ashamed to live with
+him in a garret, and yet would, by her birth, be able to hold her own
+in the most exclusive society in the world.
+
+[*] "Un Roman d'Amour," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul,
+    p. 75.
+
+[+] I have seen in M. de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul's collection, the
+    autograph of the whole of this letter as quoted in the "Roman
+    d'Amour."
+
+He is specially pleased, too, that he has succeeded in charming Madame
+Hanska's husband, to whom he was apparently introduced at once, though
+we do not know by what means. Certainly M. de Hanski appears to have
+felt a warm liking for the great writer, who charmed him and made him
+laugh by his amusing talk, kept his blue devils at bay, sent him first
+copies of his books, and sympathised with his views on political
+matters. M. de Hanski was also much flattered by Balzac's friendship
+for his wife, and would finish a polite and stilted epistle by saying
+that he need trouble Balzac no more, as he knows his wife is at the
+same time writing him one of her long chattering letters. Even when,
+by sad mischance, two of Balzac's love-letters fell into M. de
+Hanski's hands, and the great writer was forced to stoop to the
+pretence that they were written in jest, the husband seems to have
+accepted the explanation, and not to have troubled further about the
+matter. Later on, he sent Balzac a magnificent inkstand as a present,
+which the recipient rather ungratefully remarked required palatial
+surroundings, and was too grand for his use.
+
+On October 1st, the happy time at Neufchatel came to an end, as the
+Hanskis were leaving that day, and Balzac's work awaited him in Paris.
+He got up at five o'clock on the morning of his departure, and went on
+to the promontory, whence he could gaze at the Villa Andrie, in the
+vain hope of a last meeting with Madame Hanska; but to his
+disappointment the Villa was absolutely quiet, no one was stirring. He
+had a most uncomfortable journey back, for everything was so crowded
+that fifteen or sixteen intending passengers were refused at each
+town; and as Charles de Bernard had not been able to secure a place
+for him in the mail coach, he was obliged to travel in the imperial of
+the diligence with five Swiss, who treated him as though he were an
+animal going to the market, and he arrived in Paris bruised all over.
+
+In Balzac's letters after his return to Paris there is much mention of
+his enjoyment of the Swiss scenery, which is after all only Madame
+Hanska under another name; but he is absolutely discreet, and never
+speaks of the lady herself. He is redoubling his work, on the chance
+of managing to pay her another visit. "For a month longer, prodigies
+of work, to enable me to see you. You are in all my thoughts, in all
+the lines that I shall trace, in all the moments of my life, in all my
+being, in my hair which grows for you."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Fortunately the long years of waiting, the anxieties, the hope
+constantly deferred, the pangs of unequally matched affection, and at
+last the short and imperfect fruition, were hidden from him.
+Henceforward everything in his life refers to Madame Hanska, and he
+waits patiently for his hoped-for union with her. His deference to his
+absent friend, his fear of her disapproval, his admiration for her
+perfections, are half pathetic and half comical.
+
+Though she does not appear to have been strait-laced in her reading,
+he is terribly afraid of falling in her estimation by what he writes,
+and he explains anxiously that such books as "Le Medecin de Campagne"
+or "Seraphita" show him in his true light, and that the "Physiologie
+du Mariage" is really written in defence of women. The "Contes
+Drolatiques" he is also nervous about, and he is much agitated when he
+hears that she has read some of them without his permission.
+
+He is not always _quite_ candid, and the reader of "Lettres a
+l'Etrangere" may safely surmise that there is a little picturesque
+exaggeration in his account of the solitary life he leads; and that
+Madame Hanska had occasionally good reason for her reproaches at the
+reports she heard, though Balzac always replies to these complaints
+with a most touching display of injured innocence. Nevertheless, the
+"Lettres a l'Etrangere" are the record of a faithful and ever-growing
+love, and there is much in them which must increase the reader's
+admiration for Balzac.
+
+The year 1833 was a prosperous one with him, as in October he sold to
+the publisher, Madame Charles Bechet, for 27,000 francs, an edition of
+"Etudes de Moeurs au XIXieme Siecle" in twelve octavo volumes,
+consisting of the third edition of "Scenes de la Vie Privee," the
+first of "Scenes de la Vie de Province," and the first part of the
+"Scenes de la Vie Parisienne." The last volume of this edition did not
+appear till 1837, and before that time Balzac had taken further
+strides towards his grand conception of the Comedie Humaine. In
+October, 1834,[*] he writes to Madame Hanska that the "Etudes de
+Moeurs," in which is traced thread by thread the history of the human
+heart, is only to be the base of the structure; and that next, in the
+"Etudes Philosophiques," he will go back from effect to cause, from
+the feelings, their life and way of working, to the conditions behind
+them on which life, society, and man have their being; and that having
+described society, he will in the "Etudes Philosophiques" judge it. In
+the "Etudes de Moeurs" types will be formed from individuals, in the
+"Etudes Philosophiques" individuals from types. Then, after effects
+and causes, will come principles, in the "Etudes Analytiques." "Les
+moeurs sont le spectacle, les causes son les coulisses et les
+machines, et les principes c'est l'auteur." When this great palace is
+at last completed, he will write the science of it in "L'Essai sur les
+Forces Humaines"; and on the base, he, a child and a laugher, will
+trace the immense arabesque of the "Contes Drolatiques," those
+Rabelaisian stories in old French tracing the progress of the
+language, which he often declared would be his principal claim to
+fame. In 1842 the name "La Comedie Humaine" was after much
+consideration given to the whole structure, and in the preface he
+explains this title by saying: "The vastness of a plan which includes
+Society's history and criticism, the analysis of its evils, the
+discussion of its principles, justifies me, I think, in giving to my
+work the name under which it is appearing to-day--'The Human Comedy.'
+Pretentious, is it? Is it not rather true? That is a question for the
+public to decide when the work is finished."
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Unfortunately, in spite of the fact that in twelve years, from 1830 to
+1842, Balzac wrote seventy-nine novels--an enormous number, especially
+remembering the fact that during the same time he published tales and
+numberless articles--the great work was never finished; and the last
+philosophical study, which was entitled "The Marquis of Carabbas," and
+was to treat of the life of nations, was not even begun.
+
+However, in 1833, when he really started the germ of his life-work,
+he, like his father, had the idea that he would live to an enormous
+age; and he was in high spirits about the pecuniary side of his
+transaction with Madame Bechet.
+
+Except for what he owes his mother, in seven months he will be free of
+debt, he cries rapturously; but it is hardly necessary to mention that
+this happy time of deliverance never did arrive. Indeed, we are
+scarcely surprised, when he writes on November 20th, to say that his
+affairs are in the most deplorable condition; that he has just sent
+four thousand francs, his last resource, to Mame, the publisher, and
+is as poor as Job; with one lawsuit going on, and another beginning
+for which he requires twelve hundred francs. His chronic state of
+disagreement with Emile de Girardin, editor of _La Presse_, had at
+this time, in spite of Madame de Girardin's attempts at mediation,
+become acute; so that they nearly fought a duel. The year before, as
+we have already seen, he had quarrelled with his former friend, Amedee
+Pichot, and had deserted the _Revue de Paris_, so his business
+relations were, as usual, not very happy.
+
+However, he was at first much pleased with Madame Bechet, who, with
+unexpected liberality, herself paid 4000 francs for corrections; and
+in July, 1834, he got rid of publisher Gosselin, whom he politely
+designates as a "nightmare of silliness," and a "rost-beaf ambulant,"
+and started business with Werdet, not yet the "vulture who fed on
+Prometheus," but an excellent young man, somewhat resembling
+"l'illustre Gaudissart," full of devotion and energy.
+
+The year 1833 was rich in masterpieces. In September appeared "Le
+Medecin de Campagne," with its motto, "For wounded souls, shade and
+silence"; and though, like "Louis Lambert," it was not at first a
+success, later on its true value was realised; and the hero, the good
+Dr. Benassis, is one of Balzac's purest and most noble creations. It
+was followed in December by "Eugenie Grandet," a masterpiece of Dutch
+genre, immortalised by the vivid vitality of old Grandet, that type of
+modern miser who, in contradistinction to Moliere's Harpagon, enjoyed
+universal respect and admiration, his fortune being to some people in
+his province "the object of patriotic pride." The book raised such a
+storm of enthusiasm, that Balzac became jealous for the fame of his
+other works, and would cry indignantly: "Those who call me the father
+of Eugenie Grandet wish to belittle me. It is a masterpiece, I know;
+but it is a little masterpiece; they are very careful not to mention
+the great ones."[*] This, which is the best known and most generally
+admired of Balzac's novels, is dedicated by a strange irony of fate to
+Maria, whose identity has never been discovered; the only fact really
+known about her being her pathetic request to Balzac, that he would
+love her just for a year, and she would love him for all eternity. She
+did not, however, have undisputed possession of even the short time
+she longed for, as Madame Hanska's all-conquering influence was in the
+ascendant; but, as Balzac was always discreet, perhaps poor Maria was
+not aware of this.
+
+[*] "Balzac, sa Vie et ses Oeuvres d'apres sa Correspondance," by
+    Madame L. Surville.
+
+In the midst of the acclamations and congratulations on the appearance
+of "Eugenie Grandet," Balzac again left Paris, and went to Geneva,
+where he arrived on December 25th, 1833. He left for Paris on February
+8th, having spent six weeks with the Hanski family. During this time a
+definite promise was made by Madame Hanska, that she would marry him
+if she became a widow. "Adoremus in aeternum" was their motto; he was
+her humble "moujik," and she was his "predilecta, his love, his life,
+his only thought."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Curiously enough, his occupation in Geneva, in the rapture of his
+newly-found happiness, was to write the "Duchesse de Langeais," by
+which he intended to revenge himself on Madame de Castries, though he
+could not help, in his book, making her turn to him at last, when it
+was too late. The wound was still smarting. He detests and despises
+her, he says; and the only words of spitefulness recorded in his
+generous, large-minded life, are when he mentions, with pretended
+pity, that owing to ill-health she has completely lost her beauty. In
+spite of this outburst, however, we find that he came forward later
+on, and helped her with much energy when she was in difficulties. He
+never had the satisfaction of knowing whether she were punished or
+not; as when he showed her the book before it was published, with the
+ostensible reason of wishing her to disarm the Faubourg St. Germain,
+which is severely criticised in its pages, she professed much
+admiration for it.
+
+Meanwhile, Madame de Berny was beginning the slow process of dying;
+and Balzac speaks constantly with trouble of her failing health, and
+of the heart disease from which she suffered, and which, with her
+usual unselfishness, she tried to conceal from him. She was too ill
+now to correct his proofs, and her family circumstances were, as we
+have already seen, very miserable; so that her life was closing sadly.
+In January, 1835, Balzac spent eight days with her at La Boulonniere,
+near Nemours, working hard all the time; and was horrified to find her
+so ill, that even the pleasure of reading his books brought on severe
+heart attacks.
+
+His life at this time was enormously busy; the passion for work had
+him in its grip, and even _his_ robust constitution suffered from the
+enormous strain to which he subjected it by his constant abuse of
+coffee, which caused intense nervous irritation; and by the short
+hours of sleep he allowed himself. He never rested for a moment, he
+was never indifferent for a moment, his faculties were constantly on
+the stretch, and Dr. Nacquart remonstrated in vain. In August, 1834,
+he was attacked by slight congestion of the brain, and imperatively
+ordered two months' rest; which, of course, he did not take; and now
+from time to time, in his letters, occur entries of sinister omen,
+about symptoms of illness, and doctor's neglected advice. In October
+"La Recherche de l'Absolu" appeared, and instead of greeting it with
+the enthusiasm he usually accorded to his books, he remarked to Madame
+Hanska that he hoped it was good, but that he was too tired to judge.
+However, by December of the same year, when "Le Pere Goriot" was
+published, he had to a certain extent recovered his elasticity, and
+said that it was a beautiful work, though terribly sad, and showed the
+moral corruption of Paris like a disgusting wound. A few days later he
+became more enthusiastic, and wrote: "You will be very proud of 'Le
+Pere Goriot.' My friends insist that nothing is comparable to it, and
+that it is above all my other compositions."[*] Certainly the vivid
+portrait of old Goriot, that ignoble King Lear, who in his
+extraordinary passion of paternal love rouses our sympathy, in spite
+of his many absurdities and shortcomings, is a striking instance of
+Balzac's power in the creation of type.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+He was straining every nerve to be able to meet Madame Hanska in
+Vienna; but with all his efforts his journey was put off month after
+month, and it was not till May 9th, 1835, that he was at last able to
+start. He arrived at Vienna on the 16th; having hired a post carriage
+for the journey, a little extravagance which cost him 15,000 francs.
+His stay there was not a rest, as, to Madame Hanska's annoyance, he
+worked twelve hours a day at "Le Lys dans la Vallee," and explained to
+her that he was doing a good deal in thus sacrificing three hours a
+day for her sake--fifteen hours out of the twenty-four being his usual
+time for labour. He visited Munich on his way back, and arrived in
+Paris on June 11th, to find a crowd of creditors awaiting his arrival,
+and his pecuniary affairs in terrible confusion. Owing, he considered,
+to the machinations of his enemies, articles had appeared in different
+papers announcing that he had been imprisoned for debt--a report which
+naturally ruined his credit, and caused a general gathering of those
+to whom he owed money. It was not a pleasant home-coming; as Werdet
+and Madame Bechet were in utter despair, and reproached Balzac
+bitterly for his absence, while all his silver had been pawned by his
+sister to pay his most pressing liabilities.
+
+It is curious about this time to notice the reappearance of the early
+romantic novels, "Jane la Pale," "La Derniere Fee," and their
+fellows.[*] Balzac, as we have seen was in terrible straits for money,
+and he knew that the Belgians, who at this time practised the most
+shameless piracy, would reprint the books for their own advantage, if
+he did not. Therefore, in self-defence, he determined to bring out an
+edition himself; though, as he consistently refused to acknowledge the
+authorship of these despised productions, the treaty was drawn up in
+the name of friends. Nevertheless, with his usual caution, he drew up
+a secret document which was signed by M. Regnault, one of those in
+whose name the sale to the publisher was arranged, to the effect that
+the works of the late Horace de Saint-Aubin were really the property
+of M. de Balzac. "L'Heritiere de Birague" and "Jean Louis" did not
+appear in this edition, probably owing to the intervention of M. Le
+Poitevin, who considered them partly his property; but they were
+published with the others in an edition printed in 1853, after a
+lawsuit between Balzac's widow and his early collaborator.
+
+[*] "Une Page Perdue de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+The condition of the whole Balzac family at the close of 1835 was
+tragic, M. Henri, back from abroad, and utterly incapable, as Balzac
+says, of doing anything, talked of blowing out his brains; Madame
+Surville was ill, Madame Balzac's reason or life was despaired of; and
+Balzac chose this time to consult a somnambulist about Madame Hanska,
+and was told the distressing news that she was in anxiety of some
+sort, and that her heart was enlarged! Fortunately, in October, 1835,
+the Hanski family returned to Wierzchownia, and the constant worry to
+Balzac of their proximity to France was removed for the time.
+
+In December another misfortune befell Balzac. A fire broke out at the
+printing office in the Rue du Pot-de-Fer, and burnt the first hundred
+and sixty pages of the third dizain of the "Contes Drolatiques," as
+well as five hundred volumes of the first and second dizain, which had
+cost him four francs each. He thus lost 3,500 francs, and to add to
+the calamity, did not receive the sum of 6,000 francs which in the
+ordinary course of events would have been due to him at the end of the
+year, when but for this disaster he would have handed over the third
+dizain to Werdet and an associate.
+
+Figures and sums of money occur constantly in Balzac's letters; but
+his accounts of his pecuniary affairs are so conflicting and so
+complicated that it is impossible to understand them; indeed it is
+doubtful whether he ever mastered them himself, as he continually
+expected to be out of debt in a few months. According to his own story
+to Madame Hanska, he left the printing office owing 100,000 francs,
+had to find 6,000 francs a year for interest on this debt, and
+required 3,000 francs to live on; while in 1828, 1829, and 1830, he
+only made 3,000 francs each year, so that in three years he had
+increased his debt by 24,000 francs. In 1830 the Revolution caused
+general disaster among the publishers, and "La Peau de Chagrin" only
+made 700 francs, so that in 1830 and 1831 Balzac had an income of only
+10,000 francs a year, and had to pay out 18,000 francs. From 1833 to
+1836 he received 10,000 francs a year by his treaty with Madame
+Bechet; 6,000 of this he paid in interest on his debt, while 4,000
+apparently remained to live on. However, between the fire in the Rue
+du Pot-de-Fer, Werdet's delinquencies, the failure of the _Chronique_,
+and the sums paid back to publishers who had advanced money on
+arrangements Balzac cancelled to fulfil this new agreement, hardly
+anything was left; and in 1837 he owed 162,000 francs.
+
+In August, 1835, he describes his life thus[*]: "Work, always work!
+Heated nights succeed heated nights, days of meditation days of
+meditation; from execution to conception, from conception to
+execution! Little money compared with what I want, much money compared
+with production. If each of my books were paid like those of Walter
+Scott, I should manage; but although well paid, I do not attain my
+goal. I received 8,000 francs for the 'Lys'; half of this came from
+the publisher, half from the _Revue de Paris_. The article in the
+_Conservateur_ will pay me 3,000 francs. I shall have finished
+'Seraphita,' begun 'Les Memoires de Deux Jeunes Mariees,' and finished
+Mme. Bechet's edition. I do not know whether a brain, pen, and hand
+will ever before have accomplished such a 'tour de force' with the
+help of a bottle of ink."
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+As it is impossible for even a Balzac to live without relaxation, even
+if he goes without rest, what, may we ask, were his recreations at
+this time? In the first place he often went to the theatre; and he was
+passionately fond of music, occupying a place in the box at the
+Italian Opera, which was reserved specially for dandies. One of his
+extravagances was a dinner at which he entertained the five other
+"tigres," as the occupants of this box were nicknamed, and Rossini,
+Olympe Pelissier, Nodier, Sandeau, and Bohain. At this banquet, the
+most sumptuous fare and the most exquisite wines were provided for the
+guests, and the table was decked with the rarest flowers. Balzac
+enjoyed the festivity immensely, as well as the _eclat_ which followed
+it; and relates with delight that all Paris was talking of it, and
+that Rossini said he had not seen more magnificence when he dined at
+royal tables.
+
+However busy he was, he never completely deprived himself of the
+pleasure of listening to music; though on one occasion he remarks
+regretfully, that he has been obliged to limit his attendance at the
+Opera to two visits each month; and on another, that he has been so
+overwhelmed with business that he has not been able even to have a
+bath, or go to the Italian Opera, two things that are more necessary
+to him than bread. His works abound in references to his beloved art,
+and when he was writing "Massimilla Doni" he employed a professional
+musician to instruct him about it. Beethoven, in particular, he speaks
+of with the utmost enthusiasm, and after hearing his "Symphony in Ut
+mineur," he says that the great musician is the only person who makes
+him feel jealous, and that he prefers him even to Rossini and Mozart.
+"The spirit of the writer," he says, "cannot give such enjoyment,
+because what _we_ print is finished and determined, whereas Beethoven
+wafts his audience to the infinite."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+The other amusements of this great thinker and seer would strike the
+reader as strange, if he did not perhaps, by this time, realise that
+no anomaly need surprise him in Balzac's extraordinary personality.
+
+He writes to Madame Hanska[*]: "As to my joys, they are innocent. They
+consist in new furniture for my room, a cane which makes all Paris
+chatter, a divine opera-glass, which my workers have had made by the
+optician at the Observatory; also the gold buttons on my new coat,
+buttons chiselled by the hand of a fairy, for the man who carries a
+cane worthy of Louis XIV. in the nineteenth century cannot wear
+ignoble pinchbeck buttons. These are little innocent toys, which make
+me considered a millionaire. I have created the sect of the
+'Cannophiles' in the world of fashion, and every one thinks me utterly
+frivolous. This amuses me!" Certainly Balzac was not wrong when he
+told his correspondent that there was much of the child in him.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX
+
+                          NO PARTICULAR DATE
+
+  Balzac's portrait as described by Gautier--His character--Belief
+  in magnetism and somnambulism--His attempts to become deputy--His
+  political and religious views.
+
+In the Salon of 1837 appeared a portrait of Balzac by Boulanger,[*] of
+which Theophile Gautier gave the following description in _La Presse_:
+"M. de Balzac is not precisely beautiful. His features are irregular;
+he is fat and short. Here is a summary which does not seem to lend
+itself to a painting, but this is only the reverse of the medal. The
+life and ardour reflected in the whole face give it a special beauty.
+
+[*] See the chapter entitled "Un Portrait" in "Autour de Honore de
+    Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+"In this portrait, M. de Balzac, enveloped in the large folds of a
+monk's habit, sits with his arms crossed, in a calm and strong
+attitude; the neck is uncovered, the look firm and direct; the light,
+shining from above, illumines the satin-like smoothness of the upper
+parts of the forehead, and throws a bright light on the bumps of
+imagination and humour, which are strongly developed in M. de Balzac;
+the black hair, also lit up, shining and radiant, comes from the
+temples in bright waves, and gives singular light to the top of the
+head; the eyes steeped in a golden penumbra with tawny eyeballs, on a
+moist and blue crystalline lens like that of a child, send out a
+glance of astonishing acuteness; the nose, divided into abrupt
+polished flat places, breathes strongly and passionately, through
+large red nostrils; the mouth, large and voluptuous, particularly in
+the lower lip, smiles with a rabelaisian smile under the shade of a
+moustache much lighter in colour than the hair; and the chin, slightly
+raised, is attached to the throat by a fold of flesh, ample and
+strong, which resembles the dewlap of a young bull. The throat itself
+is of athletic and rare strength, the plump full cheeks are touched
+with the vermilion of nervous health, and all the flesh tints are
+resplendent with the most joyful and reassuring brilliancy.
+
+"In this monk's and soldier's head there is a mixture of reflection
+and of good-humour, of resolution and of high spirits, which is
+infinitely rare; the thinker and good liver melt into each other with
+quaint harmony. Put a cuirass on this large breast, and you will have
+one of those fat German foot-soldiers so jovially painted by Terburg.
+With the monks' habit, it is Jean des Entommeurs[*]; nevertheless, do
+not forget that the eyes throw, through all this embonpoint and
+good-humour, the yellow look of a lion to counteract this Flemish
+familiarity. Such a man would be equal to excesses of the table, of
+pleasure, and of work. We are no longer astonished at the immense
+quantity of volumes published by him in so short a time. This
+prodigious labour has left no trace of fatigue on the strong cheeks
+dappled with red, and on the large white forehead. The enormous work
+which would have crushed six ordinary authors under its weight is
+hardly the third of the monument he wishes to raise."
+
+[*] One of the characters in Rabelais.
+
+The original of this portrait was sent to Madame Hanska at
+Wierzchownia; but a sketch of it belongs to M. Alexandre Dumas the
+younger, and has often been engraved. From this, it seems as though
+Theophile Gautier must have read his knowledge of Balzac's character
+as a whole into his interpretation of the picture. To the ordinary
+observer, Boulanger's portrait represents Balzac as the thinker,
+worker, and fighter, stern and strenuous; not the delightful comrade
+who inspired joy and merriment, and the recollection of whom made
+Heine smile on his death-bed. The wonderful eyes which had not their
+equal, and which asked questions like a doctor or a priest, are
+brilliantly portrayed. Balzac himself allows this, though he complains
+to Madame Hanska that they have more of the psychological expression
+of the worker than of the loving soul of the individual--a fact for
+which we may be grateful to Boulanger. Balzac is much delighted,
+however, with Boulanger's portrayal of the insistence and intrepid
+faith in the future, a la Coligny or a la Peter the Great, which are
+at the base of his character; and he goes on to give an attractive,
+though rather picturesque account of his career and past misfortunes,
+which is evidently intended to counteract any misgivings Madame Hanska
+may feel at his sternness as depicted in the portrait.
+
+"Boulanger has seen the writer only,[*] not the tenderness of the
+idiot who will always be deceived, not the softness towards other
+people's troubles which cause all my misfortunes to come from my
+holding out my hand to weak people who are falling into disaster. In
+1827 I help a working printer, and therefore in 1829 find myself
+crushed by fifty thousand francs of debt, and thrown without bread
+into a gutter. In 1833, when my pen appears to be likely to bring in
+enough to pay off my obligations, I attach myself to Werdet. I wish to
+make him my only publisher, and in my desire to bring him prosperity,
+I sign engagements, and in 1837 find myself owing a hundred and fifty
+thousand francs, and liable on this account to be put under arrest, so
+that I am obliged to hide. During this time I make myself the Don
+Quixote of the poor. I hope to give courage to Sandeau, and I lose
+through him four to five thousand francs, which would have saved other
+people." It would be interesting to hear what Barbier and Werdet would
+have said, if they had been allowed to read this letter; but on
+Browning's principle, that a man should show one side to the world,
+and the other to the woman he loves, no doubt Balzac's account of past
+events was quite justifiable.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Boulanger's picture gave Balzac a great deal of trouble, as well as
+delighted yet anxious speculation about Madame Hanska's opinion of it,
+when it arrived in Wierzchownia. This was naturally an important
+matter, his meetings with her being so rare that, except his letters,
+the picture would generally be her only reminder of him; and for this
+reason it was most necessary that it should show him at his best. It
+was therefore very trying that Boulanger should have exaggerated the
+character of his quiet strength, and made him look like a bully and a
+soldier; and we can enter thoroughly into his feelings, and sympathise
+heartily with his uneasiness, because Boulanger has not quite caught
+the fineness of contour under the fatness of the face. Undoubtedly,
+the picture does not give the idea of a person of extreme refinement,
+or distinction of appearance. Nevertheless, judging from stories told
+by his contemporaries, and also from some of the books written by the
+great novelist, it seems likely that Boulanger's powerful and strongly
+coloured portrait, though only redeemed from coarseness by the intense
+concentration of expression and the intellectual light in the
+wonderful eyes, was strikingly true to nature, and caught one very
+real aspect of the man. Perhaps, however, it was not the one
+calculated to work most strongly on the feelings of his absent
+lady-love; who, no doubt, poor Balzac hoped, would often make her way
+to the spot in the picture gallery where his picture hung in its quaint
+frame of black velvet, and would refresh herself with the sight of her
+absent friend. When her miniature by Daffinger was sent him, he was
+stupefied all day with joy; and he always carried it about with him,
+considering it an amulet which brought him good fortune.
+
+He believed in talismans, and had pretty fanciful ideas about being
+present to his friends in the sudden flicker of the fire, or the
+brightening of a candle-flame. Balzac, the Seer, the believer in
+animal magnetism, in somnambulism, in telepathy, the weaver of strange
+fancies and impossible daydreams--Balzac with philosophical theories
+on the function of thought, and faith in the mystical creed of
+Swedenborg--in short, the Balzac of "Louis Lambert" and "Seraphita,"
+is not, however, depicted by Boulanger: _he_ can only be found in M.
+Rodin's wonderful statue. There the great _voyant_, who, in the
+beautiful vision entitled "L'Assomption," saw man and woman perfected
+and brought to their highest development, stands in rapt contemplation
+and concentration, his head slightly raised, as if listening for the
+voice of inspiration, or hearing murmurs of mysteries still
+unfathomed.
+
+Somnambulism, in particular, occupied much of Balzac's attention. He
+wrote in 1832 to a doctor, M. Chapelain, who evidently shared his
+interest in the subject, to ask why medical men had not made use of it
+to discover the cause of cholera[*]; and on another occasion, after an
+accident to his leg, he sent M. Chapelain, from Aix, two pieces of
+flannel which he had worn, and wanted to know from them what caused
+the mischief, and why the doctors at their last consultation advised a
+blister. Unluckily, we hear no more of this matter, and never have the
+satisfaction of learning how much the learned doctor deduced from the
+fragments submitted to his inspection. Time after time Balzac mentions
+in his correspondence that he has consulted somnambulists when he has
+been anxious about the health of the Hanski family; and it is curious
+that a few months before he received the letter from Madame Hanska,
+telling of her husband's death, he had visited a sorcerer, who by
+means of cards, told him many extraordinary things about his past
+career, and said that in six weeks he would receive news which would
+change his whole life.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 147.
+
+The portrait was still destined to cause Balzac much anxiety. After
+the close of the Salon, the painter had promised to take a copy of it
+for Madame de Balzac, who, "between ourselves," Balzac remarked to
+Madame Hanska, would not care much about it, and certainly would not
+know the difference between the replica and the original, in which the
+soul of the model was searched for, examined and depicted,[*] and
+which was, of course, to belong to the beloved friend.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+However, there were still many delays. Boulanger showed "horrible
+ingratitude," and did not appreciate sufficiently the honour done him
+by his illustrious sitter in allowing his portrait to be taken. He
+refused at first to begin the copy; but this difficulty was at last
+arranged, and the original was carefully packed in a wooden crate,
+instead of going in a roll as Balzac had at first intended. Still
+there were innumerable stoppages, and doubt where the precious canvas
+was located; till the impatient Balzac was only deterred from his
+intention of starting a lawsuit against the authorities, by a fear of
+bringing the noble name of Hanski into notoriety. It is sad that the
+last time we hear of this precious picture in Balzac's lifetime was
+when he went to Wierzchownia, in 1849; and then it had been relegated
+to a library which few people visited, and he describes it with his
+usual energy, as the most hideous daub it is possible to see--quite
+black, from the faulty mixing of the colours; a canvas of which, for
+the sake of France, he is thoroughly ashamed.
+
+The sketch of the portrait is not disfigured; and the engravings of it
+give an interesting view of Balzac's personality. With due deference
+to the great psychologist, we cannot think the painter was wrong in
+imparting a slightly truculent expression to the face. Balzac was
+essentially a fighter: he started life with a struggle against his
+family, against the opinion of his friends, and, harder than all,
+against his own impotence to give expression to his genius; and, in
+the course of his career he made countless enemies, and finished by
+enrolling among their ranks most of the literary men of the day. This
+alienation was to a great extent caused by his inveterate habit of
+boasting, of applying the adjectives "sublime" and "magnificent" to
+his own works: an idiosyncracy which was naturally annoying to his
+brother authors. It was deprecated even by his devoted and admiring
+friends; though they knew that, as George Sand says, it was only
+caused by the _naivete_ of an artist, to whom his work was
+all-important.
+
+His personal charm was so great, that Werdet, his enemy, says that in
+his presence those who loved him, forgot any real or fancied complaint
+against him, and only remembered the affection they felt for him.
+Nevertheless, in the course of his life of fighting, his ever-pressing
+anxieties and the strain of his work, coupled with his belief in the
+importance and sacredness of his destiny, made him something of an
+egotist. Therefore, in spite of his real goodness of heart, he would
+sometimes shoulder his way through the world, oblivious of the
+unfortunate people who had come to grief owing to their connection
+with him, and careless of the lesser, though very real troubles of
+harassed and exasperated editors, when his promised copy was not
+forthcoming.
+
+Like Napoleon, to whom, amidst the gibes of his contemporaries, he
+likened himself, he wanted everything; and those with this aspiration
+must necessarily be heedless of their neighbours' smaller ambitions.
+"Without genius, I am undone!" he cried in despair; but when it was
+proved beyond dispute that this gift of debatable beneficence was his,
+he was still unsatisfied.
+
+What, after all, was the use of genius except as a stepping-stone to
+the solid good things of the earth? Where lay the advantage of
+superiority to ordinary men, if it could not be employed as a lever
+with which to raise oneself? Reasoning thus, his extraordinary
+versatility, his power of assimilation, and his varied interests, made
+his ambitions many and diverse. The man who could enter with the
+masterly familiarity of an expert into affairs of Church, State,
+Society, and Finance, who would talk of medicine like a doctor, or of
+science like a savant, naturally aspired to excellence in many
+directions.
+
+At times, as we have already seen, strange fancies filled his brain:
+dreams, for instance, of occupying the highest posts in the land, or
+of gaining fabulous sums of money by some wildly impossible scheme,
+such as visiting the Great Mogul with a magical ring, or obtaining
+rubies and emeralds from a rich Dutchman. The two apparently
+incompatible sides to Balzac's character are difficult to reconcile.
+On some occasions he appears as the keen business man, who studies
+facts in their logical sequence, and has the power of drawing up legal
+documents with no necessary point omitted. The masterly Code which he
+composed for the use of the "Societe des Gens-de-Lettres" is an
+example of this faculty. At other times we are astonished to find that
+the great writer is a credulous believer in impossibilities, and a
+follower of strange superstitions. A similar paradox may be found in
+his books, where, side by side with a truth and occasional brutality
+which makes him in some respects the forerunner of the realists, we
+find a wealth of imagination and insistence on the power of the higher
+emotions, which are completely alien to the school of Flaubert and
+Zola.
+
+Perhaps in his own dictum, that genius is never quite sane, gives a
+partial explanation of many of his fantastic schemes. The question of
+money was his great preoccupation and anxiety, and possibly his
+pecuniary difficulties, and the strain of the heavy chain of debt he
+dragged after him, constantly adding to its weight by some fresh
+extravagance, had affected his mind on this one point. Marriage with
+poverty he could not conceive; and, as he was intensely affectionate,
+he longed for a home and womanly companionship. "Is there no woman in
+the world for me?" he cried despairingly; but in this, as in
+everything else, he required so much, that it was difficult to find
+any one who would, in his eyes, be worthy to become Madame Honore de
+Balzac. His wife must be no ordinary woman; in addition to birth and
+wealth, she must possess youth, beauty, and high intellectual gifts;
+and one great difficulty was, that the lady endowed with this
+combination of excellencies would naturally require some winning, and
+Balzac had no time to woo. However, it was absolutely necessary that
+his married life should be one of luxury and magnificence, beautiful
+surroundings being indispensable to his scheme of existence, "Il
+faut," he said, "que l'artiste mene une vie splendide." Therefore,
+till the right lady was found, Balzac toiled unceasingly; and when in
+Madame Hanska the personification of his ideal at last appeared, he
+redoubled his efforts, till overwork, and his longing for her, caused
+the decay of his physical powers, and his strength for labour
+diminished.
+
+Literature, a rich marriage, a successful play, or a political career,
+were all incidentally to make his fortune; though it must be said, in
+justice, that this motive, though it entwines itself with everything
+in Balzac's life, was not his only, or even his principal incentive to
+action.
+
+In his desire to become a deputy, for instance, the longing to serve
+his country and to have a voice in her Councils, which he would use
+boldly, conscientiously, without fear or favour, to further her true
+interests, was ever present with him. As early as 1819, he had begun
+to take the keenest interest in the elections, telling M. Dablin, from
+whom he wanted a visit, that he dreamed of nothing but him and the
+deputies, and begging him for a complete list of those chosen in each
+department, with a short notice of his opinion on each.
+
+By the law of election of 1830, any Frenchman who was thirty years of
+age, and contributed 500 francs a year directly, in taxes, was
+eligible as a deputy. When the law was made Balzac was thirty-one, and
+paid the requisite amount; he therefore determined, in spite of his
+enormous output of literary work at this time, to add the career of a
+deputy to his labours; and in April, 1831, he wrote to ask for the
+assistance of the General Baron de Pommereul, with whom he had been
+staying at Fougeres, collecting material for "Les Chouans," while at
+the same time he worked up the country politically. His manifesto, at
+this period, is found in the "Enquete sur la Politique des Deux
+Ministeres,"[*] in which he calls the Government a "monarchie tempere
+par les emeutes," objects to the "juste milieu" observed by the
+Ministers; and while bringing forward, with apparent impartiality, the
+advantages of the two courses of peace and war, very evidently longs
+for France to take the battlefield again, to obtain what he considers
+her natural frontier, that of the Rhine. He also enters _con amore_
+into the details of raising a Napoleonic army, and of establishing the
+system of the Landwehr in France. A very remarkable passage in this
+manifesto is that on the Press; by which, he says, the Government is
+terrorised. With extraordinary penetration, he advises that the
+strength of journalism shall be broken by the sacrifice of the three
+or four millions gained by the "timbre," and the liberation of the
+newspapers, which are stronger than the seven ministers--for they
+upset the Government, and cannot be themselves suppressed--there will
+be a hundred, and the number will neutralise their power, so that they
+will become of no account politically.
+
+[*] Another political pamphlet, entitled "Du Gouvernement Moderne,"
+    written by Balzac at Aix in 1832, has lately been published in the
+    _North American Review_. The original is in the collection of the
+    Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+Balzac had no chance at Fougeres, where a rich proprietor of the
+neighbourhood was chosen as deputy, and no doubt M. de Pommereul
+advised him not to proceed further in the matter. However, with his
+usual tenacity, he wrote in September to M. Henri Berthoud, manager of
+the _Gazette de Cambrai_, who wanted to collaborate with the _Revue de
+Paris_, promising to further his wishes by all the means in his power,
+if M. Berthoud would, on his part, support his candidature at Cambrai.
+At the same time, he determined to try Angouleme, where he sometimes
+went to stay with a relation, M. Grand-Besancon, and had met a M.
+Berges, chief of the Government preparatory school, who was much
+struck by his talent, and promised to help him. In June, 1831, he
+wrote to Madame Carraud,[*] who took much interest in his political
+aspirations, and sent her three copies of the Manifesto for
+distribution. He told her that he was working day and night to become
+deputy, was going out into society for this purpose; and was so
+overwhelmed with business, that he had not touched "La Peau de
+Chagrin" since he was last at Saint-Cyr.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 118.
+
+He was evidently full of hope; but in spite of the powerful support of
+the _Revue de Paris_, the _Temps_, the _Debats_, and the _Voleur_, the
+steady-going electors had no mind to be represented by a penniless
+young author, who was chiefly known to the general public as the
+writer of the "Physiologie du Mariage," a book distinctly _not_
+adapted for family reading. Therefore, in this, as in many other hopes
+of his life, Balzac was doomed to disappointment; though the readers
+of novels may be grateful to the unkind fate which caused him to turn
+with renewed ardour to the neglected "Peau de Chagrin." He cherished a
+slight resentment against Angouleme, as he showed in "Illusions
+Perdues," where the aristocracy of that town are rather unkindly
+treated; but he was not discouraged in his political ambitions, and in
+1832 he joined with M. Laurentie, the Duc de Noailles, the Duc de
+Fitz-James (nephew to the Princesse de Chimay, who acted as proxy for
+Marie Antoinette at Madame de Berny's christening) and others, to
+found a Legitimist journal, the _Renovateur_. In this appeared an
+article against the proposed destruction of the monument to the Duc de
+Berry, in which Balzac indignantly asks: "Why do you not finish the
+monument, and raise an altar where the priests may pray God to pardon
+the assassin?"
+
+Having thus shown his principles clearly, he turned his attention in
+1832 to Chinon, which was close to Tours, where he and his family had
+lived for so long, and to Sache, where he was a constant visitor.
+There, if anywhere, he seemed likely to succeed; and the
+_Quotidienne_, the paper which afterwards supported him during his
+lawsuit against the _Revue de Paris_, had promised its voice in his
+favour. Again cruel Fate dogged his footsteps, as in May he tumbled
+out of his tilbury, and his head came violently into contact with what
+he calls the "heroic pavements of July"; the accident being a sad
+result of his childish delight in driving at a tremendous pace in the
+Bois, which is rebuked by his sage adviser, Madame Carraud. Certainly
+carriages, horses, and a stable, seemed hardly prudent acquisitions
+for a man in debt; but Balzac always defended his pet extravagances
+with the specious reasoning that nothing succeeds like success; and
+that most of his literary friends did not become rich because they
+lived in garrets, and were on that account trampled on by haughty
+publishers and editors. He writes to Madame de Girardin on this
+occasion: "Only think, that I who am so handsome have been cruelly
+disfigured for several days, and it has seemed curious to be uglier
+than I really am."[*] As a further and more serious result, he was
+laid up in bed, and had to undergo a severe regimen of bleeding,
+during the time that he should have been at Sache, working hard about
+his election; and when he did arrive there, in June, he recognised
+that he was too late for success. However, another dissolution, which
+after all did not take place, was expected in September, and Balzac
+looked forward to making a determined attempt then. This hope being
+frustrated, it was not till 1834 that he again came forward as a
+candidate: this time for Villefranche, where, curiously enough,
+another M. de Balzac was nominated, and when M. de Hanski wrote to
+congratulate Balzac, the latter was obliged to explain the mistake. On
+this occasion he had purposed to present himself as champion of the
+Bourbon Royal Family, especially of the Duchesse de Berry, for whom he
+had an immense admiration, while she read his books with much delight
+during her captivity in the Castle of Blaye. He wrote to M. de Hanski
+that he considered the exile of Madame and the Comte de Chambord the
+great blot on France in the nineteenth century, as the French
+Revolution had been her shame in the eighteenth.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 147.
+
+This was Balzac's last serious attempt to stand for Parliament during
+the Monarchy of July, though he often talked in his letters to Madame
+Hanska of his political aspirations, looked forward to becoming a
+deputy in 1839, and hoped till then to dominate European opinion
+--rather a large ambition--by a political publication. In his letters
+he is continually on the point of beginning his career as a statesman;
+and in 1835 his views are even more inflated than usual. He will
+absorb the _Revue des Deux Mondes_ and the _Revue de Paris_, is in
+treaty to obtain one newspaper, and will start two others himself, so
+that his power will be irresistible. "Le temps presse, les evenements
+se compliquent,"[*] he cries impatiently. He is still strangled by
+want of money--a hundred thousand francs is the modest sum he
+requires; but he will write a play in the name of his secretary, and
+the spectre of debt will be laid for ever.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+However, in the stress of work, which made his own life like the
+crowded canvas of one of his own novels, these brilliant schemes came
+to nothing, and Balzac was never in the proud position of a deputy. He
+gives his views clearly in a letter to Madame Carraud in 1830.[*]
+"France ought to be a constitutional monarchy, to have a hereditary
+royal family, a house of peers of extraordinary strength, which will
+represent property, etc., with all possible guarantees for heredity,
+and privileges of which the nature must be discussed; then a second
+assembly, elective, representing all the interests of the intermediary
+mass, which separates those of high social position from the classes
+who are generally termed the people."
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 108.
+
+"The purport of the laws, and their spirit, should be designed to
+enlighten the masses as much as possible--those who have nothing, the
+workmen, the common people, etc., in order that as many as possible
+should arrive at the intermediary state; but the people should, at the
+same time, be kept under a most powerful yoke, so that its individuals
+may find light, help, and protection, and that no idea, no statute, no
+transaction, may make them turbulent.
+
+"The greatest possible liberty should be allowed to the leisured
+classes, for they possess something to keep, they have everything to
+lose, they can never be dissolute.
+
+"As much power as possible should be granted to the Government. Thus
+the Government, the rich people, and the bourgeoisie have interest in
+keeping the lowest class happy, and in increasing the number of the
+middle class, which is the true strength of the state.
+
+"If rich people, the hereditary possessors of fortune in the highest
+Chamber, are corrupt in their manners, and start abuses, these are
+inseparable from the existence of all society; they must be accepted,
+to balance the advantages given."
+
+This extract is taken from a letter which is, Balzac tells his
+correspondent, strictly private; but, with his usual independence and
+fearlessness, he did not hesitate to enunciate his opinions in public,
+and invariably refused to stoop to compromise or to disguise.
+Consequently, we cannot wonder that he never attained his ambition;
+particularly as he lacked the aid of money, and had no support, except
+the politically doubtful one of a literary reputation. His penetration
+and power of prescience were remarkable, and it is startling to find
+that he foretells the fall of the Monarchy of July, and the Revolution
+of 1848.[*] "I do not think," he says, "that in ten years from now the
+actual form of government will subsist--August, 1830, has forgotten
+the part played by youth and intelligence. Youth compressed will burst
+like the boiler of a steam engine." In "Les Paysans," one of his most
+wonderful novels, he gives a vivid picture of the constant struggle
+going on under the surface between the peasants and the bourgeoisie,
+and shows that the triumph of the former class must be the inevitable
+result.
+
+[*] "Revue Parisienne," p. 26
+
+His was essentially a loyal, reverential nature, with the soldierly
+respect for constituted authority which is often the characteristic of
+strong natures; and he was absolutely unswerving in his principles
+--the courage and tenacity which distinguished him through life, never
+deserting him in political emergencies. He was patriotic and
+high-minded; absolutely immovable in all that concerned his duty. On
+one occasion, when it was proposed at a public meeting that the
+Legitimists should follow the example of their political opponents and
+should stoop to evil doings, he refused decidedly, saying: "The cause
+of the life of man is superhuman. It is God who judges; His judgment
+does not hinge on our passions."[*] In his eyes, Religion and the
+Monarchy were twin sisters, and he speaks sadly in "Le Medecin de
+Campagne" of the downfall of both these powers. "With the monarchy we
+have lost honour, with our unfruitful attempts at government,
+patriotism; and with our fathers' religion, Christian virtue. These
+principles now only exist partially, instead of inspiring the masses,
+for these ideas never perish altogether. At present, to support
+society we have nothing but selfishness."[+] Elsewhere, he laments the
+atheistic government, and the increase of incredulity; and longs for
+Christian institutions, and a strong hierarchy, united to a religious
+society.
+
+[*] "Balzac et ses Oeuvres," by Lamartine de Prat.
+
+[+] "Le Medecin de Campagne."
+
+Balzac was not orthodox. There is no doubt, from a letter to Madame
+Hanska, that the Swedenborgian creed he enunciates in "Seraphita" is
+to a great extent his own; but he believed in God, in the immortality
+of the soul, and considered natural religion, of which, in his eyes,
+the Bourbons were the depositors, absolutely essential to the
+well-being of a State. He had a great respect for the priesthood, and
+has left many a charming and sympathetic picture of the parish _cure_,
+such as l'Abbe Janvier in "Le Medecin de Campagne," who acts hand in
+hand with the good doctor Benassis, as an enlightened benefactor to
+the poor; or l'Abbe Bonnet, the hero of "Le Cure du Village," whose
+face had "the impress of faith, an impress giving the stamp of the
+human greatness which approaches most nearly to divine greatness, and
+of which the undefinable expression beautifies the most ordinary
+features." In "Les Paysans" we have another fine portrait, L'Abbe
+Brossette, who is doing his work nobly among debased and cunning
+peasants. "To serve was his motto, to serve the Church and the
+Monarchy at the most menaced points; to serve in the last rank, like a
+soldier who feels destined sooner or later to rise to generalship, by
+his desire to do well, and by his courage."
+
+There is a beautiful touch in that terrible book "La Cousine Bette,"
+where the infamous Madame Marneffe is dying of a loathsome and
+infectious disease, so that even Bette, who feels for her the
+"strongest sentiment known, the affection of a woman for a woman, had
+not the heroic constancy of the Church," and could not enter the room.
+Religion alone, in the guise of a Sister of Mercy, watched over her.
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER X
+
+                                 1836
+
+  Balzac starts the _Chronique de Paris_--Balzac and Theophile
+  Gautier--Lawsuit with the _Revue de Paris_--Failure of the
+  _Chronique_--Strain and exhaustion--Balzac travels in Italy
+  --Madame Marbouty--Return to Paris--Death of Madame de Berny
+  --Balzac's grief and family anxieties--He is imprisoned for
+  refusal to serve in Garde Nationale--Werdet's failure--Balzac's
+  desperate pecuniary position and prodigies of work--Close of
+  the disastrous year 1836.
+
+Balzac opened the first day of the year 1836 by becoming proprietor of
+the _Chronique de Paris_, an obscure Legitimist publication, which had
+been founded in 1834 by M. William Duckett. It started under Balzac's
+management with a great flourish of trumpets, the Comte (afterwards
+Marquis) de Belloy and the Comte de Gramont taking posts as his
+sectaries; while Jules Sandeau, Emile Regnault, Gustave Planche,
+Theophile Gautier, Charles de Bernard, and others, became his
+collaborators. Balzac's special work was to provide a series of papers
+on political questions, entitled "La France et l'Etranger," papers
+which show his extraordinary versatility; and his helpers were to
+provide novels and poems, satire, drama, and social criticism; so that
+the scope of the periodical was a wide one.
+
+At first, Balzac was most sanguine about the success of his new
+enterprise, and was very active and enthusiastic in working for it. On
+March 27th, he wrote to Madame Hanska about the embarrassment caused
+him by his plate having been pawned during his unfortunate absence in
+Vienna, nearly a year ago. It was worth five or six thousand francs,
+and he required three thousand to redeem it. This sum he had never
+been able to raise, while, to add to his difficulties, on the 31st of
+the month he would owe about eight thousand four hundred francs.
+Nevertheless, he _must_ have the silver next day or perish, as he had
+asked some people to dine who would, he hoped, give sixteen thousand
+francs for sixteen shares in the _Chronique_. If borrowed plate were
+on his table he was terribly afraid that the whole transaction would
+fail; as one of the people invited was a painter, and painters are an
+"observant, malicious, profound race, who take in everything at a
+glance."[*] Everything else in his rooms would represent the opulence,
+ease, and wealth of the happy artist.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Poor Balzac! To add to his difficulties, it was impossible to borrow
+anywhere in Paris, as he had only purchased the _Chronique_ through
+the exceptional credit he enjoyed, and this would be at once destroyed
+if he were known to be in difficulties. We do not hear any further
+particulars about this tragedy, and cannot tell how far the
+conjunction of the borrowed plate--if it _were_ after all borrowed
+--and the astute painter, contributed to the downfall of the
+_Chronique_. Werdet, however, attributes the disaster to the laziness
+of the talented staff, who could not be induced to work together.
+However that may be, the result was a terrible blow to Balzac; who was
+now, in addition to all his other liabilities, in debt for forty
+thousand francs to the shareholders.
+
+It is as a member of the staff of the _Chronique_, that the name of
+Theophile Gautier first appears in connection with Balzac; and the two
+men remained close friends till Balzac's death. In 1835 Theophile
+Gautier published "Mademoiselle de Maupin," in which his incomparable
+style excited Balzac's intense admiration, painfully conscious as he
+was of his own deficiencies in this direction. Therefore, in forming
+the staff of the _Chronique_, he at once thought of Gautier, and
+despatched Jules Sandeau to arrange matters with the young author, and
+to give him an invitation to breakfast. Theophile Gautier, much
+flattered, but at the same time rather alarmed at the idea of an
+interview with the celebrated Balzac, tells us that he thought over
+various brilliant discourses on his way to the Rue Cassini, but was so
+nervous when he arrived that all his preparations came to nothing, and
+he merely remarked on the fineness of the weather. However, Balzac
+soon put him at his ease, and evidently took a fancy to him at once,
+as during breakfast he let him into the secret that for this solemn
+occasion he had borrowed silver dishes from his publisher!
+
+The friendship between Balzac and Gautier, though not as intimate and
+confidential as that between Balzac and Borget, was true and
+steadfast; and was never disturbed by literary jealousy. Gautier
+supported Balzac's plays in _La Presse_, and helped with many of his
+writings. Traces of his workmanship, M. de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul
+tells us, are specially noticeable in the descriptions of the art of
+painting and of the studio, in the edition of "Un Chef-d'Oeuvre
+Inconnu" which appeared in 1837.[*] These descriptions are in
+Gautier's manner, and do not appear in the edition of 1831; so that in
+all probability they were written, or at any rate inspired by him.
+Gautier also wrote for Balzac, who had absolutely no faculty for
+verse, the supposed translation of two Spanish sonnets in the
+"Memoires de Deux Jeunes Mariees," and the sonnet called "La Tulipe"
+in "Un Grand Homme de Province a Paris." On his side, Balzac defended
+Gautier on all occasions, and in 1839 dedicated "Les Secrets de la
+Princesse de Cadignan," then called "Un Princesse Parisienne," "A
+Theophile Gautier, son ami, H. de Balzac."
+
+[*] "H. de Balzac and Theophile Gautier" in "Autour de Honore de
+    Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+Beyond this friendship, the affair of the _Chronique_ brought Balzac
+nothing but worry and trouble. And it came at a time when misfortune
+assailed him on all sides. Madame de Berny was approaching her end,
+and he wrote to his mother on January 1st, 1836, the day he started
+the _Chronique de Paris_: "Ah! my poor mother, I am broken-hearted.
+Madame de Berny is dying! It is impossible to doubt it! Only God and I
+know what is my despair. And I must work! Work weeping."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 323.
+
+In the midst of his trouble, a most unfortunate occurrence took place,
+which besides embittering his life at the time had a decided effect on
+his subsequent career; and indirectly obscured his reputation even
+after his death.
+
+In 1833, as we have already seen, Balzac, after long dissensions with
+Amedee Pichot, had definitely left the _Revue de Paris_. However, in
+1834, when Pichot retired from the management, the new directors, MM.
+Anthoine de Saint-Joseph, Bonnaire, and Achille Brindeau, tried to
+satisfy their readers by recalling Balzac; and "Seraphita" began to
+appear in the pages of the _Revue_. Difficulties, as might be
+expected, soon arose between Balzac and the management; and the
+undercurrent of irritation which subsisted on both sides only required
+some slight extra cause of offence, to render an outbreak inevitable.
+In September, 1835, M. Buloz, already director of the _Revue des Deux
+Mondes_, an extremely able, but bad-mannered and dictatorial man, took
+possession also of the much-tossed-about _Revue de Paris_. Balzac had
+known Buloz since 1831, when the latter bought the _Revue des Deux
+Mondes_, which was then in very low water, and was working with
+tremendous energy to make it successful. At that time, Buloz and he
+often shared a modest dinner, and with the permission of M. Rabou,
+then manager of the _Revue de Paris_, Balzac contributed "L'Enfant
+Maudit," "Le Message," and "Le Rendez-Vous" to the _Revue des Deux
+Mondes_, and only charged a hundred francs for the same quantity of
+pages for which he was paid a hundred and sixty francs by Rabou.
+However, on April 15th, 1832, there appeared in the _Revue des Deux
+Mondes_ a scathing, anonymous criticism of the first dizain of the
+"Contes Drolatiques." This had apparently been written by Gustave
+Planche; but Balzac considered Buloz responsible for it, and therefore
+refused to write any longer for his review. In August, 1832, Buloz,
+who does not appear to have been particularly scrupulous in his
+business relations, wrote to apologise, saying that though it was not
+in his power to suppress the offending article, he had done his best
+to soften it; and that now he was sole master of the Revue, so that
+not a word or line could pass without his permission. He therefore
+begged Balzac to resume his old connection with him, and explained
+that if he had not been confined to his bed and unable to walk, or
+even to bear the shaking of a cab, he would have come to visit him,
+and matters would have been quickly arranged. Balzac's answer, which
+is written from Angouleme, is couched in the uncompromising terms of
+"no surrender," which he generally adopted when he considered himself
+aggrieved. He did not absolutely refuse to write for the Review, and
+referred Buloz to Madame de Balzac for terms; but, by the tone of his
+letter, he negatived decidedly the idea of resuming friendly relations
+with his correspondent, and while rather illogically professing a
+lofty indifference to criticism, remarked that he felt the utmost
+contempt for those who calumniated his books.[*]
+
+[*] See "Correspondance Inedite--Honore de Balzac," _Revue Bleue_,
+    March 14, 1903.
+
+After this the _Revue des Deux Mondes_ became hostile to Balzac; and
+when Buloz and Brindeau bought the _Revue de Paris_, a proceeding
+which must have been a shock to him, he believed that Brindeau would
+be sole director, and drew up his agreement with him alone; having
+already refused to have business dealings with the ever active Buloz.
+However, Buloz soon took the principal place, and was so apologetic
+for his past misdeeds, and so insistent in promising amendment for the
+future, that Balzac, evidently reflecting that it would be distinctly
+against his interests to exclude himself from two of the most
+important reviews in Paris, consented to reconsider his decision.
+Therefore the following agreement, which is interesting as an example
+of Balzac's usual conditions when issuing his novels in serial form,
+was drawn up between the two men.
+
+The Review was only to use Balzac's articles for its subscribers. He
+was to regain absolute rights over his books three months after their
+first publication--this was an invariable stipulation in all Balzac's
+treaties--and was to give up fifty francs out of the two hundred and
+fifty considered due to him for each "feuille" of fifteen pages, to
+reimburse Buloz for the number of times the proofs had to be
+reprinted.[*] On these terms he agreed to finish "Le Pere Goriot," as
+well as "Seraphita," and to write the "Memoires d'une Jeune Mariee,"
+with the understanding that a separate contract was to be made for
+each of his contributions, and that he was free to write for other
+periodicals.
+
+[*] The account of the lawsuit between Balzac and the _Revue de Paris_
+    is taken from his "Historique du Proces auquel a donne lieu 'Le
+    Lys dans la Vallee,'" which formed the second preface of the first
+    edition of "Le Lys dans la Vallee" and is contained in vol. xxii.
+    of the Edition Definitive of Balzac's works; and from "H. de
+    Balzac et 'La Revue de Paris,'" which is the Review's account of
+    the case, and may be found in "Un dernier chapitre de l'Historie
+    des Oeuvres de H. de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberche de
+    Lovenjoul.
+
+Almost at once difficulties began, difficulties which are inevitable
+when a genius of the stamp of Balzac is bound by an unfortunate
+agreement to provide a specified quantity of copy at stated intervals.
+Balzac could not write to order. "Seraphita," planned to please Madame
+Hanska, was intended to be a masterpiece such as the world had never
+seen. From Balzac's letters there is no doubt that he was
+conscientiously anxious to finish it, only, as he remarks, "I have
+perhaps presumed too much of my strength in thinking that I could do
+so many things in so short a time."[*] When he made the unfortunate
+journey to Vienna, "Seraphita" still required, at his own computation,
+eight days' and eight nights' work; but, settled there, he turned his
+attention at once to "Le Lys dans la Vallee," which he had substituted
+for the "Memoires d'une Jeune Mariee," and at which he laboured
+strenuously. The first number of this appeared in the _Revue de
+Paris_, on November 22, 1835; but in the meantime Balzac's uncorrected
+proofs had been sold by Buloz to MM. Bellizard and Dufour, proprietors
+of the _Revue Etrangere de St. Petersbourg_. Therefore, in October,
+before the authorised version was published in Paris, there appeared
+in Russia, under the title of "Le Lys dans la Vallee," what Balzac
+indignantly characterised as the "unformed thoughts which served me as
+sketch and plan."
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+This was double treachery on the part of Buloz, as, by the treaty
+already mentioned, he had bought the right to publish Balzac's novels
+in the _Revue de Paris_ only; and even if this stipulation had not
+been made, he had no excuse for selling as Balzac's completed work,
+what he knew to be absolutely unfinished. Balzac, after this, refused
+to receive him on friendly terms; but a meeting was arranged at the
+house of Jules Sandeau, at which Balzac and the Comte de Belloy met
+Buloz and Bonnaire. Sandeau and Emile Regnault, who were friends of
+both the contending parties, were also present; and they, after this
+conference, became for a time exclusively Balzac's friends, as he
+remarks significantly. Balzac owed the Review 2,100 francs; but the
+remainder of the "Lys" was ready to appear, and he calculated that for
+this, the payment due to him would be about 2,400 francs. He therefore
+proposed that the account between him and the journal should be closed
+with the end of the "Lys"; and that as indemnity for the injury done
+him by the action of Buloz in publishing his unfinished work in the
+_Revue Etrangere_, he should be permitted to send the novel in book
+form to a publisher at once, instead of waiting the three months
+stipulated in the agreement. MM. Buloz and Bonnaire refused this
+arrangement, declaring that it would be extortion; and after giving
+them twenty-four hours for reflection, Balzac announced his intention
+of writing no longer for the _Revue de Paris_, and prepared to bring
+an action against the proprietors.
+
+Buloz and Bonnaire, however, decided that it would be good policy for
+the first attack to be on their side, and as Balzac could not obtain
+his proofs from Russia for a month at least, they sued him for breach
+of contract in not writing "Les Memoires d'une Jeune Mariee," and
+claimed 10,000 francs damages for his refusal to finish the "Lys dans
+la Vallee"; as well as fifty francs for each day's delay in his doing
+this. Balzac brought forward his counter claim, and offered the _Revue
+de Paris_ the 2,100 francs which had been advanced to him; but they
+refused to be satisfied with the payment of this debt; and in May,
+1836, the case opened.
+
+There was a side issue on the subject of "Seraphita," about which the
+_Revue_ certainly had just cause for complaint. In May, 1834, Balzac
+had been paid 1,700 francs in advance for this, and the first number
+appeared on June 1st, the second not following till July 20th. Then
+Balzac disappeared altogether; and when he returned in November, he
+proposed to begin "Le Pere Goriot" in the _Revue_, and promised after
+this had come to an end to return to "Seraphita"; but it was not till
+the middle of August, 1835, that he at last produced another number.
+After this there were again delays, and, according to Buloz, the whole
+of "Seraphita" was never offered to the _Revue de Paris_. The truth,
+however, appears to have been that Buloz at last completely lost his
+temper at Balzac's continual failures to fulfil his engagements, and
+declared that "Seraphita" was unintelligible, and was losing
+subscribers to the Review. Balzac, furious at this insult, paid Buloz
+300 francs, to defray the expenses already incurred for the printing
+of "Seraphita," and took back his work. Buloz's receipt for this money
+is dated November 21st, 1835, two days before the appearance of the
+first number of the "Lys dans la Vallee" in Paris, so storms were
+gathering on all sides. Ten days after this, on December 2nd, Werdet
+brought out "Seraphita" in book form in "Le Livre Mystique," which
+contained also "Louis Lambert" and "Les Proscrits," a fact which
+proved Balzac's contention that in November it was ready for
+publication in the _Revue de Paris_. The first edition of "Le Livre
+Mystique" was sold in ten days, and the second followed it a month
+after, which, as Balzac remarked sardonically, was "good fortune for
+an unintelligible work." This success on the part of his enemy no
+doubt did not help to soften the indignant Buloz; and he must have
+been further exasperated by an article in the _Chronique de Paris_, in
+which Balzac was styled the "Providence des Revues," and the injury
+the _Revue de Paris_ sustained in the loss of his collaboration was
+insisted on with irritating emphasis.
+
+The case was carried on with the utmost bitterness by the _Revue de
+Paris_; Balzac's morals, his honesty, even his prose, being attacked
+with the greatest violence. Editors and publishers on all sides gave
+their testimony against him. He must have been amazed and confounded
+by the deep hatred he had evoked by his want of consideration, which
+on several occasions certainly amounted to a breach of good faith. All
+his old sins found him out. Amedee Pichot, former manager of the
+_Revue de Paris_, Forfellier of the _Echo de la Jeune France_, and
+Capo de Feuillide of _L'Europe Litteraire_, raised their voices
+against the high-handed and rapacious author. The smothered enmity and
+irritation of years at last found vent; and it was in vain that Balzac
+demonstrated, in the masterly defence of his conduct written in one
+night, which formed the preface to the "Lys dans la Vallee," that he
+had always remained technically within his rights, and that as far as
+money was concerned he owed the publishers nothing. Unwritten
+conventions had been defied, because it was possible to defy them with
+impunity; and editors who had gone through many black hours because of
+the failure of the great man to keep his promises, and who smarted
+under the recollection of the discourteous refusal of advances it had
+been an effort to make, did not spare their arrogant enemy now that it
+was possible to band together against him.
+
+Perhaps, however, the bitterest blow to poor Balzac, was the fact that
+his brother authors, of whose rights he had been consistently the
+champion, did not scruple to turn against him. Either terrorised by
+the all-powerful Buloz, or jealous of one who insisted on his own
+abilities and literary supremacy with loud-voiced reiteration,
+Alexandre Dumas, Roger de Beauvoir, Frederic Soulie, Eugene Sue, Mery,
+and Balzac's future acquaintance Leon Gozlan, signed a declaration at
+the instance of Buloz, to the effect that it was the general custom
+that articles written for the _Revue de Paris_ should be published
+also in the _Revue Etrangere_, and should thus avoid Belgian piracy.
+Jules Janin, whose criticisms on Balzac are peculiarly venomous, and
+Loeve-Veimars, added riders to this statement, expressing the same
+views, only with greater insistence. To these assertions, Balzac
+replied that Buloz had specially paid George Sand 100 francs a sheet
+over the price arranged, to obtain the right of sending her corrected
+proofs to Russia; and that arrangements on a similar basis had been
+made with Gustave Planche and M. Fontaney. The fact that exceptional
+payments were made on these occasions was conclusive evidence against
+simultaneous publication in Paris and St. Petersburg being the
+received practice. Moreover, as Balzac observes with unanswerable
+justice, even if this custom _did_ exist, it would count as nothing
+against the agreement between him and Buloz. "M. Janin can take a
+carriage and go himself to carry his manuscripts to Brussels; M. Sue
+can get into a boat and sell his books in Greece; M. Loeve-Veimars can
+oblige his editors if they consent, to make as many printed copies of
+his future works as there are languages in Europe: all that will be
+quite right, the _Revue_ is to-day like a publisher. My treaties,
+however, are made and written; they are before the eyes of the judge,
+they are not denied, and state that I only gave my articles to the
+_Revue de Paris_, to be inserted solely _in_ the _Revue_, and nowhere
+else."
+
+Balzac won the case. It was decided by the Tribunal of Judges on
+Friday, June 3rd, 1836, that he was not bound to give the "Memoires
+d'une Jeune Mariee" to the _Revue de Paris_, as when promised, the
+story had not been yet written, and the "Lys dans la Vallee" had been
+substituted for it; also that the 2100 francs which he had already
+offered to Buloz was all that he owed the Review. The judges left
+unsettled the question as to whether the proprietors of the _Revue de
+Paris_ were entitled to hand over their contributors' corrected proofs
+to the _Revue Etrangere_; but decreed that they were certainly in the
+wrong when they parted with unfinished proofs. They were therefore
+condemned to pay the costs of the action.
+
+Balzac's was a costly victory. Except the _Quotidienne_, which stood
+by him consistently, not a paper was on his side. His clumsiness of
+style, his habit of occasionally coining words to express his meaning,
+and the coarseness of some of his writings, combined with the
+prejudice caused by his literary arrogance, had always, to a certain
+extent, blinded literary and critical France to his consummate merits
+as a writer. Now, however, want of appreciation had changed to bitter
+dislike; and in addition to abuse, indiscriminate and often absurd of
+his writings, his enemies assailed his morals, ridiculed his personal
+appearance, and made fun of his dress and surroundings. He was not
+conciliatory; he did not bow to the storm. In June, 1839, appeared the
+second part of "Illusions Perdues," which was entitled "Un Grand Homme
+de Province a Paris," and was a violent attack on French journalism;
+and in March, 1843, Balzac published the "Monographie de la Presse
+Parisienne," a brilliant piece of work, but certainly not calculated
+to repair the breach between him and the publishing world.
+Nevertheless, though his pride and independence prevented him from
+trying to temporise, there is no doubt that Balzac suffered keenly
+from the hostility he encountered on all sides. He writes to Madame
+Hanska directly after the lawsuit: "Ah! you cannot imagine how intense
+my life has been during this month! I was alone for everything;
+harassed by the journal people who demanded money of me, harassed by
+payments to make, without having any money because I was making none,
+harassed by the lawsuit, harassed by my book, the proofs of which I
+had to correct day and night. No, I am astonished at having survived
+this struggle. Life is too heavy; I do not live with pleasure."[*] To
+add to his difficulties, Madame Bechet had lately become Madame
+Jacquillard, and possibly urged to action by M. Jacquillard, and
+alarmed by tales of Balzac's misdemeanours, she became restive, and
+demanded the last two volumes of the "Etudes de Moeurs" in twenty-four
+hours, or fifty francs for each day's delay. The affairs of the
+_Chronique_ were at this time causing Balzac much anxiety, and he fled
+to the Margonnes at Sache; not for rest, but to work fifteen hours a
+day for "cette odieuse Bechet"; and there, in eight days, he not only
+invented and composed the "Illusions Perdues," but also wrote a third
+of it.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+However, the strain had been too great even for _his_ extraordinary
+powers, and while walking in the park after dinner with M. and Mme. de
+Margonne, on the day that letters arrived from Paris with the news
+that liquidation of the _Chronique_ was necessary, he fell down in a
+fit under one of the trees. Completely stunned for the time, he could
+write nothing; and thought, in despair, of giving up the hopeless
+struggle, and of hiding himself at Wierzchownia. Fortunately, his
+unconquerable courage soon returned; he travelled to Paris, wound up
+the affairs of the _Chronique_; and as Werdet had allowed him twenty
+days' liberty, and his tailor and a workman had lent him money to pay
+his most pressing debts, he obtained a letter of credit from
+Rothschild, and started for Italy.
+
+His ostensible object was a visit to Turin, to defend the Comte
+Guidoboni-Visconti in a lawsuit, as the Count, whose acquaintance he
+had made at the Italian Opera, could not go himself to Italy. In
+reality, however, in his exhaustion, and the overstrained state of his
+nerves, he craved for the freedom and distraction which he could only
+find in travel. Madame Visconti was an Englishwoman--another Etrangere
+--her name before her marriage had been Frances Sarah Lowell. Later
+on, she became one of Balzac's closest friends, and Madame Hanska was
+extremely jealous of her influence.
+
+It is amusing to discover that Balzac did not take this journey alone.
+He was accompanied by a lady whom he describes in a letter as
+"charming, _spirituelle_, and virtuous," and who, never having had the
+chance in her life of breathing the air of Italy, and being able to
+steal twenty days from the fatigues of housekeeping, had trusted in
+him for inviolable secrecy and "scipionesque" behaviour. "She knows
+whom I love, and finds there the strongest safeguard."[*] This lady
+was Madame Marbouty, known in literature as Claire Brunne, and during
+her stay in Italy as "Marcel"--a name taken from the devoted servant
+in Meyerbeer's opera "Les Huguenots," which had just appeared. A few
+weeks earlier, she had refused to travel in Touraine with Balzac, as
+she considered that a journey with him in France would compromise her;
+but, apparently, in Italy this objection did not apply. She travelled
+in man's clothes, as Balzac's page, and both he and she were
+childishly delighted by the mystification they caused. Comte Sclopis,
+the celebrated Piedmontese statesman, who acted as their cicerone in
+Turin society, was much fascinated by the charming page. The liking
+was evidently mutual, as, after the travellers had left Italy, Balzac
+records that at Vevey, Lausanne, and all the places they visited,
+Marcel cried: "And no Sclopis!" and it sounds as though the
+exclamation had been accompanied by a sigh. Several times during the
+journey the lively Amazon was mistaken for George Sand, whom she
+resembled in face, as well as in the fancy for donning masculine
+attire; and the mistake caused her intense satisfaction. At Geneva,
+haunted to Balzac by happy memories, the travellers stayed at the
+Hotel de l'Arc, and Balzac's mind was full of his lady-love, whose
+spirit seemed to him to hallow the place. He saw the house where she
+stayed, went along the road where they had walked together, and was
+refreshed in the midst of his troubles and anxieties by the thought of
+her.
+
+[*] See "L'Ecole des Manages," in "Autour de Honore de Balzac," by the
+    Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+On August 22nd the travellers returned to Paris on excellent terms
+with each other, and for some years after this journey friendly
+relations continued. In 1842, in remembrance of their adventure,
+Balzac dedicated "La Grenadiere" to Madame Marbouty, under the name of
+Caroline, and added the words, "A la poesie du voyage, le voyageur
+reconnaissant." Later on, however, they quarrelled, and she wrote "Une
+Fausse Position," in which Balzac is represented in a decidedly
+unflattering light; and after this he naturally withdrew the
+dedication in "La Grenadiere."
+
+On his return from this amusing trip a terrible trouble awaited
+Balzac. Among the letters heaped together upon his writing-table was
+one from Alexandre de Berny, announcing abruptly the death of Madame
+de Berny, which had taken place on July 27th. Balzac was utterly
+crushed by this blow. He had not seen Madame de Berny for some time,
+as since the death of her favourite son she had shut herself up
+completely, pretending to Balzac that she was not very ill, but saying
+laughingly that she only wanted to see him when she was beautiful and
+in good health. Now she was dead, and the news came without
+preparation in the midst of his other troubles. She was half his life,
+he cried in despair; and writing to Madame Hanska he said that his
+sorrow had almost killed him. In the midst of this overwhelming grief
+other worries added their quota to the weight oppressing Balzac. Henri
+de Balzac gave his family continual trouble, while Laurence's husband,
+M. de Montzaigle, refused to support his children; in fact, the only
+faint relief to the darkness surrounding the Balzac family at this
+time was M. Surville's hopefulness about the Loire Canal scheme.
+
+In addition to all these misfortunes, Balzac had to submit to the
+annoyance of several days' imprisonment in the Hotel des Haricots, for
+his refusal to serve in the Garde Nationale, a duty which was, he
+said, the nightmare of his life. The place of detention was not
+luxurious. There was no fire, and he was in the same hall for a time
+with a number of workmen, who made a terrible noise. Fortunately, he
+was soon moved to a private room, where he was warm and could work in
+peace. After this, in terrible pecuniary difficulties, and feeling
+acutely the loss of the woman who had been an angel to him in his
+former troubles, he left the Rue Cassini and fled from Paris, to avoid
+further detention by the civic authorities. He took refuge at
+Chaillot, and under the name of Madame Veuve Durand hid at No. 13, Rue
+des Batailles. Here he lodged for a time in a garret formerly occupied
+by Jules Sandeau, from the window of which there was a magnificent
+view of Paris, from the Ecole Militaire to the barrier of the Trone,
+and from the Pantheon to L'Etoile. From time to time Balzac would
+pause in his work to gaze on the ocean of houses below; but he never
+went out, for he was pursued by his creditors.
+
+It is curiously characteristic of his love of luxury that, destitute
+as he was, he had no intention of occupying this modest garret for
+long, but that a drawing-room on the second floor, which would cost
+700 francs, was already in preparation for his use. It was to No. 13,
+Rue des Batailles, that Emile de Girardin, who had just started _La
+Presse_, wrote asking him to contribute to its pages; and, in
+consequence, Balzac produced "La Vieille Fille," which began to appear
+on October 23rd, and shocked the subscribers very much. Here, too, at
+a most inopportune moment, Madame Hanska addressed to him a depressed
+and mournful letter, of which he complains bitterly. She was at this
+time extremely jealous of Madame Visconti, from whom she suspected
+that Madame de Mortsauf, in the "Lys dans la Vallee," had been drawn;
+and Balzac says he supposes that he must give up the Italian opera,
+the only pleasure he has, because a charming and graceful woman
+occupies the same box with him. In October he paid a sad little visit
+to La Boulonniere, which must have brought before him keenly the loss
+he had sustained; and after he spent a few days at Sache, where he was
+ill for a day or two as a result of mental worry and overwork.
+
+Another blow was to fall on Balzac before the disastrous year 1836
+came to a close. The "Lys dans la Vallee," on which Werdet had pinned
+all his hopes, had sold very badly, possibly owing to the hostility of
+the newspapers. As a climax to all Balzac's miseries, in October
+Werdet failed. This was doubly serious, as Balzac had signed several
+bills of exchange for his publisher, and was therefore liable for a
+sum of 13,000 francs. Werdet wrote a book abusing Balzac as the cause
+of his failure; and Balzac, on his side, was certainly unsympathetic
+about the misfortunes of a man whose interests, after all, were bound
+up with his own, and whom he politely called "childish, bird-witted,
+and obstinate as an ass." The truth seems to have been that, as Werdet
+aspired to be Balzac's sole publisher, he was obliged to buy up all
+the copies of Balzac's books which were already in the hands of
+publishers, and not having capital for this, he obtained money by
+credit and settled to pay by bills at long date. He also brought
+before the public a certain number of books by writers sympathetic to
+his client, and as these books were usually by young and unknown
+authors, their printing did not cover expenses. As a consequence of
+these imprudent ventures he was unable to meet his bills on maturity;
+and Balzac, being liable for some of them, was naturally furious, as
+_he_ had to be in hiding from the creditors, while Werdet, as he
+remarked bitterly, was walking comfortably about Paris. Werdet was
+young and enthusiastic, and no doubt his imagination was fired by
+Balzac's picture of the glorious time in the future, when the great
+writer and his publisher should have both made their fortunes, and
+their carriages should pass each other in the Bois de Boulogne. There
+is no reason, however, to think that Balzac wilfully misrepresented
+matters, as Werdet insinuates. He was essentially good-hearted, as
+every one who knew him testifies; but his extraordinary optimism and
+power of self-deception, combined with the charm of his personality
+and the overmastering influence he exercised, made him a most
+dangerous man to be connected with in business; and Werdet, like many
+another, suffered from his alliance with the improvident man of
+genius.
+
+Balzac also at this times suffered severely; but he had now completely
+recovered his energy. In his efforts to clear himself he worked thirty
+nights without going to bed, sending contributions to the _Chronique_,
+the _Presse_, the _Revue Musicale_, and the _Dictionnaire de la
+Conversation_, composing the "Perle Brisee," "La Vieille Fille," and
+"Le Secret des Ruggieri," besides finishing the last volumes of the
+"Etudes de Moeurs" and bringing out new editions of several of his
+books. As the result of his labours, he calculated, with his usual
+cheerfulness, that if he worked day and night for six months, and
+after that ten hours a day for two years, he would have paid off his
+debts and would have a little money in hand. In the end, he bound
+himself for fifteen years to an association formed by a speculator
+named Bohain: 50,000 francs being given him at once to pay off his
+most pressing debts, while, by the terms of the agreement, he provided
+a stipulated number of volumes every year, and was given 1,500 francs
+a month for the first year, 3,000 francs a month for the second year,
+4,000 francs for the third, and so on. Besides this, he was to receive
+half the profits of each book after the publisher's expenses had been
+defrayed. As he was extremely pleased with this arrangement, which at
+any rate freed him from his immediate embarrassments, a faint ray of
+sunlight shone for him on the close of the sad year of 1836.
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI
+
+                             1836 - 1840
+
+  "Louise"--Drawing-room in Rue des Batailles--The "Cheval Rouge"
+  --Balzac's second visit to Italy--Conversation with Genoese
+  merchant--Buys Les Jardies at Sevres--Travels to Sardinia to
+  obtain silver from worked-out mines--Disappointment--Balzac goes
+  on to Italy--Takes up his abode in Les Jardies--Life there--He
+  hopes to write a successful play--"L'Ecole des Menages"--Balzac's
+  half-starved condition--He defends Peytel.
+
+It is curious to find that during the events recorded in the last
+chapter, when, to put the matter mildly, Balzac's spare time was
+limited, he yet managed to conduct a sentimental correspondence with
+"Louise," a lady he never met and whose name he did not know.
+Apparently, in the midst of his troubles, he was seized by an
+overmastering desire to pour out his feelings in writing to some
+kindred soul. Madame Hanska was far away, and could not answer
+promptly; besides, though passionately loved, she was not always
+sympathetic, the solid quality of her mind not responding readily to
+the quickness and delicacy of Balzac's emotions. Louise, to whom in
+1844 he dedicated "Facino Cane," was close at hand; she was evidently
+mournful, sentimental, and admiring; she sent him flowers when he was
+in prison, and at another time a sepia drawing. Besides, her shadowy
+figure was decked for him with the fascination of the unknown, and
+there was excitement in the wonder whether the veil enveloping her
+would ever be lifted, and, like Madame Hanska, she would emerge a
+divinity of flesh and blood. However, in spite of Balzac's entreaties
+she refused to reveal her identity; and after about a year's
+correspondence, during which time Louise suffered from a great
+misfortune, the nature of which she kept secret, the letters between
+them ceased altogether.
+
+Balzac had now left his garret, and was established in the
+drawing-room on the second floor of 13, Rue des Batailles, which is
+exactly described in "La Fille aux Yeux d'Or." The room was very
+luxurious, and the details had been thought out with much care.[*] One
+end of it had square corners, the other end was rounded, and the
+corners cut off to form the semicircle were connected by a narrow dark
+passage, and contained--one a camp bedstead, and the other a
+writing-table. A secret door led to this hiding-place, and here Balzac
+took refuge when pursued by emissaries from the Garde Nationale,
+creditors, or enraged editors. The scheme of colour in the room was
+white and flame-colour shading to the deepest pink, relieved by
+arabesques of black. A huge divan, fifty feet long and as broad as a
+mattress, ran round the horseshoe. This, like the rest of the
+furniture, was covered in white cashmere decked with flame-coloured
+and black bows, and the back of it was higher than the numerous
+cushions by which it was adorned. Above it the walls were hung with
+pink Indian muslin over red material, the flame-colour and black
+arabesques being repeated. The curtains were pink, the mantelpiece
+clock and candlesticks white marble and gold, the carpet and _portieres_
+of rich Oriental design, and the chandelier and candelabra to light the
+divan of silver gilt. About the room were elegant baskets containing
+white and red flowers, and in the place of honour on the table in the
+middle was M. de Hanski's magnificent gold and malachite inkstand.
+Balzac showed the glories of this splendid apartment with infantile
+pride and delight to visitors; and here, reckless of his pecuniary
+embarrassments, he gave a grand dinner to Theophile Gautier, the
+Marquis de Belloy, and Boulanger, and entertained them in the evening
+with good stories "a la Rabelais."
+
+[*] See "Honore de Balzac" in "Portraits Contemporains," by Theophile
+    Gautier.
+
+About this time Balzac started the association he called the "Cheval
+Rouge," which was intended to be a mutual help society among a number
+of friends, who were to push and praise each other's compositions, and
+to rise as one man against any one who dared to attack a member of the
+alliance. The idea was a good one; but there was a comic side to it as
+conducted by Balzac, and the "Cheval Rouge," after five or six
+meetings, ceased to exist without having seriously justified its
+existence. Theophile Gautier, Jules Sandeau, and Leon Gozlan were
+among the members; and so dazzling were the pictures drawn by Balzac
+of the powers and scope of the society, that each one saw himself in
+imagination with a seat in the French Academy, and in succession peer
+of France, minister, and millionaire. It was sad that with these lofty
+aims the association should have been dissolved because most of its
+members were not able to pay their fifteen francs subscription. The
+first meeting was held at the Cheval Rouge, a very modest restaurant
+on the "Quai de l'Entrepot," from which the society took its name. The
+members were summoned by a card with a little red horse on it, and
+under this the words "Stable such a day, such a place." Everything was
+carried on with the greatest secrecy and mystery, and the
+arrangements, which were conducted by Balzac with much seriousness,
+afforded him intense pleasure. The "Cheval Rouge" might have been a
+dangerous political society from the precautions he took. In order to
+avoid suspicion one member was always to greet another member coldly
+in society; and Balzac would pretend to meet Gautier with much
+ceremony for the first time in a drawing-room, and then by delighted
+winks and grimaces would point out to him how well he was acting.
+
+In March, 1837, Balzac paid a second visit to Italy; travelling
+through a part of Switzerland, stopping at Milan, Venice, Genoa, and
+Florence, and returning to Paris on May 3rd. His health was, he said,
+detestable at this time, and he required rest and change. He went
+alone, as Gautier, who had intended to be his companion, was kept in
+Paris by the necessity of writing criticisms on the pictures in the
+Salon. One object of Balzac's journey was to visit Florence to see
+Bartolini's bust of Madame Hanska, of which he evidently approved, as
+he asked M. de Hanski's permission to have a small copy made of it
+which he could always keep on his writing-table; but this was never
+sent to him. He was delighted with Venice, which he now saw for the
+first time; and in Florence was specially charmed with the pictures at
+the Pitti, though he found travelling by himself rather dull, and
+decided that his next journey should be undertaken at a time when
+Gautier could accompany him. At Genoa he met a wily merchant, to whom
+he unfortunately confided the last brilliant scheme for making his
+fortune which was floating through his active brain.
+
+He had read in Tacitus that the Romans found silver in Sardinia; and
+it occurred to him, that, as the ancients were not learned in
+extracting metals, silver might still be found among the lead which
+was turned out of the mines as refuse. The Genoese merchant appeared
+much interested in Balzac's conversation, and remarked that, owing to
+the carelessness of the Sardinians, whole mountains of dross,
+containing lead, and most probably silver, were left in the vicinity
+of the mines. He was most obliging: he promised to send Balzac a
+specimen of the dross that it might be submitted to Parisian experts,
+and if the result were satisfactory, Balzac and he were to ask for a
+permit from the Government at Turin, and would work the mines
+together. When this had been arranged Balzac departed in high spirits,
+determined to keep his secret carefully, and feeling that at last he
+was on the high road to fortune. On the way back he was detained in
+quarantine for some time, and partly from economy, partly because he
+wanted to see Neufchatel, where he had first met Madame Hanska, he
+travelled back by Milan and the Splugen, and reached Paris in perfect
+health.
+
+Here fresh misfortunes awaited him, as Werdet was bankrupt, and, as a
+consequence, his creditors pursued Balzac. Never in future would he be
+answerable or sign his name for any one, he cried in despair. He had
+forestalled the money allowed him by his treaty with Bohain, was
+working day and night, and in a few days would retire into an unknown
+garret, and live as he had done in the Rue Lesdiguieres. Nevertheless,
+in his anxiety to see Madame Hanska, he had begun to think out
+economical ways of getting to Ukraine. He was not very well at this
+time, and in August he went to Sache, to see whether his native air
+would revive him.
+
+His next action would be astonishing to any one unacquainted with his
+extraordinary recklessness. In October 1837 he gave up the rooms at
+the Rue Cassini, which he had kept during the time of his residence at
+Passy; and in order to escape what he termed "an atrocious law" on the
+subject of his abhorrence the Garde Nationale, he bought a piece of
+land in the Ville d'Avray, at Sevres, on which he began to build a
+house, planned by himself. This soon acquired celebrity as "Les
+Jardies," and gave much amusement to the Parisians, who were never
+tired of inventing stories about Balzac's villa. In March, 1838,
+before he settled in his new abode, he started on a journey to
+Sardinia to investigate matters himself about the mines. It was a year
+since the Genoese merchant had promised to send him a specimen of the
+dross, and as nothing had yet arrived, he was beginning to feel
+anxious.
+
+The object of his journey was kept absolutely secret; owing to the
+dangers of the post even Madame Hanska being told only that "it is
+neither a marriage, nor anything adventurous, foolish, frivolous, or
+imprudent. It is a serious and scientific affair, about which it is
+impossible for me to tell you a word, because I am bound to the most
+absolute secrecy."[*] He had to borrow from his mother and from a
+cousin, and to pawn his jewellery to obtain money for his expedition.
+On the way he stayed with the Carrauds at Frapesle, where he was ill
+for a few days; and he went from there to pay his "comrade" George
+Sand a three days' visit at Nohant. He found her in man's attire,
+smoking a "houka," very sad, and working enormously; and he and she
+had long talks, lasting from five in the evening till five in the
+morning, and ranging over manners, morals, love affairs, and
+literature. She approved of "La Premiere Demoiselle," a play planned
+in February, 1837, which Madame Hanska had discouraged because she did
+not like the plot; and Balzac determined to work at it seriously now
+that "Cesar Birotteau" was finished. This brilliant picture of the
+Parisian _bourgeoisie_ had been published in December, 1837, under the
+title of "Histoire de la Grandeur et de la decadence de Cesar
+Birotteau." Since then, Balzac had produced nothing new in book form,
+though he was writing "La Maison de Nucingen" for _La Presse_, and
+working at "Massimilla Doni," and at the second part of "Illusions
+Perdues." He was also preparing to bring out a "Balzac Illustre,"
+which was to be a complete edition of his works with pictures; but of
+this only one volume, "La Peau de Chagrin," was ever published.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+From Nohant he went to Marseilles, and from there he sent letters both
+to his mother and to Madame Carraud, written in a very different frame
+of mind from his usual one when he embarked on a scheme for making his
+fortune. "Now that I am almost at my destination, I begin to have a
+thousand doubts; anyhow, one cannot risk less to gain more. I do not
+fear the journey, but what a return if I fail!"[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 394.
+
+He crossed from Marseilles to Ajaccio, and suffered much on the
+voyage, though he travelled on the mail steamer from Toulon, and spent
+a great deal of money by doing this. However, he was really trying to
+be economical, as on his way to Marseilles he had lived on ten sous'
+worth of milk a day, and when he reached there he put up at an hotel
+where his room cost fifteen sous and his dinner thirty.
+
+The scenery of Corsica was, he said, magnificent; but he did not much
+appreciate Ajaccio, where he had to wait some time for a boat to take
+him to Sardinia, and said the civilisation was as primitive as that of
+Greenland. His only consolation about the delay was in the idea that
+he would have time to go on with "La Premiere Demoiselle," for which
+George Sand predicted a great success, while his sister told him it
+was superb. Therefore, as he had written the "Physiologie du Mariage"
+and "La Peau de Chagrin" against the advice of Madame de Berny, he
+determined to continue his play in spite of Madame Hanska's
+disapproval. His five days' journey to Sardinia was most
+uncomfortable, as he travelled in a rowing-boat belonging to French
+coral fishers. The food caught consisted of execrable soup, made from
+the fish caught by the fishermen during the voyage; and Balzac had to
+sleep on the bridge, where he was devoured by insects. To add to his
+misfortunes, the boat was kept for five days in quarantine in view of
+the port, and the inhabitants refused to give the occupants any food,
+or to allow them in a bad storm to attach their cables to the
+port-rings. This they managed at last to do, in spite of the objections
+of the governor, who, determined to assert his authority, decreed that
+the cable should be taken off as soon as the sea became calm: a
+regulation which, as Balzac said, was absurd, because either the
+people would by that time have caught the cholera, or they would not
+catch it at all.
+
+When Balzac at last landed, he felt as though he were in Central
+Africa or Polynesia, as the inhabitants wore no clothes, and were
+bronzed like Ethiopians. He was much horrified at their misery and
+savage condition. Their dwellings he describes as dens without
+chimneys, and their food in many parts consisted of a horrible bread
+made of acorns ground, and mixed with clay.
+
+No doubt he was not disposed to take a particularly favourable view of
+Sardinia, as it was to him the scene of a bitter disappointment. He
+had been right in his calculations about the value of the refuse from
+the mines: the dross contained 10 per cent of lead, and the lead 10
+per cent of silver. But a Marseilles company as well as his Genoese
+friend had been beforehand with him, had obtained from the Government
+at Turin the right to work the mines, and were already in possession.
+Balzac's monetary sacrifices, and the hardships he had suffered on his
+journey, were in vain; he must return to sleepless nights of work, and
+must redouble his efforts in the endeavour to pay back the money he
+had borrowed for his expedition. He showed his usual pluck at this
+juncture; there were no complaints in his letters, and with singular
+forbearance he does not even abuse the faithless Genoese merchant. His
+expedition was useful to others, if not to himself; as he travelled on
+to Italy, and made a long stay at Milan in order to work for the
+interests of the Viscontis, whose property, without his efforts, would
+have been sequestrated owing to political complications. It is
+significant that Madame Hanska, who was always suspicious about Madame
+Visconti, was not informed of this reason for his long sojourn at
+Milan, which we hear of from a letter to his sister. Balzac was
+terribly low-spirited at this time; his whole life seemed to have been
+a failure, and he was approaching the age of forty, the date at which
+he had always determined to give up his aspirations, to fight no more,
+and to join the great company of the resigned. He was tired out, and
+very homesick. He admired the Cathedral, the churches, the pictures;
+but he was weary of Italy, and longed for France with its grey skies
+and cold winds. Behind this longing, and possibly the origin of it,
+was a passionate desire in his disappointment and disgust of life to
+be again near his "polar star."
+
+It was a comfort when, the affairs of the Viscontis being at last
+satisfactorily arranged, he was able on June 6th to start on his
+journey back to France. He travelled by the Mont Cenis, and was nearly
+blinded by clouds of fine dust, so that he was unable to write for
+some days.
+
+When he reached Paris he only remained for a short time in the Rue des
+Batailles, as in July, 1838, in defiance of his doctor's warnings
+about damp walls, he took up his residence at Les Jardies, having at
+the same time a _pied-a-terre_ in Paris at the house of Buisson, his
+tailor, 108, Rue Richelieu. Les Jardies was a quaint abode. Built on a
+slippery hill, it overlooked the Ville d'Avray with smoky Paris below,
+and in the distance there was a view of the plain of Mont-rouge and
+the road to Orleans, which led also to Balzac's beloved Tours. The
+principal staircase was outside, because Balzac, in designing the
+house, found that a staircase seriously interfered with the symmetry
+of the rooms. Therefore he placed it in an inconspicuous position in a
+special construction at the back, and owing to the extremely steep
+slope the visitor entered by the top floor, and made his way down
+instead of up. There were three stories, the lowest containing the
+drawing-room and dining-room, the second a bedroom and dressing-room,
+and the third Balzac's study. All round the house, which was painted
+to represent bricks, was a verandah supported by black columns, and
+the cage in the rear which held the staircase was painted red. About
+sixty feet behind this curious habitation was the real living-place of
+Les Jardies, where Balzac kept his servants. Part of this he let at a
+later date to the Viscontis, and they had charge of his rich library,
+and of the beautiful furniture brought from the Rue des Batailles,
+which might, if kept by its owner, have been seized by his creditors.
+
+The interior of this charming abode was intended to be adorned with
+the utmost magnificence, but it was never finished; there were no
+curtains, and no furniture to speak of. Years after, descriptions such
+as the following were still scrawled in charcoal on the bare stucco:
+"Here is a veneering of Parian marble"; "Here is a mantelpiece in
+cipolin marble"; "Here is a ceiling painted by Eugene Delacroix."
+Balzac laughed himself at these imaginary decorations, and was much
+delighted when Leon Gozlan wrote in large letters in his study, which
+was as bare as the other rooms, "Here is a priceless picture by
+Raphael." However, there was one thing at Les Jardies of which he was
+really proud; and that was his system of bell-ringing, which he
+considered a _chef-d'oeuvre_. Instead of having hanging wires with
+"big, stupid, indiscreet bells" at the end of them, _his_ bells were
+hidden ingeniously in an angle of the wall; and his pride in this
+brilliant invention made him forget any possible deficiencies in the
+decorations and appointments of the mansion.
+
+The great feature, however, at Les Jardies, and the torment, the
+delight, and the despair of Balzac's life, was the piece of land round
+the house where the garden ought to have been. He had beautiful plans
+about this when first he arrived at Les Jardies. The soil was then
+absolutely bare; but, as he remarked, it was possible to buy
+everything in Paris, and as money was, of course, no object with him,
+he intended in the autumn to have good-sized magnolias, limes,
+poplars, and willows transported there, and to make a little Eden of
+sweet scents, covered with plants and bushes. No doubt, in imagination
+he already saw his beautiful flowers, and wandered in this delightful
+and well-kept garden, which, as nothing with Balzac could possibly be
+ordinary, was to be "surprising." The reality, however, was sadly
+different from his expectations. In vain, by his orders asphalt paths
+were made in all directions, and landscape gardeners worked for
+months, trying with stones cunningly inserted to prop up the steep,
+slippery slope, and to form little terraces on which something might
+have a chance of growing. With the slightest shower, down tumbled
+these plateaus; and the work of building had to begin again. It was
+amusing, Leon Gozlan tells us, to see the amazement of the actor
+Frederick Lemaitre when he came to see Balzac; and found himself
+expected to walk up the side of a hill, with the ground at each step
+slipping under his feet. To support himself he stuck stones behind his
+heels, and Balzac meanwhile walked by his side with the calmness of a
+proprietor who is thoroughly used to the vagaries of his own
+territory, and scorns foreign assistance.
+
+Occasionally, however, even Balzac came to the end of his equanimity.
+The wall, which separated his property from that of the neighbour
+below him, was a continual anxiety. In spite of all possible
+precautions it tumbled down constantly, and scattered stones and
+mortar over the ground on each side of it. After this had happened two
+or three times, and Balzac, while investigating the extent of the
+damage on one of these occasions, had fallen and injured his leg, so
+that he was in bed for forty days, a meeting of experts was held, and
+it was decided that the angle at which the wall had been built was not
+sufficiently acute. The error was rectified, and there were general
+rejoicings and congratulations; but the next day it rained, and in the
+evening news was brought to Balzac that the whole structure had
+toppled over, and was reposing in ruins in his neighbour's garden.
+This was serious, as the neighbour promptly sent in an enormous bill
+for damages done to his carrots and turnips; and it was probably on
+this occasion that Balzac wrote in March 1839 a despairing letter to
+Madame Carraud, containing the words: "To you, sister of my soul, I
+can confide my greatest secrets; I am now in the midst of terrible
+misery. All the walls of Les Jardies have fallen down through the
+fault of the builder, who did not make any foundations."[*] No
+builder, however, managed to effect the feat of making this
+unfortunate wall stand upright; and in the end, to allow it to come
+down in peace and comfort whenever it felt so disposed, Balzac bought
+the strip of his neighbour's land which bordered it, and after that,
+ceased to feel anguish at its vagaries.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 453.
+
+The wall was decidedly important, as Balzac's fortune was to be made
+by the contents of the garden at Les Jardies, and it would not have
+been satisfactory for strangers to be able to wander there at will.
+Balzac's new plan for becoming rich was to cover most of his territory
+with glass houses, and to plant 100,000 feet with pineapples. Owing to
+the warmth of the soil, he considered that these pineapples would not
+need much heat, and could be sold at five francs apiece, instead of
+the louis charged for them in Paris. They would therefore be quickly
+disposed of, and 500,000 francs would be made, which, deducting
+100,000 francs for expenses, would mean a clear profit of 400,000
+francs a year. "And this money will be made without a page of copy,"
+said poor Balzac. He was, of course, absolutely confident about the
+success of this new undertaking, and Theophile Gautier, who tells the
+story,[*] says that a search was made for a shop in which to sell
+these pineapples of the future. This shop was to be painted black with
+lines of gold, and was to have on it in huge letters the announcement,
+"Ananas des Jardies"; but Gautier managed to persuade Balzac in order
+to avoid useless expense, not to hire it till the next year, when the
+pineapples would have had time to grow. However, perhaps Balzac was
+discouraged by the sight of the snow falling silently on his slope, or
+possibly his desire to make a fabulous sum of money by a successful
+play had for a time blotted out all other ambitions; at any rate, we
+hear no more of the pineapples of Les Jardies.
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains--Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+Balzac's terribly embarrassed condition in 1837 caused him to return
+with new ardour to the idea which haunted him all his life, that of an
+immense theatrical success which should put an end for ever to his
+pecuniary embarrassments. References to projected plays, to the
+difficulty he found in writing them, and to his hope of finally
+freeing himself from debt by producing a masterpiece at the theatre,
+occur constantly in his letters. "Marie Touchet" and "Philippe le
+Reserve"--afterwards to become "Les Ressources de Quinola"--were the
+names of some of the plays he intended to write. In February, 1837, as
+we have already seen, he planned out "La Premiere Demoiselle," which
+he abandoned for the time, but which he worked at with much energy
+during his ill-fated expedition to Sardinia, and continued at Les
+Jardies during the summer and autumn of 1838. Before starting for
+Sardinia he wrote to Madame Carraud: "If I fail in what I undertake, I
+shall throw myself with all my might into writing for the theatre." He
+kept his word, and "La Premiere Demoiselle," a gloomy bourgeois
+tragedy, which soon received the name of "L'Ecole des Menages," was
+the result.
+
+With the distrust in himself, which always in matters dramatic mingled
+with his optimistic self-confidence, Balzac determined to have a
+collaborator, and chose a young man named Lassailly, who was
+peculiarly unfitted for the difficult post. In doing this he only gave
+one instance out of many of the wide gulf which separated Balzac the
+writer, gifted with the psychological powers which almost amounted to
+second sight, and Balzac in ordinary life, many of whose misfortunes
+had their origin in an apparent want of knowledge of human nature,
+which caused him to make deplorable mistakes in choosing his
+associates.
+
+The agreement between Balzac and his collaborator stipulated that the
+latter should be lodged and fed at the expense of Balzac, and should,
+on his side, be always at hand to help his partner with dramatic
+ideas. Balzac performed _his_ part of the treaty nobly, and Lassailly
+remembered long afterwards the glories of the fare at Les Jardies; but
+his life became a burden to him from his incapacity to do what was
+expected of him, and he was nearly killed by Balzac's nocturnal
+habits. He was permitted to go to bed when he liked; but at two or
+three in the morning Balzac's peremptory bell would summon him to
+work, and he would rise, frightened and half stupefied with sleep, to
+find his employer waiting for him, stern and pale from his vigil.
+"For," Leon Gozlan says, "the Balzac fighting with the demon of his
+nightly work had nothing in common with the Balzac of the street and
+of the drawing-room."[*] He would be asked severely what help he could
+give, and, as a result of his terrified and drowsy stammerings would
+be sent to bed for another hour to see whether in that time
+inspiration would visit him. Six or eight times in the course of the
+night would this scene be repeated; and at last Lassailly, who was
+delicate, became seriously ill and had to leave Les Jardies, ever
+after looking back on the terrible Balzac and his appalling
+night-watches, as a nightmare to be recalled with a shudder.
+
+[*] "Balzac en Pantoufles," by Leon Gozlan.
+
+Balzac, deprived of Lassailly's valuable assistance, worked on alone;
+and at first everything seemed likely to go well with "L'Ecole des
+Menages."[*] The Renaissance, a new theatre which had opened on
+November 8th, 1838, with the first representation of Victor Hugo's
+"Ruy Blas," seemed willing to take Balzac's play to follow this; and
+M. Armand Pereme, a distinguished antiquary whom Balzac had met at
+Frapesle, was most active in conducting the negotiations. However, in
+the end the Renaissance refused the drama. Balzac was terribly
+dilatory, and irritated every one by not keeping his engagements, and
+he was also high-handed about the arrangements he considered necessary
+to the success of his tragedy. His unfortunate monetary
+embarrassments, too, made it necessary for him to ask for 16,000
+francs before the play was written, a request which the Renaissance
+Theatre was rather slow in granting. However, the real reason for the
+rejection of the drama, which took place on February 26th, 1839--just
+at the time when Balzac was in despair because the wall at Les Jardies
+had fallen down--was want of money on the part of the managers of the
+theatre. The only thing that could save the Renaissance from ruin was
+a great success; and Alexandre Dumas, with whom the directors had
+formerly quarrelled, had now made peace with them, and had offered
+them "L'Alchimiste," which would be certain to attract large
+audiences. They accepted this in place of Balzac's play, and "L'Ecole
+des Menages," of which the only copy extant is in the possession of
+the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, has never been acted.
+
+[*] See "L'Ecole des Menages" in "Autour de Honore de Balzac," by the
+    Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+Balzac was in terrible trouble about the rejection of the drama from
+which he had hoped so much. He wrote to Madame Carraud[*] in March,
+1839: "I have broken down like a foundered horse. I shall certainly
+require rest at Frapesle. The Renaissance had promised me 6,000 francs
+bounty to write a piece in five acts; Pereme was the agent, everything
+was arranged. As I wanted 6,000 francs at the end of February, I set
+to work. I spent sixteen nights and sixteen days at it, only sleeping
+three hours out of the twenty-four; I employed twenty workmen at the
+printer's office, and I managed to write, make and compose the five
+acts of 'L'Ecole des Menages' in time to read it on February 25th. The
+directors had no money, or perhaps Dumas, who had not acted fairly to
+them, and with whom they were angry, had returned to them; they would
+not hear my piece, and refused it. So here I am, worn out with work,
+sixteen days lost, 6,000 francs to pay, and nothing! This blow has
+crushed me, I have not yet recovered from it. My career at the theatre
+will have the same course as my literary career, my first work will be
+refused. A superhuman courage is necessary for these terrible
+hurricanes of misfortune."
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 454.
+
+In the midst of his troubles, he thought with bitter regret of Madame
+de Berny, who would have understood everything, and have known how to
+help and console him. He was in a miserable state, was chased like a
+hare by creditors, and was on the point of lacking bread, candles, and
+paper. Then to add to his misery would come a sensible letter from the
+far-distant Madame Hanska, blaming his frivolity and levity; and, in
+his state of semi-starvation, poor Balzac would be almost driven
+frantic by words of reproach from his divinity.
+
+A little earlier than this he had found time for an enormous amount of
+work which would seem completely out of his province, and had written
+letter after letter in the _Siecle_, and spent 10,000 francs, in
+defence of Peytel, a notary of Belley, who had been condemned to death
+on August 26th, 1839, for the murder of his wife and servant. Peytel
+appealed against his sentence, and Balzac, who had met him several
+times, espoused his cause with vehemence. There did not seem to be
+much satisfactory defence available for the prisoner, who admitted the
+fact that while driving in a carriage not far from Belley, he had shot
+both his wife and the coachman. Balzac, however, was urgent in
+upholding Peytel's contention that his crime had been homicide, not
+murder, and brought forward the plea of "no premeditation." His
+energetic efforts were of no avail: Peytel was executed at Bourg on
+November 28th, 1839, and Balzac, who had espoused his cause with
+quixotic enthusiasm, was genuinely sorry. He wrote to Madame Hanska in
+September: "I am extremely agitated by a horrible case, the case of
+Peytel. I have seen this poor fellow three times. He is condemned; I
+start in two hours for Bourg." On November 30th he continues: "You
+will perhaps have heard that after two months of unheard-of efforts to
+save him from his punishment Peytel went two days ago to the scaffold,
+like a Christian, said the priest; I say, like an innocent man."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Another disappointment this year was the fact that Balzac considered
+it his duty, after presenting himself as candidate for the Academie
+and paying many of the prescribed visits, to retire in favour of
+Victor Hugo. As early as 1833 he had aspired to become some day "un
+des Quarante," and he then said half jokingly to his sister: "When I
+shall work at the dictionary of the Academy!"[*] He was never destined
+to receive the honour of admittance to this august body, though after
+his first attempt in 1839, when he himself withdrew, he again tried
+his fortune in 1843 and in 1849. His normal condition of monetary
+embarrassment was one reason for his failure, and no doubt some of the
+members of l'Academie Francaise disapproved of certain of his books,
+and perhaps did not admire his style. At any rate, as his enemy
+Saint-Beuve expressed it concisely: "M. de Balzac est trop gros pour
+nos fauteuils," and while men who are now absolutely unknown entered
+the sacred precincts without difficulty, the door remained permanently
+closed to the greatest novelist of the age.
+
+[*] "Balzac, sa Vie et ses Oeuvres," par Mme. L. Surville (nee de
+    Balzac).
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XII
+
+                             1840 - 1843
+
+  "Vautrin"--_La Revue Parisienne_--Societe des Gens-de-Lettres
+  --Balzac leaves Les Jardies, and goes to the Rue Basse, Passy
+  --Death of M. de Hanski--"Les Ressources de Quinola"--"La
+  Comedie Humaine"--Balzac goes to St. Petersburg to meet Madame
+  Hanska--Her reasons for deferring the marriage.
+
+The sad fate of "L'Ecole des Menages" did not long discourage Balzac.
+At the beginning of 1840 he made an engagement to provide Harel, the
+speculative manager of the Theatre Porte-St-Martin, with a drama. The
+play was accepted before it was written; and in order to be near the
+theatre Balzac established himself in the fifth floor of the house of
+Buisson, his tailor, at the corner of the Rue Richelieu. His
+proceedings were, as usual, eccentric. One day Gautier, who tells the
+story, was summoned in a great hurry, and found his friend clad in his
+monk's habit, walking up and down his elegant attic, and shivering
+with impatience.
+
+"'Here is Theo at last,' he cried, when he saw me. 'You idler! dawdle!
+sloth! gee up, do make haste! You ought to have been here an hour ago!
+To-morrow I am going to read to Harel a grand drama in five acts.'
+
+"'And you want my advice,' I answered, settling myself comfortably in
+an armchair, ready to submit to a long reading.
+
+"From my attitude Balzac guessed my thought, and said simply, 'The
+drama is not written.'
+
+"'Good heavens!' said I: 'well, then you must put off the reading for
+six weeks.'
+
+"'No, we must hurry on the drama to get the money. In a short time I
+have a large sum of money to pay.'
+
+"'To-morrow is impossible; there is no time to copy it.'
+
+"'This is the way I have arranged things. You will write one act,
+Ourliac another, Laurent-Jan the third, De Belloy the fourth, I the
+fifth, and I shall read it at twelve o'clock as arranged. One act of a
+drama is only four or five hundred lines; one can do five hundred
+lines of dialogue in a day and the night following.'
+
+"'Relate the subject to me, explain the plot, sketch out the
+characters in a few words, and I will set to work,' I said, rather
+frightened.
+
+"'Ah,' he cried, with superb impatience and magnificent disdain, 'if I
+have to relate the subject to you, we shall never have finished!'"[*]
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains--Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+After a great deal of trouble, Gautier managed to persuade Balzac to
+give him a slight idea of the plot, and began a scene, of which only a
+few words remain in the finished work. Of all Balzac's expected
+collaborators, Laurent-Jan, to whom "Vautrin" is dedicated, was the
+only person who worked seriously.
+
+In two months and a half of rehearsals Balzac became almost
+unrecognisable from worry and overwork. His perplexities became public
+property, and people used to wait at the door of the theatre to see
+him rush out, dressed in a huge blue coat, a white waistcoat, brown
+trousers, and enormous shoes with the leather tongues outside, instead
+of inside, his trousers. Everything he wore was many sizes too big for
+him, and covered with mud from the Boulevards; and it was an amusement
+to the frivolous Parisians to see him stride along in these peculiar
+garments, his face bearing the impress of the trouble and overstrain
+he was enduring. He was at the mercy of every one. The manager hurried
+and harried him, because the only hope of saving the theatre from
+bankruptcy was the immediate production of a successful play. The
+actors, knowing the piece was not finished, each clamoured for a part
+to suit his or her peculiar idiosyncrasies, and Balzac was so
+overburdened, that occasionally in despair he was tempted to abandon
+his play altogether.
+
+There was tremendous excitement in Paris about the approaching first
+representation of "Vautrin"; and foreign politics, banquets, and even
+the burning question of reform, paled in interest before the great
+event. All the seats were sold beforehand; and as there was a rush for
+the tickets, Balzac and Harel chose their audience, and thought that
+they had managed to secure one friendly to Balzac. Unfortunately,
+however, the seats were sold so early that many of them were parted
+with at a profit by the first buyers, and in the end a large
+proportion of the spectators were avowedly hostile to Balzac. March
+14th, 1840, was the important date, and Balzac wrote to Madame Hanska:
+"I have gone through many miseries, and if I have a success they will
+be completely over. Imagine what my anxiety will be during the evening
+when 'Vautrin' is being acted. In five hours' time it will be decided
+whether I pay or do not pay my debts."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+He was very nervous beforehand, and told Leon Gozlan that he was
+afraid there would be a terrible disaster.
+
+The plot of the play is extraordinary and impossible. Vautrin, the
+Napoleon among convicts, who appears in several of Balzac's novels, is
+the hero; he had declared war against society, and the scene of the
+drama, with Vautrin as the principal figure, passes in the
+aristocratic precincts of the Faubourg St. Germain. The theatre was
+crowded for the performance, and the first three acts, though received
+coldly, went off without interruption. At the fourth act, however, the
+storm burst, as Frederick Lemaitre, who evidently felt qualms about
+the success of his part, had determined to make it comic, and appeared
+in the strange costume of a Mexican general, with a hat trimmed with
+white feathers, surmounted by a bird of paradise. Worse still, when he
+took off this hat he showed a wig in the form of a pyramid, a coiffure
+which was the special prerogative of Louis Philippe! The play was
+doomed. The Duke of Orleans, who was in one of the boxes, left the
+theatre hurriedly; and it was difficult to finish the performance, so
+loud were the shouts, hisses, and even threats. The next day the
+following official announcement appeared in the _Moniteur_: "The
+Minister of the Interior has interdicted the appearance of the drama
+performed yesterday at the Theatre of the Porte St. Martin under the
+title of 'Vautrin.'" Balzac's hated foes, the journalists, of course
+rejoiced in his downfall, and accentuated the situation by declaring
+the piece to be not only disloyal, but revoltingly immoral. On the
+other hand, Victor Hugo, George Sand, and Mme. de Girardin, stood
+firmly by him, and Frederick Lemaitre, to whom Balzac evidently bore
+no malice for his large share in the disaster, was, he said,
+"sublime."
+
+Leon Gozlan went to see Balzac the day after the performance, and
+found him outwardly calm, but his face was flushed, his hands burning,
+and his lips swollen, as though he had passed through a night of
+fever. He did not mention the scene of the night before, but talked
+eagerly of a plan to start a large dairy at Les Jardies, and to
+provide Paris and Versailles with rich milk. He had several other
+equally brilliant schemes on hand: he intended to grow vines,
+cultivate vegetables, sell manure; and by these varied means to assure
+himself of an income of eighteen thousand francs.
+
+The Director of the Beaux-Arts was sent to offer Balzac money to make
+up for his loss; he says, however: "They came to offer me an
+indemnity, and began by proposing five thousand francs. I blushed to
+my hair, and answered that I did not accept charity, that I had put
+myself two hundred thousand francs in debt by writing twelve or
+fifteen masterpieces, which would count for something in the glory of
+France in the nineteenth century; that for three months I had done
+nothing but rehearse 'Vautrin,' and that during those three months I
+should otherwise have gained twenty-five thousand francs; that a pack
+of creditors were after me, but that from the moment that I could not
+satisfy all, it was quite indifferent to me whether I were tracked by
+fifty or by a hundred, as the amount of courage required for
+resistance was the same. The Director of the Beaux-Arts, Cave, went
+out, they tell me, full of esteem and admiration. 'This,' said he, 'is
+the first time that I have been refused.' 'So much the worse,' I
+answered."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Balzac became very ill with fever and brain neuralgia the day after
+the performance of "Vautrin," and Madame Surville took him to her
+house and nursed him. When he left his bed it was, of course to find
+his affairs in a worse condition than ever, and he was, as he
+described himself, "a stag at bay." His friendship with Madame
+Visconti was a consolation to him in his troubles; he described her to
+Madame Hanska, who did not quite appreciate these raptures, as "one of
+the most amiable of women, of infinite and exquisite goodness. Of
+delicate, elegant beauty, she helps me to support life." Nevertheless,
+no friendships made up for the want of a wife, and home, the two
+things for which he yearned; and he writes sadly: "I have much need
+now of having my wounds tended and cured, and of being able to live
+without cares at Les Jardies, and to pass my days quietly between work
+and a wife. But it seems as if the story of every man will only be a
+novel to me."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+His despondency did not abate his powers of work, as from April to
+December he published "Z. Marcas," "Un Prince de la Boheme," and
+"Pierre Grassou"; while in 1841, among other masterpieces, appeared
+"La Fausse Maitresse," "Une Tenebreuse Affaire," "Un Menage de
+Garcon," "Ursule Mirouet," and "Les Memoires de deux Jeunes Mariees."
+He was almost at the end of his courage however, and talked seriously
+in the case of failure in his new enterprise--the _Revue Parisienne_
+--of going to Brazil on some mad errand which he would undertake
+because it _was_ mad; and of either coming back rich or disappearing
+altogether.
+
+A monthly magazine, of which one man was to be director, manager,
+editor, besides being sole contributor, was a heroic attempt at making
+a fortune; and this was what Balzac contemplated, and accomplished for
+a short time in the _Revue Parisienne_. His mode of working was not
+calculated to lessen the strain to which he subjected himself, as,
+never able to start anything till pressed for time, he left the work
+till near the end of the month, when the printers were clamouring for
+copy. Then there was no pause or slumber for him; his attention was
+concentrated on his varied and difficult subjects till the moment when
+he rushed with disordered garments to the printer's office. There,
+seated anywhere--on the corner of a table, at a compositor's frame, or
+before a foreman's bureau--he became completely absorbed in the
+colossal labour of reading and correcting his proofs. The first number
+of the _Revue Parisienne_ appeared on July 25th, 1840; but it was only
+continued for three months, as Balzac decided that the task was too
+much for him. During its short life however, it furnished a
+magnificent and striking example of his extraordinary powers and
+mental attainments; as each of the numbers was the size of a small
+volume, and he provided novels, biography, philosophy, analysis, and
+criticism, and treated brilliantly each subject he attacked.
+
+A question in which Balzac took the greatest interest was that of the
+rights of authors and publishers, under which Louis Philippe did not
+meet with much respect. Not only did the Belgians reproduce French
+works at a cheap rate by calmly dispensing with the duty of paying
+their authors; but publishers in the provinces often followed this
+pernicious practice, and it was difficult to prosecute them. A
+striking instance of this injustice was to be found in the case of
+"Paroles d'un Croyant," by M. de Lamennais, of which ten thousand
+pirated copies were sold in Toulouse, where only five hundred of the
+authorised edition had been sent by the publisher. No redress could be
+obtained because, though the fact was certain, legal proofs were
+apparently lacking; but in consequence of this glaring infraction of
+the rights of both author and publisher, on December 28th, 1838,
+Balzac became a member of the Societe des Gens-de-Lettres. This
+Society, which was insignificant when he first joined it, owed
+everything to his reputation, and to the energy with which he worked
+for its interests. On October 22, 1839, he spoke at Rouen in its
+behalf, in the first action brought by it against literacy piracy.
+Later in the same year he was elected President, and in May, 1840,
+he drew up the masterly "Code Litteraire de la Societe des
+Gens-de-Lettres"[*] to which reference has already been made. On
+September 5th, 1841, however, in consequence of a dispute concerning the
+drawing up by the Gens-de-Lettres of a manifesto to be presented to the
+deputies composing the Law Commission on Literary Property, Balzac
+withdrew from the Society. The ostensible reason for his resignation
+was, that at a committee meeting to discuss the Manifesto, doubts were
+thrown on his impartiality; but it seems probable from his letter[+]
+that some unwritten ground for complaint really caused his withdrawal.
+After Balzac's death, the Society des Gens-de-Lettres acknowledged
+with gratitude the debt owed him as one of the founders of the
+Society, and the help received from his intelligence and activity.
+
+[*] This may be found in the Edition Definitive of Balzac's works, or
+    in "Balzac Chez Lui," by Leon Gozlan.
+
+[+] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 20.
+
+In 1840, before he ceased to belong to the Societe des Gens-de-Lettres,
+he had left Les Jardies; and had hidden himself under the name of
+Madame de Brugnolle, his housekeeper, in a mysterious little house at
+No. 19, Rue Basse, Passy; to which no one was admitted without many
+precautions, even after he had given the password. Behind this was a
+tiny garden where Balzac would sit in fine weather, and talk over the
+fence to M. Grandmain, his landlord. In his new abode he established
+many of his treasures: his bust by David d'Angers, some of the
+beautiful furniture he was collecting in preparation for the home he
+longed for, and many of his pictures, those treasures by Giorgione,
+Greuze, and Palma, which were the delight of his heart. With great
+difficulty, by publishing books and articles in quick succession, he
+had prevented the sale of Les Jardies by his creditors. As he had no
+money to pay cab fares this entailed rushing from Passy to Paris on
+foot, often in pouring rain; with the result that he became seriously
+ill, and found it necessary to recruit in Touraine and Brittany.
+
+On June 15th, 1841, a fictitious sale for 15,500 francs was made of
+Les Jardies, which had cost Balzac 100,000 francs; but he did not
+really part with the villa till later, when he had decided that it
+would not be suitable ultimately as a residence. To add to his
+troubles, he found it necessary to take his mother to live with him,
+an arrangement which gave rise to many little storms, and made writing
+a difficult matter. Madame Visconti's society gave him no consolation
+at this time,--he was disappointed in her; and decided that his abuse
+of Englishwomen in the "Lys dans la Vallee," was perfectly justified.
+
+Fortunately, he was now feeling tolerably cheerful about money
+matters; as he had paid off the hundred thousand francs he owed from
+his treaty in 1836, and hoped in fifteen months to have made
+arrangements for discharging all his debts; while three publishers,
+Dubochet, Furme, and Hetzel & Paulin, had undertaken to publish a
+complete edition of his works with engravings. This was to be the
+first appearance of the long-dreamt-of "Comedie Humaine," the great
+work of Balzac's life.
+
+However, for a time even this took secondary place, as on January 5th,
+1842, a letter with a black seal arrived from Madame Hanska; and gave
+the important news of the death of M. de Hanski, which had taken place
+on November 10th, 1841. Balzac's letter in answer to this is pathetic
+to any one cognisant of his subsequent history. He begins with
+confidence:[*] "As to me, my dear adored one, although this event
+enables me to reach what I have desired so ardently for nearly ten
+years, I can, before you and God, say in justice, that I have never
+had anything in my heart but complete submission, and that in my most
+terrible moments I have not soiled my soul with evil wishes." Further
+on, he tells her that nothing in him is changed; and suddenly seized
+with a terrible doubt from the ambiguous tone of her letter, he cries,
+in allusion to a picture of Wierzchownia which always hung in his
+study: "Oh! I am perhaps very unjust, but this injustice comes from
+the passion of my heart. I should have liked two words for myself in
+your letter. I have hunted for them in vain--two words for the man
+who, since the landscape in which you live has been before his eyes,
+has never continued working for ten minutes without looking at it."
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+He longs to start at once to see her, but from the tone of her letter
+he gathers that he had better wait until she writes to him again, when
+he begs for the assurance that her existence will henceforward belong
+to him, and that no cloud will ever come between them. He is alarmed
+about her anxiety on the subject of her letters. They are quite safe,
+he says, kept in a box like the one in which she keeps his. "But why
+this uneasiness now? Why? This is what I ask myself in terrible
+anxiety!" He finishes with "Adieu, my dear and beautiful life whom I
+love so much, and to whom I can now say 'Sempre medesimo.'"
+
+Madame Hanska, in reply to this letter, objected strongly to the
+breach of "les convenances" which would be committed if Balzac came to
+see her early in her widowhood; and it was not till July 17th, 1843,
+that he was at last permitted to meet her in St. Petersburg, and then
+he had not seen her since his visit to Vienna, eight years before.
+
+However, he was now full of happy anticipations, and it was with the
+greatest enthusiasm that he looked forward to the appearance of "Les
+Ressources de Quinola," which had been accepted by the Odeon, and on
+which he founded the most extravagant hopes. The long night of trouble
+was nearly over, and a late happiness would dawn upon him, heralded by
+a brilliant success at the theatre, which would not only free him from
+debt, but would also enable him to offer riches to the woman he loved.
+
+At the first hearing of this play in the green-room of the Odeon, the
+company had been rather disenchanted as we know, because, after
+reading four acts admirably, Balzac was forced to improvise the
+unwritten fifth, and this he did so badly that Madame Dorval, the
+principal actress, refused to act. However, on the same day Lireux,
+the director of the Odeon, came to the Restaurant Risbeck, where
+Balzac was dining with Leon Gozlan, and said that he would accept the
+play. Balzac at once insisted that for the first three representations
+he must have command of the whole of the theatre, but he promised that
+Lireux should share the receipts with him, and these he said would be
+enormous. He also stipulated that for his three special performances
+no journalists should be admitted, there being war to the knife
+between him and them. As the place of Balzac's abode was being kept
+strictly secret for fear of his creditors, the time of the rehearsal
+each day was to be communicated to him by a messenger from the
+theatre, who was told to walk in the Champs Elysees, towards the Arc
+de l'Etoile. At the twentieth tree on the left, past the Circle, he
+would find a man who would appear to be looking for a bird in the
+branches. The messenger was to say to him, "I have it," and the man
+would answer, "As you have it, what are you waiting for?" On receiving
+this reply the emissary from the Odeon would hand over the paper, and
+depart without looking behind him. The only comment that Lireux, who
+appears to have been a practical man, made on these curious
+arrangements was, that if the twentieth tree had been struck by
+lightning during the night, he supposed that the servant must stop at
+the twenty-first, and Balzac assented gravely to this proposition.
+
+The great writer worked with his usual energy at the rehearsals,
+continually rewriting parts of the play, and besides this occupation
+spending hours in the theatre bureau, as he had determined to sell all
+the tickets himself. For the first night of "Les Ressources de
+Quinola" the audience was to be brilliantly representative of the
+aristocracy, beauty, and talent of France. The proscenium would,
+Balzac hoped, be occupied by ambassadors and ministers, the pit by the
+Chevaliers de St. Louis, and the orchestra stalls by peers; while
+deputies and state functionaries were to be placed in the second
+gallery, financiers in the third, and rich bourgeoisie in the fourth.
+Beautiful women were to be accommodated with particularly prominent
+places; the price of the seats was to be doubled or trebled; and to
+avoid the continual interruptions to which "Vautrin" was subjected,
+tickets were only to be sold to Balzac's assured friends. Therefore
+many persons who offered fabulous sums of money were refused
+admittance, and told that every seat was taken. By these means Balzac
+ultimately overreached himself, as people believed that all the seats
+were really sold, and that it was no use to apply for tickets. When,
+therefore, March 19th, 1842, the night of Balzac's anticipated triumph
+arrived, instead of a brilliant assemblage crowding the Odeon, it was
+three parts empty; and the small audience, who had paid enormously for
+their seats, and naturally expected a brilliant throng in the theatre,
+were in a critical and captious mood.
+
+The scene of the play was laid in Spain in the time of Phillip II.,
+and much of the dialogue was witty and spirited; but Balzac had mixed
+up serious situations and burlesque in a manner irritating to the
+audience, and there were many interruptions. Balzac was fortunately
+unaware of his want of success; he had completely disappeared, and it
+was not till half-past twelve, long after the finish of the
+performance, that he was discovered fast asleep at the back of a box.
+The fourth representation of "Les Ressources de Quinola" was specially
+tumultuous. Lireux, being now master of the theatre, invited all the
+journalistic world to be present, and they, furious at their exclusion
+during the first three nights, encouraged the general clamour. Some of
+the hooters were turned out, and the audience then amused themselves
+by ejaculating "Splendid!" "Admirable!" "Superb!" and "Sublime!" at
+every sentence, and by singing comic couplets, such as:
+
+  C'est M. Balzac,
+  Qu'a fait tout ce mic-mac!
+
+During the intervals.
+
+However, after two scenes had been entirely cut out, and several
+others suppressed, "Quinola" ran for nineteen nights. Many years
+afterwards, in 1863, it was acted at the Vaudeville, and was a great
+success. During his lifetime Balzac's plays received little applause
+--in fact, were generally greeted with obloquy; but when it was too
+late for praise or blame to matter, his apotheosis as a dramatist took
+place; and on this occasion his bust was brought to the stage, and
+crowned amid general enthusiasm.
+
+The year 1842 is important in the annals of Balzac's life, as on April
+23rd his novels were for the first time collected together to form the
+"Comedie Humaine," his great title to fame. The preface to this ranks
+among the celebrated prefaces of the world, and it was written at the
+suggestion of his friend Hetzel, who objected strongly to the prefaces
+signed Felix David, which had been placed in 1835 at the beginning of
+the "Etudes de Moeurs au XIXieme Siecle," and of the "Etudes
+Philosophiques." In an amusing letter Hetzel tells Balzac that a
+preface should be simple, natural, rather modest, and always
+good-humoured. "Sum up--sum up as modestly as possible. There is the
+true pride, when any one has done what you have. Relate what you want
+to say quite calmly. Imagine yourself old, disengaged from everything
+even from yourself. Speak like one of your own heroes, and you will
+make something useful, indispensable.
+
+"Set to work, my fat father; allow a thin publisher to speak thus to
+Your Fatness. You know that it is with good intentions."[*]
+
+[*] "Trois Lettres," in "Autour de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte
+    de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+We may be grateful to Hetzel for this advice, which Balzac evidently
+followed; as the preface is written in a quiet and modest tone unusual
+with him, and he follows Hetzel's counsel, and gives a concise summary
+of his intention in writing the "Comedie Humaine."
+
+He explains that he has attempted in his great work to classify man,
+as Buffon has classified animals, and to show that his varieties of
+character, like the differences of form in the lower creation, come
+from environment. The three great divisions of the Comedie Humaine are
+"Etudes de Moeurs," "Etudes Philosophiques," and "Etudes Analytiques";
+and the "Etudes de Moeurs" comprise many subdivisions, each of which,
+in Balzac's mind, is connected with some special period of life.
+
+The "Scenes de la Vie Privee," of which the best-known novels are "Le
+Pere Goriot" (1834), "La Messe de l'Athee" (1836), "La Grenadiere"
+(1832), "Albert Savarus" (1842), "Etude de Femme" (1830), "Beatrix"
+(1838), and "Modeste Mignon" (1844), Balzac connects with childhood
+and youth. The "Scenes de la Vie de Province," to which belong among
+others "Eugenie Grandet" (1833), "Le Lys dans la Vallee" (1835),
+"L'Illustre Gaudissart" (1833), "Pierrette" (1839), and "Le Cure de
+Tours" (1832), typify a period of combat; while "Scenes de la Vie
+Parisienne," which contain "La Duchesse de Langeais" (1834), "Cesar
+Birotteau" (1837), "La Cousine Bette" (1846), "Le Cousin Pons" (1847),
+"Facino Cane" (1836), "La Maison de Nucingen" (1837), and several
+less-known novels, show the effect of Parisian life in forming or
+modifying character.
+
+Next Balzac turns to more exceptional existences, those which guard
+the interests of others, and gives us "Scenes de la Vie Militaire,"
+comprising "Une Passion dans la Desert" (1830), and "Les Chouans"
+(1827); and "Scenes de la Vie Politique," which contain "Un Episode
+sous la Terreur" (1831), "Une Tenebreuse Affaire" (1841), "Z. Marcas"
+(1840), and "L'Envers de l'Histoire Contemporaine" (1847). He finishes
+the "Etudes de Moeurs" with "Scenes de la Vie de Campagne," consisting
+of "Le Medecin de Campagne" (1832), "Le Cure de Village" (1837 to
+1841), and "Les Paysans" (1844); and these are to be, Balzac says,
+"the evening of this long day. Here are my purest characters, my
+application of the principles of order, politics, morality."
+
+There are no subdivisions to the "Etudes Philosophiques," among which
+we find "La Peau de Chagrin," written in 1830, and considered by
+Balzac a link between the "Etudes de Moeurs" and the "Etudes
+Philosophiques"; "Jesus-Christ en Flandre" (1831), "Massimilla Doni"
+(1839), "La Recherche de l'Absolu" (1834), "Louis Lambert" (1832), and
+"Seraphita" (1835). To the division entitled "Etudes Analytiques"
+belong only two books, "La Physiologie du Mariage" (1829), and
+"Petites Miseres de la Vie Conjugale" (1830 to 1845).
+
+"The Comedie Humaine" was never finished, but, incomplete as it is, it
+remains a noble memorial of Balzac's genius, as well as an astonishing
+testimony of his extraordinary power of work. The last edition of it
+which was published in Balzac's lifetime appeared in 1846, and formed
+sixteen octavo volumes. It consists of eighty-eight novels and tales,
+and by far the greater number of these appeared in the first edition
+of 1842. A strong connection is kept up between the different stories
+by the fact that the same characters appear over and over again, and
+the reader finds himself in a world peopled by beings who, as in real
+life, at one time take the foremost place, and anon are relegated to a
+subordinate position; but who preserve their identity vividly
+throughout.
+
+Balzac found it impossible to manage without a _pied-a-terre_ in
+Paris, and for some reason he could no longer lodge with Bouisson, his
+tailor, so in 1842 he took a lodging in the same house with his
+sister, Madame Surville, at 28, Rue du Faubourg Poissonniere. Life was
+brightening for him; he was beginning by his strenuous efforts to
+diminish perceptibly his load of debt, and the star of hope shone
+brightly on his path.
+
+After many doubts on the part of Madame Hanska, who was most
+particular in observing the proprieties, he was allowed in 1843 to
+meet her in St. Petersburg, and arrived on July 17th, after a rough
+passage from Dunkerque, during which his discomforts were nothing to
+him, so joyous was he at the thought of soon seeing his beloved one.
+Madame Hanska was established at the Hotel Koutaizoff, in the Rue
+Grande Millione, and Balzac took a lodging near, and thought St.
+Petersburg with its deserted streets a dreary place. All minor
+feelings were, however, merged in the happiness of being near Madame
+Hanska, of hearing her voice, and of giving expression to that
+passionate love which had possessed him for more than ten years. In
+his sight she was as young and beautiful as ever, and his fascinated
+eyes watched her with rapture, as she leant back thoughtfully in the
+little arm-chair in the blue drawing-room, her head resting against a
+cushion trimmed with black lace. He could recall every detail
+afterwards of that room, could count the points of the lace, and see
+the bronze ornaments filled with flowers, in which he used to catch
+his knees in his rapid pacings up and down; and his eyes would fill
+with tears, and the creations of his imagination fade and become
+unreal, beside the haunting pictures of his memory. He loved Madame
+Hanska with a love which had grown steadily since their first meeting,
+and which now was threatening to overmaster him, so that even work
+would become impossible. Nevertheless, though she was most charming
+and affectionate, and he stayed in St. Petersburg until September,
+nothing definite was settled.
+
+Madame Hanska was a prudent person; her dearly-loved daughter Anna was
+growing up, and it was quite necessary to settle her in life before
+taking any decided step. Besides, though she hardly allowed this to
+herself, there is no doubt that she was rather alarmed at the prospect
+of becoming Madame Honore de Balzac. The marriage would be decidedly a
+_mesalliance_ for a Rzewuska, and her family constantly and steadily
+exerted their influence to prevent her from wrecking her future. What,
+they asked her, would be her life with a husband as eccentric,
+extravagant, and impecunious, as they believed Balzac to be? They
+collected gossip about him in Paris, and told Madame Hanska endless
+stories, occasionally true, often false, and sometimes merely
+exaggerated, about his oddities, his love affairs, and his general
+unsuitability for alliance with an aristocratic family. It was no
+doubt pleasant to have a man of genius and of worldwide fame as a
+lover; but what would be her position if she took the fatal step, and
+bound herself to him for life? Madame Hanska listened and paused: she
+well understood her advantages as a great and moneyed lady; and she
+was under no illusions as to the harassed and chequered existence
+which she would lead with Balzac. She had often lent him money, his
+letters kept her well informed about the state of his affairs; and the
+idea of becoming wife to a man who was often forced to fly from his
+creditors, must have been extremely distasteful to a woman used to
+luxury and consideration. Maternal affection, love of her country,
+prudence, social and worldly considerations--besides the fear of the
+Czar's displeasure--were all inducements to delay; and even if she had
+felt towards Balzac the passionate love for the lack of which
+posterity has reproached her, it surely would have been the duty of an
+affectionate mother to think of her child's welfare before her own
+happiness. Later on, when Anna was married, and Balzac, broken in
+health and tortured by his longings, was kept a slave to Madame
+Hanska's caprices, the hard thing may be said of her, that she was in
+part the cause of the death of the man she pretended to love. In 1843,
+however, whatever motives incited her, her action in delaying matters
+appears under the circumstances to have been right; and Balzac seems
+to have felt that he had no just cause for complaint.
+
+He wrote to Madame Hanska, at each of the stopping-places during his
+tiring overland journey back to France, and describes vividly the
+miserable, jolting journey through Livonia, where the carriage road
+was marked out by boughs thrown down in the midst of a sandy plain,
+and all around was depressing poverty and desolation. Berlin, peopled
+with Germans of "brutal heaviness," he detested, and he loathed the
+society dinner parties, with no conversation--nothing but tittle-tattle
+and Court gossip; and complained of the trains, which travelled he
+said no quicker than a French diligence. Nevertheless, in contrast
+to Russia, the great _voyant_ was struck with the air of "liberte de
+moeurs" which prevailed throughout Germany. He liked Dresden, and
+enjoyed his visit to its picture gallery, where he especially admired
+a Madeleine and two Virgins by Correggio, as well as two by Raphael,
+one of them presumably the San Sisto Madonna. The gem of the whole
+collection, however, in his opinion, was Holbein's Madonna; and he
+longed to have Madame Hanska's hand in his while he gazed at it. As he
+was away from her, he was very restless, and soon tired of all he saw.
+He longed to be back in Paris, and to find distraction in his work.
+"Think of my trouble, my sadness, and my sorrow, and you will be full
+of pity and of indulgence for the poor exile,"[*] he writes.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIII
+
+                             1843 - 1846
+
+  Pamela Giraud--Balzac again attempts to become member of the
+  Academie Francaise--Mlle. Henriette Borel's reception into a
+  religious house--Comte Georges Mniszech--"Les Paysans" started in
+  _La Presse_--Madame Hanska's unreasonableness hinders Balzac's
+  work--He travels with her and her daughter, and they return with
+  him to Passy--Comtesse Anna engaged to Comte Georges Mniszech
+  --Balzac takes Madame Hanska and her daughter to Brussels--He
+  meets Madame Hanska at Baden-Baden--Leaves Paris again, meets
+  Wierzchownia party at Naples--Buys bric-a-brac for future home
+  --Work neglected--Dispute with Emile de Girardin--Balzac's
+  unhappiness and suspense--He goes to Rome--Comes back better
+  in health and spirits--"La Cousine Bette" and "Le Cousin Pons"
+  --Balzac goes to Wiesbaden--Marriage of Comtesse Anna and Comte
+  Georges Mniszech--Balzac and Madame Hanska secretly engaged
+  --Parisian gossip.
+
+On September 26th, 1843, during Balzac's absence in St. Petersburg,
+another play of which he was author was produced at the Gaite. It was
+called "Pamela Giraud," and the plot is contrived with an ability
+which proves Balzac's increased knowledge of the art of writing for
+the theatre. At the same time he has attempted no innovations, but he
+has kept to the beaten track; and the play is an old-fashioned
+melodrama with thrilling and heart-rending situations, and virtue
+triumphant at the end. Owing to Balzac's attack on journalism in the
+"Monographie de la Presse Parisienne," which had appeared in March,
+and finished with the words, "Si la presse n'existait pas, il faudrait
+ne pas l'inventer," the whole newspaper world was peculiarly hostile
+to him at this time, and his play received no mercy, and was a
+failure. Curiously enough, Balzac seemed rather pleased at this news,
+which reached him at Berlin, on his journey home to France. He had
+made use of the services of two practised writers for the theatre to
+fit his melodrama to the exigencies of the stage, and possibly this
+fact dulled his interest in it. At any rate he was strangely
+philosophical about its fate.
+
+On November 28th, 1843, soon after his return to Paris, a vacancy was
+left in the Academy by the death of M. Vincent Campenon; and Charles
+Nodier and Victor Hugo proposed Balzac as a candidate for the empty
+seat. Balzac, however, soon withdrew, as he found that his impecunious
+condition would be a reason for his rejection, and he wrote promptly
+to Nodier and to M. de Pongerville, another member of the Academy,
+that if he could not enter L'Academie because of honourable poverty,
+he would never present himself at her doors when prosperity was his
+portion. In September, 1845, another vacancy occurred; but in spite of
+Madame de Girardin's entreaties that Balzac should again come forward
+as a candidate, he refused decidedly, and wrote to Madame Hanska that
+in doing this he knew himself to be consulting her wishes.
+
+The year 1844 was not an unhappy one with Balzac, though his health
+was bad, and he speaks of terrible neuralgia; so that he wrote "Les
+Paysans" with his head in opium, as he had written "Cesar Birotteau"
+with his feet in mustard. Apparently Madame Hanska held out hopes that
+in 1845 his long probation might come to and end, as he writes: "Days
+of illness are days of pleasure to me, for when I do not work with
+absorption of all my moral and physical qualities, I never cease
+thinking of 1845. I arrange houses, I furnish them, I see myself
+there, and I am happy."[*] It was a joy to him to fulfil Madame
+Hanska's commissions, and thus to come in contact with people who had
+been at any time connected with her. Therefore, in spite of his busy
+life, he took much trouble over the arrangements for the entrance of
+Anna's former governess, Mlle Henriette Borel, into a religious house
+in Paris, and was present at her reception into the Couvent de la
+Visitation, Rue l'Enfer, in December, 1845. He was rather annoyed on
+this occasion, as he was working tremendously hard at the "Comedie
+Humaine," and at his "Petites Miseres de la Vie Conjugale," and the
+good nuns, who "thought the world turned only for themselves," told
+him that the ceremony would take place at one o'clock and would last
+an hour, whereas it was not over till four, and as he had to see
+Lirette afterwards, he could not get away till half-past five.
+However, he was consoled by the idea that he was representing his dear
+Countess and Anna, who were in Italy at the time, and he thought the
+service imposing and very dramatic. He was specially thrilled when the
+three new nuns threw themselves on the ground, were covered with a
+pall, while prayers for the dead were recited over them; and after
+this rose up crowned with white roses, as the brides of Christ.
+Lirette was radiant when she had taken the veil, and wished that every
+one would enter a religious house.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 102.
+
+In July, 1844, Madame Hanska and her daughter made the acquaintance
+of the Comte Georges Mniszech, who appeared to be a very suitable
+_parti_for Anna. Balzac naturally took a keen interest in all the
+prospective arrangements, and consulted anxiously with Madame Hanska
+about the young Comte's character, which must of course have proved
+perfect, before a treasure like the young Countess could be confided
+to his keeping. It is strikingly characteristic of Balzac's
+disinterestedness, that though he knew that the young Countess's
+marriage would remove the principal obstacle between him and Madame
+Hanska, he was most insistent in recommending caution till the young man
+had been for some time on probation. However, an engagement soon took
+place, and it seemed as though the great desire of Balzac's heart would
+in a short time be within his reach, and that happiness would shine upon
+him at last.
+
+In 1844 he published among other books "Modeste Mignon," "Gaudissart
+II," a fragment of the first part of "L'Envers de L'Histoire
+Contemporaine," which he entitled "Madame de la Chanterie," the end of
+the first part of "Splendeurs et Miseres des Courtisanes," the third
+and last part of "Beatrix," and the first part of "Les Paysans." This
+began to appear in _La Presse_ on December 3rd, and the disputes about
+its publication led to Balzac's final rupture with Emile de Girardin.
+
+"Les Paysans" was never finished; but was intended to be the most
+considerable, as it is, even in its present fragmentary condition, one
+of the most remarkable of Balzac's novels. For eight years he had at
+intervals started on the composition of this vivid picture of the deep
+under-current of struggle which was going on between the peasant of
+France and the _bourgeoisie_; that deadly fight for the possession of
+the soil which resulted, as the great _voyant_ plainly descried it
+must, in the Revolution of 1848, and the victory of the peasant.
+Balzac also intended to depict the demoralisation of the people by
+their abandonment of the Catholic religion; and the novel, in
+emulation of Victor Hugo and of Dumas, was to fill many volumes. The
+first version of it, entitled "Le Grand Proprietaire," was begun about
+1835, and the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul in his interesting
+book entitled "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," gives the text of
+this, the MS. of which forms part of his collection. About the year
+1836 or 1838, Balzac altered the title of his proposed novel to "Qui a
+Terre, a Guerre," and it was not till 1839 that he named the work "Les
+Paysans." In 1840 Balzac offered "Les Paysans," which he said was
+ready to appear in fifteen days, to M. Dujarier, the manager of _La
+Presse_, and received 1,650 francs in advance for the novel. However,
+in 1841 he substituted "Les Deux Freres," which was the first part of
+"La Rabouilleuse," for "Les Paysans," and offered the latter work as
+if finished to Le Messager and also to the publisher Locquin, under
+the title of "La Chaumiere et le Chateau."
+
+In April, 1843, Balzac had paid back part of his debt to _La Presse_
+by publishing "Honorine" in its columns, but in September, 1844, he
+received 9,000 francs in advance for the still unwritten "Les
+Paysans." It was further arranged that when this debt had been worked
+out, he should be given sixty centimes a line for the remainder of the
+novel, and that _La Presse_ should pay for composition and
+corrections. It will be noticed that Emile de Girardin, the autocratic
+chief of _La Presse_, had at last wearied of the bickering which had
+gone on between him and Balzac ever since their first relations of
+1830, and in 1840 had handed over the task of dealing with the
+aggravating author to his subordinate Dujarier. The treaty concerning
+"Les Paysans" was therefore drawn up with Dujarier, and matters no
+doubt would have proceeded harmoniously, had not the latter been
+killed in a duel in March, 1845.
+
+The first number of "Les Paysans" appeared on December 3rd, 1844, and
+then, owing to a most untoward concatenation of circumstances, there
+was a long pause in Balzac's contributions to _La Presse_. Madame
+Hanska had unfortunately decided for some time that she would in 1845
+make one of those journeys which more than anything else threw Balzac
+and his affairs into inextricable confusion. Before M. de Hanski's
+death, however, Balzac was at any rate welcomed with effusion when, in
+his longing to see Madame Hanska, he left his affairs in Paris to take
+care of themselves. In those early days she was devotedly attached to
+him; besides, an adorer was a fashionable appendage for an elegant
+married woman, and the conquest of a distinguished man of letters like
+Balzac was something to be proud of. Now, however, there was no
+husband as a protector in the eyes of the world; and marriage, a
+marriage about which she felt many qualms, loomed large before her
+startled eyes. She had no intention of giving up the delightful luxury
+of Balzac's love; but might she not by judicious diplomacy, she
+sometimes asked herself, manage to enjoy this, without taking the last
+irrevocable step? Her position was not enviable, the state of feeling
+embodied in the words "she would and she wouldn't" always betokening
+in the subject a wearing variability of mind posture; but compared
+with the anguish of Balzac, whom she was slowly killing by her
+vacillations, her woes do not deserve much sympathy.
+
+At St. Petersburg, possibly during one of their walks on the quay, or
+on a cozy evening when the samovar was brought up at nine o'clock, and
+placed on the white table with yellowish lines--she had promised
+Balzac that he might meet her next year at Dresden. However, when she
+arrived there, and found herself in a circle of her own relations, who
+according to Balzac poisoned her mind against him, she not only
+objected to his presence, but, in her sudden fear of gossip, she
+forbade him to write to her again during her stay at Dresden. She sent
+off another letter almost at once, contradicting her last command; but
+she would not make up her mind whether Balzac might come to her at
+Dresden, whether she would consent to meet him at Frankfort, or
+whether he should prepare a house for her and Anna in Paris. Balzac
+could settle to nothing. In order to work as he understood the word,
+it was necessary that he should exclude all outside disturbing
+influence, and hear only the voices of the world where Le Pere Goriot,
+old Grandet, La Cousine Bette, and their fellows, toiled, manoeuvred,
+and suffered. How could he do this, how could he even arrange his
+business affairs, when a letter might come by any post, telling him to
+start at once and meet his beloved one? Precious time was wasted,
+never to be recalled; and when Balzac, raging with impatience and
+irritation, dared very gently, and with words of affection, to express
+the feelings which devoured him, the divinity was offended, and he
+received a rebuke for his impatience and tone of authority.
+
+In April, 1845, he writes: "Shall I manage to write two numbers of the
+'Paysans' in twelve days? That is the problem, for I have not a single
+line written. Dresden and you, between you, turn my head; I do not
+know what will become of me. There is nothing more fatal than the
+state of indecision in which you have kept me for three months. If I
+had started on January 1st, and had returned on February 28th, I
+should have been more advanced in my work, and I should have had two
+good months, like the ones at St. Petersburg. Dear sovereign star, how
+do you expect me to conceive an idea or write a single phrase, with my
+heart and head agitated as they have been since last November? It has
+been enough to make a man mad! In vain I have stuffed myself with
+coffee: I have only succeeded in increasing the nervous trembling of
+my eyes, and I have written nothing; this is my situation to-day,
+April 10th; and I have _La Presse_ behind me, sending to me every day,
+and the 'Paysans,' which is my first long work. I am between two
+despairs, that of not seeing you, of not having seen you, and the
+literary and financial trouble, the trouble of self-respect. Oh,
+Charles II. was quite right to say: 'But she?' in all the affairs
+submitted to him by his ministers.
+
+"I can only write you this word, and it is full of sadness, for I must
+work and try to forget you for several days, to belong in the future
+more thoroughly and surely to you. It is noon; I start again at 'Les
+Paysans' for the tenth time, and all the muscles in my face work like
+those of an animal; Nature has had enough of work--she kicks over the
+traces. Ah! why have I debts? Why must I work whether I wish to or
+not? I am so unhappy, so tormented, so despondent, that I refuse to be
+hopeless; you must surely see that I am more than ever yours, and that
+I pass my life uselessly away from you, for the glory gained by
+inspired work is not worth a few hours passed with you! In the end I
+trust only in God and in you alone: in you who do not write me a word
+more for that; you who might at least console me with three letters a
+week, and who hardly write me two, and those so short!"[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 142.
+
+However, on April 18th he received a letter from Madame Hanska
+containing the words, "I wish to see you," and rushed off at once to
+Dresden oblivious of everything but his one desire. _La Presse_
+apparently submitted to this interruption philosophically. Its readers
+had not found the opening of "Les Paysans" amusing, while _Le Moniteur
+de l'Armee_ had strongly and rather absurdly objected to it, as likely
+to lower military prestige. _La Presse_ had therefore decided in any
+case to put off the appearance of "Les Paysans" till February, and to
+begin the year 1845 with "La Reine Margot," by Alexandre Dumas.
+
+Meanwhile Balzac was having a delightful time. Having joined Madame
+Hanska at Dresden, he travelled with her and the Comtesse Anna and
+Comte Georges Mniszech, who had lately become engaged, to Cannstadt,
+Carlsruhe, and Strasburg; and to his intense delight, in July, the
+Countess and her daughter came to him at Passy, and took up their
+abode in a little house near the Rue Basse, with a carefully chosen
+housemaid, cook, and man. The Czar had prohibited the journey to
+France, so they travelled incognito as Balzac's sister and niece, the
+Countess Anna taking the name of Eugenie, perhaps in remembrance of
+Balzac's heroine Eugenie Grandet.[*] In the morning they went by cab
+or on foot into Paris, and in the evening a carriage was at their
+disposal, and they visited the theatre and the opera. We can easily
+realise the excitement and joy Balzac felt in showing them all his
+treasures--the bust by David D'Angers, the precious Medici furniture
+of ebony encrusted with mother-of-pearl, the Cellini statuettes, and
+the pictures by Giorgione, Palma, Watteau, and Greuze.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul.
+
+July passed quickly in this mode of life, Balzac acting as cicerone to
+the two ladies, and their identity was fortunately not discovered. In
+August he conducted them as far as Brussels on their way back to
+Dresden, and together they visited Fontainebleau, Orleans, Bourges,
+his much-loved Tours, Blois, Rotterdam, La Hague, and Antwerp. At
+Brussels they were met by M. Georges Mniszech, who took charge of the
+two Countesses in Balzac's place. The latter felt obliged to write
+afterwards to the Count to apologise for his cold good-bye, and to
+explain that he had been forced to assume indifference, because he
+feared a complete breakdown unless he sternly repressed all appearance
+of feeling.
+
+However, he was not away for long from Madame Hanska, as he spent from
+September 20th till October 4th with her at Baden-Baden, where she had
+been ordered for a course of the waters. The time there was the
+happiest in his life, as it seemed to him that he could now plainly
+see a picture of the future, which he prayed for and dreamed of in the
+midst of his crushing work.
+
+On October 16th, 1845, he left Paris again, met Madame Hanska, her
+daughter, and prospective son-in-law at Chalons, and started with them
+on their Italian tour. It took a day to travel by boat from Chalons to
+Lyons, and another day to go by boat from Lyons to Avignon; but the
+time flew from Madame Hanska and Balzac, who were engrossed all the
+way in delightful talk. They arrived at Marseilles on October 29th,
+and stayed for two nights at the Hotel d'Orient, where Balzac's friend
+Mery had secured rooms for them. They then went by sea to Naples, and
+there Balzac worked so hard at sight-seeing, saw so much, and talked
+so volubly, that he was quite exhausted. He remained a few days only
+at Naples, and had a very tiring journey back, as the sea was
+extremely rough; and when he reached Marseilles Mery insisted on
+taking him into society, so that he had no opportunity of resting even
+there. It was altogether a very expensive journey. He could not drink
+the water on board the boat coming home, and therefore was obliged to
+quench his thirst with champagne; and as the captain and the steward
+showed him extraordinary politeness, _they_ had also to be given
+champagne, and invited to a lunch party at the Hotel d'Orient when the
+ship arrived at Marseilles. Balzac was evidently rather ashamed of
+this escapade, and begged Madame Hanska not to let Georges know
+anything of his extravagance, as he would be certain to make fun of
+it.
+
+The bric-a-brac shops at Marseilles were another terrible cause of
+temptation, and one to which Balzac apparently succumbed without a
+struggle, consoling himself with the reflection that his purchases
+were "de vraies occasions a saisir."
+
+When he arrived at Passy on November 17th, and retired to bed with an
+attack of fever as the result of all his fatigues, he might be
+expected to feel slightly depressed at the thought of the time he had
+wasted during the last few months, and of his small advance in the
+work of paying off his debts. As far as we can judge, however, these
+were not his reflections. He was dreaming of the past year, the
+happiest year of his life, because so much of it had been spent with
+Madame Hanska; and when his mind turned to more practical subjects, he
+thought of various projects for buying the house which was to be their
+future home, and of the way it should be decorated. His mind dwelt
+constantly on these preparations for his married life; and he
+continued to correspond with Mery, and to entrust him with delicate
+commissions which required much bargaining. At this Mery was not,
+according to his own account, very successful, as he remarks in an
+amusing letter to Balzac: "I call to witness all the marble false gods
+which decorate Lazardo's dark museum. I have neglected nothing to
+succeed with your message. I have paid indolent visits, I have taken
+the airs of a bored 'agathophile,' I have turned my back on the
+objects of your desire. All my efforts have been in vain. They
+obstinately continue to ask fabulous prices."[*]
+
+[*] Letters from the collection of the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul, published in the _Revue Bleue_ of December 5th, 1903.
+
+In February, 1845,[*] Balzac had written cheerfully about the 30,000
+francs for "Les Paysans" which he would obtain from the publisher, and
+the 10,000 from the journal; of the 15,000 francs which would come to
+him from "La Comedie Humaine," and the 30,000 from the sale of Les
+Jardies, besides 10,000 francs from his other works and 20,000 from
+the railway du Nord; and had calculated that his most pressing
+liabilities would soon be discharged. His figures and computations on
+the subject of money can never be relied on, and the railway du Nord
+was a most unfortunate speculation, and proved a constant drain on his
+resources. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that he was beginning to
+diminish perceptibly the burden of debt which pressed upon him, and
+that if Madame Hanska had not existed, and if on the other hand he had
+not himself embarked on some mad scheme or senseless piece of
+extravagance, he might in a few years have become a free man. These
+long months of expensive inaction rendered this happy solution to the
+troubles of his life impossible.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 123.
+
+Meanwhile fresh misfortunes were gathering. On November 27th, 1845,
+Emile de Girardin, who since Dujarier's death had resumed business
+relations with Balzac, addressed to him a most discourteous letter. He
+apparently disbelieved in the terms of the agreement by which the
+great writer was to be paid sixty centimes a line for "Les Paysans,"
+and demanded a certified copy of it;[*] and he also announced that for
+"Les Petites Miseres de la Vie Conjugale," which was about to appear
+in the _Revue_, he could not pay more than forty centimes, which was,
+he said, his maximum price to contributors. Later on, in March, 1846,
+Girardin despatched another message to complain of the delay in
+continuing "Les Paysans," and in this he remarked with bitter emphasis
+that as _La Presse_ paid so highly for what was published in her
+pages, she had at least the right of objecting to being treated
+lightly. Balzac replied on March 16th, 1846, that _he_ was the one who
+ought to bear malice, as Dujarier had upset his arrangements by
+interrupting the publication of "Les Paysans" to substitute "La Reine
+Margot," by Dumas, and that now his brain required rest, and that he
+was starting that very day for a month's holiday in Rome.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul (from which the whole account of the dispute between
+    Balzac and Emile de Girardin is taken).
+
+If Balzac had remained in France it is doubtful whether he would have
+written much, as he had been in a miserably unsettled state all the
+winter of 1845 to 1846. His health was bad: he mentions continual
+colds and neuralgia, and on one occasion remarks that owing to
+complete exhaustion he has slept all through the day. Besides this,
+his suspense about Madame Hanska's ultimate decision made him
+absolutely wretched. He writes to her on December 17th, 1845: "Nothing
+amuses me, nothing distracts me, nothing animates me; it is the death
+of the soul, the death of the will, the weakening of the whole being;
+I feel that I can only take up my work again when I see my life
+determined, fixed, arranged."[*] Later on in the same letter he says:
+"I am crushed; I have waited too long, I have hoped too much; I have
+been too happy this year, and I do not want anything else. After so
+many years of misfortune and of work, to have been free as a bird,
+superhumanly happy, and to return to one's cell! . . . is it possible?
+. . . I dream: I dream by day and by night, and the thought of the
+heart driven back on itself prevents all action of the thought of the
+brain; it is terrible!"
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 200.
+
+On one occasion Madame Hanska wrote apparently reproaching him with
+talking indiscreetly about her; and without finishing the letter, the
+end of which was affectionate, and would have calmed his mind, he at
+once jumped out of the cab in which he was driving, and walked for
+hours about Paris. He was wearing thin shoes, and there were two
+inches of snow on the ground; but his agitation was so great at her
+unjust accusations, and his indignation so fierce at the wickedness of
+the people who had libelled him, that he hardly knew where he was
+going, and returned at last, still so excited by the anguish of his
+mind, that he was not conscious of bodily fatigue. Such crises, and
+the consequent exhaustion afterwards, were not conducive to work;
+particularly in a man whose heart was already affected, and who had
+overstrained his powers for years.
+
+Possibly in the hope of obtaining distraction and relief from the
+anxious misery of thought, he went into society more than usual this
+year; and in spite of the strained relations between him and Emile de
+Girardin, he often dined at the editor's house, and was on most
+friendly terms with Madame de Girardin. On January 1st, 1846, he wrote
+to Madame Hanska, "I dined, as I told you in my last letter, with
+Nestor Roqueplan, the director of the Theatre des Varietes, the last
+Wednesday of December, and the last day of the month with the
+illustrious Delphine. We laughed as much as I can laugh without you,
+and far from you. Delphine is really the queen of conversation; that
+evening she was especially sublime, brilliant, charming. Gautier was
+there as well; I left after having a long talk with him. He said that
+there was no hurry for 'Richard, Coeur d'Eponge'; the theatre is well
+provided at present. Perhaps Gautier and I will write the piece
+together later on."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 212.
+
+Balzac's mind was still running on the theatre. Owing to failing
+health and to his unfortunate love affair, he now found it more
+difficult to concentrate his mind than formerly, and the incessant
+work of earlier years was no longer possible; so that the easy road to
+fortune offered by a successful play became doubly attractive.
+"Richard Coeur d'Eponge," however, never appeared; and except several
+fragments, which are in the hands of the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+Lovenjoul, it is doubtful whether it was written, though Balzac often
+discussed the plot with Gautier.
+
+What, after all, were novels, essays, or plays, of what interest were
+scenes, plots, or characters, what was fame, what was art itself,
+compared with Madame Hanska? How was it possible for a man to work,
+with the gloriously disquieting prospect before him that in so many
+months, weeks, days, he should meet his divinity? The phantoms of his
+imagination faded to insignificance, and then to utter nullity, beside
+the woman of flesh and blood, the one real object in a world of
+shadows. On March 17th, 1846, he started on his journey to Rome, and
+everything became a blank, except the intoxicating thought that each
+hour diminished the distance between him and the woman he loved. She
+evidently received him with enthusiasm, and showed so much affection,
+that though nothing definite was settled, he felt that her ultimate
+decision to marry him was certain; and was only deferred to a more
+convenient season, when her daughter Anna should have become La
+Comtesse Mniszech. Therefore the whole world brightened for him, and
+he became again full of life and vigour. He stayed for a month in the
+Eternal City, was presented to the Pope, admired St. Peter's
+extremely, and said that his time there would for ever remain one of
+the greatest and most beautiful recollections of his life. As the
+route by sea was crowded by travellers who had spent Holy Week in
+Rome, and all wanted to return at the same time, he travelled back by
+Switzerland; and explored fresh country and hunted for curiosities on
+the way. Several pictures were to follow him from Italy: a Sebastian
+del Piombo, a Bronzino, and a Mirevelt, which he describes as of
+extreme beauty; and with his usual happy faith in his own good luck,
+he hoped to pick up some other bargains such as "Hobbemas and Holbeins
+for a few crowns," in the towns through which he would pass on his
+journey. A definite engagement did not take place till some months
+later; but some tacit understanding must now have been allowed by
+Madame Hanska, as there began to appear from this time in Balzac's
+letters exact descriptions of the Sevres china, the inlaid furniture,
+and the bric-a-brac, which he was buying evidently with her money as
+well as his own, to adorn their future home together. As usual, on his
+return he found his affairs in utter confusion, was pursued by
+creditors, and was absolutely without money. As a last misfortune, his
+housekeeper, Madame de Brugnolle, in whose name the habitation at
+Passy had been rented, and who generally managed his business affairs,
+was busy preparing for her approaching marriage, and had naturally no
+time to spare for her supposed lodger's difficulties. Altogether
+Balzac felt that the world was a harassing place.
+
+However, his health was admirable, "et le talent! . . . oh! je l'ai
+retrouve dans sa fleur!"[*] He was full of hope and confidence; and
+although the shares of the railway du Nord continued to fall in value,
+he considered that with steady work at his novels, and with the help
+of a successful comedy, he would soon have paid off his debts, and
+would have a little house of his own, with room for his beautiful
+things; which, owing to want of space, and also to fear of his
+creditors, were never unpacked. It was necessary to prove that he was
+as young, as fresh, and as fertile as ever, and with this object in
+view, in June, 1846, he began the two books which were to form the
+series entitled "L'Histoire des Parents Pauvres." The first, "La
+Cousine Bette," appeared in the _Constitutionnel_ from October to
+December, 1846, and is intended to represent "a poor relation
+oppressed by humiliations and injuries, living in the midst of three
+or four families of her relations, and meditating vengeance for the
+bruising of her amour-propre, and for her wounded vanity!"[*] The
+second received several names in turn. It was first called "Le Vieux
+Musicien," next "Le Bonhomme Pons," and then "Le Parasite," a title on
+which Balzac said he had decided definitely. However, Madame Hanska
+objected, as she declared that "Le Parasite" was only suitable for an
+eighteenth-century comedy, and the book appeared in April, 1847, as
+"Le Cousin Pons." Though intensely tragic, it is not as horrible or
+revolting as its pendant, the gloomy "Cousine Bette"; and Balzac has
+portrayed admirably the simple old man with his fondness for good
+dinners; "the poor relation oppressed by humiliations and injuries,
+pardoning all, and only revenging himself by doing kindnesses." Side
+by side with him is the touching figure of his faithful friend
+Schmucke, the childlike German musician, who dies of grief at the
+death of Pons. In writing these two remarkable books, his last
+important works, Balzac proved conclusively that his hand had not lost
+its cunning, and that the slow rate of literary production during the
+last few years of his life was caused by his unhappy circumstances,
+and not by any failure in his genius.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 243.
+
+After all, the year 1846 ended for him with agitation which
+increased his heart disease. His beloved trio, whom he had christened
+the "troupe Bilboquet," after the vaudeville "Les Saltimbanques," had
+now moved to Wiesbaden; and thither their faithful "Bilboquet," the
+"vetturino per amore," as Madame de Girardin laughingly called him,
+rushed to meet them. He found "notre grande et chere Atala" rather
+crippled with rheumatism, and not able to take the exercise which
+was necessary for her, but in his eyes as beautiful as ever. The
+"gentille Zephirine," otherwise the Countess Anna, was gay,
+charming, and beautifully dressed; and "Gringalet," the Count,
+was completely occupied--when not making love--with his collection
+of insects, on which he spent large sums. About this collection
+Balzac made many rather heavy jokes, calling the Count a
+"Gringalet sphynx-lepidoptere-coleoptere-ante-diluvien,"[*] but in
+an anxious desire to ingratiate himself with Madame Hanska's family,
+he often despatched magnificent specimens of the insect species from
+Paris to add to it.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 287.
+
+Balzac travelled about a little with the Hanski family, and remained
+with them till September 15th, when he was obliged to go back to
+Paris. Either at this time, or when he returned for the wedding of the
+Comtesse Anna and the Comte Georges Mniszech, which took place at
+Wiesbaden on October 13th, 1846, a secret engagement was contracted
+between him and Madame Hanska.
+
+He was now terribly anxious that there should be no further delay
+about his marriage, and on his way back from Germany on one of these
+two occasions, he applied to M. Germeau, then prefect of Metz,[*] who
+had been at school with him at Vendome, to know whether the necessary
+formalities could be abridged, so that the wedding might take place at
+once. This was impossible; and though the great obstacle to their
+union was now removed, Madame Hanska refused to be parted from her
+beloved daughter, and insisted on accompanying the newly married
+couple on their honeymoon. Her determination caused Balzac terrible
+agony of mind, as she was unwell, and was suffering a great deal at
+the time, and he therefore wished her to remain quietly somewhere in
+France; moreover, despair seized him at her hesitation to become his
+wife, when the course at last seemed clear. His trouble at this time
+appears to have had a serious effect on his health, and some words
+spoken half in malice, half in warning by Madame de Girardin, must
+have sounded like a knell in his ears. He tells them apparently in
+jest to Madame Hanska to give her an example of the nonsense people
+talk in Paris. In his accuracy of repetition, however, we can trace a
+passionately anxious desire to force Madame Hanska herself to deny the
+charges brought against her; and perhaps lurking behind this, a wish
+unacknowledged even to himself, to shame her if--even after all that
+had passed--she were really not in earnest.
+
+[*] See "Une Page Perdue de Honore de Balzac," p. 276, by the Vicomte
+    de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+He says: "Madame de Girardin told me that she heard from a person who
+knew you intimately, that you were extremely flattered by my homage;
+that from vanity and pride you made me come wherever you went; that
+you were very happy to have a man of genius as courier, but that your
+social position was too high to allow me to aspire to anything else.
+And then she began to laugh with an ironical laugh, and told me that I
+was wasting my time running after great ladies, only to fail with
+them. Hein! Isn't that like Paris!"[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 295.
+
+The reader of Balzac's life is forced to the sad conclusion that
+Parisian gossip had on this occasion sketched the situation tolerably
+correctly; though the truth of the picture was no doubt denied with
+much indignation by Madame Hanska.
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIV
+
+                             1846 - 1848
+
+  Balzac buys a house in the Rue Fortunee--Madame Hanska's visit to
+  Paris--Balzac burns her letters--Final breach with Emile de
+  Girardin--Balzac's projects for writing for the theatre--He goes
+  to Wierzchownia--Plan for transporting oaks from Russia to France
+  --Balzac returns to Paris at the eve of the Revolution of 1848
+  --Views on politics--Stands for last time as deputy.
+
+Much of Balzac's time, whenever he was in Paris in 1845 and 1846, was
+taken up with house-hunting; and some of his still unpublished letters
+to Madame Hanska contain long accounts of the advantages of the
+different abodes he had visited. He was now most anxious to be
+permanently settled, as there was no room for his art treasures in the
+Rue Basse; but as Madame Hanska's tastes had to be consulted as well
+as his own, it was necessary to be very careful in his choice.
+However, in October, 1846, he at last found something which he thought
+would be suitable. This was the villa which had formerly belonged to
+the financier Beaujon, in the Rue Fortunee, now the Rue Balzac. The
+house was not large, it was what might now be described as a "bijou
+residence," but though out of repair, it had been decorated with the
+utmost magnificence by Beaujon, and Balzac's discriminating eye
+quickly discerned its aesthetic possibilities.
+
+In front of the house was a long narrow courtyard, the pavement of
+which was interrupted here and there by flower-beds. This courtyard
+was bordered by a wall, and above the wall nothing could be seen from
+the road but a cupola, which formed the domed ceiling of the
+financier's boudoir. Some of the inside adornments possessed a
+delightful fitness for the uses to which they were destined. For
+instance, what could have been a more graceful compliment to the
+Mniszechs than to lodge them during their visits to Paris, which would
+of course be frequent, in a set of rooms painted with brilliant exotic
+butterflies, poised lightly on lovely flowers? Apparently foreseeing,
+as Balzac remarks, that a "Lepidopterian Georges" would at some time
+inhabit the mansion, Beaujon had actually provided a beautiful bedroom
+and a little drawing-room decorated in this way.[*] It seemed quite
+providential!
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 289.
+
+Balzac was very happy superintending the building operations, deciding
+exactly where his different treasures would look best in his new
+abode, and hunting for fresh acquisitions to make every detail
+perfect. Later on, his letters from Russia to his mother when she was
+taking charge of the house--then furnished and decorated--show how
+dearly he loved all his household goods, and how well he was
+acquainted with their peculiarities; how he realised the danger,
+unless it were held by the lower part,[*] of moving the greenish-grey
+china vase with cracked glaze, which was to stand on one of the
+consoles in black wood and Buhl marqueterie; and how he thought
+anxiously about the candle ornaments of gilt crystal, which were only
+to be arranged _after_ the candelabra had been put up in the white
+drawing-room. In 1846 and 1847, his letters are instinct with the
+passion of the confirmed collector, who has no thought beyond his
+bric-a-brac. His excitement is intense because Madame Hanska has
+discovered that a tea service in his possession is real Watteau, and
+because he has had the "incredible good fortune" to find a milk jug
+and a sugar basin to match it exactly. When we remember that the man
+who thus expresses his delight was in the act of writing "Les Parents
+Pauvres," and of evoking scenes of touching pathos and gloomy horror,
+we are once more amazed at the extraordinary versatility of Balzac's
+mind and genius.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 337.
+
+The deep thinker, the pessimistic believer in the omnipotence of vice
+and in the helpless suffering of virtue, who drags to light what is
+horrible from among the dregs of the people, seems to have nothing in
+common with the charming, playful figure of "le vieux Bilboquet," who
+gave Madame Hanska's daughter and her son-in-law a big place in his
+heart, and was never jealous when, avowedly for their sakes, his
+wishes, feelings, and health were unconsidered; whose servants,
+hard-worked though they were, adored him; and who never forgot his
+friends, or failed to help them when adversity fell upon them.
+
+At the beginning of 1847, peace for a time visited Balzac's restless
+spirit. In February he went to Germany to fetch Madame Hanska, and
+leaving the Mniszechs to go back alone to Wierzchownia, she travelled
+with him to Paris, and remained there till April. It is significant,
+as the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul remarks,[*] that during the
+time of her stay in Paris, when Balzac's mind was no longer disturbed
+by his constant longing to see her, he accomplished the last serious
+bout of work in his life, beginning the "Depute D'Arcis" in _L'Union_,
+"La Cousine Bette" in the _Constitutionnel_, and "La Derniere
+Incarnation de Vautrin" in _La Presse_.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," p. 194
+
+He had other duties at the same time, being occupied with what _he_
+calls the most beautiful work of his life, that of preventing "a
+mother separated from so adorable a child as her Grace the Countess
+Georges, from dying of grief." He writes to the Mniszechs on February
+27th, 1847[*]: "Our dear adored Atala is in a charming and magnificent
+apartment (and not too dear). She has a garden; she goes a great deal
+to the convent" (to see Mlle. Henriette Borel). "I try to distract her
+and to be as much as possible Anna to her; but the name of her dear
+daughter is so daily and continually on her lips, that the day before
+yesterday, when she was enjoying herself immensely at the Varietes--in
+fits of laughter at the 'Filleul de Tout le Monde,' acted by Bouffe
+and Hyacinthe--in the midst of her gaiety, she asked herself in a
+heartbroken voice, which brought tears to my eyes, how she could laugh
+and amuse herself like this, without her 'dear little one.' I allow,
+dear Zephirine, that I took the liberty of telling her, that you were
+amusing yourself enormously without her, with your lord and master,
+His Majesty the King of the Coleoptera; that I was sure that you were
+at this time one of the happiest women in the world; and I hope that
+Gringalet, on whom I drew this bill of exchange, will not contradict
+me. I have four tolerably strong attractions to bring forward against
+the thought of you: 1st, the Conservatoire; 2nd, the Opera; 3rd, the
+Italian Opera; 4th, the Exhibition."
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 312.
+
+Balzac's hands were certainly pleasantly full at this time. His power
+of writing, which had temporarily deserted him, seemed now to have
+returned in full vigour; and he had made forty or fifty thousand
+francs in three months, so was hopeful of paying off his debts, a
+point on which Madame Hanska wisely laid much stress. She still
+refused to decide anything definitely about the date of their
+marriage; but the house was to a great extent her property, and at
+this time she identified herself completely with Balzac in all the
+arrangements to do with it. Though he kept on his rooms in the Rue
+Basse and left his effects there, he moved in April 1847 to the Rue
+Fortunee, that he might be better able to superintend the building and
+decorating, and might himself keep watch over his treasures, which
+must gradually be unpacked and bestowed to the best advantage. About
+the middle of April he conducted Madame Hanska to Forbach on her way
+back to Wierzchownia, and himself returned to Paris to finish the
+house, put his affairs in order, and then follow her to Wierzchownia.
+There he hoped the wedding would quickly take place, and that Monsieur
+and Madame Honore de Balzac would return to Paris, and would live to a
+ripe old age in married happiness; he writing many masterpieces, she
+helping with advice, and forming a salon where her social position,
+cleverness, and charm would surround her with the highest in the land.
+The prospect was intoxicating; surely no one was ever so near the
+attainment of his most radiant visions!
+
+On Balzac's return to Paris, however, he was confronted by realities
+of the most terrible nature.
+
+When he arrived at the Rue Basse, he found to his horror that the lock
+of his precious casket had been forced, and some of Madame Hanska's
+letters had been abstracted. It was a case of blackmail, as the thief
+demanded 30,000 francs, in default of which the letters would at once
+be handed over to the Czar. If this were to happen, Balzac's hopes of
+happiness were annihilated, and the consequences to Madame Hanska
+would be even more serious. Unless approached with the utmost caution,
+the Czar would certainly refuse his consent to the marriage of a
+Russian subject with a foreigner, and would be furious if he were to
+discover a secret love affair between the French novelist and one of
+his most important subjects. Yet how could Balzac find 30,000 francs?
+
+Already in the grip of heart disease the agony he endured at this time
+took him one stage further down the valley of death. In the end he
+managed by frightening the thief, to effect the return of the letters
+without any immediate payment; but the anguish he had passed through,
+and the thought of the terrible consequences only just evaded, decided
+him to burn all the letters he had received from Madame Hanska. It was
+a terrible sacrifice. He describes in an unpublished letter to her his
+feelings, as he sat by the fire, and watched each letter curl up,
+blacken, and finally disappear. He had read and re-read them till they
+had nearly dropped to pieces, had been cheered and comforted by the
+sight of them when the world had gone badly, and had owned them so
+long that they seemed part of himself. There was the first of all, the
+herald of joy, the opening of a new life; and almost as precious at
+this moment seemed the one which discovered to him the identity of his
+correspondent, and held out hopes of a speedy meeting. One after
+another he took them out of the box which had held some of them for
+many years, and each seemed equally difficult to part with. However,
+as he wrote to Madame Hanska, he knew that he was doing right in
+destroying them, and that the painful sacrifice was absolutely
+necessary.
+
+Meanwhile, Emile de Girardin was naturally becoming impatient about
+the continuation of "Les Paysans," which he had never received.[*] He
+wrote to Balzac at the end of April, 1847, that the printer had been
+ready for the finish of the book since the November before, and that
+unless Balzac could produce it in June, the idea of its appearance in
+_La Presse_ must be given up altogether; and in this case he must ask
+the author to settle with M. Rouy about the advances of money already
+made to him. He further remarked with scathing though excusable
+distrust in Balzac's fulfilment of his business engagements, that he
+refused to continue to bring out the work at all, unless he were
+absolutely certain that it was completely written and that no further
+interruption would ensue. Friendly social relations still subsisted,
+however, between Balzac and the Girardins, as, about the same time
+that Emile penned this uncompromising epistle, the following note
+reached Balzac,[+] the last he ever received from the peace-making
+Madame de Girardin:
+
+"It is the evening of my last Wednesday. Come, cruel one. Mrs. Norton
+will be here. Do you not wish me to have the glory of having presented
+you to this English 'Corinne'? Emile tells me that 'La Derniere
+Incarnation de Vautrin' is admirable. The compositors declare that it
+is your _chef-d'oeuvre_.
+
+"Only till this evening, I implore you.
+
+          "DELPHINE GAY DE GIRARDIN."
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul, from which the whole account of Balzac's rupture with
+    Girardin is taken.
+
+[+] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul, p. 262
+
+Balzac on his side, was now most anxious to finish "Les Paysans,"
+especially as his penniless state at this time would render it most
+difficult for him to pay back the money advanced to him by _La
+Presse_. He was in special difficulties, as he had lately borrowed ten
+or fifteen thousand francs from the impecunious Viscontis, giving them
+as guarantee some shares in the unfortunate Chemin de Fer du Nord, and
+as the railway was a failure, and these shares were a burden instead
+of a benefit, Balzac was bound in honour to relieve his friends of
+their troublesome possession, and to pay back what he owed them. This
+necessity was an additional incentive to action, and Balzac's letters
+to Madame Hanska about this time, contain several indications of his
+anxiety about "Les Paysans." On June 9th he speaks of his desire to
+bring it to a close; and on the 15th he writes that he must certainly
+finish it at once, to avoid the lawsuit with which he has been for so
+long threatened by _La Presse_. However, he seems to have experienced
+an unconquerable difficulty in its composition, as in that of
+"Seraphita," the other book about which he had cherished a peculiarly
+lofty ideal. Therefore in July the termination of "Les Paysans" had
+not yet reached the office of _La Presse_, and on the 13th of the
+month Balzac received the following letter:[*]
+
+          "PARIS, July 13th, 1847
+
+"'Le Piccinino' will be finished this week. Only seven numbers of 'Les
+Paysans' are completed in advance. We are therefore at the mercy of an
+indisposition, of any chance incident, things of which it is necessary
+for me to see the possibility, and to which I must not expose myself.
+
+"Really you high dignitaries of the periodical are insupportable, and
+you will manage so cleverly that the periodical will some day fail you
+completely.
+
+"For my part, my resolution on this matter is taken, and firmly taken,
+and if I had not a remainder of the account to work out, I would
+certainly not publish 'Les Paysans,' as I have not received the last
+line.
+
+          "EMILE DE GIRARDIN."
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul, p. 268.
+
+Balzac's answer to this missive is lost. It must have been despatched
+at once, and was evidently not conciliatory, as it was answered on the
+same day in the following terms:
+
+          "PARIS, July 13th, 1847.
+
+"I only publish 'Les Paysans' because we have an account to settle.
+Otherwise I certainly should not publish it, and the success of 'La
+Derniere Incarnation de Vautrin' would certainly not impel me to do
+it.
+
+"Therefore if you are able without inconvenience to pay back to the
+_Presse_ what it advanced to you, I will willingly give up 'Les
+Paysans.' Otherwise I will publish 'Les Paysans,' and will begin on
+Monday next, the 19th. But I insist that there shall be no
+interruption. I count on this.
+
+          "EMILE DE GIRARDIN."
+
+Girardin's bitter resentment is excusable, when we remember that it
+was in September, 1844, nearly three years before, that Balzac had
+received 9,000 francs in advance for "Les Paysans." Since then only
+one number of the promised work had been produced, and the great
+writer's only explanation for his long delay in finishing the book was
+the inadequate one, that Dujarier had interrupted "Les Paysans" after
+the first chapters had been published, to be able to begin Alexandre
+Dumas' novel "La Reine Margot," before the end of 1844.
+
+In Balzac's reply, written next day, he definitely withdrew "Les
+Paysans" from publication, and said that he would pay what he owed _La
+Presse_ within the space of twenty days, and would not charge for what
+had not yet been printed; though it had been written and composed
+specially for _La Presse_, and at the request of the _Presse_. As to
+Emile de Girardin's insinuations about the failure of "La Derniere
+Incarnation de Vautrin," Balzac remarked that this had been written
+for _L'Epoque_, not for _La Presse_, and that it had not been
+necessary for Girardin to purchase it from the moribund journal,
+unless he had approved of it. Girardin had hurt him on his tenderest
+point when he branded his works as failures. With pride and bitterness
+in his heart he went through the accounts with Mr. Rouy, and found
+that out of the 9,000 francs received from _La Presse_, he still owed
+5,221 francs 85 centimes. How he raised the money it is impossible to
+guess, but on August 5th he paid 2,500 francs, and on September 1st
+2,000 more, so that only 721 francs 85 centimes remained of his debt,
+and he made his preparations to start for Wierzchownia with his mind
+at rest.
+
+He heard from Emile de Girardin again, as we shall see later on, but
+he had seen Madame de Girardin for the last time. She did not forget
+him, however, and the news of his death was so terrible a shock that
+she fainted away. She died in 1855, and was deeply mourned by her
+friends. Theophile Gautier, in his admiring account of her, says that
+for some years before her death, she became a prey to depression and
+discouragement at the conditions surrounding her. It may have been
+that her brilliant, exciting life led naturally to a partly physical
+reaction, and that she became too tired by the emotions she had gone
+through, to adapt herself with buoyancy to the ever variable
+conditions of existence. At all events she is a refreshing figure in
+the midst of much that is unsatisfactory--a woman witty, highly
+gifted, a queen of society, who was yet kindly, generous, and
+absolutely free from literary jealousy.
+
+Before the middle of September when Balzac left for Wierzchownia, we
+hear once of him again. He was still dreaming of the theatre as a
+means of relief from all his embarrassments,[*] and on a hot day in
+August, 1847, he went to Bougival, to pay a visit to M. Hostein, the
+director of the Theatre Historique, a new theatre which had not yet
+been opened six months. There, sitting in the shade on the towing path
+by the river, he unfolded to the manager his design of writing a grand
+historical drama on Peter I. and Catherine of Russia, to be entitled
+"Pierre et Catherine." Nothing was written, it was all still in his
+head; but he at once sketched the first scene to the manager, and
+talked with enthusiasm of the enormous success which would be caused
+by the novelty of introducing the Russian peasant on the stage. The
+play could be written very quickly; and M. Hostein,[+] carried away by
+Balzac's extraordinarily persuasive eloquence, already began to
+reflect about suitable scenery, dresses, and decorations, for the
+framing of his masterpiece. However, to his disappointment Balzac
+returned in a few days, to announce that there would be some delay in
+the production of his play, as he wished to study local colouring on
+the spot, and was on the point of starting for Russia. He said that
+when he returned to Paris in the spring, he would bring M. Hostein a
+completed play, and with this promise the manager was obliged to be
+satisfied.
+
+[*] "Honore de Balzac," by Edmond Bire.
+
+[+] "Historiettes et Souvenirs d'un Homme de Theatre," by M. Hostein.
+
+Balzac was in an enormous hurry to reach Wierzchownia, and set himself
+with much energy to the task of finishing the house in the Rue
+Fortunee. His efforts in this direction were doubtless the reason that
+the writing of "Pierre et Catherine" was postponed till the _moujik_
+could be studied in his native land. At last, however, the work of
+decoration was complete, and his mother left in charge, with minute
+directions about the care of his treasures. He had toiled with
+breathless haste, and managed after all to start earlier than he had
+expected. Once on the journey his northern magnet drew him with
+ever-increasing strength, and regardless of fatigue, he travelled for
+eight days in succession without stoppage or rest, and arrived ten days
+before his letter announcing his departure from Paris. The inhabitants
+of the chateau were naturally much surprised at his sudden appearance,
+and Balzac considers that they were touched, or rather--though he does
+not say this--that _She_ was touched by his _empressement_.
+
+He was much delighted with his surroundings. Wierzchownia was a
+palace, and he was interested and amused with the novelty of all he
+saw. He writes: "We have no idea at home of an existence like this. At
+Wierzchownia it is necessary to have all the industries in the house:
+there is a confectioner, a tailor, and a shoemaker."[*] He was
+established in a delicious suite of rooms, consisting of a
+drawing-room, a study, and a bedroom. The study was in pink stucco,
+with a fireplace in which straw was apparently burnt, magnificent
+hangings, large windows, and convenient furniture. In this Louvre of a
+Wierzchownia there were, as Balzac remarks with pleasure, five or six
+similar suites for guests. Everything was patriarchal. Nobody was
+bored in this wonderful new life. It was fairy-like, the fulfilment of
+Balzac's dreams of splendour, an approach of reality to the grandiose
+blurred visions of his hours of creation. He who rejoiced in what was
+huge, delighted in the fact that the Count Georges Mniszech had gone
+to inspect an estate as big as the department of Seine-et-Marne, with
+the object of dismissing a prevaricating bailiff. It gave him intense
+satisfaction to record the wonders of this strange new life: to tell
+those at home of the biting cold, which rendered his pelisse of
+Siberian fox of no more protection than a sheet of blotting-paper; or
+to mention casually that all the letters were carried by a Cossack
+across sixty "verstes" of steppes.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 324.
+
+The Russians were eager to show their admiration of the celebrated
+French novelist, and Balzac experienced the truth of the adage, that a
+prophet is not without honour save in his own country. On the journey
+out the officials were charmingly polite to him, and when he went to
+Kiev to pay his respects to the Governor-General, and to obtain
+permission for a lengthy sojourn in Russia, he was overwhelmed with
+attentions. A rich moujik had read all his books, burnt a candle for
+him every week to St. Nicholas, and had promised a sum of money to the
+servants of Madame Hanska's sister, if they could manage that he might
+see the great man. This atmosphere of adoration was very pleasant to
+one whose reward in France for the production of masterpieces, seemed
+sometimes to consist solely in condemnation and obloquy. Balzac
+enjoyed himself for the time, and rested from his literary labours,
+except for working at the second part of "L'Envers de l'Histoire
+Contemporaine," which is called "L'Initie," and writing the play which
+he had promised Hostein as a substitute for "Pierre et Catherine."
+
+His ever-active brain had now evolved a plan for transporting sixty
+thousand oaks to France, from a territory on the Russian frontier
+belonging to Count Georges Mniszech and his father. He was anxious
+that M. Surville should undertake the matter, as, after abstruse and
+careful calculations--which have the puzzling veneer of practicality
+always observable in Balzac's mad schemes--he considered that
+1,200,000 francs might be made out of the affair, and that of course
+the engineer who arranged the transport would reap some of the
+benefit. The blocks of wood would be fifteen inches in diameter at the
+base, and ten at the top. They would first be conveyed to Brody, from
+there by high road to Cracow, and thence they would travel to France
+by the railway, which would be finished in a few days. Unfortunately,
+there were no bridges at Cologne over the Rhine, or at Magdeburg over
+the Elbe; but Balzac was not discouraged by the question of the
+transshipment of sixty thousand oaks, any more than in his old days in
+the Rue Lesdiguieres, he had been deterred from the idea of having a
+piano, by the attic being too small for it. M. Surville was to answer
+categorically, giving a detailed schedule of the costs of carriage and
+of duty from Cracow to France; and to this, Balzac would add the price
+of transport from Brody to Cracow. He discounted any natural
+astonishment his correspondent would feel, at the neglect hitherto of
+this certain plan for making a fortune, by remarking that the
+proprietors were Creoles, who worked their settlements by means of
+moujiks, so that the spirit of enterprise was entirely absent.[*] M.
+Surville, however, received this brilliant proposition without
+enthusiasm, and did not even trouble to write himself about the
+matter, but sent back an answer by his wife, that the price of
+transporting the freight from one railway to another at Breslau,
+Berlin, Magdeburg, and Cologne, would render the scheme impossible.
+Balzac showed unusual docility at this juncture; he was evidently
+already half-hearted about the enterprise, and remarked that since his
+first letter he had himself thought of the objections pointed out by
+M. Surville, and had remembered hearing that a forest purchased in
+Auvergne, had ruined the buyer, owing to the difficulty of transport.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 321.
+
+Balzac was very happy at Wierzchownia, though the fulfilment of the
+great desire of his life seemed still distant. Madame Hanska's
+hesitation continued: she considered herself indispensable to her
+children; besides, owing to the unfortunate state of the Chemin de Fer
+du Nord, Balzac's pecuniary affairs would certainly be in an
+embarrassed condition for the next two years. Living in the same house
+with her, seeing her every day, and feeling sure of her affection, and
+of a certain happy consummation to his long probation, would not after
+all have been very painful, except for one great drawback, which
+increased continually as time went on; and that was the terrible
+effect of the inclement climate on Balzac's health. He had suffered
+from heart disease for some years, and in a letter to his sister, he
+traces its origin to the cruelty of the lady about whom she knows
+--possibly Madame de Castries. His abuse of coffee, however, and the
+unnatural life which he had led with the object of straining the
+tension of every power to its uttermost, and thus of forcing the
+greatest possible quantity and quality of literary work out of
+himself, had done much to ruin his robust constitution. Nevertheless,
+if he had been able to take up his abode with his wife in the Rue
+Fortunee, and to enjoy the freedom from anxiety which her fortune
+would have assured to him; if he had been happy with her, and
+surrounded by his beautiful things, had at last lived the life for
+which he had so long yearned, it seems as though several years at
+least might have remained to him. The enormous labours of his earlier
+years would indeed have been impossible,[*] but "Les Parents Pauvres"
+had shown that his intellect was now at its best, and material for
+many masterpieces was still to be found in that capacious brain and
+fertile imagination. However, the rigours of the Russian climate,
+aided no doubt by the privations and anxieties Balzac suffered in
+Paris after the Revolution of 1848, and by the barbarous treatment
+which he underwent at the hands of the doctor at Wierzchownia,
+rendered his case hopeless; and at this time only one more stone was
+destined to be laid on the unfinished edifice of the "Comedie
+Humaine."
+
+[*] "Balzac, sa Vie, son Oeuvre," by Julien Lemer.
+
+In February, 1848, it was absolutely necessary that Balzac should go
+to Paris, as money must at once be found, to meet the calls which the
+ill-fated Chemin de Fer du Nord was making on its shareholders. Balzac
+suffered terribly from cold on the journey, and arrived at the Rue
+Fortunee at a most unfortunate time, just before the Revolution of
+February, 1848.
+
+In consequence of the disturbed state of the political atmosphere, the
+outlook for literature was tragic; and Balzac, who was in immediate
+want of money, found himself in terrible straits. Living with two
+servants in his luxurious little house, surrounded by works of art
+which had cost thousands of francs, he was almost dying of hunger. His
+food consisted of boiled beef, which was cooked and eaten hot once a
+week, and the remaining six days he subsisted on the cold remains. It
+seemed impossible to raise money for his present pressing necessities.
+He managed to sell "L'Initie,"[*] at a ridiculously small price, to an
+ephemeral journal called _Le Spectateur Republicain_, but only
+received in return bills at a long date, and it was doubtful whether
+he was ever paid the money due to him.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul.
+
+Nevertheless, whatever effects his privations may have had on his
+health, they did not subdue his spirits, as both Lemer and
+Champfleury,[*] who each spent several hours with him in the Rue
+Fortunee, talk of his undiminished vivacity, his hearty fits of
+laughter, and his confident plans for the future. Lemer, who had known
+him before, does indeed remark that he seemed much aged; but
+Champfleury, who saw him for the first time, is only struck with his
+strength, animal spirits, and keen intelligence. In the midst of the
+despondent unhealthy tendencies of the literary talent of his day, he
+was still, with his _joie de vivre_, a man apart. _Naif_, full of a
+charming pride, he loved literature "as the Arab loves the wild horse
+he has found a difficulty in subduing." Nevertheless, material
+prosperity, as ever, occupied an important place in the foreground of
+his scheme of life, and his mind was still running on the theatre, as
+the great means of gaining money. He warned Champfleury not to follow
+his example, which led after the production of many books to an
+existence of deplorable poverty, but to write only three novels a
+year, so that ten months annually should be left for making a fortune
+by working for the theatre, "car il faut que l'artiste mene une vie
+splendide."[+]
+
+[*] "Balzac, sa Vie, son Oeuvre," by Julien Lemer.
+
+[+] "Grandes Figures d'Hier et d'Aujourd'hui," by Champfleury.
+
+Schemes still coursed each other through his quick-moving brain. He
+wished to create an association of all the great dramatists of the
+day, who should enrich the French stage with plays composed in common.
+He was rather despondent about this, however, as he said that most
+writers were cowardly and idle, and he as afraid they would therefore
+refuse to join his society. Scribe was the only one who would work;
+"Mais quelle litterature que 'Les Memoires d'un Colonel de Hussards!'"
+he exclaimed in horror.[*] Another plan for becoming colossally rich
+of which he talked seriously, was to gain a monopoly of all the arts,
+and to act as auctioneer to Europe: to buy the Apollo Belvedere, for
+instance, let all the nations compete for it against each other, and
+then to sell to the highest bidder.
+
+[*] "Notes Historiques sur M. de Balzac," by Champfleury.
+
+He took a gloomy view of the political situation, because, though he
+had a great admiration for Lamartine, he feared that the poet would
+not have sufficient strength of mind, to take advantage of the great
+majority he would doubtless have in the next Assemblee Constituante,
+and to make himself the chief of a strong government, when he might
+justify his magnificent _role_, by presiding at the accomplishment of
+the great social and administrative reforms, demanded by justice, and
+material, moral, and intellectual progress. In one of his remarks was
+a touch of sadness. He told Lemer that, at the present crisis, all
+authors should sacrifice their writing for a time, and throw
+themselves with energy into politics. "Et pour cela il faut etre
+jeune," he added with a sigh; "et moi, je suis vieux!"
+
+However, on March 18th, 1848, a letter written by him appeared in the
+_Constitutionnel_, in which he stated that he would stand as deputy if
+requested to do so.[*] In consequence, the "Club de la Fraternite
+Universelle" wrote to inform him that his name had been put on the
+list of candidates for election, and invited him to explain his
+political views at a meeting of the Club. In the _Constitutionnel_ of
+April 19th Balzac answered this request by refusing to go to the
+meeting, and at the same time announced that he had no intention of
+canvassing, and wished to owe his election solely to votes not asked
+for, but given voluntarily. He further commented on the fact that from
+1789 to 1848 France had changed its constitution every fifteen years,
+and asked if it were not time, "for the honour of our country, to
+find, to found, a form, an empire, a durable government; so that our
+prosperity, our commerce, our arts, which are the life of our
+commerce, the credit, the glory, in short, all the fortune of France,
+shall not be periodically jeopardised?"
+
+[*] "Honore de Balzac," by Edmond Bire.
+
+Naturally, these uncompromising views did not meet with favour from
+the "citoyens membres du Club de la Fraternite Universelle," and
+Balzac was not elected a member of the Assemblee Nationale.
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XV
+
+                             1848 - 1849
+
+  Description of interior of house in the Rue Fortunee--"La Maratre"
+  --Projected plays--"Le Faiseur"--Balzac seeks admission for the
+  last time to the Academie Francaise--He returns to Wierzchownia
+  --Failing health--Letters to his family--Family relations are
+  strained.
+
+During his stay in Paris, which lasted from February till the end of
+September, Balzac was careful not to admit any strangers to the
+mysterious little house in the Rue Fortunee. Even his trusted friends
+were only shown the magnificence of his residence with strict
+injunctions about secrecy, so afraid was he that the news of his
+supposed riches should reach the ears of his creditors. He was only
+the humble custodian, he said, of all these treasures. Nothing
+belonged to him; he was poorer than ever, and was only taking charge
+of the house for a friend. This was difficult to believe, and his
+acquaintances, who had always been sceptical about his debts, laughed,
+and said to his delight, yet annoyance, that he was in reality a
+millionaire, and that he kept his fortune in old stockings.
+
+Theophile Gautier, after remarking how difficult it was to gain an
+entrance to this carefully-guarded abode, describes it thus: "He
+received us, however, one day, and we were able to see a dining-room
+panelled in old oak, with a table, mantelpiece, buffets, sideboards,
+and chairs in carved wood, which would have made a Berruguete, a
+Cornejo Duque, or a Verbruggen envious; a drawing-room hung with
+gold-coloured damask, with doors, cornices, plinths, and embrasures
+of ebony; a library ranged in cupboards inlaid with tortoiseshell
+and copper in the style of Buhl; a bathroom in yellow breccia, with
+bas-reliefs in stucco; a domed boudoir, the ancient paintings of which
+had been restored by Edmond Hedouin; and a gallery lighted from the top,
+which we recognised later in the collection of 'Cousin Pons.' On the
+shelves were all sorts of curiosities--Saxony and Sevres porcelain,
+sea-green horns with cracked glazing; and on the staircase which was
+covered with carpet, were great china vases, and a magnificent lantern
+suspended by a cable of red silk."[*]
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains: Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+The gallery, the holy of holies of this temple of Art, where the
+treasures laboriously collected and long concealed, were at last
+assembled, is described exactly in "Le Cousin Pons." It was a large
+oblong room, lighted from the top, the walls painted in white and
+gold, but "the white yellowed, the gold reddened by time, gave
+harmonious tones which did not spoil the effect of the canvases."[*]
+
+[*] "Le Cousin Pons," by Honore de Balzac.
+
+There were fourteen statues in this gallery mounted on Buhl pedestals,
+and all round the walls were richly decorated ebony buffets containing
+_objets d'art_, while in the centre stood carved wooden cases, which
+showed to great advantage some of the greatest rarities in human work
+--costly jewellery, and curiosities in ivory, bronze, wood, and
+enamel. Sixty-seven pictures adorned the walls of this magnificent
+apartment, among them the four masterpieces, the loss of which is the
+most tragic incident in the melancholy story of poor old Pons. There
+were a "Chevalier de Malte en Priere," by Sebastian del Piombo; a
+"Holy Family," by Fra Bartolommeo; a "Landscape," by Hobbema; and a
+"Portrait of a Woman," by Albert Durer. Apparently they were in
+reality mediocre as works of art, but they were a source of the utmost
+pride and delight to their owner, who said enthusiastically of one of
+them--the Sebastian del Piombo--that "human art can go no further."
+When we know that in the novel Balzac is speaking of his own cherished
+possessions, we think of his own words, "Ideas project themselves with
+the same force by which they are conceived,"[*] and can understand the
+reason of the positive pain we feel, when the poor old Cousin Pons is
+bereft of his treasures. The great _voyant_ was transported by his
+powerful imagination into the personality of the old musician, and the
+heartrending situation he had evoked must have been torture to him;
+though with the courage and conscientiousness of the true artist he
+did not hesitate in the task he had set himself, but ever darkened and
+deepened the shadows of his tragedy towards the close.
+
+[*] "Le Pere Goriot," by Honore de Balzac.
+
+It is not surprising to hear that this sumptuous house cost 400,000
+francs, but it is astonishing, and it gives the inhabitant of
+steady-going England an idea of the inconvenience of revolutions, that
+its owner and occupant should in 1848 have been starving in the midst
+of magnificence, and that it should have been impossible for him to
+find a purchaser for some small curiosity, if he had wished to sell it
+to buy bread. Part of the cost of the house had been defrayed by Madame
+Hanska, but Balzac had evidently overstepped her limits, and had
+involved himself seriously in debt. One of the alleged reasons given
+by the lady for the further deferment of her promise to become Madame
+Honore de Balzac, was the state of embarrassment to which Balzac had
+reduced himself by his expenditure in decoration; and, in his despair
+and disgust, the home he had been so happily proud of, and which
+seemed destined never to be occupied, soon became to him "that
+rascally plum box."
+
+At this time, however, he was still tasting the joys of ownership, and
+was, as usual, hopeful about the future. His dreams of theatrical
+success seemed at last destined to come true.[*] Hostein, who had
+rushed to the Rue Fortunee as soon as he heard of the arrival of the
+great man, to ask for the play promised him in place of "Pierre et
+Catherine," found Balzac as usual at his desk, and was presented with
+a copy-book on which was written in large characters, "Gertrude,
+tragedie bourgeoise." The play was read next day in Balzac's
+drawing-room to Hostein, Madame Dorval, and Melingue; and Hostein
+accepted it under the name of "La Maratre," Madame Dorval expressing
+much objection to its first title. Eventually, to Madame Dorval's and
+Balzac's disappointment, Madame Lacressoniere, who had much influence
+with Hostein, was entrusted with the heroine's part; and the tragedy
+was produced at the Theatre-Historique on May 25th, 1848. In spite of
+the disturbed state of the political atmosphere, which was ruinous to
+the theatres, the play met with considerable success; and the critics
+began to realise that when once Balzac had mastered the _metier_ of
+the theatre, he might become a great dramatist. About this time,
+Cogniard, the director of the Porte-Saint-Martin, received a letter
+with fifty signatures, asking for a second performance of "Vautrin."
+He communicated this request to Balzac, who stipulated that if
+"Vautrin" were again put on the stage, all caricature of Louis
+Philippe should be avoided by the actor who played the principal part.
+He added that when he wrote the play he had never intended any
+political allusion. However, "Vautrin" was not acted till April, 1850,
+when, without Balzac's knowledge, it was produced at the Gaite.
+Balzac, who heard of this at Dresden, on his journey to Paris from
+Russia, wrote to complain of the violation of his dramatic rights, and
+in consequence the play was withdrawn from the boards of the Gaite.
+
+[*] "Honore de Balzac," by Edmond Bire.
+
+During his stay in Paris in 1848, Balzac sketched out the plots of
+many dramas. The director of the Odeon, in despair at the emptiness of
+his theatre after the political crisis of June, offered Victor Hugo,
+Dumas, and Balzac[*] a premium of 6,000 francs, and a royalty on all
+receipts exceeding 4,000 francs, if they would produce a play for his
+theatre; and in response to this offer Balzac promised "Richard
+Sauvage," which he never wrote. The manager of the Theatre Francais,
+M. Lockroy, also made overtures to the hitherto despised dramatist;
+and Balzac thought of providing him with a comedy entitled "Les Petits
+Bourgeois," but abandoned the idea. "Is it," he wrote to Hippolyte
+Rolle, "the day after a battle when the _bourgeoisie_ have so
+generously shed their blood for menaced civilisation; is it at the
+time when they are in mourning, that they should be represented on the
+stage?"[+]
+
+[*] "Honore de Balzac," by Edmond Bire.
+
+[+] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 332.
+
+At this time, however, Balzac had in his portfolio a play quite ready
+to be acted--one which had several times changed its title, being
+called by its author successively "Mercadet," "Le Speculateur," and
+"Le Faiseur." It was read and accepted by the Comedie Francaise on
+August 17th, 1848, under the name of "Le Faiseur"; and when Balzac
+returned to Russia at the end of September, he asked his friend
+Laurent-Jan to take charge of the comedy during his absence. Evidently
+he heard that matters were not going very smoothly, as in December he
+wrote to Laurent-Jan from Wierzchownia to say that if the Comedie
+Francaise refused "Mercadet"--which had been "recue a l'unanimite" on
+August 17th--it might be offered to Frederick Lemaitre; and a few days
+later, hearing that the piece was "recue seulement a corrections," by
+the Comedie Francaise, he withdrew it altogether. "Le Faiseur" or
+"Mercadet" was then offered to the Theatre Historique, and Balzac
+already saw in imagination his sister and his two nieces attending the
+first night's performance, decked out in their most elegant toilettes.
+As he was in Russia, and his mother did not go to the theatre, they
+would be the sole representatives of the family; and Hostein must
+therefore provide them with one of the best boxes in the theatre. If
+there were hissings and murmurings, as Balzac expected from past
+experiences, his younger niece Valentine would be indignant; but
+Sophie would still preserve her dignity, "and you, my dear sister.
+. . . But what can a box do against a theatre?"
+
+Nevertheless, though Hostein accepted "Le Faiseur," he announced that
+his clients preferred melodrama to comedy, and that, in order to fit
+it for his "theatre de boulevard," the play would require
+modifications which would completely change its character. Balzac
+naturally objected to these proposed alterations, as they sounded
+infinitely more sweeping than the "corrections" of the Comedie
+Francaise, and the play was never acted during his life. On August
+23rd, 1851, however, as we have already seen, "Mercadet le Faiseur,"
+with certain modifications made by M. Dennery, and also with omissions
+--for the play as Balzac originally wrote it was too long for the
+theatre--was received with tremendous acclamations at the Gymnase; and
+on October 22nd, 1868, it was acted at the Comedie Francaise, and
+again in 1879 and in 1890.
+
+Mercadet, first played by Geoffroy, who conceived Balzac's creation
+admirably, and at the Comedie Francaise less successfully by Got, is a
+second Figaro, with a strong likeness to Balzac himself. He is
+continually on the stage, and keeps the audience uninterruptedly
+amused by his wit, good-humour, hearty bursts of laughter, and
+ceaseless expedients for baffling his creditors. The action of the
+play is simple and natural, and the dialogue scintillates with _bon
+mots_, gaiety, and amusing sallies. The play had been conceived and
+even written in 1839 or 1840, and never did Balzac's imperishable
+youth shine out more brilliantly than in its execution. It is curious
+to notice that his innate sense of power as a dramatist, which never
+deserted him, even when he seemed to have found his line in quite a
+different direction, was in the end amply justified.
+
+His vivacity and hopefulness never forsook him for long. Even in his
+terrible state of health in 1849, and in spite of his disappointment
+at the non-appearance of "Le Faiseur," he was in buoyant spirits, and
+informed his sister in one of his letters, that he was sending a
+comedy, "Le Roi des Mendiants," to Laurent-Jan, as soon as he could
+manage to transport it to St. Petersburg. There, the French Ambassador
+would be entrusted with the charge of despatching it to Paris, as
+manuscripts were not allowed to travel by post.[*] About three weeks
+later,[+] he wrote to ask his mother to tell Madame Dorval that he was
+preparing another play, with a great _role_ in it designed specially
+for her. However, owing to Balzac's failing health the drama never
+took form, and Madame Dorval died on April 20th, 1849, about three
+weeks after his letter was despatched.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 393.
+
+[+] "Correspondance," vol. ii, p. 397.
+
+At the time of his stay in the Rue Fortunee in 1848, he was, however,
+satisfied about "Mercadet," which had, as we have seen, been accepted
+by the Comedie Francaise; and the production of which would help, he
+doubtless hoped, to relieve him from his monetary difficulties. Ready
+money was an ever-pressing necessity. Emile de Girardin, in his
+political activity during the Revolution of 1848, had not forgotten
+his personal resentments, and soon after Balzac's arrival in Paris he
+requested him to pay at once the 721 francs 85 centimes which he still
+owed _La Presse_.[*] This Balzac could not possibly do, and most
+probably he forgot all about the matter. Not so his antagonist, who on
+October 7th, 1848, after Balzac had returned to Russia, demanded
+immediate payment; and four days afterwards applied to the Tribunal of
+the Seine for an order that the debt should be paid from the future
+receipts of "Le Faiseur," which was at that time in rehearsal at the
+Theatre Francais. This demand was granted, but as after all the play
+was withdrawn, Emile de Girardin did not receive his money. However,
+he was paid in the end, as he wrote Balzac a receipt dated December
+30th, 1848, for 757 francs 75 centimes, a sum which included legal
+expenses as well as the original debt.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul.
+
+There were to be two elections to the Academie Francaise in January,
+1849, as M. Chateaubriand's and M. Vatout's armchairs were both
+vacant; and Balzac determined again to try his fortune. He wrote the
+required letter before his departure to Russia, and this was read at a
+meeting of the illustrious Forty on October 5th, 1848.[*] Apparently,
+Balzac's absence from France, which prevented him from paying the
+prescribed visits, militated against his chances of success, as his
+ardent supporter, M. Vacquerie, wrote in _L'Evenement_ of January 9th,
+1849: "Balzac is now in Russia. How can he be expected to pay visits?
+He will not become a member of the Academie because he has not been in
+Paris? And when posterity says, 'He wrote "Splendeurs et Miseres des
+Courtisanes," "Le Pere Goriot," "Les Parents Pauvres," and "Les
+Treize,"' the Academie will answer: 'Yes, but he went on a journey.'"
+
+[*] "Honore de Balzac," by Edmond Bire.
+
+At the first election, which took place on January 11, 1849, the Duc
+de Noailles was at the head of the list, with twenty-five papers in
+his favour, and Balzac received two; at the second, on January 18th,
+when M. de Saint-Priest was the successful candidate, two members of
+the Academy again voted for Balzac at the first round of the ballot,
+but at the third and deciding round his name was not included at all.
+Balzac wrote to Laurent-Jan to ask for the names of his supporters, as
+he wished to thank them; and about the same time, in a letter to his
+brother-in-law, M. Surville, he let it be understood that he would
+never again present himself as a candidate for admission to the
+Academie Francaise, as he intended to put that body in the wrong.
+
+This is anticipation; we must return to the end of September, 1848,
+when Balzac, after having arranged the necessary business matters,
+hurried back to Madame Hanska. For the better guardianship of his
+treasures, he left his mother with two servants installed in the Rue
+Fortunee, and he expected to return to Paris by the beginning of 1849.
+His family did not hear from him for more than a month after his
+arrival, when his mother received a letter full, as usual, of
+directions and commissions, but giving no news of his own doings. He
+was evidently ill at the time he wrote, and a few days afterwards was
+seized with acute bronchitis, and was obliged to put off his projected
+return to Paris.
+
+Balzac's health all through the winter was deplorable, and under the
+direction of the doctor at Wierzchownia, he went through a course of
+treatment for his heart and lungs. This doctor was a pupil of the
+famous Franck, the original of Benassis in the "Medecin de Campagne,"
+and Balzac appears to have had complete faith in him, and to have been
+much impressed by his dictum, that French physicians, though the first
+in the world for diagnosis, were quite ignorant of curative methods.
+Balzac's passion at this time for everything Russian, must have been
+peculiarly trying to his family. It surely seemed to them madness that
+he should separate himself from his country, should gradually see less
+and less of his friends, and should show an inclination to be ashamed
+of his relations, for the sake of a woman crippled with rheumatism,
+and no longer young, who, however passionately she may have loved him
+in the past, seemed now to have grown tired of him. Sophie and
+Valentine Surville were no doubt delighted to receive magnificent silk
+wraps from their uncle, trimmed with Russian fur; but the letter
+accompanying the gift must, we think, have rather spoiled their
+pleasure, or at any rate was likely to have hurt their mother's
+feelings. It was surely hardly necessary to inform "ma pauvre Sophie"
+that it was in vain for her to compete with the Countess Georges in
+proficiency on the piano, as the latter had "the genius of music, as
+of love"; and a long string of that wonderful young lady's perfections
+must have been rather wearying to those who had not the felicity of
+being acquainted with her. Apparently the young Countess possessed
+deep knowledge without pedantry, and was of delicious naivete,
+laughing like a little child; though this did not prevent her from
+showing religious enthusiasm about beautiful things. Further, she was
+of angelic goodness, intensely observant, yet extremely discreet, most
+respectful to her adored mother, very industrious, and she lived only
+for duty. "All these advantages are set off by a proud air, full of
+good breeding, an air of ease and grandeur which is not possessed by
+every queen, and which is quite lost in France, where every one wishes
+to be equal. This outward distinction, this look of being a great
+lady, is one of the most precious gifts which God, the God of women,
+can bestow on them."[*] To paint her character aright, Balzac says, it
+would be necessary to blend in one word virtues which a moralist would
+consider it impossible to find united in a single human being; and her
+"sublime education" was a crown to the whole edifice of her
+perfections.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 345.
+
+The only consolation which an impartial though possibly unprincipled
+observer, might have offered at this point to the unfortunate Sophie
+and Valentine, would be the fact that the young Countess was evidently
+extremely plain, as even Balzac's partiality only allows him to say:
+"Physically she possesses grace, which is more beautiful even than
+beauty, and this triumphs over a complexion which is still brown (she
+is hardly sixteen years old), and over a nose which, though well cut,
+is only charming in the profile."
+
+Let us hope, however, that our pity is after all wasted on the nieces,
+and that in their joy at the idea of receiving handsome presents, they
+either skipped the unwelcome portions of their distinguished uncle's
+letter, or that, knowing the cause of his raptures, if they _did_
+read, they laughed and understood.
+
+His Polar Star is seldom mentioned by name in Balzac's letters; she is
+generally "the person with whom I am staying," and he says little
+about her, except that she is very much distressed at the amount of
+his debts, and that the great happiness of his life is constantly
+deferred. Two fires had taken place on the estate, and the Countess
+was in addition burdened with three lawsuits: one about some property
+which should have come to her from an uncle, and about which it would
+be necessary for her to go to St. Petersburg. Balzac's letters as
+usual abound in allusions to his monetary difficulties, while the
+Survilles had been almost ruined by the Revolution of 1848, so that
+the outlook for the family was black on all sides.
+
+All this time Balzac's relations were becoming more and more
+discontented with his doings, as well as with the general aspect of
+his affairs. Honore was evidently pursuing a chimera, and because of
+his illusions, many burdens were imposed on them. Madame de Balzac the
+principal sufferer, was tired of acting as custodian at the Rue
+Fortunee, where she was expected to teach Francois how to clean the
+lamps, and received careful instructions about wrapping the gilt
+bronzes in cotton rags. It seemed as though her son were permanently
+swallowed up by that terrible Russia, about which, as he remarked
+impatiently, she would never understand anything; and she longed to
+retire to her little lodgings at Suresnes, and to do as she pleased.
+Laure, too, had her grievances, though possibly she kept them to
+herself and strove to act as peacemaker. She and her family were in
+terrible monetary straits, and the sight of the costly house, which
+seemed destined never to be occupied, must have been slightly
+exasperating. She was quite willing to be useful to Honore, and did
+not mind when troublesome commissions were entrusted to her; but it
+was no doubt galling to notice that--though her daughters were
+expected to write continually, and were supposed to be amply rewarded
+for their labours, by hearing of the delight with which the young
+Countess listened to their letters--a strong motive lurking behind
+Balzac's anxiety to hear often from his family, was the desire to
+impress Madame Hanska favourably with the idea of their affection for
+himself, and their unity. At the same time, a sad presentiment warned
+her, that if ever her brother were married to this great lady, his
+family and friends would see little more of him. The prospect cannot
+have been very cheerful to poor Laure, as either Honore would return
+to France brokenhearted and overwhelmed with debt, or he would gain
+his heart's desire, and would be lost to his family.
+
+The tone of Balzac's letters to his relations at this time has been
+adversely criticised, and it is true that the reader is sometimes
+irritated by the frequency of his requests for service from them, and
+his continual insistence on the wonderful perfections of the Hanski
+family, and their grandeur and importance. Occasionally, too, his
+letters show an irritability which is a new feature in his character.
+We must remember, however, in judging Balzac, that he was nearly
+driven wild by the position in which he found himself. It was
+necessary that he should always be bright, good-natured, and agreeable
+to the party at Wierzchownia, and his letters to his family were
+therefore the only safety-valve for the impatience and despair, which,
+though he never utters a word of reproach against Madame Hanska, must
+sometimes have taken possession of him.
+
+His was a terrible dilemma. Ill and suffering, so that he was not able
+to work to diminish his load of debt, desperately in love with a
+cold-hearted woman, who used these debts as a lever for postponing what
+on her side was certainly an undesirable marriage; and enormously
+proud, so that failure in his hopes would mean to him not only a broken
+heart, but also almost unbearable mortification; Balzac, crippled and
+handicapped, with his teeth set hard, his powers concentrated on one
+point, that of winning Madame Hanska, was at times hardly master of
+himself. There was indeed some excuse for his irritation, when his
+family wrote something tactless, or involved themselves in fresh
+misfortunes, just as matters perhaps seemed progressing a little less
+unfavourably than usual. Their letters were always read aloud at the
+lunch table at Wierzchownia, and often, alas! their perusal served to
+prove anew to Madame Hanska, the mistake she had made in contemplating
+an alliance with a member of a family so peculiarly unlucky and
+undesirable.
+
+At last the smouldering indignation between Balzac and his relations
+burst into a flame. The immediate cause of ignition was a letter from
+Madame de Balzac, complaining that Honore had not written sufficiently
+often to her; and further, that he did not answer his nieces'
+epistles. These reproaches were received with much indignation, as
+Balzac remarked in his answer, which was dated February, 1849, that he
+had written seven times to his mother since his return to Wierzchownia
+in September, and that he did not like to send letters continually,
+because they were franked by his hosts. He goes on to say rather
+sadly, that it will not do for him to trespass on the hospitality
+offered him, because, though he has been royally and magnificently
+received, he has still no rights but those of a guest. On the subject
+of his neglect to write to his nieces, he is very angry, and cries in
+an outburst of irritability: "It seems strange to you that I do not
+write to my nieces. It is you, their grandmother, who have such ideas
+on family etiquette! You consider that your son, fifty years old, is
+obliged to write to his nieces! My nieces ought to feel very much
+honoured and very happy when I address a few words to them; certainly
+their letters are nice, and always give me pleasure."[*] A postscript
+to the letter contains the words: "Leave the house in the Rue Fortunee
+as little as possible, I beg you, because, though Francois is good and
+faithful, he is not very clever, and may easily do stupid things."
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 373.
+
+Balzac followed this with another letter, which apparently impressed
+on his mother that to please the Wierzchownia family she must behave
+very well to him; and this communication naturally annoyed Madame de
+Balzac even more than the preceding one.
+
+In reply, she wrote a severe reprimand to her son, in which she
+addressed him as "vous," and remarked that her affection in future
+would depend on his conduct. In fact, as Balzac wrote hotly to Laure,
+it was the letter of a mother scolding a small boy, and he was fifty
+years old! Unfortunately, too, it arrived during the _dejeuner_, and
+Balzac cried impulsively, "My mother is angry with me!" and then was
+forced to read the letter to the party assembled. It made a very bad
+impression, as it showed that either he was a bad son, or his mother
+an extremely difficult person to get on with. Fate had chosen an
+unfavourable moment for the arrival of this missive, which, later on,
+when her wrath had abated, Madame de Balzac announced that she had
+written partly in jest. Balzac had at last been allowed to write to
+St. Petersburg, to beg the Czar's permission for his marriage with
+Madame Hanska, and this had been very decidedly refused. Madame Hanska
+was not at this time prepared to hand over her capital to her
+daughter, and thus to take the only step, which would have induced her
+Sovereign to authorise her to leave his dominions. She therefore
+talked of breaking off the engagement, and of sending Balzac to Paris,
+to sell everything in the Rue Fortunee. She was tired of struggling;
+and in Russia she was rich, honoured, and comfortable, whereas she
+trembled to think of the troublous life which awaited her as Madame
+Honore de Balzac. Madame de Balzac's letter further strengthened her
+resolve. Apparently, in addition to evidence about family dissensions,
+it contained disquieting revelations about the discreditable Henri,
+and the necessity for supporting the Montzaigle grandchildren; and the
+veil with which Balzac had striven to soften the aspect of the family
+skeletons was violently withdrawn. He was in despair. At this juncture
+his mother's communication was fatal! She had done irreparable
+mischief!
+
+The long letter he wrote to Madame Surville,[*] imploring her to act
+as peacemaker, and insisting on the benefits which his marriage would
+bring to the whole family, would be comical were it not for the
+writer's real trouble and anxiety; and the reader's knowledge that,
+underlying the common-sense worldly arguments--which were brought
+forward in the hope of inducing his family to help him by all the
+means in their power--was real romantic love for the woman who had now
+been his ideal for sixteen years.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 378.
+
+He put the case to Madame Surville as if it were her own, and asked
+what her course would be if she were rich, and Sophie an heiress with
+many suitors. Sophie, according to her uncle's hypothesis, was in love
+with a young sculptor; and her parents had permitted an engagement
+between the two. The sculptor, however, came to live in the same house
+with his _fiancee_, and his family wrote him letters which he showed
+to Madame Surville, containing damaging revelations about family
+matters. As a culminating indiscretion, his mother wrote to this
+sculptor, "who is David, or Pradier, or Ingres," a letter in which she
+treated him like a street boy. What would Laure do in these
+circumstances? Balzac asks. Would she not in disgust dismiss the
+sculptor, and choose a more eligible _parti_ for Sophie?
+"Unsatisfactory marriages," he remarks sagely, "are easily made; but
+satisfactory ones require infinite precautions and scrupulous
+attention, or one does not get married; and I am at present most
+likely to remain a bachelor."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 328.
+
+He appeals to Madame Surville's self-interest. "Reflect on the fact,
+my dear Laure, that not one of us can be said to have arrived at our
+goal, and that if, instead of being obliged to work in order to live,
+I were to become the husband of a most intellectual, well born and
+highly connected woman, with a solid though small fortune--in spite of
+this woman's desire to remain in her own country and to make no new
+relations, even family ones--I should be in a much more favourable
+position to be useful to you all. I know that Madame Hanska would show
+kindness to and feel keen interest in your dear little ones."
+
+Surely, he says, it will be an advantage to the whole family, when he
+has a _salon_ presided over by a beautiful, clever woman, imposing as
+a queen, where he can assemble the _elite_ of Parisian society. He
+does not wish to be tyrannical or overbearing with his family, but he
+informs them that it will be of no use to place themselves in
+opposition to such a woman. He warns them that she and her children
+will _never forgive_ those who blame him to them. Further on in his
+lengthy epistle, he gives instructions in deportment, and tells his
+relations that in their intercourse with Madame Hanska they must not
+show servility, haughtiness, sensitiveness, or obsequiousness; but
+must be natural, simple, and affectionate. It was no wonder that the
+Balzac family disliked Madame Hanska! And the poor woman cannot be
+considered responsible for the feeling evoked!
+
+Towards the end of his letter, however, the reader forgives Balzac,
+and realises that the cry of a desperate man, ill and suffering, yet
+still clinging with determined strength to the hope which means
+everything to him, must not be criticised minutely. "Once everything
+is lost, I shall live no longer; I shall content myself with a garret
+like that of the Rue Lesdiguieres, and shall only spend a hundred
+francs a month. My heart, soul, and ambition will be satisfied with
+nothing but the object I have pursued for sixteen years: if this
+immense happiness escapes me, I shall no longer want anything, and
+shall refuse everything!"
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVI
+
+                             1849 - 1850
+
+  Peace renewed between Balzac and his family--He thinks of old
+  friends--Madame Hanska's continued vacillations--Dr. Knothe's
+  treatment--Madame Hanska's relations with Balzac, and her
+  ignorance about his illness--Visit to Kiev--Balzac's marriage
+  --His letters to his mother, sister, and to Madame Carraud
+  --Delay in starting for France--Terrible journey--Madame Honore
+  de Balzac's pearl necklace and strange letter--Balzac's married
+  life--Arrival of the newly-married couple in Paris.
+
+The quarrel between Balzac and his family was quickly made up, and it
+was settled that his mother should--if she wished to do so--return at
+once to Suresnes; and come up every day to the Rue Fortunee, taking
+carriages for this purpose at Balzac's expense. However, having made a
+small commotion, and asserted her dignity by the announcement that she
+felt perfectly free to leave the Rue Fortunee whenever she chose to do
+so, Madame de Balzac's resentment was satisfied; and she remained
+there till a month before Balzac's return in May, 1850, when illness
+necessitated her removal to her daughter's house.[*] The nieces, of
+whom Balzac was really extremely fond, "sulked" no longer, but wrote
+letters which their uncle praised highly, and which he answered gaily
+and amusingly. The shadowy cloud, too, which had prevented the brother
+and sister from seeing each other clearly, dispersed for ever; and one
+of Honore's letters to Laure about this time contains the loving
+words, "As far as you are concerned, every day is your festival in my
+heart, companion of my childhood, and of my bright as well as of my
+gloomy days."[+]
+
+[*] "Une Page perdue de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+[+] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 420.
+
+It is curious to notice that Balzac's thoughts now turned to those
+faithful friends of his youth, who had in late years passed rather
+into the background of his life. He wrote a long letter to Madame
+Delannoy, who had been a mother to him in the struggling days of his
+half-starved youth. He had paid off the debt he owed her, but he said
+he would never be able to thank her adequately for her tenderness and
+goodness to him. He thought also of Dablin, his early benefactor; and
+he remembered the old days at Frapesle, and wrote Madame Carraud a
+most affectionate letter, sending messages of remembrance to Borget
+and to the Commandant Carraud, and inquiring about his old
+acquaintance Periollas. The Carrauds, like others in those
+revolutionary days, had lost money; and Balzac explained that though
+owing to his illness he had been forbidden to write, he felt obliged
+to disobey his doctor's commands, that Madame Carraud should not
+believe that true friends can ever fail each other in trouble. He
+says: "I have never ceased thinking about you, loving you, talking of
+you, even here, where they have known Borget since 1833. . . . How
+different life is from the height of fifty years, and how far we are
+often from our hopes! . . . How many objects, how many illusions have
+been thrown overboard! and except for the affection which continues to
+grow, I have advanced in nothing!"[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 422.
+
+The annals of this last year of Balzac's life, are a record of
+constantly disappointed hope and of physical suffering. One after
+another he was forced to give up his many plans, and to remain in
+suffering inaction. He had intended to go to Kiev to present himself
+to the Governor-General, but this expedition was put off from month to
+month owing to his ill health. A visit to Moscow on his way back to
+Paris, was another project which had to be abandoned, as he was never
+well enough to make his proposed visit to France till he took his last
+painful and difficult journey in April, 1850, and sight-seeing was
+then impossible. His hopefulness, however, never left him, and his
+projected enterprises, whether they took the shape of writings or of
+travels, were in his eyes only deferred, never definitely
+relinquished. The wearing uncertainty about Madame Hanska's intentions
+was the one condition of his life which continued always, if
+continuance can be considered applicable to anything so variable as
+that lady's moods. In April, 1849, Balzac wrote to his sister: "No one
+knows what the year 1847, and February, 1848, and above all the doubt
+as to what my fate will be, have cost me!"[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 392.
+
+Sometimes, Madame Hanska, cruelly regardless of the agony she caused
+the sick man by her heedless words, would threaten to break off the
+engagement altogether. On other occasions, Balzac would write to his
+family to say that, for reasons which he was unable to give in his
+letters, the question of the marriage was _postponed indefinitely_;
+and once he made the resolution that he would not leave Wierzchownia
+till the affair was settled in one way or another. In a crisis of his
+terrible malady he wrote: "Whatever happens, I shall come back in
+August. One must die at one's post. . . . How can I offer a life as
+broken as mine! I must make my situation clear to the incomparable
+friend who for sixteen years has shone on my life like a beneficent
+star."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 401.
+
+The relations between Balzac and Madame Hanska at this time are
+mysterious. He shows his usual caution in his letters to his family,
+and the reader is conscious that much was passing at Wierzchownia, on
+which Balzac is absolutely silent, and that many events that he _does_
+record are carefully arranged with the intention of conveying certain
+impressions to his hearers. One of his motives is clear. He was
+nervously afraid that gossip about his secret engagement, and possibly
+approaching marriage, should be spread abroad prematurely; and that
+the report might either frighten Madame Hanska into dismissing him
+altogether, or might reach the ears of her relations, and cause them
+to remonstrate with her anew on the folly of her proceedings.
+
+Other discrepancies are puzzling. All through 1849 Balzac, as we have
+seen, was very ill. He was suffering from aneurism of the heart, a
+complaint which the two doctors Knothe told him they could cure. With
+perfect faith in their powers, Balzac wrote to his sister expressing
+regret that, owing to the ignorance of the French doctors Soulie had
+been allowed to die of this malady, when he might have been saved if
+Dr. Knothe's treatment had been followed. The younger doctor, however,
+soon gave up Balzac's case as hopeless; but the father, who was very
+intimate with the Wierzchownia family, always expressed himself
+confidently about his patient's ultimate recovery; and Balzac wrote:
+"What gratitude I owe to this doctor! He loves violins: when once I am
+at Paris I must find a Stradivarius to present to him."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 404.
+
+Dr. Knothe's principal prescription was pure lemon juice. This was to
+be taken twice a day, to purify and quicken the circulation of the
+blood in the veins, and to re-establish the equilibrium between it and
+the arterial blood. Either as a consequence of this treatment, or in
+the natural course of the illness, a terrible crisis took place in
+June, 1849, during which Balzac's sufferings were intense; and for
+twenty-five hours the doctor never left him. After this he was better
+for a time, and though his eyesight had become so weak that he was
+unable to read at night, he could walk, go upstairs, and lie flat in
+bed. In October he was seized with what he called Moldavian fever, a
+disease which came, he said, from the swamps of the Danube, and
+ravaged the Odessa district and the steppes; and again he became
+dangerously ill. In January, 1850, the fever was followed by a
+terrible cold in his lungs, and he was obliged to remain for ten days
+in bed. However, he was cheered by the society of Madame Hanska and
+Madame Georges Mniszech, who showed "adorable goodness" in keeping him
+company during his imprisonment.
+
+After hearing all this, it is startling to read in a letter from
+Madame Honore de Balzac to her daughter written from Frankfort on May
+16th, 1850,[*] that it is awkward that she should know nothing of the
+regimen to which Balzac has been subjected by Dr. Knothe; because when
+they arrive in Paris, his own doctor is certain to ask for
+particulars! The most indifferent hostess could not fail, one would
+think, to interest herself sufficiently about the welfare of the
+solitary and expatriated guest under her roof, to consult with the
+doctor about him when he was dangerously ill. More especially would
+she feel responsibility, when it was owing to her own action that the
+patient was cut off from all other advice, except that of a medical
+man who was her peculiar _protege_. He would thus be completely in her
+charge; and she would naturally be nervously anxious, for her own
+comfort and satisfaction, to acquaint herself with the course of the
+malady, and with the treatment used to subdue it. If we add to these
+considerations the fact that the sufferer was not a mere acquaintance,
+was not even only a great friend; but was the man who loved her, the
+man whose wife she had promised to become, Madame Hanska's ignorance
+appears totally inexplicable.
+
+[*] Unpublished letter in the possession of the Vicomte de Spoelberch
+    de Lovenjoul.
+
+We must remember, however, that we only have _Balzac's_ account of his
+illness, and of his interviews with the doctor; and that the malady
+being heart disease, it is possible that Dr. Knothe considered it his
+duty to deceive his patient--possible therefore that Madame Hanska
+knew before her marriage that Balzac was a dying man, and that the
+doctor's prescriptions were useless.
+
+Owing to the burning of her letters, we have only Balzac's
+enthusiastic and lover-like descriptions to guide our idea of Madame
+Hanska; and she remains to some extent a shadowy figure, difficult to
+realise. Several characteristics, however, stand out clearly: among
+them her power of hiding her thoughts and feelings from those to whom
+she was most deeply attached; also an occasional self-control, which
+seems strangely at variance with her naturally passionate and
+uncontrolled nature. She was extremely proud; and the wish, while
+pleasing herself, to do nothing which would lower her in the eyes of
+the world, exercised a powerful influence over her actions.
+Intellectually brilliant, a clever woman of business, and mentally
+active; she was yet on some occasions curiously inert, and carried the
+state of mind embodied in the words "live and let live," to dangerous
+lengths. She must have possessed great determination, as even Balzac's
+adoration, and his undoubted powers of fascination, could not move her
+from the vacillations which, designedly or no, kept _him_ enchained at
+her feet while _she_ remained free.
+
+Among much however, in her character that we cannot admire, she
+possessed one virtue in perfection--that of maternal love. The bond of
+affection between the mother and her daughter Anna was strong and
+enduring, and Madame Hanska would willingly have sacrificed everything
+for her beloved child's happiness. This was the true, engrossing love
+of her life; her affection for Balzac not having remained in its first
+freshness, as his love for her had done. On the contrary, it was at
+this time slightly withered, and had been partially stifled by
+prudential considerations, so that it was difficult to discover among
+the varied and tangled growths which surrounded it.
+
+It is an interesting problem whether Balzac, in spite of his brave
+words, realised that Madame Hanska no longer cared for him. When he
+wrote that he was sure that none of these deferments proceeded from
+want of love, did he pen these words with a wistful attempt to prove
+to himself that the fact was as he stated? After eighteen months in
+the same house with Madame Hanska, could he _really_ believe that only
+material difficulties kept her apart from him? Or did he at last
+understand: and though stricken to death, cling still, for the sake of
+his pride and his lost illusions, to what had been for so long his one
+object in life? We do not know.
+
+The only thing of which we are certain is, that if the fact of Madame
+Hanska's indifference _had_ slowly and painfully dawned upon Balzac,
+he would never have told, and would have used words to hide his
+knowledge.
+
+On the other hand, there is sometimes a ring of truth about his words,
+which seem to prove that he had not yet tasted the full bitterness of
+the tragedy of his life. On November 29th, 1849, he wrote to Madame
+Surville[*]: "It is the recompense of your life to possess two such
+children; you must not be unjust to fate; you ought to be willing to
+accept many misfortunes. The case is the same with me and Madame
+Hanska. The gift of her affection accounts to me for all my troubles,
+my worries, and my terrible labours. I have been paying in advance for
+the price of this treasure: as Napoleon says, everything is paid for
+here, nothing is stolen. I seem, indeed, to have paid very little.
+Twenty-five years of work and struggle are nothing compared to a love
+so splendid, so radiant, so complete. I have been fourteen months in a
+desert, for it _is_ a desert; and it seems to me that they have passed
+like a dream, without an hour's weariness, without a single dispute;
+and that after five years to travel together, and sixteen years of
+intimate acquaintance, our only troubles have been caused by the state
+of our health and by business matters."
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 426.
+
+When he wrote these words, Balzac must have at last felt tolerably
+confident about a happy solution to his troubles. However, in a later
+letter to his mother, he says that the Wierzchownia party are going to
+Kiev for the great Fair, that he will avail himself of this occasion
+for the renewal of his passport, and that he will not know till he
+arrives there, whether the great event will at last take place. In any
+case, he will start for France directly after the party return to
+Wierzchownia in the beginning of February; and as caution is still
+highly important, his mother must judge from his directions about the
+Rue Fortunee, whether he is coming back alone, or is bringing his
+bride with him. She is, in any case, not to be sparing about fires in
+the library and the picture gallery; and can write to him at Berlin,
+and at Frankfort, on his way home.
+
+The great Fair at Kiev, which was called the "Foire des Contrats," was
+a notable occasion for gaiety; and extensive preparations were made
+beforehand for the enjoyment of a thoroughly festive time. A house was
+hired by Madame Hanska and the Mniszechs, and furniture, carriages,
+and servants, were despatched in advance. The weather, however, was an
+important consideration; and on this occasion, owing to the inclemency
+of the season, the roads were unfortunately impassable, so that the
+pleasure trip had to be deferred from the middle till the end of
+February. This was no doubt a sad disappointment to the Countess Anna,
+who thereby missed much enjoyment, and the delay must have caused
+intense irritation to the impatient Balzac, but Madame Hanska's
+feelings on the subject remain, as usual, enigmatical.
+
+When the Wierzchownia party at last arrived at Kiev, Madame Georges
+Mniszech found plenty of gaiety awaiting her, and enjoyed herself
+immensely, going out to balls in costumes of regal magnificence. Her
+partners were often very rough, and on one occasion Balzac relates
+that a handkerchief belonging to the young Countess, which had cost
+more than 500 francs, was torn to pieces in a figure of the mazurka,
+in which men contend for the dancer's handkerchief. However, "La mere
+adorable" at once repaired the deficiency in her daughter's trousseau
+by presenting her with one of the best of her own, "twice as nice,
+with only linen enough to blow one's nose on, all the rest being
+English point lace."
+
+Balzac was unable to be present at any of these festivities, as the
+journey to Kiev had caused him acute suffering; and two days after his
+arrival, while he was paying his State visits to the authorities,[*]
+he caught the most violent cold he had ever had, and spent the time of
+his stay at Kiev in his bedroom, where his only pleasure was to see
+the Countess Anna before she started for her parties, and to admire
+her beautiful clothes. He ascribes his malady to "a terrible and
+deleterious blast of wind called the 'chasse-neige,' which travels by
+the course of the Dnieper, and perhaps comes from the shores of the
+Black Sea," and which managed to penetrate to him, though he was
+wrapped up with furs so that no spot seemed left for the outside air
+to reach. He was now very ill, and the slightest agitation, even a
+sentence spoken rather loudly in his presence, would bring on a
+terrible fit of suffocation. He still hoped to return to Paris before
+long, and clung to the idea that his wife would accompany him; but he
+said it would be impossible to travel without a servant, as he was
+unable to carry a parcel or to move quickly. As he remarks, "Tout cela
+n'est pas gai!"
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 436.
+
+However, his expedition and its attendant suffering were not
+useless,[*] as the "four or five successive illnesses and the
+sufferings from the climate, which I have laughed at for her sake,
+have touched that noble soul; so that she is, as a sensible woman,
+more influenced by them, than afraid of the few little debts which
+remain to be paid, and I see that everything will go well." On March
+11th, 1850, he writes from Berditchef that "everything is now arranged
+for the affair his mother knows of," but that the greatest discretion
+is still necessary. Madame de Balzac is given minute directions about
+the flowers which are to decorate the house in the Rue Fortunee, as a
+surprise to Madame Honore; and as we read, we can imagine Balzac's
+pride and delight when he wrote the name. His ailments and sufferings
+are forgotten, and the letter sounds as though written by an
+enthusiastic boy. He will send from Frankfort to let Madame de Balzac
+know the exact day that he and his bride will reach Paris; and in
+order that the mystery may be preserved, will merely say, "Do not
+forget on such a day to have the garden arranged,"[+] and his mother
+will understand what he means. The whole house is evidently
+photographed in his mind like the houses in his novels. He knows the
+exact position of each vase: of the big jardiniere in the first room,
+the one in the Japanese drawing-room, the two in the domed boudoir,
+and the two tiny ones in the grey apartment. They are all to be filled
+with flowers; but the marquetry jardiniere in the green drawing-room,
+evidently the future Madame Honore's special abode, is to be filled
+with "_belles, belles fleurs_!"
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 438.
+
+[+] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 444.
+
+The wedding took place at seven o'clock on the morning of March 14th,
+1850, at the church of Saint Barbe at Berditchef. In the unavoidable
+absence of the Bishop of Jitomir, the ceremony was performed by the
+Abbe Comte Czarouski, whom Balzac calls a holy and virtuous priest,
+and likens to Abbe Hinaux, the Duchesse d'Angouleme's confessor.
+
+The Countess Anna accompanied her mother, and was in the highest
+spirits; and the witnesses were the Comte Georges Mniszech, the Comte
+Gustave Olizar brother-in-law to the Abbe Comte Czarouski, and the
+cure of the parish of Berditchef. Madame Honore de Balzac had given
+her capital to her children, but received in exchange a large income,
+a fact which she wisely concealed because of Balzac's creditors; and
+Balzac speaks with admiration of her noble generosity and
+disinterestedness, in this denuding herself of her fortune.
+
+The newly-married couple travelled back to Wierzchownia, arriving,
+quite tired out, at half-past ten at night; and the next morning, as
+soon as he woke, Balzac wrote to inform his mother of the great event.
+He explained, with a well-adjusted prevision of future discord, if the
+elder Madame de Balzac's dignity were not sufficiently considered,
+that his wife had intended writing herself to offer her respects, but
+that her hands were so swollen with rheumatic gout that she could not
+hold a pen. He further informed his family, who had hitherto been kept
+in ignorance of the fact, that from the same cause she was often
+unable to walk. However, this did not depress him, as he remarked with
+his usual cheerfulness, that she would certainly be cured in Paris,
+where she would be able to take exercise and would follow a prescribed
+treatment. On the same day he penned a delighted letter to his sister,
+containing the exultant words: "For twenty-four hours, therefore,
+there has now existed a Madame Eve de Balzac, _nee_ Rzewuska, _or_ a
+Madame Honore de Balzac, _or_ a Madame de Balzac the younger." He
+could hardly believe in his own good fortune, and the joyful letter
+finishes with the words, "Ton frere Honore, au comble du bonheur!"
+
+Two days later, Balzac wrote to Madame Carraud a letter in which he
+said: "Three days ago I married the only woman I have ever loved, whom
+I love more than ever, and whom I shall love till death. This union
+is, I think, the recompense which God has had in reserve for me after
+so much adversity, so many years of work, so much gone through and
+overcome. I did not have a happy youth or happy springtide; I shall
+have the most brilliant of summers and the sweetest of autumns." In
+his newly-found happiness he did not forget that his old friend was
+now in straitened circumstances, but begged her from himself and
+Madame Honore to consider their house as her own: "Therefore, whenever
+you wish to come to Paris you will come to us, without even giving us
+notice. You will come to us in the Rue Fortunee as if to your own
+home, just as I used to go to Frapesle. This is my right. I must
+remind you of what you said to me one day at Angouleme, when, having
+broken down after writing 'Louis Lambert,' I was afraid of madness,
+and talked of the way in which people afflicted in this manner were
+neglected. On that occasion you said, 'If you were to become mad I
+should take care of you!' I have never forgotten those words, or your
+look and expression. I am just the same now as I was in July, 1832. It
+is because of those words that I claim you to-day, for I am nearly mad
+with happiness."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 448.
+
+In another part of the letter he tells her: "Ah! I never forget your
+maternal love, your divine sympathy with suffering. Therefore,
+thinking of all you are worth, and of the way in which you are
+struggling with trouble, I, who have so often waged war with that
+rough adversary, tell you that, knowing your unhappiness, I am ashamed
+of _my_ happiness; but we are both too great for these littlenesses.
+We can say to each other that happiness and unhappiness are only
+conditions in which great hearts live intensely, that as much strength
+of mind is required in one position as in the other, and that
+misfortune with true friends is perhaps more endurable than happiness
+surrounded by envy."
+
+Balzac was not, after all, destined to start on his journey homeward
+as quickly as he had intended. His health was terribly bad, his eyes
+had become so weak that he could neither read nor write, and the
+chronic heart and lung malady was gaining ground so rapidly, that his
+breathing was affected if he made the slightest movement. It was
+absolutely necessary that he should rest for a time at Wierzchownia
+before attempting any further exertion. Another delay was caused by
+the young Countess being attacked by measles. Her devoted mother, who
+in her crippled state could not attempt any active nursing, sat by her
+daughter's bedside all day, and refused to leave Wierzchownia till her
+anxiety about her darling's health should be over.
+
+It was, therefore, not till the end of April that M. and Madame Honore
+de Balzac started for what proved to be a terrible journey. They did
+not arrive in Dresden till about May 10th, having taken three weeks to
+go to a distance which ought naturally to have been accomplished in
+five or six days. The roads were in a fearful condition, and their
+lives were in danger not once, but a hundred times a day. Sometimes
+fifteen or sixteen men were required to hoist the carriage out of the
+mud-holes into which it had fallen. It is a wonder that Balzac
+survived the torture of the journey, and it must have been very trying
+to the rheumatic Madame Honore. When at last they arrived at Dresden
+they were both utterly exhausted, while Balzac was extremely ill, and
+felt ten years older than when he started. His sight was so bad that
+he could not see the letters that he was tracing on the paper, and was
+obliged to apologise to his correspondents for his extraordinary
+hieroglyphics, while he told Madame Surville that the swollen
+condition of his wife's hands still rendered it impossible for her to
+write.
+
+However, Madame Honore was well enough to amuse herself by visits to
+the jewellers' shops, where she bought a magnificent pearl necklace, a
+purchase of which Balzac evidently approved, as he remarked that it
+was so beautiful that it would make a saint mad! On his part, he was
+greeted on his arrival by a new vexation; as letters from Paris told
+him of "Vautrin" being put on the stage without his permission, and,
+as we have seen, he wrote with much indignation, to put a stop to this
+infringement of his rights.
+
+An interesting letter already referred to, which is now in the
+possession of the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, is dated from
+Frankfort, the travellers' next stopping-place. It is written to the
+Countess Anna, and was begun by Balzac, and finished by his wife.
+About Balzac's part of the letter there is not much to remark, except
+that he was evidently very fond of his step-daughter, that he told her
+how ill he was, and that the handwriting is the scrawl of a man who
+could not see. His high spirits indeed have disappeared, but this
+change of tone is easily accounted for by the state of his health. It
+is Madame Honore's part of the letter which strikes the reader as
+curiously inadequate. It is dated May 16th, only five days after
+Balzac's letter from Dresden informing his family of his wife's
+inability to hold a pen, and is perfectly written; so that her
+rheumatic gout must have abated suddenly. She begins her letter by
+commenting placidly on the sadness of seeing the sufferings of our
+"poor dear friend," says she tries in vain to cheer him, and contrasts
+regretfully the difference between her feelings during this journey,
+and her happiness when she last visited the same places, with her
+darling child at her side. The principal subject in her present rather
+wearying life, is the wonderful pearl necklace, which she takes out of
+its case conscientiously every day, that the air may preserve the
+whiteness of the pearls. She states, indeed, that she does not care
+much about it, and has only bought it to please her husband; but it
+seems to have pressed the unfortunate husband rather into the
+background, and to have become the chief centre of its owner's
+thoughts and solicitude.
+
+The chilling unsatisfactory impression the letter leaves on the
+reader, however, is not conveyed so much by what is said by Balzac's
+newly-married wife, as by what she leaves unsaid. It must be
+remembered that the Countess Eve possessed the power of expressing
+herself with the utmost warmth, and with even exaggerated emphasis,
+when she saw fit occasion for the display of feeling. We must also
+keep the fact in mind, that in writing to the daughter who was her
+intimate friend, she would naturally give some indications of her real
+self; and though it might be impossible for one of her curiously
+secretive temperament to lift the veil altogether, and to open her
+heart without reserve, she would be likely in some way to enable the
+reader to realise her mental attitude. Therefore it is disconcerting
+and disquieting to discover that the one noticeable characteristic of
+the letter, is utter want of feeling. No anxiety is expressed about
+the growing illness of the sick man, not a word tells of fears so
+terrible that she hardly dares breathe them, about the ultimate result
+of his malady; on the contrary, everything is taken as a matter of
+course, and as though the writer had expected it beforehand. There is
+not even a recognition of Balzac as her husband; he is merely "our
+poor dear friend," a person for whom she feels vague pity, and in whom
+Anna's degree of interest is likely to be the same as her own.
+
+Balzac was only married for about five months, and very little is
+known of his life during that time. It is certain, however, that his
+marriage did not bring him the happiness which he had expected, and
+Madame Hanska's letter from Frankfort helps to explain the reason of
+the tragedy. Perhaps he had raised his hopes too high for fulfilment
+to be a possibility in this world of compromise, and very likely his
+sufferings had made him irritable and exacting. Nevertheless, so quick
+a wearing out of the faithful and passionate love which had lasted for
+sixteen years, and so sudden a killing of the joy which had permeated
+the man's whole being when he had at last attained his goal, seems a
+hard task for a woman to accomplish; and can only be explained by her
+employment of the formless yet resistless force of pure indifference.
+
+Balzac's awakening, the knowledge that the absolute perfection he had
+dreamed of was only an ideal created by his own fancy, must have been
+inexpressibly bitter. Utter moral collapse and vertigo were his
+portion, and chaos thundered in his ears, during his sudden descent
+from the heights clothed with brilliant sunshine, to the puzzling
+depths, where he groped in darkness and sought in vain for firm
+footing. "Our poor dear friend" seems, for the moment, to have merited
+even more sympathy than the measure accorded to him by his wife, in
+her intervals of leisure after caring for her pearl necklace.
+
+Balzac's mother had, as we have already seen, taken up her abode with
+Madame Surville, long before the often-deferred appearance in Paris of
+her son and daughter-in-law; but Honore had given directions, that at
+any rate she was to leave the Rue Fortunee before he and his bride
+arrived. It would, he said, compromise her dignity to help with the
+unpacking, and Madame Honore should visit her mother-in-law next day
+to pay her respects. Balzac was anxious that the first meeting should
+take place at Laure's house rather than at Madame de Balzac's lodging
+at Suresnes, as it was now impossible for him to mount any steps, and
+there were fewer stairs at No. 47, Rue des Martyrs than at his
+mother's abode.[*] His health, he wrote, was so deplorable that he
+would not remain for long in Paris, but would go with his wife to
+Biarritz to take the waters.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 456.
+
+The travellers did not after all arrive in Paris till near the end of
+May. This is proved by a letter from Madame de Balzac[*] to a friend,
+written on the 20th of that month, in which she says that they are now
+expected every day, but that their progress is a slow one, owing to
+her son's illness and the heavy condition of the roads. She adds that
+she has now been in bed for three months, so Laure must evidently have
+acted as her deputy, in the task of superintending Francois'
+preparations in the Rue Fortunee. No doubt Francois worked
+strenuously, as he, like all Balzac's servants, was devoted to his
+master, though on this occasion he unwittingly provided him with a
+ghastly home-coming.
+
+[*] "Une Page perdue de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+The travellers did not arrive at the Rue Fortunee till late at
+night.[*] The house was brilliantly lit, and through the windows they
+could see the flowers with which the rooms were decorated; but in vain
+they rang at the courtyard gate--no one appeared to let them in. It
+was a miserable arrival, and utterly inexplicable, as Balzac had
+planned the arrangements most carefully beforehand, going minutely
+into commissariat details, that his bride might find everything
+absolutely comfortable on her arrival in her new home. It was
+impossible to force an entrance, so M. and Madame Honore de Balzac,
+utterly worn out by the fatigues of the journey, and longing for rest,
+were obliged to sit in the carriage and spend the time in agitation
+and vain conjecture, while a messenger was despatched for a locksmith.
+When the door was at last opened, a terrible solution to the problem
+presented itself. The excitement and strain of the preparations, and
+of the hourly expectation of the travellers, had completely upset the
+mental balance of the unfortunate Francois, and he had gone suddenly
+mad! It was a sinister omen, a wretched commencement to Balzac's home
+life; and he, always superstitious, was no doubt doubly so in his
+invalided and suffering condition. Francois Munch was sent to a
+lunatic asylum, where he was cared for at his master's expense.
+
+[*] "Un Roman d'Amour," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVII
+
+                            1850 AND AFTER
+
+  Balzac's ill-health--Theophile Gautier and Victor Hugo--Balzac's
+  grief about the unfinished "Comedie Humaine"--His interview with
+  the doctor--Victor Hugo's account of his death-bed--Balzac's death
+  and funeral--Life afterwards in the Rue Fortunee--Reckless
+  extravagance--House rifled at Madame de Balzac's death--Fate of
+  Balzac's MSS.--His merits as a writer.
+
+When Balzac's friends came to visit him in the Rue Fortunee, they were
+much shocked by the change in his appearance. His breathing was short,
+his speech jerky, and his sight so bad that he was unable to
+distinguish objects clearly. Nevertheless, as Gautier says,[*] every
+one felt such intense confidence in his wonderful constitution that it
+seemed impossible to think of a probably fatal result to his malady.
+Balzac himself, optimistic as ever, clung persistently to his hope of
+speedy recovery. His fame was now at its zenith, the series entitled
+"Les Parents Pauvres" had awakened the utmost enthusiasm; and the
+_elite_ of the Parisian world were eager to flock to the Rue Fortunee
+to stare at the curiosities collected there, and to make the
+acquaintance of Balzac's rich and distinguished Russian wife.
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains: Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+However, in his native country, Balzac was destined never to receive a
+full guerdon of adulation and admiration; for though he was visited by
+a few friends, the doctors insisted on keeping him otherwise in the
+strictest retirement.
+
+Theophile Gautier relates that he went to the Rue Fortunee to say
+good-bye to his friend before starting for Italy, and, though
+disappointed not to see him, was relieved about his health when told
+that he was out driving. However, a little later, a letter was brought
+to Gautier which had been dictated by Balzac to his wife, in which he
+explained that he had only gone to the Customhouse to get out some
+luggage, and had done this against the express orders of his doctors.
+However, he spoke cheerfully of his health, saying that he was feeling
+better, and that the next day the doctors intended to attack the
+chronic malady from which he was suffering. For two months at least he
+expected to be kept like a mummy, and not to be allowed to speak or to
+move; but there were great hopes of his ultimate recovery. If Gautier
+came again, he hoped for a letter beforehand naming the day and hour,
+that he might certainly be at home; as in the solitude to which he was
+doomed by the doctors, his friend's affection seemed to him more
+precious than ever. All this was written in Madame de Balzac's
+handwriting, and under it Balzac had scrawled: "I can neither read nor
+write!"[*] Gautier left for Italy soon after this, and he never saw
+his friend again. He read the news of Balzac's death in a newspaper
+when he was at Venice, taking an ice at the Cafe Florian, in the
+Piazza of St. Mark; and so terrible was the shock, that he nearly fell
+from his seat. He tells us that he felt for the moment unchristian
+indignation and revolt, when he thought of the octogenarian idiots he
+had seen that morning at the asylum on the island of San Servolo, and
+then of Balzac cut off in his prime; but he checked himself, for he
+remembered that all souls are equal in the sight of God.
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains: Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+Victor Hugo also visited the invalid, and says that even a month
+before his death he was perfectly confident about his recovery, and
+was gay and full of laughter, discussing politics, stating his own
+legitimist views with decision, and accusing his visitor of being a
+demagogue. He said: "I have M. de Beaujon's house without the garden,
+but I am owner of the gallery leading to the little church at the
+corner of the street. A door on my staircase leads into the church.
+One turn of the key, and I am at Mass. I care more for the gallery
+than for the garden."[*]
+
+[*] "Choses Vues," by Victor Hugo.
+
+When Victor Hugo got up to go, Balzac accompanied him with difficulty
+to this staircase, to point out the precious door; and called to his
+wife, "Mind you show Hugo all my pictures." Though Balzac does not
+appear to have been very intimate with the great romantic poet in
+former years, he seems to have found special pleasure in his society
+at this time. Hugo was at the seaside when Balzac next sent for him.
+He hurried back,[*] however, at the urgent summons, and found the
+dying man stretched on a sofa covered with red and gold brocade.
+Balzac tried to rise, but could not; his face was purple, and his eyes
+alone had life in them. Now that happiness in his married life had
+failed him, his mind had reverted to the yet unfinished "Comedie
+Humaine"; and he talked long and sadly of projected herculean labours,
+and of the fate of his still unpublished works. "Although my wife has
+more brains than I, who will support her in her solitude, she whom I
+have accustomed to so much love?" "Certainly," Victor Hugo remarks
+drily, "she was crying a great deal."
+
+[*] See letter written by Madame Hamelin to the Countess Kisselef
+    quoted in "Histoire des Oeuvres de Balzac," by the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, p. 406.
+
+Nevertheless, though Balzac did at last realise his dangerous state,
+he had no idea that his end was approaching so near, and he still
+hoped to be able to add a few more stones to the edifice of the
+"Comedie Humaine," that great work, which was now again the principal
+object of his life, the one bright vision in a world of
+disappointment. In August, however, an agonising suspicion began for
+the first time to visit him momentarily, a terrible fear to assail
+him. What if there were not time after all? What if the creations
+which floated through his mind while he lay suffering and helpless,
+were never destined to be put into shape? What if his opportunity for
+work on earth were really over? It was a horrible idea; a fancy, he
+told himself, born only of weakness. Destiny _must_ intend him to
+finish his appointed task. Robbed of everything else he had longed
+for, that one consolation surely remained. He would ask the doctor,
+would be content with no vague and soothing generalities, but would
+insist on knowing the exact truth. It could not--ah, it could not be
+as black as the nightmares of his imagination!
+
+He approached the subject cautiously on the doctor's next visit.[*]
+Perhaps, he said, he had after all never realised sufficiently the
+acuteness of his malady. He certainly felt terribly ill, and knew that
+he was losing ground; while, in spite of all his efforts, he was
+unable to eat anything. His duty required that he should bequeath a
+certain legacy to the public, and he had calculated carefully, and had
+discovered that he would be able in six months to accomplish his task.
+Could the doctor promise him that length of time? There was no answer
+to this searching question, but a shake of the head from the pitying
+doctor. "Ah," cried Balzac sorrowfully, "I see quite well that you
+will not allow me six months. . . . Well, at any rate, you will at
+least give me six weeks? . . . Six weeks with fever is an eternity.
+Hours are like days . . . and then the nights are not lost." Again the
+doctor shook his head, and Balzac once more lowered his claims for a
+vestige of life. "I have courage to submit," he said proudly; "but six
+days . . . you will certainly give me that? I shall then be able to
+write down hasty plans that my friends may be able to finish, shall
+tear up bad pages and improve good ones, and shall glance rapidly
+through the fifty volumes I have already written. Human will can do
+miracles." Balzac pleaded pathetically, almost as though he thought
+his interlocutor could grant the boon of longer life if he willed to
+do so. He had aged ten years since the beginning of the interview, and
+he had now no voice left to speak, and the doctor hardly any voice for
+answering. The latter managed, however, to tell his patient that
+everything must be done to-day, because in all probability to-morrow
+would not exist for him; and Balzac cried with horror, "I have then
+only six hours!" fell back on his pillows, and spoke no more.
+
+[*] The following account of Balzac's interview with his doctor is
+    taken from an article written by Arsene Houssaye in the _Figaro_
+    of August 20th, 1883. It is right to add that the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, the great authority on Balzac, throws
+    grave doubts on the accuracy of the story.
+
+He died the next day, and Victor Hugo gives us one more glimpse of
+him.[*] The poet was told by his wife, who had visited Madame de
+Balzac during the day, that Balzac's last hour had come; and directly
+after dinner he took a cab and drove rapidly to the Rue Fortunee. "I
+rang. It was moonlight, occasionally veiled by clouds. The street was
+deserted. No one came. I rang a second time. The door was opened. A
+servant appeared with a candle. 'What does Monsieur want?' she said.
+She was crying.
+
+[*] "Choses Vues, 1850: Mort de Balzac," by Victor Hugo.
+
+"I gave my name. I was shown into the room on the ground floor. On a
+pedestal opposite the fireplace was the colossal bust of Balzac by
+David. In the middle of the salon, on a handsome oval table, which had
+for legs six gilded statuettes of great beauty, a wax candle was
+burning. Another woman came in crying, and said: 'He is dying. Madame
+has gone to her own rooms. The doctors gave him up yesterday.' After
+going into medical details, the woman continued: 'The night was bad.
+This morning at nine o'clock Monsieur spoke no more. Madame sent for a
+priest. The priest came, and administered extreme unction. Monsieur
+made a sign to show that he understood. An hour afterwards he pressed
+the hand of his sister, Madame Surville. Since eleven o'clock the
+death rattle has been in his throat, and he can see nothing. He will
+not last out the night. If you wish it, Monsieur, I will call M.
+Surville, who has not yet gone to bed.'
+
+"The woman left me. I waited several minutes. The candle hardly
+lighted up the splendid furniture of the salon, and the magnificent
+paintings by Porbus and Holbein which were hanging on the walls. The
+marble bust showed faintly in the obscurity, like the spectre of a
+dying man. A corpse-like odour filled the house.
+
+"M. Surville came in, and confirmed all that the servant had told me.
+I asked to see M. de Balzac.
+
+"We crossed a corridor, went up a staircase covered with a red carpet
+and crowded with artistic objects--vases, statues, pictures, and
+stands with enamels on them. Then we came to another passage, and I
+saw an open door. I heard the sound of difficult, rattling breathing.
+I entered Balzac's room.
+
+"The bedstead was in the centre of the room. It was of mahogany, and
+across the foot and at the head were beams provided with straps for
+moving the sick man. M. de Balzac was in this bed, his head resting on
+a heap of pillows, to which the red damask sofa cushions had been
+added. His face was purple, almost black, and was inclined to the
+right. He was unshaved, his grey hair was cut short, and his eyes open
+and fixed. I saw his profile, and it was like that of the Emperor
+Napoleon.
+
+"An old woman, the nurse, and a servant, stood beside the bed. A
+candle was burning on a table behind the head of the bed, another on a
+chest of drawers near the door. A silver vase was on the stand near
+the bed. The women and man were silent with a kind of terror, as they
+listened to the rattling breathing of the dying man.
+
+"The candle at the head of the bed lit up brilliantly the portrait of
+a young man, fresh-coloured and smiling, which was hanging near the
+fireplace. . . .
+
+"I lifted the coverlet and took Balzac's hand. It was covered with
+perspiration. I pressed it. He did not respond to the pressure. . . .
+
+"I went downstairs again, carrying in my mind the memory of that livid
+face, and, crossing the drawing-room, I looked again at the bust
+--immovable, impassive, proud, and smiling faintly, and I compared
+death with immortality."
+
+Balzac died that night, Sunday, August 17th, 1850, at half-past
+eleven, at the age of fifty-one.
+
+The dying man's almost complete isolation is strange, and the
+servant's news that M. Surville had not _yet_ gone to bed has a
+callous ring about it. Perhaps, however, the doctors had told Madame
+de Balzac and Madame Surville that Balzac was unconscious, and they
+had therefore withdrawn, utterly exhausted by the fatigues of the
+night before. In any case, it seems sad, though possibly of no moment
+to the dying man, that several of his nearest relations should have
+deserted him before the breath had left his body. Our respect for the
+elder Madame de Balzac is decidedly raised, because, though there had
+occasionally been disagreements between her and her son, the true
+mother feeling asserted itself at the last, and she alone watched with
+the paid attendants till the end came.
+
+However, some one was busy about the arrangements, as Balzac's
+portrait was taken by Giraud directly after his death, and a cast was
+made of his beautifully-shaped hand. His body was taken into the
+Beaujon Chapel before burial, so that he passed for the last time, as
+Victor Hugo remarks, through that door, the key of which was more
+precious to him than all the beautiful gardens which had belonged to
+the old Farmer-General.
+
+The funeral service was held on Wednesday, August 20th, at the Church
+of Sainte Philippe du Roule. The rain was descending in torrents, but
+the procession, followed by a large crowd, walked the whole way across
+Paris to the Cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise, where the interment took
+place. The pall-bearers were Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Monsieur
+Baroche, and Sainte-Beuve. At the grave Victor Hugo spoke, finishing
+with the words: "No, it is not the Unknown to him. I have said this
+before, and I shall never tire of repeating it: it is not darkness to
+him, it is Light! It is not the end, but the beginning; not
+nothingness, but eternity! Is not this the truth, I ask you who listen
+to me? Such coffins proclaim immortality. In the presence of certain
+illustrious dead, we understand the divine destiny of that intellect
+which has traversed earth to suffer and to be purified. Do we not say
+to ourselves here, to-day, that it is impossible for a great genius in
+this life to be other than a great spirit after death?"[*]
+
+[*] "Funerailles de Balzac," in "Actes et Paroles," by Victor Hugo.
+
+The Cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise had been one of Balzac's favourite
+haunts in the old half-starved days of the Rue Lesdiguieres. "Here I
+am back from Pere-la-Chaise," he wrote to his sister in 1820,[*] "and
+I have brought with me some good big inspiring reflections. Decidedly,
+the only fine epitaphs are these: La Fontaine, Messena, Moliere, a
+single name, which tells all and makes one dream." Probably Madame
+Surville remembered these words and repeated them to Madame Honore de
+Balzac, for the monument erected to Balzac is a broken column with his
+name inscribed on it.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 24.
+
+The fortunes of the inhabitants of the Rue Fortunee were not happy
+after Balzac's death. Madame Honore de Balzac's contemporaries
+considered that she as not really as overwhelmed with sorrow at her
+husband's death as she appeared to be, and that when she wrote
+heartbroken letters, she slightly exaggerated the real state of her
+feelings; but she assumed gallantly the burdens laid upon her by the
+state of pecuniary embarrassment in which her husband died. If Balzac
+had lived longer and had been able to work steadily, there is little
+doubt that he would in a few years have become a free man, as the
+Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul tells us[*] that in the years
+between 1841 and 1847, after which date his productions became very
+rare, he had enormously diminished the sum he owed.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul.
+
+Under Balzac's will his widow might have refused to acknowledge any
+liability for his debts, but she set to work bravely, with the aid of
+MM. Dutacq and Fessart, to make as much money as she could out of
+Balzac's published works, and to bring before the public those that
+were still unpublished. In this way, "Mercadet le Faiseur" was acted a
+year after Balzac's death, and "Les Petits Bourgeois" and "Le Depute
+d'Arcis" were published, the latter being finished, according to
+Balzac's wish, by Charles Rabou. "Les Paysans," which was to have
+filled eight volumes, and of which, as we have already seen, only a
+few chapters were written, presented great difficulty; but at last
+Madame de Balzac, aided by Champfleury and by Charles Rabou, managed
+to give some consistency to the fragment, and it appeared in the
+_Revue de Paris_ in April, May and June, 1855. Unfortunately, however,
+no information was given as to the unfinished state in which it had
+been left by Balzac, and therefore no explanation was offered of the
+insufficiency of the _denouement_, and the inadequacy of the last
+chapters. Madame de Balzac worked hard, and long before her death in
+April, 1882, the whole of Balzac's debts were paid off.
+
+This was most creditable to her; but side by side with her admirable
+conduct in this respect, she seems to have either actively abetted, or
+at any rate acquiesced in mad extravagance on the part of Madame
+Georges Mniszech, who with her husband, had come to live in the Rue
+Fortunee after Balzac's death. Perhaps Madame de Balzac was too busy
+with her literary and business arrangements, to pay attention to what
+was happening, or possibly maternal devotion prevented her from
+denying her beloved daughter anything she craved for. At all events
+the results of her supineness were lamentable, especially as M.
+Georges Mniszech was not capable of exercising any restraint on his
+wife; he being for some years before his death in 1881, in the most
+delicate state of health, both mental and physical.
+
+Madame Georges Mniszech--after years of the wild Russian steppes,
+suddenly plunged into the fascinations of shopping in Paris, and left
+to her own devices--seems to have shown senseless folly in her
+expenditure. Additions were made to the house in the Rue Fortunee,
+though Balzac's rooms were left untouched; and the Chateau de
+Beauregard, at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, was bought as a country
+residence. Madame de Balzac and her daughter were, however, rich, and
+could quite afford to live comfortably, and even luxuriously. Their
+ruin seems to have been brought about by reckless expenditure on
+things which were of absolutely no use, and were only bought for the
+amusement of buying. Several sales of pictures took place, and on
+February 9th, 1882,[*] the Chateau de Beauregard and its contents were
+sold by order of the President of the Civil Tribunal of Corbeil.
+
+[*] "Life of Balzac," by Frederick Wedmore.
+
+Madame de Balzac died in April of the same year; and the very day of
+her funeral, Madame Georges Mniszech's creditors pushed her and her
+maid into the street, and rifled the house in the Rue Fortunee. The
+booty was transported to the auction-room known as l'Hotel Drouot, and
+there a sale was held by order of justice of Balzac's library, his
+Buhl cabinets, and some of his MSS., including that of "Eugenie
+Grandet," which had been given to Madame Hanska on December 24th,
+1833. During the shameless pillage of the house, the vultures who
+ransacked it found evidence of the most reckless, the most imbecile
+extravagance, proof positive that the wisdom, prudence, even the
+principles of poor Balzac's paragon the Countess Anna, had been routed
+by the glitter and glamour of the holiday city. One room was filled
+with boxes containing hats, and in another, piles of costly silks were
+heaped, untouched since their arrival from the fashionable haberdasher
+or silk mercer.[*] Balzac's treasures, the curiosities he had amassed
+with so much trouble, the pictures of which he had been so proud, were
+ruthlessly seized; while precious manuscripts and letters, which would
+perhaps have brought in a hundred thousand francs if they had been put
+up for sale, were thrown out of the window by the exasperated throng.
+
+[*] "Journal des Goncourts," vol. viii. P. 48.
+
+The Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul rescued a page of the first of
+Balzac's letters to Madame Hanska which has been found up to this
+time, from a cobbler whose stall was opposite the house. The cobbler,
+when once started on the quest by the Vicomte, discovered many other
+letters, sketches, and unfinished novels, which had been picked up by
+the neighbouring shopkeepers, and were only saved in the nick of time
+from being used to wrap up pounds of butter, or to make bags for other
+household commodities. It was an exciting chase, requiring patience
+and ingenuity; and Balzac's former cook held out for years, before she
+would consent to sell a packet of letters which the Vicomte coveted
+specially. Sometimes incidentally there were delightful surprises, and
+occasionally real joys; as on the occasion when the searcher found at
+a distant grocer's shop, the middle of the letter, of which the first
+page had been saved from destruction at the hands of the cobbler.
+
+The bitter dislike Balzac had evoked in the literary world, and his
+occasional obscurity and clumsy style, have militated very strongly
+against his popularity in his native land, where perfection in the
+manipulation of words is of supreme importance in a writer. While in
+France, however, Balzac's undoubted faults have partially blinded his
+countrymen to his consummate merits as a writer, and they have been
+strangely slow in acknowledging the debt of gratitude they owe to him,
+the rest or the world has already begun to realise his power of
+creating type, his wonderful imagination, his versatility, and his
+extraordinary impartiality; and to accord him his rightful place among
+the Immortals. Nevertheless we are still too near to him, to be able
+to focus him clearly, and to estimate aright his peculiar place in
+literature, or the full scope of his genius.
+
+Some very great authorities claim him as a member of the Romantic
+School; while, on the other hand, he is often looked on--apparently
+with more reason--as the first of the Realists. His object in writing
+was, he tells us, to represent mankind as he saw it, to be the
+historian of the nineteenth century, and to classify human beings as
+Buffon had classified animals. No doubt this scheme was very
+imperfectly carried out: certainly the powerful mind of Balzac with
+its wealth of imagination, often projected itself into his puppets, so
+that many of his characters are not the ordinary men and women he
+wished to portray, but are inspired by the fire of genius. This fact
+does not, however, alter the aim of their creator. He intended to be
+merely a chronicler, a scientific observer of things around him; and
+though his works are tinged to a large extent with the Romanticism of
+the powerful school in vogue in his day, this object marks him plainly
+as the forerunner of the Realists, the founder of a totally new
+conception of the scope and range of the novel.
+
+Theophile Gautier's words should prove to the modern reader, the debt
+of gratitude he owes to the inaugurator of a completely original
+system of fiction. Speaking of Balzac's impecunious and ambitious
+heroes, Gautier cries:[*] "O Corinne, who on the Cape of Messina
+allowest thy snowy arm to hang over the ivory lyre, while the son of
+Albion, clothed in a superb new cloak, and with elegant boots
+perfectly polished, gazes at thee, and listens in an elegant pose:
+Corinne, what wouldst thou have said to such heroes? They have
+nevertheless one little quality which Oswald lacked--they live, and
+with so strong a life that we have met them a thousand times."
+Balzac's own words, speaking of his play "La Maratre,"[+] might also
+serve for a motto for his novels: "I dream of a drawing-room comedy,
+where everything is calm, quiet, and amiable. The men play whist
+placidly by the light of candles with little green shades. The women
+talk and laugh while they work at their embroidery. They all take tea
+together. To sum up, everything announces good order and harmony.
+Well, underneath are agitating passions; the drama stirs, it prepares
+itself secretly, till it blazes forth like the flame of a
+conflagration."
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains: Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+[+] "Historiettes et Souvenirs d'un Homme de Theatre," by H. Hostein.
+
+Balzac is essentially a Realist, in his use of the novel as a vehicle
+for the description of real struggling life; with money and position,
+the principal desiderata of modern civilisation, powerful as
+determining factors in the moulding of men's actions. Life, as
+portrayed in the old-fashioned novel, where the hero and heroine and
+their love affairs were the sole focus of attraction, and the other
+characters were grouped round in subordinate positions, while every
+one declined in interest as he advanced in years, was not life as
+Balzac saw it; and he pictures his hero's agony at not having a penny
+with which to pay his cab fare, with as much graphic intensity, as he
+tells of the same young gentleman's despair when his inamorata is
+indifferent to him.
+
+Nevertheless, if we compare Balzac with the depressing writers of the
+so-called Realist School, we shall find that his conception of life
+differed greatly from theirs. In Flaubert's melancholy books, even
+perfection of style and painstaking truth of detail do not dissipate
+the deadly dulness of an unreal world, where no one rises above the
+low level of self-gratification; while Zola considers man so
+completely in his physical aspect, that he ends by degrading him below
+the animal world. Balzac, on the other hand, believed in purity, in
+devotion, and unselfishness; though he did not think that these
+qualities are triumphant on earth. In his pessimistic view of life,
+virtue generally suffered, and had no power against vice; but he knew
+that it existed, and he believed in a future where wrongs would be
+righted.
+
+He is a poet and idealist, and thus akin to the Romanticists--though
+he lacks their perfection of diction--in his feeling for the beauty of
+atmospheric effects, and also in his enthusiasm for music, which he
+loved passionately. The description of Montriveau's emotions when the
+cloistered Duchesse de Langeais plays in the church of Spain--and
+Balzac tells us that the sound of the organ bears the mind through a
+thousand scenes of life to the infinite which parts earth from heaven,
+and that through its tones the luminous attributes of God Himself
+pierce and radiate--is totally unrealistic both in moral tone, and in
+its accentuation of the power of the higher emotions. His intense
+admiration for Sir Walter Scott--an admiration which he expresses time
+after time in his letters--is a further proof of his sympathy for the
+school of thought, which glorified the picturesque Middle Ages above
+every other period of history.
+
+Whichever school, however, may claim Balzac, it is an undisputed fact
+that he possessed in a high degree that greatest of all attributes
+--the power of creation of type. Le Pere Goriot, Balthazar Claes, Old
+Grandet, La Cousine Bette, Le Cousin Pons, and many other people in
+Balzac's pages, are creations; they live and are immortal. He has
+endowed them with more splendid and superabundant vitality than is
+accorded to ordinary humanity.
+
+To do this, something is required beyond keenness of vision. The gift
+of seeing vividly--as under a dazzling light--to the very kernel of
+the object stripped of supernumerary circumstance, is indeed necessary
+for the portrayal of character; but although Dickens, as well as
+Balzac, possessed this faculty to a high degree, his people are often
+qualities personified, or impossible monsters. For the successful
+creation of type, that power in which Balzac is akin to Shakespeare,
+it is necessary that a coherent whole shall be formed, and that the
+full scope of a character shall be realised, with its infinite
+possibilities on its own plane, and its impotence to move a
+hairsbreadth on to another. The mysterious law which governs the
+conduct of life must be fathomed; so that, though there may be
+unexpected and surprising developments, the artistic sense and
+intuition which we possess shall not be outraged, and we shall still
+recognise the abiding personality under everything. Balzac excels in
+this; and because of this power, and also because--at a time when
+Byronic literature was in the ascendant, and it was the fashion to
+think that the quintessence of beauty could be found by diving into
+the depths of one's own being--he came forward without pose or
+self-consciousness, as a simple observer of the human race, the world
+will never cease to owe him a debt of gratitude, and to rank him among
+her greatest novelists.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Honore de Balzac, His Life and Writings, by 
+Mary F. Sandars
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Honore de Balzac, His Life and Writings
+by Mary F. Sandars
+
+Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the
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+
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+Title: Honore de Balzac, His Life and Writings
+
+Author: Mary F. Sandars
+
+Release Date: December, 2005 [EBook #9548]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on October 8, 2003]
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+Edition: 10
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+Language: English
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+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HONORE DE BALZAC ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by John Bickers and Dagny Wilson
+
+
+
+
+HONORE DE BALZAC: LIFE & WRITINGS
+By Mary F. Sandars
+
+First published 1904.
+
+
+
+
+                           HONORE DE BALZAC
+                        HIS LIFE AND WRITINGS
+
+                                  BY
+
+                           MARY F. SANDARS
+
+
+
+                               PREFACE
+
+Books about Balzac would fill a fair-sized library. Criticisms on his
+novels abound, and his contemporaries have provided us with several
+amusing volumes dealing in a humorous spirit with his eccentricities,
+and conveying the impression that the author of "La Cousine Bette" and
+"Le Pere Goriot" was nothing more than an amiable buffoon.
+
+Nevertheless, by some strange anomaly, there exists no Life of him
+derived from original sources, incorporating the information available
+since the appearance of the volume called "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+This book, which is the source of much of our present knowledge of
+Balzac, is a collection of letters written by him from 1833 to 1844 to
+Madame Hanska, the Polish lady who afterwards became his wife. The
+letters are exact copies of the originals, having been made by the
+Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, to whom the autographs belong.
+
+It seems curious that no one should yet have made use of this mine of
+biographical detail. In English we have a Memoir by Miss Wormeley,
+written at a time when little as known about the great novelist, and a
+Life by Mr. Frederick Wedmore in the "Great Writers" Series; but this,
+like Miss Wormeley's Memoir, appeared before the "Lettres a
+l'Etrangere" were published. Moreover, it is a very small book, and
+the space in it devoted to Balzac as a man is further curtailed by
+several chapters devoted to criticism of his work. The introduction to
+the excellent translation of Balzac's novels undertaken by Mr.
+Saintsbury, contains a short account of his life, but this only fills
+a few pages and does not enter into much detail. Besides these, an
+admirable essay on Balzac has appeared in "Main Currents of
+Nineteenth-century Literature," by Mr. George Brandes; the scope of
+this, however, is mainly criticism of his merits as a writer, not
+description of his personality and doings.
+
+Even in the French language, there is no trustworthy or satisfactory
+Life of Balzac--a fact on which numerous critical writers make many
+comments, though they apparently hesitate to throw themselves into the
+breach and to undertake one. Madame Surville's charming Memoir only
+professes to treat of Balzac's early life, and even within these
+limits she intentionally conceals as much as she reveals. M. Edmond
+Bire, in his interesting book, presents Balzac in different aspects,
+as Royalist, playwriter, admirer of Napoleon, and so on; but M. Bire
+gives no connected account of his life, while MM. Hanotaux and Vicaire
+deal solely with Balzac's two years as printer and publisher. The
+Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul is the one man who could give a
+detailed and minutely correct Life of Balzac, as he has proved by the
+stores of biographical knowledge contained in his works the "Roman
+d'Amour," "Autour de Honore de Balzac," "La Genese d'un Roman de
+Balzac, 'Les Paysans,'" and above all, "L'Histoire des Oeuvres de
+Balzac," which has become a classic. The English or American reader
+would hardly be able to appreciate these fascinating books, however,
+unless he were first equipped with the knowledge of Balzac which would
+be provided by a concise Life.
+
+In these circumstances, helped and encouraged by Dr. Emil Reich, whose
+extremely interesting lectures I had attended with much enjoyment, and
+who very kindly gave me lists of books, and assisted me with advice, I
+engaged in the task of writing this book. It is not intended to add to
+the mass of criticism of Balzac's novels, being merely an attempt to
+portray the man as he was, and to sketch correctly a career which has
+been said to be more thrilling than a large proportion of novels.
+
+I must apologise for occasional blank spaces, for when Balzac is with
+Madame Hanska, and his letters to her cease, as a general rule all our
+information ceases also; and the intending biographer can only glean
+from scanty allusions in the letters written afterwards, what happened
+at Rome, Naples, Dresden, or any of the other towns, to which Balzac
+travelled in hot haste to meet his divinity.
+
+The book has been compiled as far as possible from original sources;
+as the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul--whose collection of
+documents relating to Balzac, Gautier, and George Sand is unique,
+while his comprehensive knowledge of Balzac is the result of many
+years of study--has most kindly allowed me to avail myself of his
+library at Brussels. There, arranged methodically, according to some
+wonderful system which enables the Vicomte to find at once any
+document his visitor may ask for, are hundreds of Balzac's autograph
+writings, many of them unpublished and of great interest. There, too,
+are portraits and busts of the celebrated novelist, letters from his
+numerous admirers, and the proofs of nearly all his novels--those
+sheets covered with a network of writing, which were the despair of
+the printers. The collection is most remarkable, even when we remember
+the large sums of money, and the patience and ability, which have for
+many years been focussed on its formation. It will one day be
+deposited in the museum at Chantilly, near Paris, where it will be at
+the disposal of those who wish to study its contents.
+
+The Vicomte has kindly devoted much time to answering my questions,
+and has shown me documents and autograph letters, the exact words of
+which have been the subject of discussion and dispute, so that I have
+been able myself to verify the fact that the copies made by M. de
+Spoelberch de Lovenjoul are taken exactly from the originals. He has
+warned me to be particularly careful about my authorities, as many of
+Balzac's letters--printed as though copied from autographs--are
+incorrectly dated, and have been much altered.
+
+He has further added to his kindness by giving me several
+illustrations, and by having this book translated to him, in order to
+correct it carefully by the information to which he alone has access.
+I gladly take this opportunity of acknowledging how deeply I am
+indebted to him.
+
+I cannot consider these words of introduction complete without again
+expressing my sense of what I owe to Dr. Reich, to whom the initial
+idea of this book is due, and without whose energetic impetus it would
+never have been written. He has found time, in the midst of a very
+busy life, to read through, and to make many valuable suggestions, and
+I am most grateful for all he has done to help me.
+
+I must finish by thanking Mr. Curtis Brown most heartily for the
+trouble he has taken on my behalf, for the useful hints he has given
+me, and for the patience with which he has elucidated the difficulties
+of an inexperienced writer.
+
+    MARY F. SANDARS.
+
+
+
+
+
+                           HONORE DE BALZAC
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I
+
+  Balzac's claims to greatness--The difficulty in attempting a
+  complete Life--His complex character--The intention of this book.
+
+At a time when the so-called Realistic School is in the ascendant
+among novelists, it seems strange that little authentic information
+should have been published in the English language about the great
+French writer, Honore de Balzac. Almost alone among his
+contemporaries, he dared to claim the interest of the world for
+ordinary men and women solely on the ground of a common humanity. Thus
+he was the first to embody in literature the principle of Burns that
+"a man's a man for a' that"; and though this fact has now become a
+truism, it was a discovery, and an important discovery, when Balzac
+wrote. He showed that, because we are ourselves ordinary men and
+women, it is really human interest, and not sensational circumstance
+which appeals to us, and that material for enthralling drama can be
+found in the life of the most commonplace person--of a middle-aged
+shopkeeper threatened with bankruptcy, or of an elderly musician with
+a weakness for good dinners. At one blow he destroyed the unreal ideal
+of the Romantic School, who degraded man by setting up in his place a
+fantastic and impossible hero as the only theme worthy of their pen;
+and thus he laid the foundation of the modern novel.
+
+His own life is full of interest. He was not a recluse or a bookworm;
+his work was to study men, and he lived among men, he fought
+strenuously, he enjoyed lustily, he suffered keenly, and he died
+prematurely, worn out by the force of his own emotions, and by the
+prodigies of labour to which he was impelled by the restless
+promptings of his active brain, and by his ever-pressing need for
+money. Some of his letters to Madame Hanska have been published during
+the last few years; and where can we read a more pathetic love story
+than the record of his seventeen years' waiting for her, and of the
+tragic ending to his long-deferred happiness? Or where in modern times
+can more exciting and often comical tales of adventure be found than
+the accounts of his wild and always unsuccessful attempts to become a
+millionaire? His friends comprised most of the celebrated French
+writers of the day; and though not a lover of society, he was
+acquainted with many varieties of people, while his own personality
+was powerful, vivid, and eccentric.
+
+Thus he appears at first sight to be a fascinating subject for
+biography; but if we examine a little more closely, we shall realise
+the web of difficulties in which the writer of a complete and
+exhaustive Life of Balzac would involve himself, and shall understand
+why the task has never been attempted. The great author's money
+affairs alone are so complicated that it is doubtful whether he ever
+mastered them himself, and it is certainly impossible for any one else
+to understand them; while he managed to shroud his private life,
+especially his relations to women, in almost complete mystery. For
+some years after his death the monkish habit in which he attired
+himself was considered symbolic of his mental attitude; and even now,
+though the veil is partially lifted, and we realise the great part
+women played in his life, there remain many points which are not yet
+cleared up.
+
+Consequently any one who attempts even in the most unambitious way to
+give a complete account of the great writer's life, is confronted with
+many blank spaces. It is true that the absolutely mysterious
+disappearances of which his contemporaries speak curiously are now
+partially accounted for, as we know that they were usually connected
+with Madame Hanska, and that Balzac's sense of honour would not allow
+him to breathe her name, except to his most intimate friends, and
+under the pledge of the strictest secrecy. His letters to her have
+allowed a flood of light to pour upon his hitherto veiled personality;
+but they are almost our only reliable source of information.
+Therefore, when they cease, because Balzac is with his ladylove, and
+we are suddenly excluded from his confidence, we can only guess what
+is happening.
+
+In this way, we possess but the scantiest information about the
+journeys which occupied a great part of his time during the last few
+years of his life. We know that he travelled, regardless of expense
+and exhaustion, as quickly as possible, and by the very shortest
+route, to meet Madame Hanska; but this once accomplished, we can
+gather little more, and we long for a diary or a confidential
+correspondent. In the first rapture of his meeting at Neufchatel, he
+did indeed open his heart to his sister, Madame Surville; but his
+habitual discretion, and his care for the reputation of the woman he
+loved, soon imposed silence upon him, and he ceased to comment on the
+great drama of his life.
+
+The great versatility of his mind, and the power he possessed of
+throwing himself with the utmost keenness into many absolutely
+dissimilar and incongruous enterprises at the same time, add further
+to the difficulty of understanding him. An extraordinary number of
+subjects had their place in his capacious brain, and the ease with
+which he dismissed one and took up another with equal zest the moment
+after, causes his doings to seem unnatural to us of ordinary mind.
+Leon Gozlan gives a curious instance of this on the occasion of the
+first reading of the "Ressources de Quinola."
+
+Balzac had recited his play in the green-room of the Odeon to the
+assembled actors and actresses, and before a most critical audience
+had gone through the terrible strain of trying to improvise the fifth
+act, which was not yet written. He and Gozlan went straight from the
+hot atmosphere of the theatre to refresh themselves in the cool air of
+the Luxembourg Gardens. Here we should expect one of two things to
+happen. Either Balzac would be depressed with the ill-success of his
+fifth act, at which, according to Gozlan, he had acquitted himself so
+badly that Madame Dorval, the principal actress, refused to take a
+role in the play; or, on the other hand, his sanguine temperament
+would cause him to overlook the drawbacks, and to think only of the
+enthusiasm with which the first four acts had been received. Neither
+of these two things took place. Balzac "n'y pensait deja plus." He
+talked with the greatest eagerness of the embellishments he had
+proposed to M. Decazes for his palace, and especially of a grand
+spiral staircase, which was to lead from the centre of the Luxembourg
+Gardens to the Catacombs, so that these might be shown to visitors,
+and become a source of profit to Paris. But of his play he said
+nothing.
+
+The reader of "Lettres a l'Etrangere," which are written to the woman
+with whom Balzac was passionately in love, and whom he afterwards
+married, may, perhaps, at first sight congratulate himself on at last
+understanding in some degree the great author's character and mode of
+life. If he dives beneath the surface, however, he will find that
+these beautiful and touching letters give but an incomplete picture;
+and that, while writing them, Balzac was throwing much energy into
+schemes, which he either does not mention to his correspondent, or
+touches on in the most cursory fashion. Therefore the perspective of
+his life is difficult to arrange, and ordinary rules for gauging
+character are at fault. We find it impossible to follow the principle,
+that because Balzac possessed one characteristic, he could not also
+show a diametrically opposite quality--that, for instance, because
+tenderness, delicacy of feeling, and a high sense of reverence and of
+honour were undoubtedly integral parts of his personality, the stories
+told by his contemporaries of his occasional coarseness must
+necessarily be false.
+
+His own words, written to the Duchesse d'Abrantes in 1828, have no
+doubt a great element of truth in them: "I have the most singular
+character I know. I study myself as I might study another person, and
+I possess, shut up in my five foot eight inches, all the incoherences,
+all the contrasts possible; and those who think me vain, extravagant,
+obstinate, high-minded, without connection in my ideas,--a fop,
+negligent, idle, without application, without reflection, without any
+constancy; a chatterbox, without tact, badly brought up, impolite,
+whimsical, unequal in temper,--are quite as right as those who perhaps
+say that I am economical, modest, courageous, stingy, energetic, a
+worker, constant, silent, full of delicacy, polite, always gay. Those
+who consider that I am a coward will not be more wrong than those who
+say that I am extremely brave; in short, learned or ignorant, full of
+talent or absurd, nothing astonishes me more than myself. I end by
+believing that I am only an instrument played on by circumstances.
+Does this kaleidoscope exist, because, in the soul of those who claim
+to paint all the affections of the human heart, chance throws all
+these affections themselves, so that they may be able, by the force of
+their imagination, to feel what they paint? And is observation a sort
+of memory suited to aid this lively imagination? I begin to think
+so."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 77.
+
+Certainly Balzac's character proves to the hilt the truth of the rule
+that, with few exceptions in the world's history, the higher the
+development, the more complex the organisation and the more violent
+the clashing of the divers elements of the man's nature; so that his
+soul resembles a field of battle, and he wears out quickly.
+Nevertheless, because everything in Balzac seems contradictory, when
+he is likened by one of his friends to the sea, which is one and
+indivisible, we perceive that the comparison is not inapt. Round the
+edge are the ever-restless waves; on the surface the foam blown by
+fitful gusts of wind, the translucent play of sunbeams, and the
+clamour of storms lashing up the billows; but down in the sombre
+depths broods the resistless, immovable force which tinges with its
+reflection the dancing and play above, and is the genius and
+fascination, the mystery and tragedy of the sea.
+
+Below the merriment and herculean jollity, so little represented in
+his books, there was deep, gloomy force in the soul of the man who,
+gifted with an almost unparalleled imagination, would yet grip the
+realities of the pathetic and terrible situations he evolved with
+brutal strength and insistence. The mind of the writer of "Le Pere
+Goriot," "La Cousine Bette," and "Le Cousin Pons," those terrible
+tragedies where the Greek god Fate marches on his victims
+relentlessly, and there is no staying of the hand for pity, could not
+have been merely a wide, sunny expanse with no dark places.
+Nevertheless, we are again puzzled, when we attempt to realise the
+personality of a man whose imagination could soar to the mystical and
+philosophical conception of "Seraphita," which is full of religious
+poetry, and who yet had the power in "Cesar Birotteau" to invest
+prosaic and even sordid details with absolute verisimilitude, or in
+the "Contes Drolatiques" would write, in Old French, stories of
+Rabelaisian breadth and humour. The only solution of these
+contradictions is that, partly perhaps by reason of great physical
+strength, certainly because of an abnormally powerful brain and
+imagination, Balzac's thoughts, feelings, and passions were unusually
+strong, and were endowed with peculiar impetus and independence of
+each other; and from this resulted a versatility which caused most
+unexpected developments, and which fills us of smaller mould with
+astonishment.
+
+Nevertheless, steadfastness was decidedly the groundwork of the
+character of the man who was not dismayed by the colossal task of the
+Comedie Humaine; but pursued his work through discouragement, ill
+health, and anxieties. Except near the end of his life, when, owing to
+the unreasonable strain to which it had been subjected, his powerful
+organism had begun to fail, Balzac refused to neglect his vocation
+even for his love affairs--a self-control which must have been a
+severe test to one of his temperament.
+
+This absorption in his work cannot have been very flattering to the
+ladies he admired; and one plausible explanation of Madame de
+Castries' coldness to his suit is that she did not believe in the
+devotion of a lover who, while paying her the most assiduous court at
+Aix, would yet write from five in the morning till half-past five in
+the evening, and only bestow his company on her from six till an early
+bedtime. Even the adored Madame Hanska had to take second place where
+work was concerned. When they were both at Vienna in 1835, he writes
+with some irritation, apparently in answer to a remonstrance on her
+part, that he cannot work when he knows he has to go out; and that,
+owing to the time he spent the evening before in her society, he must
+now shut himself up for fourteen hours and toil at "Le Lys dans la
+Vallee." He adds, with his customary force of language, that if he
+does not finish the book at Vienna, he will throw himself into the
+Danube!
+
+The great psychologist knew his own character well when, in another
+letter to Madame Hanska, who has complained of his frivolity, he
+cries, indignantly: "Frivolity of character! Why, you speak as a good
+/bourgeois/ would have done, who, seeing Napoleon turn to the right,
+to the left, and on all sides to examine his field of battle, would
+have said, 'This man cannot remain in one place; he has no fixed
+idea!'"[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+This change of posture, though consonant, as Balzac says, with real
+stability, is a source of bewilderment to the reader of his sayings
+and doings, till it dawns upon him that, through pride, policy, and
+the usual shrinking of the sensitive from casting their pearls before
+swine, Balzac was a confirmed /poseur/, so that what he tells us is
+often more misleading than his silence. Leon Gozlan's books are a
+striking instance of the fact that, with all Balzac's jollity, his
+camaraderie, and his flow of words, he did not readily reveal himself,
+except to those whom he could thoroughly trust to understand him.
+Gozlan went about with Balzac very often, and was specially chosen by
+him time after time as a companion; but he really knew very little of
+the great man. If we compare his account of Balzac's feeling or want
+of feeling at a certain crisis, and then read what is written on the
+same subject to Madame Hanska, Balzac's enormous power of reserve, and
+his habit of deliberately misleading those who were not admitted to
+his confidence, may be gauged.
+
+George Sand tells us an anecdote which shows how easily, from his
+anxiety not to wear his heart upon his sleeve, Balzac might be
+misunderstood. He dined with her on January 29th, 1844, after a visit
+to Russia, and related at table, with peals of laughter and apparently
+enormous satisfaction, an instance which had come under his notice of
+the ferocious exercise of absolute power. Any stranger listening,
+would have thought him utterly heartless and brutal, but George Sand
+knew better. She whispered to him: "That makes you inclined to cry,
+doesn't it?"[*] He answered nothing; left off laughing, as if a spring
+in him had broken; was very serious for the rest of the evening, and
+did not say a word more about Russia.
+
+[*] "Autour de la Table," by George Sand.
+
+Balzac looked on the world as an arena; and as the occasion and the
+audience arose, he suited himself with the utmost aplomb to the part
+he intended to play, so that under the costume and the paint the real
+Balzac is often difficult to discover. Sometimes he would pretend to
+be rich and prosperous, when he thought an editor would thereby be
+induced to offer him good terms; and sometimes, when it suited his
+purpose, he would make the most of his poverty and of his pecuniary
+embarrassments. Madame Hanska, from whom he required sympathy, heard
+much of his desperate situation after the failure of Werdet, whom he
+likens to the vulture that tormented Prometheus; but as it would not
+answer for Emile de Girardin, the editor of /La Presse/, to know much
+about Balzac's pecuniary difficulties, Madame de Girardin is assured
+that the report of Werdet's supposed disaster is false, and Balzac
+virtuously remarks that in the present century honesty is never
+believed in.[*] Sometimes his want of candour appears to have its
+origin in his hatred to allow that he is beaten, and there is
+something childlike and naive in his vanity. We are amused when he
+informs Madame Hanska that he is giving up the /Chronique de Paris/--
+which, after a brilliant flourish of trumpets at the start, was a
+complete failure--because the speeches in the Chambre des Deputes are
+so silly that he abandons the idea of taking up politics, as he had
+intended to do by means of journalism. In a later letter, however, he
+is obliged to own that, though the /Chronique/ has been, of course, a
+brilliant success, money is lacking, owing to the wickedness of
+several abandoned characters, and that therefore he has been forced to
+bring the publication to an end.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," p. 152, by Le Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+Of one vanity he was completely free. He did not pose to posterity. Of
+his books he thought much--each one was a masterpiece, more glorious
+than the last; but he never imagined that people would be in the least
+interested in his doings, and he did not care about their opinion of
+him. Nevertheless there was occasionally a gleam of joy, when some one
+unexpectedly showed a spontaneous admiration for his work. For
+instance, in a Viennese concert-room, where the whole audience had
+risen to do honour to the great author, a young man seized his hand
+and put it to his lips, saying, "I kiss the hand that wrote
+'Seraphita,'" and Balzac said afterwards to his sister, "They may deny
+my talent, if they choose, but the memory of that student will always
+comfort me."
+
+His genius would, he hoped, be acknowledged one day by all the world;
+but there was a singular and lovable absence of self-consciousness in
+his character, and a peculiar humility and childlikeness under his
+braggadocio and apparent arrogance. Perhaps this was the source of the
+power of fascination he undoubtedly exercised over his contemporaries.
+Nothing is more noticeable to any one reading about Balzac than the
+difference between the tone of amused indulgence with which those who
+knew him personally, speak of his peculiarities, and the contemptuous
+or horrified comments of people who only heard from others of his
+extraordinary doings.
+
+He had bitter enemies as well as devoted friends; and his fighting
+proclivities, his objection to allow that he is ever in the wrong, and
+his habit of blaming others for his misfortunes, have had a great
+effect in obscuring our knowledge of Balzac's life, as the people he
+abused were naturally exasperated, and took up their pens, not to give
+a fair account of what really happened, but to justify themselves
+against Balzac's aspersions. Werdet's book is an instance of this.
+Beneath the extravagant admiration he expresses for the "great
+writer," with his "heart of gold," a glint can be seen from time to
+time of the animus which inspired him when he wrote, and we feel that
+his statements must be received with caution, and do not add much to
+our real knowledge of Balzac.
+
+Nevertheless, though there are still blank spaces to be filled, as
+well as difficulties to overcome and puzzles to unravel, much fresh
+information has lately been discovered about the great writer, notably
+the "Lettres a l'Etrangere," published in 1899, a collection of some
+of the letters written by Balzac, from 1833 to 1848, to Madame Hanska,
+the Polish lady who afterwards became his wife. These letters, which
+are the property of the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, give many
+interesting details, and alter the earlier view of several points in
+Balzac's career and character; but the volume is large, and takes some
+time to read. It is therefore thought, that as those who would seem
+competent, by their knowledge and skill, to overcome the difficulties
+of writing a complete and exhaustive life are silent, a short sketch,
+which can claim nothing more than correctness of detail, may not be
+unwelcome. It contains no attempt to give what could only be a very
+inadequate criticism of the books of the great novelist; for that, the
+reader must be referred to the many works by learned Frenchmen who
+have made a lifelong study of the subject. It is written, however, in
+the hope that the admirers of "Eugenie Grandet" and "Le Pere Goriot"
+may like to read something of the author of these masterpieces, and
+that even those who only know the great French novelist by reputation
+may be interested to hear a little about the restless life of a man
+who was a slave to his genius--was driven by its insistent voice to
+engage in work which was enormously difficult to him, to lead an
+abnormal and unhealthy life, and to wear out his exuberant physical
+strength prematurely. He died with his powers at their highest and his
+great task unfinished; and a sense of thankfulness for his own
+mediocrity fills the reader, when he reaches the end of the life of
+Balzac.
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER II
+
+  Balzac's appearance, dress, and personality--His imaginary world
+  and schemes for making money--His family, childhood, and school-
+  days.
+
+According to Theophile Gautier, herculean jollity was the most
+striking characteristic of the great writer, whose genius excels in
+sombre and often sordid tragedy. George Sand, too, speaks of Balzac's
+"serene soul with a smile in it"; and this was the more remarkable,
+because he lived at a time when discontent and despair were considered
+the sign-manual of talent.
+
+Physically Balzac was far from satisfying a romantic ideal of fragile
+and enervated genius. Short and stout, square of shoulder, with an
+abundant mane of thick black hair--a sign of bodily vigour--his whole
+person breathed intense vitality. Deep red lips, thick, but finely
+curved, and always ready to laugh, attested, like the ruddiness in his
+full cheeks, to the purity and richness of his blood. His forehead,
+high, broad, and unwrinkled, save for a line between the eyes, and his
+neck, thick, round, and columnar, contrasted in their whiteness with
+the colour in the rest of the face. His hands were large and dimpled--
+"beautiful hands," his sister calls them. He was proud of them, and
+had a slight prejudice against any one with ugly extremities. His
+nose, about which he gave special directions to David when his bust
+was taken, was well cut, rather long, and square at the end, with the
+lobes of the open nostrils standing out prominently. As to his eyes,
+according to Gautier, there were none like them.[*] They had
+inconceivable life, light, and magnetism. They were eyes to make an
+eagle lower his lids, to read through walls and hearts, to terrify a
+wild beast--eyes of a sovereign, a seer, a conqueror. Lamartine likens
+them to "darts dipped in kindliness." Balzac's sister speaks of them
+as brown; but, according to other contemporaries, they were like
+brilliant black diamonds, with rich reflections of gold, the white of
+the eyeballs being tinged with blue. They seemed to be lit with the
+fire of the genius within, to read souls, to answer questions before
+they were asked, and at the same time to pour out warm rays of
+kindliness from a joyous heart.
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains--Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+At all points Balzac's personality differed from that of his
+contemporaries of the Romantic School--those transcendental geniuses
+of despairing temper, who were utterly hopeless about the prosaic
+world in which, by some strange mistake, they found themselves; and
+from which they felt that no possible inspiration for their art could
+be drawn. So little attuned were these unfortunates to their
+commonplace surroundings that, after picturing in their writings
+either fiendish horrors, or a beautiful, impossible atmosphere,
+peopled by beings out of whom all likeness to humanity had been
+eliminated, they not infrequently lost their mental balance
+altogether, or hurried by their own act out of a dull world which
+could never satisfy their lively imaginations. Balzac, on the other
+hand, loved the world. How, with the acute powers of observation, and
+the intuition, amounting almost to second sight, with which he was
+gifted, could he help doing so? The man who could at will quit his own
+personality, and invest himself with that of another; who would follow
+a workman and his wife on their way home at night from a music-hall,
+and listen to their discussions on domestic matters till he imbibed
+their life, felt their ragged clothing on his back, and their desires
+and wants in his soul,--how could he find life dull, or the most
+commonplace individual uninteresting?
+
+In dress Balzac was habitually careless. He would rush to the
+printer's office, after twelve hours of hard work, with his hat drawn
+over his eyes, his hands thrust into shabby gloves, and his feet in
+shoes with high sides, worn over loose trousers, which were pleated at
+the waist and held down with straps. Even in society he took no
+trouble about his appearance, and Lamartine describes him as looking,
+in the salon of Madame de Girardin, like a schoolboy who has outgrown
+his clothes. Only for a short time, which he describes with glee in
+his letters to Madame Hanska, did he pose as a man of fashion. Then he
+wore a magnificent white waistcoat, and a blue coat with gold buttons;
+carried the famous cane, with a knob studded with turquoises,
+celebrated in Madame de Girardin's story, "La Canne de Monsieur de
+Balzac"; and drove in a tilbury, behind a high-stepping horse, with a
+tiny tiger, whom he christened Anchise, perched on the back seat. This
+phase was quickly over, the horses were sold, and Balzac appeared no
+more in the box reserved for dandies at the Opera. Of the fashionable
+outfit, the only property left was the microscopic groom--an orphan,
+of whom Balzac took the greatest care, and whom he visited daily
+during the boy's last illness, a year or two after. Thenceforward he
+reverted to his usual indifference about appearances, his only vanity
+being the spotless cleanliness of his working costume--a loose
+dressing-gown of white flannel or cashmere, made like the habit of a
+Benedictine monk, which was kept in round the waist by a silk girdle,
+and was always scrupulously guarded from ink-stains.
+
+Naive as a child, anxious for sympathy, frankly delighted with his own
+masterpieces, yet modest in a fashion peculiar to himself, Balzac gave
+a dominant impression of kindliness and bonhomie, which overshadowed
+even the idea of intellect. To his friends he is not in the first
+place the author of the "Comedie Humaine," designed, as George Sand
+rather grandiloquently puts it, to be "an almost universal examination
+of the ideas, sentiments, customs, habits, legislation, arts, trades,
+costumes, localities--in short, of all that constitutes the lives of
+his contemporaries"[*]--that claim to notice recedes into the
+background, and what is seen clearly is the /bon camarade/, with his
+great hearty laugh, his jollity, his flow of language, and his jokes,
+often Rabelaisian in flavour. Of course there was another side to the
+picture, and there were times in his hardset and harassing life when
+even /his/ vivacity failed him. These moods were, however, never
+apparent in society; and even to his intimate men friends, such as
+Theophile Gautier and Leon Gozlan, Balzac was always the delightful,
+whimsical companion, to be thought of and written of afterwards with
+an amused, though affectionate smile. Only to women, his principal
+confidantes, who played as important a part in his life as they do in
+his books, did he occasionally show the discouragement to which the
+artistic nature is prone. Sometimes the state of the weather, which
+always had a great effect on him, the difficulty of his work, the
+fatigue of sitting up all night, and his monetary embarrassments,
+brought him to an extreme state of depression, both physical and
+mental. He would arrive at the house of Madame Surville, his sister,
+who tells the story, hardly able to drag himself along, in a gloomy,
+dejected state, with his skin sallow and jaundiced.
+
+[*] "Autour de la Table," by George Sand.
+
+"Don't console me," he would say in a faint voice, dropping into a
+chair; "it is useless--I am a dead man."
+
+The dead man would then begin, in a doleful voice, to tell of his new
+troubles; but he soon revived, and the words came forth in the most
+ringing tones of his voice. Then, opening his proofs, he would drop
+back into his dismal accents and say, by way of conclusion:
+
+"Yes, I am a wrecked man, sister!"
+
+"Nonsense! No man is wrecked with such proofs as those to correct."
+
+Then he would raise his head, his face would unpucker little by
+little, the sallow tones of his skin would disappear.
+
+"My God, you are right!" he would say. "Those books will make me live.
+Besides, blind Fortune is here, isn't she? Why shouldn't she protect a
+Balzac as well as a ninny? And there are always ways of wooing her.
+Suppose one of my millionaire friends (and I have some), or a banker,
+not knowing what to do with his money, should come to me and say, 'I
+know your immense talents, and your anxieties: you want such-and-such
+a sum to free yourself; accept it fearlessly: you will pay me; your
+pen is worth millions!' That is /all I want/, my dear."[*]
+
+[*] "Balzac, sa Vie et ses Oeuvres, d'apres la Correspondance," by
+    Mme. L. Surville (nee de Balzac).
+
+Then the "child-man," as his sister calls him, would imagine himself a
+member of the Institute; then in the Chamber of Peers, pointing out
+and reforming abuses, and governing a highly prosperous country.
+Finally, he would end the interview with, "Adieu! I am going home to
+see if my banker is waiting for me"; and would depart, quite consoled,
+with his usual hearty laugh.
+
+He lived, his sister tells us, to a great extent in a world of his
+own, peopled by the imaginary characters in his books, and he would
+gravely discuss its news, as others do that of the real world.
+Sometimes he was delighted at the grand match he had planned for his
+hero; but often affairs did not go so well, and perhaps it would give
+him much anxious thought to marry his heroine suitably, as it was
+necessary to find her a husband in her own set, and this might be
+difficult to arrange. When asked about the past of one of his
+creations, he replied gravely that he "had not been acquainted with
+Monsieur de Jordy before he came to Nemours," but added that, if his
+questioner were anxious to know, he would try to find out. He had many
+fancies about names, declaring that those which are invented do not
+give life to imaginary beings, whereas those really borne by some one
+endow them with vitality. Leon Gozlan says that he was dragged by
+Balzac half over Paris in search of a suitable name for the hero of a
+story to be published in the /Revue Parisienne/. After they had
+trudged through scores of streets in vain, Balzac, to his intense joy,
+discovered "Marcas" over a small tailor's shop, to which he added, as
+"a flame, a plume, a star," the initial Z. Z. Marcas conveyed to him
+the idea of a great, though unknown, philosopher, poet, or
+silversmith, like Benvenuto Cellini; he went no farther, he was
+satisfied--he had found "/the/ name of names."[*]
+
+[*] "Balzac en Pantoufles," by Leon Gozlan.
+
+Many are the amusing anecdotes told of Balzac's schemes for becoming
+rich. Money he struggled for unceasingly, not from sordid motives, but
+because it was necessary to his conception of a happy life. Without
+its help he could never be freed from his burden of debt, and united
+to the /grande dame/ of his fancy, who must of necessity be posed in
+elegant toilette, on a suitable background of costly brocades and
+objects of art. Nevertheless, in spite of all his efforts, and of a
+capacity and passion for work which seemed almost superhuman, he never
+obtained freedom from monetary anxiety. Viewed in this light, there is
+pathos in his many impossible plans for making his fortune, and
+freeing himself from the strain which was slowly killing him.
+
+Some of his projected enterprises were wildly fantastic, and prove
+that the great author was, like many a genius, a child at heart; and
+that, in his eyes, the world was not the prosaic place it is to most
+men and women, but an enchanted globe, like the world of "Treasure
+Island," teeming with the possibility of strange adventure. At one
+time he hoped to gain a substantial income by growing pineapples in
+the little garden at Les Jardies, and later on he thought money might
+be made by transporting oaks from Poland to France. For some months he
+believed that, by means of magnetism exercised on somnambulists, he
+had discovered the exact spot at Pointe a Pitre where Toussaint-
+Louverture hid his treasure, and afterwards shot the negroes he had
+employed to bury it, lest they should betray its hiding-place. Jules
+Sandeau and Theophile Gautier were chosen to assist in the enterprise
+of carrying off the hidden gold, and were each to receive a quarter of
+the treasure, Balzac, as leader of the venture, taking the other half.
+The three friends were to start secretly and separately with spades
+and shovels, and, their work accomplished, were to put the treasure on
+a brig which was to be in waiting, and were to return as millionaires
+to France. This brilliant plan failed, because none of the three
+adventurers had at the moment money to pay his passage out; and no
+doubt, by the time that the necessary funds were forthcoming, Balzac's
+fertile brain was engaged on other enterprises.[*]
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains--Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+The foundation of his pecuniary misfortunes was laid before his birth,
+when his father, forty-five years old and unmarried, sank the bulk of
+his fortune in life annuities, so that his son was in the unfortunate
+position of starting life in very comfortable circumstances, and of
+finding himself in want of money just when he most needed it.
+
+Balzac's father was born in Languedoc in 1746, and we are told by his
+son that he had been Secretary, and by Madame Surville, advocate, of
+the Council under Louis XVI. Both these statements however appear to
+be incorrect, and may be considered to have been harmless fictions on
+the part of the old gentleman, as no record of his name can be found
+in the Royal Calendar, which was very carefully kept. Almanacs are
+awkward things, and his name /is/ mentioned in the National Calendar
+of 1793 as a "lawyer" and "member of the general council for the
+section of the rights of man in the Commune." But he evidently
+preferred to draw a veil over his revolutionary experiences, and it
+seems rather hard that, because he happened to possess a celebrated
+son, his little secrets should be exposed to the light of day. Later
+on he became an ardent Royalist, and in 1814 he joined with Bertrand
+de Molleville to draw up a memoir against the Charter, which Balzac
+says was dictated to him, then a boy of fifteen; and he also mentions
+that he remembers hearing M. de Molleville cry out, "The Constitution
+ruined Louis XVI., and the Charter will kill the Bourbons!" "No
+compromise" formed an essential part of the creed of the Royalists at
+the Restoration.
+
+When M. de Balzac[*] married, in 1797, he was in charge of the
+Commissariat of the Twenty-second Military Division; and in 1798 he
+came to live in Tours, where he had bought a house and some land near
+the town, and where he remained for nineteen years. Here, on May 16,
+1799, St. Honore's day, his son, the celebrated novelist, was born,
+and was christened Honore after the saint.
+
+[*] The Balzac family will be accorded the "de" in this account of
+    them.
+
+Old M. de Balzac was in his own way literary, and had written two or
+three pamphlets, one on his favourite subject--that of health. He
+seems to have been a man of much originality, many peculiarities, and
+much kindness of heart. He was evidently impulsive, like his
+celebrated son, and he certainly made a culpable mistake, and a cruel
+one for his family, when he rashly concluded that he would always
+remain a bachelor, and arranged that his income should die with him.
+He afterwards hoped to repair the wrong he had thus done to his
+children, by outliving the other shareholders and obtaining a part of
+the immense capital of the Tontine. Fortunately for himself he
+possessed extraordinary optimism, and power of excluding from his mind
+the possibility of all unpleasant contingencies--qualities which he
+handed on in full measure to Honore. He therefore kept himself happy
+in the monetary disappointments of his later life, by thinking and
+talking of the millions his children would inherit from their
+centenarian father. For their sakes it was necessary that he should
+take care of his health, and he considered that, by maintaining the
+"equilibrium of the vital forces," there was absolutely no doubt that
+he would live for a hundred years or more. Therefore he followed a
+strict regimen, and gave himself an infinite amount of trouble, as
+well as amusement, by his minute arrangements.
+
+Unfortunately, however, the truth of his theories could never be
+tested, as he died in 1829, at the age of eighty-three, from the
+effects of an operation; and Madame de Balzac and her family were left
+to face the stern facts of life, denuded of the rose-coloured haze in
+which they had been clothed by the kindly old enthusiast. Balzac's
+mother certainly had a hard life, and from what we hear of her
+nervous, excitable nature--inherited apparently from her mother,
+Madame Sallambier--we can hardly be astonished when Balzac writes to
+Madame Hanska, in 1835, that if her misfortunes do not kill her, it is
+feared they will destroy her reason. Nevertheless, she outlived her
+celebrated son, and is mentioned by Victor Hugo, when he visited
+Balzac's deathbed, as the only person in the room, except a nurse and
+a servant.[*]
+
+[*] "Choses Vues," by Victor Hugo.
+
+She was many years younger than her husband--a beauty and an heiress;
+and she evidently had her own way with the easy-going old M. de
+Balzac, and was the moving spirit in the household: so that the ease
+and absence of friction in her early life must have made her
+subsequent troubles and humiliations especially galling. Besides
+Honore, she had three children: Laure, afterwards Madame Surville;
+Laurence, who died young; and Henry, the black sheep of the family,
+who returned from the colonies, after having made an unsatisfactory
+marriage, and who, during the last years of Honore de Balzac's life,
+required constant monetary help from his relations.
+
+Her two young children were Madame de Balzac's favourites, and they
+and their affairs gave her constant trouble. In 1822 Laurence married
+a M. Saint-Pierre de Montzaigle, apparently a good deal older than
+herself; and Honore gives a very /couleur de rose/ account of his
+future brother-in-law's family, in a letter written at the time of the
+engagement to Laure, who was already married. He does not seem so
+charmed with the bridegroom, /il troubadouro/, as with his
+surroundings, and remarks that he has lost his top teeth, and is very
+conceited, but will do well enough--as a husband. Every one is
+delighted at the marriage; but Laure can imagine /maman's/ state of
+nervous excitement from her recollection of the last few days before
+her own wedding, and can fancy that he and Laurence are not enjoying
+themselves. "Nature surrounds roses with thorns, and pleasures with a
+crowd of troubles. Mamma follows the example of nature."[*]
+
+[*] "H. de Balzac--Correspondence," vol. i. p. 41.
+
+Laurence's death, in 1826, must have been a terrible grief to the poor
+mother; but she may have realised later on that her daughter had
+escaped much trouble, as in 1836 the Balzac family threatened M. de
+Montzaigle with a lawsuit on the subject of his son, who was left to
+wander about Paris without food, shoes, or clothes. We cannot suppose
+that any one with such sketchy views of the duties of a father could
+have been a particularly satisfactory husband; but perhaps Laurence
+died before she had time to discover M. de Montzaigle's deficiencies.
+
+Henry, the younger son, appears to have been brought up on a different
+method from that pursued with Honore, as we hear in 1821 that Madame
+de Balzac considered that the boy was unhappy and bored with school,
+that he was with canting people who punished him for nothing, and must
+be taken away. Evidently the younger son was the mother's darling; but
+her mode of bringing him up was not happy in its effects, as he seems
+to have given continual anxiety and trouble. He came back from the
+colonies with his wife; and by threatening to blow out his brains, he
+worked on his mother's feelings, and induced her to help him with
+money, and nearly to ruin herself. In consequence she was obliged for
+a time to take up her abode with Honore, an arrangement which did not
+work well. Even when Henry was at last shipped off to the Indies, he
+continued to agitate his family by sending them pathetic accounts of
+his distress and necessities, and these letters from her much-loved
+son must have been peculiarly painful to Madame de Balzac.
+
+Honore and his mother seem never to have understood each other very
+well; and she was stern with him and Laure in their youth, while she
+lavished caresses on her younger children. Likeness to a father is not
+always a passport to a mother's favour, and Madame de Balzac does not
+appear to have realised her son's genius, and evidently feared that,
+without due repression in youth, the paternal type of imaginative
+optimist would be repeated.
+
+She was not a tender mother in childhood, when indeed she saw little
+of Honore, as she left him out at nurse till he was four years old,
+and sent him to school when he was eight; but later on in all
+practical matters she did her best for him, lending him money when he
+was in difficulties, and looking after his business affairs when he
+was away from Paris. She was evidently easily offended, and rather
+absurdly tenacious of her maternal dignity; so that sometimes the
+deference and submission of the great writer are surprising and rather
+touching. On the other hand it must be remembered that Honore made
+great demands on his friends, that they were expected to accord
+continual sympathy and admiration, to be perfectly tactful in their
+criticisms, and were only very occasionally allowed to give advice.
+Therefore his opinion of his mother's coldness may have sprung from
+her failure to answer to the requirements of his peculiar code of
+affection, and not from any real want of love on her part.
+
+Certainly her severity in his youth had the effect of concentrating
+the whole devotion of Honore's childish heart on Laure, the /cara
+sorella/ of his later years. She was a writer, the author of "Le
+Compagnon du Foyer." To her we owe a charming sketch of her celebrated
+brother, and she was the confidante of his hopes, ambitions, and
+troubles, of his sentimental friendships, and of the faults and
+embarrassments which he confided to no one else. Expressions of
+affection for her occur constantly in his letters, and in 1837 he
+writes to Madame Hanska that Laure is ill, and therefore the whole
+universe seems out of gear, and that he passes whole nights in despair
+because she is everything to him. The friendship between the brother
+and sister was deep, devoted, and faithful, as Balzac's friendships
+generally were--he did not care, as he said in one of his letters, for
+/amities d'epiderme/--and the restriction put on his intercourse with
+his sister by the jealousy of M. Surville was one of the many troubles
+which darkened his later years.
+
+Occasionally, indeed, there were disagreements between the brother and
+sister, when Honore did not approve of Laure's aspirations for
+authorship. The only subject which really caused coldness on both
+sides, however--and this was temporary--was Laure's want of sympathy
+for Balzac's attachment to Madame Hanska; because she, like many of
+his friends, felt doubtful whether his passionate love was returned in
+anything like equal measure. Perhaps, too, there may have lurked in
+the sister's mind a slight jealousy of this alien /grande dame/, who
+had stolen away her brother's heart from France, who moved in a sphere
+quite unlike that of the Balzac family, and whose existence prevented
+several advantageous and sensible marriages which she could have
+arranged for Honore. Balzac, it must be allowed, was not always
+tactful in his descriptions of the perfections of the Hanska family,
+who were, of course, in his eyes, surrounded with aureoles borrowed
+from the light of his "polar star." It must have been distinctly
+annoying, when the virtues, talents, and charms of the young Countess
+Anna were held up as an object lesson for Madame Surville's two
+daughters, who were no doubt, from their mother's point of view, quite
+as admirable as Madame Hanska's ewe lamb. Nevertheless, there was
+never any real separation between the brother and sister; and it is to
+Laure that--certain of her participation in his joy--poor Balzac
+penned his delighted letter the day after his wedding, signed "Thy
+brother Honore, at the summit of happiness."
+
+Laure's own career was chequered. In 1820 she married an engineer, M.
+Midy de la Greneraye Surville, and from the first the marriage was not
+very happy, as Honore writes, a month after it took place, to blame
+Laure for her melancholy at the separation from her family, and to
+counsel philosophy and piano practice. Possibly Balzac's habits of
+ascendency over those he loved, and his wonderful gift of fascination
+--a gift which often provides its possessor with bitter enemies among
+those outside its influence--made matters difficult for his brother-
+in-law, and did not tend to promote harmony between Laure and her
+husband. M. Surville probably became exasperated by useless attempts
+to vie in his wife's eyes with her much-beloved brother--at any rate,
+in later years he was tyrannical in preventing their intercourse, and
+we hear of the unfortunate Laure coming in secret to see Balzac, on
+her birthday in 1836, and holding a watch in her hand, because she did
+not dare to stay away longer than twenty minutes. There were other
+worries for Laure and her husband, for, like the rest of the Balzac
+family, they were in continual difficulty about money matters. M.
+Surville seems to have been a man of enterprise, and to have had many
+schemes on hand--such as making a lateral canal on the Loire from
+Nantes to Orleans, building a bridge in Paris, or constructing a
+little railway. Speaking of the canal, Balzac cheerfully and airily
+remarked in 1836 that only a capital of twenty-six millions of francs
+required collecting, and then the Survilles would be on the high road
+to prosperity. This trifling matter was not after all arranged, if we
+may judge from the fact that in 1849 the Survilles moved to a cheap
+lodging, and were advised by Balzac, in a letter from Russia, to
+follow his habit of former days, and to cook only twice a week. In
+fact, they were evidently passing through one of those monetary crises
+to which we become used when reading the annals of the Balzacs, and
+which irresistibly remind the reader of similar affairs in the
+Micawber family.
+
+In spite of the friction on the subject of Madame Surville, there was
+never any actual breach between Honore and his brother-in-law; indeed,
+he speaks several times of working amicably with M. Surville, in the
+vain attempt to put in order the hopelessly involved web of family
+affairs. He evidently had great faith in his brother-in-law's plans
+for making his fortune, and took the keenest interest in them, even
+offering to go over to London, to sell an invention for effecting
+economy in the construction of inclined planes on railways. But M.
+Surville changed his mind at the last, and Balzac never went to
+England after all.
+
+Honore and Laure were together during the time of their earliest
+childhood, as they were left at the cottage of the same foster-mother,
+and did not come home till Honore was four years old. His sister says,
+"My recollections of his tenderness date far back. I have not
+forgotten the headlong rapidity with which he ran to save me from
+tumbling down the three high steps without a railing, which led from
+our nurse's room to the garden. His loving protection continued after
+we returned to our father's house, where, more than once, he allowed
+himself to be punished for my faults, without betraying me. Once, when
+I came upon the scene in time to accuse myself of the wrong, he said,
+'Don't acknowledge next time--I like to be punished for you.'"[*]
+
+[*] "Balzac, sa vie et ses oeuvres, d'apres sa correspondance," by
+    Madame L. Surville (nee de Balzac).
+
+Both children were in great awe of their parents, and Honore's fear of
+his mother was extreme. Years after, he told a friend that he was
+never able to hear her voice without a trembling which deprived him of
+his faculties. Their father treated them with uniform kindness, but
+Honore's heart was filled with love for his kind grandparents, to whom
+he paid a visit in Paris in 1804. He came back to Tours with wonderful
+stories of the beauties of their house, their garden, and their big
+dog Mouche, with whom he had made great friends. The news of his
+grandfather's death a few months later was a great grief to him, and
+made a deep impression on his childish mind. His sister tells us that
+long afterwards, when the two were receiving a reprimand from their
+mother, and he saw Laure unable to control a wild burst of laughter,
+which he knew would lead to serious consequences, he tried to stop her
+by whispering in tragic tones, "Think about your grandfather's death!"
+
+He was a child of very deep affections and warmth of heart, but he did
+not show any special intelligence. He was lively, merry, and extremely
+talkative, but sometimes a silent mood would fall on him, and perhaps,
+as his sister says, his imagination was then carrying him to distant
+worlds, though the family only thought the chatterbox was tired. In
+all ways, however, he was in these days a very ordinary child, devoted
+to fairy stories, fond of the popular nursery amusement of making up
+plays, and charmed with the excruciating noise he brought out of a
+little red violin. This he would sometimes play on for hours, till
+even the faithful Laure would remonstrate, and he would be astonished
+that she did not realise the beauty of his music.
+
+This happy childish life, chastened only by the tremors which both
+children felt when taken by their governess in the morning and at
+bedtime into the stern presence of their mother, did not last very
+long for Honore. When he was eight years old (his sister says seven,
+but this seems to be a mistake), there was a change in his life, as
+the home authorities decided that it was time his education should
+begin in good earnest. He was therefore taken from the day school at
+Tours, and sent to the semi-military college founded by the Oratorians
+in the sleepy little town of Vendome. On page 7 of the school record
+there is the following notice: "No. 460. Honore Balzac, age de huit
+ans un mois. A eu la petite verole, sans infirmites. Caractere
+sanguin, s'echauffant facilement, et sujet a quelques fievres de
+chaleur. Entre au pensionnat le 22 juin, 1807. Sorti, le 22 aout,
+1813. S'adresser a M. Balzac, son pere, a Tours."[*] Thus is summed up
+the character of the future writer of the "Comedie Humaine," and there
+was apparently nothing remarkable or precocious about the boy, as his
+quick temper is his most salient point in the eyes of his masters. It
+will be noticed, too, that the "de," about which Balzac was very
+particular, and which was the occasion of many scoffing remarks on the
+part of his enemies, does not appear on this register.
+
+[*] "Balzac au College," by Champfleury.
+
+Honore was a small boy to have been completely separated from home,
+and the whole scheme of education as devised by the Oratorian fathers
+appears to have been a strange one. One of the rules forbade outside
+holidays, and Honore never left the college once during the six years
+he was at school; so that there was no supervision from his parents,
+and no chance of complaint if he were unhappy or ill treated. His
+family came to see him at Easter and also at the prize-givings; but on
+these occasions, to which he looked forward, his sister tells us, with
+eager delight, reproaches were generally his portion, on account of
+his want of success in school work. In "Louis Lambert" he gives an
+interesting account of the college, which was in the middle of the
+town on the little river Loir, and contained a chapel, theatre,
+infirmary, bakery, and gardens. There were two or three hundred
+pupils, divided according to their ages or attainments into four
+classes--/les grands/, /les moyens/, les petits/, and /les minimes/--
+and each class had its own class-room and courtyard. Balzac was
+considered the idlest and most pathetic boy in his division, and was
+continually punished. Reproaches, the ferule, the dark cell, were his
+portion, and with his quick and delicate senses he suffered intensely
+from the want of air in the class-rooms. There, according to the
+graphic picture in "Louis Lambert," everything was dirty, and eighty
+boys inhabited a hall, in the centre of which were two buckets full of
+water, where all washed their faces and hands every morning, the water
+being only renewed once in the day. To add to the odours, the air was
+vitiated by the smell of pigeons killed for fete days, and of dishes
+stolen from the refectory, and kept by the pupils in their lockers.
+The boy who, in the future, was to awaken actual physical disgust in
+his readers by his description of the stuffy and dingy boarding-house
+dining-room in "Le Pere Goriot," was crushed and stupefied by his
+surroundings, and would sit for hours with his head on his hand, not
+attempting to learn, but gazing dreamily at the clouds, or at the
+foliage of the trees in the court below. No wonder that he was the
+despair of his masters, and that his famous "Traite de la volonte,"
+which he composed instead of preparing the ordinary school work, was
+summarily confiscated and destroyed. So many were the punishment lines
+given him to write, that his holidays were almost entirely taken up,
+and he had not six days of liberty the whole time that he was at
+college.
+
+In addition to the troubles incident to Honore's peculiar temperament
+and genius, he had in the winter, like the other pupils, to submit to
+actual physical suffering. The price of education included also that
+of clothing, the parents who sent their children to the Vendome
+College paying a yearly sum, and therewith comfortably absolving
+themselves from all trouble and responsibility. But the results were
+not happy for the boys, who dragged themselves painfully along the icy
+roads in miserable remnants of boots, their feet half dead, and
+swollen with sores and chilblains. Out of sixty children, not ten
+walked without torture, and many of them would cry with rage as they
+limped along, each step being a painful effort; but with the
+invincible physical pluck and moral cowardice of childhood, would hide
+their tears, for fear of ridicule from their companions.
+
+Nevertheless, even to Balzac, who was peculiarly unfitted for it, life
+at the college had its pleasures. The food appears to have been good,
+and the discipline at meals not very severe, as a regular system of
+exchange of helpings to suit the particular tastes of each boy went on
+all through dinner, and caused endless amusement. Some one who had
+received peas as his portion would prefer dessert, and the proposition
+"Un dessert pour des pois" would pass from mouth to mouth till the
+bargain had been made. Other pleasures were the pet pigeons, the
+gardens, the sweets bought secretly during the walks, the permission
+to play cards and to have theatrical performances during the holidays,
+the military music, the games, and the slides made in winter. Best of
+all, however, was the shop which opened in the class-room every Sunday
+during playtime for the sale of boxes, tools, pigeons of all sorts,
+mass-books (for these there was not much demand), knives, balls,
+pencils--everything a boy could wish for. The proud possessor of six
+francs--meant to last for the term--felt that the contents of the
+whole shop were at his disposal. Saturday night was passed in anxious
+yet rapturous calculations, and the responses at Mass during that
+happy Sunday morning mingled themselves with thoughts of the glorious
+time coming in the afternoon. Next Sunday was not quite so delightful,
+as probably there were only a few sous left, and possibly some of the
+purchases were broken, or had not turned out quite satisfactorily.
+Then, too, there was a long vista of Sundays in the future, without
+any possibility of shopping; but after all a certain amount of
+compounding is always necessary in life, and an intense short joy is
+worth a grey time before and after.
+
+When Balzac was fourteen years old, his life at the college came
+suddenly to an end, as, to the alarm of his masters, he was attacked
+by coma with feverish symptoms, and they begged his parents to take
+him home at once. It is curious to notice that the Fathers make no
+reference to this failure in their educational system in the school
+record, where there is no reason given for Honore's departure from
+school. Certainly his life at Vendome was not very healthy, as
+sometimes for idleness, inattention, or impertinence he was for months
+shut up every day in a niche six feet square, with a wooden door
+pierced by holes to let in air. When Champfleury visited the college
+years afterwards, the only person who remembered Balzac was the old
+Father who had charge of these cells, and he spoke of the boy's "great
+black eyes." Confinement in these /culottes de bois/, as they were
+called, was much dreaded by the boys, and the punishment seems
+barbarous and senseless, except from the point of view of getting rid
+of troublesome pupils. Balzac, however, welcomed the relief from
+ordinary school life, and indeed manoeuvred to be shut up. In the
+cells he had leisure to dream as he pleased, he was free from the
+drudgery of learning his lessons, and he managed to secrete books in
+his cage, and thus to absorb the contents of most of the volumes in
+the fine library collected by the learned Oratorian founders of the
+college. The ideas in many of the learned tomes were far beyond his
+age, but he understood them, remembered them afterwards, and could
+recall in later years not only the thought in each book, but also the
+disposition of his mind when he read them. Naturally this precocity of
+intellect caused brain fatigue, though this would never have been
+suspected by the Fathers of their idlest pupil.
+
+Honore, his sister tells us, came home thin and puny, like a
+somnambulist sleeping with open eyes, and his grandmother groaned over
+the strain of modern education. At first he heard hardly any of the
+questions that were put to him, and his mother was obliged to disturb
+him in reveries, and to insist on his taking part in games with the
+rest of the family; but with the fresh air and the home life he soon
+recovered his health and spirits, and became again a lively, merry
+boy. He attended lectures at a college near, and had tutors at home;
+but great efforts were necessary in order to get into his head the
+requisite amount of Greek and Latin. Nevertheless, at times, he was
+astonishing, or might have been to any one with powers of observation.
+On these occasions he made such extraordinary and sagacious remarks
+that Madame de Balzac, in her character of represser, felt obliged to
+remark sharply, "You cannot possibly understand what you are saying,
+Honore!" When Honore, who dared not argue, looked at her with a smile,
+she would, with the ease of absolute authority, escape from the
+awkwardness of the situation by remarking that he was impertinent. He
+was already ambitious, and would tell his sisters and brother about
+his future fame, and accept with a laugh the teasing he received in
+consequence.
+
+It must have been during this time that he grew to love with an
+enduring love the scenery of his native province of Touraine, with its
+undulating stretches of emerald green, through which the Loire or the
+Indre wound like a long ribbon of water, while lines of poplars decked
+the banks with moving lace. It was a smiling country, dotted with
+vineyards and oak woods, while here and there an old gnarled walnut
+tree stood in rugged independence. The susceptible boy, lately escaped
+from the abominations of the stuffy school-house, drank in with
+rapture the warm scented air, and often describes in his novels the
+landscape of the province where he was born, which he loves, in his
+own words, "as an artist loves art." Another lasting memory[*] was
+that of the poetry and splendour of the Cathedral of Saint-Gatien in
+Tours, where he was taken every feast-day. There he watched with
+delight the beautiful effects of light and shade, the play of colour
+produced by the rays of sunlight shining through the old stained
+glass, and the strange, fascinating effect of the clouds of incense,
+which enveloped the officiating priests, and from which he possibly
+derived the idea of the mists which he often introduces into his
+descriptions.
+
+[*] See "Balzac, sa Vie et ses Oeuvres, d'apres sa Correspondance" par
+    Madame L. Surville (nee de Balzac).
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III
+
+                             1814 - 1820
+
+  Balzac's tutors and law studies--His youth, as pictured in the
+  "Peau de Chagrin"--His father's intention of making him a lawyer--
+  He begs to be allowed to become a writer--Is allowed his wish--
+  Life in the Rue Lesdiguieres, privations and starvation--He writes
+  "Cromwell," a tragedy.
+
+At the end of 1814 the Balzac family moved to Paris, as M. de Balzac
+was put in charge of the Commissariat of the First Division of the
+Army. Here they took a house in the Rue de Roi-Dore, in the Marais,
+and Honore continued his studies with M. Lepitre, Rue Saint-Louis, and
+MM. Sganzer and Benzelin, Rue de Thorigny, in the Marais. To the
+influence of M. Lepitre, a man who, unlike old M. de Balzac and many
+other worthy people, was an ardent Legitimist /before/ as well as
+/after/ 1815, we may in part trace the strength of Balzac's Royalist
+principles. On the 13th Vendemiaire, M. Lepitre had presided over one
+of the sections of Paris which rose against the Convention; and though
+on one occasion he failed in nerve, his services during the Revolution
+had been most conspicuous. On his reception at the Tuileries by the
+Duchesse d'Angouleme, she used these words, never to be forgotten by
+him to whom they were addressed: "I have not forgotten, and I shall
+never forget, the services you have rendered to my family."[*]
+
+[*] "Biographie Universelle," by De Michaud.
+
+We can imagine the enthusiasm and delight with which the man who,
+whatever might be his shortcomings in courage, had always remained
+firm to his Royalist principles, and who had been a witness of the
+terrible anguish of the prisoners in the Temple, would hear these
+words from the lips of the lady who stood to him as Queen--the
+Antigone of France--the heroine whose sufferings had made the heart of
+every loyal Frenchman bleed, the brave woman who, according to
+Napoleon, was the one man of her family. Lepitre's visit to the
+Tuileries took place on May 9th, 1814, the year that Balzac began to
+take those lessons in rhetoric which first opened his eyes to the
+beauty of the French language. During Lepitre's tuition he composed a
+speech supposed to be addressed by the wife of Brutus to her husband,
+after the condemnation of her sons, in which, Laure tells us, the
+anguish of the mother is depicted with great power, and Balzac shows
+his wonderful faculty for entering into the souls of his personages.
+Lepitre had evidently a powerful influence over his pupil, and as a
+master of rhetoric he would naturally be eloquent and have command of
+language, and in consequence would be most probably of fiery and
+enthusiastic temperament. We can imagine the fervour with which the
+impressionable boy drank in stories of the sufferings of the royal
+family during their imprisonment in the Temple, and strove not to miss
+a syllable of his master's magnificent exordiums, which glowed with
+the light and heat of impassioned loyalty.
+
+No doubt Balzac's "Une Vie de Femme," a touching account of the life
+of the Duchesse d'Angouleme, which appeared in the /Reformateur/ in
+1832, was partly compiled from the reminiscences of his old master;
+and when we hear of his ardent defence of the Duchesse de Berry, or
+that he treasured a tea-service which was not of any intrinsic value,
+because it had belonged to the Duc d'Angouleme, we see traces of his
+intense love and admiration for the Bourbon family.
+
+Nevertheless, in that big, well-balanced brain there was room for many
+emotions, and for a wide range of sympathies. The many-sidedness which
+is a necessary characteristic of every great psychologist, was a
+remarkable quality in Balzac. He may have been present at Napoleon's
+last review on the Carrousel--at any rate he tells in "La Femme de
+Trente Ans" how the man "thus surrounded with so much love,
+enthusiasm, devotion, prayer--for whom the sun had driven every cloud
+from the sky--sat motionless on his horse, three feet in advance of
+the dazzling escort that followed him," and that an old grenadier
+said, "My God, yes, it was always so; under fire at Wagram, among the
+dead in the Moskowa, he was quiet as a lamb--yes, that's he!" Balzac's
+admiration for Napoleon was intense, as he shows in many of his
+writings, and his proudest boast is to be found in the words, said to
+have been inscribed on a statuette of Napoleon in his room in the Rue
+Cassini, "What he has begun with the sword, I shall finish with the
+pen."
+
+None of Balzac's masters thought much of his talents, or perceived
+anything remarkable about him. He returned home in 1816, full of
+health and vigour, the personification of happiness; and his
+conscientious mother immediately set to work to repair the
+deficiencies of his former education, and sent him to lectures at the
+Sorbonne, where he heard extempore speeches from such men as
+Villemain, Guizot, and Cousin. Apparently this teaching opened a new
+world to him, and he learned for the first time that education can be
+more than a dull routine of dry facts, and felt the joy of contact
+with eloquence and learning. Possibly he realised, as he had not
+realised before--Tours being, as he says, a most unliterary town--that
+there were people in the world who looked on things as he did, and who
+would understand, and not laugh at him or snub him. He always returned
+from these lectures, his sister says, glowing with interest, and would
+try as far as he could to repeat them to his family. Then he would
+rush out to study in the public libraries, so that he might be able to
+profit by the teaching of his illustrious professors, or would wander
+about the Latin Quarter, to hunt for rare and precious books. He used
+his opportunities in other ways. An old lady living in the house with
+the Balzacs had been an intimate friend of the great Beaumarchais.
+Honore loved to talk to her, and would ask her questions, and listen
+with the greatest interest to her replies, till he could have written
+a Life of the celebrated man himself. His powers of acute observation,
+interest, and sympathy--in short, his intense faculty for human
+fellowship, as well as his capacity for assimilating information from
+books--were already at work; and the future novelist was consciously
+or unconsciously collecting material in all directions.
+
+In 1816 it was considered necessary that he should be started with
+regular work, and he was established for eighteen months with a
+lawyer, M. de Guillonnet-Merville, who was, like M. Lepitre, a friend
+of the Balzac family, and an ardent Royalist. Eugene Scribe--another
+amateur lawyer--as M. de Guillonnet-Merville indulgently remarked, had
+just left the office, and Honore was established at the desk and table
+vacated by him. He became very fond of his chief, whom he has
+immortalised as Derville in "Une Tenebreuse Affaire," "Le Pere
+Goriot," and other novels; and he dedicated to this old friend "Un
+Episode sous la Terreur," which was published in 1846, and is a
+powerful and touching story of the remorse felt by the executioner of
+Louis XVI. After eighteen months in this office, he passed the same
+time in that of M. Passez, a notary, who lived in the same house with
+the Balzacs, and was another of their intimates.
+
+Balzac does not appear to have made any objection to these
+arrangements, though his legal studies cannot have been congenial to
+him; but they were only spoken of at this time as a finish to his
+education--old M. de Balzac, /homme de loi/ himself, remarking that no
+man's education can be complete without a knowledge of ancient and
+modern legislation, and an acquaintance with the statutes of his own
+country. Perhaps Honore, wiser now than in his school-days, had learnt
+that all knowledge is equipment for a literary life. He certainly made
+good use of his time, and the results can be seen in many of his
+works, notably in the "Tenebreuse Affaire," which contains in the
+account of the famous trial a masterly exposition of the legislature
+of the First Empire, or in "Cesar Birotteau," which shows such
+thorough knowledge of the laws of bankruptcy of the time that its
+complicated plot cannot be thoroughly understood by any one unversed
+in legal matters.
+
+Honore was very well occupied at this time, and his mother must have
+felt for once thoroughly satisfied with him. In addition to his study
+of law, he had to follow the course of lectures at the Sorbonne and at
+the College of France; and these studies were a delightful excuse for
+a very fitful occupation of his seat in the lawyer's office. Besides
+his multifarious occupations, he managed in the evening to find time
+to play cards with his grandmother, who lived with her daughter and
+son-in-law. The gentle old lady spoilt Honore, his mother considered,
+and would allow him to win money from her, which he joyfully expended
+on books. His sister, who tells us this, says, "He always loved those
+game in memory of her; and the recollection of her sayings and of her
+gestures used to come to him like a happiness which, as he said, he
+wrested from a tomb."
+
+Other recollections of this time were not so pleasant. Honore wished
+to shine in society. No doubt the two "immense and sole desires--to be
+famous and to be loved"--which haunted him continually, till he at
+last obtained them at the cost of his life, were already at work
+within him, and he longed for the tender glances of some charming
+/demoiselle/. At any rate he took dancing-lessons, and prepared
+himself to enter with grace into ladies' society. Here, however, a
+terrible humiliation awaited him. After all his care and pains, he
+slipped and fell in the ball-room, and his mortification at the smiles
+of the women round was so great that he never danced again, but looked
+on henceforward with cynicism which he expresses in the "Peau de
+Chagrin." That wonderful book, side by side with its philosophical
+teaching, gives a graphic picture of one side of Balzac's restless,
+feverish youth, as "Louis Lambert" does of his repressed childhood.
+Neither Louis Lambert nor the morbid and selfish Raphael give,
+however, the slightest indication of Balzac's most salient
+characteristic both as boy and youth--the healthy /joie de vivre/, the
+gaiety and exuberant merriment, of which his contemporaries speak
+constantly, and which shone out undimmed even by the wretched health
+and terrible worries of the last few years of his life. In his books,
+the bitter and melancholy side of things reigns almost exclusively,
+and Balzac, using Raphael as his mouthpiece, says: "Women one and all
+have condemned me. With tears and mortification I bowed before the
+decision of the world; but my distress was not barren. I determined to
+revenge myself on society; I would dominate the feminine intellect,
+and so have the feminine soul at my mercy; all eyes should be fixed
+upon me, when the servant at the door announced my name. I had
+determined from my childhood that I would be a great man. I said with
+Andre Chenier, as I struck my forehead, 'There is something underneath
+that!' I felt, I believed the thought within me that I must express,
+the system I must establish, the knowledge I must interpret." In
+another place in the same book the bitterness of his social failure
+again peeps out: "The incomprehensible bent of women's minds appears
+to lead them to see nothing but the weak points in a clever man and
+the strong points of a fool."
+
+Reading these words, we can imagine poor Honore, a proud,
+supersensitive boy, leaning against the wall in the ball-room, and
+watching enviously while agreeable nonentities basked in the smiles he
+yearned for. It was a hard lot to feel within him the intuitive
+knowledge of his genius; to hear the insistent voice of his vocation
+calling him not to be as ordinary men, but to give his message to the
+world; and yet to have the miserable consciousness that no one
+believed in his talents, and that there was a huge discrepancy between
+his ambition and his actual attainments.
+
+In 1820 Honore attained his majority and finished his legal studies.
+Unfortunately the pecuniary misfortunes which were to haunt all this
+generation of the Balzac family were beginning--as old M. de Balzac
+had lost money in two speculations, and now at the age of seventy-four
+was put on the retired list, a change which meant a considerable
+diminution of income. He therefore explained to his son--Madame
+Surville tells us--that M. Passez, to whom he had formerly been of
+service, had in gratitude offered to take Honore into his office, and
+at the end of a few years would leave him his business, when, with the
+additional arrangement of a rich marriage, a prosperous future would
+be assured to him. Old M. de Balzac did not specify the nature of the
+service which was to meet with so rich a reward; and as he was a
+gentleman with a distinct liking for talking of his own doings, we may
+amuse ourselves by supposing that it had to do with those Red
+Republican days which he was not fond of recalling.
+
+Great was Honore's consternation at this news. In the first place,
+owing to M. de Balzac's constant vapourings about the enormous wealth
+he would leave to his children, it is doubtful whether Honore, who was
+probably not admitted to his parents' confidence, had realised up to
+this time that he would have to earn his own living. Then, if it
+/were/ necessary for him to work for his bread, he now knew enough of
+the routine of a lawyer's office to look with horror on the prospect
+of drawing up wills, deeds of sale, and marriage settlements for the
+rest of his life. He never forgave the legal profession the shock and
+the terror he experienced at this time, and his portraits of lawyers,
+with some notable exceptions, are marked by decided animus. For
+instance, in "Les Francais peints par eux-memes," edited by Cunmer,
+the notary, as described by Balzac, has a flat, expressionless face
+and wears a mask of bland silliness; and in "Pamela Giraud" one of the
+characters remarks, "A lawyer who talks to himself--that reminds me of
+a pastrycook who eats his own cakes." It was rather unfair to decry
+all lawyers, because of the deadly fear he felt at the prospect of
+being forced into their ranks, as there is little doubt that he would
+have shrunk with like abhorrence from any business proposed to him.
+His childish longing for fame had developed and taken shape, and for
+him, if he lacked genius, there was no alternative but the dragging
+out of a worthless and wearying existence. Conscious of his powers, it
+was a time of struggle, of passionate endeavour, possibly of
+bewilderment; with the one great determination standing firm in the
+midst of a chaos of doubt and difficulty--the determination to
+persevere, and to become a writer at any cost.
+
+He therefore, to his father's consternation, announced his objection
+to following a legal career, and begged to be allowed an opportunity
+of proving his literary powers. Thereupon there were lively
+discussions in the family; but at last the kindly M. de Balzac,
+apparently against his wife's wishes, yielded to his son's earnest
+entreaties, and allowed him two years in which to try his fortune as a
+writer. The friends of the family were loud in their exclamations of
+disapproval at the folly of this proceeding, which would, they said,
+waste two of the best years of Honore's life. As far as they could
+see, he possessed no genius; and even if he /were/ to succeed in a
+literary career, he would certainly not gain a fortune, which after
+all was the principal thing to be considered. However, either the
+strenuousness and force of Honor's arguments, or the softness of his
+father's heart, prevailed in his favour; and in spite of the
+opposition of the whole of his little world, he was allowed to have
+his own way, and to make trial of his powers. The rest of the family
+retired to Villeparisis, about sixteen miles from Paris, and he was
+established in a small attic at No. 9, Rue Lesdiguieres, which was
+chosen by him for its nearness to the Bibliotheque de l'Arsenal, the
+only public library of which the contents were unknown to him. At the
+same time, appearances, always all-important in the Balzac family,
+were observed, by the fiction that Honore was at Alby, on a visit to a
+cousin; and in this way his literary venture was kept secret, in case
+it proved unsuccessful.
+
+Having arranged this, and asserted himself to the extent of insisting
+that his son should be allowed a certain amount of freedom in choosing
+his career, even if he fixed on a course which seemed suicidal, old M.
+de Balzac appears to have retired from the direction of affairs, and
+to have left his energetic wife to follow her own will about details.
+There was no doubt in that lady's mind as to the methods to be
+pursued. Her husband had been culpably weak, and had allowed himself
+to be swayed by the freak of a boy who hated work and wanted an excuse
+for idleness. Honore must be brought to reason, and be taught that
+"the way of transgressors is hard," and that people who refuse to take
+their fair share of life's labour must of necessity suffer from
+deprivation of their butter, if not of their bread. Her husband was an
+old man, and had lost money, and it was most exasperating that Honore
+should refuse a splendid chance of securing his own future, and one
+which would most probably never occur again. To a good business woman,
+who did not naturally share in the boundless optimistic views of M. de
+Balzac for the future, the crass folly of yielding to the wishes of a
+boy who could not possibly know what was best for him, was glaringly
+apparent. However, being a practical woman, when she had done her duty
+in making the household--except the placid M. de Balzac--thoroughly
+uncomfortable, and had most probably driven Honore almost wild with
+suppressed irritation, she embarked on the plan of campaign which was
+to bring the culprit back, repentant and submissive, to the lawyer's
+desk.
+
+To accomplish this as quickly as possible, it was necessary to make
+him extremely uncomfortable; so having furnished his attic with the
+barest necessities--a bed, a table, and a few chairs--she gave him
+such a scanty allowance that he would have starved if an old woman,
+/la mere Comin/, whom he termed his Iris, had not been told to go
+occasionally to look after him. In spite of the gaiety of Balzac's
+letters from his garret, the hardships he went through were terrible,
+and in later years he could not speak of his sufferings at this time
+without tears coming to his eyes. Apparently he could not even afford
+to have a fire; and the attic was extremely draughty, blasts coming
+from the door and window; so that in a letter to his sister he begs
+her, when sending the coverlet for which he has already asked, to let
+him have a /very/ old shawl, which he can wear at night. His legs,
+where he feels the cold most, are wrapped in an ancient coat made by a
+small tailor of Tours, who to his disgust used to alter his father's
+garments to fit him, and was a dreadful bungler; but the upper half of
+his body is only protected by the roof and a flannel waistcoat from
+the frost, and he needs a shawl badly. He also hopes for a Dantesque
+cap, the kind his mother always makes for him; and this pattern of cap
+from the hands of Madame de Balzac figures in the accounts of his
+attire later on in his life. It is not surprising that he has a cold,
+and later on a terrible toothache; but it /is/ astonishing that, in
+spite of cold, hunger, and discomfort, he preserves his gaiety, pluck,
+and power of making light of hardships, traits of character which were
+to be strikingly salient all through his hard, fatiguing career. In
+spite of the misery of his surroundings, he had many compensations. He
+had gained the wish of his heart, life was before him, beautiful
+dreams of future fame floated in the air, and at present he had no
+hateful burden of debt to weigh him down. Therefore he managed to
+ignore to a great extent the physical pain and discomfort he went
+through, as he ignored them all through his life, except when ill
+health interfered with the accomplishment of his work.
+
+Another characteristic which might also be amazing, did we not meet it
+constantly in Balzac's life, is his longing for luxury and beauty, and
+his extraordinary faculty for embarking in a perfectly business-like
+way on wildly unreasonable schemes. With hardly enough money to
+provide himself with scanty meals, he intends to economise, in order
+to buy a piano. "The garret is not big enough to hold one," as he
+casually remarks; but this fact, which, apart from the starving
+process necessary in order to obtain funds, would appear to the
+ordinary mind an insurmountable obstacle to the project, does not
+daunt the ever-hopeful Honore.
+
+He has taken the dimensions, he says; and if the landlord objects to
+the expense of moving back the wall, he will pay the money himself,
+and add it to the price of the piano. Here we recognise exactly the
+same Balzac whose vagrant schemes later on were listened to by his
+friends with a mixture of fascination and bewilderment, and who, in
+utter despair about his pecuniary circumstances at the beginning of a
+letter, talks airily towards the end of buying a costly picture, or
+acquiring an estate in the country.
+
+There is a curious and striking contrast in Balzac between the
+backwardness in the expression of his literary genius, and the early
+development and crystallisation of his character and powers of mind in
+other directions. Even when he realised his vocation, forsook verse,
+and began to write novels, he for long gave no indication of his
+future powers; while, on the other hand, at the age of twenty, his
+views on most points were formed, and his judgments matured.
+Therefore, unlike most men, in whom, even if there be no violent
+changes, age gradually and imperceptibly modifies the point of view,
+Balzac, a youth in his garret, differed little in essentials from
+Balzac at forty-five or fifty, a man of world-wide celebrity. He never
+appears to have passed through those phases of belief and unbelief--
+those wild enthusiasms, to be rejected later in life--which generally
+fall to the lot of young men of talent. Perhaps his reasoning and
+reflective powers were developed unusually early, so that he sowed his
+mental wild oats in his boyhood. At any rate, in his garret in 1819 he
+was the same Balzac that we know in later life. Large-minded and far-
+seeing--except about his business concerns--he was from his youth a
+/voyant/, who discerned with extraordinary acuteness the trend of
+political events; and with an intense respect for authority, he was
+yet independent, and essentially a strong man.
+
+This absolute stability--a fact Balzac often comments on--is very
+remarkable, especially as his was a life full of variety, during which
+he was brought into contact with many influences. He studied the men
+around him, and gauged their characters--though it must be allowed
+that he did not make very good practical use of his knowledge; but
+owing to his strength and breadth of vision, he was himself in all
+essentials immovable.
+
+The same ambitions, desires, and opinions can be traced all through
+his career. The wish to enter political life, which haunted him
+always, was already beginning to stir in 1819, when he wrote at the
+time of the elections to a friend, M. Theodore Dablin, that he dreamt
+of nothing but him and the deputies; and his last book, "L'Envers de
+l'Histoire contemporaine," accentuated, if possible more than any work
+that had preceded it, the extreme Royalist principles which he showed
+in his garret play, the ill-fated "Cromwell."
+
+He never swerved from the two great ambitions of his life--to be
+loved, and to be famous. He was faithful in his friendships; and when
+once he had found the woman whom he felt might be all in all to him,
+and who possessed besides personal advantages the qualifications of
+birth and money--for which he had always craved--no difficulties were
+allowed to stand in the way, and no length of weary waiting could tire
+out his patience. He was constant even to his failures. He began his
+literary career by writing a play, and all through his life the idea
+of making his fortune by means of a successful drama recurred to him
+constantly. Several times he went through that most trying of
+experiences, a failure which only just missed being a brilliant
+success, and once this affected him so much that he became seriously
+ill; but, with his usual spirit and courage, he tried again and again.
+His friend Theophile Gautier, writing of him in /La Presse/ of
+September 30th, 1843, after the failure of "Pamela Giraud," said truly
+that Balzac intended to go on writing plays, even if he had to get
+through a hundred acts before he could find his proper form.
+
+One part of Balzac never grew up--he was all his life the "child-man"
+his sister calls him. After nights without sleep he would come out of
+his solitude with laughter, joy, and excitement to show a new
+masterpiece; and this was always more wonderful than anything which
+had preceded it. He was more of a child than his nieces, Madame
+Surville tells us: "laughed at puns, envied the lucky being who had
+the 'gift' of making them, tried to do so himself, and failed, saying
+regretfully, 'No, that doesn't make a pun.' He used to cite with
+satisfaction the only two he had ever made, 'and not much of a success
+either,' he avowed in all humility, 'for I didn't know I was making
+them,' and we even suspected him of embellishing them afterwards."[*]
+He was delightfully simple, even to the end of his life. In 1849 he
+wrote from Russia, where he was confined to his room with illness, to
+describe minutely a beautiful new dressing-gown in which he marched
+about the room like a sultan, and was possessed with one of those
+delightful joys which we only have at eighteen. "I am writing to you
+now in my termolana,"[+] he adds for the satisfaction of his
+correspondent.
+
+[*] "Balzac, sa Vie et ses Oeuvres, d'apres sa Correspondance," by
+    Madame L. Surville (nee de Balzac).
+
+[+] "H. de Balzac--Correspondance," vol. ii. P. 418.
+
+We must now return to Honore in his attic, where, as in later years,
+he drank much coffee, and was unable to resist the passion for fruit
+which was always his one gourmandise. He records one day that he has
+eaten two melons, and must pay for the extravagance with a diet of dry
+bread and nuts, but contemplates further starvation to pay for a seat
+to see Talma in "Cinna."
+
+He writes to his sister: "I feel to-day that riches do not make
+happiness, and that the time I shall pass here will be to me a source
+of pleasant memories. To live according to my fancy; to work as I wish
+and in my own way; to do nothing if I wish it; to dream of a beautiful
+future; to think of you and to know you are happy; to have as ladylove
+the Julie of Rousseau; to have La Fontaine and Moliere as friends,
+Racine for a master, and Pere-Lachaise to walk to,--oh! if it would
+only last always."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i.
+
+Pere-Lachaise was a favourite resort when he was not working very
+hard; and it was from there that he obtained his finest inspirations,
+and decided that, of all the feelings of the soul, sorrow is the most
+difficult to express, because of its simplicity. Curiously enough, he
+abandoned the Jardin des Plantes because he thought it melancholy, and
+apparently found his reflections among the tombs more cheerful. He
+decided that the only beautiful epitaphs are single names--such as La
+Fontaine, Massena, Moliere, "which tell all, and make one dream."
+
+When he returned home to his garret, fresh interests awaited him.
+Sometimes, he tells us in the "Peau de Chagrin," he would "study the
+mosses, with their colours revived by showers, or transformed by the
+sun into a brown velvet that fitfully caught the light. Such things as
+these formed my recreations: the passing poetic moods of daylight, the
+melancholy mists, sudden gleams of sunlight, the silence and the magic
+of night, the mysteries of dawn, the smoke-wreaths from each chimney;
+every chance event, in fact, in my curious world became familiar to
+me."
+
+Occasionally on Sundays he would go to a friend's house, ostensibly to
+play cards--a pastime which he hated. He generally, however, managed
+to escape from the eye of his hostess; and comfortably ensconced in a
+window behind thick curtains, or hidden behind a high armchair, he
+would pour into the ear of a congenial companion some of the thoughts
+which surged through his impetuous brain. All his life he needed this
+outlet after concentrated mental labour; and sometimes in a friend's
+drawing-room, if he knew himself to be surrounded only by intimates,
+he would give full vent to his conversational powers. On these
+occasions he would carry his hearers away with him, often against
+their better judgment, by his eloquence and verve; would send them
+into fits of hearty laughter by his sallies; his store of droll
+anecdotes, his jollity and gaiety; and would display his consummate
+gifts as a dramatic raconteur. Later in life, after he had raised the
+enmity of a large section of the writing world, and knew that there
+were many watching eagerly to immortalise in print--with gay malice
+and wit on the surface, and bitter spite and hatred below--the
+heedless and possibly arrogant words their enemy had uttered in
+moments of excitement and expansion, he grew cautious; and sometimes
+because of this, and sometimes because he was collecting material for
+his work, he would often be silent in general society. To the end,
+however, he loved a tete-a-tete with a sympathetic listener--one, it
+must be conceded, who would be content, except for the occasional
+comment, to remain himself in the background, as the great man wanted
+a safety-valve for his own impetuous thoughts, and did not generally
+care to hear the paler, less interesting impressions of his companion.
+
+With what longing, in the midst of his harassing life in Paris, he
+would look back to the charming long fireside chats he had had with
+Madame Hanska; and as the time to meet her again came nearer, with
+what satisfaction special tit-bits of gossip were reserved to be
+talked over and explained during the long evenings at Wierzchownia!
+How he loved to rush in to his sister with the latest news of the
+personages of his novels, as well as with brilliant plans to improve
+his general prospects; and with what enthusiasm he poured out to
+Theophile Gautier, or even to Leon Gozlan, his confidences of all
+sorts! Plans, absurd and impossible, but worked out with a business-
+like arrangement of detail which, when mingled with somnambulists and
+magnetisers, had a weird yet apparently fascinating effect on his
+hearers; magnificent diatribes against the wickedness of his special
+enemies, journalists, editors, and the Press in general; strange
+fancies to do with the world where Eugenie Grandet or Le Pere Goriot
+had their dwelling,--all these ideas, opinions, and feelings came from
+his lips with an eloquence, a force, and a life which were all
+convincing. Yet by a strange anomaly, which is sometimes seen in
+talkative and apparently unreserved people, Balzac in reality revealed
+very little of himself--in fact, we may often suspect him of using a
+flow of apparently spontaneous words as a screen to mask some hidden
+feeling. Therefore, when people who had considered themselves his
+intimate friends tried to write about him after his death, they found
+that they really knew little of the essentials of the man, and could
+only string together amusing anecdotes, proving him to have been
+eccentric, amusing, and essentially /bon camarade/, but giving little
+idea of his real personality and genius.
+
+Even in these early days at the card-parties--where sometimes the
+hostess noticed the defection of the two young guests, and, holding a
+card in each delicate hand, would beckon them to take their place at
+the game, which they would do with humble and discomfited faces, like
+schoolboys surprised at a forbidden amusement--M. de Petigny, Balzac's
+companion, must have been struck by his openness in some respects and
+the absolute mystery with which he surrounded himself in others. Where
+he lived, what he was doing, what his life was like--all these facts
+were hidden from his companion, till he revealed himself at last, on
+the verge of his hoped-for triumph. But, on the other hand, the
+sentiments and impressions of which M. de Petigny read afterwards in
+Balzac's books seemed to him only a pale, distant echo of the rich and
+vivid expressions which fell from his lips in these intimate talks.
+Magnetism, in which he had a strong faith all his life, was exercising
+his thoughts greatly. It was "the irresistible ascendency of mind over
+matter, of a strong and immovable will over a soul open to all
+impressions."[*] Before long he would have mastered its secrets, and
+would be able to compel every man to obey him and every woman to love
+him. He had already, he announced, begun to occupy his fixed position
+in life, and was on the threshold of a millennium.
+
+[*] Article by M. Jules de Petigny.
+
+Balzac's glimpses of society were, however, rare, and ceased
+altogether during the last few months of his stay in the Rue
+Lesdiguieres. However, other more satisfying pleasures were his:
+"Unspeakable joys are showered on us by the exertion of our mental
+faculties; the quest of ideas, and the tranquil contemplation of
+knowledge; delights indescribable, because purely intellectual and
+impalpable to our senses. So we are obliged to use material terms to
+express the mysteries of the soul. The pleasure of striking out in
+some lonely lake of clear water, with forests, rocks, and flowers
+around, and the soft stirring of the warm breeze--all this would give
+to those who knew them not a very faint idea of the exultation with
+which my soul bathed itself in the beams of an unknown light,
+hearkened to the awful and uncertain voice of inspiration, as vision
+upon vision poured from some unknown source through my throbbing
+brain."[*]
+
+[*] "La Peau de Chagrin," by Honore de Balzac.
+
+There was another side to the picture, and perhaps in this
+description, written in 1830, Balzac has slightly antedated his joy in
+his creative powers, and describes more correctly his feelings when he
+wrote "Les Chouans," "La Maison du Chat-qui-pelote," and the "Peau de
+Chagrin" itself, than those of this earlier period of his life, when
+the difficulties of expressing himself often seemed insurmountable,
+and the hiatus between his ideas and the form in which to clothe them
+was almost impossible to bridge over.
+
+Writing did not at any time come easily to him, and "Stella" and
+"Coqsigrue," his first novels, were never finished; while a comedy,
+"Les Deux Philosophes," was also abandoned in despair. Next he set to
+work at "Cromwell," a tragedy in five acts, which was to be his
+passport to fame. At this play he laboured for months, shutting
+himself up completely, and loving his self-imposed slavery--though his
+want of faculty for versification, and the intense difficulty he
+experienced in finding words for the ideas which crowded into his
+imaginative brain were decided drawbacks. While engaged on this work,
+he may indeed have experienced some of the feelings he describes in
+the "Peau de Chagrin," quoted above; for, curiously enough,
+"Cromwell," his first finished production, was the only one of his
+early works about which he was deceived, and which he imagined to be a
+/chef d'oeuvre/. It was well he had this happy faith to sustain him,
+as, according to the account of M. Jules de Petigny, the circumstances
+under which the play was composed must, to put the matter mildly, have
+been distinctly depressing.
+
+This gentleman says: "I entered a narrow garret, furnished with a
+bottomless chair, a rickety table and a miserable pallet bed, with two
+dirty curtains half drawn round it. On the table were an inkstand, a
+big copybook scribbled all over, a jug of lemonade, a glass, and a
+morsel of bread. The heat in this wretched hole was stifling, and one
+breathed a mephitic air which would have given cholera, if cholera had
+then been invented!" Balzac was in bed, with a cotton cap of
+problematic colour on his head. "You see," he said, "the abode I have
+not left except once for two months--the evening when you met me.
+During all this time I have not got up from the bed where I work at
+the great work, for the sake of which I have condemned myself to this
+hermit's life, and which happily I have just finished, for my powers
+have come to an end." It must have been during these last months in
+his garret, when he neglected everything for his projected
+masterpiece, that, covered with vermin from the dirt of his room, he
+would creep out in the evening to buy a candle, which, as he possessed
+no candlestick, he would put in an empty bottle.
+
+The almost insane ardour for and absorption in his work, which were
+his salient characteristics, had already possession of him; and we see
+that he laboured as passionately now for fame and for love of his art,
+as he did later on, when the struggle to free himself from debt, and
+to gain a home and womanly companionship were additional incentives to
+effort. At the time of which M. de Petigny speaks, however, his
+troubles appeared to be over, as the masterpiece for which he had
+suffered so much was completed; and joyfully confident that triumph
+awaited him, Honore took it home with him to Villeparisis at the end
+of April, 1820. He was so certain, poor fellow, of success, that he
+had specially begged that among those invited to the reading of the
+tragedy, should be the insulting person who told his father fifteen
+months before, that he was fit for nothing but a post as copying
+clerk.
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IV
+
+                             1820 - 1828
+
+  Reading of "Cromwell"--Balzac is obliged to live at home--
+  Unhappiness--Writes romantic novels--Friendship with Madame de
+  Berny--Starts in Paris as publisher and afterwards as printer--
+  Impending bankruptcy only prevented by help from his parents and
+  Madame de Berny.
+
+Evidently Balzac's happy faith in the beauty of "Cromwell" had
+impressed his parents, as, apparently without having seen the play,
+they had assembled a large concourse of friends for the reading; and
+between happy pride in his boy's genius, and satisfaction at his own
+acuteness in discerning it, old M. de Balzac was no doubt nearly as
+joyous as Honore himself. The Balzac family were prepared for triumph,
+the friends were amused or incredulous, and the solemn trial began.[*]
+The tragedy, strongly Royalist in principles, opens, according to the
+plot as given by Balzac in a letter to his sister,[+] with the
+entrance of Queen Henrietta Maria into Westminster. She is utterly
+exhausted, and, disguised in humble garments, has returned from taking
+her children for safety into Holland, and from begging for the help of
+the King of France. Strafford, in tears, tells her of late events, and
+of the King's imprisonment and future trial; but during this
+conversation Cromwell and Ireton enter, and the Queen, in terror,
+hides behind a tomb, till, horrified at the discussion as to whether
+or not the King shall be put to death, she comes out, and, as Balzac
+remarks, "makes them a famous discourse." Act II. sounds a little
+dull, though no doubt it is highly instructive, as a great part of it
+is taken up with a monologue by the King detailing the events of his
+past reign. Later on Charles, instead of keeping Cromwell's son who
+has fallen into his hands, as a hostage for his own life, gives him up
+to his father without condition; but Cromwell, unmoved by this
+generosity, still plots for his King's death. The fifth Act, which
+Balzac remarks is the most difficult of all, opens with a scene in
+which the King tells the Queen his last wishes, which Balzac
+interpolates with (Quelle scene!); then Strafford informs the King of
+his condemnation (Quelle scene!); the King and Queen say good-bye--
+(Quelle scene!) again; and the play ends with the Queen vowing eternal
+vengeance upon England, declaring that enemies will rise everywhere
+against her, and that one day France will fight against her, conquer
+her, and crush her.
+
+[*] The original MS., beautifully written out, and tied with faded
+    blue ribbon, is in the possession of the Vicomte de Spoelberch
+    de Lovenjoul.
+
+[+] "Honore de Balzac--Correspondance," vol. i, p. 28.
+
+Honore began his reading with the utmost enthusiasm, modulating his
+sonorous voice to suit the different characters, and even contriving
+for a time to impart by his expressive reading a fictitious interest
+to the dull, tedious tragedy. Gradually, however, the feeling of
+disappointment and boredom among his audience communicated itself to
+him. He lost confidence; his beautiful reading began to decline in
+pathos and interest; and when at last he finished, and, glancing at
+the downcast faces round him, found that even Laure could not look up
+at him with a smile of congratulation, he felt a chill at his heart,
+and knew that he had not triumphed after all. Nevertheless, he very
+naturally rebelled against the strongly expressed adverse judgment of
+his enemy of the copying-clerk proposal, and begged to be allowed to
+appeal to a competent and impartial critic. To this request his father
+assented, and M. Surville, who was now engaged to Laure, proposed that
+M. Andrieux, of the Academie Francaise, formerly his own master at the
+Ecole Polytechnique, should be asked to give an opinion. Honore, his
+sister says, "accepted this literary elder as sovereign judge," no
+doubt hoping against hope that a really cultured man would see the
+beauties which were unfortunately hidden from the eyes of the
+unintellectual inhabitants of Villeparisis. However, the verdict of M.
+Andrieux was, if possible, more crushing than any of the events which
+had preceded it. In the honest opinion of this expert, the author of
+"Cromwell" ought to do anything, no matter what, /except literature/.
+
+Honore had asked for an impartial judgment, and had promised to abide
+by it. His discomfiture and sense of failure ought therefore to have
+been complete. Genius does not, however, follow the ordinary road; and
+with a mixture of pluck, confidence in himself, and pride which always
+characterised him, Honore did not allow that he was beaten, and would
+not show the feelings of grief and disappointment which must have
+filled his heart. "Tragedies are not my line"--that is all he said;
+and if he had been allowed to follow his own bent, he would at once
+have returned to his garret, and have begun to write again with
+unabated ardour.
+
+Naturally, however, the Balzac family refused to allow him to continue
+the course of senseless folly which was already beginning to ruin his
+health. Madame de Balzac was specially strong on this point; and
+though he had only been allowed fifteen months, instead of the two
+years promised for his trial, she insisted that he should come home at
+once, and remain under the maternal eye. Indeed, this seemed quite
+necessary, after the privations he had gone through. His sufferings
+never made him thin at any period of his life; but now his face was
+pale and his eyes hollow, and his lifelong friend, Dr. Nacquart, sent
+him at once to recruit in the air of his native Touraine.
+
+After this followed a time of bitter trial for poor Honore. His sister
+Laure married M. Surville in May, 1820, about a month after his return
+home, and went to live at Bayeux, so that he was deprived of her
+congenial companionship; and, in spite of his fun and buoyancy, his
+letters to her show his extreme wretchedness. Years afterwards he told
+the Duchesse d'Abrantes that the cruel weight of compulsion under
+which he was crushed till 1822 made his struggles for existence, when
+once he was free, seem comparatively light. Continually worried by his
+nervous, irritable mother, deprived of independence, of leisure, of
+quiet, he saw his dreams of future fame vanish like smoke, and the
+hated lawyer's office become a certainty, if he failed to make money
+by writing. In deadly fear of this, and with the paralysing
+consciousness that his present circumstances were peculiarly
+unpropitious as a literary education, he rebelled against the hard
+fate which denied him opportunity to work for fame. "Laure, Laure," he
+cries at this time, "my two only and immense desires--to be loved and
+to be celebrated--will they ever be satisfied?"
+
+Whatever his aspirations might be, it was necessary that he should do
+something to support himself, as his parents firmly refused to grant
+him the 1,500 francs--about sixty pounds--a year for which he begged,
+to enable him to live in Paris and to carry out his vocation. He was
+therefore obliged to write at his home at Villeparisis in the midst of
+distractions and discouragements. In these unpropitious circumstances
+he produced in five years--with different collaborators, whose names
+are now rescued from absolute oblivion by their transitory connection
+with him--eight novels in thirty-one volumes. That he managed to find
+a publisher for most of his novels, and to make forty pounds, sixty
+pounds, or eighty pounds out of each, is according to his sister, a
+remarkable proof of his strength of will, and also of his power of
+fascination. The payment generally took the form of a bill payable at
+some distant period--a form of receiving money which does not seem
+very satisfying; but at any rate Balzac could prove to his family that
+he was earning something, and was himself cheered by his small
+successes. We can imagine his feverish anxiety, and the cunning with
+which he would exert every wile to induce the publisher--himself a
+struggling man--to accept his wares, when he knew that a refusal would
+mean mingled scoffs and lamentations at home, and possibly a menace
+that not much longer leisure would be allowed him for idling. There is
+pathos in the fate of one whose genius is unrecognised till his day on
+earth is over, but far harder seems the lot of the man who longs and
+struggles, feeling that the power is in him, and who yet, by some
+strange gulf between thought and expression, can only produce what he
+knows to be worthless. It speaks much for Balzac's courage, patience,
+and determination, or perhaps for the intuitive force of a genius
+which refused to be denied outlet, that he struggled through this
+weary time, and in spite of opposition kept to his fixed purpose of
+becoming a writer.
+
+These early works--"L'Heritiere de Birague," "Jean-Louis," "Le
+Centenaire," "Le Vicaire des Ardennes," "La Derniere Fee," "Wann
+Chlore," and others, published in 1822 and the three following years--
+were written under the pseudonyms of Lord R'hoone, Viellergle, and
+Horace de Saint-Aubin, and are generally wild tales of adventure in
+the style of Mrs. Radcliffe. Though occasionally the reader comes
+across a paragraph faintly reminiscent of the Balzac of later years,
+these youthful attempts are certainly not worthy of the great man who
+wrote them, and he consistently refused to acknowledge their
+authorship. The two first, "L'Heritiere de Birague" and "Jean-Louis,"
+were written with the collaboration of M. Auguste le Poitevin de
+l'Egreville, who took the name of Viellergle, while Balzac adopted
+that of Lord R'hoone, an anagram of Honore, so that these two novels
+are signed with both pseudonyms.[*] It is amusing to find that the
+sage Honore, in 1820, prudently discourages a passing fancy on the
+part of his sister Laurence for his collaborator, by remarking that
+writers are very bad /partis/, though he hastens to add that he only
+means this from a pecuniary point of view! Laure, at Bayeux, is made
+useful as an amateur advertising agent, and is carefully told that,
+though she is to talk about the novels a great deal, she is never to
+lend her copies to any one, because people must buy the books to read
+them. "L'Heritiere" brought in about thirty-two pounds, and
+"Jean-Louis" fifty-three pounds, unfortunately both in bills at long
+date; but it was the first money Honore had ever earned, and he was
+naturally excited. However, with "La Derniere Fee" he was not so
+fortunate, as both versions--one of which appeared in 1823 and the
+other in 1824--were published at his own cost. Nevertheless, he has no
+illusions about the worth of his books, "L'Heritiere" being, he says,
+a "veritable cochonnerie litteraire," while "Jean-Louis" has "several
+rather funny jokes, and some not bad attempts at character, but a
+detestable plot."
+
+[*] See "Une Page perdue de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+In the same year, 1822, he writes one of his droll, beseeching letters
+to beg M. and Mme. Surville to help him out of a great difficulty, and
+to write one volume of "Le Vicaire des Ardennes" while he writes the
+other, and afterwards fits the two together. The matter is most
+important, as he has promised Pollet to have two novels, "Le Vicaire"
+and "Le Savant"--the latter we never hear of again--ready by October
+1st. It is necessary to be specially quick about "Le Vicaire," partly
+because Auguste, his collaborator, is writing a novel of the same
+name, and Balzac's production /must/ come out first, and also for the
+joyful reason that he will actually receive twenty-four pounds in
+ready money for the two books, the further fifty-six pounds following
+in bills payable at eight months. What do the Survilles think about
+it? He throws himself on their generosity, though he is afraid Laure
+will never manage to write sixty pages of a novel every day.
+Apparently the Survilles, or at least M. Surville--for it is certain
+that the devoted Laure would have worked herself to death to help
+Honore--did not see their way to proceeding at this rate of
+composition, as the next letter from Balzac, written on August 20th,
+is full of reproaches because the manuscript has not been at once
+returned to him, that he may go on with it himself. Perhaps this want
+of help prevented the carrying out of the contract, and was the reason
+that the world has not been enriched by the appearance of "Le Savant."
+Honore, however, judging by his next letter, did not bear malice: he
+was accustomed to make continual requests, reasonable and sometimes
+/very/ unreasonable, to his family; and the large good-humour which
+was one of the foundations of his robust character, prevented him from
+showing any irritation when they were refused.
+
+From 1821 to 1824 he wrote thirty-one volumes, and it is an
+extraordinary proof of his versatility, that in 1824, in the midst of
+the production of these romantic novels, he published a pamphlet
+entitled "Du Droit d'Ainesse" which argues with singular force, logic,
+and erudition against the revolutionary and Napoleonic theories on the
+division of property; and a small volume entitled "Histoire impartiale
+des Jesuites," which is an impassioned defence of religion and the
+monarchy. "The Bourbons are the preservers of the sublime religion of
+Christ, and they have never betrayed the trust which confided
+Christianity to them," he cries. No one reading these political essays
+would think it likely that they were the work of the romantic writer
+of "La Derniere Fee" or "Argow the Pirate," which were employing
+Balzac's pen at the same time.
+
+Young men are often very severe critics of the doings of their family;
+and Balzac, cursed with the sensitiveness of genius, and smarting
+under the bitter disappointment of disillusionment and of thwarted and
+compressed powers, was not likely to be an indulgent critic; but
+making due allowance for these facts, it does not appear that his home
+was a particularly comfortable place at this time. Old M. de Balzac
+was as placid as an Egyptian pyramid and perennially cheerful; but the
+restless Madame de Balzac was now following in the footsteps of her
+nervous mother and becoming a /malade imaginaire/. This did not add to
+the comfort of her family, while the small excitements she roused
+perpetually were peculiarly trying to her eldest son, who was himself
+not of a placid nature.
+
+However, there were compensations, though the discreet Honore does not
+mention these in his letters to Laure, as in 1821 his friendship with
+Madame de Berny began, and only ceased in 1836 with her death, which
+in spite of his affection for Madame Hanska, was a lifelong sorrow to
+him. One of Honore's home duties was to act as tutor to his younger
+brother Henry--the spoilt child of the family--who, owing to supposed
+delicacy, was educated at home; and as the Bernys lived near
+Villeparisis, it was arranged that he should at the same time give
+lessons to one of M. and Madame de Berny's boys. This may have helped
+to bring about the intimacy between the two houses, and Honore was
+struck by Madame de Berny's patience and sweetness to a morose husband
+many years older than herself. Later on, the Bernys left the
+neighbourhood of Villeparisis, and divided their time between the
+village of Saint-Firmin, near Chantilly, and Paris; and Balzac
+occasionally paid them visits in the country, and saw Madame de Berny
+continually in Paris. She was twenty-two years older than Honore, and
+no doubt supplied the element of motherliness which was conspicuously
+absent in Madame de Balzac.
+
+She was a gentle and pathetic figure, the woman who understood Balzac
+as Madame Hanska did not; who made light of her troubles and
+sufferings for fear of grieving him in the midst of his own struggles;
+and who, while performing her duties conscientiously as devoted wife
+and mother, for twelve years gave up two hours every day to his
+society. She lent him money, interceded with his parents on his
+behalf, corrected his proofs, acted as a severe and candid though
+sympathetic critic, and above all cheered and encouraged him, and
+prevented him from committing suicide in his dark days of distress. On
+the other hand, the friendship of a man like Balzac must have been of
+absorbing interest to a woman of great delicacy of feeling, and
+evidently considerable literary powers, whose surroundings were
+uncongenial; and his warm and enduring affection helped her to tide
+over many of the troubles of a sad life.
+
+Recent researches have discovered several interesting facts about the
+origin of the woman to whom may be ascribed the merit of "creating"
+the writer who was destined to exercise so great an influence on his
+own and succeeding generations.[*] Curiously enough, Louise Antoinette
+Laure Hinner, destined at the age of fifteen years and ten months to
+become Madame de Berny, was, like Madame Hanska, a foreigner, being
+the daughter of Joseph Hinner, a German musician, who was brought by
+Turgot to France. Here he became harpist to Marie Antoinette, and
+married Madame Quelpee de Laborde, one of the Queen's ladies in
+waiting. Two years later, on May 23rd, 1777, the future Madame de
+Berny came into the world, and made her debut with a great flourish of
+trumpets, Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, represented by the Duc de
+Fronsac and Laure Auguste de Fitz-James, Princesse de Chimay, being
+her god-parents. When in 1784 her father died, her mother married the
+Chevalier de Jarjayes, one of Marie Antoinette's most loyal adherents
+during the Revolution. It was he who conceived the project of carrying
+off Louis XVII. from the Temple, and who was entrusted with the
+precious duty of carrying the seal, ring, and hair belonging to the
+Royal Family to the exiled Monsieur and Comte d'Artois.[*]
+
+[*] See "Balzac, Imprimeur," in "La Jeunesse de Balzac," by MM.
+    Hanotaux et Vicaire.
+
+We can easily see whence Balzac derived his strong Royalist principles
+--how from boyhood the lessons taught him by his masters, M. Lepitre
+and M. Guillonnet de Merville, would be insisted on, only with much
+greater effect and insistence, by this charming woman of the world.
+Her mother, still living, had passed her time in the disturbed and
+exciting atmosphere of plots and counterplots; and she herself could
+tell him story after story of heartrending tragedies and of
+hairbreadth escapes, which had happened to her own relations and
+friends. From her he acquired those aristocratic longings which always
+characterised him, and through her influence he made acquaintance with
+several people of high position and importance, and thus was enabled
+to make an occasional appearance in the /beau-monde/ of Paris.
+
+Her portrait gives the idea of an elegant rather than pretty woman,
+with a long neck, sloping shoulders, black curls on the temples, at
+each side of a high forehead, and large, languishing dark eyes, under
+pencilled eyebrows. The oval face has a character of gentle
+melancholy, and there is something subdued and suffering in the whole
+expression which invites our pity. She wears in the portrait an Empire
+dress, confined under the arms by a yellow ribbon.
+
+"La dilecta," as Balzac calls her, cannot have been a very happy
+woman. Of her nine children, watched with the most tender solicitude,
+only four lived to grow up; and of these her favourite son, "beautiful
+as the day, like her tender and spiritual, like her full of noble
+sentiments," as Balzac says, died the year before her; and only an
+insane daughter and a wild, unsatisfactory son survived her. This
+terrible blow broke her heart, and she shut herself up and refused to
+see even Balzac during the last year of her life. The end must at any
+rate have been peaceful, as, in order to prolong her existence as much
+as possible, it had been found necessary to separate her from the
+irritable husband with whose vagaries she had borne patiently during
+thirty tedious years; but perhaps she was sorry in the end that this
+was necessary. Madame de Mortsauf, in the "Lys dans la Vallee," is
+intended to be a portrait of her, though Balzac says that he has only
+managed to give a faint reflection of her perfections. However this
+may be, Henriette de Mortsauf is a charming and ethereal creation, and
+from her we can understand the fascination Madame de Berny exerted
+over Balzac, and can realise that, as he says to Madame Hanska, her
+loss can never be made up to him. It is possible also to sympathise
+with the feeling, perhaps unacknowledged even to himself, which peeps
+out in a letter to Madame Hanska in 1840.[*] In this he reproaches his
+correspondent for her littleness in not writing to him because he
+cannot answer her letters quickly, and tells her that he has lately
+been in such straits that he has not been able to pay for franking his
+letters, and has several times eaten a roll on the Boulevards for his
+dinner. He goes on: "Ah! I implore you, do not make comparisons
+between yourself and Madame de Berny. She was of infinite goodness and
+of absolute devotion; she was what she was. You are complete on your
+side as she on hers. One never compares two great things. They are
+what they are." Certainly Balzac never found a second Madame de Berny.
+
+[*] "Lettres a L'Etrangere."
+
+From 1822 to 1824 we know little of Balzac's history, except that he
+passed the time at home, and was presumably working hard at his
+romantic novels; but in 1824 a change came, one no doubt hailed at the
+time with eager delight, though it proved unfortunately to be the
+foundation of all his subsequent misfortunes.
+
+When he went up to Paris to make arrangements for publishing his
+novels, he stayed in the old lodgings of his family in the Rue du Roi
+Dore, and here he often met a friend, M. d'Assonvillez, to whom he
+confided his fear of being forced into an occupation distasteful to
+him. M. d'Assonvillez was sympathetic, advised him to seek for a
+business which would make him independent, and, carried away by
+Honore's powers of persuasion and eloquence, actually promised to
+proved the necessary funds. We can imagine Balzac's joy at this offer,
+and the enthusiasm with which he would take up his abode in Paris, and
+feel that he was about to earn his living, nay, more, that he would no
+doubt become enormously rich, and would then have leisure to give up
+his time to literature. What however decided him to become first
+publisher and then printer we do not know. He started his publishing
+campaign with the idea of bringing out compact editions of the
+complete works of different authors in one volume, and began with
+Moliere and La Fontaine, carrying on the two publications at the same
+time, for fear of competition if his secret should be discovered. The
+idea, which had already been thought of by Urbain Canel, was a good
+one; but unfortunately Balzac was not able to obtain support from the
+trade, and had not sufficient capital for advertising. Therefore by
+the end of the year not twenty copies were sold, and he lost 15,000
+francs on this affair alone. Consequently, in order to save the rent
+of the warehouse in which the books were stored, he was obliged to
+part with all the precious compact editions for the price by the
+weight of the paper on which they were printed.
+
+Matters now looked very black, as Balzac owed about 70,000 francs; but
+M. d'Assonvillez was evidently much impressed by his business
+capacity, and was naturally anxious to be repaid the money he had
+lent. He therefore introduced Honore to a relation who was making a
+large fortune by his printing-press; and Balzac, full of enthusiasm,
+dreamt of becoming a second Richardson, and of combining the
+occupations of author and printer. His father was persuaded to provide
+the necessary funds, and handed him over 30,000 francs--about 1,200
+pounds--with which to start the enterprise. In August, 1826, Balzac
+began again joyously, first by himself and afterwards with a partner
+named Barbier, whom he had noticed as foreman in one of the printing-
+offices to which he had taken his novels. Unfortunately a printing-
+licence cost 15,000 francs in the time of Charles X.; and when this
+had been paid, Barbier had received a bonus of 12,000 francs, and
+15,000 francs had been spent on the necessary materials, there
+remained very little capital with which to meet the current expenses
+of the undertaking. Nevertheless, the young partners started full of
+hope, having bought from Laurent for 30,000 francs the premises at No.
+7, Rue des Marais Saint-Germain, now the Rue Visconti, a street so
+narrow that two vehicles cannot pass in it. A wooden staircase with an
+iron handrail led from a dark passage to the large barrack-like hall
+they occupied: an abode which Balzac tried to beautify, possibly for
+Madame de Berny's visits, by hangings of blue calico.
+
+There Balzac developed quickly. He learnt the struggle of a business
+life, the duel between man and man, through which thousands pass
+without gaining anything except business acuteness, but which
+introduced the great psychologist to hundreds of new types, and showed
+to his keen, observant eyes man, not in society or domesticity, but in
+undress, fighting for life itself, or for all that makes life worth
+living. In the Rue de Lesdiguieres he had struggled with himself,
+striving in cold and hunger to gain the mastery of his art. Here he
+battled with others; and since, except on paper, he never possessed
+business capacity, he failed and went under; but by his defeat he
+paved the way to future triumph. He passed through an experience
+possibly unique in the career of a man of letters, one which imparts
+the peculiar flavour of business, money, and affairs to his books, and
+which fixed on him for all his days the impression of restless,
+passionate, thronging humanity which he pictures in his books. The
+abyss between his early romantic novels and such a book as the "Peau
+de Chagrin" is immeasurable, and cannot be altogether accounted for by
+any teaching, however valuable, or even by the strong influence which
+intercourse with Madame de Berny exercised. Something else definite
+must have happened to him--some great opening out and development,
+which caused a sudden appearance on the surface of hitherto latent,
+unworkable powers. This forcing-process took place at his first
+contact with the war of life; and though he bore the scars of the
+encounter as long as he lived, he grew by its clash, ferment, and
+disaster to his full stature. In "La Maison du Chat-qui-pelote,"
+"Illusions Perdues," and "Cesar Birotteau" he gives different phases
+of this life, spent partly in the printer's office and partly in the
+streets, rushing anxiously from place to place and from person to
+person, trying vainly by interviews to avert the impending ruin.
+
+Matters seemed, however, quite hopeless; but when, towards the end of
+1827, an opportunity occurred of becoming possessed of a type-foundry,
+the partners, perhaps with the desperation of despair, did not
+hesitate to avail themselves of it. This new acquisition naturally
+only appeared likely to precipitate the catastrophe, and Barbier
+prepared to leave the sinking ship. At this juncture Madame de Berny
+came forward with substantial help, and allowed her name to appear as
+partner in his place. However, even this assistance did not long avert
+disaster--bankruptcy was impending, and Madame de Berny and Laure
+implored Madame de Balzac to prevent this. The latter, wishing at all
+costs to keep the matter from the ears of her husband, now a very old
+man and failing in health, begged a cousin, M. Sedillot, to come
+forward, and at least to save the honour of the family. M. Sedillot,
+who appears to have been a good man of business, at once set gallantly
+to work to disentangle the embroglio, and to free Honore from its
+meshes. As a result of his efforts, the printing-press was sold to M.
+Laurent, and the type-foundry became the property of the De Bernys,
+under whom it was highly successful. At the same time, to save Honore
+from disgrace, Madame de Balzac lent 37,000 francs and Madame de Berny
+45,000, the latter sum being paid back in full by Balzac in 1836, the
+year of Madame de Berny's death. "Without her I should be dead," he
+tells Madame Hanska. He was most anxious not to sell the type-foundry,
+and his parents have been severely criticised for their refusal to
+provide further funds for the purpose of carrying on that and the
+printing-office.
+
+This blame seems a little unfair. It is true that, after Balzac had
+been obliged, to his intense grief, to part with both businesses at a
+loss, a fortune was made out of the type-foundry alone. But the
+Balzacs had lost money, and had their other children to provide for;
+while Honore, though well equipped with hope, enthusiasm, and belief
+in himself, had hitherto failed to justify a trust in his business
+capacities. In fact, if his parents had been endowed with prophetic
+eyesight, and had been enabled to take a bird's-eye view of their
+celebrated son's future enterprises, which were always, according to
+his own account, destined to fail only by some unfortunate slip at the
+last, it seems doubtful whether they would have been wise to alter the
+course they adopted.
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER V
+
+                             1828 - 1829
+
+  Life in the Rue de Tournon--Privations and despair--Friendships--
+  Auguste Borget--Madame Carraud--The Duchesse d'Abrantes--George
+  Sand, etc.--Balzac writes "La Peau de Chagrin" and the
+  "Physiologie du Marriage"--His right to be entitled "De Balzac."
+
+In September, 1828, before the final winding up of affairs, Balzac had
+fled from Paris, and had gone to spend three weeks with his friends
+the Pommereuls in Brittany. There he began to write "Les Chouans," the
+first novel to which he signed his name. With his usual hopefulness,
+dreams of future fame filled his brain; and in spite of his
+misfortunes, his relief at having obtained temporary escape from his
+difficulties and freedom to pursue his literary career was so great,
+that his jolly laugh often resounded in the old chateau of Fougeres.
+It was certainly a remarkable case of buoyancy of temperament, as the
+circumstances in which he found himself were distinctly discouraging.
+He was now twenty-nine years old; he owed about 100,000 francs, and
+was utterly penniless; while his reputation for commercial capacity
+had been completely destroyed. His most pressing liabilities had been
+paid by his mother, who was all his life one of his principal
+creditors; and he was now firmly under the yoke of that heavy burden
+of debt which was destined never again to be lifted from his
+shoulders. Once again, as they had done nine years before, his parents
+cast off all responsibility for their unsatisfactory son. They had
+saved the family honour, which would have been compromised by his
+bankruptcy; but they felt that whether he lived or starved was his own
+affair. His position was infinitely worse than it had been in those
+early days in the Rue Lesdiguieres, when submission would have led to
+reinstatement in favour. He was now, as he graphically expressed it,
+"thrown into" the Rue de Tournon,[*] and apparently no provision was
+made for his wants. His parents, who had moved from Villeparisis to
+Versailles the year before, in order to be near Madame Surville,
+limited their interference in his affairs to severe criticism on his
+want of respect in not coming to see his family, and righteous wrath
+at his extravagance in hanging his room with blue calico. These
+reproaches he parried with the defence that he had no money to pay
+omnibus fares, and could not even write often because of the expense
+of postage; while anent the muslin, he stated that he possessed it
+before his failure, as La Touche and he had nailed it up to hide the
+frightful paper on the walls of the printing-office. Uncrushed by the
+scathing comments on his attempts at decoration, curious though
+characteristic efforts on the part of a starving man, he writes to his
+sister a few days later: "Ah, Laure, if you did but know how
+passionately I desire (but, hush! keep the secret) two blue screens
+embroidered in black (silence ever!)."[+] He reopens his letter about
+the screens to answer one from Madame Surville, written evidently at
+the instigation of M. and Mme. de Balzac, to blame his supposed
+idleness; and the poor fellow, to whom /this/ fault at least could at
+no time be justly imputed, asks her if he is not already unhappy
+enough, and tells her pathetically how he suffers from these unjust
+suspicions, and that he can never be happy till he is dead. In the
+end, however, he returns with childlike persistence to the screens as
+a panacea for all his ills, and finishes with: "But my screens--I want
+them more than ever, for a little joy in the midst of torment!"
+
+[*] He says himself "Rue Cassini," but this is a mistake.
+
+[+] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 82.
+
+He had now apparently completely gone under, like many another
+promising young man of whom great things are expected; and he had in
+his pride and misery hidden himself from every one, except a few
+intimate friends. With the death on June 19, 1829, of his father,
+whose last days were saddened by the knowledge of his son's disaster,
+the world was poorer by one castle in the air the less; for besides
+his natural sorrow at the death of the kind old man, who was so much
+softer than his wife, the dream of becoming a millionaire by means of
+the Tontine capital faded way, like all poor Honore's other visions.
+Even Balzac's buoyancy was not always proof against the depressing
+influence of two or three days of starvation, and he sometimes
+descended to the lowest depths, and groped in those dark places from
+which death seems the only escape. When he tells us in "La Peau de
+Chagrin" that Raphael walked with an uncertain step in the Tuileries
+Gardens, "as if he were in some desert, elbowed by men whom he did not
+see, hearing, through all the voices of the crowd, one voice alone,
+the voice of Death," it is Balzac himself, who, after glorious
+aspirations, after being in imagination raised to heights to which
+only a great nature can aspire, now lay bruised and worsted, a
+complete failure, and thought that by suicide he would at least obtain
+peace and oblivion. He knew to the full the truth of his words:
+"Between a self-sought death and the abundant hopes whose voices call
+a young man to Paris, God only knows what may intervene, what
+contending ideas have striven within the soul, what poems have been
+set aside, what moans and what despair have been repressed, what
+abortive masterpieces and vain endeavours."[*]
+
+[*] Honore de Balzac, "La Peau de Chagrin."
+
+Looking back years afterwards at this terrible time, he can find only
+one reason why he did not put an end to himself, and that was the
+existence of Madame de Berny: "She was a mother, a woman friend, a
+family, a man friend, an adviser," he cries enthusiastically; "she
+made the writer, she consoled the young man, she formed his taste, she
+cried like a sister, she laughed, she came every day, like a merciful
+slumber, to send sorrow to sleep."[*] Certainly there was no woman on
+earth to whom Balzac owed so deep a debt of gratitude, and certainly
+also he joyfully acknowledged his obligations. "Every day with her was
+a fete," he said to Madame Hanska long afterwards.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+About this time another friendship was beginning, which, though slower
+in growth and not so passionate in character, was as faithful, and was
+only terminated by Balzac's death. When Madame Surville went to live
+at Versailles, she was delighted to find that an old schoolfellow,
+Madame Carraud, was settled there, her husband holding the post of
+director of the military school at Saint-Cyr. Honore had known Madame
+Carraud since 1819; but he first became intimate with her and her
+husband in 1826, and later he was their constant guest at Angouleme,
+where Commandant Carraud was in charge of the Government powder-works,
+or at Frapesle in Berry, where Madame Carraud had a country house. She
+was a woman of much intelligence and ambition, high-principled and
+possessing much common sense. Balzac occasionally complained that she
+was a little wanting in softness; but, nevertheless, he invariably
+turned to her for comfort in the vicissitudes of his more passionate
+attachments. He was also much attached to M. Carraud, a man of great
+scientific attainments and a good husband, but, to his wife's despair,
+utterly lacking in energy and ambition; so that instead of taking the
+position to which by his abilities he was entitled, he soon retired
+altogether from public life, and Madame Carraud, who should, according
+to Balzac, have found scope for her talents in Paris, was buried in
+the country. Nevertheless, the Carrauds were a happy couple, genuinely
+devoted to each other; and Madame Carraud cited the instance of their
+affection, in spite of the difference of their point of view on many
+subjects, when in 1833 she wrote to Honore urging him to marry.[*]
+"There is no need to tell you that my husband and I are not
+sympathetic in everything. We are so unlike each other that the same
+objects appear quite differently to us. Yet I know the happiness about
+which I speak. We both feel it in the same degree, though in a
+different way. I would not give it up for the fullest existence,
+according to generally received ideas. I have not an empty moment."
+
+[*] Letter from Madame Carraud in the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul's collection, published in /La Revue Bleue/, November
+    21st, 1903.
+
+She was an ardent politician, and we gain much of our knowledge of
+Balzac's political views from his letters to her when he wished to
+become a deputy; while she also possessed the faculty which he valued
+most in his women friends, that of intelligent literary criticism. She
+could be critical on other points as well; and, like Madame Hanska,
+blamed Balzac for mobility of ideas and inconstancy of resolution,
+which she said wasted his intellect. She complained that, in the time
+that he might have used to bring one plan successfully to completion,
+he generally started ten or twelve new ones, all of which vanished
+into smoke, and brought him no advantage.[*]
+
+[*] "L'Ecole des Menages" in "Autour de Honore de Balzac," by the
+    Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+Hardly a year passed without Balzac spending some time at the
+hospitable house at Frapesle, the doors of which were always open to
+him; and there, away from creditors, publishers, journalists, and all
+his other enemies, he was able to write in peace and quietness. There,
+too, he made many pleasant acquaintances, among them M. Armand Pereme,
+the distinguished antiquary, and M. Periollas, who was at one time
+under M. Carraud at Saint-Cyr, and afterwards became chief of a
+squadron of artillery. To Madame Carraud he also owed an introduction
+to his most intimate male friend, Auguste Borget, a genre painter who
+travelled in China, and drew many pictures of the scenery there.
+Borget lodged in the same house with Balzac in the Rue Cassini, and is
+mentioned by him in a letter to Madame Hanska, in 1833, as one of his
+three real friends beside her and his sister, Madame de Berny and
+Madame Carraud being the other two. It was a very real grief to Balzac
+when Borget was away; and he says that even when the painter is
+travelling, sketching, and never writes to him, he is constantly in
+his remembrance; while in another letter he speaks of his friend's
+nobility of soul and beauty of sentiment. To Borget was dedicated the
+touching story of "La Messe de l'Athee"; and in case of Balzac's
+sudden death it was to this "good, old, and true friend" that the duty
+of burning Madame Hanska's letters were entrusted, though eventually
+their recipient performed this painful task himself in 1847.
+
+A still older friend was M. Dablin, a rich, retired ironmonger with
+artistic tastes, who left his valuable collection of artistic objects
+to the Louvre. He was known to Balzac before 1817; and in 1830 the
+successful writer remembers with gratitude that M. Dablin used to be
+his only visitor during his martyrdom in the Rue Lesdiguieres in 1819.
+At that time and later he was most generous in lending Honore money;
+and the only cloud that came between them for a long time was his
+indignation when Balzac wished to find him further security than his
+own life for a loan he had promised. Later on, in 1845, when M.
+Dablin, rather hurt by some heedless words from Balzac, and evidently
+jealous of his former protege's grand acquaintances, complained that
+honours and fortune changed people's hearts--the great novelist found
+time, after his daily sixteen hours of work, to write a long letter to
+his old benefactor.[*] In this he tells him that nothing will alter
+his affection for him, that all his real friends are equal in his
+sight; and he makes the true boast that, though he may have the
+egotism of the hard worker, he has never yet forsaken any one for whom
+he feels affection, and is the same now in heart as when he was a boy.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 115.
+
+Other early and lifelong friendships were with Madame Delannoy, who
+lent him money, and was in all ways kind to him, and with M. de
+Margonne, who lived at Sache, a chateau on the Indre, in the beautiful
+Touraine valley described in "Le Lys dans la Vallee," and who had held
+Balzac on his knees when a child. Balzac often paid him visits,
+especially when he wanted to meditate over some serious work, as he
+found the solitude and pure air, and the fact that he was treated in
+the neighbourhood simply as a native of the country and not as a
+celebrity, peculiarly stimulating to his imagination and powers of
+creation. He wrote "Louis Lambert," among other novels at the house of
+this hospitable friend. Madame de Margonne he did not care for: she
+was, according to his unflattering portrait of her, intolerant and
+devout, deformed, and not at all /spirituelle/. But she did not count
+for much; Balzac went to the house for the sake of her husband.
+
+An intimacy was formed about this time between Balzac and La Touche,
+the editor of the /Figaro/, who, as has been already mentioned, helped
+him in the prosaic task of nailing up draperies. This intimacy must
+have been of great value to Balzac's education in the art of
+literature, and is remarkable for that reason in the history of a man
+in whose writings small trace of outside influence can be descried,
+and who, except in the case of Theophile Gautier, seemed little
+affected by the thought of his contemporaries. Therefore, though a
+long way behind Madame de Berny--without whom Balzac, as we know him,
+would hardly have existed--La Touche deserves recognition for his
+work, however small, in moulding the literary ideals and forming the
+taste of the great writer. Besides this, his friendship with Balzac is
+almost unique in the history of the latter, in the fact that, for some
+reason we do not know, it was suddenly broken off; and that almost the
+only occasion when Balzac showed personal dislike almost amounting to
+hatred, in criticism, was when, in 1840, in the /Revue Parisienne/, he
+published an article on "Leo," a novel by La Touche. He became, George
+Sand says, completely indifferent to his old master, while the latter
+--a pathetic, yet thorny and uncomfortable figure, as portrayed by his
+contemporaries--continued to belittle and revile his former pupil,
+while all the time he loved him, and longed for a reconciliation which
+never took place. La Touche had a quick instinct for discovering
+genius: he introduced Andre Chenier's posthumous poems to the public,
+and launched Jules Sandeau and George Sand. But he was soured by
+seeing his pupils enter the promised land only open to genius, while
+he was left outside himself. Sooner or later, the eager, affected
+little hypochondriacal man with the bright eyes quarrelled with all
+his friends, and a rupture would naturally soon take place between the
+ultra-sensitive teacher, ready to take offence on the smallest
+pretext, and the hearty, robust Tourainean, who, whatever his troubles
+might be, faced the world with a laugh, who insisted on his genius
+with cheery egotism, and who, in spite of real goodheartedness and
+depth of affection, was too full of himself to be always careful about
+the feelings of others. How much Balzac owed to La Touche we do not
+know; but though, as we have already seen, there were other reasons
+for his sudden stride in literature between 1825 and 1828, it is
+significant that "Les Chouans," the first book to which he affixed his
+name, and in which his genius really shows itself, was written
+directly after his intercourse with this literary teacher. No doubt La
+Touche, who was cursed with the miserable fate of possessing the
+temperament of genius without the electric spark itself, magnified the
+help he had given, and felt extreme bitterness at the shortness of
+memory shown by the great writer, whom he vainly strove to sting into
+feeling by the acerbity of his attacks.
+
+Never at any time did Balzac go out much into society, but his
+anonymous novels, though they did not bring him fame, had opened to
+him the doors of several literary and artistic salons, and he was a
+frequenter of that of Madame Sophie Gay, the author of several novels,
+one of which, "Anatole," is said to have been read by Napoleon during
+the last night spent at Fontainebleau in 1814. Hers was essentially an
+Empire salon, antagonistic to the government of the Bourbons, and
+Balzac's feelings were perhaps occasionally ruffled by the talk that
+went on around him, though more probably the interest he found in the
+study of different phases of opinion outweighed his party
+prepossessions. Those evenings must have been an anxious pleasure;
+for, with no money to pay a cab fare, there was always the agonising
+question as to whether on arrival his boots would be of spotless
+cleanliness, while the extravagance of a pair of white gloves meant a
+diminution in food which it was not pleasant to contemplate. Then,
+too, he felt savage disgust at the elegant costumes and smart
+cabriolets owned by empty-headed fops with insufferable airs of
+conquest, who looked at him askance, and to whom he could not prove
+the genius that was in him, or give voice to his belief that some day
+he would dominate them all. The restlessness and discomfort, and at
+the same time the sense of unknown and fascinating possibilities which
+are the birthright of talented youth, and in the portrayal of which
+Balzac is supreme, must have been well known to him by experience; and
+his almost Oriental love of beauty and luxury made his life of
+grinding poverty peculiarly galling.
+
+Conspicuous in her mother's salon, queen of conversationalists,
+reciting verses in honour of the independence of Greece, exciting
+peals of laughter by her wit and her power to draw out that of others,
+was a brilliant figure--that of the beautiful Delphine Gay, who was,
+in 1831, to become Madame de Girardin. She is a charming figure, a
+woman with unfailing tact and a singular lack of literary jealousy, so
+that all her contemporaries speak of her with affection. She made
+strenuous efforts to keep the peace between Balzac and her husband,
+the autocratic editor of /La Presse/; and till 1847, when the final
+rupture took place, Balzac's real liking for her conquered his
+resentment at what he considered unjustifiable proceedings on the part
+of her husband. Once indeed there was a complete cessation of friendly
+relations, and even dark hints about a duel; but usually Madame de
+Girardin prevailed; and though there were many recriminations on both
+sides, and several times nearly an explosion, Balzac wrote for /La
+Presse/, visited her salon, and was generally on terms of politeness
+with her husband. She was proud of her beautiful complexion, and had a
+drawing-room hung with pale green satin to show it to the best
+advantage; while, like her mother, she wrote novels, one of which she
+called "La Canne de M. de Balzac," after the novelist's famous cane
+adorned with turquoises.
+
+One of the habituees of Madame Gay's salon was the Duchesse
+d'Abrantes; and between her and Balzac there existed a literary
+comradeship, possibly cemented by the impecunious condition which was
+common to both. In 1827 she lived at Versailles; and whenever Balzac
+went to see his parents, he also paid her a visit; when long talks
+took place about their mutual struggles, misfortunes and hopes of
+gaining money by writing. The poor woman was always in monetary
+difficulties. After the fall of the Empire and the death of her
+husband, whom she courageously followed throughout his campaign in
+Spain, she continued to live in the same luxury that had surrounded
+her during her days of splendour; and as the Bourbon Government
+refused to help her, she was soon reduced to a state of destitution,
+and turned to her pen to pay off her creditors. She wrote several
+novels, which at this time are completely forgotten; but in 1831 she
+began to bring out her Memoirs, and these give a graphic account of
+the social life under the Empire, and have become a classic. These
+Memoirs were first published in sixteen volumes, and it must have been
+a relief to the public when a second edition, consisting of only
+twelve volumes, was brought out three years later.
+
+In 1829, the time of which we are now writing, Balzac could only
+sympathise when the poor Duchess, formerly raised to great heights and
+now fallen very low, felt depressed at her reverses, and took a gloomy
+view of life. He would assure her that happiness could not possibly be
+over for ever, and would predict a bright dawn some future day; while
+as soon as he began to prosper himself, he did his best to lend her a
+helping hand. He effected an introduction to Charles Rabou, so that
+her articles were received by the /Revue de Paris/, and he assisted as
+intermediary between her and the publishers, taking infinite trouble
+on her behalf, and in the end gaining most advantageous terms for her.
+No assistance, however, was of permanent use. She, who knew so much,
+had never learnt to manage money, and, helped by her eldest son,
+Napoleon d'Abrantes, she spent every penny she earned. On July 7th,
+1838, she died in the utmost poverty in a miserable room in the Rue
+des Batailles, having been turned out of the hospital, where she had
+hoped to end her days in peace, because she could not pay her expenses
+in advance. Balzac writes to Madame Hanska: "The papers will have told
+you about the Duchesse d'Abrantes' deplorable death. She ended as the
+Empire ended. Some day I will explain this woman to you; it will be a
+nice evening's occupation at Wierzchownia."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Another of Balzac's friendships, rather different in character from
+those already mentioned, was that with George Sand, "his brother
+George" he used to call her. He first made her acquaintance in 1831,
+and would often go puffing up the stairs of the five-storied house on
+the Quai Saint-Michel, at the top of which she lived. His ostensible
+object was to give advice about her writing, but in reality he would
+leave this comparatively uninteresting subject very quickly, and pour
+out floods of talk about his own novels. "Ah, I have found something
+else! You will see! You will see! A splendid idea! A situation! A
+dialogue! No one has ever seen anything like it!" "It was joy,
+laughter, and a superabundance of enthusiasm, of which one cannot give
+any idea. And this after nights without slumber and days without
+repose,"[*] remarks George Sand.
+
+[*] "Autour de la Table," by George Sand.
+
+There were limitations in his view of her, as he never fully realised
+the scope of her genius, and looked on her as half a man, so that he
+would sometimes shock her by the breadth of his conversation. After
+her rupture with Jules Sandeau, whose side in the affair he espoused
+vehemently, he disapproved of her for some time, and contrasted rather
+contemptuously the versatility of her affairs of the heart with the
+ideal of passionate, enduring love portrayed in her novels. However,
+later on, when he himself had been disappointed in Sandeau, and when
+the latter had further roused his indignation by writing a novel
+called "Marianna," which was intended to drag George Sand's name
+through the mud, Balzac defended her energetically. About the same
+time (1839) he brought out his novel "Beatrix," in which she is
+portrayed as Mlle. de Touches, with "the beauty of Isis, more serious
+than gracious, and as if struck with the sadness of constant
+meditation." Her eyes, according to Balzac, were her great beauty, and
+all her expression was in them, otherwise her face was stupid; but
+with her splendid black hair and her complexion--olive by day and
+white in artificial light--she must have been a striking and
+picturesque figure. Later on Balzac appears to have partly reconciled
+himself to her moral irregularities, on the convenient ground that
+she, like himself, was an exceptional being; and we hear of several
+visits he paid to Nohant, where he delighted in long hours of talk on
+social questions with a comrade to whom he need not show the
+/galanteries d'epiderme/ necessary in intercourse with ordinary women.
+He says of her: "She had no littleness of soul, and none of those low
+jealousies which obscure so much contemporary talent. Dumas is like
+her on this point. George Sand is a very noble friend."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+This is all anticipation; we must now go back to 1828 and 1829, and
+picture Balzac's existence first in the Rue de Tournon and then in one
+room at the Rue Cassini. Insufficiently clad and wretchedly fed, he
+occasionally went to evening parties to collect material for his
+writing; at other times he visited some sympathising friend, and
+poured out his troubles to her; but he had only one real support--the
+sympathy and affection of Madame de Berny. It was a frightfully hard
+life. He took coffee to keep himself awake, and he wrote and wrote
+till he was exhausted; all the time being in the condition of a
+"tracked hare," harassed and pursued by his creditors, and knowing
+that all his gains must go to them.
+
+His only relaxations were little visits. He went to Tours, where he
+danced at a ball with a girl with red hair, and with another so little
+"that a man would only marry her that she might act as a pin for his
+shirt."[*] He travelled to Sache, to see M. de Margonne; to
+Champrosay, where he met his sister; and to Fougeres in Brittany, at
+the invitation of the Baron de Pommereul. During the last-named visit,
+as we have already seen, he not only collected the material, but also
+wrote the greater part of his novel "Les Chouans," which proved the
+turning-point of his career.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 82.
+
+This novel, the first signed with his name, Honore Balzac, was
+published by Canel and Levavasseur in March, 1829, and in December of
+the same year the "Physiologie du Mariage by a Celibataire," appeared,
+and excited general attention; though many people, Madame Carraud
+among the number, were much shocked by it. Each of these books brought
+in about fifty pounds--not a large sum, especially when we think that
+Balzac must at this time have owed about two thousand pounds; but he
+had now his foot upon the first rung of the ladder of fame, and
+editors and publishers began to apply to him for novels and articles.
+
+It is a curious fact that Balzac, who answered a question put to him
+during his lawsuit against the /Revue de Paris/ on the subject of his
+right to the prefix "de," with the rather grandiloquent words, "My
+name is on my certificate of birth, as that of the Duke of Fitz-James
+is on his,"[*] should on the title-page of "Les Chouans" have called
+himself simply M. H. Balzac, and on that of the "Scenes de la Vie
+Privee," which appeared in April, 1830, M. Balzac, still without the
+"de." In 1826 he gives his designation and title as "H. Balzac,
+imprimeur, Rue des Marais, St.-Germain, 31," and we have already seen
+that he was entered on the school register as Honore Balzac, and that
+his parents at that time called themselves M. and Mme. Balzac.
+Occasionally, however, as early as 1822, in letters to his sister
+Honore insists on the particle "de," and all his life he claimed to be
+a member of a very old Gaulish family--a pretension which gave his
+enemies a famous opportunity for deriding him.
+
+[*] First Preface to the "Lys dans la Vallee," p 482, vol. xxii. of
+    "Oeuvres Completes de H. de Balzac," Edition definitive.
+
+In 1836, during his lawsuit with the /Revue de Paris/, he certainly
+spoke on the subject with no doubtful voice:
+
+"Even if my name sounds too well in certain ears, even if it is envied
+by those who are not pleased with their own, I cannot give it up. My
+father was quite within his rights on this subject, having consulted
+the records in the Archive Office. He was proud of being one of the
+conquered race, of a family which in Auvergne had resisted the
+invasion, and from which the D'Entragues took their origin. He
+discovered in the Archive Office the notice of a grant of land made by
+the Balzacs to establish a monastery in the environs of the little
+town of Balzac, and a copy of this was, he told me, registered by his
+care at the Parliament of Paris."[*]
+
+[*] See First Preface to the "Lys dans la Vallee."
+
+Balzac continues for some time in this strain, giving his enemies a
+fresh handle for ridicule. After the loss of the lawsuit, the /Revue
+de Paris/, raging with indignation, answered him with "Un dernier mot
+a M. de Balzac," an article which the writer, after a reflection full
+of venom, must have dashed off with set teeth and a sardonic smile,
+and in which there is a most scathing paragraph on the vexed question
+of the "de":
+
+"He [Balzac] tells us that he /is of an old Gaulish family/ (You
+understand, 'Gaulish'--one of Charlemagne's peers! A French family,
+what is that? Gaulish!) It is not his own fault, poor man! Further, M.
+de Balzac will prove to you that the Bourbons and the Montmorencies
+and other French gentlemen must lower their armorial bearings before
+him, who is a Gaul, and more--a Gaul of an old family! In fact, this
+name 'De Balzac' is a patronymic name (patronymically ridiculous and
+Gaulish). He has always been De Balzac, only that! while the
+Montmorencies--those unfortunate Montmorencies--were formerly called
+Bouchard; and the Bourbons--a secondary family who are neither
+patronymic nor Gaulish (of old Gaulish family is of course understood)
+were called Capet. M. de Balzac is therefore more noble than the
+King!"
+
+Towards the end, rage renders the talented writer slightly incoherent,
+and we can imagine a blotted and illegible manuscript; but the
+question raised is an interesting one, and Balzac attached great
+importance to it. A favourite form of spite with his enemies was to
+adopt the same measures as did this writer, who, except in the title,
+calls him throughout "M. Balzac," a form of insult which possessed the
+double advantage of imposing no strain on the mind of the attacking
+party, and yet of hitting the victim on a peculiarly tender spot.
+
+Balzac's statement that he was entered "De Balzac" on the register of
+his birth is on the face of it untrue, as he was born on the 2nd
+Prairial of the year VII., a time when all titles were proscribed; so
+that the omission of the "de" means nothing, while his contention that
+he dropped the "de" in 1826, because he would not soil his noble name
+by associating it with trade, might very easily be correct.
+Unfortunately, however, for Balzac's argument, when old M. Balzac
+died, on June 19th, 1829, he was described in the register as Bernard
+Francois Balzac, without the "de." He does not even seem to have stood
+on his rights during his lifetime, as in 1826, after the death of
+Laurence, who had become Madame de Montzaigle--it must have been a
+satisfaction to the Balzac family to have one indisputable "de" among
+them--cards were sent out in the names of M. and Madame Balzac, M. and
+Madame Surville, and MM. Honore and Henri Balzac.
+
+Still, it might be possible for us to maintain, if it so pleased us,
+that, in spite of certain evidence to the contrary, the Balzacs were
+simple, unpretentious people, who, having dropped the "de" at the time
+of the Revolution, did not care to resume it; but here M. Edmond Bire,
+who furnishes us with the information already given, completely cuts
+the ground away from under our feet. It appears that M. Charles
+Portal, the well-known antiquary, has in his researches discovered the
+birth register of old M. Balzac. He was born on July 22nd, 1746, at La
+Nougarie, in the parish of Saint-Martin de Canezac, and is described
+in this document, not as Balzac at all, but as Bernard Francois
+Balssa, the son of a labourer! At what date he took the name of
+Balzac, and whether his celebrated son knew of the harmless deception,
+we do not know; but possibly his change of name was another of the
+little reserves which the clever old gentleman thought it necessary to
+maintain about his past life, and Honore really considered himself a
+member of an old family.
+
+At any rate, as M. Bire says, he certainly earned by his pen the right
+to nobility, and in this account of him he will be known by his usual
+appellation of "De Balzac."
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI
+
+                             1829 - 1832
+
+  Work and increasing fame--Emile de Girardin--Balzac's early
+  relations with the /Revue de Paris/ and quarrel with Amedee
+  Pinchot--First letters from Madame Hanska and the Marquise de
+  Castries--Balzac's extraordinary mode of writing--Burlesque
+  account of it from the /Figaro/.
+
+The record of the next few years of Balzac's life is a difficult one,
+so many and varied were the interests crowded into them, so short the
+hours of sleep, and so long the nights of work, followed without rest
+by an eight hours' day of continual rush. Visits to printers,
+publishers, and editors, worrying interviews with creditors, and
+letters on business, politics, and literature, followed each other in
+bewilderingly quick succession, and the only respite was to be found
+in occasional talks with such friends as Madame de Berny, Madame
+Carraud, or the Duchesse d'Abrantes.
+
+Success was arriving. But success with Balzac never meant leisure, or
+relief from a heavy burden of debt; it merely gave scope for enormous
+prodigies of labour. His passion for work amounted to a disease; and
+who can measure the gamut of emotion, ranging from rapture down to
+straining effort, which was gone through in those silent hours of
+darkness, when the man, the best part of whom lived only in solitude
+and night, sat in his monk's habit, before a writing-table littered
+with papers? Then, impelled by the genius of creation, he would allow
+his imagination full sway, and would turn to account the material
+collected by his keen powers of observation and his unparalleled
+intuition. It was strenuous labour, with the attendant joy of calling
+every faculty, including the highest of all--that of creation--into
+activity, and the hours no doubt often passed like moments. But the
+fierce battling with expression, the effort to tax super-abundant
+powers to the utmost, left their mark; and in the morning Balzac would
+drag himself to the printer or publisher, with his hair in disorder,
+his lips dry, and his forehead lined.
+
+Jules Sandeau, who had been taken by Balzac to live with him, and who
+remarked that he would rather die than work as he did, says that
+sometimes, when the passion and inspiration for writing were strong on
+him, he would shut himself up for three weeks in his closely curtained
+room, never breathing the outside air or knowing night from day. When
+utterly exhausted, he would throw himself on his pallet-bed for a few
+hours, and slumber heavily and feverishly; and when he could fast no
+longer, he would call for a meal, which must, however, be scanty,
+because digestion would divert the blood from his brain. Otherwise,
+hour after hour, he sat before his square table, and concentrated his
+powerful mind on his work, utterly oblivious of the fact that there
+was anything in the world save the elbowing, crushing throng of
+phantom--yet to him absolutely real--personages, whom he took into his
+being, and in whose life he lived. For the time he felt with their
+feelings, saw with their eyes, became possessed by them, as the great
+actor becomes possessed by the personality he represents. "C'etait un
+voyant, non un observateur," as Philarete Chasles said with truth.
+
+In 1829 Balzac was introduced by the publisher M. Levavasseur to Emile
+de Girardin, who became--and the connection was life-long--what Mme.
+de Girardin called La Touche,--an "intimate enemy." At first all was
+harmony. Emile de Girardin's letters, beginning in 1830 with "Mon
+tres-cher Monsieur," are addressed in 1831 to "Mon cher Balzac"; but
+it is doubtful whether the finish of one written in October, 1830, and
+ending with "Amitie d'ambition!!!"[*] is exactly flattering to the
+recipient--it savours rather strongly of what is termed in vulgar
+parlance "cupboard love." However, Girardin was the first to recognise
+the great writer's talents, and at the end of 1829, or the beginning
+of 1830, after having inserted an article by Balzac in /La Mode/, of
+which he was editor, he invited his collaboration, as well as that of
+Victor Varaigne, Hippolyte Auger, and Bois le Comte, in forming a
+bibliographical supplement to the daily papers, which was to be
+entitled "Le feuilleton des journaux politiques." This was a failure,
+but Balzac was associated with Emile de Girardin in several other
+literary enterprises; and it was through the agency of this energetic
+editor that he wrote his letters on Paris in the /Voleur/, which,
+extending from September 26th, 1830, to March 29th, 1831, would form a
+volume in themselves. After the Revolution of 1830 stories went out of
+fashion, the reviews and magazines being completely occupied with the
+task of discussing the political situation; and Balzac wrote
+numberless articles in the /Silhouette/, which was edited by Victor
+Ratier, and in the /Caricature/, edited by M. Philippon. A few years
+later, the latter journal became violently political; but at this time
+it consisted merely of witty and amusing articles, ridiculing all
+parties impartially.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," p. 105, by the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+With Victor Ratier, Balzac contemplated a partnership in writing for
+the theatre, though he thought Ratier hardly sufficiently industrious
+to make a satisfactory collaborator. However, he threatened him in
+case of laziness with a poor and honest young man as a rival, and, to
+rouse Ratier to energy, remarked that the unnamed prodigy was, like
+himself, full of courage, whereas Ratier resembled "an Indian on his
+mat."[*] Balzac's imaginative brain was to supply the plot and
+characters of each drama; but he was careful, as in the case of his
+early novels, that his name should not appear, as the plays were to be
+mere vaudevilles written to gain money, and would certainly not
+increase their author's reputation. Ratier was therefore to pose as
+their sole author, and was to undertake the actual writing of the
+play, unless he were too lazy for the effort, when the honest and
+unfortunate young man would take his place. The pecuniary part of the
+bargain was not mentioned, except the fact that both partners would
+become enormously rich; and that result is so invariable a
+characteristic of Balzac's schemes that it need hardly be noticed.
+However, this brilliant plan came to nothing, not, as we may suppose,
+from any failure on the part of the indolent Ratier--as there was in
+this case his unnamed rival to fall back upon--but most probably
+because its promoter had not a moment's leisure in which to think of
+it again.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 115.
+
+Towards the end of 1830 he began to write for the /Revue de Paris/, a
+journal with which his relations, generally inharmonious, culminated
+in the celebrated lawsuit of 1836. The review was at this time the
+property of a company; and the sole object of the shareholders being
+to obtain large dividends, they adopted the short-sighted policy of
+cutting down their payment to authors, a course which led to continual
+recriminations, and naturally made the office of chief editor very
+difficult. When Balzac first wrote for the review, Charles Rabou held
+this post, following Dr. Veron; but he resigned in a few months, and
+was succeeded in his turn by Amedee Pichot. With him Balzac waged
+continual war, finally dealing a heavy blow to the review by deserting
+it altogether in 1833.
+
+The cause of the dispute, in the first instance, was one which often
+reappears in the history of Balzac's relations with different editors.
+Being happily possessed of devoted friends, who allowed him complete
+freedom while he stayed with them, he found it easier to write in the
+quiet of the country than amidst the worries and distractions of
+Paris. In 1830, after travelling in Brittany, he spent four months,
+from July to November, at La Grenadiere, that pretty little house near
+to Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, which he coveted continually, but never
+succeeded in acquiring. In 1834 he thought the arrangements for its
+purchase were at last settled. After three years of continual
+refusals, the owners had consented to sell, and he already imagined
+himself surrounded with books, and established for six months at a
+time at this studious retreat. However, pecuniary difficulties came as
+usual in the way, and except as a visitor, Balzac never tasted the
+joys of a country life.
+
+From La Grenadiere he wrote a remarkable letter to Ratier,[*] full of
+love for the beauty of nature, a feeling which filled him with a sense
+of the littleness of man, and expressing also that uncomfortable doubt
+which must occasionally assail the mind of any man possessed of
+powerful physique as well as imagination--the doubt whether the
+existence of the thinker is not after all a poor thing compared with
+that of the active worker, who is tossed about, risks his life, and
+himself creates a living drama. He finishes with the words: "And it
+seems to me that the sea, a man-of-war, and an English boat to
+destroy, with a chance of drowning, are better than an inkpot, and a
+pen, and the Rue Saint-Denis."
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p 98.
+
+In May, 1831, Balzac was again away from Paris, this time taking up
+his abode n Nemours, where he describes himself as living alone in a
+tent in the depths of the earth, subsisting on coffee, and working day
+and night at "La Peau de Chagrin," with "L'Auberge Rouge," which he
+was writing for the /Revue de Paris/, as his only distraction.
+
+These absences did not apparently cause any friction; but when, in
+November, 1831, Balzac went to Sache to stay with M. de Margonne, and
+then moved on to the Carrauds, he left "Le Maitre Cornelius," which he
+was writing for the /Revue de Paris/, in an unfinished and uncorrected
+condition. Thereupon, Amedee Pichot, who naturally wanted consecutive
+numbers of the story for his magazine, committed what was in Balzac's
+eyes an unpardonable breach of trust, by publishing the uncorrected
+proofs, leaving out or altering what he did not understand. Balzac was
+furious at his signature being appended to what he considered
+unfinished work. Amedee Pichot was also very angry, because Balzac had
+unduly lengthened the first part of the story, and had kept him two
+months waiting for the finish. Therefore, as diligence was the only
+mode of transit, and it was necessary that "Le Maitre Cornelius"
+should end with the year, it was impossible to send the proofs before
+printing for correction to Angouleme. Nevertheless, as he had
+undoubtedly exceeded his rights as editor, he thought it wise to
+temporise, and wrote an explanatory and conciliatory letter; and as
+this did not pacify Balzac, he dispatched a second of similar tenor.
+However, a few days later, on January 9th, 1832, he felt compelled by
+the tone of Balzac's correspondence to send a third beginning: "Sir, I
+find from the tone of your letter that I am guilty of doing you a
+great wrong. I have treated on an equality and as a comrade a superior
+person, whom I should have been contented to admire. I therefore beg
+your pardon humbly for the 'My dear Balzac' of my preceding letters. I
+will preserve the distance of 'Monsieur' between you and me."[*]
+
+[*] "Une Page Perdue de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul; from which the whole account of the
+    dispute between Balzac and Pichot is taken.
+
+However, Balzac was furious. His respect for his own name and his
+intense literary conscientiousness were stronger even than his desire
+for money, and it was a very black crime in his eyes for any one to
+produce one of his works before the public until it had been brought
+to the highest possible pitch of perfection. This intense anxiety to
+do his best, which caused him the most painstaking labour, often
+pressed very hardly on managers of magazines. He was generally paid in
+advance, so that his money was safe; and though he could be absolutely
+trusted to finish sooner or later what he had undertaken, he showed a
+lofty indifference to the exigencies of monthly publication. Moreover,
+as is shown in the evidence given later on during his lawsuit with the
+/Revue de Paris/, he would sometimes, in his haste for money, accept
+new engagements when he already had a plethora of work in hand.
+Nevertheless, whatever the failures to fulfil a contract on his part
+might be, he was implacable towards those who did not rightly
+discharge their obligations to him; and Pichot was never forgiven. In
+September, 1832, after endless disputes about the rate and terms of
+payment, the most fertile source of recriminations between Balzac and
+his various publishers and editors, a formal treaty was drawn up
+between the great writer, who was at Sache, and Amedee Pichot, as
+director of the /Revue de Paris/. By this, with the option of breaking
+the connection after six months, Balzac undertook to write for the
+/Revue/ for a year, being still entitled during that time to furnish
+articles to the /Renovateur/, the /Journal Quotidienne Politique/, and
+/L'Artiste/. In spite of this legal document, there were many disputed
+points; and the letters which passed between the two men, and which
+now began with the formal "Monsieur," were full of bickerings about
+money matters, about Balzac's delay in furnishing copy, and about the
+length of his contributions. On one occasion Pichot is severe in his
+rebukes, because Balzac has prevented the Duchesse d'Abrantes from
+providing a promised article, by telling her that his own writing will
+fill two whole numbers of the /Revue/. On another, it is curious to
+find that Balzac, who was rather ashamed of the immoral reputation of
+his works, thanks M. Pichot quite humbly for suppressing a passage in
+the "Voyage de Paris a Java," which the director considered unfit for
+family perusal, and excuses himself on the subject with the naive
+explanation that he was at the same time writing the "Contes
+Drolatiques"![*] Finally, in March, 1833, after six months of the
+treaty had expired, Balzac withdrew altogether from the /Revue de
+Paris/. He gave no explicit explanation for this step; but in 1836, at
+the time of his lawsuit with the /Revue de Paris/, he stated as the
+reason for his desertion that he considered Pichot to be the author,
+under different pseudonyms, of the adverse criticism of his novels
+which appeared in its pages. In the /Revue/ he had, among other
+novels, brought out the beginning of "L'Histoire des Treize," and the
+parsimonious shareholders now had the mortification of seeing the
+great man carry his wares to /L'Europe Litteraire/; while the /Revue
+de Paris/, in consequence of his desertion, declined in popularity.
+
+[*] "Autour de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul.
+
+Balzac was now fairly launched on the road of literary fame, and some
+of his writings at this time had a momentous influence on his life. In
+April, 1830, Madame Hanska, his future wife, read with delight, in her
+far-off chateau in Ukraine, the "Scenes de la Vie Privee," containing
+the "Vendetta," "Les Dangers de l'Inconduite," "Le Bal de Sceaux, ou
+Le Pair de France," "Gloire et Malheur," "La Femme Vertueuse" and "La
+Paix de Menage"--two volumes which Balzac had published as quickly as
+he could, to counteract the alienation of his women-readers by the
+"Physiologie du Mariage." In August, 1831, appeared "La Peau de
+Chagrin," which so disappointed Madame Hanska by its cynical tone,
+that she was impelled to write the first letter from L'Etrangere,
+which reached Balzac on February 28th, 1832, a date never to be
+forgotten in the annals of his life. He was not, however, very exact
+in remembering it himself, and in later life sometimes became confused
+in his calculations between the number of years since he had received
+this letter, and the time which had elapsed since he first had the joy
+of meeting her. "La Peau de Chagrin" greatly increased Balzac's fame,
+and in October, 1831, another anonymous correspondent, Madame la
+Marquise de Castries, also destined to exercise a strong, though
+perhaps transitory, influence over Balzac, had written to deprecate
+its moral tone, as well as that of the "Physiologie du Mariage."
+Balzac answered her that "La Peau de Chagrin" was only intended to be
+part of a whole, and must not be judged alone; and the same idea is
+enlarged upon in a letter to the Comte de Montalembert,[*] written in
+August, 1831, which shows Balzac's extreme anxiety not to dissociate
+his writings from the cause of religion. In it he explains, with much
+insistence, that, in site of the apparent scepticism of "La Peau de
+Chagrin," the idea of God is really the mainspring of the whole book,
+and on these grounds he begs for a review in /L'Avenir/. The letter
+also contains an announcement which is interesting as a proof that two
+years before the date given by his sister, the idea of his great
+systematic work was already formulated, and that in his imagination it
+had assumed colossal proportions. He says: "'La Peau de Chagrin' is
+the formula of human life, an abstraction made from individualities,
+and, as M. Ballanche says, everything in it is myth and allegory. It
+is therefore the point of departure for my work. Afterwards
+individualities and particular existences, from the most humble to
+those of the King and of the Priest, the highest expressions of our
+society, will group themselves according to their rank. In these
+pictures I shall follow the effect of Thought on Life. Then another
+work, entitled 'History of the Succession of the Marquis of Carabas,'
+will formulate the life of nations, the phases of their governments,
+and will show decidedly that politics turn in one circle, and are
+evidently stationary; and that repose can only be found in the strong
+government of a hierarchy."
+
+[*] Letters sent by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul to the
+    /Revue Bleue/, November 14th, 1903.
+
+The "Peau de Chagrin," which is a powerful satire on the vice and
+selfishness of the day, suffers in its allegorical, though not in its
+humanly interesting side, by the vivid picture it gives of Balzac's
+youth; as, in spite of the introduction of the influence of the magic
+Ass Skin, the account of Raphael in the early part of the book, as the
+frugal, determined genius with high intellectual aspirations, does not
+harmonise with his weak, despicable character as it unfolds itself
+subsequently. The critics exercised their minds greatly about the
+identity of the heroines, the beautiful and heartless Fedora--in whom
+apparently many ladies recognised their own portrait--and the humble
+and exquisite Pauline, type of devoted and self-forgetting love.
+Mademoiselle Pelissier, who possessed an income of twenty-five
+thousand francs, and had a house in the Rue Neuve-du-Luxembourg, where
+she held a salon much frequented by political personalities of the
+day, was identified by popular gossip as the model of Fedora. It was
+said by Parisian society that Balzac was anxious to marry her, but
+that the lady, who afterwards became Madame Rossini, refused to listen
+to his suit, though she confessed to a great admiration for his
+fascinating black eyes.
+
+The original of Pauline has never been discovered, but, possibly with
+a few traits borrowed from Madame de Berny, she is what Balzac
+describes in the last pages of "La Peau de Chagrin" as an "ideal, as a
+visionary face in the fire, a face with unimaginable delicate
+outlines, a floating apparition, which no chance will ever bring back
+again."
+
+Since the year 1830 Balzac had lodged in the Rue Cassini, a little,
+unfrequented street near the Observatory, with a wall running along
+one side, on which was written "L'Absolu, marchand de briques," a name
+which Theophile Gautier fancies may have suggested to him the title of
+his novel "La Recherche de l'Absolu." Borget, Balzac's great friend
+and confidant, had rooms in the same house; and later on, when Borget
+was on one of his frequent journeys, these rooms were occupied by
+Jules Sandeau, after his parting with George Sand. In despair at her
+desertion, he tried to commit suicide; and Balzac, touched with pity
+at his forlorn condition, proposed that he should come to Borget's
+rooms, and took complete and kindly charge of him--a generosity which
+Sandeau, after having lived at Balzac's expense for two years, repaid
+in 1836, by deserting his benefactor when he was in difficulties.
+
+Balzac was now in the full swing of work. He writes to the Duchesse
+d'Abrantes in 1831:[*] "Write, I cannot! The fatigue is too great. You
+do not know that I owed in 1828, above what I possessed. I had only my
+pen with which to earn my living, and to pay a hundred and twenty
+thousand francs. In several months I shall have paid everything, and I
+shall have arranged my poor little household; but for six months I
+have all the troubles of poverty, I enjoy my last miseries. I have
+begged from nobody, I have not held out my hand for a penny; I have
+hidden my sorrows, and my wounds."
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 131.
+
+Poor Balzac! over and over again we hear the same story about the
+beautiful time in the future, which he saw coming nearer and nearer,
+but which always evaded his grasp at the last. Very often, when he
+appears grasping and dictatorial in his business dealings, we may
+trace his want of urbanity to some pressing pecuniary anxiety, which
+he was too proud to reveal. No doubt these difficulties often sprang
+from his extraordinary want of reflection and prudence, as his desire
+to make a dashing appearance before the world led him frequently into
+the most senseless extravagance. For instance, when he went out of
+Paris in June, 1832, intending to travel for several months, he left
+behind him two horses with nothing to do, but naturally requiring a
+groom, food, and stabling; and it was not till the end of July that,
+on his mother's recommendation, he sent orders that they were to be
+sold. His money affairs are so complicated, and his own accounts of
+them so conflicting, that it is impossible to understand them
+thoroughly. Apparently, however, from 1827 to 1836 he could not
+support himself and satisfy his creditors without drawing bills. These
+he often could not meet, and had to renew; and the accumulated
+interest on these obligations formed a floating debt, which was from
+time to time increased by some new extravagance.
+
+In his vain struggles to escape, he worked as surely no man has ever
+worked before or since. In 1830 he brought out about seventy, and in
+1831 about seventy-five publications, including novels, and articles
+serious and satirical, on politics and general topics; and in twelve
+years, from 1830 to 1842, he wrote seventy-nine novels alone, not
+counting his shorter compositions. Werdet, who became his publisher in
+1834, gives a curious account of his doings; and this may, with slight
+modifications, be accepted as a picture of his usual mode of life when
+in the full swing of composition.
+
+He usually went to bed at eight o'clock, after a light dinner,
+accompanied by a glass or two of Vouvray, his favourite wine; and he
+was seated at his desk by two o'clock in the morning. He wrote from
+that time till six, only occasionally refreshing himself with coffee
+from a coffee-pot which was permanently in the fireplace. At six he
+had his bath, in which he remained for an hour, and his servant
+afterwards brought him more coffee. Werdet was then admitted to bring
+proofs, take away the corrected ones, and wrest, if possible, fresh
+manuscript from him. From nine he wrote till noon, when he breakfasted
+on two boiled eggs and some bread, and from one till six the labour of
+correction went on again. This unnatural life lasted for six weeks or
+two months, during which time he refused to see even his most intimate
+friends; and then he plunged again into the ordinary affairs of life,
+or mysteriously and suddenly disappeared--to be next heard of in some
+distant part of France, or perhaps in Corsica, Sardinia, or Italy. It
+is not surprising that even in these early days, and in spite of
+Balzac's exuberant vitality, there are frequent mentions of terrible
+fatigue and lassitude, and that the services of his lifelong friend,
+Dr. Nacquart, were often in requisition, though his warnings about the
+dangers of overwork were generally unheeded.
+
+Even with Balzac's extraordinary power of work, the number of his
+writings is remarkable, when we consider the labour their composition
+cost him. Sometimes, according to Theophile Gautier, he bestowed a
+whole night's labour on one phrase, and wrote it over and over again a
+hundred times, the exact words that he wanted only coming to him after
+he had exhausted all the possible approximate forms. When he intended
+to begin a novel, and had thought of and lived in a subject for some
+time, he wrote a plan of his proposed work in several pages, and
+dispatched this to the printer, who separated the different headings,
+and sent them back, each on a large sheet of blank paper. Balzac read
+these headings attentively, and applied to them his critical faculty.
+Some he rejected altogether, others he corrected, but everywhere he
+made additions. Lines were drawn from the beginning, the middle, and
+the end of each sentence towards the margin of the paper; each line
+leading to an interpolation, a development, an added epithet or an
+adverb. At the end of several hours the sheet of paper looked like a
+plan of fireworks, and later on the confusion was further complicated
+by signs of all sorts crossing the lines, while scraps of paper
+covered with amplifications were pinned or stuck with sealing-wax to
+the margin. This sheet of hieroglyphics was sent to the printing-
+office, and was the despair of the typographers; who, as Balzac
+overheard, stipulated for only an hour each in turn at the correction
+of his proofs. Next day the amplified placards came back, and Balzac
+added further details, and laboured to fit the expression exactly to
+the idea, and to attain perfection of outline and symmetry of
+proportion. Sometimes one episode dwarfed the rest, or a secondary
+figure usurped the central position on his canvas, and then he would
+heroically efface the results of four or five nights' labour. Six,
+seven, even ten times, were the proofs sent backwards and forwards,
+before the great writer was satisfied.
+
+In the /Figaro/ of December 15th, 1837, Edouard Ourliac gives a
+burlesque account of the confusion caused in the printing-offices by
+Balzac's peculiar methods of composition. This is an extract from the
+article:
+
+
+"Let us sing, drink and embrace, like the chorus of an /opera
+comique/. Let us stretch our calves, and turn on our toes like ballet-
+dancers. Let us at last rejoice: the /Figaro/, without getting the
+credit of it, has overcome the elements and all sublunary cataclysms.
+
+"Hercules is only a rascal, the apples of Hesperides only turnips, the
+siege of Troy but a revolt of the national guard. The /Figaro/ has
+just conquered 'Cesar Birotteau'!
+
+"Never have the angry gods, never have Juno, Neptune, M. de Rambuteau,
+or the Prefect of Police, opposed to Jason, Theseus, or walkers in
+Paris, more obstacles, monsters, ruins, dragons, demolitions, than
+these two unfortunate octavos have fought against.
+
+"We have them at last, and we know what they have cost. The public
+will only have the trouble of reading them. That will be a pleasure.
+As to M. de Balzac--twenty days' work, two handfuls of paper, one more
+beautiful book: that counts for nothing.
+
+"However it may be, it is a typographical exploit, a literary and
+industrial /tour de force/ worthy to be remembered. Writer, editor,
+and printer have deserved more or less from their country. Posterity
+will talk of the compositors, and our descendants will regret that
+they do not know the names of the apprentices. I already, like them,
+regret it; otherwise I would mention them.
+
+"The /Figaro/ had promised the book on December 15th, and M. de Balzac
+began it on November 17th. M. de Balzac and the /Figaro/ both have the
+strange habit of keeping their word. The printing-office was ready,
+and stamping its foot like a restive charger.
+
+"M. de Balzac sends two hundred pages pencilled in five nights of
+fever. One knows his way. It was a sketch, a chaos, an apocalypse, a
+Hindoo poem.
+
+"The printing-office paled. The delay is short, the writing unheard
+of. They transform the monster; they translate it as much as possible
+into known signs. The cleverest still understand nothing. They take it
+to the author.
+
+"The author sends back the first proofs, glued on to enormous pages,
+posters, screens. It is now that you may shiver and feel pity. The
+appearance of these sheets is monstrous. From each sign, from each
+printed word, go pen lines, which radiate and meander like a Congreve
+rocket, and spread themselves out at the margin in a luminous rain of
+phrases, epithets, and substantives, underlined, crossed, mixed,
+erased, superposed: the effect is dazzling.
+
+"Imagine four or five hundred arabesques of this sort, interlaced,
+knotted, climbing and sliding from one margin to another, and from the
+south to the north. Imagine twelve maps on the top of each other,
+entangling towns, rivers, and mountains--a skein tangled by a cat, all
+the hieroglyphics of the dynasty of Pharaoh, or the fireworks of
+twenty festivities.
+
+"At this sight the printing-office does not rejoice. The compositors
+strike their breasts, the printing-presses groan, the foremen tear
+their hair, their apprentices lose their heads. The most intelligent
+attack the proofs, and recognise Persian, others Malagash, some the
+symbolic characters of Vishnu. They work by chance and by the grace of
+God.
+
+"Next day M. de Balzac returns two pages of pure Chinese. The delay is
+only fifteen days. A generous foreman offers to blow out his brains.
+
+"Two new sheets arrive, written very legibly in Siamese. Two workmen
+lose their sight and the small command of language they possessed.
+
+"The proofs are thus sent backwards and forwards seven times.
+
+"Several symptoms of excellent French begin to be recognised, even
+some connection between the phrases is observed."
+
+
+So the article proceeds; always in a tone of comic good-temper, but
+pointing to a very real grievance and point of dispute; and helping
+the reader to realise the long friction which went on, and finally
+resulted in the unanimity with which publishers and editors turned
+against Balzac after his famous lawsuit, and showed a vindictive hate
+which at first sight is surprising. However, in this case the matter
+ends happily, as the article closes with:
+
+
+"It ['Cesar Birotteau'] is now merely a work in two volumes, an
+immense picture, a whole poem, composed, written, and corrected
+fifteen times in the same number of days--composed in twenty days by
+M. de Balzac in spite of the printer's office, composed in twenty days
+by the printer's office in spite of M. de Balzac.
+
+"It is true that at the same time M. de Balzac was employing forty
+printers at another printing-office. We do not examine here the value
+of the book. It was made marvellously and marvellously quickly.
+Whatever it is, it can only be a /chef d'oeuvre/!"
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VII
+
+                                 1832
+
+  Crisis in Balzac's private life--"Contes Drolatiques"--Madame
+  Hanska's life before she met Balzac--Description of her appearance
+  --"Louis Lambert"--Disinterested conduct on the part of Madame de
+  Berny--Relations between Balzac and his mother--Balzac and the
+  Marquise de Castries--His despair.
+
+The year 1832 was a crisis and a turning-point in the history of
+Balzac's private life.
+
+Old relations changed their aspect; he received a terrible and
+mortifying wound to his heart and to his vanity; and while he
+staggered under this blow, a new interest, not in the beginning
+absorbing, but destined in time to engulf all others, crept at first
+almost unnoticed into his life.
+
+He was now thirty-three years old; it was time that he should perform
+the duty of a French citizen and should settle down and marry; and as
+a preliminary, it seemed necessary that Madame de Berny should no
+longer continue to occupy her predominant place in his life. She was,
+as we know twenty-two years older than he, and was a woman capable not
+only of romantic attachment, but also of the most disinterested
+conduct where her affections were concerned. She saw clearly that,
+having formed Balzac, helped him practically, taught him, given him
+useful introductions--in short, made him--the time had now come when
+it would be for his good that she should retire partially into the
+background; and she had the courage to conceive, and the power to
+make, the sacrifice. He, on his side, felt the idea of the proposed
+separation keenly, and never forgot all his life what he owed to the
+"dilecta," or ceased to feel a deep and faithful affection for her.
+Still, for him there were compensations, which did not exist for the
+woman who was growing old. He was famous, on the way to attain his
+goal; and he was regarded as the champion of misunderstood and misused
+women. Therefore, as the species has always been a large one, letters
+poured in upon him from all parts of Europe--England being the
+exception--letters telling him how exactly he had gauged the
+circumstances, sentiments, and misfortunes of his unknown
+correspondents, asking his advice, expressing intense admiration for
+his writings, and pouring out the inmost feelings and experiences of
+the writers. The position was intoxicating for the man who, a few
+years before, had been unknown and disregarded; and the fact that
+Balzac never forgot his old friendships in the excitement of the
+adulation lavished upon him, is a proof that his own belief in the
+real steadfastness of his character was not mistaken.
+
+Among these unknown correspondents, there were two who specially
+interested him. One of these was the Marquise de Castries, who, though
+rather under a cloud at this time, was one of the most aristocratic
+stars of the Faubourg Saint-Germain, and sister-in-law to the Duc de
+Fitz-James, with whom Balzac was already connected in several literary
+undertakings.
+
+As we have already seen, she wrote anonymously towards the end of
+September, 1831 to complain of the moral tone of the "Physiologie du
+Mariage" and of "La Peau de Chagrin." In Balzac's reply, which was
+despatched on February 28th, 1832, he thanked her for the proof of
+confidence she had shown in making herself known to him, and in
+wishing for his acquaintance; and said that he looked forward to many
+hours spent in her society, hours during which he would not need to
+pose as an artist or literary man, but could simply be himself.[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i., p. 141.
+
+Separated from her husband, and a most accomplished coquette, the
+Marquise was recovering from a serious love-affair, when she summoned
+Balzac to afford her amusement and distraction. Delicate and fragile,
+her face was rather too long for perfect beauty, but there was
+something spiritual and slender about it, which recalled the faces of
+the Middle Ages. Her health had been shattered by a hunting accident,
+and her expression was habitually one of smiling melancholy and of
+hidden suffering. Her beautiful Venetian red hair grew above a high
+white forehead; and in addition to the attractiveness of her elegant
+/svelte/ figure, she possessed in the highest degree the all-powerful
+seductive influence which we call "charm."
+
+Reclining gracefully in a long chair, she received her intimates in a
+small simple drawing-room furnished in old-fashioned style, with
+cushions of ancient velvet and eighteenth-century screens--a room
+instinct with the aristocratic aroma of the Faubourg Saint-Germain.
+There Balzac went eagerly during the spring of 1832, and imbibed the
+strange old-world atmosphere of the exclusive Faubourg, of which he
+has given a masterly picture in the "Duchesse de Langeais." In this he
+shows that by reason of its selfishness, its divisions, and want of
+patriotism and large-mindedness, the Faubourg Saint-Germain had
+abrogated the proud position it might have held, and was now an
+obsolete institution, aloof and cornered, wasting its powers on
+frivolity and the worship of etiquette. At first, gratified vanity at
+his selection as an intimate by so great a lady, and pleasure at the
+opportunity given him for the study of what was separated from the
+ordinary world by an impassable barrier, were Balzac's chief
+inducements for frequent visits to the Rue de Varenne. Gradually,
+however, the caressing tones of Madame de Castries' voice, the quiet
+grace of her language, and her infinite variety, found their way to
+his heart, and he fell madly in love.
+
+Speaking of her afterwards in the "Duchesse de Langeais," which was
+written in the utmost bitterness, when he had been, according to his
+own view, led on, played with and deceived by the fascinating
+Marquise, Balzac describes her thus: She was "eminently a woman, and
+essentially a coquette, Parisian to the core, loving the brilliancy of
+the world and its amusements, reflecting not at all, or reflecting too
+late; of a natural imprudence which rose at times almost to poetic
+heights, deliciously insolent, yet humble in the depths of her heart,
+asserting strength like a reed erect, but, like the reed, ready to
+bend beneath a firm hand; talking much of religion, not loving it, and
+yet prepared to accept it as a possible finality."
+
+In the same book are several interesting remarks about Armand de
+Montriveau, the lover of the Duchesse de Langeais, who is, in many
+points, Balzac under another name. On one page we read: "He seemed to
+have reached some crisis in his life, but all took place within his
+own breast, and he confided nothing to the world without." In another
+place is a description of Montriveau's appearance. "His head, which
+was large and square, had the characteristic trait of an abundant mass
+of black hair, which surrounded his face in a way that recalled
+General Kleber, whom indeed he also resembled in the vigour of his
+bearing, the shape of his face, the tranquil courage of his eye, and
+the expression of inward ardour which shone out through his strong
+features. He was of medium height, broad in the chest, and muscular as
+a lion. When he walked, his carriage, his step, his least gesture,
+bespoke a consciousness of power which was imposing; there was
+something even despotic about it. He seemed aware that nothing could
+oppose his will; possibly because he willed only that which was right.
+Nevertheless, he was, like all really strong men, gentle in speech,
+simple in manner, and naturally kind." Certainly Balzac, as usual, did
+not err on the side of modesty!
+
+Curiously enough, the very day--February 28th, 1832--on which Balzac
+wrote to accept the offer of the Marquise de Castries' friendship, was
+the day that the first letter from L'Etrangere reached him. At first
+sight there was nothing to distinguish this most momentous letter from
+others which came to him by almost every post, or to indicate that it
+was destined to change the whole current of his life. It was sent by
+an unknown woman, and the object of the writer was, while expressing
+intense admiration for Balzac's work, to criticise the view of the
+feminine sex taken by him in "La Peau de Chagrin." His correspondent
+begged him to renounce ironical portrayals of woman, which denied the
+pure and noble role destined for her by Heaven, and to return to the
+lofty ideal of the sex depicted in "Scenes de la Vie Privee."
+
+This letter, which was addressed to Balzac to the care of Gosselin,
+the publisher of "La Peau de Chagrin," has never been found. There
+must have been something remarkable about the wording and tone of it;
+as Balzac received many such effusions, but was so much impressed by
+this one, and by the communications which followed, that he decided to
+dedicate "L'Expiation" to his unknown correspondent. This story he was
+writing when he received her first letter, and it formed part of the
+enlarged edition of the "Scenes de la Vie Privee" which was published
+in May, 1832. On communicating this project, however, to Madame de
+Berny, she strongly objected to the offer of this extraordinary honour
+to "L'Etrangere"; and now doubly obedient to her wishes, and anxious
+not to hurt her feelings, he abandoned the idea after the book had
+been printed. In January, 1833, in his first letter to Madame Hanska,
+he explained the matter at length, and sent her a copy which had not
+been altered, and which had her seal on the title-page. The book sent
+her has disappeared; but examining some copies of the second edition
+of the "Scenes," the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul found that a
+page had been glued against the binding, and, detaching this
+carefully, discovered the design of the wax seal, and the dedication
+"Diis ignotis, 28th February, 1832,"[*] the date on which Balzac
+received the first letter from "L'Etrangere."
+
+[*] I have seen this.
+
+This letter gave Balzac many delightful hours, as, when he was able to
+write to her, he explained to Madame Hanska. In his pride and
+satisfaction, he showed it to many friends, Madame Carraud being among
+the number; but she, with her usual rather provoking common-sense,
+refused to share his enthusiasm, and suggested that it might have been
+written as a practical joke. To this insinuation Balzac gave no
+credence; he naturally found it easy to believe in one more
+enthusiastic foreign admirer, and he was seriously troubled by the
+fact that the first dizain of the "Contes Drolatiques," which
+certainly would not satisfy his correspondent's views on the lofty
+mission of womanhood, was likely to appear shortly. However, whether
+she did not read the first dizain of the "Contes," which appeared in
+April, 1832, or whether the perusal of them showed her more strongly
+than before that Balzac was really in need of good advice, Madame
+Hanska did not show her displeasure by breaking off her correspondence
+with him. Balzac had much to occupy his mind in 1832, as he was
+conscientiously, though not successfully, trying to make himself
+agreeable to the lady selected as his wife by his family. At the same
+time, while with regret and trouble in his heart he tried to relegate
+Madame de Berny to the position of an ordinary friend, and felt the
+delightful agitation, followed by bitter mortification, of his
+intercourse with Madame de Castries, we must remember that from time
+to time he received a flowery epistle from Russia, written in the
+turgid and rather bombastic style peculiar to Madame Hanska.
+
+On the other hand, we can imagine the interest and excitement felt by
+the Chatelaine of Wierzchownia as she wrote, and secretly dispatched
+to the well-known author, the sentimental outpourings of her soul. The
+composition of these letters must certainly have supplied a savour to
+a rather flavourless life; for it was dull in that far-off chateau in
+Ukraine, which, as Balzac described it afterwards, was as large as the
+Louvre, and was surrounded by territories as extensive as a French
+Department. There were actually a carcel lamp and a hospital--which
+seem a curious conjunction--on the estate, and there were looking-
+glasses ten feet high in the rooms, but no hangings on the walls.
+Possibly Madame Hanska did not miss these, but what she did miss was
+society. She, M. de Hanski,[*] Anna's governess, Mlle. Henriette
+Borel, and last, but not least, the beloved Anna herself, the only
+child, on whom Madame Hanska lavished the most passionate love, were a
+small party in the chateau; and besides two Polish relations, Mlles
+Denise and Severine Wylezynska, who generally inhabited the
+summer-house, christened by Balzac "La Demoiselliere," they were the
+only civilised people in the midst of a huge waste populated by
+peasants. M. de Hanski often suffered from "blue devils," which did
+not make him a cheerful companion; and when Madame Hanska had
+performed a few graceful duties, as chatelaine to the poor of the
+neighbourhood, there was no occupation left except reading or writing
+letters. She was an intelligent and intellectual woman; and Balzac's
+novels, not at first fully appreciated in France because of their
+deficiencies in style, were eagerly seized on in Germany, Austria, and
+Russia. She read them with delight; and her natural desire for action,
+her longing also to pour out, herself unknown, the secret aspirations
+and yearnings of her heart to some one who would understand her,
+prompted the first letter; which, according to M. de Spoelberch de
+Lovenjoul, was dictated by her to Anna's governess, Mlle. Henriette
+Borel. So she started lightly on the road which was to lead her, the
+leisured and elegant great lady suffering only from ennui, to the
+period of her life during which she would toil hour after hour at
+writing, would be overwhelmed by business, pestered by duns and
+creditors, overworked, overburdened, and over-worried. She was
+certainly not very fortunate, for she seems never to have experienced
+the passionate love which might have made up for everything.
+
+[*] Balzac invariably talks of M. de Hanski and Madame Hanska, as do
+    other contemporary writers.
+
+Till the time when she first put herself into communication with
+Balzac, her life had not been cheerful. A member of a Polish great
+family, the Countess Eve Rzewuska was born at the Chateau of
+Pohrbyszcze on January 25, 1804 or 1806. She was one of a large
+family, having three brothers and three sisters, nearly all of whom
+played distinguished parts in France or Russia; and her eldest
+brother, Count Henry Rzewuski, was one of the most popular writers of
+Poland. In 1818 or 1822 she married the rich M. Vencelas de Hanski,
+who was twenty-five years her senior, an old gentleman of limited
+mind; pompous, unsociable, and often depressed; but apparently fond of
+his wife, and willing to allow her the travelling and society which he
+did not himself care for. Madame Hanska had many troubles in her
+married life, as she lost four out of her five children; and being an
+intensely maternal woman, the deepest feelings of her heart were
+henceforward devoted to Anna, her only surviving child, whom she never
+left for a day till the marriage of her darling in 1846, and of whom,
+after the separation, she could not think without tears.
+
+She was a distinctly different type from the gentle, devoted Madame de
+Berny, whose French attributes were modified by the sentiment and
+romance she inherited from her Teutonic ancestors; or from Madame de
+Castries, the fragile and brilliant coquette. Mentally and physically
+there was a certain massiveness in Madame Hanska which was absent in
+her rivals. She was characterised by an egoism and self-assertiveness
+unknown to the "dilecta"; while, on the other hand, her principles
+were too strong to allow her to use a man as her plaything, as Madame
+de Castries had no scruple in doing. Side by side with her tendency to
+mysticism, she possessed much practical ability, a capacity for taking
+the initiative in the affairs of life, as well as considerable
+literary and critical power. Balzac had enormous respect for her
+intellect, and references to the splendid "analytical" forehead, which
+must have been a striking feature in her face, occur as often in his
+letters as admiring allusions to her pretty dimpled hands, or playful
+jokes about her droll French pronunciation. Her miniature by
+Daffinger,[*] taken in the prime of her beauty, gives an idea of great
+energy, strength of will, and intelligence. She is dark, with a
+decided mouth, and rather thick lips as red as a child's. Her hair is
+black, and is plainly braided at each side of her forehead; her eyes
+are dark and profound, though with the vague look of short sight; and
+her arms and shoulders are beautiful. Altogether she is a handsome
+woman, though there are indications of that tendency to /embonpoint/
+about which she was always troubled, and which Balzac, with his usual
+love of prescribing for his friends, advised her to combat by daily
+exercise.
+
+[*] In the possession of the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+However, in the spring of 1832, the time which we are considering,
+Madame Hanska was not even a name to Balzac; she was merely
+"L'Etrangere," an unknown woman who might be pretty or ugly, young or
+old; but who at any rate possessed the knack--or perhaps the author of
+"Seraphita" or of "Louis Lambert" would have said the power by
+transmutation of thought and sympathy--of interesting him in the
+highest degree.
+
+In June, with the hope that absence would loosen the bonds of
+affection which united him and Madame de Berny, and with an /arriere
+pensee/ about another charming personality whom he might meet on his
+travels, Balzac left Paris for six months, and began his tour by
+paying a visit to M. de Margonne at Sache. There he wrote "Louis
+Lambert" as a last farewell to Madame de Berny; and in memory of his
+ten years' intimacy with her, on the title-page were the dates 1822
+and 1832, and underneath the words "Et nunc et semper." The manuscript
+was sent to her for criticism, and she wrote a charming letter[*] on
+receipt of it to Angouleme, where Balzac was staying with Madame
+Carraud. In this she shows the utmost tenderness and gentle
+playfulness; but while modestly deprecating her power to perform the
+task he demands from her, which she says should be entrusted to Madame
+Carraud, she has the noble disinterestedness to point out to him where
+she considers he has erred. She tells him that, after reading the book
+through twice, and endeavouring to see it as a whole, she /thinks/ he
+has undertaken an impossible task, and that, trying to represent
+absolute truth in its action, he has attempted what is the province of
+God alone. Then, with the utmost tact and delicacy, she touches on a
+difficult point, and says that when Goethe and Byron attempt to paint
+the aspirations of a superior being, we admire their breadth of view,
+and wish we could aid them with our minds to reach the unattainable;
+but that an author who announces that he has swept to the utmost range
+of thought shocks us by his vanity, and she begs Balzac to eliminate
+certain phrases in his book which sound as though he had this belief.
+She finished thus: "Manage, my dear one, that every one shall see you
+from everywhere by the height at which you have placed yourself, but
+do not claim their admiration, for from all parts strong magnifying-
+glasses will be turned on you; and what becomes of the most delightful
+object when seen through the microscope?" Loving Balzac so tenderly,
+growing old so quickly, with Madame de Castries and the unknown
+Russian ready to seize the empire which she had abdicated willingly,
+though at bitter cost, what a temptation it must have been to leave
+these words unsaid, and now that she was parting from Balzac to accord
+him the unstinted admiration for which he yearned! That Madame de
+Berny thought of him only, of herself not at all, speaks volumes for
+the nobility and purity of her love, and we again feel that the
+"predilecta" never rose to her heights, and that to his first love
+belongs the credit of "creating" Balzac.
+
+[*] See "La Jeunesse de Balzac," by MM. Hanotaux and Vicaire, p. 74.
+
+During Balzac's absence from Paris, Madame de Balzac, who was
+installed in his rooms in the Rue Cassini, appears in quite a new
+light, and one which leads to the suspicion that the much-abused lady
+was not quite as black as she had been painted. The hard and heartless
+mother is now transmogrified into the patient and indefatigable runner
+of errands; and we must admire the business capacity, as well as
+bodily strength, which Madame de Balzac showed in carrying out her
+son's various behests. In one letter alone she was enjoined to carry
+out the following directions[*]: (1) She was to copy out an article in
+the /Silhouette/, which she would find on the second shelf for quartos
+near the door in Balzac's room. (2) She was to send him her copy of
+"Contes Drolatiques," and also "Les Chouans," which she would receive
+corrected from Madame de Berny. Furthermore, she was told to dress in
+her best and go to the library, taking with her the third and fourth
+volumes of "Scenes de la Vie Privee," as a present to M. de Manne, the
+librarian. She was then to hunt in the "Biographie Universelle" under
+B or P for Bernard Palissy, read the article, make a note of all books
+mentioned in it as written /by/ him or /about/ him, and ask M. de
+Manne for them. Next, Laure was to be visited, as the "Biographie,"
+which had formerly belonged to old M. de Balzac, was at her house; and
+the works on Palissy mentioned in that must be compared carefully with
+those already noted down; and if fresh names were found, another visit
+must be paid to the librarian. If he did not possess all the books and
+they were not very dear, they were to be bought. A visit to Gosselin
+was to be the next excursion for poor Madame de Balzac, who apparently
+walked everywhere to save hackney carriage fares; and as minor matters
+she must send a letter he enclosed to its destination, and see that
+the groom exercised the horses every day.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 153.
+
+Certainly, if Balzac worked like a galley slave himself, he also kept
+his relations well employed; but Madame de Balzac apparently did
+everything contentedly, in the hope, as a good business woman, that
+the debts would at last be paid off; and though there were occasional
+breezes, the relations between her and her son were cordial at this
+time. Possibly she was pleased at his removal from the influence of
+Madame de Berny, of whom she was always jealous; and certainly she was
+delighted at the idea of his marriage. The intended daughter-in-law,
+whose name is never mentioned, was evidently a widow with a fortune,
+so the affair was highly satisfactory. The lady was expected to pay a
+visit to Mere, near Sache; and Balzac felt obliged to go there three
+times a week to see whether she had arrived--a duty which interfered
+sadly with his work. If he seemed likely to prosper in his suit, she
+was to be impressed by the sight of his groom and horses. However,
+this matrimonial business transaction was not successful, as we hear
+nothing more of it, and the next direction his mother receives is to
+the effect that she had better sell all his stable equipage.
+
+Whether Madame de Balzac resented these demands on her, or whether she
+was disgusted at Balzac's failure to secure a rich wife, and thus put
+an end to the family troubles, we do not know; but when he returned to
+Paris at the end of the year, to his great disappointment she refused
+to live with him, and left him alone when he sorely needed sympathy
+and consolation.
+
+It is curiously characteristic of Balzac, that at this very time, when
+in secret he contemplates marriage, he writes to Madame Carraud that
+he is going to Aix to run after some one who will perhaps laugh at him
+--one of those aristocratic women she would no doubt hold in
+abhorrence: "An angel beauty in whom one imagines a beautiful soul, a
+true duchess, very disdainful, very loving, delicate, witty, a
+coquette, a novelty to me! One of those phenomena who efface
+themselves from time to time, and who says she loves me, who wishes to
+keep me with her in a palace at Venice (for I tell you everything)--
+who wishes that I shall in future write only for her, one of those
+women one must worship on one's knees if she desires it, and whom one
+has the utmost pleasure in conquering--a dream woman! Jealous of
+everything! Ah, it would be better to be at Angouleme at the
+Poudrerie, very sensible, very quiet, listening to the mills working,
+making oneself sticky with truffles, learning from you how to pocket a
+billiard-ball, laughing and talking, than to lose both time and
+life!"[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 161.
+
+After his stay at Sache, Balzac went on to the Poudrerie, where he
+became ill from overwork, and wrote to his sister that a journey was
+quite necessary for his health. On August 22nd he started from
+Angouleme, having borrowed 150 francs from M. Carraud to take him as
+far as Lyons. He had already spent the 100 francs sent him by his
+mother, and he expected to find 300 francs more awaiting him at Lyons.
+There he arrived on the 25th, having unfortunately fallen in mounting
+the imperial of the diligence, and grazed his shin against the
+footboard thus making a small hole in the bone. However, we can
+appreciate the excellent reasons which led him to the conclusion that,
+in spite of the inflammation in his leg, it would be wise to press on
+at once to Aix. When he arrived there, on August 26th, he was
+evidently rewarded by a very cordial greeting from the Marquise; as,
+the day after, he wrote a most affectionate and joyful letter to his
+mother, thanking her in the warmest terms for all she had done, and
+for the pleasure she had procured him by enabling him to take this
+journey.
+
+He was now established in a simple little room, with a view over the
+lovely valley of the Lac du Bourget; he got up each morning at half-
+past five, and worked from then till half-past five in the evening,
+his /dejeuner/ being sent in from the club, and Madame de Castries
+providing him with excellent coffee, that primary necessity of his
+existence. At six he dined with her, and they spent the evening till
+eleven o'clock together. It was an exciting drama that went on during
+those long /tete-a-tetes/. On one side was the accomplished coquette,
+possibly only determined to make a plaything of the man of genius, to
+charm him and keep him at her feet; or perhaps with a lurking hope
+that her skilful game would turn to earnestness, and that in the
+course of it she would manage to forget that charming young Metternich
+who died at Florence and left her inconsolable. On the other was
+Balzac, his senses bewildered by passionate love, but his acuteness
+and knowledge of human nature not allowing him to be altogether
+deceived; so that he writes to Madame Carraud: "She is the most
+delicate type of woman--Madame de Beauseant, only better; but are not
+all these pretty manners exercised at the expense of the heart?"[*]
+Nevertheless, these were only passing doubts: he could not really
+believe that she would behave as she was doing if there were no love
+for him in her heart, and he pursued his suit with the intense ardour
+natural to him. Occasionally she became alarmed, and tried to rebuff
+him by a cold, irritable manner; but he continued to treat her with
+the utmost gentleness. No doubt, she was not altogether without
+feeling: an absolutely cold woman could not have exercised dominion
+over a man of the stamp of Balzac; and though she is always
+represented as playing a game, probably there were agitations, doubts,
+questionings, and possibly real trouble, on her side, as well as on
+that of Balzac. At any rate, the admirer of his novels may give her
+the benefit of the doubt, and remember in gratitude that she
+undoubtedly added to the gamut of the great psychologist's emotions,
+and therefore increased his knowledge of the human heart, and the
+truth and vividness of his books. Balzac, who spoke of the "doleurs
+qui font trop vivre," plunged very deeply into the learning of the
+school of life at this time.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 195.
+
+At last came a final rupture, of which we can only conjecture the
+cause, as no satisfactory explanation is forthcoming. The original
+"Confession" in the "Medecin de Campagne," which is the history of
+Balzac's relations and parting with Madame de Castries, is in the
+possession of the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul. The present
+Confession was substituted in its place, because the first revealed
+too much of Balzac's private life. However, even in the original
+Confession, we learn no reason for Madame de Castries' sudden resolve
+to dismiss her adorer, as Balzac declares with indignant despair that
+he can give no explanation of it. Apparently she parted from him one
+evening with her usual warmth of affection, and next morning
+everything was changed, and she treated him with the utmost coldness.
+
+Madame de Castries, with her brother-in-law, the Duc de Fitz-James and
+his family, had settled to leave Aix on October 10th, and to travel in
+Italy, visiting Rome and Naples; and they had been anxious that Balzac
+should be one of the party. At first Balzac only spoke of this
+vaguely, because of the question of money; but as pecuniary matters
+were never allowed to interfere with anything he really wanted to do,
+his mother cannot have been surprised to receive a letter written on
+September 23rd, telling her that the matter was settled, and that he
+was going to Italy.[*] As she would naturally ask how this was to be
+managed, he explains that he will put off paying a debt of 500 francs,
+and that, being only responsible for a fourth share in the hire of
+Madame de Castries' carriage, this money would suffice for his
+expenses as far as Rome. There he will require 500 francs, and the
+same amount again at Naples; but this money will be gained by the
+"Medecin de Campagne," and he will only ask Madame de Balzac for 500
+francs--without which he will perhaps, after all, manage--to bring him
+back from Naples in March. On September 30th he writes to M. Mame, the
+publisher, to tell him about the nearly-finished "Medecin de
+Campagne," and still talks of his projected journey; but on October
+9th, as a result of Madame de Castries' behaviour towards him, he has
+left her at Aix, and is himself at Annecy, and on October 16th he has
+travelled on to Geneva. His only explanation for his sudden change of
+plan is a vague remark to his mother about the 1,000 francs required
+for the journey,[+] and about the difficulty of publishing books while
+he is away from France; while on the real reason of his change of plan
+he is absolutely silent. Before the end of 1832 he is back in Paris,
+and in spite of his success and celebrity is probably passing through
+the bitterest months of his life.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 202.
+
+[+] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 220.
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VIII
+
+                             1832 - 1835
+
+  Advertisement in the /Quotidienne/--Letters between Balzac and
+  Madame Hanska--His growing attachment to her--Meeting at
+  Neufchatel--Return to Paris--Work--"Etudes de Moeurs au XIXieme
+  Siecle"--"Le Medecin de Campagne"--"Eugenie Grandet"--Meets Madame
+  Hanska at Vienna--"La Duchesse de Langeais"--Balzac's enormous
+  power of work--"La Recherche de l'Absolu"--"Le Pere Goriot"--
+  Vienna--Monetary difficulties--Republishes romantic novels--
+  Continual debt--Amusements.
+
+Meanwhile, during the tragic drama of the downfall of poor Balzac's
+high hopes, Madame Hanska continued to write steadily; but she was
+becoming tired of receiving no answer to her letters, and of not even
+knowing whether or no they had reached their destination. Therefore
+she wrote on November 7th, 1832, to ask Balzac for a little message in
+the /Quotidienne/, which she took in regularly, to say that he had
+received her letters; and Balzac, in reply, inserted the following
+notice in the /Quotidienne/ of December 9th, 1832. "M. de B. has
+received the message sent him; he can only to-day give information of
+this through a newspaper, and regrets that he does not know where to
+address his answer. To. L'E.--H. de B."[*]
+
+[*] A copy of the /Quotidienne/ with this advertisement is in the
+    possession of the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, and I have
+    seen it.
+
+After this, it is amusing to see that Balzac was most particular in
+impressing on his publishers the necessity of advertising his
+forthcoming works in the /Quotidienne/, one of the few French papers
+allowed admission into Russia. On the other hand, the receipt of the
+/Quotidienne/ with this announcement made Madame Hanska so bold, that
+in a letter dated January 9th, 1833, she gave Balzac the welcome
+information that she and M. de Hanski were leaving Ukraine for a time,
+and coming nearer France; and that she would indicate to him some way
+of corresponding with her secretly. As this is the last of her letters
+that can be found, we do not know what method she pointed out to
+Balzac; and his first letter to her is dated January, 1833, and after
+their meeting at Neufchatel in September, he wrote a short account of
+his day every evening to his beloved one, and once in eight days he
+despatched this journal to its destination. As he kept to this plan
+with only occasional interruptions whenever he was absent from her,
+till his marriage four months before his death, these letters, some of
+which are published in a volume called "Lettres a l'Etrangere," form a
+most valuable record of his life. In one of the first, it is
+interesting to see that he is obliged to soothe her uneasiness at the
+strange variety of his handwritings, as Madame Carraud had answered
+one of her letters in his name; and to allay her suspicions, he makes
+the rather unlikely explanation, that he has as many writings as there
+are days in the year. In the future, however, her letters are sacred,
+no eye but his own being permitted to gaze on them; and with his usual
+reticence where his feelings are seriously involved, he ceases to
+mention to his friends his correspondent in far Ukraine.
+
+A little later he comments with joy on the fact that Madame Hanska has
+sent him a copy of the "Imitation of Christ,"[*] which represents our
+Lord on the cross, just as he is writing "Le Medecin de Campagne,"
+which portrays the bearing of the cross by resignation, and love,
+faith in the future, and the spreading around of the perfume of good
+deeds. To Balzac, believer in the power of the transmission of
+thought, this coincidence was of good augury.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+All this time he had not forgotten Madame de Berny, or the faithless
+Madame de Castries; and is profoundly miserable. On January 1st, 1833,
+he writes to his faithful friend, Madame Carraud, to pour out his
+troubles, and says: "In vain I try to transfer my life to my brain;
+nature has given me too much heart, and in spite of everything, more
+than enough for ten men is left. Therefore I suffer. All the more
+because chance made me know happiness in all its moral extent, while
+depriving me of sensual beauty. She" (Madame de Berny) "gave me a true
+love which must finish. This is horrible! I go through troubles and
+tempests which no one knows of. I have no distractions. Nothing
+refreshes this heat, which spreads and will perhaps devour me." He
+then passes on to Madame de Castries, and continues: "An unheard-of
+coldness has succeeded gradually to what I thought was passion, in a
+woman who came to me rather nobly."[*] In a letter to Madame Hanska,
+speaking of Madame de Castries, though he does not name her, he says:
+"She causes me suffering, but I do not judge her. Only I think that if
+you loved some one, if you had drawn him every day towards you into
+heaven, and you were free, you would not leave him alone in the depths
+of an abyss of cold, after having warmed him with the fire of your
+soul."[+]
+
+[*] Letters sent by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul to the
+    /Revue Bleue/ of November 21st, 1903.
+
+[+] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Gradually, however, the new love gained ground; though at first Balzac
+showed that nervous dread of repetition of pain which was, in a man of
+his buoyancy and self-confidence, the last expression of depression
+and disillusionment. "I trembled in writing to you. I said to myself:
+'Will this be only a new bitterness? Will the skies open to me again,
+for me only to be driven from them?'"[*] Nevertheless, passages such
+as the following, even taking into account the sentimental tone Balzac
+always adopted to his female correspondents, show that he was not
+destined to remain permanently inconsolable. "I love you, unknown, and
+this strange thing is the natural effect of an empty and unhappy life,
+only filled with ideas, and the misfortunes of which I have diminished
+by chimerical pleasures."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+In these words he gives himself the explanation of his overmastering
+love for Madame Hanska, a love which seems to have puzzled his
+contemporaries and some of his subsequent biographers. The man with
+the passionate nature, who cried in his youth for the satisfaction of
+his two immense desires--to be celebrated and to be loved--soon found
+the emptiness of the life of fame alone; and Madame Hanska, dowered
+with all that he longed for, came into his life at the psychological
+moment when he had broken with the old love, born into the world too
+soon, and had suffered bitterly at the cruel hands of the new. He
+turned to her with a rapture of new hope in the glories that might
+rise for him; and through trouble, disappointment and delay, he never
+once wavered in his allegiance.
+
+In the early spring of 1833, the Hanski family, after no doubt many
+preparations, and surrounded by a great paraphernalia--for travelling
+in those days was a serious matter--started on the journey about which
+Madame Hanska had already told Balzac. Neufchatel was their
+destination; and through Mlle Henriette Borel, Anna's governess, who
+was a native of the place, and Madame Hanska's confidante, the Villa
+Andrie, in the Faubourg, just opposite the Hotel du Faubourg, was
+secured for them. Mlle Borel was a most useful person, as she always
+went to the post to claim Balzac's letters, and through Madame Hanska
+he sends her many directions, and specially enjoins great caution. We
+are told[*] that she was so much struck by the solemnities at M. de
+Hanski's funeral--the lights, the songs, and the national costumes--
+that she decided to abjure the Protestant faith, and that in 1843 she
+took the veil. We may wonder however, whether tardy remorse for her
+deceit towards the dead man, who had treated her with kindness, had
+not its influence in causing this sudden religious enthusiasm, and
+whether the Sister in the Convent of the Visitation in Paris gave
+herself extra penance for her sins of connivance.
+
+[*] "Balzac a Neufchatel," by M. Bachelin.
+
+From Neufchatel, Madame Hanska sent Balzac her exact address; and as
+he had really settled to go to Besancon in his search for inexpensive
+paper to enable him to carry out his grand scheme for an universal
+cheap library, it was settled that, travelling ostensibly for this
+purpose, he should go for a few days to Neufchatel, and meet Madame
+Hanska. He therefore wrote to Charles de Bernard, at Besancon, to ask
+him to take a place for him in the diligence to Neufchatel, on
+September 25th, 1833; and it is easy to imagine his qualms of anxiety,
+and yet joyful excitement, when he left Paris on the 22nd, and started
+on his fateful journey. At Neufchatel, he went to the Hotel du
+Faucon,[*] in the centre of the town, but found a note begging him to
+be on the Promenade du Faubourg next day from one to four; and he at
+once removed to the Hotel du Faubourg, so that he might be near the
+Villa Andrie. Madame Hanska no doubt shared to a certain extent his
+tremors of anticipation; but as a beauty and great lady she would
+naturally feel more confident than Balzac--especially when she had
+donned with care her most elegant and becoming toilette, and felt
+armed at every point for the encounter.
+
+[*] "Un Roman d'Amour," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul,
+    p. 75.
+
+The Promenade du Faubourg at Neufchatel overlooks the lake, and is
+terminated by a promontory known as the Cret, a splendid point of
+vantage, whence there is a view of the Villa Andrie and over the
+gardens of the Hotel du Faubourg. Here, on the afternoon of September
+26th, 1833, among others strollers, were two who might have seemed to
+an observant eye to be waiting for somebody: one was a stout,
+inelegant little man, with something bizarre about his costume, and
+the other a dark, handsome lady, dressed in the height of fashion, and
+perhaps known to some of the loungers as the rich Russian Countess.
+The manner of their meeting is uncertain; but whether Madame Hanska,
+with one of Balzac's novels in her hand, recognised him at once and
+rushed towards him joyously, or whether, as another story goes, she
+was at first disenchanted by his unromantic appearance and drew back,
+matters little.[*] In either case, according to Balzac's letter to his
+sister written on his return to Paris, they exchanged their first kiss
+under the shade of a great oak in the Val de Travers, and swore to
+wait for each other; and he speaks rapturously of Madame Hanska's
+beautiful black hair, of her fine dark skin and her pretty little
+hands. He mentions, too, her colossal riches, though these do not of
+course count beside her personal charms; but the remark is
+characteristic, and Balzac's pride and exultation are very
+apparent.[+] At last he has found his "grande dame," endowed with
+youth, beauty and riches, one who would not be ashamed to live with
+him in a garret, and yet would, by her birth, be able to hold her own
+in the most exclusive society in the world.
+
+[*] "Un Roman d'Amour," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul,
+    p. 75.
+
+[+] I have seen in M. de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul's collection, the
+    autograph of the whole of this letter as quoted in the "Roman
+    d'Amour."
+
+He is specially pleased, too, that he has succeeded in charming Madame
+Hanska's husband, to whom he was apparently introduced at once, though
+we do not know by what means. Certainly M. de Hanski appears to have
+felt a warm liking for the great writer, who charmed him and made him
+laugh by his amusing talk, kept his blue devils at bay, sent him first
+copies of his books, and sympathised with his views on political
+matters. M. de Hanski was also much flattered by Balzac's friendship
+for his wife, and would finish a polite and stilted epistle by saying
+that he need trouble Balzac no more, as he knows his wife is at the
+same time writing him one of her long chattering letters. Even when,
+by sad mischance, two of Balzac's love-letters fell into M. de
+Hanski's hands, and the great writer was forced to stoop to the
+pretence that they were written in jest, the husband seems to have
+accepted the explanation, and not to have troubled further about the
+matter. Later on, he sent Balzac a magnificent inkstand as a present,
+which the recipient rather ungratefully remarked required palatial
+surroundings, and was too grand for his use.
+
+On October 1st, the happy time at Neufchatel came to an end, as the
+Hanskis were leaving that day, and Balzac's work awaited him in Paris.
+He got up at five o'clock on the morning of his departure, and went on
+to the promontory, whence he could gaze at the Villa Andrie, in the
+vain hope of a last meeting with Madame Hanska; but to his
+disappointment the Villa was absolutely quiet, no one was stirring. He
+had a most uncomfortable journey back, for everything was so crowded
+that fifteen or sixteen intending passengers were refused at each
+town; and as Charles de Bernard had not been able to secure a place
+for him in the mail coach, he was obliged to travel in the imperial of
+the diligence with five Swiss, who treated him as though he were an
+animal going to the market, and he arrived in Paris bruised all over.
+
+In Balzac's letters after his return to Paris there is much mention of
+his enjoyment of the Swiss scenery, which is after all only Madame
+Hanska under another name; but he is absolutely discreet, and never
+speaks of the lady herself. He is redoubling his work, on the chance
+of managing to pay her another visit. "For a month longer, prodigies
+of work, to enable me to see you. You are in all my thoughts, in all
+the lines that I shall trace, in all the moments of my life, in all my
+being, in my hair which grows for you."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Fortunately the long years of waiting, the anxieties, the hope
+constantly deferred, the pangs of unequally matched affection, and at
+last the short and imperfect fruition, were hidden from him.
+Henceforward everything in his life refers to Madame Hanska, and he
+waits patiently for his hoped-for union with her. His deference to his
+absent friend, his fear of her disapproval, his admiration for her
+perfections, are half pathetic and half comical.
+
+Though she does not appear to have been strait-laced in her reading,
+he is terribly afraid of falling in her estimation by what he writes,
+and he explains anxiously that such books as "Le Medecin de Campagne"
+or "Seraphita" show him in his true light, and that the "Physiologie
+du Mariage" is really written in defence of women. The "Contes
+Drolatiques" he is also nervous about, and he is much agitated when he
+hears that she has read some of them without his permission.
+
+He is not always /quite/ candid, and the reader of "Lettres a
+l'Etrangere" may safely surmise that there is a little picturesque
+exaggeration in his account of the solitary life he leads; and that
+Madame Hanska had occasionally good reason for her reproaches at the
+reports she heard, though Balzac always replies to these complaints
+with a most touching display of injured innocence. Nevertheless, the
+"Lettres a l'Etrangere" are the record of a faithful and ever-growing
+love, and there is much in them which must increase the reader's
+admiration for Balzac.
+
+The year 1833 was a prosperous one with him, as in October he sold to
+the publisher, Madame Charles Bechet, for 27,000 francs, an edition of
+"Etudes de Moeurs au XIXieme Siecle" in twelve octavo volumes,
+consisting of the third edition of "Scenes de la Vie Privee," the
+first of "Scenes de la Vie de Province," and the first part of the
+"Scenes de la Vie Parisienne." The last volume of this edition did not
+appear till 1837, and before that time Balzac had taken further
+strides towards his grand conception of the Comedie Humaine. In
+October, 1834,[*] he writes to Madame Hanska that the "Etudes de
+Moeurs," in which is traced thread by thread the history of the human
+heart, is only to be the base of the structure; and that next, in the
+"Etudes Philosophiques," he will go back from effect to cause, from
+the feelings, their life and way of working, to the conditions behind
+them on which life, society, and man have their being; and that having
+described society, he will in the "Etudes Philosophiques" judge it. In
+the "Etudes de Moeurs" types will be formed from individuals, in the
+"Etudes Philosophiques" individuals from types. Then, after effects
+and causes, will come principles, in the "Etudes Analytiques." "Les
+moeurs sont le spectacle, les causes son les coulisses et les
+machines, et les principes c'est l'auteur." When this great palace is
+at last completed, he will write the science of it in "L'Essai sur les
+Forces Humaines"; and on the base, he, a child and a laugher, will
+trace the immense arabesque of the "Contes Drolatiques," those
+Rabelaisian stories in old French tracing the progress of the
+language, which he often declared would be his principal claim to
+fame. In 1842 the name "La Comedie Humaine" was after much
+consideration given to the whole structure, and in the preface he
+explains this title by saying: "The vastness of a plan which includes
+Society's history and criticism, the analysis of its evils, the
+discussion of its principles, justifies me, I think, in giving to my
+work the name under which it is appearing to-day--'The Human Comedy.'
+Pretentious, is it? Is it not rather true? That is a question for the
+public to decide when the work is finished."
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Unfortunately, in spite of the fact that in twelve years, from 1830 to
+1842, Balzac wrote seventy-nine novels--an enormous number, especially
+remembering the fact that during the same time he published tales and
+numberless articles--the great work was never finished; and the last
+philosophical study, which was entitled "The Marquis of Carabbas," and
+was to treat of the life of nations, was not even begun.
+
+However, in 1833, when he really started the germ of his life-work,
+he, like his father, had the idea that he would live to an enormous
+age; and he was in high spirits about the pecuniary side of his
+transaction with Madame Bechet.
+
+Except for what he owes his mother, in seven months he will be free of
+debt, he cries rapturously; but it is hardly necessary to mention that
+this happy time of deliverance never did arrive. Indeed, we are
+scarcely surprised, when he writes on November 20th, to say that his
+affairs are in the most deplorable condition; that he has just sent
+four thousand francs, his last resource, to Mame, the publisher, and
+is as poor as Job; with one lawsuit going on, and another beginning
+for which he requires twelve hundred francs. His chronic state of
+disagreement with Emile de Girardin, editor of /La Presse/, had at
+this time, in spite of Madame de Girardin's attempts at mediation,
+become acute; so that they nearly fought a duel. The year before, as
+we have already seen, he had quarrelled with his former friend, Amedee
+Pichot, and had deserted the /Revue de Paris/, so his business
+relations were, as usual, not very happy.
+
+However, he was at first much pleased with Madame Bechet, who, with
+unexpected liberality, herself paid 4000 francs for corrections; and
+in July, 1834, he got rid of publisher Gosselin, whom he politely
+designates as a "nightmare of silliness," and a "rost-beaf ambulant,"
+and started business with Werdet, not yet the "vulture who fed on
+Prometheus," but an excellent young man, somewhat resembling
+"l'illustre Gaudissart," full of devotion and energy.
+
+The year 1833 was rich in masterpieces. In September appeared "Le
+Medecin de Campagne," with its motto, "For wounded souls, shade and
+silence"; and though, like "Louis Lambert," it was not at first a
+success, later on its true value was realised; and the hero, the good
+Dr. Benassis, is one of Balzac's purest and most noble creations. It
+was followed in December by "Eugenie Grandet," a masterpiece of Dutch
+genre, immortalised by the vivid vitality of old Grandet, that type of
+modern miser who, in contradistinction to Moliere's Harpagon, enjoyed
+universal respect and admiration, his fortune being to some people in
+his province "the object of patriotic pride." The book raised such a
+storm of enthusiasm, that Balzac became jealous for the fame of his
+other works, and would cry indignantly: "Those who call me the father
+of Eugenie Grandet wish to belittle me. It is a masterpiece, I know;
+but it is a little masterpiece; they are very careful not to mention
+the great ones."[*] This, which is the best known and most generally
+admired of Balzac's novels, is dedicated by a strange irony of fate to
+Maria, whose identity has never been discovered; the only fact really
+known about her being her pathetic request to Balzac, that he would
+love her just for a year, and she would love him for all eternity. She
+did not, however, have undisputed possession of even the short time
+she longed for, as Madame Hanska's all-conquering influence was in the
+ascendant; but, as Balzac was always discreet, perhaps poor Maria was
+not aware of this.
+
+[*] "Balzac, sa Vie et ses Oeuvres d'apres sa Correspondance," by
+    Madame L. Surville.
+
+In the midst of the acclamations and congratulations on the appearance
+of "Eugenie Grandet," Balzac again left Paris, and went to Geneva,
+where he arrived on December 25th, 1833. He left for Paris on February
+8th, having spent six weeks with the Hanski family. During this time a
+definite promise was made by Madame Hanska, that she would marry him
+if she became a widow. "Adoremus in aeternum" was their motto; he was
+her humble "moujik," and she was his "predilecta, his love, his life,
+his only thought."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Curiously enough, his occupation in Geneva, in the rapture of his
+newly-found happiness, was to write the "Duchesse de Langeais," by
+which he intended to revenge himself on Madame de Castries, though he
+could not help, in his book, making her turn to him at last, when it
+was too late. The wound was still smarting. He detests and despises
+her, he says; and the only words of spitefulness recorded in his
+generous, large-minded life, are when he mentions, with pretended
+pity, that owing to ill-health she has completely lost her beauty. In
+spite of this outburst, however, we find that he came forward later
+on, and helped her with much energy when she was in difficulties. He
+never had the satisfaction of knowing whether she were punished or
+not; as when he showed her the book before it was published, with the
+ostensible reason of wishing her to disarm the Faubourg St. Germain,
+which is severely criticised in its pages, she professed much
+admiration for it.
+
+Meanwhile, Madame de Berny was beginning the slow process of dying;
+and Balzac speaks constantly with trouble of her failing health, and
+of the heart disease from which she suffered, and which, with her
+usual unselfishness, she tried to conceal from him. She was too ill
+now to correct his proofs, and her family circumstances were, as we
+have already seen, very miserable; so that her life was closing sadly.
+In January, 1835, Balzac spent eight days with her at La Boulonniere,
+near Nemours, working hard all the time; and was horrified to find her
+so ill, that even the pleasure of reading his books brought on severe
+heart attacks.
+
+His life at this time was enormously busy; the passion for work had
+him in its grip, and even /his/ robust constitution suffered from the
+enormous strain to which he subjected it by his constant abuse of
+coffee, which caused intense nervous irritation; and by the short
+hours of sleep he allowed himself. He never rested for a moment, he
+was never indifferent for a moment, his faculties were constantly on
+the stretch, and Dr. Nacquart remonstrated in vain. In August, 1834,
+he was attacked by slight congestion of the brain, and imperatively
+ordered two months' rest; which, of course, he did not take; and now
+from time to time, in his letters, occur entries of sinister omen,
+about symptoms of illness, and doctor's neglected advice. In October
+"La Recherche de l'Absolu" appeared, and instead of greeting it with
+the enthusiasm he usually accorded to his books, he remarked to Madame
+Hanska that he hoped it was good, but that he was too tired to judge.
+However, by December of the same year, when "Le Pere Goriot" was
+published, he had to a certain extent recovered his elasticity, and
+said that it was a beautiful work, though terribly sad, and showed the
+moral corruption of Paris like a disgusting wound. A few days later he
+became more enthusiastic, and wrote: "You will be very proud of 'Le
+Pere Goriot.' My friends insist that nothing is comparable to it, and
+that it is above all my other compositions."[*] Certainly the vivid
+portrait of old Goriot, that ignoble King Lear, who in his
+extraordinary passion of paternal love rouses our sympathy, in spite
+of his many absurdities and shortcomings, is a striking instance of
+Balzac's power in the creation of type.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+He was straining every nerve to be able to meet Madame Hanska in
+Vienna; but with all his efforts his journey was put off month after
+month, and it was not till May 9th, 1835, that he was at last able to
+start. He arrived at Vienna on the 16th; having hired a post carriage
+for the journey, a little extravagance which cost him 15,000 francs.
+His stay there was not a rest, as, to Madame Hanska's annoyance, he
+worked twelve hours a day at "Le Lys dans la Vallee," and explained to
+her that he was doing a good deal in thus sacrificing three hours a
+day for her sake--fifteen hours out of the twenty-four being his usual
+time for labour. He visited Munich on his way back, and arrived in
+Paris on June 11th, to find a crowd of creditors awaiting his arrival,
+and his pecuniary affairs in terrible confusion. Owing, he considered,
+to the machinations of his enemies, articles had appeared in different
+papers announcing that he had been imprisoned for debt--a report which
+naturally ruined his credit, and caused a general gathering of those
+to whom he owed money. It was not a pleasant home-coming; as Werdet
+and Madame Bechet were in utter despair, and reproached Balzac
+bitterly for his absence, while all his silver had been pawned by his
+sister to pay his most pressing liabilities.
+
+It is curious about this time to notice the reappearance of the early
+romantic novels, "Jane la Pale," "La Derniere Fee," and their
+fellows.[*] Balzac, as we have seen was in terrible straits for money,
+and he knew that the Belgians, who at this time practised the most
+shameless piracy, would reprint the books for their own advantage, if
+he did not. Therefore, in self-defence, he determined to bring out an
+edition himself; though, as he consistently refused to acknowledge the
+authorship of these despised productions, the treaty was drawn up in
+the name of friends. Nevertheless, with his usual caution, he drew up
+a secret document which was signed by M. Regnault, one of those in
+whose name the sale to the publisher was arranged, to the effect that
+the works of the late Horace de Saint-Aubin were really the property
+of M. de Balzac. "L'Heritiere de Birague" and "Jean Louis" did not
+appear in this edition, probably owing to the intervention of M. Le
+Poitevin, who considered them partly his property; but they were
+published with the others in an edition printed in 1853, after a
+lawsuit between Balzac's widow and his early collaborator.
+
+[*] "Une Page Perdue de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+The condition of the whole Balzac family at the close of 1835 was
+tragic, M. Henri, back from abroad, and utterly incapable, as Balzac
+says, of doing anything, talked of blowing out his brains; Madame
+Surville was ill, Madame Balzac's reason or life was despaired of; and
+Balzac chose this time to consult a somnambulist about Madame Hanska,
+and was told the distressing news that she was in anxiety of some
+sort, and that her heart was enlarged! Fortunately, in October, 1835,
+the Hanski family returned to Wierzchownia, and the constant worry to
+Balzac of their proximity to France was removed for the time.
+
+In December another misfortune befell Balzac. A fire broke out at the
+printing office in the Rue du Pot-de-Fer, and burnt the first hundred
+and sixty pages of the third dizain of the "Contes Drolatiques," as
+well as five hundred volumes of the first and second dizain, which had
+cost him four francs each. He thus lost 3,500 francs, and to add to
+the calamity, did not receive the sum of 6,000 francs which in the
+ordinary course of events would have been due to him at the end of the
+year, when but for this disaster he would have handed over the third
+dizain to Werdet and an associate.
+
+Figures and sums of money occur constantly in Balzac's letters; but
+his accounts of his pecuniary affairs are so conflicting and so
+complicated that it is impossible to understand them; indeed it is
+doubtful whether he ever mastered them himself, as he continually
+expected to be out of debt in a few months. According to his own story
+to Madame Hanska, he left the printing office owing 100,000 francs,
+had to find 6,000 francs a year for interest on this debt, and
+required 3,000 francs to live on; while in 1828, 1829, and 1830, he
+only made 3,000 francs each year, so that in three years he had
+increased his debt by 24,000 francs. In 1830 the Revolution caused
+general disaster among the publishers, and "La Peau de Chagrin" only
+made 700 francs, so that in 1830 and 1831 Balzac had an income of only
+10,000 francs a year, and had to pay out 18,000 francs. From 1833 to
+1836 he received 10,000 francs a year by his treaty with Madame
+Bechet; 6,000 of this he paid in interest on his debt, while 4,000
+apparently remained to live on. However, between the fire in the Rue
+du Pot-de-Fer, Werdet's delinquencies, the failure of the /Chronique/,
+and the sums paid back to publishers who had advanced money on
+arrangements Balzac cancelled to fulfil this new agreement, hardly
+anything was left; and in 1837 he owed 162,000 francs.
+
+In August, 1835, he describes his life thus[*]: "Work, always work!
+Heated nights succeed heated nights, days of meditation days of
+meditation; from execution to conception, from conception to
+execution! Little money compared with what I want, much money compared
+with production. If each of my books were paid like those of Walter
+Scott, I should manage; but although well paid, I do not attain my
+goal. I received 8,000 francs for the 'Lys'; half of this came from
+the publisher, half from the /Revue de Paris/. The article in the
+/Conservateur/ will pay me 3,000 francs. I shall have finished
+'Seraphita,' begun 'Les Memoires de Deux Jeunes Mariees,' and finished
+Mme. Bechet's edition. I do not know whether a brain, pen, and hand
+will ever before have accomplished such a 'tour de force' with the
+help of a bottle of ink."
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+As it is impossible for even a Balzac to live without relaxation, even
+if he goes without rest, what, may we ask, were his recreations at
+this time? In the first place he often went to the theatre; and he was
+passionately fond of music, occupying a place in the box at the
+Italian Opera, which was reserved specially for dandies. One of his
+extravagances was a dinner at which he entertained the five other
+"tigres," as the occupants of this box were nicknamed, and Rossini,
+Olympe Pelissier, Nodier, Sandeau, and Bohain. At this banquet, the
+most sumptuous fare and the most exquisite wines were provided for the
+guests, and the table was decked with the rarest flowers. Balzac
+enjoyed the festivity immensely, as well as the /eclat/ which followed
+it; and relates with delight that all Paris was talking of it, and
+that Rossini said he had not seen more magnificence when he dined at
+royal tables.
+
+However busy he was, he never completely deprived himself of the
+pleasure of listening to music; though on one occasion he remarks
+regretfully, that he has been obliged to limit his attendance at the
+Opera to two visits each month; and on another, that he has been so
+overwhelmed with business that he has not been able even to have a
+bath, or go to the Italian Opera, two things that are more necessary
+to him than bread. His works abound in references to his beloved art,
+and when he was writing "Massimilla Doni" he employed a professional
+musician to instruct him about it. Beethoven, in particular, he speaks
+of with the utmost enthusiasm, and after hearing his "Symphony in Ut
+mineur," he says that the great musician is the only person who makes
+him feel jealous, and that he prefers him even to Rossini and Mozart.
+"The spirit of the writer," he says, "cannot give such enjoyment,
+because what /we/ print is finished and determined, whereas Beethoven
+wafts his audience to the infinite."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+The other amusements of this great thinker and seer would strike the
+reader as strange, if he did not perhaps, by this time, realise that
+no anomaly need surprise him in Balzac's extraordinary personality.
+
+He writes to Madame Hanska[*]: "As to my joys, they are innocent. They
+consist in new furniture for my room, a cane which makes all Paris
+chatter, a divine opera-glass, which my workers have had made by the
+optician at the Observatory; also the gold buttons on my new coat,
+buttons chiselled by the hand of a fairy, for the man who carries a
+cane worthy of Louis XIV. in the nineteenth century cannot wear
+ignoble pinchbeck buttons. These are little innocent toys, which make
+me considered a millionaire. I have created the sect of the
+'Cannophiles' in the world of fashion, and every one thinks me utterly
+frivolous. This amuses me!" Certainly Balzac was not wrong when he
+told his correspondent that there was much of the child in him.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER IX
+
+                          NO PARTICULAR DATE
+
+  Balzac's portrait as described by Gautier--His character--Belief
+  in magnetism and somnambulism--His attempts to become deputy--His
+  political and religious views.
+
+In the Salon of 1837 appeared a portrait of Balzac by Boulanger,[*] of
+which Theophile Gautier gave the following description in /La Presse/:
+"M. de Balzac is not precisely beautiful. His features are irregular;
+he is fat and short. Here is a summary which does not seem to lend
+itself to a painting, but this is only the reverse of the medal. The
+life and ardour reflected in the whole face give it a special beauty.
+
+[*] See the chapter entitled "Un Portrait" in "Autour de Honore de
+    Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+"In this portrait, M. de Balzac, enveloped in the large folds of a
+monk's habit, sits with his arms crossed, in a calm and strong
+attitude; the neck is uncovered, the look firm and direct; the light,
+shining from above, illumines the satin-like smoothness of the upper
+parts of the forehead, and throws a bright light on the bumps of
+imagination and humour, which are strongly developed in M. de Balzac;
+the black hair, also lit up, shining and radiant, comes from the
+temples in bright waves, and gives singular light to the top of the
+head; the eyes steeped in a golden penumbra with tawny eyeballs, on a
+moist and blue crystalline lens like that of a child, send out a
+glance of astonishing acuteness; the nose, divided into abrupt
+polished flat places, breathes strongly and passionately, through
+large red nostrils; the mouth, large and voluptuous, particularly in
+the lower lip, smiles with a rabelaisian smile under the shade of a
+moustache much lighter in colour than the hair; and the chin, slightly
+raised, is attached to the throat by a fold of flesh, ample and
+strong, which resembles the dewlap of a young bull. The throat itself
+is of athletic and rare strength, the plump full cheeks are touched
+with the vermilion of nervous health, and all the flesh tints are
+resplendent with the most joyful and reassuring brilliancy.
+
+"In this monk's and soldier's head there is a mixture of reflection
+and of good-humour, of resolution and of high spirits, which is
+infinitely rare; the thinker and good liver melt into each other with
+quaint harmony. Put a cuirass on this large breast, and you will have
+one of those fat German foot-soldiers so jovially painted by Terburg.
+With the monks' habit, it is Jean des Entommeurs[*]; nevertheless, do
+not forget that the eyes throw, through all this embonpoint and good-
+humour, the yellow look of a lion to counteract this Flemish
+familiarity. Such a man would be equal to excesses of the table, of
+pleasure, and of work. We are no longer astonished at the immense
+quantity of volumes published by him in so short a time. This
+prodigious labour has left no trace of fatigue on the strong cheeks
+dappled with red, and on the large white forehead. The enormous work
+which would have crushed six ordinary authors under its weight is
+hardly the third of the monument he wishes to raise."
+
+[*] One of the characters in Rabelais.
+
+The original of this portrait was sent to Madame Hanska at
+Wierzchownia; but a sketch of it belongs to M. Alexandre Dumas the
+younger, and has often been engraved. From this, it seems as though
+Theophile Gautier must have read his knowledge of Balzac's character
+as a whole into his interpretation of the picture. To the ordinary
+observer, Boulanger's portrait represents Balzac as the thinker,
+worker, and fighter, stern and strenuous; not the delightful comrade
+who inspired joy and merriment, and the recollection of whom made
+Heine smile on his death-bed. The wonderful eyes which had not their
+equal, and which asked questions like a doctor or a priest, are
+brilliantly portrayed. Balzac himself allows this, though he complains
+to Madame Hanska that they have more of the psychological expression
+of the worker than of the loving soul of the individual--a fact for
+which we may be grateful to Boulanger. Balzac is much delighted,
+however, with Boulanger's portrayal of the insistence and intrepid
+faith in the future, a la Coligny or a la Peter the Great, which are
+at the base of his character; and he goes on to give an attractive,
+though rather picturesque account of his career and past misfortunes,
+which is evidently intended to counteract any misgivings Madame Hanska
+may feel at his sternness as depicted in the portrait.
+
+"Boulanger has seen the writer only,[*] not the tenderness of the
+idiot who will always be deceived, not the softness towards other
+people's troubles which cause all my misfortunes to come from my
+holding out my hand to weak people who are falling into disaster. In
+1827 I help a working printer, and therefore in 1829 find myself
+crushed by fifty thousand francs of debt, and thrown without bread
+into a gutter. In 1833, when my pen appears to be likely to bring in
+enough to pay off my obligations, I attach myself to Werdet. I wish to
+make him my only publisher, and in my desire to bring him prosperity,
+I sign engagements, and in 1837 find myself owing a hundred and fifty
+thousand francs, and liable on this account to be put under arrest, so
+that I am obliged to hide. During this time I make myself the Don
+Quixote of the poor. I hope to give courage to Sandeau, and I lose
+through him four to five thousand francs, which would have saved other
+people." It would be interesting to hear what Barbier and Werdet would
+have said, if they had been allowed to read this letter; but on
+Browning's principle, that a man should show one side to the world,
+and the other to the woman he loves, no doubt Balzac's account of past
+events was quite justifiable.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Boulanger's picture gave Balzac a great deal of trouble, as well as
+delighted yet anxious speculation about Madame Hanska's opinion of it,
+when it arrived in Wierzchownia. This was naturally an important
+matter, his meetings with her being so rare that, except his letters,
+the picture would generally be her only reminder of him; and for this
+reason it was most necessary that it should show him at his best. It
+was therefore very trying that Boulanger should have exaggerated the
+character of his quiet strength, and made him look like a bully and a
+soldier; and we can enter thoroughly into his feelings, and sympathise
+heartily with his uneasiness, because Boulanger has not quite caught
+the fineness of contour under the fatness of the face. Undoubtedly,
+the picture does not give the idea of a person of extreme refinement,
+or distinction of appearance. Nevertheless, judging from stories told
+by his contemporaries, and also from some of the books written by the
+great novelist, it seems likely that Boulanger's powerful and strongly
+coloured portrait, though only redeemed from coarseness by the intense
+concentration of expression and the intellectual light in the
+wonderful eyes, was strikingly true to nature, and caught one very
+real aspect of the man. Perhaps, however, it was not the one
+calculated to work most strongly on the feelings of his absent lady-
+love; who, no doubt, poor Balzac hoped, would often make her way to
+the spot in the picture gallery where his picture hung in its quaint
+frame of black velvet, and would refresh herself with the sight of her
+absent friend. When her miniature by Daffinger was sent him, he was
+stupefied all day with joy; and he always carried it about with him,
+considering it an amulet which brought him good fortune.
+
+He believed in talismans, and had pretty fanciful ideas about being
+present to his friends in the sudden flicker of the fire, or the
+brightening of a candle-flame. Balzac, the Seer, the believer in
+animal magnetism, in somnambulism, in telepathy, the weaver of strange
+fancies and impossible daydreams--Balzac with philosophical theories
+on the function of thought, and faith in the mystical creed of
+Swedenborg--in short, the Balzac of "Louis Lambert" and "Seraphita,"
+is not, however, depicted by Boulanger: /he/ can only be found in M.
+Rodin's wonderful statue. There the great /voyant/, who, in the
+beautiful vision entitled "L'Assomption," saw man and woman perfected
+and brought to their highest development, stands in rapt contemplation
+and concentration, his head slightly raised, as if listening for the
+voice of inspiration, or hearing murmurs of mysteries still
+unfathomed.
+
+Somnambulism, in particular, occupied much of Balzac's attention. He
+wrote in 1832 to a doctor, M. Chapelain, who evidently shared his
+interest in the subject, to ask why medical men had not made use of it
+to discover the cause of cholera[*]; and on another occasion, after an
+accident to his leg, he sent M. Chapelain, from Aix, two pieces of
+flannel which he had worn, and wanted to know from them what caused
+the mischief, and why the doctors at their last consultation advised a
+blister. Unluckily, we hear no more of this matter, and never have the
+satisfaction of learning how much the learned doctor deduced from the
+fragments submitted to his inspection. Time after time Balzac mentions
+in his correspondence that he has consulted somnambulists when he has
+been anxious about the health of the Hanski family; and it is curious
+that a few months before he received the letter from Madame Hanska,
+telling of her husband's death, he had visited a sorcerer, who by
+means of cards, told him many extraordinary things about his past
+career, and said that in six weeks he would receive news which would
+change his whole life.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 147.
+
+The portrait was still destined to cause Balzac much anxiety. After
+the close of the Salon, the painter had promised to take a copy of it
+for Madame de Balzac, who, "between ourselves," Balzac remarked to
+Madame Hanska, would not care much about it, and certainly would not
+know the difference between the replica and the original, in which the
+soul of the model was searched for, examined and depicted,[*] and
+which was, of course, to belong to the beloved friend.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+However, there were still many delays. Boulanger showed "horrible
+ingratitude," and did not appreciate sufficiently the honour done him
+by his illustrious sitter in allowing his portrait to be taken. He
+refused at first to begin the copy; but this difficulty was at last
+arranged, and the original was carefully packed in a wooden crate,
+instead of going in a roll as Balzac had at first intended. Still
+there were innumerable stoppages, and doubt where the precious canvas
+was located; till the impatient Balzac was only deterred from his
+intention of starting a lawsuit against the authorities, by a fear of
+bringing the noble name of Hanski into notoriety. It is sad that the
+last time we hear of this precious picture in Balzac's lifetime was
+when he went to Wierzchownia, in 1849; and then it had been relegated
+to a library which few people visited, and he describes it with his
+usual energy, as the most hideous daub it is possible to see--quite
+black, from the faulty mixing of the colours; a canvas of which, for
+the sake of France, he is thoroughly ashamed.
+
+The sketch of the portrait is not disfigured; and the engravings of it
+give an interesting view of Balzac's personality. With due deference
+to the great psychologist, we cannot think the painter was wrong in
+imparting a slightly truculent expression to the face. Balzac was
+essentially a fighter: he started life with a struggle against his
+family, against the opinion of his friends, and, harder than all,
+against his own impotence to give expression to his genius; and, in
+the course of his career he made countless enemies, and finished by
+enrolling among their ranks most of the literary men of the day. This
+alienation was to a great extent caused by his inveterate habit of
+boasting, of applying the adjectives "sublime" and "magnificent" to
+his own works: an idiosyncracy which was naturally annoying to his
+brother authors. It was deprecated even by his devoted and admiring
+friends; though they knew that, as George Sand says, it was only
+caused by the /naivete/ of an artist, to whom his work was all-
+important.
+
+His personal charm was so great, that Werdet, his enemy, says that in
+his presence those who loved him, forgot any real or fancied complaint
+against him, and only remembered the affection they felt for him.
+Nevertheless, in the course of his life of fighting, his ever-pressing
+anxieties and the strain of his work, coupled with his belief in the
+importance and sacredness of his destiny, made him something of an
+egotist. Therefore, in spite of his real goodness of heart, he would
+sometimes shoulder his way through the world, oblivious of the
+unfortunate people who had come to grief owing to their connection
+with him, and careless of the lesser, though very real troubles of
+harassed and exasperated editors, when his promised copy was not
+forthcoming.
+
+Like Napoleon, to whom, amidst the gibes of his contemporaries, he
+likened himself, he wanted everything; and those with this aspiration
+must necessarily be heedless of their neighbours' smaller ambitions.
+"Without genius, I am undone!" he cried in despair; but when it was
+proved beyond dispute that this gift of debatable beneficence was his,
+he was still unsatisfied.
+
+What, after all, was the use of genius except as a stepping-stone to
+the solid good things of the earth? Where lay the advantage of
+superiority to ordinary men, if it could not be employed as a lever
+with which to raise oneself? Reasoning thus, his extraordinary
+versatility, his power of assimilation, and his varied interests, made
+his ambitions many and diverse. The man who could enter with the
+masterly familiarity of an expert into affairs of Church, State,
+Society, and Finance, who would talk of medicine like a doctor, or of
+science like a savant, naturally aspired to excellence in many
+directions.
+
+At times, as we have already seen, strange fancies filled his brain:
+dreams, for instance, of occupying the highest posts in the land, or
+of gaining fabulous sums of money by some wildly impossible scheme,
+such as visiting the Great Mogul with a magical ring, or obtaining
+rubies and emeralds from a rich Dutchman. The two apparently
+incompatible sides to Balzac's character are difficult to reconcile.
+On some occasions he appears as the keen business man, who studies
+facts in their logical sequence, and has the power of drawing up legal
+documents with no necessary point omitted. The masterly Code which he
+composed for the use of the "Societe des Gens-de-Lettres" is an
+example of this faculty. At other times we are astonished to find that
+the great writer is a credulous believer in impossibilities, and a
+follower of strange superstitions. A similar paradox may be found in
+his books, where, side by side with a truth and occasional brutality
+which makes him in some respects the forerunner of the realists, we
+find a wealth of imagination and insistence on the power of the higher
+emotions, which are completely alien to the school of Flaubert and
+Zola.
+
+Perhaps in his own dictum, that genius is never quite sane, gives a
+partial explanation of many of his fantastic schemes. The question of
+money was his great preoccupation and anxiety, and possibly his
+pecuniary difficulties, and the strain of the heavy chain of debt he
+dragged after him, constantly adding to its weight by some fresh
+extravagance, had affected his mind on this one point. Marriage with
+poverty he could not conceive; and, as he was intensely affectionate,
+he longed for a home and womanly companionship. "Is there no woman in
+the world for me?" he cried despairingly; but in this, as in
+everything else, he required so much, that it was difficult to find
+any one who would, in his eyes, be worthy to become Madame Honore de
+Balzac. His wife must be no ordinary woman; in addition to birth and
+wealth, she must possess youth, beauty, and high intellectual gifts;
+and one great difficulty was, that the lady endowed with this
+combination of excellencies would naturally require some winning, and
+Balzac had no time to woo. However, it was absolutely necessary that
+his married life should be one of luxury and magnificence, beautiful
+surroundings being indispensable to his scheme of existence, "Il
+faut," he said, "que l'artiste mene une vie splendide." Therefore,
+till the right lady was found, Balzac toiled unceasingly; and when in
+Madame Hanska the personification of his ideal at last appeared, he
+redoubled his efforts, till overwork, and his longing for her, caused
+the decay of his physical powers, and his strength for labour
+diminished.
+
+Literature, a rich marriage, a successful play, or a political career,
+were all incidentally to make his fortune; though it must be said, in
+justice, that this motive, though it entwines itself with everything
+in Balzac's life, was not his only, or even his principal incentive to
+action.
+
+In his desire to become a deputy, for instance, the longing to serve
+his country and to have a voice in her Councils, which he would use
+boldly, conscientiously, without fear or favour, to further her true
+interests, was ever present with him. As early as 1819, he had begun
+to take the keenest interest in the elections, telling M. Dablin, from
+whom he wanted a visit, that he dreamed of nothing but him and the
+deputies, and begging him for a complete list of those chosen in each
+department, with a short notice of his opinion on each.
+
+By the law of election of 1830, any Frenchman who was thirty years of
+age, and contributed 500 francs a year directly, in taxes, was
+eligible as a deputy. When the law was made Balzac was thirty-one, and
+paid the requisite amount; he therefore determined, in spite of his
+enormous output of literary work at this time, to add the career of a
+deputy to his labours; and in April, 1831, he wrote to ask for the
+assistance of the General Baron de Pommereul, with whom he had been
+staying at Fougeres, collecting material for "Les Chouans," while at
+the same time he worked up the country politically. His manifesto, at
+this period, is found in the "Enquete sur la Politique des Deux
+Ministeres,"[*] in which he calls the Government a "monarchie tempere
+par les emeutes," objects to the "juste milieu" observed by the
+Ministers; and while bringing forward, with apparent impartiality, the
+advantages of the two courses of peace and war, very evidently longs
+for France to take the battlefield again, to obtain what he considers
+her natural frontier, that of the Rhine. He also enters /con amore/
+into the details of raising a Napoleonic army, and of establishing the
+system of the Landwehr in France. A very remarkable passage in this
+manifesto is that on the Press; by which, he says, the Government is
+terrorised. With extraordinary penetration, he advises that the
+strength of journalism shall be broken by the sacrifice of the three
+or four millions gained by the "timbre," and the liberation of the
+newspapers, which are stronger than the seven ministers--for they
+upset the Government, and cannot be themselves suppressed--there will
+be a hundred, and the number will neutralise their power, so that they
+will become of no account politically.
+
+[*] Another political pamphlet, entitled "Du Gouvernement Moderne,"
+    written by Balzac at Aix in 1832, has lately been published in the
+    /North American Review/. The original is in the collection of the
+    Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+Balzac had no chance at Fougeres, where a rich proprietor of the
+neighbourhood was chosen as deputy, and no doubt M. de Pommereul
+advised him not to proceed further in the matter. However, with his
+usual tenacity, he wrote in September to M. Henri Berthoud, manager of
+the /Gazette de Cambrai/, who wanted to collaborate with the /Revue de
+Paris/, promising to further his wishes by all the means in his power,
+if M. Berthoud would, on his part, support his candidature at Cambrai.
+At the same time, he determined to try Angouleme, where he sometimes
+went to stay with a relation, M. Grand-Besancon, and had met a M.
+Berges, chief of the Government preparatory school, who was much
+struck by his talent, and promised to help him. In June, 1831, he
+wrote to Madame Carraud,[*] who took much interest in his political
+aspirations, and sent her three copies of the Manifesto for
+distribution. He told her that he was working day and night to become
+deputy, was going out into society for this purpose; and was so
+overwhelmed with business, that he had not touched "La Peau de
+Chagrin" since he was last at Saint-Cyr.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 118.
+
+He was evidently full of hope; but in spite of the powerful support of
+the /Revue de Paris/, the /Temps/, the /Debats/, and the /Voleur/, the
+steady-going electors had no mind to be represented by a penniless
+young author, who was chiefly known to the general public as the
+writer of the "Physiologie du Mariage," a book distinctly /not/
+adapted for family reading. Therefore, in this, as in many other hopes
+of his life, Balzac was doomed to disappointment; though the readers
+of novels may be grateful to the unkind fate which caused him to turn
+with renewed ardour to the neglected "Peau de Chagrin." He cherished a
+slight resentment against Angouleme, as he showed in "Illusions
+Perdues," where the aristocracy of that town are rather unkindly
+treated; but he was not discouraged in his political ambitions, and in
+1832 he joined with M. Laurentie, the Duc de Noailles, the Duc de
+Fitz-James (nephew to the Princesse de Chimay, who acted as proxy for
+Marie Antoinette at Madame de Berny's christening) and others, to
+found a Legitimist journal, the /Renovateur/. In this appeared an
+article against the proposed destruction of the monument to the Duc de
+Berry, in which Balzac indignantly asks: "Why do you not finish the
+monument, and raise an altar where the priests may pray God to pardon
+the assassin?"
+
+Having thus shown his principles clearly, he turned his attention in
+1832 to Chinon, which was close to Tours, where he and his family had
+lived for so long, and to Sache, where he was a constant visitor.
+There, if anywhere, he seemed likely to succeed; and the
+/Quotidienne/, the paper which afterwards supported him during his
+lawsuit against the /Revue de Paris/, had promised its voice in his
+favour. Again cruel Fate dogged his footsteps, as in May he tumbled
+out of his tilbury, and his head came violently into contact with what
+he calls the "heroic pavements of July"; the accident being a sad
+result of his childish delight in driving at a tremendous pace in the
+Bois, which is rebuked by his sage adviser, Madame Carraud. Certainly
+carriages, horses, and a stable, seemed hardly prudent acquisitions
+for a man in debt; but Balzac always defended his pet extravagances
+with the specious reasoning that nothing succeeds like success; and
+that most of his literary friends did not become rich because they
+lived in garrets, and were on that account trampled on by haughty
+publishers and editors. He writes to Madame de Girardin on this
+occasion: "Only think, that I who am so handsome have been cruelly
+disfigured for several days, and it has seemed curious to be uglier
+than I really am."[*] As a further and more serious result, he was
+laid up in bed, and had to undergo a severe regimen of bleeding,
+during the time that he should have been at Sache, working hard about
+his election; and when he did arrive there, in June, he recognised
+that he was too late for success. However, another dissolution, which
+after all did not take place, was expected in September, and Balzac
+looked forward to making a determined attempt then. This hope being
+frustrated, it was not till 1834 that he again came forward as a
+candidate: this time for Villefranche, where, curiously enough,
+another M. de Balzac was nominated, and when M. de Hanski wrote to
+congratulate Balzac, the latter was obliged to explain the mistake. On
+this occasion he had purposed to present himself as champion of the
+Bourbon Royal Family, especially of the Duchesse de Berry, for whom he
+had an immense admiration, while she read his books with much delight
+during her captivity in the Castle of Blaye. He wrote to M. de Hanski
+that he considered the exile of Madame and the Comte de Chambord the
+great blot on France in the nineteenth century, as the French
+Revolution had been her shame in the eighteenth.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 147.
+
+This was Balzac's last serious attempt to stand for Parliament during
+the Monarchy of July, though he often talked in his letters to Madame
+Hanska of his political aspirations, looked forward to becoming a
+deputy in 1839, and hoped till then to dominate European opinion--
+rather a large ambition--by a political publication. In his letters he
+is continually on the point of beginning his career as a statesman;
+and in 1835 his views are even more inflated than usual. He will
+absorb the /Revue des Deux Mondes/ and the /Revue de Paris/, is in
+treaty to obtain one newspaper, and will start two others himself, so
+that his power will be irresistible. "Le temps presse, les evenements
+se compliquent,"[*] he cries impatiently. He is still strangled by
+want of money--a hundred thousand francs is the modest sum he
+requires; but he will write a play in the name of his secretary, and
+the spectre of debt will be laid for ever.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+However, in the stress of work, which made his own life like the
+crowded canvas of one of his own novels, these brilliant schemes came
+to nothing, and Balzac was never in the proud position of a deputy. He
+gives his views clearly in a letter to Madame Carraud in 1830.[*]
+"France ought to be a constitutional monarchy, to have a hereditary
+royal family, a house of peers of extraordinary strength, which will
+represent property, etc., with all possible guarantees for heredity,
+and privileges of which the nature must be discussed; then a second
+assembly, elective, representing all the interests of the intermediary
+mass, which separates those of high social position from the classes
+who are generally termed the people."
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 108.
+
+"The purport of the laws, and their spirit, should be designed to
+enlighten the masses as much as possible--those who have nothing, the
+workmen, the common people, etc., in order that as many as possible
+should arrive at the intermediary state; but the people should, at the
+same time, be kept under a most powerful yoke, so that its individuals
+may find light, help, and protection, and that no idea, no statute, no
+transaction, may make them turbulent.
+
+"The greatest possible liberty should be allowed to the leisured
+classes, for they possess something to keep, they have everything to
+lose, they can never be dissolute.
+
+"As much power as possible should be granted to the Government. Thus
+the Government, the rich people, and the bourgeoisie have interest in
+keeping the lowest class happy, and in increasing the number of the
+middle class, which is the true strength of the state.
+
+"If rich people, the hereditary possessors of fortune in the highest
+Chamber, are corrupt in their manners, and start abuses, these are
+inseparable from the existence of all society; they must be accepted,
+to balance the advantages given."
+
+This extract is taken from a letter which is, Balzac tells his
+correspondent, strictly private; but, with his usual independence and
+fearlessness, he did not hesitate to enunciate his opinions in public,
+and invariably refused to stoop to compromise or to disguise.
+Consequently, we cannot wonder that he never attained his ambition;
+particularly as he lacked the aid of money, and had no support, except
+the politically doubtful one of a literary reputation. His penetration
+and power of prescience were remarkable, and it is startling to find
+that he foretells the fall of the Monarchy of July, and the Revolution
+of 1848.[*] "I do not think," he says, "that in ten years from now the
+actual form of government will subsist--August, 1830, has forgotten
+the part played by youth and intelligence. Youth compressed will burst
+like the boiler of a steam engine." In "Les Paysans," one of his most
+wonderful novels, he gives a vivid picture of the constant struggle
+going on under the surface between the peasants and the bourgeoisie,
+and shows that the triumph of the former class must be the inevitable
+result.
+
+[*] "Revue Parisienne," p. 26
+
+His was essentially a loyal, reverential nature, with the soldierly
+respect for constituted authority which is often the characteristic of
+strong natures; and he was absolutely unswerving in his principles--
+the courage and tenacity which distinguished him through life, never
+deserting him in political emergencies. He was patriotic and high-
+minded; absolutely immovable in all that concerned his duty. On one
+occasion, when it was proposed at a public meeting that the
+Legitimists should follow the example of their political opponents and
+should stoop to evil doings, he refused decidedly, saying: "The cause
+of the life of man is superhuman. It is God who judges; His judgment
+does not hinge on our passions."[*] In his eyes, Religion and the
+Monarchy were twin sisters, and he speaks sadly in "Le Medecin de
+Campagne" of the downfall of both these powers. "With the monarchy we
+have lost honour, with our unfruitful attempts at government,
+patriotism; and with our fathers' religion, Christian virtue. These
+principles now only exist partially, instead of inspiring the masses,
+for these ideas never perish altogether. At present, to support
+society we have nothing but selfishness."[+] Elsewhere, he laments the
+atheistic government, and the increase of incredulity; and longs for
+Christian institutions, and a strong hierarchy, united to a religious
+society.
+
+[*] "Balzac et ses Oeuvres," by Lamartine de Prat.
+
+[+] "Le Medecin de Campagne."
+
+Balzac was not orthodox. There is no doubt, from a letter to Madame
+Hanska, that the Swedenborgian creed he enunciates in "Seraphita" is
+to a great extent his own; but he believed in God, in the immortality
+of the soul, and considered natural religion, of which, in his eyes,
+the Bourbons were the depositors, absolutely essential to the well-
+being of a State. He had a great respect for the priesthood, and has
+left many a charming and sympathetic picture of the parish /cure/,
+such as l'Abbe Janvier in "Le Medecin de Campagne," who acts hand in
+hand with the good doctor Benassis, as an enlightened benefactor to
+the poor; or l'Abbe Bonnet, the hero of "Le Cure du Village," whose
+face had "the impress of faith, an impress giving the stamp of the
+human greatness which approaches most nearly to divine greatness, and
+of which the undefinable expression beautifies the most ordinary
+features." In "Les Paysans" we have another fine portrait, L'Abbe
+Brossette, who is doing his work nobly among debased and cunning
+peasants. "To serve was his motto, to serve the Church and the
+Monarchy at the most menaced points; to serve in the last rank, like a
+soldier who feels destined sooner or later to rise to generalship, by
+his desire to do well, and by his courage."
+
+There is a beautiful touch in that terrible book "La Cousine Bette,"
+where the infamous Madame Marneffe is dying of a loathsome and
+infectious disease, so that even Bette, who feels for her the
+"strongest sentiment known, the affection of a woman for a woman, had
+not the heroic constancy of the Church," and could not enter the room.
+Religion alone, in the guise of a Sister of Mercy, watched over her.
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER X
+
+                                 1836
+
+  Balzac starts the /Chronique de Paris/--Balzac and Theophile
+  Gautier--Lawsuit with the /Revue de Paris/--Failure of the
+  /Chronique/--Strain and exhaustion--Balzac travels in Italy--
+  Madame Marbouty--Return to Paris--Death of Madame de Berny--
+  Balzac's grief and family anxieties--He is imprisoned for refusal
+  to serve in Garde Nationale--Werdet's failure--Balzac's desperate
+  pecuniary position and prodigies of work--Close of the disastrous
+  year 1836.
+
+Balzac opened the first day of the year 1836 by becoming proprietor of
+the /Chronique de Paris/, an obscure Legitimist publication, which had
+been founded in 1834 by M. William Duckett. It started under Balzac's
+management with a great flourish of trumpets, the Comte (afterwards
+Marquis) de Belloy and the Comte de Gramont taking posts as his
+sectaries; while Jules Sandeau, Emile Regnault, Gustave Planche,
+Theophile Gautier, Charles de Bernard, and others, became his
+collaborators. Balzac's special work was to provide a series of papers
+on political questions, entitled "La France et l'Etranger," papers
+which show his extraordinary versatility; and his helpers were to
+provide novels and poems, satire, drama, and social criticism; so that
+the scope of the periodical was a wide one.
+
+At first, Balzac was most sanguine about the success of his new
+enterprise, and was very active and enthusiastic in working for it. On
+March 27th, he wrote to Madame Hanska about the embarrassment caused
+him by his plate having been pawned during his unfortunate absence in
+Vienna, nearly a year ago. It was worth five or six thousand francs,
+and he required three thousand to redeem it. This sum he had never
+been able to raise, while, to add to his difficulties, on the 31st of
+the month he would owe about eight thousand four hundred francs.
+Nevertheless, he /must/ have the silver next day or perish, as he had
+asked some people to dine who would, he hoped, give sixteen thousand
+francs for sixteen shares in the /Chronique/. If borrowed plate were
+on his table he was terribly afraid that the whole transaction would
+fail; as one of the people invited was a painter, and painters are an
+"observant, malicious, profound race, who take in everything at a
+glance."[*] Everything else in his rooms would represent the opulence,
+ease, and wealth of the happy artist.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Poor Balzac! To add to his difficulties, it was impossible to borrow
+anywhere in Paris, as he had only purchased the /Chronique/ through
+the exceptional credit he enjoyed, and this would be at once destroyed
+if he were known to be in difficulties. We do not hear any further
+particulars about this tragedy, and cannot tell how far the
+conjunction of the borrowed plate--if it /were/ after all borrowed--
+and the astute painter, contributed to the downfall of the
+/Chronique/. Werdet, however, attributes the disaster to the laziness
+of the talented staff, who could not be induced to work together.
+However that may be, the result was a terrible blow to Balzac; who was
+now, in addition to all his other liabilities, in debt for forty
+thousand francs to the shareholders.
+
+It is as a member of the staff of the /Chronique/, that the name of
+Theophile Gautier first appears in connection with Balzac; and the two
+men remained close friends till Balzac's death. In 1835 Theophile
+Gautier published "Mademoiselle de Maupin," in which his incomparable
+style excited Balzac's intense admiration, painfully conscious as he
+was of his own deficiencies in this direction. Therefore, in forming
+the staff of the /Chronique/, he at once thought of Gautier, and
+despatched Jules Sandeau to arrange matters with the young author, and
+to give him an invitation to breakfast. Theophile Gautier, much
+flattered, but at the same time rather alarmed at the idea of an
+interview with the celebrated Balzac, tells us that he thought over
+various brilliant discourses on his way to the Rue Cassini, but was so
+nervous when he arrived that all his preparations came to nothing, and
+he merely remarked on the fineness of the weather. However, Balzac
+soon put him at his ease, and evidently took a fancy to him at once,
+as during breakfast he let him into the secret that for this solemn
+occasion he had borrowed silver dishes from his publisher!
+
+The friendship between Balzac and Gautier, though not as intimate and
+confidential as that between Balzac and Borget, was true and
+steadfast; and was never disturbed by literary jealousy. Gautier
+supported Balzac's plays in /La Presse/, and helped with many of his
+writings. Traces of his workmanship, M. de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul
+tells us, are specially noticeable in the descriptions of the art of
+painting and of the studio, in the edition of "Un Chef-d'Oeuvre
+Inconnu" which appeared in 1837.[*] These descriptions are in
+Gautier's manner, and do not appear in the edition of 1831; so that in
+all probability they were written, or at any rate inspired by him.
+Gautier also wrote for Balzac, who had absolutely no faculty for
+verse, the supposed translation of two Spanish sonnets in the
+"Memoires de Deux Jeunes Mariees," and the sonnet called "La Tulipe"
+in "Un Grand Homme de Province a Paris." On his side, Balzac defended
+Gautier on all occasions, and in 1839 dedicated "Les Secrets de la
+Princesse de Cadignan," then called "Un Princesse Parisienne," "A
+Theophile Gautier, son ami, H. de Balzac."
+
+[*] "H. de Balzac and Theophile Gautier" in "Autour de Honore de
+    Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+Beyond this friendship, the affair of the /Chronique/ brought Balzac
+nothing but worry and trouble. And it came at a time when misfortune
+assailed him on all sides. Madame de Berny was approaching her end,
+and he wrote to his mother on January 1st, 1836, the day he started
+the /Chronique de Paris/: "Ah! my poor mother, I am broken-hearted.
+Madame de Berny is dying! It is impossible to doubt it! Only God and I
+know what is my despair. And I must work! Work weeping."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 323.
+
+In the midst of his trouble, a most unfortunate occurrence took place,
+which besides embittering his life at the time had a decided effect on
+his subsequent career; and indirectly obscured his reputation even
+after his death.
+
+In 1833, as we have already seen, Balzac, after long dissensions with
+Amedee Pichot, had definitely left the /Revue de Paris/. However, in
+1834, when Pichot retired from the management, the new directors, MM.
+Anthoine de Saint-Joseph, Bonnaire, and Achille Brindeau, tried to
+satisfy their readers by recalling Balzac; and "Seraphita" began to
+appear in the pages of the /Revue/. Difficulties, as might be
+expected, soon arose between Balzac and the management; and the
+undercurrent of irritation which subsisted on both sides only required
+some slight extra cause of offence, to render an outbreak inevitable.
+In September, 1835, M. Buloz, already director of the /Revue des Deux
+Mondes/, an extremely able, but bad-mannered and dictatorial man, took
+possession also of the much-tossed-about /Revue de Paris/. Balzac had
+known Buloz since 1831, when the latter bought the /Revue des Deux
+Mondes/, which was then in very low water, and was working with
+tremendous energy to make it successful. At that time, Buloz and he
+often shared a modest dinner, and with the permission of M. Rabou,
+then manager of the /Revue de Paris/, Balzac contributed "L'Enfant
+Maudit," "Le Message," and "Le Rendez-Vous" to the /Revue des Deux
+Mondes/, and only charged a hundred francs for the same quantity of
+pages for which he was paid a hundred and sixty francs by Rabou.
+However, on April 15th, 1832, there appeared in the /Revue des Deux
+Mondes/ a scathing, anonymous criticism of the first dizain of the
+"Contes Drolatiques." This had apparently been written by Gustave
+Planche; but Balzac considered Buloz responsible for it, and therefore
+refused to write any longer for his review. In August, 1832, Buloz,
+who does not appear to have been particularly scrupulous in his
+business relations, wrote to apologise, saying that though it was not
+in his power to suppress the offending article, he had done his best
+to soften it; and that now he was sole master of the Revue, so that
+not a word or line could pass without his permission. He therefore
+begged Balzac to resume his old connection with him, and explained
+that if he had not been confined to his bed and unable to walk, or
+even to bear the shaking of a cab, he would have come to visit him,
+and matters would have been quickly arranged. Balzac's answer, which
+is written from Angouleme, is couched in the uncompromising terms of
+"no surrender," which he generally adopted when he considered himself
+aggrieved. He did not absolutely refuse to write for the Review, and
+referred Buloz to Madame de Balzac for terms; but, by the tone of his
+letter, he negatived decidedly the idea of resuming friendly relations
+with his correspondent, and while rather illogically professing a
+lofty indifference to criticism, remarked that he felt the utmost
+contempt for those who calumniated his books.[*]
+
+[*] See "Correspondance Inedite--Honore de Balzac," /Revue Bleue/,
+    March 14, 1903.
+
+After this the /Revue des Deux Mondes/ became hostile to Balzac; and
+when Buloz and Brindeau bought the /Revue de Paris/, a proceeding
+which must have been a shock to him, he believed that Brindeau would
+be sole director, and drew up his agreement with him alone; having
+already refused to have business dealings with the ever active Buloz.
+However, Buloz soon took the principal place, and was so apologetic
+for his past misdeeds, and so insistent in promising amendment for the
+future, that Balzac, evidently reflecting that it would be distinctly
+against his interests to exclude himself from two of the most
+important reviews in Paris, consented to reconsider his decision.
+Therefore the following agreement, which is interesting as an example
+of Balzac's usual conditions when issuing his novels in serial form,
+was drawn up between the two men.
+
+The Review was only to use Balzac's articles for its subscribers. He
+was to regain absolute rights over his books three months after their
+first publication--this was an invariable stipulation in all Balzac's
+treaties--and was to give up fifty francs out of the two hundred and
+fifty considered due to him for each "feuille" of fifteen pages, to
+reimburse Buloz for the number of times the proofs had to be
+reprinted.[*] On these terms he agreed to finish "Le Pere Goriot," as
+well as "Seraphita," and to write the "Memoires d'une Jeune Mariee,"
+with the understanding that a separate contract was to be made for
+each of his contributions, and that he was free to write for other
+periodicals.
+
+[*] The account of the lawsuit between Balzac and the /Revue de Paris/
+    is taken from his "Historique du Proces auquel a donne lieu 'Le
+    Lys dans la Vallee,'" which formed the second preface of the first
+    edition of "Le Lys dans la Vallee" and is contained in vol. xxii.
+    of the Edition Definitive of Balzac's works; and from "H. de
+    Balzac et 'La Revue de Paris,'" which is the Review's account of
+    the case, and may be found in "Un dernier chapitre de l'Historie
+    des Oeuvres de H. de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberche de
+    Lovenjoul.
+
+Almost at once difficulties began, difficulties which are inevitable
+when a genius of the stamp of Balzac is bound by an unfortunate
+agreement to provide a specified quantity of copy at stated intervals.
+Balzac could not write to order. "Seraphita," planned to please Madame
+Hanska, was intended to be a masterpiece such as the world had never
+seen. From Balzac's letters there is no doubt that he was
+conscientiously anxious to finish it, only, as he remarks, "I have
+perhaps presumed too much of my strength in thinking that I could do
+so many things in so short a time."[*] When he made the unfortunate
+journey to Vienna, "Seraphita" still required, at his own computation,
+eight days' and eight nights' work; but, settled there, he turned his
+attention at once to "Le Lys dans la Vallee," which he had substituted
+for the "Memoires d'une Jeune Mariee," and at which he laboured
+strenuously. The first number of this appeared in the /Revue de
+Paris/, on November 22, 1835; but in the meantime Balzac's uncorrected
+proofs had been sold by Buloz to MM. Bellizard and Dufour, proprietors
+of the /Revue Etrangere de St. Petersbourg/. Therefore, in October,
+before the authorised version was published in Paris, there appeared
+in Russia, under the title of "Le Lys dans la Vallee," what Balzac
+indignantly characterised as the "unformed thoughts which served me as
+sketch and plan."
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+This was double treachery on the part of Buloz, as, by the treaty
+already mentioned, he had bought the right to publish Balzac's novels
+in the /Revue de Paris/ only; and even if this stipulation had not
+been made, he had no excuse for selling as Balzac's completed work,
+what he knew to be absolutely unfinished. Balzac, after this, refused
+to receive him on friendly terms; but a meeting was arranged at the
+house of Jules Sandeau, at which Balzac and the Comte de Belloy met
+Buloz and Bonnaire. Sandeau and Emile Regnault, who were friends of
+both the contending parties, were also present; and they, after this
+conference, became for a time exclusively Balzac's friends, as he
+remarks significantly. Balzac owed the Review 2,100 francs; but the
+remainder of the "Lys" was ready to appear, and he calculated that for
+this, the payment due to him would be about 2,400 francs. He therefore
+proposed that the account between him and the journal should be closed
+with the end of the "Lys"; and that as indemnity for the injury done
+him by the action of Buloz in publishing his unfinished work in the
+/Revue Etrangere/, he should be permitted to send the novel in book
+form to a publisher at once, instead of waiting the three months
+stipulated in the agreement. MM. Buloz and Bonnaire refused this
+arrangement, declaring that it would be extortion; and after giving
+them twenty-four hours for reflection, Balzac announced his intention
+of writing no longer for the /Revue de Paris/, and prepared to bring
+an action against the proprietors.
+
+Buloz and Bonnaire, however, decided that it would be good policy for
+the first attack to be on their side, and as Balzac could not obtain
+his proofs from Russia for a month at least, they sued him for breach
+of contract in not writing "Les Memoires d'une Jeune Mariee," and
+claimed 10,000 francs damages for his refusal to finish the "Lys dans
+la Vallee"; as well as fifty francs for each day's delay in his doing
+this. Balzac brought forward his counter claim, and offered the /Revue
+de Paris/ the 2,100 francs which had been advanced to him; but they
+refused to be satisfied with the payment of this debt; and in May,
+1836, the case opened.
+
+There was a side issue on the subject of "Seraphita," about which the
+/Revue/ certainly had just cause for complaint. In May, 1834, Balzac
+had been paid 1,700 francs in advance for this, and the first number
+appeared on June 1st, the second not following till July 20th. Then
+Balzac disappeared altogether; and when he returned in November, he
+proposed to begin "Le Pere Goriot" in the /Revue/, and promised after
+this had come to an end to return to "Seraphita"; but it was not till
+the middle of August, 1835, that he at last produced another number.
+After this there were again delays, and, according to Buloz, the whole
+of "Seraphita" was never offered to the /Revue de Paris/. The truth,
+however, appears to have been that Buloz at last completely lost his
+temper at Balzac's continual failures to fulfil his engagements, and
+declared that "Seraphita" was unintelligible, and was losing
+subscribers to the Review. Balzac, furious at this insult, paid Buloz
+300 francs, to defray the expenses already incurred for the printing
+of "Seraphita," and took back his work. Buloz's receipt for this money
+is dated November 21st, 1835, two days before the appearance of the
+first number of the "Lys dans la Vallee" in Paris, so storms were
+gathering on all sides. Ten days after this, on December 2nd, Werdet
+brought out "Seraphita" in book form in "Le Livre Mystique," which
+contained also "Louis Lambert" and "Les Proscrits," a fact which
+proved Balzac's contention that in November it was ready for
+publication in the /Revue de Paris/. The first edition of "Le Livre
+Mystique" was sold in ten days, and the second followed it a month
+after, which, as Balzac remarked sardonically, was "good fortune for
+an unintelligible work." This success on the part of his enemy no
+doubt did not help to soften the indignant Buloz; and he must have
+been further exasperated by an article in the /Chronique de Paris/, in
+which Balzac was styled the "Providence des Revues," and the injury
+the /Revue de Paris/ sustained in the loss of his collaboration was
+insisted on with irritating emphasis.
+
+The case was carried on with the utmost bitterness by the /Revue de
+Paris/; Balzac's morals, his honesty, even his prose, being attacked
+with the greatest violence. Editors and publishers on all sides gave
+their testimony against him. He must have been amazed and confounded
+by the deep hatred he had evoked by his want of consideration, which
+on several occasions certainly amounted to a breach of good faith. All
+his old sins found him out. Amedee Pichot, former manager of the
+/Revue de Paris/, Forfellier of the /Echo de la Jeune France/, and
+Capo de Feuillide of /L'Europe Litteraire/, raised their voices
+against the high-handed and rapacious author. The smothered enmity and
+irritation of years at last found vent; and it was in vain that Balzac
+demonstrated, in the masterly defence of his conduct written in one
+night, which formed the preface to the "Lys dans la Vallee," that he
+had always remained technically within his rights, and that as far as
+money was concerned he owed the publishers nothing. Unwritten
+conventions had been defied, because it was possible to defy them with
+impunity; and editors who had gone through many black hours because of
+the failure of the great man to keep his promises, and who smarted
+under the recollection of the discourteous refusal of advances it had
+been an effort to make, did not spare their arrogant enemy now that it
+was possible to band together against him.
+
+Perhaps, however, the bitterest blow to poor Balzac, was the fact that
+his brother authors, of whose rights he had been consistently the
+champion, did not scruple to turn against him. Either terrorised by
+the all-powerful Buloz, or jealous of one who insisted on his own
+abilities and literary supremacy with loud-voiced reiteration,
+Alexandre Dumas, Roger de Beauvoir, Frederic Soulie, Eugene Sue, Mery,
+and Balzac's future acquaintance Leon Gozlan, signed a declaration at
+the instance of Buloz, to the effect that it was the general custom
+that articles written for the /Revue de Paris/ should be published
+also in the /Revue Etrangere/, and should thus avoid Belgian piracy.
+Jules Janin, whose criticisms on Balzac are peculiarly venomous, and
+Loeve-Veimars, added riders to this statement, expressing the same
+views, only with greater insistence. To these assertions, Balzac
+replied that Buloz had specially paid George Sand 100 francs a sheet
+over the price arranged, to obtain the right of sending her corrected
+proofs to Russia; and that arrangements on a similar basis had been
+made with Gustave Planche and M. Fontaney. The fact that exceptional
+payments were made on these occasions was conclusive evidence against
+simultaneous publication in Paris and St. Petersburg being the
+received practice. Moreover, as Balzac observes with unanswerable
+justice, even if this custom /did/ exist, it would count as nothing
+against the agreement between him and Buloz. "M. Janin can take a
+carriage and go himself to carry his manuscripts to Brussels; M. Sue
+can get into a boat and sell his books in Greece; M. Loeve-Veimars can
+oblige his editors if they consent, to make as many printed copies of
+his future works as there are languages in Europe: all that will be
+quite right, the /Revue/ is to-day like a publisher. My treaties,
+however, are made and written; they are before the eyes of the judge,
+they are not denied, and state that I only gave my articles to the
+/Revue de Paris/, to be inserted solely /in/ the /Revue/, and nowhere
+else."
+
+Balzac won the case. It was decided by the Tribunal of Judges on
+Friday, June 3rd, 1836, that he was not bound to give the "Memoires
+d'une Jeune Mariee" to the /Revue de Paris/, as when promised, the
+story had not been yet written, and the "Lys dans la Vallee" had been
+substituted for it; also that the 2100 francs which he had already
+offered to Buloz was all that he owed the Review. The judges left
+unsettled the question as to whether the proprietors of the /Revue de
+Paris/ were entitled to hand over their contributors' corrected proofs
+to the /Revue Etrangere/; but decreed that they were certainly in the
+wrong when they parted with unfinished proofs. They were therefore
+condemned to pay the costs of the action.
+
+Balzac's was a costly victory. Except the /Quotidienne/, which stood
+by him consistently, not a paper was on his side. His clumsiness of
+style, his habit of occasionally coining words to express his meaning,
+and the coarseness of some of his writings, combined with the
+prejudice caused by his literary arrogance, had always, to a certain
+extent, blinded literary and critical France to his consummate merits
+as a writer. Now, however, want of appreciation had changed to bitter
+dislike; and in addition to abuse, indiscriminate and often absurd of
+his writings, his enemies assailed his morals, ridiculed his personal
+appearance, and made fun of his dress and surroundings. He was not
+conciliatory; he did not bow to the storm. In June, 1839, appeared the
+second part of "Illusions Perdues," which was entitled "Un Grand Homme
+de Province a Paris," and was a violent attack on French journalism;
+and in March, 1843, Balzac published the "Monographie de la Presse
+Parisienne," a brilliant piece of work, but certainly not calculated
+to repair the breach between him and the publishing world.
+Nevertheless, though his pride and independence prevented him from
+trying to temporise, there is no doubt that Balzac suffered keenly
+from the hostility he encountered on all sides. He writes to Madame
+Hanska directly after the lawsuit: "Ah! you cannot imagine how intense
+my life has been during this month! I was alone for everything;
+harassed by the journal people who demanded money of me, harassed by
+payments to make, without having any money because I was making none,
+harassed by the lawsuit, harassed by my book, the proofs of which I
+had to correct day and night. No, I am astonished at having survived
+this struggle. Life is too heavy; I do not live with pleasure."[*] To
+add to his difficulties, Madame Bechet had lately become Madame
+Jacquillard, and possibly urged to action by M. Jacquillard, and
+alarmed by tales of Balzac's misdemeanours, she became restive, and
+demanded the last two volumes of the "Etudes de Moeurs" in twenty-four
+hours, or fifty francs for each day's delay. The affairs of the
+/Chronique/ were at this time causing Balzac much anxiety, and he fled
+to the Margonnes at Sache; not for rest, but to work fifteen hours a
+day for "cette odieuse Bechet"; and there, in eight days, he not only
+invented and composed the "Illusions Perdues," but also wrote a third
+of it.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+However, the strain had been too great even for /his/ extraordinary
+powers, and while walking in the park after dinner with M. and Mme. de
+Margonne, on the day that letters arrived from Paris with the news
+that liquidation of the /Chronique/ was necessary, he fell down in a
+fit under one of the trees. Completely stunned for the time, he could
+write nothing; and thought, in despair, of giving up the hopeless
+struggle, and of hiding himself at Wierzchownia. Fortunately, his
+unconquerable courage soon returned; he travelled to Paris, wound up
+the affairs of the /Chronique/; and as Werdet had allowed him twenty
+days' liberty, and his tailor and a workman had lent him money to pay
+his most pressing debts, he obtained a letter of credit from
+Rothschild, and started for Italy.
+
+His ostensible object was a visit to Turin, to defend the Comte
+Guidoboni-Visconti in a lawsuit, as the Count, whose acquaintance he
+had made at the Italian Opera, could not go himself to Italy. In
+reality, however, in his exhaustion, and the overstrained state of his
+nerves, he craved for the freedom and distraction which he could only
+find in travel. Madame Visconti was an Englishwoman--another Etrangere
+--her name before her marriage had been Frances Sarah Lowell. Later
+on, she became one of Balzac's closest friends, and Madame Hanska was
+extremely jealous of her influence.
+
+It is amusing to discover that Balzac did not take this journey alone.
+He was accompanied by a lady whom he describes in a letter as
+"charming, /spirituelle/, and virtuous," and who, never having had the
+chance in her life of breathing the air of Italy, and being able to
+steal twenty days from the fatigues of housekeeping, had trusted in
+him for inviolable secrecy and "scipionesque" behaviour. "She knows
+whom I love, and finds there the strongest safeguard."[*] This lady
+was Madame Marbouty, known in literature as Claire Brunne, and during
+her stay in Italy as "Marcel"--a name taken from the devoted servant
+in Meyerbeer's opera "Les Huguenots," which had just appeared. A few
+weeks earlier, she had refused to travel in Touraine with Balzac, as
+she considered that a journey with him in France would compromise her;
+but, apparently, in Italy this objection did not apply. She travelled
+in man's clothes, as Balzac's page, and both he and she were
+childishly delighted by the mystification they caused. Comte Sclopis,
+the celebrated Piedmontese statesman, who acted as their cicerone in
+Turin society, was much fascinated by the charming page. The liking
+was evidently mutual, as, after the travellers had left Italy, Balzac
+records that at Vevey, Lausanne, and all the places they visited,
+Marcel cried: "And no Sclopis!" and it sounds as though the
+exclamation had been accompanied by a sigh. Several times during the
+journey the lively Amazon was mistaken for George Sand, whom she
+resembled in face, as well as in the fancy for donning masculine
+attire; and the mistake caused her intense satisfaction. At Geneva,
+haunted to Balzac by happy memories, the travellers stayed at the
+Hotel de l'Arc, and Balzac's mind was full of his lady-love, whose
+spirit seemed to him to hallow the place. He saw the house where she
+stayed, went along the road where they had walked together, and was
+refreshed in the midst of his troubles and anxieties by the thought of
+her.
+
+[*] See "L'Ecole des Manages," in "Autour de Honore de Balzac," by the
+    Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+On August 22nd the travellers returned to Paris on excellent terms
+with each other, and for some years after this journey friendly
+relations continued. In 1842, in remembrance of their adventure,
+Balzac dedicated "La Grenadiere" to Madame Marbouty, under the name of
+Caroline, and added the words, "A la poesie du voyage, le voyageur
+reconnaissant." Later on, however, they quarrelled, and she wrote "Une
+Fausse Position," in which Balzac is represented in a decidedly
+unflattering light; and after this he naturally withdrew the
+dedication in "La Grenadiere."
+
+On his return from this amusing trip a terrible trouble awaited
+Balzac. Among the letters heaped together upon his writing-table was
+one from Alexandre de Berny, announcing abruptly the death of Madame
+de Berny, which had taken place on July 27th. Balzac was utterly
+crushed by this blow. He had not seen Madame de Berny for some time,
+as since the death of her favourite son she had shut herself up
+completely, pretending to Balzac that she was not very ill, but saying
+laughingly that she only wanted to see him when she was beautiful and
+in good health. Now she was dead, and the news came without
+preparation in the midst of his other troubles. She was half his life,
+he cried in despair; and writing to Madame Hanska he said that his
+sorrow had almost killed him. In the midst of this overwhelming grief
+other worries added their quota to the weight oppressing Balzac. Henri
+de Balzac gave his family continual trouble, while Laurence's husband,
+M. de Montzaigle, refused to support his children; in fact, the only
+faint relief to the darkness surrounding the Balzac family at this
+time was M. Surville's hopefulness about the Loire Canal scheme.
+
+In addition to all these misfortunes, Balzac had to submit to the
+annoyance of several days' imprisonment in the Hotel des Haricots, for
+his refusal to serve in the Garde Nationale, a duty which was, he
+said, the nightmare of his life. The place of detention was not
+luxurious. There was no fire, and he was in the same hall for a time
+with a number of workmen, who made a terrible noise. Fortunately, he
+was soon moved to a private room, where he was warm and could work in
+peace. After this, in terrible pecuniary difficulties, and feeling
+acutely the loss of the woman who had been an angel to him in his
+former troubles, he left the Rue Cassini and fled from Paris, to avoid
+further detention by the civic authorities. He took refuge at
+Chaillot, and under the name of Madame Veuve Durand hid at No. 13, Rue
+des Batailles. Here he lodged for a time in a garret formerly occupied
+by Jules Sandeau, from the window of which there was a magnificent
+view of Paris, from the Ecole Militaire to the barrier of the Trone,
+and from the Pantheon to L'Etoile. From time to time Balzac would
+pause in his work to gaze on the ocean of houses below; but he never
+went out, for he was pursued by his creditors.
+
+It is curiously characteristic of his love of luxury that, destitute
+as he was, he had no intention of occupying this modest garret for
+long, but that a drawing-room on the second floor, which would cost
+700 francs, was already in preparation for his use. It was to No. 13,
+Rue des Batailles, that Emile de Girardin, who had just started /La
+Presse/, wrote asking him to contribute to its pages; and, in
+consequence, Balzac produced "La Vieille Fille," which began to appear
+on October 23rd, and shocked the subscribers very much. Here, too, at
+a most inopportune moment, Madame Hanska addressed to him a depressed
+and mournful letter, of which he complains bitterly. She was at this
+time extremely jealous of Madame Visconti, from whom she suspected
+that Madame de Mortsauf, in the "Lys dans la Vallee," had been drawn;
+and Balzac says he supposes that he must give up the Italian opera,
+the only pleasure he has, because a charming and graceful woman
+occupies the same box with him. In October he paid a sad little visit
+to La Boulonniere, which must have brought before him keenly the loss
+he had sustained; and after he spent a few days at Sache, where he was
+ill for a day or two as a result of mental worry and overwork.
+
+Another blow was to fall on Balzac before the disastrous year 1836
+came to a close. The "Lys dans la Vallee," on which Werdet had pinned
+all his hopes, had sold very badly, possibly owing to the hostility of
+the newspapers. As a climax to all Balzac's miseries, in October
+Werdet failed. This was doubly serious, as Balzac had signed several
+bills of exchange for his publisher, and was therefore liable for a
+sum of 13,000 francs. Werdet wrote a book abusing Balzac as the cause
+of his failure; and Balzac, on his side, was certainly unsympathetic
+about the misfortunes of a man whose interests, after all, were bound
+up with his own, and whom he politely called "childish, bird-witted,
+and obstinate as an ass." The truth seems to have been that, as Werdet
+aspired to be Balzac's sole publisher, he was obliged to buy up all
+the copies of Balzac's books which were already in the hands of
+publishers, and not having capital for this, he obtained money by
+credit and settled to pay by bills at long date. He also brought
+before the public a certain number of books by writers sympathetic to
+his client, and as these books were usually by young and unknown
+authors, their printing did not cover expenses. As a consequence of
+these imprudent ventures he was unable to meet his bills on maturity;
+and Balzac, being liable for some of them, was naturally furious, as
+/he/ had to be in hiding from the creditors, while Werdet, as he
+remarked bitterly, was walking comfortably about Paris. Werdet was
+young and enthusiastic, and no doubt his imagination was fired by
+Balzac's picture of the glorious time in the future, when the great
+writer and his publisher should have both made their fortunes, and
+their carriages should pass each other in the Bois de Boulogne. There
+is no reason, however, to think that Balzac wilfully misrepresented
+matters, as Werdet insinuates. He was essentially good-hearted, as
+every one who knew him testifies; but his extraordinary optimism and
+power of self-deception, combined with the charm of his personality
+and the overmastering influence he exercised, made him a most
+dangerous man to be connected with in business; and Werdet, like many
+another, suffered from his alliance with the improvident man of
+genius.
+
+Balzac also at this times suffered severely; but he had now completely
+recovered his energy. In his efforts to clear himself he worked thirty
+nights without going to bed, sending contributions to the /Chronique/,
+the /Presse/, the /Revue Musicale/, and the /Dictionnaire de la
+Conversation/, composing the "Perle Brisee," "La Vieille Fille," and
+"Le Secret des Ruggieri," besides finishing the last volumes of the
+"Etudes de Moeurs" and bringing out new editions of several of his
+books. As the result of his labours, he calculated, with his usual
+cheerfulness, that if he worked day and night for six months, and
+after that ten hours a day for two years, he would have paid off his
+debts and would have a little money in hand. In the end, he bound
+himself for fifteen years to an association formed by a speculator
+named Bohain: 50,000 francs being given him at once to pay off his
+most pressing debts, while, by the terms of the agreement, he provided
+a stipulated number of volumes every year, and was given 1,500 francs
+a month for the first year, 3,000 francs a month for the second year,
+4,000 francs for the third, and so on. Besides this, he was to receive
+half the profits of each book after the publisher's expenses had been
+defrayed. As he was extremely pleased with this arrangement, which at
+any rate freed him from his immediate embarrassments, a faint ray of
+sunlight shone for him on the close of the sad year of 1836.
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XI
+
+                             1836 - 1840
+
+  "Louise"--Drawing-room in Rue des Batailles--The "Cheval Rouge"--
+  Balzac's second visit to Italy--Conversation with Genoese merchant
+  --Buys Les Jardies at Sevres--Travels to Sardinia to obtain silver
+  from worked-out mines--Disappointment--Balzac goes on to Italy--
+  Takes up his abode in Les Jardies--Life there--He hopes to write a
+  successful play--"L'Ecole des Menages"--Balzac's half-starved
+  condition--He defends Peytel.
+
+It is curious to find that during the events recorded in the last
+chapter, when, to put the matter mildly, Balzac's spare time was
+limited, he yet managed to conduct a sentimental correspondence with
+"Louise," a lady he never met and whose name he did not know.
+Apparently, in the midst of his troubles, he was seized by an
+overmastering desire to pour out his feelings in writing to some
+kindred soul. Madame Hanska was far away, and could not answer
+promptly; besides, though passionately loved, she was not always
+sympathetic, the solid quality of her mind not responding readily to
+the quickness and delicacy of Balzac's emotions. Louise, to whom in
+1844 he dedicated "Facino Cane," was close at hand; she was evidently
+mournful, sentimental, and admiring; she sent him flowers when he was
+in prison, and at another time a sepia drawing. Besides, her shadowy
+figure was decked for him with the fascination of the unknown, and
+there was excitement in the wonder whether the veil enveloping her
+would ever be lifted, and, like Madame Hanska, she would emerge a
+divinity of flesh and blood. However, in spite of Balzac's entreaties
+she refused to reveal her identity; and after about a year's
+correspondence, during which time Louise suffered from a great
+misfortune, the nature of which she kept secret, the letters between
+them ceased altogether.
+
+Balzac had now left his garret, and was established in the drawing-
+room on the second floor of 13, Rue des Batailles, which is exactly
+described in "La Fille aux Yeux d'Or." The room was very luxurious,
+and the details had been thought out with much care.[*] One end of it
+had square corners, the other end was rounded, and the corners cut off
+to form the semicircle were connected by a narrow dark passage, and
+contained--one a camp bedstead, and the other a writing-table. A
+secret door led to this hiding-place, and here Balzac took refuge when
+pursued by emissaries from the Garde Nationale, creditors, or enraged
+editors. The scheme of colour in the room was white and flame-colour
+shading to the deepest pink, relieved by arabesques of black. A huge
+divan, fifty feet long and as broad as a mattress, ran round the
+horseshoe. This, like the rest of the furniture, was covered in white
+cashmere decked with flame-coloured and black bows, and the back of it
+was higher than the numerous cushions by which it was adorned. Above
+it the walls were hung with pink Indian muslin over red material, the
+flame-colour and black arabesques being repeated. The curtains were
+pink, the mantelpiece clock and candlesticks white marble and gold,
+the carpet and /portieres/ of rich Oriental design, and the chandelier
+and candelabra to light the divan of silver gilt. About the room were
+elegant baskets containing white and red flowers, and in the place of
+honour on the table in the middle was M. de Hanski's magnificent gold
+and malachite inkstand. Balzac showed the glories of this splendid
+apartment with infantile pride and delight to visitors; and here,
+reckless of his pecuniary embarrassments, he gave a grand dinner to
+Theophile Gautier, the Marquis de Belloy, and Boulanger, and
+entertained them in the evening with good stories "a la Rabelais."
+
+[*] See "Honore de Balzac" in "Portraits Contemporains," by Theophile
+    Gautier.
+
+About this time Balzac started the association he called the "Cheval
+Rouge," which was intended to be a mutual help society among a number
+of friends, who were to push and praise each other's compositions, and
+to rise as one man against any one who dared to attack a member of the
+alliance. The idea was a good one; but there was a comic side to it as
+conducted by Balzac, and the "Cheval Rouge," after five or six
+meetings, ceased to exist without having seriously justified its
+existence. Theophile Gautier, Jules Sandeau, and Leon Gozlan were
+among the members; and so dazzling were the pictures drawn by Balzac
+of the powers and scope of the society, that each one saw himself in
+imagination with a seat in the French Academy, and in succession peer
+of France, minister, and millionaire. It was sad that with these lofty
+aims the association should have been dissolved because most of its
+members were not able to pay their fifteen francs subscription. The
+first meeting was held at the Cheval Rouge, a very modest restaurant
+on the "Quai de l'Entrepot," from which the society took its name. The
+members were summoned by a card with a little red horse on it, and
+under this the words "Stable such a day, such a place." Everything was
+carried on with the greatest secrecy and mystery, and the
+arrangements, which were conducted by Balzac with much seriousness,
+afforded him intense pleasure. The "Cheval Rouge" might have been a
+dangerous political society from the precautions he took. In order to
+avoid suspicion one member was always to greet another member coldly
+in society; and Balzac would pretend to meet Gautier with much
+ceremony for the first time in a drawing-room, and then by delighted
+winks and grimaces would point out to him how well he was acting.
+
+In March, 1837, Balzac paid a second visit to Italy; travelling
+through a part of Switzerland, stopping at Milan, Venice, Genoa, and
+Florence, and returning to Paris on May 3rd. His health was, he said,
+detestable at this time, and he required rest and change. He went
+alone, as Gautier, who had intended to be his companion, was kept in
+Paris by the necessity of writing criticisms on the pictures in the
+Salon. One object of Balzac's journey was to visit Florence to see
+Bartolini's bust of Madame Hanska, of which he evidently approved, as
+he asked M. de Hanski's permission to have a small copy made of it
+which he could always keep on his writing-table; but this was never
+sent to him. He was delighted with Venice, which he now saw for the
+first time; and in Florence was specially charmed with the pictures at
+the Pitti, though he found travelling by himself rather dull, and
+decided that his next journey should be undertaken at a time when
+Gautier could accompany him. At Genoa he met a wily merchant, to whom
+he unfortunately confided the last brilliant scheme for making his
+fortune which was floating through his active brain.
+
+He had read in Tacitus that the Romans found silver in Sardinia; and
+it occurred to him, that, as the ancients were not learned in
+extracting metals, silver might still be found among the lead which
+was turned out of the mines as refuse. The Genoese merchant appeared
+much interested in Balzac's conversation, and remarked that, owing to
+the carelessness of the Sardinians, whole mountains of dross,
+containing lead, and most probably silver, were left in the vicinity
+of the mines. He was most obliging: he promised to send Balzac a
+specimen of the dross that it might be submitted to Parisian experts,
+and if the result were satisfactory, Balzac and he were to ask for a
+permit from the Government at Turin, and would work the mines
+together. When this had been arranged Balzac departed in high spirits,
+determined to keep his secret carefully, and feeling that at last he
+was on the high road to fortune. On the way back he was detained in
+quarantine for some time, and partly from economy, partly because he
+wanted to see Neufchatel, where he had first met Madame Hanska, he
+travelled back by Milan and the Splugen, and reached Paris in perfect
+health.
+
+Here fresh misfortunes awaited him, as Werdet was bankrupt, and, as a
+consequence, his creditors pursued Balzac. Never in future would he be
+answerable or sign his name for any one, he cried in despair. He had
+forestalled the money allowed him by his treaty with Bohain, was
+working day and night, and in a few days would retire into an unknown
+garret, and live as he had done in the Rue Lesdiguieres. Nevertheless,
+in his anxiety to see Madame Hanska, he had begun to think out
+economical ways of getting to Ukraine. He was not very well at this
+time, and in August he went to Sache, to see whether his native air
+would revive him.
+
+His next action would be astonishing to any one unacquainted with his
+extraordinary recklessness. In October 1837 he gave up the rooms at
+the Rue Cassini, which he had kept during the time of his residence at
+Passy; and in order to escape what he termed "an atrocious law" on the
+subject of his abhorrence the Garde Nationale, he bought a piece of
+land in the Ville d'Avray, at Sevres, on which he began to build a
+house, planned by himself. This soon acquired celebrity as "Les
+Jardies," and gave much amusement to the Parisians, who were never
+tired of inventing stories about Balzac's villa. In March, 1838,
+before he settled in his new abode, he started on a journey to
+Sardinia to investigate matters himself about the mines. It was a year
+since the Genoese merchant had promised to send him a specimen of the
+dross, and as nothing had yet arrived, he was beginning to feel
+anxious.
+
+The object of his journey was kept absolutely secret; owing to the
+dangers of the post even Madame Hanska being told only that "it is
+neither a marriage, nor anything adventurous, foolish, frivolous, or
+imprudent. It is a serious and scientific affair, about which it is
+impossible for me to tell you a word, because I am bound to the most
+absolute secrecy."[*] He had to borrow from his mother and from a
+cousin, and to pawn his jewellery to obtain money for his expedition.
+On the way he stayed with the Carrauds at Frapesle, where he was ill
+for a few days; and he went from there to pay his "comrade" George
+Sand a three days' visit at Nohant. He found her in man's attire,
+smoking a "houka," very sad, and working enormously; and he and she
+had long talks, lasting from five in the evening till five in the
+morning, and ranging over manners, morals, love affairs, and
+literature. She approved of "La Premiere Demoiselle," a play planned
+in February, 1837, which Madame Hanska had discouraged because she did
+not like the plot; and Balzac determined to work at it seriously now
+that "Cesar Birotteau" was finished. This brilliant picture of the
+Parisian /bourgeoisie/ had been published in December, 1837, under the
+title of "Histoire de la Grandeur et de la decadence de Cesar
+Birotteau." Since then, Balzac had produced nothing new in book form,
+though he was writing "La Maison de Nucingen" for /La Presse/, and
+working at "Massimilla Doni," and at the second part of "Illusions
+Perdues." He was also preparing to bring out a "Balzac Illustre,"
+which was to be a complete edition of his works with pictures; but of
+this only one volume, "La Peau de Chagrin," was ever published.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+From Nohant he went to Marseilles, and from there he sent letters both
+to his mother and to Madame Carraud, written in a very different frame
+of mind from his usual one when he embarked on a scheme for making his
+fortune. "Now that I am almost at my destination, I begin to have a
+thousand doubts; anyhow, one cannot risk less to gain more. I do not
+fear the journey, but what a return if I fail!"[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 394.
+
+He crossed from Marseilles to Ajaccio, and suffered much on the
+voyage, though he travelled on the mail steamer from Toulon, and spent
+a great deal of money by doing this. However, he was really trying to
+be economical, as on his way to Marseilles he had lived on ten sous'
+worth of milk a day, and when he reached there he put up at an hotel
+where his room cost fifteen sous and his dinner thirty.
+
+The scenery of Corsica was, he said, magnificent; but he did not much
+appreciate Ajaccio, where he had to wait some time for a boat to take
+him to Sardinia, and said the civilisation was as primitive as that of
+Greenland. His only consolation about the delay was in the idea that
+he would have time to go on with "La Premiere Demoiselle," for which
+George Sand predicted a great success, while his sister told him it
+was superb. Therefore, as he had written the "Physiologie du Mariage"
+and "La Peau de Chagrin" against the advice of Madame de Berny, he
+determined to continue his play in spite of Madame Hanska's
+disapproval. His five days' journey to Sardinia was most
+uncomfortable, as he travelled in a rowing-boat belonging to French
+coral fishers. The food caught consisted of execrable soup, made from
+the fish caught by the fishermen during the voyage; and Balzac had to
+sleep on the bridge, where he was devoured by insects. To add to his
+misfortunes, the boat was kept for five days in quarantine in view of
+the port, and the inhabitants refused to give the occupants any food,
+or to allow them in a bad storm to attach their cables to the port-
+rings. This they managed at last to do, in spite of the objections of
+the governor, who, determined to assert his authority, decreed that
+the cable should be taken off as soon as the sea became calm: a
+regulation which, as Balzac said, was absurd, because either the
+people would by that time have caught the cholera, or they would not
+catch it at all.
+
+When Balzac at last landed, he felt as though he were in Central
+Africa or Polynesia, as the inhabitants wore no clothes, and were
+bronzed like Ethiopians. He was much horrified at their misery and
+savage condition. Their dwellings he describes as dens without
+chimneys, and their food in many parts consisted of a horrible bread
+made of acorns ground, and mixed with clay.
+
+No doubt he was not disposed to take a particularly favourable view of
+Sardinia, as it was to him the scene of a bitter disappointment. He
+had been right in his calculations about the value of the refuse from
+the mines: the dross contained 10 per cent of lead, and the lead 10
+per cent of silver. But a Marseilles company as well as his Genoese
+friend had been beforehand with him, had obtained from the Government
+at Turin the right to work the mines, and were already in possession.
+Balzac's monetary sacrifices, and the hardships he had suffered on his
+journey, were in vain; he must return to sleepless nights of work, and
+must redouble his efforts in the endeavour to pay back the money he
+had borrowed for his expedition. He showed his usual pluck at this
+juncture; there were no complaints in his letters, and with singular
+forbearance he does not even abuse the faithless Genoese merchant. His
+expedition was useful to others, if not to himself; as he travelled on
+to Italy, and made a long stay at Milan in order to work for the
+interests of the Viscontis, whose property, without his efforts, would
+have been sequestrated owing to political complications. It is
+significant that Madame Hanska, who was always suspicious about Madame
+Visconti, was not informed of this reason for his long sojourn at
+Milan, which we hear of from a letter to his sister. Balzac was
+terribly low-spirited at this time; his whole life seemed to have been
+a failure, and he was approaching the age of forty, the date at which
+he had always determined to give up his aspirations, to fight no more,
+and to join the great company of the resigned. He was tired out, and
+very homesick. He admired the Cathedral, the churches, the pictures;
+but he was weary of Italy, and longed for France with its grey skies
+and cold winds. Behind this longing, and possibly the origin of it,
+was a passionate desire in his disappointment and disgust of life to
+be again near his "polar star."
+
+It was a comfort when, the affairs of the Viscontis being at last
+satisfactorily arranged, he was able on June 6th to start on his
+journey back to France. He travelled by the Mont Cenis, and was nearly
+blinded by clouds of fine dust, so that he was unable to write for
+some days.
+
+When he reached Paris he only remained for a short time in the Rue des
+Batailles, as in July, 1838, in defiance of his doctor's warnings
+about damp walls, he took up his residence at Les Jardies, having at
+the same time a /pied-a-terre/ in Paris at the house of Buisson, his
+tailor, 108, Rue Richelieu. Les Jardies was a quaint abode. Built on a
+slippery hill, it overlooked the Ville d'Avray with smoky Paris below,
+and in the distance there was a view of the plain of Mont-rouge and
+the road to Orleans, which led also to Balzac's beloved Tours. The
+principal staircase was outside, because Balzac, in designing the
+house, found that a staircase seriously interfered with the symmetry
+of the rooms. Therefore he placed it in an inconspicuous position in a
+special construction at the back, and owing to the extremely steep
+slope the visitor entered by the top floor, and made his way down
+instead of up. There were three stories, the lowest containing the
+drawing-room and dining-room, the second a bedroom and dressing-room,
+and the third Balzac's study. All round the house, which was painted
+to represent bricks, was a verandah supported by black columns, and
+the cage in the rear which held the staircase was painted red. About
+sixty feet behind this curious habitation was the real living-place of
+Les Jardies, where Balzac kept his servants. Part of this he let at a
+later date to the Viscontis, and they had charge of his rich library,
+and of the beautiful furniture brought from the Rue des Batailles,
+which might, if kept by its owner, have been seized by his creditors.
+
+The interior of this charming abode was intended to be adorned with
+the utmost magnificence, but it was never finished; there were no
+curtains, and no furniture to speak of. Years after, descriptions such
+as the following were still scrawled in charcoal on the bare stucco:
+"Here is a veneering of Parian marble"; "Here is a mantelpiece in
+cipolin marble"; "Here is a ceiling painted by Eugene Delacroix."
+Balzac laughed himself at these imaginary decorations, and was much
+delighted when Leon Gozlan wrote in large letters in his study, which
+was as bare as the other rooms, "Here is a priceless picture by
+Raphael." However, there was one thing at Les Jardies of which he was
+really proud; and that was his system of bell-ringing, which he
+considered a /chef-d'oeuvre/. Instead of having hanging wires with
+"big, stupid, indiscreet bells" at the end of them, /his/ bells were
+hidden ingeniously in an angle of the wall; and his pride in this
+brilliant invention made him forget any possible deficiencies in the
+decorations and appointments of the mansion.
+
+The great feature, however, at Les Jardies, and the torment, the
+delight, and the despair of Balzac's life, was the piece of land round
+the house where the garden ought to have been. He had beautiful plans
+about this when first he arrived at Les Jardies. The soil was then
+absolutely bare; but, as he remarked, it was possible to buy
+everything in Paris, and as money was, of course, no object with him,
+he intended in the autumn to have good-sized magnolias, limes,
+poplars, and willows transported there, and to make a little Eden of
+sweet scents, covered with plants and bushes. No doubt, in imagination
+he already saw his beautiful flowers, and wandered in this delightful
+and well-kept garden, which, as nothing with Balzac could possibly be
+ordinary, was to be "surprising." The reality, however, was sadly
+different from his expectations. In vain, by his orders asphalt paths
+were made in all directions, and landscape gardeners worked for
+months, trying with stones cunningly inserted to prop up the steep,
+slippery slope, and to form little terraces on which something might
+have a chance of growing. With the slightest shower, down tumbled
+these plateaus; and the work of building had to begin again. It was
+amusing, Leon Gozlan tells us, to see the amazement of the actor
+Frederick Lemaitre when he came to see Balzac; and found himself
+expected to walk up the side of a hill, with the ground at each step
+slipping under his feet. To support himself he stuck stones behind his
+heels, and Balzac meanwhile walked by his side with the calmness of a
+proprietor who is thoroughly used to the vagaries of his own
+territory, and scorns foreign assistance.
+
+Occasionally, however, even Balzac came to the end of his equanimity.
+The wall, which separated his property from that of the neighbour
+below him, was a continual anxiety. In spite of all possible
+precautions it tumbled down constantly, and scattered stones and
+mortar over the ground on each side of it. After this had happened two
+or three times, and Balzac, while investigating the extent of the
+damage on one of these occasions, had fallen and injured his leg, so
+that he was in bed for forty days, a meeting of experts was held, and
+it was decided that the angle at which the wall had been built was not
+sufficiently acute. The error was rectified, and there were general
+rejoicings and congratulations; but the next day it rained, and in the
+evening news was brought to Balzac that the whole structure had
+toppled over, and was reposing in ruins in his neighbour's garden.
+This was serious, as the neighbour promptly sent in an enormous bill
+for damages done to his carrots and turnips; and it was probably on
+this occasion that Balzac wrote in March 1839 a despairing letter to
+Madame Carraud, containing the words: "To you, sister of my soul, I
+can confide my greatest secrets; I am now in the midst of terrible
+misery. All the walls of Les Jardies have fallen down through the
+fault of the builder, who did not make any foundations."[*] No
+builder, however, managed to effect the feat of making this
+unfortunate wall stand upright; and in the end, to allow it to come
+down in peace and comfort whenever it felt so disposed, Balzac bought
+the strip of his neighbour's land which bordered it, and after that,
+ceased to feel anguish at its vagaries.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 453.
+
+The wall was decidedly important, as Balzac's fortune was to be made
+by the contents of the garden at Les Jardies, and it would not have
+been satisfactory for strangers to be able to wander there at will.
+Balzac's new plan for becoming rich was to cover most of his territory
+with glass houses, and to plant 100,000 feet with pineapples. Owing to
+the warmth of the soil, he considered that these pineapples would not
+need much heat, and could be sold at five francs apiece, instead of
+the louis charged for them in Paris. They would therefore be quickly
+disposed of, and 500,000 francs would be made, which, deducting
+100,000 francs for expenses, would mean a clear profit of 400,000
+francs a year. "And this money will be made without a page of copy,"
+said poor Balzac. He was, of course, absolutely confident about the
+success of this new undertaking, and Theophile Gautier, who tells the
+story,[*] says that a search was made for a shop in which to sell
+these pineapples of the future. This shop was to be painted black with
+lines of gold, and was to have on it in huge letters the announcement,
+"Ananas des Jardies"; but Gautier managed to persuade Balzac in order
+to avoid useless expense, not to hire it till the next year, when the
+pineapples would have had time to grow. However, perhaps Balzac was
+discouraged by the sight of the snow falling silently on his slope, or
+possibly his desire to make a fabulous sum of money by a successful
+play had for a time blotted out all other ambitions; at any rate, we
+hear no more of the pineapples of Les Jardies.
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains--Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+Balzac's terribly embarrassed condition in 1837 caused him to return
+with new ardour to the idea which haunted him all his life, that of an
+immense theatrical success which should put an end for ever to his
+pecuniary embarrassments. References to projected plays, to the
+difficulty he found in writing them, and to his hope of finally
+freeing himself from debt by producing a masterpiece at the theatre,
+occur constantly in his letters. "Marie Touchet" and "Philippe le
+Reserve"--afterwards to become "Les Ressources de Quinola"--were the
+names of some of the plays he intended to write. In February, 1837, as
+we have already seen, he planned out "La Premiere Demoiselle," which
+he abandoned for the time, but which he worked at with much energy
+during his ill-fated expedition to Sardinia, and continued at Les
+Jardies during the summer and autumn of 1838. Before starting for
+Sardinia he wrote to Madame Carraud: "If I fail in what I undertake, I
+shall throw myself with all my might into writing for the theatre." He
+kept his word, and "La Premiere Demoiselle," a gloomy bourgeois
+tragedy, which soon received the name of "L'Ecole des Menages," was
+the result.
+
+With the distrust in himself, which always in matters dramatic mingled
+with his optimistic self-confidence, Balzac determined to have a
+collaborator, and chose a young man named Lassailly, who was
+peculiarly unfitted for the difficult post. In doing this he only gave
+one instance out of many of the wide gulf which separated Balzac the
+writer, gifted with the psychological powers which almost amounted to
+second sight, and Balzac in ordinary life, many of whose misfortunes
+had their origin in an apparent want of knowledge of human nature,
+which caused him to make deplorable mistakes in choosing his
+associates.
+
+The agreement between Balzac and his collaborator stipulated that the
+latter should be lodged and fed at the expense of Balzac, and should,
+on his side, be always at hand to help his partner with dramatic
+ideas. Balzac performed /his/ part of the treaty nobly, and Lassailly
+remembered long afterwards the glories of the fare at Les Jardies; but
+his life became a burden to him from his incapacity to do what was
+expected of him, and he was nearly killed by Balzac's nocturnal
+habits. He was permitted to go to bed when he liked; but at two or
+three in the morning Balzac's peremptory bell would summon him to
+work, and he would rise, frightened and half stupefied with sleep, to
+find his employer waiting for him, stern and pale from his vigil.
+"For," Leon Gozlan says, "the Balzac fighting with the demon of his
+nightly work had nothing in common with the Balzac of the street and
+of the drawing-room."[*] He would be asked severely what help he could
+give, and, as a result of his terrified and drowsy stammerings would
+be sent to bed for another hour to see whether in that time
+inspiration would visit him. Six or eight times in the course of the
+night would this scene be repeated; and at last Lassailly, who was
+delicate, became seriously ill and had to leave Les Jardies, ever
+after looking back on the terrible Balzac and his appalling night-
+watches, as a nightmare to be recalled with a shudder.
+
+[*] "Balzac en Pantoufles," by Leon Gozlan.
+
+Balzac, deprived of Lassailly's valuable assistance, worked on alone;
+and at first everything seemed likely to go well with "L'Ecole des
+Menages."[*] The Renaissance, a new theatre which had opened on
+November 8th, 1838, with the first representation of Victor Hugo's
+"Ruy Blas," seemed willing to take Balzac's play to follow this; and
+M. Armand Pereme, a distinguished antiquary whom Balzac had met at
+Frapesle, was most active in conducting the negotiations. However, in
+the end the Renaissance refused the drama. Balzac was terribly
+dilatory, and irritated every one by not keeping his engagements, and
+he was also high-handed about the arrangements he considered necessary
+to the success of his tragedy. His unfortunate monetary
+embarrassments, too, made it necessary for him to ask for 16,000
+francs before the play was written, a request which the Renaissance
+Theatre was rather slow in granting. However, the real reason for the
+rejection of the drama, which took place on February 26th, 1839--just
+at the time when Balzac was in despair because the wall at Les Jardies
+had fallen down--was want of money on the part of the managers of the
+theatre. The only thing that could save the Renaissance from ruin was
+a great success; and Alexandre Dumas, with whom the directors had
+formerly quarrelled, had now made peace with them, and had offered
+them "L'Alchimiste," which would be certain to attract large
+audiences. They accepted this in place of Balzac's play, and "L'Ecole
+des Menages," of which the only copy extant is in the possession of
+the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, has never been acted.
+
+[*] See "L'Ecole des Menages" in "Autour de Honore de Balzac," by the
+    Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+Balzac was in terrible trouble about the rejection of the drama from
+which he had hoped so much. He wrote to Madame Carraud[*] in March,
+1839: "I have broken down like a foundered horse. I shall certainly
+require rest at Frapesle. The Renaissance had promised me 6,000 francs
+bounty to write a piece in five acts; Pereme was the agent, everything
+was arranged. As I wanted 6,000 francs at the end of February, I set
+to work. I spent sixteen nights and sixteen days at it, only sleeping
+three hours out of the twenty-four; I employed twenty workmen at the
+printer's office, and I managed to write, make and compose the five
+acts of 'L'Ecole des Menages' in time to read it on February 25th. The
+directors had no money, or perhaps Dumas, who had not acted fairly to
+them, and with whom they were angry, had returned to them; they would
+not hear my piece, and refused it. So here I am, worn out with work,
+sixteen days lost, 6,000 francs to pay, and nothing! This blow has
+crushed me, I have not yet recovered from it. My career at the theatre
+will have the same course as my literary career, my first work will be
+refused. A superhuman courage is necessary for these terrible
+hurricanes of misfortune."
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 454.
+
+In the midst of his troubles, he thought with bitter regret of Madame
+de Berny, who would have understood everything, and have known how to
+help and console him. He was in a miserable state, was chased like a
+hare by creditors, and was on the point of lacking bread, candles, and
+paper. Then to add to his misery would come a sensible letter from the
+far-distant Madame Hanska, blaming his frivolity and levity; and, in
+his state of semi-starvation, poor Balzac would be almost driven
+frantic by words of reproach from his divinity.
+
+A little earlier than this he had found time for an enormous amount of
+work which would seem completely out of his province, and had written
+letter after letter in the /Siecle/, and spent 10,000 francs, in
+defence of Peytel, a notary of Belley, who had been condemned to death
+on August 26th, 1839, for the murder of his wife and servant. Peytel
+appealed against his sentence, and Balzac, who had met him several
+times, espoused his cause with vehemence. There did not seem to be
+much satisfactory defence available for the prisoner, who admitted the
+fact that while driving in a carriage not far from Belley, he had shot
+both his wife and the coachman. Balzac, however, was urgent in
+upholding Peytel's contention that his crime had been homicide, not
+murder, and brought forward the plea of "no premeditation." His
+energetic efforts were of no avail: Peytel was executed at Bourg on
+November 28th, 1839, and Balzac, who had espoused his cause with
+quixotic enthusiasm, was genuinely sorry. He wrote to Madame Hanska in
+September: "I am extremely agitated by a horrible case, the case of
+Peytel. I have seen this poor fellow three times. He is condemned; I
+start in two hours for Bourg." On November 30th he continues: "You
+will perhaps have heard that after two months of unheard-of efforts to
+save him from his punishment Peytel went two days ago to the scaffold,
+like a Christian, said the priest; I say, like an innocent man."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Another disappointment this year was the fact that Balzac considered
+it his duty, after presenting himself as candidate for the Academie
+and paying many of the prescribed visits, to retire in favour of
+Victor Hugo. As early as 1833 he had aspired to become some day "un
+des Quarante," and he then said half jokingly to his sister: "When I
+shall work at the dictionary of the Academy!"[*] He was never destined
+to receive the honour of admittance to this august body, though after
+his first attempt in 1839, when he himself withdrew, he again tried
+his fortune in 1843 and in 1849. His normal condition of monetary
+embarrassment was one reason for his failure, and no doubt some of the
+members of l'Academie Francaise disapproved of certain of his books,
+and perhaps did not admire his style. At any rate, as his enemy Saint-
+Beuve expressed it concisely: "M. de Balzac est trop gros pour nos
+fauteuils," and while men who are now absolutely unknown entered the
+sacred precincts without difficulty, the door remained permanently
+closed to the greatest novelist of the age.
+
+[*] "Balzac, sa Vie et ses Oeuvres," par Mme. L. Surville (nee de
+    Balzac).
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XII
+
+                             1840 - 1843
+
+  "Vautrin"--/La Revue Parisienne/--Societe des Gens-de-Lettres--
+  Balzac leaves Les Jardies, and goes to the Rue Basse, Passy--Death
+  of M. de Hanski--"Les Ressources de Quinola"--"La Comedie Humaine"
+  --Balzac goes to St. Petersburg to meet Madame Hanska--Her reasons
+  for deferring the marriage.
+
+The sad fate of "L'Ecole des Menages" did not long discourage Balzac.
+At the beginning of 1840 he made an engagement to provide Harel, the
+speculative manager of the Theatre Porte-St-Martin, with a drama. The
+play was accepted before it was written; and in order to be near the
+theatre Balzac established himself in the fifth floor of the house of
+Buisson, his tailor, at the corner of the Rue Richelieu. His
+proceedings were, as usual, eccentric. One day Gautier, who tells the
+story, was summoned in a great hurry, and found his friend clad in his
+monk's habit, walking up and down his elegant attic, and shivering
+with impatience.
+
+"'Here is Theo at last,' he cried, when he saw me. 'You idler! dawdle!
+sloth! gee up, do make haste! You ought to have been here an hour ago!
+To-morrow I am going to read to Harel a grand drama in five acts.'
+
+"'And you want my advice,' I answered, settling myself comfortably in
+an armchair, ready to submit to a long reading.
+
+"From my attitude Balzac guessed my thought, and said simply, 'The
+drama is not written.'
+
+"'Good heavens!' said I: 'well, then you must put off the reading for
+six weeks.'
+
+"'No, we must hurry on the drama to get the money. In a short time I
+have a large sum of money to pay.'
+
+"'To-morrow is impossible; there is no time to copy it.'
+
+"'This is the way I have arranged things. You will write one act,
+Ourliac another, Laurent-Jan the third, De Belloy the fourth, I the
+fifth, and I shall read it at twelve o'clock as arranged. One act of a
+drama is only four or five hundred lines; one can do five hundred
+lines of dialogue in a day and the night following.'
+
+"'Relate the subject to me, explain the plot, sketch out the
+characters in a few words, and I will set to work,' I said, rather
+frightened.
+
+"'Ah,' he cried, with superb impatience and magnificent disdain, 'if I
+have to relate the subject to you, we shall never have finished!'"[*]
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains--Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+After a great deal of trouble, Gautier managed to persuade Balzac to
+give him a slight idea of the plot, and began a scene, of which only a
+few words remain in the finished work. Of all Balzac's expected
+collaborators, Laurent-Jan, to whom "Vautrin" is dedicated, was the
+only person who worked seriously.
+
+In two months and a half of rehearsals Balzac became almost
+unrecognisable from worry and overwork. His perplexities became public
+property, and people used to wait at the door of the theatre to see
+him rush out, dressed in a huge blue coat, a white waistcoat, brown
+trousers, and enormous shoes with the leather tongues outside, instead
+of inside, his trousers. Everything he wore was many sizes too big for
+him, and covered with mud from the Boulevards; and it was an amusement
+to the frivolous Parisians to see him stride along in these peculiar
+garments, his face bearing the impress of the trouble and overstrain
+he was enduring. He was at the mercy of every one. The manager hurried
+and harried him, because the only hope of saving the theatre from
+bankruptcy was the immediate production of a successful play. The
+actors, knowing the piece was not finished, each clamoured for a part
+to suit his or her peculiar idiosyncrasies, and Balzac was so
+overburdened, that occasionally in despair he was tempted to abandon
+his play altogether.
+
+There was tremendous excitement in Paris about the approaching first
+representation of "Vautrin"; and foreign politics, banquets, and even
+the burning question of reform, paled in interest before the great
+event. All the seats were sold beforehand; and as there was a rush for
+the tickets, Balzac and Harel chose their audience, and thought that
+they had managed to secure one friendly to Balzac. Unfortunately,
+however, the seats were sold so early that many of them were parted
+with at a profit by the first buyers, and in the end a large
+proportion of the spectators were avowedly hostile to Balzac. March
+14th, 1840, was the important date, and Balzac wrote to Madame Hanska:
+"I have gone through many miseries, and if I have a success they will
+be completely over. Imagine what my anxiety will be during the evening
+when 'Vautrin' is being acted. In five hours' time it will be decided
+whether I pay or do not pay my debts."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+He was very nervous beforehand, and told Leon Gozlan that he was
+afraid there would be a terrible disaster.
+
+The plot of the play is extraordinary and impossible. Vautrin, the
+Napoleon among convicts, who appears in several of Balzac's novels, is
+the hero; he had declared war against society, and the scene of the
+drama, with Vautrin as the principal figure, passes in the
+aristocratic precincts of the Faubourg St. Germain. The theatre was
+crowded for the performance, and the first three acts, though received
+coldly, went off without interruption. At the fourth act, however, the
+storm burst, as Frederick Lemaitre, who evidently felt qualms about
+the success of his part, had determined to make it comic, and appeared
+in the strange costume of a Mexican general, with a hat trimmed with
+white feathers, surmounted by a bird of paradise. Worse still, when he
+took off this hat he showed a wig in the form of a pyramid, a coiffure
+which was the special prerogative of Louis Philippe! The play was
+doomed. The Duke of Orleans, who was in one of the boxes, left the
+theatre hurriedly; and it was difficult to finish the performance, so
+loud were the shouts, hisses, and even threats. The next day the
+following official announcement appeared in the /Moniteur/: "The
+Minister of the Interior has interdicted the appearance of the drama
+performed yesterday at the Theatre of the Porte St. Martin under the
+title of 'Vautrin.'" Balzac's hated foes, the journalists, of course
+rejoiced in his downfall, and accentuated the situation by declaring
+the piece to be not only disloyal, but revoltingly immoral. On the
+other hand, Victor Hugo, George Sand, and Mme. de Girardin, stood
+firmly by him, and Frederick Lemaitre, to whom Balzac evidently bore
+no malice for his large share in the disaster, was, he said,
+"sublime."
+
+Leon Gozlan went to see Balzac the day after the performance, and
+found him outwardly calm, but his face was flushed, his hands burning,
+and his lips swollen, as though he had passed through a night of
+fever. He did not mention the scene of the night before, but talked
+eagerly of a plan to start a large dairy at Les Jardies, and to
+provide Paris and Versailles with rich milk. He had several other
+equally brilliant schemes on hand: he intended to grow vines,
+cultivate vegetables, sell manure; and by these varied means to assure
+himself of an income of eighteen thousand francs.
+
+The Director of the Beaux-Arts was sent to offer Balzac money to make
+up for his loss; he says, however: "They came to offer me an
+indemnity, and began by proposing five thousand francs. I blushed to
+my hair, and answered that I did not accept charity, that I had put
+myself two hundred thousand francs in debt by writing twelve or
+fifteen masterpieces, which would count for something in the glory of
+France in the nineteenth century; that for three months I had done
+nothing but rehearse 'Vautrin,' and that during those three months I
+should otherwise have gained twenty-five thousand francs; that a pack
+of creditors were after me, but that from the moment that I could not
+satisfy all, it was quite indifferent to me whether I were tracked by
+fifty or by a hundred, as the amount of courage required for
+resistance was the same. The Director of the Beaux-Arts, Cave, went
+out, they tell me, full of esteem and admiration. 'This,' said he, 'is
+the first time that I have been refused.' 'So much the worse,' I
+answered."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+Balzac became very ill with fever and brain neuralgia the day after
+the performance of "Vautrin," and Madame Surville took him to her
+house and nursed him. When he left his bed it was, of course to find
+his affairs in a worse condition than ever, and he was, as he
+described himself, "a stag at bay." His friendship with Madame
+Visconti was a consolation to him in his troubles; he described her to
+Madame Hanska, who did not quite appreciate these raptures, as "one of
+the most amiable of women, of infinite and exquisite goodness. Of
+delicate, elegant beauty, she helps me to support life." Nevertheless,
+no friendships made up for the want of a wife, and home, the two
+things for which he yearned; and he writes sadly: "I have much need
+now of having my wounds tended and cured, and of being able to live
+without cares at Les Jardies, and to pass my days quietly between work
+and a wife. But it seems as if the story of every man will only be a
+novel to me."[*]
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+His despondency did not abate his powers of work, as from April to
+December he published "Z. Marcas," "Un Prince de la Boheme," and
+"Pierre Grassou"; while in 1841, among other masterpieces, appeared
+"La Fausse Maitresse," "Une Tenebreuse Affaire," "Un Menage de
+Garcon," "Ursule Mirouet," and "Les Memoires de deux Jeunes Mariees."
+He was almost at the end of his courage however, and talked seriously
+in the case of failure in his new enterprise--the /Revue Parisienne/--
+of going to Brazil on some mad errand which he would undertake because
+it /was/ mad; and of either coming back rich or disappearing
+altogether.
+
+A monthly magazine, of which one man was to be director, manager,
+editor, besides being sole contributor, was a heroic attempt at making
+a fortune; and this was what Balzac contemplated, and accomplished for
+a short time in the /Revue Parisienne/. His mode of working was not
+calculated to lessen the strain to which he subjected himself, as,
+never able to start anything till pressed for time, he left the work
+till near the end of the month, when the printers were clamouring for
+copy. Then there was no pause or slumber for him; his attention was
+concentrated on his varied and difficult subjects till the moment when
+he rushed with disordered garments to the printer's office. There,
+seated anywhere--on the corner of a table, at a compositor's frame, or
+before a foreman's bureau--he became completely absorbed in the
+colossal labour of reading and correcting his proofs. The first number
+of the /Revue Parisienne/ appeared on July 25th, 1840; but it was only
+continued for three months, as Balzac decided that the task was too
+much for him. During its short life however, it furnished a
+magnificent and striking example of his extraordinary powers and
+mental attainments; as each of the numbers was the size of a small
+volume, and he provided novels, biography, philosophy, analysis, and
+criticism, and treated brilliantly each subject he attacked.
+
+A question in which Balzac took the greatest interest was that of the
+rights of authors and publishers, under which Louis Philippe did not
+meet with much respect. Not only did the Belgians reproduce French
+works at a cheap rate by calmly dispensing with the duty of paying
+their authors; but publishers in the provinces often followed this
+pernicious practice, and it was difficult to prosecute them. A
+striking instance of this injustice was to be found in the case of
+"Paroles d'un Croyant," by M. de Lamennais, of which ten thousand
+pirated copies were sold in Toulouse, where only five hundred of the
+authorised edition had been sent by the publisher. No redress could be
+obtained because, though the fact was certain, legal proofs were
+apparently lacking; but in consequence of this glaring infraction of
+the rights of both author and publisher, on December 28th, 1838,
+Balzac became a member of the Societe des Gens-de-Lettres. This
+Society, which was insignificant when he first joined it, owed
+everything to his reputation, and to the energy with which he worked
+for its interests. On October 22, 1839, he spoke at Rouen in its
+behalf, in the first action brought by it against literacy piracy.
+Later in the same year he was elected President, and in May, 1840, he
+drew up the masterly "Code Litteraire de la Societe des Gens-de-
+Lettres"[*] to which reference has already been made. On September
+5th, 1841, however, in consequence of a dispute concerning the drawing
+up by the Gens-de-Lettres of a manifesto to be presented to the
+deputies composing the Law Commission on Literary Property, Balzac
+withdrew from the Society. The ostensible reason for his resignation
+was, that at a committee meeting to discuss the Manifesto, doubts were
+thrown on his impartiality; but it seems probable from his letter[+]
+that some unwritten ground for complaint really caused his withdrawal.
+After Balzac's death, the Society des Gens-de-Lettres acknowledged
+with gratitude the debt owed him as one of the founders of the
+Society, and the help received from his intelligence and activity.
+
+[*] This may be found in the Edition Definitive of Balzac's works, or
+    in "Balzac Chez Lui," by Leon Gozlan.
+
+[+] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 20.
+
+In 1840, before he ceased to belong to the Societe des Gens-de-
+Lettres, he had left Les Jardies; and had hidden himself under the
+name of Madame de Brugnolle, his housekeeper, in a mysterious little
+house at No. 19, Rue Basse, Passy; to which no one was admitted
+without many precautions, even after he had given the password. Behind
+this was a tiny garden where Balzac would sit in fine weather, and
+talk over the fence to M. Grandmain, his landlord. In his new abode he
+established many of his treasures: his bust by David d'Angers, some of
+the beautiful furniture he was collecting in preparation for the home
+he longed for, and many of his pictures, those treasures by Giorgione,
+Greuze, and Palma, which were the delight of his heart. With great
+difficulty, by publishing books and articles in quick succession, he
+had prevented the sale of Les Jardies by his creditors. As he had no
+money to pay cab fares this entailed rushing from Passy to Paris on
+foot, often in pouring rain; with the result that he became seriously
+ill, and found it necessary to recruit in Touraine and Brittany.
+
+On June 15th, 1841, a fictitious sale for 15,500 francs was made of
+Les Jardies, which had cost Balzac 100,000 francs; but he did not
+really part with the villa till later, when he had decided that it
+would not be suitable ultimately as a residence. To add to his
+troubles, he found it necessary to take his mother to live with him,
+an arrangement which gave rise to many little storms, and made writing
+a difficult matter. Madame Visconti's society gave him no consolation
+at this time,--he was disappointed in her; and decided that his abuse
+of Englishwomen in the "Lys dans la Vallee," was perfectly justified.
+
+Fortunately, he was now feeling tolerably cheerful about money
+matters; as he had paid off the hundred thousand francs he owed from
+his treaty in 1836, and hoped in fifteen months to have made
+arrangements for discharging all his debts; while three publishers,
+Dubochet, Furme, and Hetzel & Paulin, had undertaken to publish a
+complete edition of his works with engravings. This was to be the
+first appearance of the long-dreamt-of "Comedie Humaine," the great
+work of Balzac's life.
+
+However, for a time even this took secondary place, as on January 5th,
+1842, a letter with a black seal arrived from Madame Hanska; and gave
+the important news of the death of M. de Hanski, which had taken place
+on November 10th, 1841. Balzac's letter in answer to this is pathetic
+to any one cognisant of his subsequent history. He begins with
+confidence:[*] "As to me, my dear adored one, although this event
+enables me to reach what I have desired so ardently for nearly ten
+years, I can, before you and God, say in justice, that I have never
+had anything in my heart but complete submission, and that in my most
+terrible moments I have not soiled my soul with evil wishes." Further
+on, he tells her that nothing in him is changed; and suddenly seized
+with a terrible doubt from the ambiguous tone of her letter, he cries,
+in allusion to a picture of Wierzchownia which always hung in his
+study: "Oh! I am perhaps very unjust, but this injustice comes from
+the passion of my heart. I should have liked two words for myself in
+your letter. I have hunted for them in vain--two words for the man
+who, since the landscape in which you live has been before his eyes,
+has never continued working for ten minutes without looking at it."
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+He longs to start at once to see her, but from the tone of her letter
+he gathers that he had better wait until she writes to him again, when
+he begs for the assurance that her existence will henceforward belong
+to him, and that no cloud will ever come between them. He is alarmed
+about her anxiety on the subject of her letters. They are quite safe,
+he says, kept in a box like the one in which she keeps his. "But why
+this uneasiness now? Why? This is what I ask myself in terrible
+anxiety!" He finishes with "Adieu, my dear and beautiful life whom I
+love so much, and to whom I can now say 'Sempre medesimo.'"
+
+Madame Hanska, in reply to this letter, objected strongly to the
+breach of "les convenances" which would be committed if Balzac came to
+see her early in her widowhood; and it was not till July 17th, 1843,
+that he was at last permitted to meet her in St. Petersburg, and then
+he had not seen her since his visit to Vienna, eight years before.
+
+However, he was now full of happy anticipations, and it was with the
+greatest enthusiasm that he looked forward to the appearance of "Les
+Ressources de Quinola," which had been accepted by the Odeon, and on
+which he founded the most extravagant hopes. The long night of trouble
+was nearly over, and a late happiness would dawn upon him, heralded by
+a brilliant success at the theatre, which would not only free him from
+debt, but would also enable him to offer riches to the woman he loved.
+
+At the first hearing of this play in the green-room of the Odeon, the
+company had been rather disenchanted as we know, because, after
+reading four acts admirably, Balzac was forced to improvise the
+unwritten fifth, and this he did so badly that Madame Dorval, the
+principal actress, refused to act. However, on the same day Lireux,
+the director of the Odeon, came to the Restaurant Risbeck, where
+Balzac was dining with Leon Gozlan, and said that he would accept the
+play. Balzac at once insisted that for the first three representations
+he must have command of the whole of the theatre, but he promised that
+Lireux should share the receipts with him, and these he said would be
+enormous. He also stipulated that for his three special performances
+no journalists should be admitted, there being war to the knife
+between him and them. As the place of Balzac's abode was being kept
+strictly secret for fear of his creditors, the time of the rehearsal
+each day was to be communicated to him by a messenger from the
+theatre, who was told to walk in the Champs Elysees, towards the Arc
+de l'Etoile. At the twentieth tree on the left, past the Circle, he
+would find a man who would appear to be looking for a bird in the
+branches. The messenger was to say to him, "I have it," and the man
+would answer, "As you have it, what are you waiting for?" On receiving
+this reply the emissary from the Odeon would hand over the paper, and
+depart without looking behind him. The only comment that Lireux, who
+appears to have been a practical man, made on these curious
+arrangements was, that if the twentieth tree had been struck by
+lightning during the night, he supposed that the servant must stop at
+the twenty-first, and Balzac assented gravely to this proposition.
+
+The great writer worked with his usual energy at the rehearsals,
+continually rewriting parts of the play, and besides this occupation
+spending hours in the theatre bureau, as he had determined to sell all
+the tickets himself. For the first night of "Les Ressources de
+Quinola" the audience was to be brilliantly representative of the
+aristocracy, beauty, and talent of France. The proscenium would,
+Balzac hoped, be occupied by ambassadors and ministers, the pit by the
+Chevaliers de St. Louis, and the orchestra stalls by peers; while
+deputies and state functionaries were to be placed in the second
+gallery, financiers in the third, and rich bourgeoisie in the fourth.
+Beautiful women were to be accommodated with particularly prominent
+places; the price of the seats was to be doubled or trebled; and to
+avoid the continual interruptions to which "Vautrin" was subjected,
+tickets were only to be sold to Balzac's assured friends. Therefore
+many persons who offered fabulous sums of money were refused
+admittance, and told that every seat was taken. By these means Balzac
+ultimately overreached himself, as people believed that all the seats
+were really sold, and that it was no use to apply for tickets. When,
+therefore, March 19th, 1842, the night of Balzac's anticipated triumph
+arrived, instead of a brilliant assemblage crowding the Odeon, it was
+three parts empty; and the small audience, who had paid enormously for
+their seats, and naturally expected a brilliant throng in the theatre,
+were in a critical and captious mood.
+
+The scene of the play was laid in Spain in the time of Phillip II.,
+and much of the dialogue was witty and spirited; but Balzac had mixed
+up serious situations and burlesque in a manner irritating to the
+audience, and there were many interruptions. Balzac was fortunately
+unaware of his want of success; he had completely disappeared, and it
+was not till half-past twelve, long after the finish of the
+performance, that he was discovered fast asleep at the back of a box.
+The fourth representation of "Les Ressources de Quinola" was specially
+tumultuous. Lireux, being now master of the theatre, invited all the
+journalistic world to be present, and they, furious at their exclusion
+during the first three nights, encouraged the general clamour. Some of
+the hooters were turned out, and the audience then amused themselves
+by ejaculating "Splendid!" "Admirable!" "Superb!" and "Sublime!" at
+every sentence, and by singing comic couplets, such as:
+
+  C'est M. Balzac,
+  Qu'a fait tout ce mic-mac!
+
+During the intervals.
+
+However, after two scenes had been entirely cut out, and several
+others suppressed, "Quinola" ran for nineteen nights. Many years
+afterwards, in 1863, it was acted at the Vaudeville, and was a great
+success. During his lifetime Balzac's plays received little applause--
+in fact, were generally greeted with obloquy; but when it was too late
+for praise or blame to matter, his apotheosis as a dramatist took
+place; and on this occasion his bust was brought to the stage, and
+crowned amid general enthusiasm.
+
+The year 1842 is important in the annals of Balzac's life, as on April
+23rd his novels were for the first time collected together to form the
+"Comedie Humaine," his great title to fame. The preface to this ranks
+among the celebrated prefaces of the world, and it was written at the
+suggestion of his friend Hetzel, who objected strongly to the prefaces
+signed Felix David, which had been placed in 1835 at the beginning of
+the "Etudes de Moeurs au XIXieme Siecle," and of the "Etudes
+Philosophiques." In an amusing letter Hetzel tells Balzac that a
+preface should be simple, natural, rather modest, and always good-
+humoured. "Sum up--sum up as modestly as possible. There is the true
+pride, when any one has done what you have. Relate what you want to
+say quite calmly. Imagine yourself old, disengaged from everything
+even from yourself. Speak like one of your own heroes, and you will
+make something useful, indispensable.
+
+"Set to work, my fat father; allow a thin publisher to speak thus to
+Your Fatness. You know that it is with good intentions."[*]
+
+[*] "Trois Lettres," in "Autour de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte
+    de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+We may be grateful to Hetzel for this advice, which Balzac evidently
+followed; as the preface is written in a quiet and modest tone unusual
+with him, and he follows Hetzel's counsel, and gives a concise summary
+of his intention in writing the "Comedie Humaine."
+
+He explains that he has attempted in his great work to classify man,
+as Buffon has classified animals, and to show that his varieties of
+character, like the differences of form in the lower creation, come
+from environment. The three great divisions of the Comedie Humaine are
+"Etudes de Moeurs," "Etudes Philosophiques," and "Etudes Analytiques";
+and the "Etudes de Moeurs" comprise many subdivisions, each of which,
+in Balzac's mind, is connected with some special period of life.
+
+The "Scenes de la Vie Privee," of which the best-known novels are "Le
+Pere Goriot" (1834), "La Messe de l'Athee" (1836), "La Grenadiere"
+(1832), "Albert Savarus" (1842), "Etude de Femme" (1830), "Beatrix"
+(1838), and "Modeste Mignon" (1844), Balzac connects with childhood
+and youth. The "Scenes de la Vie de Province," to which belong among
+others "Eugenie Grandet" (1833), "Le Lys dans la Vallee" (1835),
+"L'Illustre Gaudissart" (1833), "Pierrette" (1839), and "Le Cure de
+Tours" (1832), typify a period of combat; while "Scenes de la Vie
+Parisienne," which contain "La Duchesse de Langeais" (1834), "Cesar
+Birotteau" (1837), "La Cousine Bette" (1846), "Le Cousin Pons" (1847),
+"Facino Cane" (1836), "La Maison de Nucingen" (1837), and several
+less-known novels, show the effect of Parisian life in forming or
+modifying character.
+
+Next Balzac turns to more exceptional existences, those which guard
+the interests of others, and gives us "Scenes de la Vie Militaire,"
+comprising "Une Passion dans la Desert" (1830), and "Les Chouans"
+(1827); and "Scenes de la Vie Politique," which contain "Un Episode
+sous la Terreur" (1831), "Une Tenebreuse Affaire" (1841), "Z. Marcas"
+(1840), and "L'Envers de l'Histoire Contemporaine" (1847). He finishes
+the "Etudes de Moeurs" with "Scenes de la Vie de Campagne," consisting
+of "Le Medecin de Campagne" (1832), "Le Cure de Village" (1837 to
+1841), and "Les Paysans" (1844); and these are to be, Balzac says,
+"the evening of this long day. Here are my purest characters, my
+application of the principles of order, politics, morality."
+
+There are no subdivisions to the "Etudes Philosophiques," among which
+we find "La Peau de Chagrin," written in 1830, and considered by
+Balzac a link between the "Etudes de Moeurs" and the "Etudes
+Philosophiques"; "Jesus-Christ en Flandre" (1831), "Massimilla Doni"
+(1839), "La Recherche de l'Absolu" (1834), "Louis Lambert" (1832), and
+"Seraphita" (1835). To the division entitled "Etudes Analytiques"
+belong only two books, "La Physiologie du Mariage" (1829), and
+"Petites Miseres de la Vie Conjugale" (1830 to 1845).
+
+"The Comedie Humaine" was never finished, but, incomplete as it is, it
+remains a noble memorial of Balzac's genius, as well as an astonishing
+testimony of his extraordinary power of work. The last edition of it
+which was published in Balzac's lifetime appeared in 1846, and formed
+sixteen octavo volumes. It consists of eighty-eight novels and tales,
+and by far the greater number of these appeared in the first edition
+of 1842. A strong connection is kept up between the different stories
+by the fact that the same characters appear over and over again, and
+the reader finds himself in a world peopled by beings who, as in real
+life, at one time take the foremost place, and anon are relegated to a
+subordinate position; but who preserve their identity vividly
+throughout.
+
+Balzac found it impossible to manage without a /pied-a-terre/ in
+Paris, and for some reason he could no longer lodge with Bouisson, his
+tailor, so in 1842 he took a lodging in the same house with his
+sister, Madame Surville, at 28, Rue du Faubourg Poissonniere. Life was
+brightening for him; he was beginning by his strenuous efforts to
+diminish perceptibly his load of debt, and the star of hope shone
+brightly on his path.
+
+After many doubts on the part of Madame Hanska, who was most
+particular in observing the proprieties, he was allowed in 1843 to
+meet her in St. Petersburg, and arrived on July 17th, after a rough
+passage from Dunkerque, during which his discomforts were nothing to
+him, so joyous was he at the thought of soon seeing his beloved one.
+Madame Hanska was established at the Hotel Koutaizoff, in the Rue
+Grande Millione, and Balzac took a lodging near, and thought St.
+Petersburg with its deserted streets a dreary place. All minor
+feelings were, however, merged in the happiness of being near Madame
+Hanska, of hearing her voice, and of giving expression to that
+passionate love which had possessed him for more than ten years. In
+his sight she was as young and beautiful as ever, and his fascinated
+eyes watched her with rapture, as she leant back thoughtfully in the
+little arm-chair in the blue drawing-room, her head resting against a
+cushion trimmed with black lace. He could recall every detail
+afterwards of that room, could count the points of the lace, and see
+the bronze ornaments filled with flowers, in which he used to catch
+his knees in his rapid pacings up and down; and his eyes would fill
+with tears, and the creations of his imagination fade and become
+unreal, beside the haunting pictures of his memory. He loved Madame
+Hanska with a love which had grown steadily since their first meeting,
+and which now was threatening to overmaster him, so that even work
+would become impossible. Nevertheless, though she was most charming
+and affectionate, and he stayed in St. Petersburg until September,
+nothing definite was settled.
+
+Madame Hanska was a prudent person; her dearly-loved daughter Anna was
+growing up, and it was quite necessary to settle her in life before
+taking any decided step. Besides, though she hardly allowed this to
+herself, there is no doubt that she was rather alarmed at the prospect
+of becoming Madame Honore de Balzac. The marriage would be decidedly a
+/mesalliance/ for a Rzewuska, and her family constantly and steadily
+exerted their influence to prevent her from wrecking her future. What,
+they asked her, would be her life with a husband as eccentric,
+extravagant, and impecunious, as they believed Balzac to be? They
+collected gossip about him in Paris, and told Madame Hanska endless
+stories, occasionally true, often false, and sometimes merely
+exaggerated, about his oddities, his love affairs, and his general
+unsuitability for alliance with an aristocratic family. It was no
+doubt pleasant to have a man of genius and of worldwide fame as a
+lover; but what would be her position if she took the fatal step, and
+bound herself to him for life? Madame Hanska listened and paused: she
+well understood her advantages as a great and moneyed lady; and she
+was under no illusions as to the harassed and chequered existence
+which she would lead with Balzac. She had often lent him money, his
+letters kept her well informed about the state of his affairs; and the
+idea of becoming wife to a man who was often forced to fly from his
+creditors, must have been extremely distasteful to a woman used to
+luxury and consideration. Maternal affection, love of her country,
+prudence, social and worldly considerations--besides the fear of the
+Czar's displeasure--were all inducements to delay; and even if she had
+felt towards Balzac the passionate love for the lack of which
+posterity has reproached her, it surely would have been the duty of an
+affectionate mother to think of her child's welfare before her own
+happiness. Later on, when Anna was married, and Balzac, broken in
+health and tortured by his longings, was kept a slave to Madame
+Hanska's caprices, the hard thing may be said of her, that she was in
+part the cause of the death of the man she pretended to love. In 1843,
+however, whatever motives incited her, her action in delaying matters
+appears under the circumstances to have been right; and Balzac seems
+to have felt that he had no just cause for complaint.
+
+He wrote to Madame Hanska, at each of the stopping-places during his
+tiring overland journey back to France, and describes vividly the
+miserable, jolting journey through Livonia, where the carriage road
+was marked out by boughs thrown down in the midst of a sandy plain,
+and all around was depressing poverty and desolation. Berlin, peopled
+with Germans of "brutal heaviness," he detested, and he loathed the
+society dinner parties, with no conversation--nothing but tittle-
+tattle and Court gossip; and complained of the trains, which travelled
+he said no quicker than a French diligence. Nevertheless, in contrast
+to Russia, the great /voyant/ was struck with the air of "liberte de
+moeurs" which prevailed throughout Germany. He liked Dresden, and
+enjoyed his visit to its picture gallery, where he especially admired
+a Madeleine and two Virgins by Correggio, as well as two by Raphael,
+one of them presumably the San Sisto Madonna. The gem of the whole
+collection, however, in his opinion, was Holbein's Madonna; and he
+longed to have Madame Hanska's hand in his while he gazed at it. As he
+was away from her, he was very restless, and soon tired of all he saw.
+He longed to be back in Paris, and to find distraction in his work.
+"Think of my trouble, my sadness, and my sorrow, and you will be full
+of pity and of indulgence for the poor exile,"[*] he writes.
+
+[*] "Lettres a l'Etrangere."
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIII
+
+                             1843 - 1846
+
+  Pamela Giraud--Balzac again attempts to become member of the
+  Academie Francaise--Mlle. Henriette Borel's reception into a
+  religious house--Comte Georges Mniszech--"Les Paysans" started in
+  /La Presse/--Madame Hanska's unreasonableness hinders Balzac's
+  work--He travels with her and her daughter, and they return with
+  him to Passy--Comtesse Anna engaged to Comte Georges Mniszech--
+  Balzac takes Madame Hanska and her daughter to Brussels--He meets
+  Madame Hanska at Baden-Baden--Leaves Paris again, meets
+  Wierzchownia party at Naples--Buys bric-a-brac for future home--
+  Work neglected--Dispute with Emile de Girardin--Balzac's
+  unhappiness and suspense--He goes to Rome--Comes back better in
+  health and spirits--"La Cousine Bette" and "Le Cousin Pons"--
+  Balzac goes to Wiesbaden--Marriage of Comtesse Anna and Comte
+  Georges Mniszech--Balzac and Madame Hanska secretly engaged--
+  Parisian gossip.
+
+On September 26th, 1843, during Balzac's absence in St. Petersburg,
+another play of which he was author was produced at the Gaite. It was
+called "Pamela Giraud," and the plot is contrived with an ability
+which proves Balzac's increased knowledge of the art of writing for
+the theatre. At the same time he has attempted no innovations, but he
+has kept to the beaten track; and the play is an old-fashioned
+melodrama with thrilling and heart-rending situations, and virtue
+triumphant at the end. Owing to Balzac's attack on journalism in the
+"Monographie de la Presse Parisienne," which had appeared in March,
+and finished with the words, "Si la presse n'existait pas, il faudrait
+ne pas l'inventer," the whole newspaper world was peculiarly hostile
+to him at this time, and his play received no mercy, and was a
+failure. Curiously enough, Balzac seemed rather pleased at this news,
+which reached him at Berlin, on his journey home to France. He had
+made use of the services of two practised writers for the theatre to
+fit his melodrama to the exigencies of the stage, and possibly this
+fact dulled his interest in it. At any rate he was strangely
+philosophical about its fate.
+
+On November 28th, 1843, soon after his return to Paris, a vacancy was
+left in the Academy by the death of M. Vincent Campenon; and Charles
+Nodier and Victor Hugo proposed Balzac as a candidate for the empty
+seat. Balzac, however, soon withdrew, as he found that his impecunious
+condition would be a reason for his rejection, and he wrote promptly
+to Nodier and to M. de Pongerville, another member of the Academy,
+that if he could not enter L'Academie because of honourable poverty,
+he would never present himself at her doors when prosperity was his
+portion. In September, 1845, another vacancy occurred; but in spite of
+Madame de Girardin's entreaties that Balzac should again come forward
+as a candidate, he refused decidedly, and wrote to Madame Hanska that
+in doing this he knew himself to be consulting her wishes.
+
+The year 1844 was not an unhappy one with Balzac, though his health
+was bad, and he speaks of terrible neuralgia; so that he wrote "Les
+Paysans" with his head in opium, as he had written "Cesar Birotteau"
+with his feet in mustard. Apparently Madame Hanska held out hopes that
+in 1845 his long probation might come to and end, as he writes: "Days
+of illness are days of pleasure to me, for when I do not work with
+absorption of all my moral and physical qualities, I never cease
+thinking of 1845. I arrange houses, I furnish them, I see myself
+there, and I am happy."[*] It was a joy to him to fulfil Madame
+Hanska's commissions, and thus to come in contact with people who had
+been at any time connected with her. Therefore, in spite of his busy
+life, he took much trouble over the arrangements for the entrance of
+Anna's former governess, Mlle Henriette Borel, into a religious house
+in Paris, and was present at her reception into the Couvent de la
+Visitation, Rue l'Enfer, in December, 1845. He was rather annoyed on
+this occasion, as he was working tremendously hard at the "Comedie
+Humaine," and at his "Petites Miseres de la Vie Conjugale," and the
+good nuns, who "thought the world turned only for themselves," told
+him that the ceremony would take place at one o'clock and would last
+an hour, whereas it was not over till four, and as he had to see
+Lirette afterwards, he could not get away till half-past five.
+However, he was consoled by the idea that he was representing his dear
+Countess and Anna, who were in Italy at the time, and he thought the
+service imposing and very dramatic. He was specially thrilled when the
+three new nuns threw themselves on the ground, were covered with a
+pall, while prayers for the dead were recited over them; and after
+this rose up crowned with white roses, as the brides of Christ.
+Lirette was radiant when she had taken the veil, and wished that every
+one would enter a religious house.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 102.
+
+In July, 1844, Madame Hanska and her daughter made the acquaintance
+of the Comte Georges Mniszech, who appeared to be a very suitable
+/parti/for Anna. Balzac naturally took a keen interest in all the
+prospective arrangements, and consulted anxiously with Madame Hanska
+about the young Comte's character, which must of course have proved
+perfect, before a treasure like the young Countess could be confided
+to his keeping. It is strikingly characteristic of Balzac's
+disinterestedness, that though he knew that the young Countess's
+marriage would remove the principal obstacle between him and Madame
+Hanska, he was most insistent in recommending caution till the young man
+had been for some time on probation. However, an engagement soon took
+place, and it seemed as though the great desire of Balzac's heart would
+in a short time be within his reach, and that happiness would shine upon
+him at last.
+
+In 1844 he published among other books "Modeste Mignon," "Gaudissart
+II," a fragment of the first part of "L'Envers de L'Histoire
+Contemporaine," which he entitled "Madame de la Chanterie," the end of
+the first part of "Splendeurs et Miseres des Courtisanes," the third
+and last part of "Beatrix," and the first part of "Les Paysans." This
+began to appear in /La Presse/ on December 3rd, and the disputes about
+its publication led to Balzac's final rupture with Emile de Girardin.
+
+"Les Paysans" was never finished; but was intended to be the most
+considerable, as it is, even in its present fragmentary condition, one
+of the most remarkable of Balzac's novels. For eight years he had at
+intervals started on the composition of this vivid picture of the deep
+under-current of struggle which was going on between the peasant of
+France and the /bourgeoisie/; that deadly fight for the possession of
+the soil which resulted, as the great /voyant/ plainly descried it
+must, in the Revolution of 1848, and the victory of the peasant.
+Balzac also intended to depict the demoralisation of the people by
+their abandonment of the Catholic religion; and the novel, in
+emulation of Victor Hugo and of Dumas, was to fill many volumes. The
+first version of it, entitled "Le Grand Proprietaire," was begun about
+1835, and the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul in his interesting
+book entitled "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," gives the text of
+this, the MS. of which forms part of his collection. About the year
+1836 or 1838, Balzac altered the title of his proposed novel to "Qui a
+Terre, a Guerre," and it was not till 1839 that he named the work "Les
+Paysans." In 1840 Balzac offered "Les Paysans," which he said was
+ready to appear in fifteen days, to M. Dujarier, the manager of /La
+Presse/, and received 1,650 francs in advance for the novel. However,
+in 1841 he substituted "Les Deux Freres," which was the first part of
+"La Rabouilleuse," for "Les Paysans," and offered the latter work as
+if finished to Le Messager and also to the publisher Locquin, under
+the title of "La Chaumiere et le Chateau."
+
+In April, 1843, Balzac had paid back part of his debt to /La Presse/
+by publishing "Honorine" in its columns, but in September, 1844, he
+received 9,000 francs in advance for the still unwritten "Les
+Paysans." It was further arranged that when this debt had been worked
+out, he should be given sixty centimes a line for the remainder of the
+novel, and that /La Presse/ should pay for composition and
+corrections. It will be noticed that Emile de Girardin, the autocratic
+chief of /La Presse/, had at last wearied of the bickering which had
+gone on between him and Balzac ever since their first relations of
+1830, and in 1840 had handed over the task of dealing with the
+aggravating author to his subordinate Dujarier. The treaty concerning
+"Les Paysans" was therefore drawn up with Dujarier, and matters no
+doubt would have proceeded harmoniously, had not the latter been
+killed in a duel in March, 1845.
+
+The first number of "Les Paysans" appeared on December 3rd, 1844, and
+then, owing to a most untoward concatenation of circumstances, there
+was a long pause in Balzac's contributions to /La Presse/. Madame
+Hanska had unfortunately decided for some time that she would in 1845
+make one of those journeys which more than anything else threw Balzac
+and his affairs into inextricable confusion. Before M. de Hanski's
+death, however, Balzac was at any rate welcomed with effusion when, in
+his longing to see Madame Hanska, he left his affairs in Paris to take
+care of themselves. In those early days she was devotedly attached to
+him; besides, an adorer was a fashionable appendage for an elegant
+married woman, and the conquest of a distinguished man of letters like
+Balzac was something to be proud of. Now, however, there was no
+husband as a protector in the eyes of the world; and marriage, a
+marriage about which she felt many qualms, loomed large before her
+startled eyes. She had no intention of giving up the delightful luxury
+of Balzac's love; but might she not by judicious diplomacy, she
+sometimes asked herself, manage to enjoy this, without taking the last
+irrevocable step? Her position was not enviable, the state of feeling
+embodied in the words "she would and she wouldn't" always betokening
+in the subject a wearing variability of mind posture; but compared
+with the anguish of Balzac, whom she was slowly killing by her
+vacillations, her woes do not deserve much sympathy.
+
+At St. Petersburg, possibly during one of their walks on the quay, or
+on a cozy evening when the samovar was brought up at nine o'clock, and
+placed on the white table with yellowish lines--she had promised
+Balzac that he might meet her next year at Dresden. However, when she
+arrived there, and found herself in a circle of her own relations, who
+according to Balzac poisoned her mind against him, she not only
+objected to his presence, but, in her sudden fear of gossip, she
+forbade him to write to her again during her stay at Dresden. She sent
+off another letter almost at once, contradicting her last command; but
+she would not make up her mind whether Balzac might come to her at
+Dresden, whether she would consent to meet him at Frankfort, or
+whether he should prepare a house for her and Anna in Paris. Balzac
+could settle to nothing. In order to work as he understood the word,
+it was necessary that he should exclude all outside disturbing
+influence, and hear only the voices of the world where Le Pere Goriot,
+old Grandet, La Cousine Bette, and their fellows, toiled, manoeuvred,
+and suffered. How could he do this, how could he even arrange his
+business affairs, when a letter might come by any post, telling him to
+start at once and meet his beloved one? Precious time was wasted,
+never to be recalled; and when Balzac, raging with impatience and
+irritation, dared very gently, and with words of affection, to express
+the feelings which devoured him, the divinity was offended, and he
+received a rebuke for his impatience and tone of authority.
+
+In April, 1845, he writes: "Shall I manage to write two numbers of the
+'Paysans' in twelve days? That is the problem, for I have not a single
+line written. Dresden and you, between you, turn my head; I do not
+know what will become of me. There is nothing more fatal than the
+state of indecision in which you have kept me for three months. If I
+had started on January 1st, and had returned on February 28th, I
+should have been more advanced in my work, and I should have had two
+good months, like the ones at St. Petersburg. Dear sovereign star, how
+do you expect me to conceive an idea or write a single phrase, with my
+heart and head agitated as they have been since last November? It has
+been enough to make a man mad! In vain I have stuffed myself with
+coffee: I have only succeeded in increasing the nervous trembling of
+my eyes, and I have written nothing; this is my situation to-day,
+April 10th; and I have /La Presse/ behind me, sending to me every day,
+and the 'Paysans,' which is my first long work. I am between two
+despairs, that of not seeing you, of not having seen you, and the
+literary and financial trouble, the trouble of self-respect. Oh,
+Charles II. was quite right to say: 'But she?' in all the affairs
+submitted to him by his ministers.
+
+"I can only write you this word, and it is full of sadness, for I must
+work and try to forget you for several days, to belong in the future
+more thoroughly and surely to you. It is noon; I start again at 'Les
+Paysans' for the tenth time, and all the muscles in my face work like
+those of an animal; Nature has had enough of work--she kicks over the
+traces. Ah! why have I debts? Why must I work whether I wish to or
+not? I am so unhappy, so tormented, so despondent, that I refuse to be
+hopeless; you must surely see that I am more than ever yours, and that
+I pass my life uselessly away from you, for the glory gained by
+inspired work is not worth a few hours passed with you! In the end I
+trust only in God and in you alone: in you who do not write me a word
+more for that; you who might at least console me with three letters a
+week, and who hardly write me two, and those so short!"[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 142.
+
+However, on April 18th he received a letter from Madame Hanska
+containing the words, "I wish to see you," and rushed off at once to
+Dresden oblivious of everything but his one desire. /La Presse/
+apparently submitted to this interruption philosophically. Its readers
+had not found the opening of "Les Paysans" amusing, while /Le Moniteur
+de l'Armee/ had strongly and rather absurdly objected to it, as likely
+to lower military prestige. /La Presse/ had therefore decided in any
+case to put off the appearance of "Les Paysans" till February, and to
+begin the year 1845 with "La Reine Margot," by Alexandre Dumas.
+
+Meanwhile Balzac was having a delightful time. Having joined Madame
+Hanska at Dresden, he travelled with her and the Comtesse Anna and
+Comte Georges Mniszech, who had lately become engaged, to Cannstadt,
+Carlsruhe, and Strasburg; and to his intense delight, in July, the
+Countess and her daughter came to him at Passy, and took up their
+abode in a little house near the Rue Basse, with a carefully chosen
+housemaid, cook, and man. The Czar had prohibited the journey to
+France, so they travelled incognito as Balzac's sister and niece, the
+Countess Anna taking the name of Eugenie, perhaps in remembrance of
+Balzac's heroine Eugenie Grandet.[*] In the morning they went by cab
+or on foot into Paris, and in the evening a carriage was at their
+disposal, and they visited the theatre and the opera. We can easily
+realise the excitement and joy Balzac felt in showing them all his
+treasures--the bust by David D'Angers, the precious Medici furniture
+of ebony encrusted with mother-of-pearl, the Cellini statuettes, and
+the pictures by Giorgione, Palma, Watteau, and Greuze.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul.
+
+July passed quickly in this mode of life, Balzac acting as cicerone to
+the two ladies, and their identity was fortunately not discovered. In
+August he conducted them as far as Brussels on their way back to
+Dresden, and together they visited Fontainebleau, Orleans, Bourges,
+his much-loved Tours, Blois, Rotterdam, La Hague, and Antwerp. At
+Brussels they were met by M. Georges Mniszech, who took charge of the
+two Countesses in Balzac's place. The latter felt obliged to write
+afterwards to the Count to apologise for his cold good-bye, and to
+explain that he had been forced to assume indifference, because he
+feared a complete breakdown unless he sternly repressed all appearance
+of feeling.
+
+However, he was not away for long from Madame Hanska, as he spent from
+September 20th till October 4th with her at Baden-Baden, where she had
+been ordered for a course of the waters. The time there was the
+happiest in his life, as it seemed to him that he could now plainly
+see a picture of the future, which he prayed for and dreamed of in the
+midst of his crushing work.
+
+On October 16th, 1845, he left Paris again, met Madame Hanska, her
+daughter, and prospective son-in-law at Chalons, and started with them
+on their Italian tour. It took a day to travel by boat from Chalons to
+Lyons, and another day to go by boat from Lyons to Avignon; but the
+time flew from Madame Hanska and Balzac, who were engrossed all the
+way in delightful talk. They arrived at Marseilles on October 29th,
+and stayed for two nights at the Hotel d'Orient, where Balzac's friend
+Mery had secured rooms for them. They then went by sea to Naples, and
+there Balzac worked so hard at sight-seeing, saw so much, and talked
+so volubly, that he was quite exhausted. He remained a few days only
+at Naples, and had a very tiring journey back, as the sea was
+extremely rough; and when he reached Marseilles Mery insisted on
+taking him into society, so that he had no opportunity of resting even
+there. It was altogether a very expensive journey. He could not drink
+the water on board the boat coming home, and therefore was obliged to
+quench his thirst with champagne; and as the captain and the steward
+showed him extraordinary politeness, /they/ had also to be given
+champagne, and invited to a lunch party at the Hotel d'Orient when the
+ship arrived at Marseilles. Balzac was evidently rather ashamed of
+this escapade, and begged Madame Hanska not to let Georges know
+anything of his extravagance, as he would be certain to make fun of
+it.
+
+The bric-a-brac shops at Marseilles were another terrible cause of
+temptation, and one to which Balzac apparently succumbed without a
+struggle, consoling himself with the reflection that his purchases
+were "de vraies occasions a saisir."
+
+When he arrived at Passy on November 17th, and retired to bed with an
+attack of fever as the result of all his fatigues, he might be
+expected to feel slightly depressed at the thought of the time he had
+wasted during the last few months, and of his small advance in the
+work of paying off his debts. As far as we can judge, however, these
+were not his reflections. He was dreaming of the past year, the
+happiest year of his life, because so much of it had been spent with
+Madame Hanska; and when his mind turned to more practical subjects, he
+thought of various projects for buying the house which was to be their
+future home, and of the way it should be decorated. His mind dwelt
+constantly on these preparations for his married life; and he
+continued to correspond with Mery, and to entrust him with delicate
+commissions which required much bargaining. At this Mery was not,
+according to his own account, very successful, as he remarks in an
+amusing letter to Balzac: "I call to witness all the marble false gods
+which decorate Lazardo's dark museum. I have neglected nothing to
+succeed with your message. I have paid indolent visits, I have taken
+the airs of a bored 'agathophile,' I have turned my back on the
+objects of your desire. All my efforts have been in vain. They
+obstinately continue to ask fabulous prices."[*]
+
+[*] Letters from the collection of the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul, published in the /Revue Bleue/ of December 5th, 1903.
+
+In February, 1845,[*] Balzac had written cheerfully about the 30,000
+francs for "Les Paysans" which he would obtain from the publisher, and
+the 10,000 from the journal; of the 15,000 francs which would come to
+him from "La Comedie Humaine," and the 30,000 from the sale of Les
+Jardies, besides 10,000 francs from his other works and 20,000 from
+the railway du Nord; and had calculated that his most pressing
+liabilities would soon be discharged. His figures and computations on
+the subject of money can never be relied on, and the railway du Nord
+was a most unfortunate speculation, and proved a constant drain on his
+resources. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that he was beginning to
+diminish perceptibly the burden of debt which pressed upon him, and
+that if Madame Hanska had not existed, and if on the other hand he had
+not himself embarked on some mad scheme or senseless piece of
+extravagance, he might in a few years have become a free man. These
+long months of expensive inaction rendered this happy solution to the
+troubles of his life impossible.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 123.
+
+Meanwhile fresh misfortunes were gathering. On November 27th, 1845,
+Emile de Girardin, who since Dujarier's death had resumed business
+relations with Balzac, addressed to him a most discourteous letter. He
+apparently disbelieved in the terms of the agreement by which the
+great writer was to be paid sixty centimes a line for "Les Paysans,"
+and demanded a certified copy of it;[*] and he also announced that for
+"Les Petites Miseres de la Vie Conjugale," which was about to appear
+in the /Revue/, he could not pay more than forty centimes, which was,
+he said, his maximum price to contributors. Later on, in March, 1846,
+Girardin despatched another message to complain of the delay in
+continuing "Les Paysans," and in this he remarked with bitter emphasis
+that as /La Presse/ paid so highly for what was published in her
+pages, she had at least the right of objecting to being treated
+lightly. Balzac replied on March 16th, 1846, that /he/ was the one who
+ought to bear malice, as Dujarier had upset his arrangements by
+interrupting the publication of "Les Paysans" to substitute "La Reine
+Margot," by Dumas, and that now his brain required rest, and that he
+was starting that very day for a month's holiday in Rome.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul (from which the whole account of the dispute between
+    Balzac and Emile de Girardin is taken).
+
+If Balzac had remained in France it is doubtful whether he would have
+written much, as he had been in a miserably unsettled state all the
+winter of 1845 to 1846. His health was bad: he mentions continual
+colds and neuralgia, and on one occasion remarks that owing to
+complete exhaustion he has slept all through the day. Besides this,
+his suspense about Madame Hanska's ultimate decision made him
+absolutely wretched. He writes to her on December 17th, 1845: "Nothing
+amuses me, nothing distracts me, nothing animates me; it is the death
+of the soul, the death of the will, the weakening of the whole being;
+I feel that I can only take up my work again when I see my life
+determined, fixed, arranged."[*] Later on in the same letter he says:
+"I am crushed; I have waited too long, I have hoped too much; I have
+been too happy this year, and I do not want anything else. After so
+many years of misfortune and of work, to have been free as a bird,
+superhumanly happy, and to return to one's cell! . . . is it possible?
+. . . I dream: I dream by day and by night, and the thought of the
+heart driven back on itself prevents all action of the thought of the
+brain; it is terrible!"
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 200.
+
+On one occasion Madame Hanska wrote apparently reproaching him with
+talking indiscreetly about her; and without finishing the letter, the
+end of which was affectionate, and would have calmed his mind, he at
+once jumped out of the cab in which he was driving, and walked for
+hours about Paris. He was wearing thin shoes, and there were two
+inches of snow on the ground; but his agitation was so great at her
+unjust accusations, and his indignation so fierce at the wickedness of
+the people who had libelled him, that he hardly knew where he was
+going, and returned at last, still so excited by the anguish of his
+mind, that he was not conscious of bodily fatigue. Such crises, and
+the consequent exhaustion afterwards, were not conducive to work;
+particularly in a man whose heart was already affected, and who had
+overstrained his powers for years.
+
+Possibly in the hope of obtaining distraction and relief from the
+anxious misery of thought, he went into society more than usual this
+year; and in spite of the strained relations between him and Emile de
+Girardin, he often dined at the editor's house, and was on most
+friendly terms with Madame de Girardin. On January 1st, 1846, he wrote
+to Madame Hanska, "I dined, as I told you in my last letter, with
+Nestor Roqueplan, the director of the Theatre des Varietes, the last
+Wednesday of December, and the last day of the month with the
+illustrious Delphine. We laughed as much as I can laugh without you,
+and far from you. Delphine is really the queen of conversation; that
+evening she was especially sublime, brilliant, charming. Gautier was
+there as well; I left after having a long talk with him. He said that
+there was no hurry for 'Richard, Coeur d'Eponge'; the theatre is well
+provided at present. Perhaps Gautier and I will write the piece
+together later on."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 212.
+
+Balzac's mind was still running on the theatre. Owing to failing
+health and to his unfortunate love affair, he now found it more
+difficult to concentrate his mind than formerly, and the incessant
+work of earlier years was no longer possible; so that the easy road to
+fortune offered by a successful play became doubly attractive.
+"Richard Coeur d'Eponge," however, never appeared; and except several
+fragments, which are in the hands of the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+Lovenjoul, it is doubtful whether it was written, though Balzac often
+discussed the plot with Gautier.
+
+What, after all, were novels, essays, or plays, of what interest were
+scenes, plots, or characters, what was fame, what was art itself,
+compared with Madame Hanska? How was it possible for a man to work,
+with the gloriously disquieting prospect before him that in so many
+months, weeks, days, he should meet his divinity? The phantoms of his
+imagination faded to insignificance, and then to utter nullity, beside
+the woman of flesh and blood, the one real object in a world of
+shadows. On March 17th, 1846, he started on his journey to Rome, and
+everything became a blank, except the intoxicating thought that each
+hour diminished the distance between him and the woman he loved. She
+evidently received him with enthusiasm, and showed so much affection,
+that though nothing definite was settled, he felt that her ultimate
+decision to marry him was certain; and was only deferred to a more
+convenient season, when her daughter Anna should have become La
+Comtesse Mniszech. Therefore the whole world brightened for him, and
+he became again full of life and vigour. He stayed for a month in the
+Eternal City, was presented to the Pope, admired St. Peter's
+extremely, and said that his time there would for ever remain one of
+the greatest and most beautiful recollections of his life. As the
+route by sea was crowded by travellers who had spent Holy Week in
+Rome, and all wanted to return at the same time, he travelled back by
+Switzerland; and explored fresh country and hunted for curiosities on
+the way. Several pictures were to follow him from Italy: a Sebastian
+del Piombo, a Bronzino, and a Mirevelt, which he describes as of
+extreme beauty; and with his usual happy faith in his own good luck,
+he hoped to pick up some other bargains such as "Hobbemas and Holbeins
+for a few crowns," in the towns through which he would pass on his
+journey. A definite engagement did not take place till some months
+later; but some tacit understanding must now have been allowed by
+Madame Hanska, as there began to appear from this time in Balzac's
+letters exact descriptions of the Sevres china, the inlaid furniture,
+and the bric-a-brac, which he was buying evidently with her money as
+well as his own, to adorn their future home together. As usual, on his
+return he found his affairs in utter confusion, was pursued by
+creditors, and was absolutely without money. As a last misfortune, his
+housekeeper, Madame de Brugnolle, in whose name the habitation at
+Passy had been rented, and who generally managed his business affairs,
+was busy preparing for her approaching marriage, and had naturally no
+time to spare for her supposed lodger's difficulties. Altogether
+Balzac felt that the world was a harassing place.
+
+However, his health was admirable, "et le talent! . . . oh! je l'ai
+retrouve dans sa fleur!"[*] He was full of hope and confidence; and
+although the shares of the railway du Nord continued to fall in value,
+he considered that with steady work at his novels, and with the help
+of a successful comedy, he would soon have paid off his debts, and
+would have a little house of his own, with room for his beautiful
+things; which, owing to want of space, and also to fear of his
+creditors, were never unpacked. It was necessary to prove that he was
+as young, as fresh, and as fertile as ever, and with this object in
+view, in June, 1846, he began the two books which were to form the
+series entitled "L'Histoire des Parents Pauvres." The first, "La
+Cousine Bette," appeared in the /Constitutionnel/ from October to
+December, 1846, and is intended to represent "a poor relation
+oppressed by humiliations and injuries, living in the midst of three
+or four families of her relations, and meditating vengeance for the
+bruising of her amour-propre, and for her wounded vanity!"[*] The
+second received several names in turn. It was first called "Le Vieux
+Musicien," next "Le Bonhomme Pons," and then "Le Parasite," a title on
+which Balzac said he had decided definitely. However, Madame Hanska
+objected, as she declared that "Le Parasite" was only suitable for an
+eighteenth-century comedy, and the book appeared in April, 1847, as
+"Le Cousin Pons." Though intensely tragic, it is not as horrible or
+revolting as its pendant, the gloomy "Cousine Bette"; and Balzac has
+portrayed admirably the simple old man with his fondness for good
+dinners; "the poor relation oppressed by humiliations and injuries,
+pardoning all, and only revenging himself by doing kindnesses." Side
+by side with him is the touching figure of his faithful friend
+Schmucke, the childlike German musician, who dies of grief at the
+death of Pons. In writing these two remarkable books, his last
+important works, Balzac proved conclusively that his hand had not lost
+its cunning, and that the slow rate of literary production during the
+last few years of his life was caused by his unhappy circumstances,
+and not by any failure in his genius.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 243.
+
+After all, the year 1846 ended for him with agitation which increased
+his heart disease. His beloved trio, whom he had christened the
+"troupe Bilboquet," after the vaudeville "Les Saltimbanques," had now
+moved to Wiesbaden; and thither their faithful "Bilboquet," the
+"vetturino per amore," as Madame de Girardin laughingly called him,
+rushed to meet them. He found "notre grande et chere Atala" rather
+crippled with rheumatism, and not able to take the exercise which was
+necessary for her, but in his eyes as beautiful as ever. The "gentille
+Zephirine," otherwise the Countess Anna, was gay, charming, and
+beautifully dressed; and "Gringalet," the Count, was completely
+occupied--when not making love--with his collection of insects, on
+which he spent large sums. About this collection Balzac made many
+rather heavy jokes, calling the Count a "Gringalet sphynx-lepidoptere-
+coleoptere-ante-diluvien,"[*] but in an anxious desire to ingratiate
+himself with Madame Hanska's family, he often despatched magnificent
+specimens of the insect species from Paris to add to it.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 287.
+
+Balzac travelled about a little with the Hanski family, and remained
+with them till September 15th, when he was obliged to go back to
+Paris. Either at this time, or when he returned for the wedding of the
+Comtesse Anna and the Comte Georges Mniszech, which took place at
+Wiesbaden on October 13th, 1846, a secret engagement was contracted
+between him and Madame Hanska.
+
+He was now terribly anxious that there should be no further delay
+about his marriage, and on his way back from Germany on one of these
+two occasions, he applied to M. Germeau, then prefect of Metz,[*] who
+had been at school with him at Vendome, to know whether the necessary
+formalities could be abridged, so that the wedding might take place at
+once. This was impossible; and though the great obstacle to their
+union was now removed, Madame Hanska refused to be parted from her
+beloved daughter, and insisted on accompanying the newly married
+couple on their honeymoon. Her determination caused Balzac terrible
+agony of mind, as she was unwell, and was suffering a great deal at
+the time, and he therefore wished her to remain quietly somewhere in
+France; moreover, despair seized him at her hesitation to become his
+wife, when the course at last seemed clear. His trouble at this time
+appears to have had a serious effect on his health, and some words
+spoken half in malice, half in warning by Madame de Girardin, must
+have sounded like a knell in his ears. He tells them apparently in
+jest to Madame Hanska to give her an example of the nonsense people
+talk in Paris. In his accuracy of repetition, however, we can trace a
+passionately anxious desire to force Madame Hanska herself to deny the
+charges brought against her; and perhaps lurking behind this, a wish
+unacknowledged even to himself, to shame her if--even after all that
+had passed--she were really not in earnest.
+
+[*] See "Une Page Perdue de Honore de Balzac," p. 276, by the Vicomte
+    de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+He says: "Madame de Girardin told me that she heard from a person who
+knew you intimately, that you were extremely flattered by my homage;
+that from vanity and pride you made me come wherever you went; that
+you were very happy to have a man of genius as courier, but that your
+social position was too high to allow me to aspire to anything else.
+And then she began to laugh with an ironical laugh, and told me that I
+was wasting my time running after great ladies, only to fail with
+them. Hein! Isn't that like Paris!"[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 295.
+
+The reader of Balzac's life is forced to the sad conclusion that
+Parisian gossip had on this occasion sketched the situation tolerably
+correctly; though the truth of the picture was no doubt denied with
+much indignation by Madame Hanska.
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIV
+
+                             1846 - 1848
+
+  Balzac buys a house in the Rue Fortunee--Madame Hanska's visit to
+  Paris--Balzac burns her letters--Final breach with Emile de
+  Girardin--Balzac's projects for writing for the theatre--He goes
+  to Wierzchownia--Plan for transporting oaks from Russia to France
+  --Balzac returns to Paris at the eve of the Revolution of 1848--
+  Views on politics--Stands for last time as deputy.
+
+Much of Balzac's time, whenever he was in Paris in 1845 and 1846, was
+taken up with house-hunting; and some of his still unpublished letters
+to Madame Hanska contain long accounts of the advantages of the
+different abodes he had visited. He was now most anxious to be
+permanently settled, as there was no room for his art treasures in the
+Rue Basse; but as Madame Hanska's tastes had to be consulted as well
+as his own, it was necessary to be very careful in his choice.
+However, in October, 1846, he at last found something which he thought
+would be suitable. This was the villa which had formerly belonged to
+the financier Beaujon, in the Rue Fortunee, now the Rue Balzac. The
+house was not large, it was what might now be described as a "bijou
+residence," but though out of repair, it had been decorated with the
+utmost magnificence by Beaujon, and Balzac's discriminating eye
+quickly discerned its aesthetic possibilities.
+
+In front of the house was a long narrow courtyard, the pavement of
+which was interrupted here and there by flower-beds. This courtyard
+was bordered by a wall, and above the wall nothing could be seen from
+the road but a cupola, which formed the domed ceiling of the
+financier's boudoir. Some of the inside adornments possessed a
+delightful fitness for the uses to which they were destined. For
+instance, what could have been a more graceful compliment to the
+Mniszechs than to lodge them during their visits to Paris, which would
+of course be frequent, in a set of rooms painted with brilliant exotic
+butterflies, poised lightly on lovely flowers? Apparently foreseeing,
+as Balzac remarks, that a "Lepidopterian Georges" would at some time
+inhabit the mansion, Beaujon had actually provided a beautiful bedroom
+and a little drawing-room decorated in this way.[*] It seemed quite
+providential!
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 289.
+
+Balzac was very happy superintending the building operations, deciding
+exactly where his different treasures would look best in his new
+abode, and hunting for fresh acquisitions to make every detail
+perfect. Later on, his letters from Russia to his mother when she was
+taking charge of the house--then furnished and decorated--show how
+dearly he loved all his household goods, and how well he was
+acquainted with their peculiarities; how he realised the danger,
+unless it were held by the lower part,[*] of moving the greenish-grey
+china vase with cracked glaze, which was to stand on one of the
+consoles in black wood and Buhl marqueterie; and how he thought
+anxiously about the candle ornaments of gilt crystal, which were only
+to be arranged /after/ the candelabra had been put up in the white
+drawing-room. In 1846 and 1847, his letters are instinct with the
+passion of the confirmed collector, who has no thought beyond his
+bric-a-brac. His excitement is intense because Madame Hanska has
+discovered that a tea service in his possession is real Watteau, and
+because he has had the "incredible good fortune" to find a milk jug
+and a sugar basin to match it exactly. When we remember that the man
+who thus expresses his delight was in the act of writing "Les Parents
+Pauvres," and of evoking scenes of touching pathos and gloomy horror,
+we are once more amazed at the extraordinary versatility of Balzac's
+mind and genius.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 337.
+
+The deep thinker, the pessimistic believer in the omnipotence of vice
+and in the helpless suffering of virtue, who drags to light what is
+horrible from among the dregs of the people, seems to have nothing in
+common with the charming, playful figure of "le vieux Bilboquet," who
+gave Madame Hanska's daughter and her son-in-law a big place in his
+heart, and was never jealous when, avowedly for their sakes, his
+wishes, feelings, and health were unconsidered; whose servants, hard-
+worked though they were, adored him; and who never forgot his friends,
+or failed to help them when adversity fell upon them.
+
+At the beginning of 1847, peace for a time visited Balzac's restless
+spirit. In February he went to Germany to fetch Madame Hanska, and
+leaving the Mniszechs to go back alone to Wierzchownia, she travelled
+with him to Paris, and remained there till April. It is significant,
+as the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul remarks,[*] that during the
+time of her stay in Paris, when Balzac's mind was no longer disturbed
+by his constant longing to see her, he accomplished the last serious
+bout of work in his life, beginning the "Depute D'Arcis" in /L'Union/,
+"La Cousine Bette" in the /Constitutionnel/, and "La Derniere
+Incarnation de Vautrin" in /La Presse/.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," p. 194
+
+He had other duties at the same time, being occupied with what /he/
+calls the most beautiful work of his life, that of preventing "a
+mother separated from so adorable a child as her Grace the Countess
+Georges, from dying of grief." He writes to the Mniszechs on February
+27th, 1847[*]: "Our dear adored Atala is in a charming and magnificent
+apartment (and not too dear). She has a garden; she goes a great deal
+to the convent" (to see Mlle. Henriette Borel). "I try to distract her
+and to be as much as possible Anna to her; but the name of her dear
+daughter is so daily and continually on her lips, that the day before
+yesterday, when she was enjoying herself immensely at the Varietes--in
+fits of laughter at the 'Filleul de Tout le Monde,' acted by Bouffe
+and Hyacinthe--in the midst of her gaiety, she asked herself in a
+heartbroken voice, which brought tears to my eyes, how she could laugh
+and amuse herself like this, without her 'dear little one.' I allow,
+dear Zephirine, that I took the liberty of telling her, that you were
+amusing yourself enormously without her, with your lord and master,
+His Majesty the King of the Coleoptera; that I was sure that you were
+at this time one of the happiest women in the world; and I hope that
+Gringalet, on whom I drew this bill of exchange, will not contradict
+me. I have four tolerably strong attractions to bring forward against
+the thought of you: 1st, the Conservatoire; 2nd, the Opera; 3rd, the
+Italian Opera; 4th, the Exhibition."
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 312.
+
+Balzac's hands were certainly pleasantly full at this time. His power
+of writing, which had temporarily deserted him, seemed now to have
+returned in full vigour; and he had made forty or fifty thousand
+francs in three months, so was hopeful of paying off his debts, a
+point on which Madame Hanska wisely laid much stress. She still
+refused to decide anything definitely about the date of their
+marriage; but the house was to a great extent her property, and at
+this time she identified herself completely with Balzac in all the
+arrangements to do with it. Though he kept on his rooms in the Rue
+Basse and left his effects there, he moved in April 1847 to the Rue
+Fortunee, that he might be better able to superintend the building and
+decorating, and might himself keep watch over his treasures, which
+must gradually be unpacked and bestowed to the best advantage. About
+the middle of April he conducted Madame Hanska to Forbach on her way
+back to Wierzchownia, and himself returned to Paris to finish the
+house, put his affairs in order, and then follow her to Wierzchownia.
+There he hoped the wedding would quickly take place, and that Monsieur
+and Madame Honore de Balzac would return to Paris, and would live to a
+ripe old age in married happiness; he writing many masterpieces, she
+helping with advice, and forming a salon where her social position,
+cleverness, and charm would surround her with the highest in the land.
+The prospect was intoxicating; surely no one was ever so near the
+attainment of his most radiant visions!
+
+On Balzac's return to Paris, however, he was confronted by realities
+of the most terrible nature.
+
+When he arrived at the Rue Basse, he found to his horror that the lock
+of his precious casket had been forced, and some of Madame Hanska's
+letters had been abstracted. It was a case of blackmail, as the thief
+demanded 30,000 francs, in default of which the letters would at once
+be handed over to the Czar. If this were to happen, Balzac's hopes of
+happiness were annihilated, and the consequences to Madame Hanska
+would be even more serious. Unless approached with the utmost caution,
+the Czar would certainly refuse his consent to the marriage of a
+Russian subject with a foreigner, and would be furious if he were to
+discover a secret love affair between the French novelist and one of
+his most important subjects. Yet how could Balzac find 30,000 francs?
+
+Already in the grip of heart disease the agony he endured at this time
+took him one stage further down the valley of death. In the end he
+managed by frightening the thief, to effect the return of the letters
+without any immediate payment; but the anguish he had passed through,
+and the thought of the terrible consequences only just evaded, decided
+him to burn all the letters he had received from Madame Hanska. It was
+a terrible sacrifice. He describes in an unpublished letter to her his
+feelings, as he sat by the fire, and watched each letter curl up,
+blacken, and finally disappear. He had read and re-read them till they
+had nearly dropped to pieces, had been cheered and comforted by the
+sight of them when the world had gone badly, and had owned them so
+long that they seemed part of himself. There was the first of all, the
+herald of joy, the opening of a new life; and almost as precious at
+this moment seemed the one which discovered to him the identity of his
+correspondent, and held out hopes of a speedy meeting. One after
+another he took them out of the box which had held some of them for
+many years, and each seemed equally difficult to part with. However,
+as he wrote to Madame Hanska, he knew that he was doing right in
+destroying them, and that the painful sacrifice was absolutely
+necessary.
+
+Meanwhile, Emile de Girardin was naturally becoming impatient about
+the continuation of "Les Paysans," which he had never received.[*] He
+wrote to Balzac at the end of April, 1847, that the printer had been
+ready for the finish of the book since the November before, and that
+unless Balzac could produce it in June, the idea of its appearance in
+/La Presse/ must be given up altogether; and in this case he must ask
+the author to settle with M. Rouy about the advances of money already
+made to him. He further remarked with scathing though excusable
+distrust in Balzac's fulfilment of his business engagements, that he
+refused to continue to bring out the work at all, unless he were
+absolutely certain that it was completely written and that no further
+interruption would ensue. Friendly social relations still subsisted,
+however, between Balzac and the Girardins, as, about the same time
+that Emile penned this uncompromising epistle, the following note
+reached Balzac,[+] the last he ever received from the peace-making
+Madame de Girardin:
+
+"It is the evening of my last Wednesday. Come, cruel one. Mrs. Norton
+will be here. Do you not wish me to have the glory of having presented
+you to this English 'Corinne'? Emile tells me that 'La Derniere
+Incarnation de Vautrin' is admirable. The compositors declare that it
+is your /chef-d'oeuvre/.
+
+"Only till this evening, I implore you.
+
+          "DELPHINE GAY DE GIRARDIN."
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul, from which the whole account of Balzac's rupture with
+    Girardin is taken.
+
+[+] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul, p. 262
+
+Balzac on his side, was now most anxious to finish "Les Paysans,"
+especially as his penniless state at this time would render it most
+difficult for him to pay back the money advanced to him by /La
+Presse/. He was in special difficulties, as he had lately borrowed ten
+or fifteen thousand francs from the impecunious Viscontis, giving them
+as guarantee some shares in the unfortunate Chemin de Fer du Nord, and
+as the railway was a failure, and these shares were a burden instead
+of a benefit, Balzac was bound in honour to relieve his friends of
+their troublesome possession, and to pay back what he owed them. This
+necessity was an additional incentive to action, and Balzac's letters
+to Madame Hanska about this time, contain several indications of his
+anxiety about "Les Paysans." On June 9th he speaks of his desire to
+bring it to a close; and on the 15th he writes that he must certainly
+finish it at once, to avoid the lawsuit with which he has been for so
+long threatened by /La Presse/. However, he seems to have experienced
+an unconquerable difficulty in its composition, as in that of
+"Seraphita," the other book about which he had cherished a peculiarly
+lofty ideal. Therefore in July the termination of "Les Paysans" had
+not yet reached the office of /La Presse/, and on the 13th of the
+month Balzac received the following letter:[*]
+
+          "PARIS, July 13th, 1847
+
+"'Le Piccinino' will be finished this week. Only seven numbers of 'Les
+Paysans' are completed in advance. We are therefore at the mercy of an
+indisposition, of any chance incident, things of which it is necessary
+for me to see the possibility, and to which I must not expose myself.
+
+"Really you high dignitaries of the periodical are insupportable, and
+you will manage so cleverly that the periodical will some day fail you
+completely.
+
+"For my part, my resolution on this matter is taken, and firmly taken,
+and if I had not a remainder of the account to work out, I would
+certainly not publish 'Les Paysans,' as I have not received the last
+line.
+
+          "EMILE DE GIRARDIN."
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul, p. 268.
+
+Balzac's answer to this missive is lost. It must have been despatched
+at once, and was evidently not conciliatory, as it was answered on the
+same day in the following terms:
+
+          "PARIS, July 13th, 1847.
+
+"I only publish 'Les Paysans' because we have an account to settle.
+Otherwise I certainly should not publish it, and the success of 'La
+Derniere Incarnation de Vautrin' would certainly not impel me to do
+it.
+
+"Therefore if you are able without inconvenience to pay back to the
+/Presse/ what it advanced to you, I will willingly give up 'Les
+Paysans.' Otherwise I will publish 'Les Paysans,' and will begin on
+Monday next, the 19th. But I insist that there shall be no
+interruption. I count on this.
+
+          "EMILE DE GIRARDIN."
+
+Girardin's bitter resentment is excusable, when we remember that it
+was in September, 1844, nearly three years before, that Balzac had
+received 9,000 francs in advance for "Les Paysans." Since then only
+one number of the promised work had been produced, and the great
+writer's only explanation for his long delay in finishing the book was
+the inadequate one, that Dujarier had interrupted "Les Paysans" after
+the first chapters had been published, to be able to begin Alexandre
+Dumas' novel "La Reine Margot," before the end of 1844.
+
+In Balzac's reply, written next day, he definitely withdrew "Les
+Paysans" from publication, and said that he would pay what he owed /La
+Presse/ within the space of twenty days, and would not charge for what
+had not yet been printed; though it had been written and composed
+specially for /La Presse/, and at the request of the /Presse/. As to
+Emile de Girardin's insinuations about the failure of "La Derniere
+Incarnation de Vautrin," Balzac remarked that this had been written
+for /L'Epoque/, not for /La Presse/, and that it had not been
+necessary for Girardin to purchase it from the moribund journal,
+unless he had approved of it. Girardin had hurt him on his tenderest
+point when he branded his works as failures. With pride and bitterness
+in his heart he went through the accounts with Mr. Rouy, and found
+that out of the 9,000 francs received from /La Presse/, he still owed
+5,221 francs 85 centimes. How he raised the money it is impossible to
+guess, but on August 5th he paid 2,500 francs, and on September 1st
+2,000 more, so that only 721 francs 85 centimes remained of his debt,
+and he made his preparations to start for Wierzchownia with his mind
+at rest.
+
+He heard from Emile de Girardin again, as we shall see later on, but
+he had seen Madame de Girardin for the last time. She did not forget
+him, however, and the news of his death was so terrible a shock that
+she fainted away. She died in 1855, and was deeply mourned by her
+friends. Theophile Gautier, in his admiring account of her, says that
+for some years before her death, she became a prey to depression and
+discouragement at the conditions surrounding her. It may have been
+that her brilliant, exciting life led naturally to a partly physical
+reaction, and that she became too tired by the emotions she had gone
+through, to adapt herself with buoyancy to the ever variable
+conditions of existence. At all events she is a refreshing figure in
+the midst of much that is unsatisfactory--a woman witty, highly
+gifted, a queen of society, who was yet kindly, generous, and
+absolutely free from literary jealousy.
+
+Before the middle of September when Balzac left for Wierzchownia, we
+hear once of him again. He was still dreaming of the theatre as a
+means of relief from all his embarrassments,[*] and on a hot day in
+August, 1847, he went to Bougival, to pay a visit to M. Hostein, the
+director of the Theatre Historique, a new theatre which had not yet
+been opened six months. There, sitting in the shade on the towing path
+by the river, he unfolded to the manager his design of writing a grand
+historical drama on Peter I. and Catherine of Russia, to be entitled
+"Pierre et Catherine." Nothing was written, it was all still in his
+head; but he at once sketched the first scene to the manager, and
+talked with enthusiasm of the enormous success which would be caused
+by the novelty of introducing the Russian peasant on the stage. The
+play could be written very quickly; and M. Hostein,[+] carried away by
+Balzac's extraordinarily persuasive eloquence, already began to
+reflect about suitable scenery, dresses, and decorations, for the
+framing of his masterpiece. However, to his disappointment Balzac
+returned in a few days, to announce that there would be some delay in
+the production of his play, as he wished to study local colouring on
+the spot, and was on the point of starting for Russia. He said that
+when he returned to Paris in the spring, he would bring M. Hostein a
+completed play, and with this promise the manager was obliged to be
+satisfied.
+
+[*] "Honore de Balzac," by Edmond Bire.
+
+[+] "Historiettes et Souvenirs d'un Homme de Theatre," by M. Hostein.
+
+Balzac was in an enormous hurry to reach Wierzchownia, and set himself
+with much energy to the task of finishing the house in the Rue
+Fortunee. His efforts in this direction were doubtless the reason that
+the writing of "Pierre et Catherine" was postponed till the /moujik/
+could be studied in his native land. At last, however, the work of
+decoration was complete, and his mother left in charge, with minute
+directions about the care of his treasures. He had toiled with
+breathless haste, and managed after all to start earlier than he had
+expected. Once on the journey his northern magnet drew him with ever-
+increasing strength, and regardless of fatigue, he travelled for eight
+days in succession without stoppage or rest, and arrived ten days
+before his letter announcing his departure from Paris. The inhabitants
+of the chateau were naturally much surprised at his sudden appearance,
+and Balzac considers that they were touched, or rather--though he does
+not say this--that /She/ was touched by his /empressement/.
+
+He was much delighted with his surroundings. Wierzchownia was a
+palace, and he was interested and amused with the novelty of all he
+saw. He writes: "We have no idea at home of an existence like this. At
+Wierzchownia it is necessary to have all the industries in the house:
+there is a confectioner, a tailor, and a shoemaker."[*] He was
+established in a delicious suite of rooms, consisting of a drawing-
+room, a study, and a bedroom. The study was in pink stucco, with a
+fireplace in which straw was apparently burnt, magnificent hangings,
+large windows, and convenient furniture. In this Louvre of a
+Wierzchownia there were, as Balzac remarks with pleasure, five or six
+similar suites for guests. Everything was patriarchal. Nobody was
+bored in this wonderful new life. It was fairy-like, the fulfilment of
+Balzac's dreams of splendour, an approach of reality to the grandiose
+blurred visions of his hours of creation. He who rejoiced in what was
+huge, delighted in the fact that the Count Georges Mniszech had gone
+to inspect an estate as big as the department of Seine-et-Marne, with
+the object of dismissing a prevaricating bailiff. It gave him intense
+satisfaction to record the wonders of this strange new life: to tell
+those at home of the biting cold, which rendered his pelisse of
+Siberian fox of no more protection than a sheet of blotting-paper; or
+to mention casually that all the letters were carried by a Cossack
+across sixty "verstes" of steppes.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 324.
+
+The Russians were eager to show their admiration of the celebrated
+French novelist, and Balzac experienced the truth of the adage, that a
+prophet is not without honour save in his own country. On the journey
+out the officials were charmingly polite to him, and when he went to
+Kiev to pay his respects to the Governor-General, and to obtain
+permission for a lengthy sojourn in Russia, he was overwhelmed with
+attentions. A rich moujik had read all his books, burnt a candle for
+him every week to St. Nicholas, and had promised a sum of money to the
+servants of Madame Hanska's sister, if they could manage that he might
+see the great man. This atmosphere of adoration was very pleasant to
+one whose reward in France for the production of masterpieces, seemed
+sometimes to consist solely in condemnation and obloquy. Balzac
+enjoyed himself for the time, and rested from his literary labours,
+except for working at the second part of "L'Envers de l'Histoire
+Contemporaine," which is called "L'Initie," and writing the play which
+he had promised Hostein as a substitute for "Pierre et Catherine."
+
+His ever-active brain had now evolved a plan for transporting sixty
+thousand oaks to France, from a territory on the Russian frontier
+belonging to Count Georges Mniszech and his father. He was anxious
+that M. Surville should undertake the matter, as, after abstruse and
+careful calculations--which have the puzzling veneer of practicality
+always observable in Balzac's mad schemes--he considered that
+1,200,000 francs might be made out of the affair, and that of course
+the engineer who arranged the transport would reap some of the
+benefit. The blocks of wood would be fifteen inches in diameter at the
+base, and ten at the top. They would first be conveyed to Brody, from
+there by high road to Cracow, and thence they would travel to France
+by the railway, which would be finished in a few days. Unfortunately,
+there were no bridges at Cologne over the Rhine, or at Magdeburg over
+the Elbe; but Balzac was not discouraged by the question of the
+transshipment of sixty thousand oaks, any more than in his old days in
+the Rue Lesdiguieres, he had been deterred from the idea of having a
+piano, by the attic being too small for it. M. Surville was to answer
+categorically, giving a detailed schedule of the costs of carriage and
+of duty from Cracow to France; and to this, Balzac would add the price
+of transport from Brody to Cracow. He discounted any natural
+astonishment his correspondent would feel, at the neglect hitherto of
+this certain plan for making a fortune, by remarking that the
+proprietors were Creoles, who worked their settlements by means of
+moujiks, so that the spirit of enterprise was entirely absent.[*] M.
+Surville, however, received this brilliant proposition without
+enthusiasm, and did not even trouble to write himself about the
+matter, but sent back an answer by his wife, that the price of
+transporting the freight from one railway to another at Breslau,
+Berlin, Magdeburg, and Cologne, would render the scheme impossible.
+Balzac showed unusual docility at this juncture; he was evidently
+already half-hearted about the enterprise, and remarked that since his
+first letter he had himself thought of the objections pointed out by
+M. Surville, and had remembered hearing that a forest purchased in
+Auvergne, had ruined the buyer, owing to the difficulty of transport.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 321.
+
+Balzac was very happy at Wierzchownia, though the fulfilment of the
+great desire of his life seemed still distant. Madame Hanska's
+hesitation continued: she considered herself indispensable to her
+children; besides, owing to the unfortunate state of the Chemin de Fer
+du Nord, Balzac's pecuniary affairs would certainly be in an
+embarrassed condition for the next two years. Living in the same house
+with her, seeing her every day, and feeling sure of her affection, and
+of a certain happy consummation to his long probation, would not after
+all have been very painful, except for one great drawback, which
+increased continually as time went on; and that was the terrible
+effect of the inclement climate on Balzac's health. He had suffered
+from heart disease for some years, and in a letter to his sister, he
+traces its origin to the cruelty of the lady about whom she knows--
+possibly Madame de Castries. His abuse of coffee, however, and the
+unnatural life which he had led with the object of straining the
+tension of every power to its uttermost, and thus of forcing the
+greatest possible quantity and quality of literary work out of
+himself, had done much to ruin his robust constitution. Nevertheless,
+if he had been able to take up his abode with his wife in the Rue
+Fortunee, and to enjoy the freedom from anxiety which her fortune
+would have assured to him; if he had been happy with her, and
+surrounded by his beautiful things, had at last lived the life for
+which he had so long yearned, it seems as though several years at
+least might have remained to him. The enormous labours of his earlier
+years would indeed have been impossible,[*] but "Les Parents Pauvres"
+had shown that his intellect was now at its best, and material for
+many masterpieces was still to be found in that capacious brain and
+fertile imagination. However, the rigours of the Russian climate,
+aided no doubt by the privations and anxieties Balzac suffered in
+Paris after the Revolution of 1848, and by the barbarous treatment
+which he underwent at the hands of the doctor at Wierzchownia,
+rendered his case hopeless; and at this time only one more stone was
+destined to be laid on the unfinished edifice of the "Comedie
+Humaine."
+
+[*] "Balzac, sa Vie, son Oeuvre," by Julien Lemer.
+
+In February, 1848, it was absolutely necessary that Balzac should go
+to Paris, as money must at once be found, to meet the calls which the
+ill-fated Chemin de Fer du Nord was making on its shareholders. Balzac
+suffered terribly from cold on the journey, and arrived at the Rue
+Fortunee at a most unfortunate time, just before the Revolution of
+February, 1848.
+
+In consequence of the disturbed state of the political atmosphere, the
+outlook for literature was tragic; and Balzac, who was in immediate
+want of money, found himself in terrible straits. Living with two
+servants in his luxurious little house, surrounded by works of art
+which had cost thousands of francs, he was almost dying of hunger. His
+food consisted of boiled beef, which was cooked and eaten hot once a
+week, and the remaining six days he subsisted on the cold remains. It
+seemed impossible to raise money for his present pressing necessities.
+He managed to sell "L'Initie,"[*] at a ridiculously small price, to an
+ephemeral journal called /Le Spectateur Republicain/, but only
+received in return bills at a long date, and it was doubtful whether
+he was ever paid the money due to him.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul.
+
+Nevertheless, whatever effects his privations may have had on his
+health, they did not subdue his spirits, as both Lemer and
+Champfleury,[*] who each spent several hours with him in the Rue
+Fortunee, talk of his undiminished vivacity, his hearty fits of
+laughter, and his confident plans for the future. Lemer, who had known
+him before, does indeed remark that he seemed much aged; but
+Champfleury, who saw him for the first time, is only struck with his
+strength, animal spirits, and keen intelligence. In the midst of the
+despondent unhealthy tendencies of the literary talent of his day, he
+was still, with his /joie de vivre/, a man apart. /Naif/, full of a
+charming pride, he loved literature "as the Arab loves the wild horse
+he has found a difficulty in subduing." Nevertheless, material
+prosperity, as ever, occupied an important place in the foreground of
+his scheme of life, and his mind was still running on the theatre, as
+the great means of gaining money. He warned Champfleury not to follow
+his example, which led after the production of many books to an
+existence of deplorable poverty, but to write only three novels a
+year, so that ten months annually should be left for making a fortune
+by working for the theatre, "car il faut que l'artiste mene une vie
+splendide."[+]
+
+[*] "Balzac, sa Vie, son Oeuvre," by Julien Lemer.
+
+[+] "Grandes Figures d'Hier et d'Aujourd'hui," by Champfleury.
+
+Schemes still coursed each other through his quick-moving brain. He
+wished to create an association of all the great dramatists of the
+day, who should enrich the French stage with plays composed in common.
+He was rather despondent about this, however, as he said that most
+writers were cowardly and idle, and he as afraid they would therefore
+refuse to join his society. Scribe was the only one who would work;
+"Mais quelle litterature que 'Les Memoires d'un Colonel de Hussards!'"
+he exclaimed in horror.[*] Another plan for becoming colossally rich
+of which he talked seriously, was to gain a monopoly of all the arts,
+and to act as auctioneer to Europe: to buy the Apollo Belvedere, for
+instance, let all the nations compete for it against each other, and
+then to sell to the highest bidder.
+
+[*] "Notes Historiques sur M. de Balzac," by Champfleury.
+
+He took a gloomy view of the political situation, because, though he
+had a great admiration for Lamartine, he feared that the poet would
+not have sufficient strength of mind, to take advantage of the great
+majority he would doubtless have in the next Assemblee Constituante,
+and to make himself the chief of a strong government, when he might
+justify his magnificent /role/, by presiding at the accomplishment of
+the great social and administrative reforms, demanded by justice, and
+material, moral, and intellectual progress. In one of his remarks was
+a touch of sadness. He told Lemer that, at the present crisis, all
+authors should sacrifice their writing for a time, and throw
+themselves with energy into politics. "Et pour cela il faut etre
+jeune," he added with a sigh; "et moi, je suis vieux!"
+
+However, on March 18th, 1848, a letter written by him appeared in the
+/Constitutionnel/, in which he stated that he would stand as deputy if
+requested to do so.[*] In consequence, the "Club de la Fraternite
+Universelle" wrote to inform him that his name had been put on the
+list of candidates for election, and invited him to explain his
+political views at a meeting of the Club. In the /Constitutionnel/ of
+April 19th Balzac answered this request by refusing to go to the
+meeting, and at the same time announced that he had no intention of
+canvassing, and wished to owe his election solely to votes not asked
+for, but given voluntarily. He further commented on the fact that from
+1789 to 1848 France had changed its constitution every fifteen years,
+and asked if it were not time, "for the honour of our country, to
+find, to found, a form, an empire, a durable government; so that our
+prosperity, our commerce, our arts, which are the life of our
+commerce, the credit, the glory, in short, all the fortune of France,
+shall not be periodically jeopardised?"
+
+[*] "Honore de Balzac," by Edmond Bire.
+
+Naturally, these uncompromising views did not meet with favour from
+the "citoyens membres du Club de la Fraternite Universelle," and
+Balzac was not elected a member of the Assemblee Nationale.
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XV
+
+                             1848 - 1849
+
+  Description of interior of house in the Rue Fortunee--"La Maratre"
+  --Projected plays--"Le Faiseur"--Balzac seeks admission for the
+  last time to the Academie Francaise--He returns to Wierzchownia--
+  Failing health--Letters to his family--Family relations are
+  strained.
+
+During his stay in Paris, which lasted from February till the end of
+September, Balzac was careful not to admit any strangers to the
+mysterious little house in the Rue Fortunee. Even his trusted friends
+were only shown the magnificence of his residence with strict
+injunctions about secrecy, so afraid was he that the news of his
+supposed riches should reach the ears of his creditors. He was only
+the humble custodian, he said, of all these treasures. Nothing
+belonged to him; he was poorer than ever, and was only taking charge
+of the house for a friend. This was difficult to believe, and his
+acquaintances, who had always been sceptical about his debts, laughed,
+and said to his delight, yet annoyance, that he was in reality a
+millionaire, and that he kept his fortune in old stockings.
+
+Theophile Gautier, after remarking how difficult it was to gain an
+entrance to this carefully-guarded abode, describes it thus: "He
+received us, however, one day, and we were able to see a dining-room
+panelled in old oak, with a table, mantelpiece, buffets, sideboards,
+and chairs in carved wood, which would have made a Berruguete, a
+Cornejo Duque, or a Verbruggen envious; a drawing-room hung with gold-
+coloured damask, with doors, cornices, plinths, and embrasures of
+ebony; a library ranged in cupboards inlaid with tortoiseshell and
+copper in the style of Buhl; a bathroom in yellow breccia, with bas-
+reliefs in stucco; a domed boudoir, the ancient paintings of which had
+been restored by Edmond Hedouin; and a gallery lighted from the top,
+which we recognised later in the collection of 'Cousin Pons.' On the
+shelves were all sorts of curiosities--Saxony and Sevres porcelain,
+sea-green horns with cracked glazing; and on the staircase which was
+covered with carpet, were great china vases, and a magnificent lantern
+suspended by a cable of red silk."[*]
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains: Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+The gallery, the holy of holies of this temple of Art, where the
+treasures laboriously collected and long concealed, were at last
+assembled, is described exactly in "Le Cousin Pons." It was a large
+oblong room, lighted from the top, the walls painted in white and
+gold, but "the white yellowed, the gold reddened by time, gave
+harmonious tones which did not spoil the effect of the canvases."[*]
+
+[*] "Le Cousin Pons," by Honore de Balzac.
+
+There were fourteen statues in this gallery mounted on Buhl pedestals,
+and all round the walls were richly decorated ebony buffets containing
+/objets d'art/, while in the centre stood carved wooden cases, which
+showed to great advantage some of the greatest rarities in human work
+--costly jewellery, and curiosities in ivory, bronze, wood, and
+enamel. Sixty-seven pictures adorned the walls of this magnificent
+apartment, among them the four masterpieces, the loss of which is the
+most tragic incident in the melancholy story of poor old Pons. There
+were a "Chevalier de Malte en Priere," by Sebastian del Piombo; a
+"Holy Family," by Fra Bartolommeo; a "Landscape," by Hobbema; and a
+"Portrait of a Woman," by Albert Durer. Apparently they were in
+reality mediocre as works of art, but they were a source of the utmost
+pride and delight to their owner, who said enthusiastically of one of
+them--the Sebastian del Piombo--that "human art can go no further."
+When we know that in the novel Balzac is speaking of his own cherished
+possessions, we think of his own words, "Ideas project themselves with
+the same force by which they are conceived,"[*] and can understand the
+reason of the positive pain we feel, when the poor old Cousin Pons is
+bereft of his treasures. The great /voyant/ was transported by his
+powerful imagination into the personality of the old musician, and the
+heartrending situation he had evoked must have been torture to him;
+though with the courage and conscientiousness of the true artist he
+did not hesitate in the task he had set himself, but ever darkened and
+deepened the shadows of his tragedy towards the close.
+
+[*] "Le Pere Goriot," by Honore de Balzac.
+
+It is not surprising to hear that this sumptuous house cost 400,000
+francs, but it is astonishing, and it gives the inhabitant of steady-
+going England an idea of the inconvenience of revolutions, that its
+owner and occupant should in 1848 have been starving in the midst of
+magnificence, and that it should have been impossible for him to find
+a purchaser for some small curiosity, if he had wished to sell it to
+buy bread. Part of the cost of the house had been defrayed by Madame
+Hanska, but Balzac had evidently overstepped her limits, and had
+involved himself seriously in debt. One of the alleged reasons given
+by the lady for the further deferment of her promise to become Madame
+Honore de Balzac, was the state of embarrassment to which Balzac had
+reduced himself by his expenditure in decoration; and, in his despair
+and disgust, the home he had been so happily proud of, and which
+seemed destined never to be occupied, soon became to him "that
+rascally plum box."
+
+At this time, however, he was still tasting the joys of ownership, and
+was, as usual, hopeful about the future. His dreams of theatrical
+success seemed at last destined to come true.[*] Hostein, who had
+rushed to the Rue Fortunee as soon as he heard of the arrival of the
+great man, to ask for the play promised him in place of "Pierre et
+Catherine," found Balzac as usual at his desk, and was presented with
+a copy-book on which was written in large characters, "Gertrude,
+tragedie bourgeoise." The play was read next day in Balzac's drawing-
+room to Hostein, Madame Dorval, and Melingue; and Hostein accepted it
+under the name of "La Maratre," Madame Dorval expressing much
+objection to its first title. Eventually, to Madame Dorval's and
+Balzac's disappointment, Madame Lacressoniere, who had much influence
+with Hostein, was entrusted with the heroine's part; and the tragedy
+was produced at the Theatre-Historique on May 25th, 1848. In spite of
+the disturbed state of the political atmosphere, which was ruinous to
+the theatres, the play met with considerable success; and the critics
+began to realise that when once Balzac had mastered the /metier/ of
+the theatre, he might become a great dramatist. About this time,
+Cogniard, the director of the Porte-Saint-Martin, received a letter
+with fifty signatures, asking for a second performance of "Vautrin."
+He communicated this request to Balzac, who stipulated that if
+"Vautrin" were again put on the stage, all caricature of Louis
+Philippe should be avoided by the actor who played the principal part.
+He added that when he wrote the play he had never intended any
+political allusion. However, "Vautrin" was not acted till April, 1850,
+when, without Balzac's knowledge, it was produced at the Gaite.
+Balzac, who heard of this at Dresden, on his journey to Paris from
+Russia, wrote to complain of the violation of his dramatic rights, and
+in consequence the play was withdrawn from the boards of the Gaite.
+
+[*] "Honore de Balzac," by Edmond Bire.
+
+During his stay in Paris in 1848, Balzac sketched out the plots of
+many dramas. The director of the Odeon, in despair at the emptiness of
+his theatre after the political crisis of June, offered Victor Hugo,
+Dumas, and Balzac[*] a premium of 6,000 francs, and a royalty on all
+receipts exceeding 4,000 francs, if they would produce a play for his
+theatre; and in response to this offer Balzac promised "Richard
+Sauvage," which he never wrote. The manager of the Theatre Francais,
+M. Lockroy, also made overtures to the hitherto despised dramatist;
+and Balzac thought of providing him with a comedy entitled "Les Petits
+Bourgeois," but abandoned the idea. "Is it," he wrote to Hippolyte
+Rolle, "the day after a battle when the /bourgeoisie/ have so
+generously shed their blood for menaced civilisation; is it at the
+time when they are in mourning, that they should be represented on the
+stage?"[+]
+
+[*] "Honore de Balzac," by Edmond Bire.
+
+[+] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 332.
+
+At this time, however, Balzac had in his portfolio a play quite ready
+to be acted--one which had several times changed its title, being
+called by its author successively "Mercadet," "Le Speculateur," and
+"Le Faiseur." It was read and accepted by the Comedie Francaise on
+August 17th, 1848, under the name of "Le Faiseur"; and when Balzac
+returned to Russia at the end of September, he asked his friend
+Laurent-Jan to take charge of the comedy during his absence. Evidently
+he heard that matters were not going very smoothly, as in December he
+wrote to Laurent-Jan from Wierzchownia to say that if the Comedie
+Francaise refused "Mercadet"--which had been "recue a l'unanimite" on
+August 17th--it might be offered to Frederick Lemaitre; and a few days
+later, hearing that the piece was "recue seulement a corrections," by
+the Comedie Francaise, he withdrew it altogether. "Le Faiseur" or
+"Mercadet" was then offered to the Theatre Historique, and Balzac
+already saw in imagination his sister and his two nieces attending the
+first night's performance, decked out in their most elegant toilettes.
+As he was in Russia, and his mother did not go to the theatre, they
+would be the sole representatives of the family; and Hostein must
+therefore provide them with one of the best boxes in the theatre. If
+there were hissings and murmurings, as Balzac expected from past
+experiences, his younger niece Valentine would be indignant; but
+Sophie would still preserve her dignity, "and you, my dear sister.
+. . . But what can a box do against a theatre?"
+
+Nevertheless, though Hostein accepted "Le Faiseur," he announced that
+his clients preferred melodrama to comedy, and that, in order to fit
+it for his "theatre de boulevard," the play would require
+modifications which would completely change its character. Balzac
+naturally objected to these proposed alterations, as they sounded
+infinitely more sweeping than the "corrections" of the Comedie
+Francaise, and the play was never acted during his life. On August
+23rd, 1851, however, as we have already seen, "Mercadet le Faiseur,"
+with certain modifications made by M. Dennery, and also with omissions
+--for the play as Balzac originally wrote it was too long for the
+theatre--was received with tremendous acclamations at the Gymnase; and
+on October 22nd, 1868, it was acted at the Comedie Francaise, and
+again in 1879 and in 1890.
+
+Mercadet, first played by Geoffroy, who conceived Balzac's creation
+admirably, and at the Comedie Francaise less successfully by Got, is a
+second Figaro, with a strong likeness to Balzac himself. He is
+continually on the stage, and keeps the audience uninterruptedly
+amused by his wit, good-humour, hearty bursts of laughter, and
+ceaseless expedients for baffling his creditors. The action of the
+play is simple and natural, and the dialogue scintillates with /bon
+mots/, gaiety, and amusing sallies. The play had been conceived and
+even written in 1839 or 1840, and never did Balzac's imperishable
+youth shine out more brilliantly than in its execution. It is curious
+to notice that his innate sense of power as a dramatist, which never
+deserted him, even when he seemed to have found his line in quite a
+different direction, was in the end amply justified.
+
+His vivacity and hopefulness never forsook him for long. Even in his
+terrible state of health in 1849, and in spite of his disappointment
+at the non-appearance of "Le Faiseur," he was in buoyant spirits, and
+informed his sister in one of his letters, that he was sending a
+comedy, "Le Roi des Mendiants," to Laurent-Jan, as soon as he could
+manage to transport it to St. Petersburg. There, the French Ambassador
+would be entrusted with the charge of despatching it to Paris, as
+manuscripts were not allowed to travel by post.[*] About three weeks
+later,[+] he wrote to ask his mother to tell Madame Dorval that he was
+preparing another play, with a great /role/ in it designed specially
+for her. However, owing to Balzac's failing health the drama never
+took form, and Madame Dorval died on April 20th, 1849, about three
+weeks after his letter was despatched.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 393.
+
+[+] "Correspondance," vol. ii, p. 397.
+
+At the time of his stay in the Rue Fortunee in 1848, he was, however,
+satisfied about "Mercadet," which had, as we have seen, been accepted
+by the Comedie Francaise; and the production of which would help, he
+doubtless hoped, to relieve him from his monetary difficulties. Ready
+money was an ever-pressing necessity. Emile de Girardin, in his
+political activity during the Revolution of 1848, had not forgotten
+his personal resentments, and soon after Balzac's arrival in Paris he
+requested him to pay at once the 721 francs 85 centimes which he still
+owed /La Presse/.[*] This Balzac could not possibly do, and most
+probably he forgot all about the matter. Not so his antagonist, who on
+October 7th, 1848, after Balzac had returned to Russia, demanded
+immediate payment; and four days afterwards applied to the Tribunal of
+the Seine for an order that the debt should be paid from the future
+receipts of "Le Faiseur," which was at that time in rehearsal at the
+Theatre Francais. This demand was granted, but as after all the play
+was withdrawn, Emile de Girardin did not receive his money. However,
+he was paid in the end, as he wrote Balzac a receipt dated December
+30th, 1848, for 757 francs 75 centimes, a sum which included legal
+expenses as well as the original debt.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul.
+
+There were to be two elections to the Academie Francaise in January,
+1849, as M. Chateaubriand's and M. Vatout's armchairs were both
+vacant; and Balzac determined again to try his fortune. He wrote the
+required letter before his departure to Russia, and this was read at a
+meeting of the illustrious Forty on October 5th, 1848.[*] Apparently,
+Balzac's absence from France, which prevented him from paying the
+prescribed visits, militated against his chances of success, as his
+ardent supporter, M. Vacquerie, wrote in /L'Evenement/ of January 9th,
+1849: "Balzac is now in Russia. How can he be expected to pay visits?
+He will not become a member of the Academie because he has not been in
+Paris? And when posterity says, 'He wrote "Splendeurs et Miseres des
+Courtisanes," "Le Pere Goriot," "Les Parents Pauvres," and "Les
+Treize,"' the Academie will answer: 'Yes, but he went on a journey.'"
+
+[*] "Honore de Balzac," by Edmond Bire.
+
+At the first election, which took place on January 11, 1849, the Duc
+de Noailles was at the head of the list, with twenty-five papers in
+his favour, and Balzac received two; at the second, on January 18th,
+when M. de Saint-Priest was the successful candidate, two members of
+the Academy again voted for Balzac at the first round of the ballot,
+but at the third and deciding round his name was not included at all.
+Balzac wrote to Laurent-Jan to ask for the names of his supporters, as
+he wished to thank them; and about the same time, in a letter to his
+brother-in-law, M. Surville, he let it be understood that he would
+never again present himself as a candidate for admission to the
+Academie Francaise, as he intended to put that body in the wrong.
+
+This is anticipation; we must return to the end of September, 1848,
+when Balzac, after having arranged the necessary business matters,
+hurried back to Madame Hanska. For the better guardianship of his
+treasures, he left his mother with two servants installed in the Rue
+Fortunee, and he expected to return to Paris by the beginning of 1849.
+His family did not hear from him for more than a month after his
+arrival, when his mother received a letter full, as usual, of
+directions and commissions, but giving no news of his own doings. He
+was evidently ill at the time he wrote, and a few days afterwards was
+seized with acute bronchitis, and was obliged to put off his projected
+return to Paris.
+
+Balzac's health all through the winter was deplorable, and under the
+direction of the doctor at Wierzchownia, he went through a course of
+treatment for his heart and lungs. This doctor was a pupil of the
+famous Franck, the original of Benassis in the "Medecin de Campagne,"
+and Balzac appears to have had complete faith in him, and to have been
+much impressed by his dictum, that French physicians, though the first
+in the world for diagnosis, were quite ignorant of curative methods.
+Balzac's passion at this time for everything Russian, must have been
+peculiarly trying to his family. It surely seemed to them madness that
+he should separate himself from his country, should gradually see less
+and less of his friends, and should show an inclination to be ashamed
+of his relations, for the sake of a woman crippled with rheumatism,
+and no longer young, who, however passionately she may have loved him
+in the past, seemed now to have grown tired of him. Sophie and
+Valentine Surville were no doubt delighted to receive magnificent silk
+wraps from their uncle, trimmed with Russian fur; but the letter
+accompanying the gift must, we think, have rather spoiled their
+pleasure, or at any rate was likely to have hurt their mother's
+feelings. It was surely hardly necessary to inform "ma pauvre Sophie"
+that it was in vain for her to compete with the Countess Georges in
+proficiency on the piano, as the latter had "the genius of music, as
+of love"; and a long string of that wonderful young lady's perfections
+must have been rather wearying to those who had not the felicity of
+being acquainted with her. Apparently the young Countess possessed
+deep knowledge without pedantry, and was of delicious naivete,
+laughing like a little child; though this did not prevent her from
+showing religious enthusiasm about beautiful things. Further, she was
+of angelic goodness, intensely observant, yet extremely discreet, most
+respectful to her adored mother, very industrious, and she lived only
+for duty. "All these advantages are set off by a proud air, full of
+good breeding, an air of ease and grandeur which is not possessed by
+every queen, and which is quite lost in France, where every one wishes
+to be equal. This outward distinction, this look of being a great
+lady, is one of the most precious gifts which God, the God of women,
+can bestow on them."[*] To paint her character aright, Balzac says, it
+would be necessary to blend in one word virtues which a moralist would
+consider it impossible to find united in a single human being; and her
+"sublime education" was a crown to the whole edifice of her
+perfections.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 345.
+
+The only consolation which an impartial though possibly unprincipled
+observer, might have offered at this point to the unfortunate Sophie
+and Valentine, would be the fact that the young Countess was evidently
+extremely plain, as even Balzac's partiality only allows him to say:
+"Physically she possesses grace, which is more beautiful even than
+beauty, and this triumphs over a complexion which is still brown (she
+is hardly sixteen years old), and over a nose which, though well cut,
+is only charming in the profile."
+
+Let us hope, however, that our pity is after all wasted on the nieces,
+and that in their joy at the idea of receiving handsome presents, they
+either skipped the unwelcome portions of their distinguished uncle's
+letter, or that, knowing the cause of his raptures, if they /did/
+read, they laughed and understood.
+
+His Polar Star is seldom mentioned by name in Balzac's letters; she is
+generally "the person with whom I am staying," and he says little
+about her, except that she is very much distressed at the amount of
+his debts, and that the great happiness of his life is constantly
+deferred. Two fires had taken place on the estate, and the Countess
+was in addition burdened with three lawsuits: one about some property
+which should have come to her from an uncle, and about which it would
+be necessary for her to go to St. Petersburg. Balzac's letters as
+usual abound in allusions to his monetary difficulties, while the
+Survilles had been almost ruined by the Revolution of 1848, so that
+the outlook for the family was black on all sides.
+
+All this time Balzac's relations were becoming more and more
+discontented with his doings, as well as with the general aspect of
+his affairs. Honore was evidently pursuing a chimera, and because of
+his illusions, many burdens were imposed on them. Madame de Balzac the
+principal sufferer, was tired of acting as custodian at the Rue
+Fortunee, where she was expected to teach Francois how to clean the
+lamps, and received careful instructions about wrapping the gilt
+bronzes in cotton rags. It seemed as though her son were permanently
+swallowed up by that terrible Russia, about which, as he remarked
+impatiently, she would never understand anything; and she longed to
+retire to her little lodgings at Suresnes, and to do as she pleased.
+Laure, too, had her grievances, though possibly she kept them to
+herself and strove to act as peacemaker. She and her family were in
+terrible monetary straits, and the sight of the costly house, which
+seemed destined never to be occupied, must have been slightly
+exasperating. She was quite willing to be useful to Honore, and did
+not mind when troublesome commissions were entrusted to her; but it
+was no doubt galling to notice that--though her daughters were
+expected to write continually, and were supposed to be amply rewarded
+for their labours, by hearing of the delight with which the young
+Countess listened to their letters--a strong motive lurking behind
+Balzac's anxiety to hear often from his family, was the desire to
+impress Madame Hanska favourably with the idea of their affection for
+himself, and their unity. At the same time, a sad presentiment warned
+her, that if ever her brother were married to this great lady, his
+family and friends would see little more of him. The prospect cannot
+have been very cheerful to poor Laure, as either Honore would return
+to France brokenhearted and overwhelmed with debt, or he would gain
+his heart's desire, and would be lost to his family.
+
+The tone of Balzac's letters to his relations at this time has been
+adversely criticised, and it is true that the reader is sometimes
+irritated by the frequency of his requests for service from them, and
+his continual insistence on the wonderful perfections of the Hanski
+family, and their grandeur and importance. Occasionally, too, his
+letters show an irritability which is a new feature in his character.
+We must remember, however, in judging Balzac, that he was nearly
+driven wild by the position in which he found himself. It was
+necessary that he should always be bright, good-natured, and agreeable
+to the party at Wierzchownia, and his letters to his family were
+therefore the only safety-valve for the impatience and despair, which,
+though he never utters a word of reproach against Madame Hanska, must
+sometimes have taken possession of him.
+
+His was a terrible dilemma. Ill and suffering, so that he was not able
+to work to diminish his load of debt, desperately in love with a cold-
+hearted woman, who used these debts as a lever for postponing what on
+her side was certainly an undesirable marriage; and enormously proud,
+so that failure in his hopes would mean to him not only a broken
+heart, but also almost unbearable mortification; Balzac, crippled and
+handicapped, with his teeth set hard, his powers concentrated on one
+point, that of winning Madame Hanska, was at times hardly master of
+himself. There was indeed some excuse for his irritation, when his
+family wrote something tactless, or involved themselves in fresh
+misfortunes, just as matters perhaps seemed progressing a little less
+unfavourably than usual. Their letters were always read aloud at the
+lunch table at Wierzchownia, and often, alas! their perusal served to
+prove anew to Madame Hanska, the mistake she had made in contemplating
+an alliance with a member of a family so peculiarly unlucky and
+undesirable.
+
+At last the smouldering indignation between Balzac and his relations
+burst into a flame. The immediate cause of ignition was a letter from
+Madame de Balzac, complaining that Honore had not written sufficiently
+often to her; and further, that he did not answer his nieces'
+epistles. These reproaches were received with much indignation, as
+Balzac remarked in his answer, which was dated February, 1849, that he
+had written seven times to his mother since his return to Wierzchownia
+in September, and that he did not like to send letters continually,
+because they were franked by his hosts. He goes on to say rather
+sadly, that it will not do for him to trespass on the hospitality
+offered him, because, though he has been royally and magnificently
+received, he has still no rights but those of a guest. On the subject
+of his neglect to write to his nieces, he is very angry, and cries in
+an outburst of irritability: "It seems strange to you that I do not
+write to my nieces. It is you, their grandmother, who have such ideas
+on family etiquette! You consider that your son, fifty years old, is
+obliged to write to his nieces! My nieces ought to feel very much
+honoured and very happy when I address a few words to them; certainly
+their letters are nice, and always give me pleasure."[*] A postscript
+to the letter contains the words: "Leave the house in the Rue Fortunee
+as little as possible, I beg you, because, though Francois is good and
+faithful, he is not very clever, and may easily do stupid things."
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 373.
+
+Balzac followed this with another letter, which apparently impressed
+on his mother that to please the Wierzchownia family she must behave
+very well to him; and this communication naturally annoyed Madame de
+Balzac even more than the preceding one.
+
+In reply, she wrote a severe reprimand to her son, in which she
+addressed him as "vous," and remarked that her affection in future
+would depend on his conduct. In fact, as Balzac wrote hotly to Laure,
+it was the letter of a mother scolding a small boy, and he was fifty
+years old! Unfortunately, too, it arrived during the /dejeuner/, and
+Balzac cried impulsively, "My mother is angry with me!" and then was
+forced to read the letter to the party assembled. It made a very bad
+impression, as it showed that either he was a bad son, or his mother
+an extremely difficult person to get on with. Fate had chosen an
+unfavourable moment for the arrival of this missive, which, later on,
+when her wrath had abated, Madame de Balzac announced that she had
+written partly in jest. Balzac had at last been allowed to write to
+St. Petersburg, to beg the Czar's permission for his marriage with
+Madame Hanska, and this had been very decidedly refused. Madame Hanska
+was not at this time prepared to hand over her capital to her
+daughter, and thus to take the only step, which would have induced her
+Sovereign to authorise her to leave his dominions. She therefore
+talked of breaking off the engagement, and of sending Balzac to Paris,
+to sell everything in the Rue Fortunee. She was tired of struggling;
+and in Russia she was rich, honoured, and comfortable, whereas she
+trembled to think of the troublous life which awaited her as Madame
+Honore de Balzac. Madame de Balzac's letter further strengthened her
+resolve. Apparently, in addition to evidence about family dissensions,
+it contained disquieting revelations about the discreditable Henri,
+and the necessity for supporting the Montzaigle grandchildren; and the
+veil with which Balzac had striven to soften the aspect of the family
+skeletons was violently withdrawn. He was in despair. At this juncture
+his mother's communication was fatal! She had done irreparable
+mischief!
+
+The long letter he wrote to Madame Surville,[*] imploring her to act
+as peacemaker, and insisting on the benefits which his marriage would
+bring to the whole family, would be comical were it not for the
+writer's real trouble and anxiety; and the reader's knowledge that,
+underlying the common-sense worldly arguments--which were brought
+forward in the hope of inducing his family to help him by all the
+means in their power--was real romantic love for the woman who had now
+been his ideal for sixteen years.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 378.
+
+He put the case to Madame Surville as if it were her own, and asked
+what her course would be if she were rich, and Sophie an heiress with
+many suitors. Sophie, according to her uncle's hypothesis, was in love
+with a young sculptor; and her parents had permitted an engagement
+between the two. The sculptor, however, came to live in the same house
+with his /fiancee/, and his family wrote him letters which he showed
+to Madame Surville, containing damaging revelations about family
+matters. As a culminating indiscretion, his mother wrote to this
+sculptor, "who is David, or Pradier, or Ingres," a letter in which she
+treated him like a street boy. What would Laure do in these
+circumstances? Balzac asks. Would she not in disgust dismiss the
+sculptor, and choose a more eligible /parti/ for Sophie?
+"Unsatisfactory marriages," he remarks sagely, "are easily made; but
+satisfactory ones require infinite precautions and scrupulous
+attention, or one does not get married; and I am at present most
+likely to remain a bachelor."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 328.
+
+He appeals to Madame Surville's self-interest. "Reflect on the fact,
+my dear Laure, that not one of us can be said to have arrived at our
+goal, and that if, instead of being obliged to work in order to live,
+I were to become the husband of a most intellectual, well born and
+highly connected woman, with a solid though small fortune--in spite of
+this woman's desire to remain in her own country and to make no new
+relations, even family ones--I should be in a much more favourable
+position to be useful to you all. I know that Madame Hanska would show
+kindness to and feel keen interest in your dear little ones."
+
+Surely, he says, it will be an advantage to the whole family, when he
+has a /salon/ presided over by a beautiful, clever woman, imposing as
+a queen, where he can assemble the /elite/ of Parisian society. He
+does not wish to be tyrannical or overbearing with his family, but he
+informs them that it will be of no use to place themselves in
+opposition to such a woman. He warns them that she and her children
+will /never forgive/ those who blame him to them. Further on in his
+lengthy epistle, he gives instructions in deportment, and tells his
+relations that in their intercourse with Madame Hanska they must not
+show servility, haughtiness, sensitiveness, or obsequiousness; but
+must be natural, simple, and affectionate. It was no wonder that the
+Balzac family disliked Madame Hanska! And the poor woman cannot be
+considered responsible for the feeling evoked!
+
+Towards the end of his letter, however, the reader forgives Balzac,
+and realises that the cry of a desperate man, ill and suffering, yet
+still clinging with determined strength to the hope which means
+everything to him, must not be criticised minutely. "Once everything
+is lost, I shall live no longer; I shall content myself with a garret
+like that of the Rue Lesdiguieres, and shall only spend a hundred
+francs a month. My heart, soul, and ambition will be satisfied with
+nothing but the object I have pursued for sixteen years: if this
+immense happiness escapes me, I shall no longer want anything, and
+shall refuse everything!"
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVI
+
+                             1849 - 1850
+
+  Peace renewed between Balzac and his family--He thinks of old
+  friends--Madame Hanska's continued vacillations--Dr. Knothe's
+  treatment--Madame Hanska's relations with Balzac, and her
+  ignorance about his illness--Visit to Kiev--Balzac's marriage--
+  His letters to his mother, sister, and to Madame Carraud--Delay
+  in starting for France--Terrible journey--Madame Honore de
+  Balzac's pearl necklace and strange letter--Balzac's married life
+  --Arrival of the newly-married couple in Paris.
+
+The quarrel between Balzac and his family was quickly made up, and it
+was settled that his mother should--if she wished to do so--return at
+once to Suresnes; and come up every day to the Rue Fortunee, taking
+carriages for this purpose at Balzac's expense. However, having made a
+small commotion, and asserted her dignity by the announcement that she
+felt perfectly free to leave the Rue Fortunee whenever she chose to do
+so, Madame de Balzac's resentment was satisfied; and she remained
+there till a month before Balzac's return in May, 1850, when illness
+necessitated her removal to her daughter's house.[*] The nieces, of
+whom Balzac was really extremely fond, "sulked" no longer, but wrote
+letters which their uncle praised highly, and which he answered gaily
+and amusingly. The shadowy cloud, too, which had prevented the brother
+and sister from seeing each other clearly, dispersed for ever; and one
+of Honore's letters to Laure about this time contains the loving
+words, "As far as you are concerned, every day is your festival in my
+heart, companion of my childhood, and of my bright as well as of my
+gloomy days."[+]
+
+[*] "Une Page perdue de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+[+] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 420.
+
+It is curious to notice that Balzac's thoughts now turned to those
+faithful friends of his youth, who had in late years passed rather
+into the background of his life. He wrote a long letter to Madame
+Delannoy, who had been a mother to him in the struggling days of his
+half-starved youth. He had paid off the debt he owed her, but he said
+he would never be able to thank her adequately for her tenderness and
+goodness to him. He thought also of Dablin, his early benefactor; and
+he remembered the old days at Frapesle, and wrote Madame Carraud a
+most affectionate letter, sending messages of remembrance to Borget
+and to the Commandant Carraud, and inquiring about his old
+acquaintance Periollas. The Carrauds, like others in those
+revolutionary days, had lost money; and Balzac explained that though
+owing to his illness he had been forbidden to write, he felt obliged
+to disobey his doctor's commands, that Madame Carraud should not
+believe that true friends can ever fail each other in trouble. He
+says: "I have never ceased thinking about you, loving you, talking of
+you, even here, where they have known Borget since 1833. . . . How
+different life is from the height of fifty years, and how far we are
+often from our hopes! . . . How many objects, how many illusions have
+been thrown overboard! and except for the affection which continues to
+grow, I have advanced in nothing!"[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 422.
+
+The annals of this last year of Balzac's life, are a record of
+constantly disappointed hope and of physical suffering. One after
+another he was forced to give up his many plans, and to remain in
+suffering inaction. He had intended to go to Kiev to present himself
+to the Governor-General, but this expedition was put off from month to
+month owing to his ill health. A visit to Moscow on his way back to
+Paris, was another project which had to be abandoned, as he was never
+well enough to make his proposed visit to France till he took his last
+painful and difficult journey in April, 1850, and sight-seeing was
+then impossible. His hopefulness, however, never left him, and his
+projected enterprises, whether they took the shape of writings or of
+travels, were in his eyes only deferred, never definitely
+relinquished. The wearing uncertainty about Madame Hanska's intentions
+was the one condition of his life which continued always, if
+continuance can be considered applicable to anything so variable as
+that lady's moods. In April, 1849, Balzac wrote to his sister: "No one
+knows what the year 1847, and February, 1848, and above all the doubt
+as to what my fate will be, have cost me!"[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 392.
+
+Sometimes, Madame Hanska, cruelly regardless of the agony she caused
+the sick man by her heedless words, would threaten to break off the
+engagement altogether. On other occasions, Balzac would write to his
+family to say that, for reasons which he was unable to give in his
+letters, the question of the marriage was /postponed indefinitely/;
+and once he made the resolution that he would not leave Wierzchownia
+till the affair was settled in one way or another. In a crisis of his
+terrible malady he wrote: "Whatever happens, I shall come back in
+August. One must die at one's post. . . . How can I offer a life as
+broken as mine! I must make my situation clear to the incomparable
+friend who for sixteen years has shone on my life like a beneficent
+star."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 401.
+
+The relations between Balzac and Madame Hanska at this time are
+mysterious. He shows his usual caution in his letters to his family,
+and the reader is conscious that much was passing at Wierzchownia, on
+which Balzac is absolutely silent, and that many events that he /does/
+record are carefully arranged with the intention of conveying certain
+impressions to his hearers. One of his motives is clear. He was
+nervously afraid that gossip about his secret engagement, and possibly
+approaching marriage, should be spread abroad prematurely; and that
+the report might either frighten Madame Hanska into dismissing him
+altogether, or might reach the ears of her relations, and cause them
+to remonstrate with her anew on the folly of her proceedings.
+
+Other discrepancies are puzzling. All through 1849 Balzac, as we have
+seen, was very ill. He was suffering from aneurism of the heart, a
+complaint which the two doctors Knothe told him they could cure. With
+perfect faith in their powers, Balzac wrote to his sister expressing
+regret that, owing to the ignorance of the French doctors Soulie had
+been allowed to die of this malady, when he might have been saved if
+Dr. Knothe's treatment had been followed. The younger doctor, however,
+soon gave up Balzac's case as hopeless; but the father, who was very
+intimate with the Wierzchownia family, always expressed himself
+confidently about his patient's ultimate recovery; and Balzac wrote:
+"What gratitude I owe to this doctor! He loves violins: when once I am
+at Paris I must find a Stradivarius to present to him."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 404.
+
+Dr. Knothe's principal prescription was pure lemon juice. This was to
+be taken twice a day, to purify and quicken the circulation of the
+blood in the veins, and to re-establish the equilibrium between it and
+the arterial blood. Either as a consequence of this treatment, or in
+the natural course of the illness, a terrible crisis took place in
+June, 1849, during which Balzac's sufferings were intense; and for
+twenty-five hours the doctor never left him. After this he was better
+for a time, and though his eyesight had become so weak that he was
+unable to read at night, he could walk, go upstairs, and lie flat in
+bed. In October he was seized with what he called Moldavian fever, a
+disease which came, he said, from the swamps of the Danube, and
+ravaged the Odessa district and the steppes; and again he became
+dangerously ill. In January, 1850, the fever was followed by a
+terrible cold in his lungs, and he was obliged to remain for ten days
+in bed. However, he was cheered by the society of Madame Hanska and
+Madame Georges Mniszech, who showed "adorable goodness" in keeping him
+company during his imprisonment.
+
+After hearing all this, it is startling to read in a letter from
+Madame Honore de Balzac to her daughter written from Frankfort on May
+16th, 1850,[*] that it is awkward that she should know nothing of the
+regimen to which Balzac has been subjected by Dr. Knothe; because when
+they arrive in Paris, his own doctor is certain to ask for
+particulars! The most indifferent hostess could not fail, one would
+think, to interest herself sufficiently about the welfare of the
+solitary and expatriated guest under her roof, to consult with the
+doctor about him when he was dangerously ill. More especially would
+she feel responsibility, when it was owing to her own action that the
+patient was cut off from all other advice, except that of a medical
+man who was her peculiar /protege/. He would thus be completely in her
+charge; and she would naturally be nervously anxious, for her own
+comfort and satisfaction, to acquaint herself with the course of the
+malady, and with the treatment used to subdue it. If we add to these
+considerations the fact that the sufferer was not a mere acquaintance,
+was not even only a great friend; but was the man who loved her, the
+man whose wife she had promised to become, Madame Hanska's ignorance
+appears totally inexplicable.
+
+[*] Unpublished letter in the possession of the Vicomte de Spoelberch
+    de Lovenjoul.
+
+We must remember, however, that we only have /Balzac's/ account of his
+illness, and of his interviews with the doctor; and that the malady
+being heart disease, it is possible that Dr. Knothe considered it his
+duty to deceive his patient--possible therefore that Madame Hanska
+knew before her marriage that Balzac was a dying man, and that the
+doctor's prescriptions were useless.
+
+Owing to the burning of her letters, we have only Balzac's
+enthusiastic and lover-like descriptions to guide our idea of Madame
+Hanska; and she remains to some extent a shadowy figure, difficult to
+realise. Several characteristics, however, stand out clearly: among
+them her power of hiding her thoughts and feelings from those to whom
+she was most deeply attached; also an occasional self-control, which
+seems strangely at variance with her naturally passionate and
+uncontrolled nature. She was extremely proud; and the wish, while
+pleasing herself, to do nothing which would lower her in the eyes of
+the world, exercised a powerful influence over her actions.
+Intellectually brilliant, a clever woman of business, and mentally
+active; she was yet on some occasions curiously inert, and carried the
+state of mind embodied in the words "live and let live," to dangerous
+lengths. She must have possessed great determination, as even Balzac's
+adoration, and his undoubted powers of fascination, could not move her
+from the vacillations which, designedly or no, kept /him/ enchained at
+her feet while /she/ remained free.
+
+Among much however, in her character that we cannot admire, she
+possessed one virtue in perfection--that of maternal love. The bond of
+affection between the mother and her daughter Anna was strong and
+enduring, and Madame Hanska would willingly have sacrificed everything
+for her beloved child's happiness. This was the true, engrossing love
+of her life; her affection for Balzac not having remained in its first
+freshness, as his love for her had done. On the contrary, it was at
+this time slightly withered, and had been partially stifled by
+prudential considerations, so that it was difficult to discover among
+the varied and tangled growths which surrounded it.
+
+It is an interesting problem whether Balzac, in spite of his brave
+words, realised that Madame Hanska no longer cared for him. When he
+wrote that he was sure that none of these deferments proceeded from
+want of love, did he pen these words with a wistful attempt to prove
+to himself that the fact was as he stated? After eighteen months in
+the same house with Madame Hanska, could he /really/ believe that only
+material difficulties kept her apart from him? Or did he at last
+understand: and though stricken to death, cling still, for the sake of
+his pride and his lost illusions, to what had been for so long his one
+object in life? We do not know.
+
+The only thing of which we are certain is, that if the fact of Madame
+Hanska's indifference /had/ slowly and painfully dawned upon Balzac,
+he would never have told, and would have used words to hide his
+knowledge.
+
+On the other hand, there is sometimes a ring of truth about his words,
+which seem to prove that he had not yet tasted the full bitterness of
+the tragedy of his life. On November 29th, 1849, he wrote to Madame
+Surville[*]: "It is the recompense of your life to possess two such
+children; you must not be unjust to fate; you ought to be willing to
+accept many misfortunes. The case is the same with me and Madame
+Hanska. The gift of her affection accounts to me for all my troubles,
+my worries, and my terrible labours. I have been paying in advance for
+the price of this treasure: as Napoleon says, everything is paid for
+here, nothing is stolen. I seem, indeed, to have paid very little.
+Twenty-five years of work and struggle are nothing compared to a love
+so splendid, so radiant, so complete. I have been fourteen months in a
+desert, for it /is/ a desert; and it seems to me that they have passed
+like a dream, without an hour's weariness, without a single dispute;
+and that after five years to travel together, and sixteen years of
+intimate acquaintance, our only troubles have been caused by the state
+of our health and by business matters."
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 426.
+
+When he wrote these words, Balzac must have at last felt tolerably
+confident about a happy solution to his troubles. However, in a later
+letter to his mother, he says that the Wierzchownia party are going to
+Kiev for the great Fair, that he will avail himself of this occasion
+for the renewal of his passport, and that he will not know till he
+arrives there, whether the great event will at last take place. In any
+case, he will start for France directly after the party return to
+Wierzchownia in the beginning of February; and as caution is still
+highly important, his mother must judge from his directions about the
+Rue Fortunee, whether he is coming back alone, or is bringing his
+bride with him. She is, in any case, not to be sparing about fires in
+the library and the picture gallery; and can write to him at Berlin,
+and at Frankfort, on his way home.
+
+The great Fair at Kiev, which was called the "Foire des Contrats," was
+a notable occasion for gaiety; and extensive preparations were made
+beforehand for the enjoyment of a thoroughly festive time. A house was
+hired by Madame Hanska and the Mniszechs, and furniture, carriages,
+and servants, were despatched in advance. The weather, however, was an
+important consideration; and on this occasion, owing to the inclemency
+of the season, the roads were unfortunately impassable, so that the
+pleasure trip had to be deferred from the middle till the end of
+February. This was no doubt a sad disappointment to the Countess Anna,
+who thereby missed much enjoyment, and the delay must have caused
+intense irritation to the impatient Balzac, but Madame Hanska's
+feelings on the subject remain, as usual, enigmatical.
+
+When the Wierzchownia party at last arrived at Kiev, Madame Georges
+Mniszech found plenty of gaiety awaiting her, and enjoyed herself
+immensely, going out to balls in costumes of regal magnificence. Her
+partners were often very rough, and on one occasion Balzac relates
+that a handkerchief belonging to the young Countess, which had cost
+more than 500 francs, was torn to pieces in a figure of the mazurka,
+in which men contend for the dancer's handkerchief. However, "La mere
+adorable" at once repaired the deficiency in her daughter's trousseau
+by presenting her with one of the best of her own, "twice as nice,
+with only linen enough to blow one's nose on, all the rest being
+English point lace."
+
+Balzac was unable to be present at any of these festivities, as the
+journey to Kiev had caused him acute suffering; and two days after his
+arrival, while he was paying his State visits to the authorities,[*]
+he caught the most violent cold he had ever had, and spent the time of
+his stay at Kiev in his bedroom, where his only pleasure was to see
+the Countess Anna before she started for her parties, and to admire
+her beautiful clothes. He ascribes his malady to "a terrible and
+deleterious blast of wind called the 'chasse-neige,' which travels by
+the course of the Dnieper, and perhaps comes from the shores of the
+Black Sea," and which managed to penetrate to him, though he was
+wrapped up with furs so that no spot seemed left for the outside air
+to reach. He was now very ill, and the slightest agitation, even a
+sentence spoken rather loudly in his presence, would bring on a
+terrible fit of suffocation. He still hoped to return to Paris before
+long, and clung to the idea that his wife would accompany him; but he
+said it would be impossible to travel without a servant, as he was
+unable to carry a parcel or to move quickly. As he remarks, "Tout cela
+n'est pas gai!"
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 436.
+
+However, his expedition and its attendant suffering were not
+useless,[*] as the "four or five successive illnesses and the
+sufferings from the climate, which I have laughed at for her sake,
+have touched that noble soul; so that she is, as a sensible woman,
+more influenced by them, than afraid of the few little debts which
+remain to be paid, and I see that everything will go well." On March
+11th, 1850, he writes from Berditchef that "everything is now arranged
+for the affair his mother knows of," but that the greatest discretion
+is still necessary. Madame de Balzac is given minute directions about
+the flowers which are to decorate the house in the Rue Fortunee, as a
+surprise to Madame Honore; and as we read, we can imagine Balzac's
+pride and delight when he wrote the name. His ailments and sufferings
+are forgotten, and the letter sounds as though written by an
+enthusiastic boy. He will send from Frankfort to let Madame de Balzac
+know the exact day that he and his bride will reach Paris; and in
+order that the mystery may be preserved, will merely say, "Do not
+forget on such a day to have the garden arranged,"[+] and his mother
+will understand what he means. The whole house is evidently
+photographed in his mind like the houses in his novels. He knows the
+exact position of each vase: of the big jardiniere in the first room,
+the one in the Japanese drawing-room, the two in the domed boudoir,
+and the two tiny ones in the grey apartment. They are all to be filled
+with flowers; but the marquetry jardiniere in the green drawing-room,
+evidently the future Madame Honore's special abode, is to be filled
+with "/belles, belles fleurs/!"
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 438.
+
+[+] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 444.
+
+The wedding took place at seven o'clock on the morning of March 14th,
+1850, at the church of Saint Barbe at Berditchef. In the unavoidable
+absence of the Bishop of Jitomir, the ceremony was performed by the
+Abbe Comte Czarouski, whom Balzac calls a holy and virtuous priest,
+and likens to Abbe Hinaux, the Duchesse d'Angouleme's confessor.
+
+The Countess Anna accompanied her mother, and was in the highest
+spirits; and the witnesses were the Comte Georges Mniszech, the Comte
+Gustave Olizar brother-in-law to the Abbe Comte Czarouski, and the
+cure of the parish of Berditchef. Madame Honore de Balzac had given
+her capital to her children, but received in exchange a large income,
+a fact which she wisely concealed because of Balzac's creditors; and
+Balzac speaks with admiration of her noble generosity and
+disinterestedness, in this denuding herself of her fortune.
+
+The newly-married couple travelled back to Wierzchownia, arriving,
+quite tired out, at half-past ten at night; and the next morning, as
+soon as he woke, Balzac wrote to inform his mother of the great event.
+He explained, with a well-adjusted prevision of future discord, if the
+elder Madame de Balzac's dignity were not sufficiently considered,
+that his wife had intended writing herself to offer her respects, but
+that her hands were so swollen with rheumatic gout that she could not
+hold a pen. He further informed his family, who had hitherto been kept
+in ignorance of the fact, that from the same cause she was often
+unable to walk. However, this did not depress him, as he remarked with
+his usual cheerfulness, that she would certainly be cured in Paris,
+where she would be able to take exercise and would follow a prescribed
+treatment. On the same day he penned a delighted letter to his sister,
+containing the exultant words: "For twenty-four hours, therefore,
+there has now existed a Madame Eve de Balzac, /nee/ Rzewuska, /or/ a
+Madame Honore de Balzac, /or/ a Madame de Balzac the younger." He
+could hardly believe in his own good fortune, and the joyful letter
+finishes with the words, "Ton frere Honore, au comble du bonheur!"
+
+Two days later, Balzac wrote to Madame Carraud a letter in which he
+said: "Three days ago I married the only woman I have ever loved, whom
+I love more than ever, and whom I shall love till death. This union
+is, I think, the recompense which God has had in reserve for me after
+so much adversity, so many years of work, so much gone through and
+overcome. I did not have a happy youth or happy springtide; I shall
+have the most brilliant of summers and the sweetest of autumns." In
+his newly-found happiness he did not forget that his old friend was
+now in straitened circumstances, but begged her from himself and
+Madame Honore to consider their house as her own: "Therefore, whenever
+you wish to come to Paris you will come to us, without even giving us
+notice. You will come to us in the Rue Fortunee as if to your own
+home, just as I used to go to Frapesle. This is my right. I must
+remind you of what you said to me one day at Angouleme, when, having
+broken down after writing 'Louis Lambert,' I was afraid of madness,
+and talked of the way in which people afflicted in this manner were
+neglected. On that occasion you said, 'If you were to become mad I
+should take care of you!' I have never forgotten those words, or your
+look and expression. I am just the same now as I was in July, 1832. It
+is because of those words that I claim you to-day, for I am nearly mad
+with happiness."[*]
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 448.
+
+In another part of the letter he tells her: "Ah! I never forget your
+maternal love, your divine sympathy with suffering. Therefore,
+thinking of all you are worth, and of the way in which you are
+struggling with trouble, I, who have so often waged war with that
+rough adversary, tell you that, knowing your unhappiness, I am ashamed
+of /my/ happiness; but we are both too great for these littlenesses.
+We can say to each other that happiness and unhappiness are only
+conditions in which great hearts live intensely, that as much strength
+of mind is required in one position as in the other, and that
+misfortune with true friends is perhaps more endurable than happiness
+surrounded by envy."
+
+Balzac was not, after all, destined to start on his journey homeward
+as quickly as he had intended. His health was terribly bad, his eyes
+had become so weak that he could neither read nor write, and the
+chronic heart and lung malady was gaining ground so rapidly, that his
+breathing was affected if he made the slightest movement. It was
+absolutely necessary that he should rest for a time at Wierzchownia
+before attempting any further exertion. Another delay was caused by
+the young Countess being attacked by measles. Her devoted mother, who
+in her crippled state could not attempt any active nursing, sat by her
+daughter's bedside all day, and refused to leave Wierzchownia till her
+anxiety about her darling's health should be over.
+
+It was, therefore, not till the end of April that M. and Madame Honore
+de Balzac started for what proved to be a terrible journey. They did
+not arrive in Dresden till about May 10th, having taken three weeks to
+go to a distance which ought naturally to have been accomplished in
+five or six days. The roads were in a fearful condition, and their
+lives were in danger not once, but a hundred times a day. Sometimes
+fifteen or sixteen men were required to hoist the carriage out of the
+mud-holes into which it had fallen. It is a wonder that Balzac
+survived the torture of the journey, and it must have been very trying
+to the rheumatic Madame Honore. When at last they arrived at Dresden
+they were both utterly exhausted, while Balzac was extremely ill, and
+felt ten years older than when he started. His sight was so bad that
+he could not see the letters that he was tracing on the paper, and was
+obliged to apologise to his correspondents for his extraordinary
+hieroglyphics, while he told Madame Surville that the swollen
+condition of his wife's hands still rendered it impossible for her to
+write.
+
+However, Madame Honore was well enough to amuse herself by visits to
+the jewellers' shops, where she bought a magnificent pearl necklace, a
+purchase of which Balzac evidently approved, as he remarked that it
+was so beautiful that it would make a saint mad! On his part, he was
+greeted on his arrival by a new vexation; as letters from Paris told
+him of "Vautrin" being put on the stage without his permission, and,
+as we have seen, he wrote with much indignation, to put a stop to this
+infringement of his rights.
+
+An interesting letter already referred to, which is now in the
+possession of the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, is dated from
+Frankfort, the travellers' next stopping-place. It is written to the
+Countess Anna, and was begun by Balzac, and finished by his wife.
+About Balzac's part of the letter there is not much to remark, except
+that he was evidently very fond of his step-daughter, that he told her
+how ill he was, and that the handwriting is the scrawl of a man who
+could not see. His high spirits indeed have disappeared, but this
+change of tone is easily accounted for by the state of his health. It
+is Madame Honore's part of the letter which strikes the reader as
+curiously inadequate. It is dated May 16th, only five days after
+Balzac's letter from Dresden informing his family of his wife's
+inability to hold a pen, and is perfectly written; so that her
+rheumatic gout must have abated suddenly. She begins her letter by
+commenting placidly on the sadness of seeing the sufferings of our
+"poor dear friend," says she tries in vain to cheer him, and contrasts
+regretfully the difference between her feelings during this journey,
+and her happiness when she last visited the same places, with her
+darling child at her side. The principal subject in her present rather
+wearying life, is the wonderful pearl necklace, which she takes out of
+its case conscientiously every day, that the air may preserve the
+whiteness of the pearls. She states, indeed, that she does not care
+much about it, and has only bought it to please her husband; but it
+seems to have pressed the unfortunate husband rather into the
+background, and to have become the chief centre of its owner's
+thoughts and solicitude.
+
+The chilling unsatisfactory impression the letter leaves on the
+reader, however, is not conveyed so much by what is said by Balzac's
+newly-married wife, as by what she leaves unsaid. It must be
+remembered that the Countess Eve possessed the power of expressing
+herself with the utmost warmth, and with even exaggerated emphasis,
+when she saw fit occasion for the display of feeling. We must also
+keep the fact in mind, that in writing to the daughter who was her
+intimate friend, she would naturally give some indications of her real
+self; and though it might be impossible for one of her curiously
+secretive temperament to lift the veil altogether, and to open her
+heart without reserve, she would be likely in some way to enable the
+reader to realise her mental attitude. Therefore it is disconcerting
+and disquieting to discover that the one noticeable characteristic of
+the letter, is utter want of feeling. No anxiety is expressed about
+the growing illness of the sick man, not a word tells of fears so
+terrible that she hardly dares breathe them, about the ultimate result
+of his malady; on the contrary, everything is taken as a matter of
+course, and as though the writer had expected it beforehand. There is
+not even a recognition of Balzac as her husband; he is merely "our
+poor dear friend," a person for whom she feels vague pity, and in whom
+Anna's degree of interest is likely to be the same as her own.
+
+Balzac was only married for about five months, and very little is
+known of his life during that time. It is certain, however, that his
+marriage did not bring him the happiness which he had expected, and
+Madame Hanska's letter from Frankfort helps to explain the reason of
+the tragedy. Perhaps he had raised his hopes too high for fulfilment
+to be a possibility in this world of compromise, and very likely his
+sufferings had made him irritable and exacting. Nevertheless, so quick
+a wearing out of the faithful and passionate love which had lasted for
+sixteen years, and so sudden a killing of the joy which had permeated
+the man's whole being when he had at last attained his goal, seems a
+hard task for a woman to accomplish; and can only be explained by her
+employment of the formless yet resistless force of pure indifference.
+
+Balzac's awakening, the knowledge that the absolute perfection he had
+dreamed of was only an ideal created by his own fancy, must have been
+inexpressibly bitter. Utter moral collapse and vertigo were his
+portion, and chaos thundered in his ears, during his sudden descent
+from the heights clothed with brilliant sunshine, to the puzzling
+depths, where he groped in darkness and sought in vain for firm
+footing. "Our poor dear friend" seems, for the moment, to have merited
+even more sympathy than the measure accorded to him by his wife, in
+her intervals of leisure after caring for her pearl necklace.
+
+Balzac's mother had, as we have already seen, taken up her abode with
+Madame Surville, long before the often-deferred appearance in Paris of
+her son and daughter-in-law; but Honore had given directions, that at
+any rate she was to leave the Rue Fortunee before he and his bride
+arrived. It would, he said, compromise her dignity to help with the
+unpacking, and Madame Honore should visit her mother-in-law next day
+to pay her respects. Balzac was anxious that the first meeting should
+take place at Laure's house rather than at Madame de Balzac's lodging
+at Suresnes, as it was now impossible for him to mount any steps, and
+there were fewer stairs at No. 47, Rue des Martyrs than at his
+mother's abode.[*] His health, he wrote, was so deplorable that he
+would not remain for long in Paris, but would go with his wife to
+Biarritz to take the waters.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 456.
+
+The travellers did not after all arrive in Paris till near the end of
+May. This is proved by a letter from Madame de Balzac[*] to a friend,
+written on the 20th of that month, in which she says that they are now
+expected every day, but that their progress is a slow one, owing to
+her son's illness and the heavy condition of the roads. She adds that
+she has now been in bed for three months, so Laure must evidently have
+acted as her deputy, in the task of superintending Francois'
+preparations in the Rue Fortunee. No doubt Francois worked
+strenuously, as he, like all Balzac's servants, was devoted to his
+master, though on this occasion he unwittingly provided him with a
+ghastly home-coming.
+
+[*] "Une Page perdue de Honore de Balzac," by the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+The travellers did not arrive at the Rue Fortunee till late at
+night.[*] The house was brilliantly lit, and through the windows they
+could see the flowers with which the rooms were decorated; but in vain
+they rang at the courtyard gate--no one appeared to let them in. It
+was a miserable arrival, and utterly inexplicable, as Balzac had
+planned the arrangements most carefully beforehand, going minutely
+into commissariat details, that his bride might find everything
+absolutely comfortable on her arrival in her new home. It was
+impossible to force an entrance, so M. and Madame Honore de Balzac,
+utterly worn out by the fatigues of the journey, and longing for rest,
+were obliged to sit in the carriage and spend the time in agitation
+and vain conjecture, while a messenger was despatched for a locksmith.
+When the door was at last opened, a terrible solution to the problem
+presented itself. The excitement and strain of the preparations, and
+of the hourly expectation of the travellers, had completely upset the
+mental balance of the unfortunate Francois, and he had gone suddenly
+mad! It was a sinister omen, a wretched commencement to Balzac's home
+life; and he, always superstitious, was no doubt doubly so in his
+invalided and suffering condition. Francois Munch was sent to a
+lunatic asylum, where he was cared for at his master's expense.
+
+[*] "Un Roman d'Amour," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVII
+
+                            1850 AND AFTER
+
+  Balzac's ill-health--Theophile Gautier and Victor Hugo--Balzac's
+  grief about the unfinished "Comedie Humaine"--His interview with
+  the doctor--Victor Hugo's account of his death-bed--Balzac's death
+  and funeral--Life afterwards in the Rue Fortunee--Reckless
+  extravagance--House rifled at Madame de Balzac's death--Fate of
+  Balzac's MSS.--His merits as a writer.
+
+When Balzac's friends came to visit him in the Rue Fortunee, they were
+much shocked by the change in his appearance. His breathing was short,
+his speech jerky, and his sight so bad that he was unable to
+distinguish objects clearly. Nevertheless, as Gautier says,[*] every
+one felt such intense confidence in his wonderful constitution that it
+seemed impossible to think of a probably fatal result to his malady.
+Balzac himself, optimistic as ever, clung persistently to his hope of
+speedy recovery. His fame was now at its zenith, the series entitled
+"Les Parents Pauvres" had awakened the utmost enthusiasm; and the
+/elite/ of the Parisian world were eager to flock to the Rue Fortunee
+to stare at the curiosities collected there, and to make the
+acquaintance of Balzac's rich and distinguished Russian wife.
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains: Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+However, in his native country, Balzac was destined never to receive a
+full guerdon of adulation and admiration; for though he was visited by
+a few friends, the doctors insisted on keeping him otherwise in the
+strictest retirement.
+
+Theophile Gautier relates that he went to the Rue Fortunee to say
+good-bye to his friend before starting for Italy, and, though
+disappointed not to see him, was relieved about his health when told
+that he was out driving. However, a little later, a letter was brought
+to Gautier which had been dictated by Balzac to his wife, in which he
+explained that he had only gone to the Customhouse to get out some
+luggage, and had done this against the express orders of his doctors.
+However, he spoke cheerfully of his health, saying that he was feeling
+better, and that the next day the doctors intended to attack the
+chronic malady from which he was suffering. For two months at least he
+expected to be kept like a mummy, and not to be allowed to speak or to
+move; but there were great hopes of his ultimate recovery. If Gautier
+came again, he hoped for a letter beforehand naming the day and hour,
+that he might certainly be at home; as in the solitude to which he was
+doomed by the doctors, his friend's affection seemed to him more
+precious than ever. All this was written in Madame de Balzac's
+handwriting, and under it Balzac had scrawled: "I can neither read nor
+write!"[*] Gautier left for Italy soon after this, and he never saw
+his friend again. He read the news of Balzac's death in a newspaper
+when he was at Venice, taking an ice at the Cafe Florian, in the
+Piazza of St. Mark; and so terrible was the shock, that he nearly fell
+from his seat. He tells us that he felt for the moment unchristian
+indignation and revolt, when he thought of the octogenarian idiots he
+had seen that morning at the asylum on the island of San Servolo, and
+then of Balzac cut off in his prime; but he checked himself, for he
+remembered that all souls are equal in the sight of God.
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains: Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+Victor Hugo also visited the invalid, and says that even a month
+before his death he was perfectly confident about his recovery, and
+was gay and full of laughter, discussing politics, stating his own
+legitimist views with decision, and accusing his visitor of being a
+demagogue. He said: "I have M. de Beaujon's house without the garden,
+but I am owner of the gallery leading to the little church at the
+corner of the street. A door on my staircase leads into the church.
+One turn of the key, and I am at Mass. I care more for the gallery
+than for the garden."[*]
+
+[*] "Choses Vues," by Victor Hugo.
+
+When Victor Hugo got up to go, Balzac accompanied him with difficulty
+to this staircase, to point out the precious door; and called to his
+wife, "Mind you show Hugo all my pictures." Though Balzac does not
+appear to have been very intimate with the great romantic poet in
+former years, he seems to have found special pleasure in his society
+at this time. Hugo was at the seaside when Balzac next sent for him.
+He hurried back,[*] however, at the urgent summons, and found the
+dying man stretched on a sofa covered with red and gold brocade.
+Balzac tried to rise, but could not; his face was purple, and his eyes
+alone had life in them. Now that happiness in his married life had
+failed him, his mind had reverted to the yet unfinished "Comedie
+Humaine"; and he talked long and sadly of projected herculean labours,
+and of the fate of his still unpublished works. "Although my wife has
+more brains than I, who will support her in her solitude, she whom I
+have accustomed to so much love?" "Certainly," Victor Hugo remarks
+drily, "she was crying a great deal."
+
+[*] See letter written by Madame Hamelin to the Countess Kisselef
+    quoted in "Histoire des Oeuvres de Balzac," by the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, p. 406.
+
+Nevertheless, though Balzac did at last realise his dangerous state,
+he had no idea that his end was approaching so near, and he still
+hoped to be able to add a few more stones to the edifice of the
+"Comedie Humaine," that great work, which was now again the principal
+object of his life, the one bright vision in a world of
+disappointment. In August, however, an agonising suspicion began for
+the first time to visit him momentarily, a terrible fear to assail
+him. What if there were not time after all? What if the creations
+which floated through his mind while he lay suffering and helpless,
+were never destined to be put into shape? What if his opportunity for
+work on earth were really over? It was a horrible idea; a fancy, he
+told himself, born only of weakness. Destiny /must/ intend him to
+finish his appointed task. Robbed of everything else he had longed
+for, that one consolation surely remained. He would ask the doctor,
+would be content with no vague and soothing generalities, but would
+insist on knowing the exact truth. It could not--ah, it could not be
+as black as the nightmares of his imagination!
+
+He approached the subject cautiously on the doctor's next visit.[*]
+Perhaps, he said, he had after all never realised sufficiently the
+acuteness of his malady. He certainly felt terribly ill, and knew that
+he was losing ground; while, in spite of all his efforts, he was
+unable to eat anything. His duty required that he should bequeath a
+certain legacy to the public, and he had calculated carefully, and had
+discovered that he would be able in six months to accomplish his task.
+Could the doctor promise him that length of time? There was no answer
+to this searching question, but a shake of the head from the pitying
+doctor. "Ah," cried Balzac sorrowfully, "I see quite well that you
+will not allow me six months. . . . Well, at any rate, you will at
+least give me six weeks? . . . Six weeks with fever is an eternity.
+Hours are like days . . . and then the nights are not lost." Again the
+doctor shook his head, and Balzac once more lowered his claims for a
+vestige of life. "I have courage to submit," he said proudly; "but six
+days . . . you will certainly give me that? I shall then be able to
+write down hasty plans that my friends may be able to finish, shall
+tear up bad pages and improve good ones, and shall glance rapidly
+through the fifty volumes I have already written. Human will can do
+miracles." Balzac pleaded pathetically, almost as though he thought
+his interlocutor could grant the boon of longer life if he willed to
+do so. He had aged ten years since the beginning of the interview, and
+he had now no voice left to speak, and the doctor hardly any voice for
+answering. The latter managed, however, to tell his patient that
+everything must be done to-day, because in all probability to-morrow
+would not exist for him; and Balzac cried with horror, "I have then
+only six hours!" fell back on his pillows, and spoke no more.
+
+[*] The following account of Balzac's interview with his doctor is
+    taken from an article written by Arsene Houssaye in the /Figaro/
+    of August 20th, 1883. It is right to add that the Vicomte de
+    Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, the great authority on Balzac, throws
+    grave doubts on the accuracy of the story.
+
+He died the next day, and Victor Hugo gives us one more glimpse of
+him.[*] The poet was told by his wife, who had visited Madame de
+Balzac during the day, that Balzac's last hour had come; and directly
+after dinner he took a cab and drove rapidly to the Rue Fortunee. "I
+rang. It was moonlight, occasionally veiled by clouds. The street was
+deserted. No one came. I rang a second time. The door was opened. A
+servant appeared with a candle. 'What does Monsieur want?' she said.
+She was crying.
+
+[*] "Choses Vues, 1850: Mort de Balzac," by Victor Hugo.
+
+"I gave my name. I was shown into the room on the ground floor. On a
+pedestal opposite the fireplace was the colossal bust of Balzac by
+David. In the middle of the salon, on a handsome oval table, which had
+for legs six gilded statuettes of great beauty, a wax candle was
+burning. Another woman came in crying, and said: 'He is dying. Madame
+has gone to her own rooms. The doctors gave him up yesterday.' After
+going into medical details, the woman continued: 'The night was bad.
+This morning at nine o'clock Monsieur spoke no more. Madame sent for a
+priest. The priest came, and administered extreme unction. Monsieur
+made a sign to show that he understood. An hour afterwards he pressed
+the hand of his sister, Madame Surville. Since eleven o'clock the
+death rattle has been in his throat, and he can see nothing. He will
+not last out the night. If you wish it, Monsieur, I will call M.
+Surville, who has not yet gone to bed.'
+
+"The woman left me. I waited several minutes. The candle hardly
+lighted up the splendid furniture of the salon, and the magnificent
+paintings by Porbus and Holbein which were hanging on the walls. The
+marble bust showed faintly in the obscurity, like the spectre of a
+dying man. A corpse-like odour filled the house.
+
+"M. Surville came in, and confirmed all that the servant had told me.
+I asked to see M. de Balzac.
+
+"We crossed a corridor, went up a staircase covered with a red carpet
+and crowded with artistic objects--vases, statues, pictures, and
+stands with enamels on them. Then we came to another passage, and I
+saw an open door. I heard the sound of difficult, rattling breathing.
+I entered Balzac's room.
+
+"The bedstead was in the centre of the room. It was of mahogany, and
+across the foot and at the head were beams provided with straps for
+moving the sick man. M. de Balzac was in this bed, his head resting on
+a heap of pillows, to which the red damask sofa cushions had been
+added. His face was purple, almost black, and was inclined to the
+right. He was unshaved, his grey hair was cut short, and his eyes open
+and fixed. I saw his profile, and it was like that of the Emperor
+Napoleon.
+
+"An old woman, the nurse, and a servant, stood beside the bed. A
+candle was burning on a table behind the head of the bed, another on a
+chest of drawers near the door. A silver vase was on the stand near
+the bed. The women and man were silent with a kind of terror, as they
+listened to the rattling breathing of the dying man.
+
+"The candle at the head of the bed lit up brilliantly the portrait of
+a young man, fresh-coloured and smiling, which was hanging near the
+fireplace. . . .
+
+"I lifted the coverlet and took Balzac's hand. It was covered with
+perspiration. I pressed it. He did not respond to the pressure. . . .
+
+"I went downstairs again, carrying in my mind the memory of that livid
+face, and, crossing the drawing-room, I looked again at the bust--
+immovable, impassive, proud, and smiling faintly, and I compared death
+with immortality."
+
+Balzac died that night, Sunday, August 17th, 1850, at half-past
+eleven, at the age of fifty-one.
+
+The dying man's almost complete isolation is strange, and the
+servant's news that M. Surville had not /yet/ gone to bed has a
+callous ring about it. Perhaps, however, the doctors had told Madame
+de Balzac and Madame Surville that Balzac was unconscious, and they
+had therefore withdrawn, utterly exhausted by the fatigues of the
+night before. In any case, it seems sad, though possibly of no moment
+to the dying man, that several of his nearest relations should have
+deserted him before the breath had left his body. Our respect for the
+elder Madame de Balzac is decidedly raised, because, though there had
+occasionally been disagreements between her and her son, the true
+mother feeling asserted itself at the last, and she alone watched with
+the paid attendants till the end came.
+
+However, some one was busy about the arrangements, as Balzac's
+portrait was taken by Giraud directly after his death, and a cast was
+made of his beautifully-shaped hand. His body was taken into the
+Beaujon Chapel before burial, so that he passed for the last time, as
+Victor Hugo remarks, through that door, the key of which was more
+precious to him than all the beautiful gardens which had belonged to
+the old Farmer-General.
+
+The funeral service was held on Wednesday, August 20th, at the Church
+of Sainte Philippe du Roule. The rain was descending in torrents, but
+the procession, followed by a large crowd, walked the whole way across
+Paris to the Cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise, where the interment took
+place. The pall-bearers were Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Monsieur
+Baroche, and Sainte-Beuve. At the grave Victor Hugo spoke, finishing
+with the words: "No, it is not the Unknown to him. I have said this
+before, and I shall never tire of repeating it: it is not darkness to
+him, it is Light! It is not the end, but the beginning; not
+nothingness, but eternity! Is not this the truth, I ask you who listen
+to me? Such coffins proclaim immortality. In the presence of certain
+illustrious dead, we understand the divine destiny of that intellect
+which has traversed earth to suffer and to be purified. Do we not say
+to ourselves here, to-day, that it is impossible for a great genius in
+this life to be other than a great spirit after death?"[*]
+
+[*] "Funerailles de Balzac," in "Actes et Paroles," by Victor Hugo.
+
+The Cemetery of Pere-la-Chaise had been one of Balzac's favourite
+haunts in the old half-starved days of the Rue Lesdiguieres. "Here I
+am back from Pere-la-Chaise," he wrote to his sister in 1820,[*] "and
+I have brought with me some good big inspiring reflections. Decidedly,
+the only fine epitaphs are these: La Fontaine, Messena, Moliere, a
+single name, which tells all and makes one dream." Probably Madame
+Surville remembered these words and repeated them to Madame Honore de
+Balzac, for the monument erected to Balzac is a broken column with his
+name inscribed on it.
+
+[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 24.
+
+The fortunes of the inhabitants of the Rue Fortunee were not happy
+after Balzac's death. Madame Honore de Balzac's contemporaries
+considered that she as not really as overwhelmed with sorrow at her
+husband's death as she appeared to be, and that when she wrote
+heartbroken letters, she slightly exaggerated the real state of her
+feelings; but she assumed gallantly the burdens laid upon her by the
+state of pecuniary embarrassment in which her husband died. If Balzac
+had lived longer and had been able to work steadily, there is little
+doubt that he would in a few years have become a free man, as the
+Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul tells us[*] that in the years
+between 1841 and 1847, after which date his productions became very
+rare, he had enormously diminished the sum he owed.
+
+[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
+    Lovenjoul.
+
+Under Balzac's will his widow might have refused to acknowledge any
+liability for his debts, but she set to work bravely, with the aid of
+MM. Dutacq and Fessart, to make as much money as she could out of
+Balzac's published works, and to bring before the public those that
+were still unpublished. In this way, "Mercadet le Faiseur" was acted a
+year after Balzac's death, and "Les Petits Bourgeois" and "Le Depute
+d'Arcis" were published, the latter being finished, according to
+Balzac's wish, by Charles Rabou. "Les Paysans," which was to have
+filled eight volumes, and of which, as we have already seen, only a
+few chapters were written, presented great difficulty; but at last
+Madame de Balzac, aided by Champfleury and by Charles Rabou, managed
+to give some consistency to the fragment, and it appeared in the
+/Revue de Paris/ in April, May and June, 1855. Unfortunately, however,
+no information was given as to the unfinished state in which it had
+been left by Balzac, and therefore no explanation was offered of the
+insufficiency of the /denouement/, and the inadequacy of the last
+chapters. Madame de Balzac worked hard, and long before her death in
+April, 1882, the whole of Balzac's debts were paid off.
+
+This was most creditable to her; but side by side with her admirable
+conduct in this respect, she seems to have either actively abetted, or
+at any rate acquiesced in mad extravagance on the part of Madame
+Georges Mniszech, who with her husband, had come to live in the Rue
+Fortunee after Balzac's death. Perhaps Madame de Balzac was too busy
+with her literary and business arrangements, to pay attention to what
+was happening, or possibly maternal devotion prevented her from
+denying her beloved daughter anything she craved for. At all events
+the results of her supineness were lamentable, especially as M.
+Georges Mniszech was not capable of exercising any restraint on his
+wife; he being for some years before his death in 1881, in the most
+delicate state of health, both mental and physical.
+
+Madame Georges Mniszech--after years of the wild Russian steppes,
+suddenly plunged into the fascinations of shopping in Paris, and left
+to her own devices--seems to have shown senseless folly in her
+expenditure. Additions were made to the house in the Rue Fortunee,
+though Balzac's rooms were left untouched; and the Chateau de
+Beauregard, at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, was bought as a country
+residence. Madame de Balzac and her daughter were, however, rich, and
+could quite afford to live comfortably, and even luxuriously. Their
+ruin seems to have been brought about by reckless expenditure on
+things which were of absolutely no use, and were only bought for the
+amusement of buying. Several sales of pictures took place, and on
+February 9th, 1882,[*] the Chateau de Beauregard and its contents were
+sold by order of the President of the Civil Tribunal of Corbeil.
+
+[*] "Life of Balzac," by Frederick Wedmore.
+
+Madame de Balzac died in April of the same year; and the very day of
+her funeral, Madame Georges Mniszech's creditors pushed her and her
+maid into the street, and rifled the house in the Rue Fortunee. The
+booty was transported to the auction-room known as l'Hotel Drouot, and
+there a sale was held by order of justice of Balzac's library, his
+Buhl cabinets, and some of his MSS., including that of "Eugenie
+Grandet," which had been given to Madame Hanska on December 24th,
+1833. During the shameless pillage of the house, the vultures who
+ransacked it found evidence of the most reckless, the most imbecile
+extravagance, proof positive that the wisdom, prudence, even the
+principles of poor Balzac's paragon the Countess Anna, had been routed
+by the glitter and glamour of the holiday city. One room was filled
+with boxes containing hats, and in another, piles of costly silks were
+heaped, untouched since their arrival from the fashionable haberdasher
+or silk mercer.[*] Balzac's treasures, the curiosities he had amassed
+with so much trouble, the pictures of which he had been so proud, were
+ruthlessly seized; while precious manuscripts and letters, which would
+perhaps have brought in a hundred thousand francs if they had been put
+up for sale, were thrown out of the window by the exasperated throng.
+
+[*] "Journal des Goncourts," vol. viii. P. 48.
+
+The Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul rescued a page of the first of
+Balzac's letters to Madame Hanska which has been found up to this
+time, from a cobbler whose stall was opposite the house. The cobbler,
+when once started on the quest by the Vicomte, discovered many other
+letters, sketches, and unfinished novels, which had been picked up by
+the neighbouring shopkeepers, and were only saved in the nick of time
+from being used to wrap up pounds of butter, or to make bags for other
+household commodities. It was an exciting chase, requiring patience
+and ingenuity; and Balzac's former cook held out for years, before she
+would consent to sell a packet of letters which the Vicomte coveted
+specially. Sometimes incidentally there were delightful surprises, and
+occasionally real joys; as on the occasion when the searcher found at
+a distant grocer's shop, the middle of the letter, of which the first
+page had been saved from destruction at the hands of the cobbler.
+
+The bitter dislike Balzac had evoked in the literary world, and his
+occasional obscurity and clumsy style, have militated very strongly
+against his popularity in his native land, where perfection in the
+manipulation of words is of supreme importance in a writer. While in
+France, however, Balzac's undoubted faults have partially blinded his
+countrymen to his consummate merits as a writer, and they have been
+strangely slow in acknowledging the debt of gratitude they owe to him,
+the rest or the world has already begun to realise his power of
+creating type, his wonderful imagination, his versatility, and his
+extraordinary impartiality; and to accord him his rightful place among
+the Immortals. Nevertheless we are still too near to him, to be able
+to focus him clearly, and to estimate aright his peculiar place in
+literature, or the full scope of his genius.
+
+Some very great authorities claim him as a member of the Romantic
+School; while, on the other hand, he is often looked on--apparently
+with more reason--as the first of the Realists. His object in writing
+was, he tells us, to represent mankind as he saw it, to be the
+historian of the nineteenth century, and to classify human beings as
+Buffon had classified animals. No doubt this scheme was very
+imperfectly carried out: certainly the powerful mind of Balzac with
+its wealth of imagination, often projected itself into his puppets, so
+that many of his characters are not the ordinary men and women he
+wished to portray, but are inspired by the fire of genius. This fact
+does not, however, alter the aim of their creator. He intended to be
+merely a chronicler, a scientific observer of things around him; and
+though his works are tinged to a large extent with the Romanticism of
+the powerful school in vogue in his day, this object marks him plainly
+as the forerunner of the Realists, the founder of a totally new
+conception of the scope and range of the novel.
+
+Theophile Gautier's words should prove to the modern reader, the debt
+of gratitude he owes to the inaugurator of a completely original
+system of fiction. Speaking of Balzac's impecunious and ambitious
+heroes, Gautier cries:[*] "O Corinne, who on the Cape of Messina
+allowest thy snowy arm to hang over the ivory lyre, while the son of
+Albion, clothed in a superb new cloak, and with elegant boots
+perfectly polished, gazes at thee, and listens in an elegant pose:
+Corinne, what wouldst thou have said to such heroes? They have
+nevertheless one little quality which Oswald lacked--they live, and
+with so strong a life that we have met them a thousand times."
+Balzac's own words, speaking of his play "La Maratre,"[+] might also
+serve for a motto for his novels: "I dream of a drawing-room comedy,
+where everything is calm, quiet, and amiable. The men play whist
+placidly by the light of candles with little green shades. The women
+talk and laugh while they work at their embroidery. They all take tea
+together. To sum up, everything announces good order and harmony.
+Well, underneath are agitating passions; the drama stirs, it prepares
+itself secretly, till it blazes forth like the flame of a
+conflagration."
+
+[*] "Portraits Contemporains: Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
+
+[+] "Historiettes et Souvenirs d'un Homme de Theatre," by H. Hostein.
+
+Balzac is essentially a Realist, in his use of the novel as a vehicle
+for the description of real struggling life; with money and position,
+the principal desiderata of modern civilisation, powerful as
+determining factors in the moulding of men's actions. Life, as
+portrayed in the old-fashioned novel, where the hero and heroine and
+their love affairs were the sole focus of attraction, and the other
+characters were grouped round in subordinate positions, while every
+one declined in interest as he advanced in years, was not life as
+Balzac saw it; and he pictures his hero's agony at not having a penny
+with which to pay his cab fare, with as much graphic intensity, as he
+tells of the same young gentleman's despair when his inamorata is
+indifferent to him.
+
+Nevertheless, if we compare Balzac with the depressing writers of the
+so-called Realist School, we shall find that his conception of life
+differed greatly from theirs. In Flaubert's melancholy books, even
+perfection of style and painstaking truth of detail do not dissipate
+the deadly dulness of an unreal world, where no one rises above the
+low level of self-gratification; while Zola considers man so
+completely in his physical aspect, that he ends by degrading him below
+the animal world. Balzac, on the other hand, believed in purity, in
+devotion, and unselfishness; though he did not think that these
+qualities are triumphant on earth. In his pessimistic view of life,
+virtue generally suffered, and had no power against vice; but he knew
+that it existed, and he believed in a future where wrongs would be
+righted.
+
+He is a poet and idealist, and thus akin to the Romanticists--though
+he lacks their perfection of diction--in his feeling for the beauty of
+atmospheric effects, and also in his enthusiasm for music, which he
+loved passionately. The description of Montriveau's emotions when the
+cloistered Duchesse de Langeais plays in the church of Spain--and
+Balzac tells us that the sound of the organ bears the mind through a
+thousand scenes of life to the infinite which parts earth from heaven,
+and that through its tones the luminous attributes of God Himself
+pierce and radiate--is totally unrealistic both in moral tone, and in
+its accentuation of the power of the higher emotions. His intense
+admiration for Sir Walter Scott--an admiration which he expresses time
+after time in his letters--is a further proof of his sympathy for the
+school of thought, which glorified the picturesque Middle Ages above
+every other period of history.
+
+Whichever school, however, may claim Balzac, it is an undisputed fact
+that he possessed in a high degree that greatest of all attributes--
+the power of creation of type. Le Pere Goriot, Balthazar Claes, Old
+Grandet, La Cousine Bette, Le Cousin Pons, and many other people in
+Balzac's pages, are creations; they live and are immortal. He has
+endowed them with more splendid and superabundant vitality than is
+accorded to ordinary humanity.
+
+To do this, something is required beyond keenness of vision. The gift
+of seeing vividly--as under a dazzling light--to the very kernel of
+the object stripped of supernumerary circumstance, is indeed necessary
+for the portrayal of character; but although Dickens, as well as
+Balzac, possessed this faculty to a high degree, his people are often
+qualities personified, or impossible monsters. For the successful
+creation of type, that power in which Balzac is akin to Shakespeare,
+it is necessary that a coherent whole shall be formed, and that the
+full scope of a character shall be realised, with its infinite
+possibilities on its own plane, and its impotence to move a
+hairsbreadth on to another. The mysterious law which governs the
+conduct of life must be fathomed; so that, though there may be
+unexpected and surprising developments, the artistic sense and
+intuition which we possess shall not be outraged, and we shall still
+recognise the abiding personality under everything. Balzac excels in
+this; and because of this power, and also because--at a time when
+Byronic literature was in the ascendant, and it was the fashion to
+think that the quintessence of beauty could be found by diving into
+the depths of one's own being--he came forward without pose or self-
+consciousness, as a simple observer of the human race, the world will
+never cease to owe him a debt of gratitude, and to rank him among her
+greatest novelists.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Honore de Balzac, His Life and Writings
+by Mary F. Sandars
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HONORE DE BALZAC ***
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