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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/9548.txt b/9548.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac9a255 --- /dev/null +++ b/9548.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9784 @@ +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. 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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] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +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. 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