diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 1968-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 55207 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 1968-h/1968-h.htm | 2563 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 1968.txt | 2421 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 1968.zip | bin | 0 -> 51279 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/20041110-1968.txt | 2413 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/20041110-1968.zip | bin | 0 -> 50908 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/hciaa10.txt | 2311 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/hciaa10.zip | bin | 0 -> 49146 bytes |
11 files changed, 9724 insertions, 0 deletions
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/1968-h.zip b/1968-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..10a1089 --- /dev/null +++ b/1968-h.zip diff --git a/1968-h/1968-h.htm b/1968-h/1968-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a5ec921 --- /dev/null +++ b/1968-h/1968-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,2563 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + The Human Comedy, by Honore de Balzac + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Human Comedy, by Honore de Balzac + +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: The Human Comedy + Introductions and Appendix + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Commentator: George Saintsbury + +Release Date: March 8, 2010 [EBook #1968] +Last Updated: November 26, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HUMAN COMEDY *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + THE HUMAN COMEDY + </h1> + <h2> + INTRODUCTIONS AND APPENDIX + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Honore De Balzac + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <div class="mynote"> + <p> + <b>Note:</b> This reposting is dedicated to Dagny, who, 10 years ago, + was part of the "Balzac Team" which produced 113 eBooks for Project + Gutenberg. I cannot locate her present email address to thank her for + the extraordinarily fine work she did at a time when we had none of the + present easy programs to help locate errors--and to notify her that all + her Balzac files have been rechecked and reposted. + </p> + <p> + DW + </p> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_INTR"> <b>INTRODUCTIONS AND APPENDIX</b> </a> + </p> + <br /> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0002"> <b>HONORE DE BALZAC</b> </a> + </p> + <br /> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_APPE"> <b>APPENDIX</b> </a> + </p> + <br /> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> <b>COMEDIE HUMAINE</b> </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> SCENES DE LA VIE PRIVEE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> SCENES DE LA VIE PROVINCE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> SCENES DE LA VIE PARISIENNE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> SCENES DE LA VIE POLITIQUE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> SCENES DE LA VIE MILITAIRE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> SCENES DE LA VIE DE CAMPAGNE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc2"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> ETUDES PHILOSOPHIQUES </a> + </p> + <br /> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0012"> <b>AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION</b> </a> + </p> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + CONTENTS + + Honore de Balzac + Introduction and brief biography by George Saintsbury. + + Appendix + List of titles in French with English translations and grouped + in the various classifications. + + Author's introduction + Balzac's 1842 introduction to The Human Comedy. +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_INTR" id="link2H_INTR"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + HONORE DE BALZAC + </h2> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + <i>"Sans genie, je suis flambe!"</i> +</pre> + <p> + Volumes, almost libraries, have been written about Balzac; and perhaps of + very few writers, putting aside the three or four greatest of all, is it + so difficult to select one or a few short phrases which will in any way + denote them, much more sum them up. Yet the five words quoted above, which + come from an early letter to his sister when as yet he had not "found his + way," characterize him, I think, better than at least some of the volumes + I have read about him, and supply, when they are properly understood, the + most valuable of all keys and companions for his comprehension. + </p> + <p> + "If I have not genius, it is all up with me!" A very matter-of-fact person + may say: "Why! there is nothing wonderful in this. Everybody knows what + genius is wanted to make a name in literature, and most people think they + have it." But this would be a little short-sighted, and only excusable + because of the way in which the word "genius" is too commonly bandied + about. As a matter of fact, there is not so very much genius in the world; + and a great deal of more than fair performance is attainable and attained + by more or less decent allowances or exhibitions of talent. In prose, more + especially, it is possible to gain a very high place, and to deserve it, + without any genius at all: though it is difficult, if not impossible, to + do so in verse. But what Balzac felt (whether he was conscious in detail + of the feeling or not) when he used these words to his sister Laure, what + his critical readers must feel when they have read only a very little of + his work, what they must feel still more strongly when they have read that + work as a whole—is that for him there is no such door of escape and + no such compromise. He had the choice, by his nature, his aims, his + capacities, of being a genius or nothing. He had no little gifts, and he + was even destitute of some of the separate and indivisible great ones. In + mere writing, mere style, he was not supreme; one seldom or never derives + from anything of his the merely artistic satisfaction given by perfect + prose. His humor, except of the grim and gigantic kind, was not + remarkable; his wit, for a Frenchman, curiously thin and small. The minor + felicities of the literature generally were denied to him. <i>Sans genie, + il etait flambe</i>; <i>flambe</i> as he seemed to be, and very reasonably + seemed, to his friends when as yet the genius had not come to him, and + when he was desperately striving to discover where his genius lay in those + wonderous works which "Lord R'Hoone," and "Horace de Saint Aubin," and + others obligingly fathered for him. + </p> + <p> + It must be the business of these introductions to give what assistance + they may to discover where it did lie; it is only necessary, before taking + up the task in the regular biographical and critical way of the + introductory cicerone, to make two negative observations. It did not lie, + as some have apparently thought, in the conception, or the outlining, or + the filling up of such a scheme as the <i>Comedie Humaine</i>. In the + first place, the work of every great writer, of the creative kind, + including that of Dante himself, is a <i>comedie humaine</i>. All humanity + is latent in every human being; and the great writers are merely those who + call most of it out of latency and put it actually on the stage. And, as + students of Balzac know, the scheme and adjustment of his comedy varied so + remarkably as time went on that it can hardly be said to have, even in its + latest form (which would pretty certainly have been altered again), a + distinct and definite character. Its so-called scenes are even in the mass + by no means exhaustive, and are, as they stand, a very "cross," division + of life: nor are they peopled by anything like an exhaustive selection of + personages. Nor again is Balzac's genius by any means a mere vindication + of the famous definition of that quality as an infinite capacity of taking + pains. That Balzac had that capacity—had it in a degree probably + unequaled even by the dullest plodders on record—is very well known, + is one of the best known things about him. But he showed it for nearly ten + years before the genius came, and though no doubt it helped him when + genius had come, the two things are in his case, as in most, pretty + sufficiently distinct. What the genius itself was I must do my best to + indicate hereafter, always beseeching the reader to remember that all + genius is in its essence and quiddity indefinable. You can no more get + close to it than you can get close to the rainbow, and your most + scientific explanation of it will always leave as much of the heart of the + fact unexplained as the scientific explanation of the rainbow leaves of + that. + </p> + <p> + Honore de Balzac was born at Tours on the 16th of May, 1799, in the same + year which saw the birth of Heine, and which therefore had the honor of + producing perhaps the most characteristic writers of the nineteenth + century in prose and verse respectively. The family was a respectable one, + though its right to the particle which Balzac always carefully assumed, + subscribing himself "<i>de</i> Balzac," was contested. And there appears + to be no proof of their connection with Jean Guez de Balzac, the founder, + as some will have him, of modern French prose, and the contemporary and + fellow-reformer of Malherbe. (Indeed, as the novelist pointed out with + sufficient pertinence, his earlier namesake had no hereditary right to the + name at all, and merely took it from some property.) Balzac's father, who, + as the <i>zac</i> pretty surely indicates, was a southerner and a native + of Languedoc, was fifty-three years old at the birth of his son, whose + Christian name was selected on the ordinary principle of accepting that of + the saint on whose day he was born. Balzac the elder had been a barrister + before the Revolution, but under it he obtained a post in the + commissariat, and rose to be head of that department for a military + division. His wife, who was much younger than himself and who survived her + son, is said to have possessed both beauty and fortune, and was evidently + endowed with the business faculties so common among Frenchwomen. When + Honore was born, the family had not long been established at Tours, where + Balzac the elder (besides his duties) had a house and some land; and this + town continued to be their headquarters till the novelist, who was the + eldest of the family, was about sixteen. He had two sisters (of whom the + elder, Laure, afterwards Madame Surville, was his first confidante and his + only authoritative biographer) and a younger brother, who seems to have + been, if not a scapegrace, rather a burden to his friends, and who later + went abroad. + </p> + <p> + The eldest boy was, in spite of Rousseau, put out to nurse, and at seven + years old was sent to the Oratorian grammar-school at Vendome, where he + stayed another seven years, going through, according to his own account, + the future experiences and performances of Louis Lambert, but making no + reputation for himself in the ordinary school course. If, however, he + would not work in his teacher's way, he overworked himself in his own by + devouring books; and was sent home at fourteen in such a state of health + that his grandmother (who after the French fashion, was living with her + daughter and son-in-law), ejaculated: <i>"Voila donc comme le college nous + renvoie les jolis enfants que nous lui envoyons!"</i> It would seem indeed + that, after making all due allowance for grandmotherly and sisterly + partiality, Balzac was actually a very good-looking boy and young man, + though the portraits of him in later life may not satisfy the more + romantic expectations of his admirers. He must have had at all times eyes + full of character, perhaps the only feature that never fails in men of + intellectual eminence; but he certainly does not seem to have been in his + manhood either exactly handsome or exactly "distinguished-looking." But + the portraits of the middle of the century are, as a rule, rather wanting + in this characteristic when compared with those of its first and last + periods; and I cannot think of many that quite come up to one's + expectations. + </p> + <p> + For a short time he was left pretty much to himself, and recovered + rapidly. But late in 1814 a change of official duties removed the Balzacs + to Paris, and when they had established themselves in the famous old <i>bourgeois</i> + quarter of the Marais, Honore was sent to divers private tutors or private + schools till he had "finished his classes" in 1816 at the age of seventeen + and a half. Then he attended lectures at the Sorbonne where Villemain, + Guizot, and Cousin were lecturing, and heard them, as his sister tells us, + enthusiastically, though there are probably no three writers of any + considerable repute in the history of French literature who stand further + apart from Balzac. For all three made and kept their fame by spirited and + agreeable generalizations and expatiations, as different as possible from + the savage labor of observation on the one hand and the gigantic + developments of imagination on the other, which were to compose Balzac's + appeal. His father destined him for the law; and for three years more he + dutifully attended the offices of an attorney and a notary, besides going + through the necessary lectures and examinations. All these trials he seems + to have passed, if not brilliantly, yet sufficiently. + </p> + <p> + And then came the inevitable crisis, which was of an unusually severe + nature. A notary, who was a friend of the elder Balzac's and owed him some + gratitude offered not merely to take Honore into his office, but to allow + him to succeed to his business, which was a very good one, in a few years + on very favorable terms. Most fathers, and nearly all French fathers, + would have jumped at this; and it so happened that about the same time M. + de Balzac was undergoing that unpleasant process of compulsory retirement + which his son has described in one of the best passages of the <i>Oeuvres + de Jeunesse</i>, the opening scene of <i>Argow le Pirate</i>. It does not + appear that Honore had revolted during his probation—indeed he is + said, and we can easily believe it from his books, to have acquired a very + solid knowledge of law, especially in bankruptcy matters, of which he was + himself to have a very close shave in future. A solicitor, indeed, told + Laure de Balzac that he found <i>Cesar Birotteau</i> a kind of <i>Balzac + on Bankruptcy</i>; but this may have been only the solicitor's fun. + </p> + <p> + It was no part of Honore's intentions to use this knowledge—however + content he had been to acquire it—in the least interesting, if + nearly the most profitable, of the branches of the legal profession; and + he protested eloquently, and not unsuccessfully, that he would be a man of + letters and nothing else. Not unsuccessfully; but at the same time with + distinctly qualified success. He was not turned out of doors; nor were the + supplies, as in Quinet's case only a few months later, absolutely withheld + even for a short time. But his mother (who seems to have been less + placable than her husband) thought that cutting them down to the lowest + point might have some effect. So, as the family at this time (April 1819) + left Paris for a house some twenty miles out of it, she established her + eldest son in a garret furnished in the most Spartan fashion, with a + starvation allowance and an old woman to look after him. He did not + literally stay in this garret for the ten years of his astonishing and + unparalleled probation; but without too much metaphor it may be said to + have been his Wilderness, and his Wanderings in it to have lasted for that + very considerable time. + </p> + <p> + We know, in detail, very little of him during the period. For the first + years, between 1819 and 1822, we have a good number of letters to Laure; + between 1822 and 1829, when he first made his mark, very few. He began, of + course, with verse, for which he never had the slightest vocation, and, + almost equally of course, with a tragedy. But by degrees and apparently + pretty soon, he slipped into what was his vocation, and like some, though + not very many, great writers, at first did little better in it than if it + had not been his vocation at all. The singular tentatives which, after + being allowed for a time a sort of outhouse in the structure of the <i>Comedie + Humaine</i>, were excluded from the octavo <i>Edition Definitive</i> + five-and-twenty years ago, have never been the object of that exhaustive + bibliographical and critical attention which has been bestowed on those + which follow them. They were not absolutely unproductive—we hear of + sixty, eighty, a hundred pounds being paid for them, though whether this + was the amount of Balzac's always sanguine expectations, or hard cash + actually handed over, we cannot say. They were very numerous, though the + reprints spoken of above never extended to more than ten. Even these have + never been widely read. The only person I ever knew till I began this + present task who had read them through was the friend whom all his friends + are now lamenting and are not likely soon to cease to lament, Mr. Louis + Stevenson; and when I once asked him whether, on his honor and conscience, + he could recommend me to brace myself to the same effort, he said that on + his honor and conscience he must most earnestly dissuade me. I gather, + though I am not sure, that Mr. Wedmore, the latest writer in English on + Balzac at any length, had not read them through when he wrote. + </p> + <p> + Now I have, and a most curious study they are. Indeed I am not sorry, as + Mr. Wedmore thinks one would be. They are curiously, interestingly, almost + enthrallingly bad. Couched for the most part in a kind of Radcliffian or + Monk-Lewisian vein—perhaps studied more directly from Maturin (of + whom Balzac was a great admirer) than from either—they often begin + with and sometimes contain at intervals passages not unlike the Balzac + that we know. The attractive title of <i>Jane la Pale</i> (it was + originally called, with a still more Early Romantic avidity for <i>baroque</i> + titles, <i>Wann-Chlore</i>) has caused it, I believe, to be more commonly + read than any other. It deals with a disguised duke, a villainous Italian, + bigamy, a surprising offer of the angelic first wife to submit to a sort + of double arrangement, the death of the second wife and first love, and a + great many other things. <i>Argow le Pirate</i> opens quite decently and + in order with that story of the <i>employe</i> which Balzac was to + rehandle so often, but drops suddenly into brigands stopping diligences, + the marriage of the heroine Annette with a retired pirate marquis of vast + wealth, the trial of the latter for murdering another marquis with a + poisoned fish-bone scarf-pin, his execution, the sanguinary reprisals by + his redoubtable lieutenant, and a finale of blunderbusses, fire, devoted + peasant girl with <i>retrousse</i> nose, and almost every possible <i>tremblement</i>. + </p> + <p> + In strictness mention of this should have been preceded by mention of <i>Le + Vicaire des Ardennes</i>, which is a sort of first part of <i>Argow le + Pirate</i>, and not only gives an account of his crimes, early history, + and manners (which seem to have been a little robustious for such a + mild-mannered man as Annette's husband), but tells a thrilling tale of the + loves of the <i>vicaire</i> himself and a young woman, which loves are + crossed, first by the belief that they are brother and sister, and + secondly by the <i>vicaire</i> having taken orders under this delusion. <i>La + Derniere Fee</i> is the queerest possible cross between an actual fairy + story <i>a la</i> Nordier and a history of the fantastic and inconstant + loves of a great English lady, the Duchess of "Sommerset" (a piece of + actual <i>scandalum magnatum</i> nearly as bad as Balzac's cool use in his + acknowledged work of the title "Lord Dudley"). This book begins so well + that one expects it to go on better; but the inevitable defects in + craftsmanship show themselves before long. <i>Le Centenaire</i> connects + itself with Balzac's almost lifelong hankering after the <i>recherche de + l'absolu</i> in one form or another, for the hero is a wicked old person + who every now and then refreshes his hold on life by immolating a virgin + under a copper-bell. It is one of the most extravagant and "Monk-Lewisy" + of the whole. <i>L'Excommunie</i>, <i>L'Israelite</i>, and <i>L'Heritiere + de Birague</i> are mediaeval or fifteenth century tales of the most + luxuriant kind, <i>L'Excommunie</i> being the best, <i>L'Israelite</i> the + most preposterous, and <i>L'Heritiere de Birague</i> the dullest. But it + is not nearly so dull as <i>Dom Gigadus</i> and <i>Jean Louis</i>, the + former of which deals with the end of the seventeenth century and the + latter with the end of the eighteenth. These are both as nearly unreadable + as anything can be. One interesting thing, however, should be noted in + much of this early work: the affectionate clinging of the author to the + scenery of Touraine, which sometimes inspires him with his least bad + passages. + </p> + <p> + It is generally agreed that these singular <i>Oeuvres de Jeunesse</i> were + of service to Balzac as exercise, and no doubt they were so; but I think + something may be said on the other side. They must have done a little, if + not much, to lead him into and confirm him in those defects of style and + form which distinguish him so remarkably from most writers of his rank. It + very seldom happens when a very young man writes very much, be it + book-writing or journalism, without censure and without "editing," that he + does not at the same time get into loose and slipshod habits. And I think + we may set down to this peculiar form of apprenticeship of Balzac's not + merely his failure ever to attain, except in passages and patches, a + thoroughly great style, but also that extraordinary method of composition + which in after days cost him and his publishers so much money. + </p> + <p> + However, if these ten years of probation taught him his trade, they taught + him also a most unfortunate avocation or by-trade, which he never ceased + to practise, or to try to practise, which never did him the least good, + and which not unfrequently lost him much of the not too abundant gains + which he earned with such enormous labor. This was the "game of + speculation." His sister puts the tempter's part on an unknown "neighbor," + who advised him to try to procure independence by <i>une bonne speculation</i>. + Those who have read Balzac's books and his letters will hardly think that + he required much tempting. He began by trying to publish—an attempt + which has never yet succeeded with a single man of letters, so far as I + can remember. His scheme was not a bad one, indeed it was one which has + brought much money to other pockets since, being neither more nor less + than the issuing of cheap one-volume editions of French classics. But he + had hardly any capital; he was naturally quite ignorant of his trade, and + as naturally the established publishers and booksellers boycotted him as + an intruder. So his <i>Moliere</i> and his <i>La Fontaine</i> are said to + have been sold as waste paper, though if any copies escaped they would + probably fetch a very comfortable price now. Then, such capital as he had + having been borrowed, the lender, either out of good nature or avarice, + determined to throw the helve after the hatchet. He partly advanced + himself and partly induced Balzac's parents to advance more, in order to + start the young man as a printer, to which business Honore himself added + that of typefounder. The story was just the same: knowledge and capital + were again wanting, and though actual bankruptcy was avoided, Balzac got + out of the matter at the cost not merely of giving the two businesses to a + friend (in whose hands they proved profitable), but of a margin of debt + from which he may be said never to have fully cleared himself. + </p> + <p> + He had more than twenty years to live, but he never cured himself of this + hankering after <i>une bonne speculation</i>. Sometimes it was ordinary + stock-exchange gambling; but his special weakness was, to do him justice, + for schemes that had something more grandiose in them. Thus, to finish + here with the subject, though the chapter of it never actually finished + till his death, he made years afterwards, when he was a successful and a + desperately busy author, a long, troublesome, and costly journey to + Sardinia to carry out a plan of resmelting the slag from Roman and other + mines there. Thus in his very latest days, when he was living at + Vierzschovnia with the Hanska and Mniszech household, he conceived the + magnificently absurd notion of cutting down twenty thousand acres of oak + wood in the Ukraine, and sending it <i>by railway</i> right across Europe + to be sold in France. And he was rather reluctantly convinced that by the + time a single log reached its market the freight would have eaten up the + value of the whole plantation. + </p> + <p> + It was perhaps not entirely chance that the collapse of the printing + scheme, which took place in 1827, the ninth year of the Wanderings in the + Wilderness, coincided with or immediately preceded the conception of the + book which was to give Balzac passage into the Promised Land. This was <i>Les + Chouans</i>, called at its first issue, which differed considerably from + the present form, <i>Le Dernier Chouan ou la Bretagne en 1800</i> (later + <i>1799</i>). It was published in 1829 without any of the previous + anagrammatic pseudonyms; and whatever were the reasons which had induced + him to make his bow in person to the public, they were well justified, for + the book was a distinct success, if not a great one. It occupies a kind of + middle position between the melodramatic romance of his nonage and the + strictly analytic romance-novel of his later time; and, though dealing + with war and love chiefly, inclines in conception distinctly to the + latter. Corentin, Hulot, and other personages of the actual Comedy (then + by no means planned, or at least avowed) appear; and though the influence + of Scott is in a way paramount* on the surface, the underwork is quite + different, and the whole scheme of the loves of Montauran and Mademoiselle + de Verneuil is pure Balzac. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Balzac was throughout his life a fervent admirer of Sir Walter, + and I think Mr. Wedmore, in his passage on the subject, distinctly + undervalues both the character and the duration of this esteem. + Balzac was far too acute to commit the common mistake of thinking + Scott superficial—men who know mankind are not often blind to + each other's knowledge. And while Mr. Wedmore seems not to know + any testimony later than Balzac's <i>thirty-eighth</i> year, it is in + his <i>forty-sixth</i>, when all his own best work was done, except the + <i>Parents Pauvres</i>, that he contrasts Dumas with Scott saying that + <i>on relit Walter Scott</i>, and he does not think any one will + re-read Dumas. This may be unjust to the one writer, but it is + conclusive as to any sense of "wasted time" (his own phrase) + having ever existed in Balzac's mind about the other. +</pre> + <p> + It would seem as if nothing but this sun of popular approval had been + wanting to make Balzac's genius burst out in full bloom. Although we have + a fair number of letters for the ensuing years, it is not very easy to + make out the exact sequence of production of the marvelous harvest which + his genius gave. It is sufficient to say that in the three years following + 1829 there were actually published the <i>Physiologie du Mariage</i>, the + charming story of <i>La Maison du Chat-que-Pelote</i>, the <i>Peau de + Chagrin</i>, the most original and splendid, if not the most finished and + refined, of all Balzac's books, most of the short <i>Contes Philosophiques</i>, + of which some are among their author's greatest triumphs, many other + stories (chiefly included in the <i>Scenes de la Vie Privee</i>) and the + beginning of the <i>Contes Drolatiques</i>.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * No regular attempt will after this be made to indicate the date of + production of successive works, unless they connect themselves + very distinctly with incidents in the life or with general + critical observations. At the end of this introduction will be + found a full table of the <i>Comedie Humaine</i> and the other works. + It may perhaps be worth while to add here, that while the labors + of M. de Lovenjoul (to whom every writer on Balzac must + acknowledge the deepest obligation) have cleared this matter up + almost to the verge of possibility as regards the published works, + there is little light to be thrown on the constant references in + the letters to books which never appeared. Sometimes they are + known, and they may often be suspected, to have been absorbed into + or incorporated with others; the rest must have been lost or + destroyed, or, which is not quite impossible, have existed chiefly + in the form of project. Nearly a hundred titles of such things are + preserved. +</pre> + <p> + But without a careful examination of his miscellaneous work, which is very + abundant and includes journalism as well as books, it is almost as + impossible to come to a just appreciation of Balzac as it is without + reading the early works and letters. This miscellaneous work is all the + more important because a great deal of it represents the artist at quite + advanced stages of his career, and because all its examples, the earlier + as well as the later, give us abundant insight on him as he was "making + himself." The comparison with the early works of Thackeray (in <i>Punch</i>, + <i>Fraser</i>, and elsewhere) is so striking that it can escape no one who + knows the two. Every now and then Balzac transferred bodily, or with + slight alterations, passages from these experiments to his finished + canvases. It appears that he had a scheme for codifying his "Physiologies" + (of which the notorious one above mentioned is only a catchpenny exemplar + and very far from the best) into a seriously organized work. Chance was + kind or intention was wise in not allowing him to do so; but the value of + the things for the critical reader is not less. Here are tales—extensions + of the scheme and manner of the <i>Oeuvres de Jeunesse</i>, or attempts at + the <i>goguenard</i> story of 1830—a thing for which Balzac's hand + was hardly light enough. Here are interesting evidences of striving to be + cosmopolitan and polyglot—the most interesting of all of which, I + think, is the mention of certain British products as "mufflings." + "Muffling" used to be a domestic joke for "muffin;" but whether some + wicked Briton deluded Balzac into the idea that it was the proper form or + not it is impossible to say. Here is a <i>Traite de la Vie Elegante</i>, + inestimable for certain critical purposes. So early as 1825 we find a <i>Code + des Gens Honnetes</i>, which exhibits at once the author's legal studies + and his constant attraction for the shady side of business, and which + contains a scheme for defrauding by means of lead pencils, actually + carried out (if we may believe his exulting note) by some literary + swindlers with unhappy results. A year later he wrote a <i>Dictionnaire + des Enseignes de Paris</i>, which we are glad enough to have from the + author of the <i>Chat-que-Pelote</i>; but the persistence with which this + kind of miscellaneous writing occupied him could not be better exemplified + than by the fact that, of two important works which closely follow this in + the collected edition, the <i>Physiologie de l'Employe</i> dates from 1841 + and the <i>Monographie de la Presse Parisienne</i> from 1843. + </p> + <p> + It is well known that from the time almost of his success as a novelist he + was given, like too many successful novelists (<i>not</i> like Scott), to + rather undignified and foolish attacks on critics. The explanation may or + may not be found in the fact that we have abundant critical work of his, + and that it is nearly all bad. Now and then we have an acute remark in his + own special sphere; but as a rule he cannot be complimented on these + performances, and when he was half-way through his career this critical + tendency of his culminated in the unlucky <i>Revue Parisienne</i>, which + he wrote almost entirely himself, with slight assistance from his friends, + MM. de Belloy and de Grammont. It covers a wide range, but the literary + part of it is considerable, and this part contains that memorable and + disastrous attack on Sainte-Beuve, for which the critic afterwards took a + magnanimous revenge in his obituary <i>causerie</i>. Although the thing is + not quite unexampled it is not easily to be surpassed in the blind fury of + its abuse. Sainte-Beuve was by no means invulnerable, and an anti-critic + who kept his head might have found, as M. de Pontmartin and others did + find, the joints in his armor. But when, <i>a propos</i> of the <i>Port + Royal</i> more especially, and of the other works in general, Balzac + informs us that Sainte-Beuve's great characteristic as a writer is <i>l'ennui, + l'ennui boueux jusqu'a mi-jambe</i>, that his style is intolerable, that + his historical handling is like that of Gibbon, Hume, and other dull + people; when he jeers at him for exhuming "La mere Angelique," and scolds + him for presuming to obscure the glory of the <i>Roi Soleil</i>, the thing + is partly ludicrous, partly melancholy. One remembers that agreeable + Bohemian, who at a symposium once interrupted his host by crying, "Man o' + the hoose, gie us less o' yer clack and mair o' yer Jairman wine!" Only, + in human respect and other, we phrase it: "Oh, dear M. de Balzac! give us + more <i>Eugenie Grandets</i>, more <i>Pere Goriots</i>, more <i>Peaux de + Chagrin</i>, and don't talk about what you do not understand!" + </p> + <p> + Balzac was a great politician also, and here, though he may not have been + very much more successful, he talked with more knowledge and competence. + He must have given himself immense trouble in reading the papers, foreign + as well as French; he had really mastered a good deal of the political + religion of a French publicist. It is curious to read, sixty years after + date, his grave assertion that "<i>La France a la conquete de Madagascar a + faire</i>," and with certain very pardonable defects (such as his + Anglophobia), his politics may be pronounced not unintelligent and not + ungenerous, though somewhat inconsistent and not very distinctly traceable + to any coherent theory. As for the Anglophobia, the Englishman who thinks + the less of him for that must have very poor and unhappy brains. A + Frenchman who does not more or less hate and fear England, an Englishman + who does not regard France with a more or less good-humored impatience, is + usually "either a god or a beast," as Aristotle saith. Balzac began with + an odd but not unintelligible compound, something like Hugo's, of + Napoleonism and Royalism. In 1824, when he was still in the shades of + anonymity, he wrote and published two by no means despicable pamphlets in + favor of Primogeniture and the Jesuits, the latter of which was reprinted + in 1880 at the last <i>Jesuitenhetze</i> in France. His <i>Lettres sur + Paris</i> in 1830-31, and his <i>La France et l'Etranger</i> in 1836, are + two considerable series of letters from "Our Own Correspondent," handling + the affairs of the world with boldness and industry if not invariably with + wisdom. They rather suggest (as does the later <i>Revue Parisienne</i> + still more) the political writing of the age of Anne in England, and + perhaps a little later, when "the wits" handled politics and society, + literature and things in general with unquestioned competence and an easy + universality. + </p> + <p> + The rest of his work which will not appear in this edition may be + conveniently despatched here. The <i>Physiologie du Mariage</i> and the <i>Scenes + de la Vie Conjugale</i> suffer not merely from the most obvious of their + faults but from defect of knowledge. It may or may not be that marriage, + in the hackneyed phrase, is a net or other receptacle where all the + outsiders would be in, and all the insiders out. But it is quite clear + that Coelebs cannot talk of it with much authority. His state may or may + not be the more gracious: his judgment cannot but lack experience. The + "Theatre," which brought the author little if any profit, great annoyance, + and a vast amount of trouble, has been generally condemned by criticism. + But the <i>Contes Drolatiques</i> are not so to be given up. The famous + and splendid <i>Succube</i> is only the best of them, and though all are + more or less tarred with the brush which tars so much of French + literature, though the attempt to write in an archaic style is at best a + very successful <i>tour de force</i>, and represents an expenditure of + brain power by no means justifiable on the part of a man who could have + made so much better use of it, they are never to be spoken of + disrespectfully. Those who sneer at their "Wardour Street" Old French are + not usually the best qualified to do so; and it is not to be forgotten + that Balzac was a real countryman of Rabelais and a legitimate inheritor + of <i>Gauloiserie</i>. Unluckily no man can "throw back" in this way, + except now and then as a mere pastime. And it is fair to recollect that as + a matter of fact Balzac, after a year or two, did not waste much more time + on these things, and that the intended ten <i>dizains</i> never, as a + matter of fact, went beyond three. + </p> + <p> + Besides this work in books, pamphlets, etc., Balzac, as has been said, did + a certain amount of journalism, especially in the <i>Caricature</i>, his + performances including, I regret to say, more than one puff of his own + work; and in this, as well as by the success of the <i>Chouans</i>, he + became known about 1830 to a much wider circle, both of literary and of + private acquaintance. It cannot indeed be said that he ever mixed much in + society; it was impossible that he should do so, considering the vast + amount of work he did and the manner in which he did it. This subject, + like that of his speculations, may be better finished off in a single + passage than dealt with by scattered indications here and there. He was + not one of those men who can do work by fits and starts in the intervals + of business or of amusement; nor was he one who, like Scott, could work + very rapidly. It is true that he often achieved immense quantities of work + (subject to a caution to be given presently) in a very few days, but then + his working day was of the most peculiar character. He could not bear + disturbance; he wrote best at night, and he could not work at all after + heavy meals. His favorite plan (varied sometimes in detail) was therefore + to dine lightly about five or six, then to go to bed and sleep till + eleven, twelve, or one, and then to get up, and with the help only of + coffee (which he drank very strong and in enormous quantities) to work for + indefinite stretches of time into the morning or afternoon of the next + day. He speaks of a sixteen hours' day as a not uncommon shift or spell of + work, and almost a regular one with him; and on one occasion he avers that + in the course of forty-eight hours he took but three of the rest, working + for twenty-two hours and a half continuously on each side thereof. In such + spells, supposing reasonable facility of composition and mechanical power + in the hand to keep going all the time, an enormous amount can of course + be accomplished. A thousand words an hour is anything but an extraordinary + rate of writing, and fifteen hundred by no means unheard of with persons + who do not write rubbish. + </p> + <p> + The references to this subject in Balzac's letters are very numerous; but + it is not easy to extract very definite information from them. It would be + not only impolite but incorrect to charge him with unveracity. But the + very heat of imagination which enabled him to produce his work created a + sort of mirage, through which he seems always to have regarded it; and in + writing to publishers, editors, creditors, and even his own family, it was + too obviously his interest to make the most of his labor, his projects, + and his performance. Even his contemporary, though elder, Southey, the + hardest-working and the most scrupulously honest man of letters in England + who could pretend to genius, seems constantly to have exaggerated the idea + of what he could perform, if not of what he had performed in a given time. + The most definite statement of Balzac's that I remember is one which + claims the second number of <i>Sur Catherine de Medicis</i>, "La + Confidence des Ruggieri," as the production of a single night, and not one + of the most extravagant of his nights. Now, "La Confidence des Ruggieri" + fills, in the small edition, eighty pages of nearer four hundred than + three hundred words each, or some thirty thousand words in all. Nobody in + the longest of nights could manage that, except by dictating it to + shorthand clerks. But in the very context of this assertion Balzac assigns + a much longer period to the correction than to the composition, and this + brings us to one of the most curious and one of the most famous points of + his literary history. + </p> + <p> + Some doubts have, I believe, been thrown on the most minute account of his + ways of composition which we have, that of the publisher Werdet. But there + is too great a consensus of evidence as to his general system to make the + received description of it doubtful. According to this, the first draft of + Balzac's work never presented it in anything like fulness, and sometimes + it did not amount to a quarter of the bulk finally published. This being + returned to him from the printer in "slip" on sheets with very large + margins, he would set to work on the correction; that is to say, on the + practical rewriting of the thing, with excisions, alterations, and above + all, additions. A "revise" being executed, he would attack this revise in + the same manner, and not unfrequently more than once, so that the expenses + of mere composition and correction of the press were enormously heavy (so + heavy as to eat into not merely his publisher's but his own profits), and + that the last state of the book, when published, was something utterly + different from its first state in manuscript. And it will be obvious that + if anything like this was usual with him, it is quite impossible to judge + his actual rapidity of composition by the extent of the published result. + </p> + <p> + However this may be (and it is at least certain that in the years above + referred to he must have worked his very hardest, even if some of the work + then published had been more or less excogitated and begun during the + Wilderness period), he certainly so far left his eremitical habits as to + become acquainted with most of the great men of letters of the early + thirties, and also with certain ladies of more or less high rank, who were + to supply, if not exactly the full models, the texts and starting-points + for some of the most interesting figures of the <i>Comedie</i>. He knew + Victor Hugo, but certainly not at this time intimately; for as late as + 1839 the letter in which he writes to Hugo to come and breakfast with him + at Les Jardies (with interesting and minute directions how to find that + frail abode of genius) is couched in anything but the tone of a familiar + friendship. The letters to Beyle of about the same date are also + incompatible with intimate knowledge. Nodier (after some contrary + expressions) he seems to have regarded as most good people did regard that + true man of letters and charming tale-teller; while among the younger + generation Theophile Gautier and Charles de Bernard, as well as Goslan and + others, were his real and constant friends. But he does not figure + frequently or eminently in any of the genuine gossip of the time as a + haunter of literary circles, and it is very nearly certain that the + assiduity with which some of his heroes attend <i>salons</i> and clubs had + no counterpart in his own life. In the first place he was too busy; in the + second he would not have been at home there. Like the young gentleman in + <i>Punch</i>, who "did not read books but wrote them," though in no + satiric sense, he felt it his business not to frequent society but to + create it. + </p> + <p> + He was, however, aided in the task of creation by the ladies already + spoken of, who were fairly numerous and of divers degrees. The most + constant, after his sister Laure, was that sister's schoolfellow, Madame + Zulma Carraud, the wife of a military official at Angouleme and the + possessor of a small country estate at Frapesle, near Tours. At both of + these places Balzac, till he was a very great man, was a constant visitor, + and with Madame Carraud he kept up for years a correspondence which has + been held to be merely friendly, and which was certainly in the vulgar + sense innocent, but which seems to me to be tinged with something of that + feeling, midway between love and friendship, which appears in Scott's + letters to Lady Abercorn, and which is probably not so rare as some think. + Madame de Berny, another family friend of higher rank, was the prototype + of most of his "angelic" characters, but she died in 1836. He knew the + Duchesse d'Abrantes, otherwise Madame Junot, and Madame de Girardin, + otherwise Delphine Gay; but neither seems to have exercised much influence + over him. It was different with another and more authentic duchess, Madame + de Castries, after whom he dangled for a considerable time, who certainly + first encouraged him and probably then snubbed him, and who is thought to + have been the model of his wickeder great ladies. And it was comparatively + early in the thirties that he met the woman whom, after nearly twenty + years, he was at last to marry, getting his death in so doing, the Polish + Madame Hanska. These, with some relations of the last named, especially + her daughter, and with a certain "Louise"—an <i>Inconnue</i> who + never ceased to be so—were Balzac's chief correspondents of the + other sex, and, as far as is known, his chief friends in it. + </p> + <p> + About his life, without extravagant "pudding" of guesswork or of mere + quotation and abstract of his letters, it would be not so much difficult + as impossible to say much; and accordingly it is a matter of fact that + most lives of Balzac, including all good ones, are rather critical than + narrative. From his real <i>debut</i> with <i>Le Dernier Chouan</i> to his + departure for Poland on the long visit, or brace of visits, from which he + returned finally to die, this life consisted solely of work. One of his + earliest utterances, "<i>Il faut piocher ferme</i>," was his motto to the + very last, varied only by a certain amount of traveling. Balzac was always + a considerable traveler; indeed if he had not been so his constitution + would probably have broken down long before it actually did; and the + expense of these voyagings (though by his own account he generally + conducted his affairs with the most rigid economy), together with the + interruption to his work which they occasioned, entered no doubt for + something into his money difficulties. He would go to Baden or Vienna for + a day's sight of Madame Hanska; his Sardinian visit has been already + noted; and as a specimen of others it may be mentioned that he once + journeyed from Paris to Besancon, then from Besancon right across France + to Angouleme, and then back to Paris on some business of selecting paper + for one of the editions of his books, which his publishers would probably + have done much better and at much less expense. + </p> + <p> + Still his actual receipts were surprisingly small, partly, it may be, + owing to his expensive habits of composition, but far more, according to + his own account, because of the Belgian piracies, from which all popular + French authors suffered till the government of Napoleon the Third managed + to put a stop to them. He also lived in such a thick atmosphere of bills + and advances and cross-claims on and by his publishers, that even if there + were more documents than there are it would be exceedingly difficult to + get at facts which are, after all, not very important. He never seems to + have been paid much more than 500 pounds for the newspaper publication + (the most valuable by far because the pirates could not interfere with its + profits) of any one of his novels. And to expensive fashions of + composition and complicated accounts, a steady back-drag of debt and the + rest, must be added the very delightful, and to the novelist not useless, + but very expensive mania for the collector. Balzac had a genuine taste + for, and thought himself a genuine connoisseur in, pictures, sculpture, + and objects of art of all kinds, old and new; and though prices in his day + were not what they are in these, a great deal of money must have run + through his hands in this way. He calculated the value of the contents of + the house, which in his last days he furnished with such loving care for + his wife, and which turned out to be a chamber rather of death than of + marriage, at some 16,000 pounds. But part of this was Madame Hanska's own + purchasing, and there were offsets of indebtedness against it almost to + the last. In short, though during the last twenty years of his life such + actual "want of pence" as vexed him was not due, as it had been earlier, + to the fact that the pence refused to come in, but only to imprudent + management of them, it certainly cannot be said that Honore de Balzac, the + most desperately hard worker in all literature for such time as was + allotted him, and perhaps the man of greatest genius who was ever a + desperately hard worker, falsified that most uncomfortable but truest of + proverbs—"Hard work never made money." + </p> + <p> + If, however, he was but scantily rewarded with the money for which he had + a craving (not absolutely, I think, devoid of a touch of genuine avarice, + but consisting chiefly of the artist's desire for pleasant and beautiful + things, and partly presenting a variety or phase of the grandiose + imagination, which was his ruling characteristic), Balzac had plenty of + the fame, for which he cared quite as much as he cared for money. Perhaps + no writer except Voltaire and Goethe earlier made such a really European + reputation; and his books were of a kind to be more widely read by the + general public than either Goethe's or Voltaire's. In England (Balzac + liked the literature but not the country, and never visited England, + though I believe he planned a visit) this popularity was, for obvious + reasons, rather less than elsewhere. The respectful vogue which French + literature had had with the English in the eighteenth century had ceased, + owing partly to the national enmity revived and fostered by the great war, + and partly to the growth of a fresh and magnificent literature at home + during the first thirty years of the nineteenth in England. But Balzac + could not fail to be read almost at once by the lettered; and he was + translated pretty early, though not perhaps to any great extent. It was in + England, moreover, that by far his greatest follower appeared, and + appeared very shortly. For it would be absurd in the most bigoted admirer + of Thackeray to deny that the author of <i>Vanity Fair</i>, who was in + Paris and narrowly watching French literature and French life at the very + time of Balzac's most exuberant flourishing and education, owed something + to the author of <i>Le Pere Goriot</i>. There was no copying or imitation; + the lessons taught by Balzac were too much blended with those of native + masters, such as Fielding, and too much informed and transformed by + individual genius. Some may think—it is a point at issue not merely + between Frenchmen and Englishmen, but between good judges of both nations + on each side—that in absolute veracity and likeness to life, in + limiting the operation of the inner consciousness on the outward + observation to strictly artistic scale, Thackeray excelled Balzac as far + as he fell short of him in the powers of the seer and in the gigantic + imagination of the prophet. But the relations of pupil and master in at + least some degree are not, I think, deniable. + </p> + <p> + So things went on in light and in shade, in homekeeping and in travel, in + debts and in earnings, but always in work of some kind or another, for + eighteen years from the turning point of 1829. By degrees, as he gained + fame and ceased to be in the most pressing want of money, Balzac left off + to some extent, though never entirely, those miscellaneous writings—reviews + (including puffs), comic or general sketches, political diatribes, + "physiologies" and the like—which, with his discarded prefaces and + much more interesting matter, were at last, not many years ago, included + in four stout volumes of the <i>Edition Definitive</i>. With the exception + of the <i>Physiologies</i> (a sort of short satiric analysis of this or + that class, character, or personage), which were very popular in the reign + of Louis Philippe in France, and which Albert Smith and others introduced + into England, Balzac did not do any of this miscellaneous work extremely + well. Very shrewd observations are to be found in his reviews, for + instance his indication, in reviewing La Touche's <i>Fragoletta</i>, of + that common fault of ambitious novels, a sort of woolly and "ungraspable" + looseness of construction and story, which constantly bewilders the reader + as to what is going on. But, as a rule, he was thinking too much of his + own work and his own principles of working to enter very thoroughly into + the work of others. His politics, those of a moderate but decided Royalist + and Conservative, were, as has been said, intelligent in theory, but in + practice a little distinguished by that neglect of actual business detail + which has been noticed in his speculations. + </p> + <p> + At last, in the summer of 1847, it seemed as if the Rachel for whom he had + served nearly if not quite the full fourteen years already, and whose + husband had long been out of the way, would at last grant herself to him. + He was invited to Vierzschovnia in the Ukraine, the seat of Madame Hanska, + or in strictness of her son-in-law, Count Georges Mniszech; and as the + visit was apparently for no restricted period, and Balzac's pretensions to + the lady's hand were notorious, it might have seemed that he was as good + as accepted. But to assume this would have been to mistake what perhaps + the greatest creation of Balzac's great English contemporary and + counterpart on the one side, as Thackeray was his contemporary and + counterpart on the other, considered to be the malignity of widows. What + the reasons were which made Madame Hanska delay so long in doing what she + did at last, and might just as well, it would seem, have done years + before, is not certainly known, and it would be quite unprofitable to + discuss them. But it was on the 8th of October 1847 that Balzac first + wrote to his sister from Vierzschovnia, and it was not till the 14th of + March 1850 that, "in the parish church of Saint Barbara at Berditchef, by + the Count Abbe Czarski, representing the Bishop of Jitomir (this is as + characteristic of Balzac in one way as what follows is in another) a + Madame Eve de Balzac, born Countess Rzevuska, or a Madame Honore de Balzac + or a Madame de Balzac the elder" came into existence. + </p> + <p> + It does not appear that Balzac was exactly unhappy during this huge + probation, which was broken by one short visit to Paris. The interest of + uncertainty was probably much for his ardent and unquiet spirit, and + though he did very little literary work for him, one may suspect that he + would not have done very much if he had stayed at Paris, for signs of + exhaustion, not of genius but of physical power, had shown themselves + before he left home. But it is not unjust or cruel to say that by the + delay "Madame Eve de Balzac" (her actual baptismal name was Evelina) + practically killed her husband. These winters in the severe climate of + Russian Poland were absolutely fatal to a constitution, and especially to + lungs, already deeply affected. At Vierzschovnia itself he had illnesses, + from which he narrowly escaped with life, before the marriage; his heart + broke down after it; and he and his wife did not reach Paris till the end + of May. Less than three months afterwards, on the 18th of August, he died, + having been visited on the very day of his death in the Paradise of + bric-a-brac which he had created for his Eve in the Rue Fortunee—a + name too provocative of Nemesis—by Victor Hugo, the chief maker in + verse as he himself was the chief maker in prose of France. He was buried + at Pere la Chaise. The after-fortunes of his house and its occupants were + not happy: but they do not concern us. + </p> + <p> + In person Balzac was a typical Frenchman, as indeed he was in most ways. + From his portraits there would seem to have been more force and address + than distinction or refinement in his appearance, but, as has been already + observed, his period was one ungrateful to the iconographer. His + character, not as a writer but as a man, must occupy us a little longer. + For some considerable time—indeed it may be said until the + publication of his letters—it was not very favorably judged on the + whole. We may, of course, dismiss the childish scandals (arising, as + usual, from clumsy or malevolent misinterpretation of such books as the <i>Physiologie + de Mariage</i>, the <i>Peau de Chagrin</i>, and a few others), which gave + rise to the caricatures of him such as that of which we read, representing + him in a monk's dress at a table covered with bottles and supporting a + young person on his knee, the whole garnished with the epigraph: Scenes de + la Vie Cachee. They seem to have given him, personally, a very unnecessary + annoyance, and indeed he was always rather sensitive to criticism. This + kind of stupid libel will never cease to be devised by the envious, + swallowed by the vulgar, and simply neglected by the wise. But Balzac's + peculiarities, both of life and of work, lent themselves rather fatally to + a subtler misconstruction which he also anticipated and tried to remove, + but which took a far stronger hold. He was represented—and in the + absence of any intimate male friends to contradict the representation, it + was certain to obtain some currency—as in his artistic person a + sardonic libeler of mankind, who cared only to take foibles and vices for + his subjects, and who either left goodness and virtue out of sight + altogether, or represented them as the qualities of fools. In private life + he was held up as at the best a self-centered egotist who cared for + nothing but himself and his own work, capable of interrupting one friend + who told him of the death of a sister by the suggestion that they should + change the subject and talk of "something real, of <i>Eugenie Grandet</i>," + and of levying a fifty per cent commission on another who had written a + critical notice of his, Balzac's, life and works.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * Sandeau and Gautier, the victims in these two stories, were + neither spiteful, nor mendacious, nor irrational, so they are + probably true. The second was possibly due to Balzac's odd notions + of "business being business." The first, I have quite recently + seen reason to think, may have been a sort of reminiscence of one + of the traits in Diderot's extravagant encomium on Richardson. +</pre> + <p> + With the first of these charges he himself, on different occasions, rather + vainly endeavored to grapple, once drawing up an elaborate list of his + virtuous and vicious women, and showing that the former outnumbered the + latter; and, again, laboring (with that curious lack of sense of humor + which distinguishes all Frenchmen but a very few, and distinguished him + eminently) to show that though no doubt it is very difficult to make a + virtuous person interesting, he, Honore de Balzac, had attempted it, and + succeeded in it, on a quite surprising number of occasions. + </p> + <p> + The fact is that if he had handled this last matter rather more lightly + his answer would have been a sufficient one, and that in any case the + charge is not worth answering. It does not lie against the whole of his + work; and if it lay as conclusively as it does against Swift's, it would + not necessarily matter. To the artist in analysis as opposed to the + romance-writer, folly always, and villainy sometimes, does supply a much + better subject than virtuous success, and if he makes his fools and his + villains lifelike and supplies them with a fair contrast of better things, + there is nothing more to be said. He will not, indeed, be a Shakespeare, + or a Dante, or even a Scott; but we may be very well satisfied with him as + a Fielding, a Thackeray, or a Balzac. As to the more purely personal + matter I own that it was some time before I could persuade myself that + Balzac, to speak familiarly, was a much better fellow than others, and I + myself, have been accustomed to think him. But it is also some time since + I came to the conclusion that he was so, and my conversion is not to be + attributed to any editorial retainer. His education in a lawyer's office, + the accursed advice about the <i>bonne speculation</i>, and his constant + straitenings for money, will account for his sometimes looking after the + main chance rather too narrowly; and as for the Eugenie Grandet story + (even if the supposition referred to in a note above be fanciful) it + requires no great stretch of charity or comprehension to see in it nothing + more awkward, very easily misconstrued, but not necessarily in the least + heartless or brutal attempt of a rather absent and very much self-centered + recluse absorbed in one subject, to get his interlocutor as well as + himself out of painful and useless dwelling on sorrowful matters. + Self-centered and self-absorbed Balzac no doubt was; he could not have + lived his life or produced his work if he had been anything else. And it + must be remembered that he owed extremely little to others; that he had + the independence as well as the isolation of the self-centered; that he + never sponged or fawned on a great man, or wronged others of what was due + to them. The only really unpleasant thing about him that I know, and even + this is perhaps due to ignorance of all sides of the matter, is a slight + touch of snobbishness now and then, especially in those late letters from + Vierzschovnia to Madame de Balzac and Madame Surville, in which, while + inundating his mother and sister with commissions and requests for + service, he points out to them what great people the Hanskas and Mniszechs + are, what infinite honor and profit it will be to be connected with them, + and how desirable it is to keep struggling engineer brothers-in-law and + ne'er-do-well brothers in the colonies out of sight lest they should + disgust the magnates. + </p> + <p> + But these are "sma' sums, sma' sums," as Bailie Jarvie says; and smallness + of any kind has, whatever it may have to do with Balzac the man, nothing + to do with Balzac the writer. With him as with some others, but not as + with the larger number, the sense of <i>greatness</i> increases the longer + and the more fully he is studied. He resembles, I think, Goethe more than + any other man of letters—certainly more than any other of the + present century—in having done work which is very frequently, if not + even commonly, faulty, and in yet requiring that his work shall be known + as a whole. His appeal is cumulative; it repeats itself on each occasion + with a slight difference, and though there may now and then be the same + faults to be noticed, they are almost invariably accompanied, not merely + by the same, but by fresh merits. + </p> + <p> + As has been said at the beginning of this essay, no attempt will be made + in it to give that running survey of Balzac's work which is always useful + and sometimes indispensable in treatment of the kind. But something like a + summing up of that subject will here be attempted because it is really + desirable that in embarking on so vast a voyage the reader should have + some general chart—some notes of the soundings and log generally of + those who have gone before him. + </p> + <p> + There are two things, then, which it is more especially desirable to keep + constantly before one in reading Balzac—two things which, taken + together, constitute his almost unique value, and two things which not a + few critics have failed to take together in him, being under the + impression that the one excludes the other, and that to admit the other is + tantamount to a denial of the one. These two things are, first, an immense + attention to detail, sometimes observed, sometimes invented or imagined; + and secondly; a faculty of regarding these details through a mental lens + or arrangement of lenses almost peculiar to himself, which at once + combines, enlarges, and invests them with a peculiar magical halo or + mirage. The two thousand personages of the <i>Comedie Humaine</i> are, for + the most part, "signaled," as the French official word has it, marked and + denoted by the minutest traits of character, gesture, gait, clothing, + abode, what not; the transactions recorded are very often given with a + scrupulous and microscopic accuracy of reporting which no detective could + outdo. Defoe is not more circumstantial in detail of fact than Balzac; + Richardson is hardly more prodigal of character-stroke. Yet a very large + proportion of these characters, of these circumstances, are evidently + things invented or imagined, not observed. And in addition to this the + artist's magic glass, his Balzacian speculum, if we may so say (for none + else has ever had it), transforms even the most rigid observation into + something flickering and fanciful, the outline as of shadows on the wall, + not the precise contour of etching or of the camera. + </p> + <p> + It is curious, but not unexampled, that both Balzac himself when he + struggled in argument with his critics and those of his partisans who have + been most zealously devoted to him, have usually tried to exalt the first + and less remarkable of these gifts over the second and infinitely more + remarkable. Balzac protested strenuously against the use of the word + "gigantesque" in reference to his work; and of course it is susceptible of + an unhandsome innuendo. But if we leave that innuendo aside, if we adopt + the sane reflection that "gigantesque" does not exceed "gigantic," or + assert as constant failure of greatness, but only indicates that the + magnifying process is carried on with a certain indiscriminateness, we + shall find none, I think, which so thoroughly well describes him. + </p> + <p> + The effect of this singular combination of qualities, apparently the most + opposite, may be partly anticipated, but not quite. It results + occasionally in a certain shortcoming as regards <i>verite vraie</i>, + absolute artistic truth to nature. Those who would range Balzac in point + of such artistic veracity on a level with poetical and universal realists + like Shakespeare and Dante, or prosaic and particular realists like + Thackeray and Fielding, seem not only to be utterly wrong but to pay their + idol the worst of all compliments, that of ignoring his own special + qualifications. The province of Balzac may not be—I do no think it + is—identical, much less co-extensive, with that of nature. But it is + his own—a partly real, partly fantastic region, where the lights, + the shades, the dimensions, and the physical laws are slightly different + from those of this world of ours, but with which, owing to the things it + has in common with that world, we are able to sympathize, which we can + traverse and comprehend. Every now and then the artist uses his observing + faculty more, and his magnifying and distorting lens less; every now and + then he reverses the proportion. Some tastes will like him best in the one + stage; some in the other; the happier constituted will like him best in + both. These latter will decline to put <i>Eugenie Grandet</i> above the <i>Peau + de Chagrin</i>, or <i>Le Pere Goriot</i> above the wonderful handful of + tales which includes <i>La Recherche de l'Absolu</i> and <i>Le + Chef-d'oeuvre Inconnu</i>, though they will no doubt recognize that even + in the first two named members of these pairs the Balzacian quality, that + of magnifying and rendering grandiose, is present, and that the martyrdom + of Eugenie, the avarice of her father, the blind self-devotion of Goriot + to his thankless and worthless children, would not be what they are if + they were seen through a perfectly achromatic and normal medium. + </p> + <p> + This specially Balzacian quality is, I think, unique. It is like—it + may almost be said to <i>be</i>—the poetic imagination, present in + magnificent volume and degree, but in some miraculous way deprived and + sterilized of the specially poetical quality. By this I do not of course + mean that Balzac did not write in verse: we have a few verses of his, and + they are pretty bad, but that is neither here nor there. The difference + between Balzac and a great poet lies not in the fact that the one fills + the whole page with printed words, and the other only a part of it—but + in something else. If I could put that something else into distinct words + I should therein attain the philosopher's stone, the elixir of life, the + <i>primum mobile</i>, the <i>grand arcanum</i>, not merely of criticism + but of all things. It might be possible to coast about it, to hint at it, + by adumbrations and in consequences. But it is better and really more + helpful to face the difficulty boldly, and to say that Balzac, approaching + a great poet nearer perhaps than any other prose writer in any language, + is distinguished from one by the absence of the very last touch, the + finally constituting quiddity, which makes a great poet different from + Balzac. + </p> + <p> + Now, when we make this comparison, it is of the first interest to remember—and + it is one of the uses of the comparison, that it suggests the remembrance + of the fact—that the great poets have usually been themselves + extremely exact observers of detail. It has not made them great poets; but + they would not be great poets without it. And when Eugenie Grandet starts + from <i>le petit banc de bois</i> at the reference to it in her + scoundrelly cousin's letter (to take only one instance out of a thousand), + we see in Balzac the same observation, subject to the limitation just + mentioned, that we see in Dante and Shakespeare, in Chaucer and Tennyson. + But the great poets do not as a rule <i>accumulate</i> detail. Balzac + does, and from this very accumulation he manages to derive that singular + gigantesque vagueness—differing from the poetic vague, but ranking + next to it—which I have here ventured to note as his distinguishing + quality. He bewilders us a very little by it, and he gives us the + impression that he has slightly bewildered himself. But the compensations + of the bewilderment are large. + </p> + <p> + For in this labyrinth and whirl of things, in this heat and hurry of + observation and imagination, the special intoxication of Balzac consists. + Every great artist has his own means of producing this intoxication, and + it differs in result like the stimulus of beauty or of wine. Those persons + who are unfortunate enough to see in Balzac little or nothing but an + ingenious piler-up of careful strokes—a man of science taking his + human documents and classing them after an orderly fashion in portfolio + and deed-box—must miss this intoxication altogether. It is much more + agreeable as well as much more accurate to see in the manufacture of the + <i>Comedie</i> the process of a Cyclopean workshop—the bustle, the + hurry, the glare and shadow, the steam and sparks of Vulcanian forging. + The results, it is true, are by no means confused or disorderly—neither + were those of the forges that worked under Lipari—but there + certainly went much more to them than the dainty fingering of a literary + fretwork-maker or the dull rummagings of a realist <i>a la Zola</i>. + </p> + <p> + In part, no doubt, and in great part, the work of Balzac is dream-stuff + rather than life-stuff, and it is all the better for that. What is better + than dreams? But the coherence of his visions, their bulk, their solidity, + the way in which they return to us and we return to them, make them such + dream-stuff as there is all too little of in this world. If it is true + that evil on the whole predominates over good in the vision of this + "Voyant," as Philarete Chasles so justly called him, two very respectable, + and in one case very large, though somewhat opposed divisions of mankind, + the philosophic pessimist and the convinced and consistent Christian + believer, will tell us that this is at least not one of the points in + which it is unfaithful to life. If the author is closer and more faithful + in his study of meanness and vice than in his studies of nobility and + virtue, the blame is due at least as much to his models as to himself. If + he has seldom succeeded in combining a really passionate with a really + noble conception of love, very few of his countrymen have been more + fortunate in that respect. If in some of his types—his journalists, + his married women, and others—he seems to have sacrificed to + conventions, let us remember that those who know attribute to his + conventions such a power if not altogether such a holy influence that two + generations of the people he painted have actually lived more and more up + to his painting of them. + </p> + <p> + And last of all, but also greatest, has to be considered the immensity of + his imaginative achievement, the huge space that he has filled for us with + vivid creation, the range of amusement, of instruction, of (after a + fashion) edification which he has thrown open for us all to walk in. It is + possible that he himself and others more or less well-meaningly, though + more or less maladroitly, following his lead, may have exaggerated the + coherence and the architectural design of the <i>Comedie</i>. But it has + coherence and it has design; nor shall we find anything exactly to + parallel it. In mere bulk the <i>Comedie</i> probably, if not certainly, + exceeds the production of any novelist of the first class in any kind of + fiction except Dumas, and with Dumas, for various and well-known reasons, + there is no possibility of comparing it. All others yield in bulk; all in + a certain concentration and intensity; none even aims at anything like the + same system and completeness. It must be remembered that owing to + shortness of life, lateness of beginning, and the diversion of the author + to other work, the <i>Comedie</i> is the production, and not the sole + production, of some seventeen or eighteen years at most. Not a volume of + it, for all that failure to reach the completest perfection in form and + style which has been acknowledged, can be accused of thinness, of scamped + work, of mere repetition, of mere cobbling up. Every one bears the marks + of steady and ferocious labor, as well as of the genius which had at last + come where it had been so earnestly called and had never gone away again. + It is possible to overpraise Balzac in parts or to mispraise him as a + whole. But so long as inappropriate and superfluous comparisons are + avoided and as his own excellence is recognized and appreciated, it is + scarcely possible to overestimate that excellence in itself and for + itself. He stands alone; even with Dickens, who is his nearest analogue, + he shows far more points of difference than of likeness. His vastness of + bulk is not more remarkable than his peculiarity of quality; and when + these two things coincide in literature or elsewhere, then that in which + they coincide may be called, and must be called, Great, without hesitation + and without reserve. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + GEORGE SAINTSBURY. +</pre> + <p> + <a name="link2H_APPE" id="link2H_APPE"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + APPENDIX + </h2> + <p> + THE BALZAC PLAN OF THE COMEDIE HUMAINE + </p> + <p> + The form in which the Comedie Humaine was left by its author, with the + exceptions of <i>Le Depute d'Arcis</i> (incomplete) and <i>Les Petits + Bourgeois</i>, both of which were added, some years later, by the Edition + Definitive. + </p> + <p> + The original French titles are followed by their English equivalents. + Literal translations have been followed, excepting a few instances where + preference is shown for a clearer or more comprehensive English title. + </p> + <div class="mynote"> + <p> + [Note from Team Balzac, the Etext preparers: In some cases more than one + English translation is commonly used for various translations/editions. + In such cases the first translation is from the Saintsbury edition + copyrighted in 1901 and that is the title referred to in the personages + following most of the stories. We have added other title translations of + which we are currently aware for the readers' convenience.] + </p> + <br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + COMEDIE HUMAINE + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + SCENES DE LA VIE PRIVEE + </h2> + <p> + SCENES FROM PRIVATE LIFE + </p> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1680/1680-h/1680-h.htm"> <b>At + the Sign of the Cat and Racket</b></a> (<i>La Maison du Chat-qui + Pelote</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1305/1305-h/1305-h.htm"> <b>The + Ball at Sceaux</b></a> (<i>Le Bal de Sceaux</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1196/1196-h/1196-h.htm"> <b>The + Purse</b></a> (<i>La Bourse</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1374/1374-h/1374-h.htm"> <b>Vendetta</b></a> + (<i>La Vendetta</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1357/1357-h/1357-h.htm"> <b>Madame + Firmiani</b></a> (<i>Mme. Firmiani</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1810/1810-h/1810-h.htm"> <b>A + Second Home</b></a> (<i>Une Double Famille</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1411/1411-h/1411-h.htm"> <b>Domestic + Peace</b></a> (<i>La Paix du Menage</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1369/1369-h/1369-h.htm"> <b>Paz</b></a> + (<i>La Fausse Maitresse</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1373/1373-h/1373-h.htm"> <b>Study + of a Woman</b></a> (<i>Etude de femme</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1714/1714-h/1714-h.htm"> <b>Another + Study of Woman</b></a> (<i>Autre etude de femme</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1710/1710-h/1710-h.htm"> <b>The + Grand Breteche</b></a> (<i>La Grande Breteche</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1898/1898-h/1898-h.htm"> <b>Albert + Savarus</b></a> (<i>Albert Savarus</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1941/1941-h/1941-h.htm"> <b>Letters + of Two Brides</b></a> (<i>Memoires de deux Jeunes Mariees</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1481/1481-h/1481-h.htm"> <b>A + Daughter of Eve</b></a> (<i>Une Fille d'Eve</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1950/1950-h/1950-h.htm"> <b>A + Woman of Thirty</b></a> (<i>La Femme de Trente Ans</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1729/1729-h/1729-h.htm"> <b>The + Deserted Woman</b></a> (<i>La Femme abandonnee</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1428/1428-h/1428-h.htm"> <b>La + Grenadiere</b></a> (<i>La Grenadiere</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1189/1189-h/1189-h.htm"> <b>The + Message</b></a> (<i>Le Message</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1389/1389-h/1389-h.htm"> <b>Gobseck</b></a> + (<i>Gobseck</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1556/1556-h/1556-h.htm"> <b>The + Marriage Contract</b></a> (<i>Le Contrat de Mariage</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1403/1403-h/1403-h.htm"> <b>A + Start in Life</b></a> (<i>Un Debut dans la vie</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1482/1482-h/1482-h.htm"> <b>Modeste + Mignon</b></a> (<i>Modeste Mignon</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1957/1957-h/1957-h.htm"> <b>Beatrix</b></a> + (<i>Beatrix</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1683/1683-h/1683-h.htm"> <b>Honorine</b></a> + (<i>Honorine</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1954/1954-h/1954-h.htm"> <b>Colonel + Chabert</b></a> (<i>Le Colonel Chabert</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1220/1220-h/1220-h.htm"> <b>The + Atheist's Mass</b></a> (<i>La Messe de l'Athee</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1410/1410-h/1410-h.htm"> <b>The + Commission in Lunacy</b></a> (<i>L'Interdiction</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1230/1230-h/1230-h.htm"> <b>Pierre + Grassou</b></a> (<i>Pierre Grassou</i>)<br /> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SCENES DE LA VIE PROVINCE + </h2> + <p> + SCENES FROM PROVINCIAL LIFE + </p> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + Ursule Mirouet (<i>Ursule Mirouet</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1715/1715-h/1715-h.htm"> <b>Eugenie + Grandet</b></a> (<i>Eugenie Grandet</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1704/1704-h/1704-h.htm"> <b>Pierrette</b></a> + (<i>Les Celibataires, Pierrette</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1345/1345-h/1345-h.htm"> <b>The + Vicar of Tours</b></a> (<i>Le Cure de Tours</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1380/1380-h/1380-h.htm"> <b>The + Two Brothers, (The Black Sheep)</b></a> (<i>Un Menage de Garcon, La + Rabouilleuse</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1474/1474-h/1474-h.htm"> <b>The + Illustrious Gaudissart</b></a> (<i>L'illustre Gaudissart, Parisians in + the Country</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1912/1912-h/1912-h.htm"> <b>The + Muse of the Department</b></a> (<i>La Muse du departement</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1352/1352-h/1352-h.htm"> <b>The + Old Maid, Jealousies of a Country Town</b></a> (<i>La Vieille Fille, + Les Rivalites</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1405/1405-h/1405-h.htm"> <b>The + Collection of Antiquities</b></a> (<i>Le Cabinet des antiques</i>)<br /> + <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1569/1569-h/1569-h.htm"> <b>The + Lily of the Valley</b></a> (<i>Le Lys dans la Vallee</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1443/1443-h/1443-h.htm"> <b>Two + Poets, Lost Illusions:—I.</b></a> (<i>Les Deux Poetes, Illusions + Perdues:—I.</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1559/1559-h/1559-h.htm"> <b>A + Distinguished Provincial at Paris</b></a> (<i>Un Grand homme de + province a Paris, 1re partie</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1639/1639-h/1639-h.htm"> <b>Eve + and David</b></a> (<i>Eve et David</i>)<br /> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SCENES DE LA VIE PARISIENNE + </h2> + <p> + SCENES FROM PARISIAN LIFE + </p> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1660/1660-h/1660-h.htm"> <b>Scenes + from a Courtesan's Life, Esther Happy</b></a> (<i>Splendeurs et + Miseres des Courtisanes</i><br /> What Love Costs an Old Man (<i>A + combien l'amour revient aux vieillards</i>)<br /> The End of Evil Ways + (<i>Ou menent les mauvais Chemins</i>)<br /> Vautrin's Last Avatar (La + derniere Incarnation de Vautrin)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1812/1812-h/1812-h.htm"> <b>A + Prince of Bohemia</b></a> (<i>Un Prince de la Boheme</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1813/1813-h/1813-h.htm"> <b>A Man + of Business</b></a> (<i>Un Homme d'affaires</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1475/1475-h/1475-h.htm"> <b>Gaudissart + II</b></a> (<i>Gaudissart II.</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1242/1242-h/1242-h.htm"> <b>Unconscious + Comedians, The Unconscious Humorists</b></a> (<i>Les Comediens sans le + savoir</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1649/1649-h/1649-h.htm"> <b>Ferragus, + The Thirteen</b></a> (Ferragus, Histoire des Treize)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/469/469-h/469-h.htm"> <b>The + Duchesse de Langeais</b></a> (<i>La Duchesse de Langeais</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1659/1659-h/1659-h.htm"> <b>Girl + with the Golden Eyes</b></a> (<i>La Fille aux yeux d'or</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1237/1237-h/1237-h.htm"> <b>Father + Goriot, Old Goriot</b></a> (<i>Le Pere Goriot</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1942/1942-h/1942-h.htm"> <b>Rise + and Fall of Cesar Birotteau</b></a> (<i>Grandeur et Decadence de Cesar + Birotteau</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1294/1294-h/1294-h.htm"> <b>The + Firm of Nucingen</b></a> (<i>La Maison Nucingen</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1344/1344-h/1344-h.htm"> <b>Secrets + of the Princesse de Cadignan</b></a> (<i>Les Secrets de la princesse + de Cadignan</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1343/1343-h/1343-h.htm"> <b>Bureaucracy, + The Government Clerks</b></a> (<i>Les Employes</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1826/1826-h/1826-h.htm"> <b>Sarrasine</b></a> + (<i>Sarrasine</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1737/1737-h/1737-h.htm"> <b>Facino + Cane</b></a> (<i>Facino Cane</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1749/1749-h/1749-h.htm"> <b>Cousin + Betty, Poor Relations:—I.</b></a> (<i>La Cousine Bette, Les + Parents Pauvres:—I.</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1856/1856-h/1856-h.htm"> <b>Cousin + Pons, Poor Relations:—II.</b></a> (<i>Le Cousin Pons, Les + Parents Pauvres:—II.</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1641/1641-h/1641-h.htm"> <b>The + Lesser Bourgeoisie, The Middle Classes</b></a> (<i>Les Petits + Bourgeois</i>)<br /> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SCENES DE LA VIE POLITIQUE + </h2> + <p> + SCENES FROM POLITICAL LIFE + </p> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1678/1678-h/1678-h.htm"> <b>An + Historical Mystery, The Gondreville Mystery</b></a> (<i>Une Tenebreuse + Affaire</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1456/1456-h/1456-h.htm"> <b>An + Episode Under the Terror</b> </a> (<i>Un Episode sous + la Terreur</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1967/1967-h/1967-h.htm"> <b>Brotherhood + of Consolation, Seamy Side of History</b></a> (<i>Mme. de la + Chanterie, L'Envers de l'Histoire Contemporaine)</i><br /> Initiated, + The Initiate (<i>L'Initie</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1841/1841-h/1841-h.htm"> <b>Z. + Marcas</b></a> (<i>Z. Marcas</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1871/1871-h/1871-h.htm"> <b>The + Deputy of Arcis, The Member for Arcis</b></a> (<i>Le Depute d'Arcis</i>)<br /> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SCENES DE LA VIE MILITAIRE + </h2> + <p> + SCENES FROM MILITARY LIFE + </p> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1921/1921-h/1921-h.htm"> <b>The + Chouans</b></a> (<i>Les Chouans</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1555/1555-h/1555-h.htm"> <b>A + Passion in the Desert</b></a> (<i>Une Passion dans le desert</i>)<br /> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + SCENES DE LA VIE DE CAMPAGNE + </h2> + <p> + SCENES FROM COUNTRY LIFE + </p> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1350/1350-h/1350-h.htm"> <b>The + Country Doctor</b></a> (<i>Le Medecin de Campagne</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1899/1899-h/1899-h.htm"> <b>The + Village Rector, The Country Parson</b></a> (<i>Le Cure de Village</i>)<br /> + <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1417/1417-h/1417-h.htm"> <b>Sons + of the Soil, The Peasantry</b></a> (<i>Les Paysans</i>)<br /> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + ETUDES PHILOSOPHIQUES + </h2> + <p> + PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES + </p> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1307/1307-h/1307-h.htm"> <b>The + Magic Skin</b></a> (<i>La Peau de Chagrin</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1453/1453-h/1453-h.htm"> <b>The + Alkahest, The Quest of the Absolute</b></a> (<i>La Recherche de + l'Absolu</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1940/1940-h/1940-h.htm"> <b>Christ + in Flanders</b></a> (<i>Jesus-Christ en Flandre</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1277/1277-h/1277-h.htm"> <b>Melmoth + Reconciled</b></a> (<i>Melmoth reconcilie</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/23060/23060-h/23060-h.htm"> <b>The + Unknown Masterpiece, The Hidden Masterpiece</b></a> (<i>Le + Chef-d'oeuvre inconnu</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1455/1455-h/1455-h.htm"> <b>The + Hated Son</b></a> (<i>L'Enfant Maudit</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1873/1873-h/1873-h.htm"> <b>Gambara</b></a> + (<i>Gambara</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1811/1811-h/1811-h.htm"> <b>Massimilla + Doni</b></a> (<i>Massimilla Doni</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1437/1437-h/1437-h.htm"> <b>Juana, + The Maranas</b></a> (<i>Les Marana</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/5873/5873-h/5873-h.htm"> <b>Farewell</b></a> + (<i>Adieu</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1426/1426-h/1426-h.htm"> <b>The + Recruit, The Conscript</b></a> (<i>Le Requisitionnaire</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1425/1425-h/1425-h.htm"> <b>El + Verdugo</b></a> (<i>El Verdugo</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1427/1427-h/1427-h.htm"> <b>A + Drama on the Seashore, A Seaside Tragedy</b></a> (<i>Un Drame au bord + de la mer</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1433/1433-h/1433-h.htm"> <b>The + Red Inn</b></a> (<i>L'Auberge rouge</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1215/1215-h/1215-h.htm"> <b>The + Elixir of Life</b></a> (<i>L'Elixir de longue vie</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1454/1454-h/1454-h.htm"> <b>Maitre + Cornelius</b></a> (<i>Maitre Cornelius</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1854/1854-h/1854-h.htm"> <b>Catherine + de' Medici, The Calvinist Martyr</b></a> (<i>Sur Catherine de Medicis, + Le Martyr calviniste</i>)<br /> The Ruggieri's Secret, (<i>La + Confidence des Ruggieri</i>)<br /> The Two Dreams (<i>Les Deux Reves</i>) + <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1943/1943-h/1943-h.htm"> <b>Louis + Lambert</b></a> (<i>Louis Lambert</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1884/1884-h/1884-h.htm"> <b>The + Exiles</b></a> (<i>Les Proscrits</i>)<br /> <a + href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1432/1432-h/1432-h.htm"> <b>Seraphita</b></a> + (<i>Seraphita</i>)<br /> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0012" id="link2H_4_0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION + </h2> + <p> + In giving the general title of "The Human Comedy" to a work begun nearly + thirteen years since, it is necessary to explain its motive, to relate its + origin, and briefly sketch its plan, while endeavoring to speak of these + matters as though I had no personal interest in them. This is not so + difficult as the public might imagine. Few works conduce to much vanity; + much labor conduces to great diffidence. This observation accounts for the + study of their own works made by Corneille, Moliere, and other great + writers; if it is impossible to equal them in their fine conceptions, we + may try to imitate them in this feeling. + </p> + <p> + The idea of <i>The Human Comedy</i> was at first as a dream to me, one of + those impossible projects which we caress and then let fly; a chimera that + gives us a glimpse of its smiling woman's face, and forthwith spreads its + wings and returns to a heavenly realm of phantasy. But this chimera, like + many another, has become a reality; has its behests, its tyranny, which + must be obeyed. + </p> + <p> + The idea originated in a comparison between Humanity and Animality. + </p> + <p> + It is a mistake to suppose that the great dispute which has lately made a + stir, between Cuvier and Geoffroi Saint-Hilaire, arose from a scientific + innovation. Unity of structure, under other names, had occupied the + greatest minds during the two previous centuries. As we read the + extraordinary writings of the mystics who studied the sciences in their + relation to infinity, such as Swedenborg, Saint-Martin, and others, and + the works of the greatest authors on Natural History—Leibnitz, + Buffon, Charles Bonnet, etc., we detect in the <i>monads</i> of Leibnitz, + in the <i>organic molecules</i> of Buffon, in the <i>vegetative force</i> + of Needham, in the correlation of similar organs of Charles Bonnet—who + in 1760 was so bold as to write, "Animals vegetate as plants do"—we + detect, I say, the rudiments of the great law of Self for Self, which lies + at the root of <i>Unity of Plan</i>. There is but one Animal. The Creator + works on a single model for every organized being. "The Animal" is + elementary, and takes its external form, or, to be accurate, the + differences in its form, from the environment in which it is obliged to + develop. Zoological species are the result of these differences. The + announcement and defence of this system, which is indeed in harmony with + our preconceived ideas of Divine Power, will be the eternal glory of + Geoffroi Saint-Hilaire, Cuvier's victorious opponent on this point of + higher science, whose triumph was hailed by Goethe in the last article he + wrote. + </p> + <p> + I, for my part, convinced of this scheme of nature long before the + discussion to which it has given rise, perceived that in this respect + society resembled nature. For does not society modify Man, according to + the conditions in which he lives and acts, into men as manifold as the + species in Zoology? The differences between a soldier, an artisan, a man + of business, a lawyer, an idler, a student, a statesman, a merchant, a + sailor, a poet, a beggar, a priest, are as great, though not so easy to + define, as those between the wolf, the lion, the ass, the crow, the shark, + the seal, the sheep, etc. Thus social species have always existed, and + will always exist, just as there are zoological species. If Buffon could + produce a magnificent work by attempting to represent in a book the whole + realm of zoology, was there not room for a work of the same kind on + society? But the limits set by nature to the variations of animals have no + existence in society. When Buffon describes the lion, he dismisses the + lioness with a few phrases; but in society a wife is not always the female + of the male. There may be two perfectly dissimilar beings in one + household. The wife of a shopkeeper is sometimes worthy of a prince, and + the wife of a prince is often worthless compared with the wife of an + artisan. The social state has freaks which Nature does not allow herself; + it is nature <i>plus</i> society. The description of social species would + thus be at least double that of animal species, merely in view of the two + sexes. Then, among animals the drama is limited; there is scarcely any + confusion; they turn and rend each other—that is all. Men, too, rend + each other; but their greater or less intelligence makes the struggle far + more complicated. Though some savants do not yet admit that the animal + nature flows into human nature through an immense tide of life, the grocer + certainly becomes a peer, and the noble sometimes sinks to the lowest + social grade. Again, Buffon found that life was extremely simple among + animals. Animals have little property, and neither arts nor sciences; + while man, by a law that has yet to be sought, has a tendency to express + his culture, his thoughts, and his life in everything he appropriates to + his use. Though Leuwenhoek, Swammerdam, Spallanzani, Reaumur, Charles + Bonnet, Muller, Haller and other patient investigators have shown us how + interesting are the habits of animals, those of each kind, are, at least + to our eyes, always and in every age alike; whereas the dress, the + manners, the speech, the dwelling of a prince, a banker, an artist, a + citizen, a priest, and a pauper are absolutely unlike, and change with + every phase of civilization. + </p> + <p> + Hence the work to be written needed a threefold form—men, women, and + things; that is to say, persons and the material expression of their + minds; man, in short, and life. + </p> + <p> + As we read the dry and discouraging list of events called History, who can + have failed to note that the writers of all periods, in Egypt, Persia, + Greece, and Rome, have forgotten to give us a history of manners? The + fragment of Petronius on the private life of the Romans excites rather + than satisfies our curiosity. It was from observing this great void in the + field of history that the Abbe Barthelemy devoted his life to a + reconstruction of Greek manners in <i>Le Jeune Anacharsis</i>. + </p> + <p> + But how could such a drama, with the four or five thousand persons which + society offers, be made interesting? How, at the same time, please the + poet, the philosopher, and the masses who want both poetry and philosophy + under striking imagery? Though I could conceive of the importance and of + the poetry of such a history of the human heart, I saw no way of writing + it; for hitherto the most famous story-tellers had spent their talent in + creating two or three typical actors, in depicting one aspect of life. It + was with this idea that I read the works of Walter Scott. Walter Scott, + the modern troubadour, or finder (<i>trouvere=trouveur</i>), had just then + given an aspect of grandeur to a class of composition unjustly regarded as + of the second rank. Is it not really more difficult to compete with + personal and parochial interests by writing of Daphnis and Chloe, Roland, + Amadis, Panurge, Don Quixote, Manon Lescaut, Clarissa, Lovelace, Robinson + Crusoe, Gil Blas, Ossian, Julie d'Etanges, My Uncle Toby, Werther, + Corinne, Adolphe, Paul and Virginia, Jeanie Deans, Claverhouse, Ivanhoe, + Manfred, Mignon, than to set forth in order facts more or less similar in + every country, to investigate the spirit of laws that have fallen into + desuetude, to review the theories which mislead nations, or, like some + metaphysicians, to explain what <i>Is</i>? In the first place, these + actors, whose existence becomes more prolonged and more authentic than + that of the generations which saw their birth, almost always live solely + on condition of their being a vast reflection of the present. Conceived in + the womb of their own period, the whole heart of humanity stirs within + their frame, which often covers a complete system of philosophy. Thus + Walter Scott raised to the dignity of the philosophy of History the + literature which, from age to age, sets perennial gems in the poetic crown + of every nation where letters are cultivated. He vivified it with the + spirit of the past; he combined drama, dialogue, portrait, scenery, and + description; he fused the marvelous with truth—the two elements of + the times; and he brought poetry into close contact with the familiarity + of the humblest speech. But as he had not so much devised a system as hit + upon a manner in the ardor of his work, or as its logical outcome, he + never thought of connecting his compositions in such a way as to form a + complete history of which each chapter was a novel, and each novel the + picture of a period. + </p> + <p> + It was by discerning this lack of unity, which in no way detracts from the + Scottish writer's greatness, that I perceived at once the scheme which + would favor the execution of my purpose, and the possibility of executing + it. Though dazzled, so to speak, by Walter Scott's amazing fertility, + always himself and always original, I did not despair, for I found the + source of his genius in the infinite variety of human nature. Chance is + the greatest romancer in the world; we have only to study it. French + society would be the real author; I should only be the secretary. By + drawing up an inventory of vices and virtues, by collecting the chief + facts of the passions, by depicting characters, by choosing the principal + incidents of social life, by composing types out of a combination of + homogeneous characteristics, I might perhaps succeed in writing the + history which so many historians have neglected: that of Manners. By + patience and perseverance I might produce for France in the nineteenth + century the book which we must all regret that Rome, Athens, Tyre, + Memphis, Persia, and India have not bequeathed to us; that history of + their social life which, prompted by the Abbe Barthelemy, Monteil + patiently and steadily tried to write for the Middle Ages, but in an + unattractive form. + </p> + <p> + This work, so far, was nothing. By adhering to the strict lines of a + reproduction a writer might be a more or less faithful, and more or less + successful, painter of types of humanity, a narrator of the dramas of + private life, an archaeologist of social furniture, a cataloguer of + professions, a registrar of good and evil; but to deserve the praise of + which every artist must be ambitious, must I not also investigate the + reasons or the cause of these social effects, detect the hidden sense of + this vast assembly of figures, passions, and incidents? And finally, + having sought—I will not say having found—this reason, this + motive power, must I not reflect on first principles, and discover in what + particulars societies approach or deviate from the eternal law of truth + and beauty? In spite of the wide scope of the preliminaries, which might + of themselves constitute a book, the work, to be complete, would need a + conclusion. Thus depicted, society ought to bear in itself the reason of + its working. + </p> + <p> + The law of the writer, in virtue of which he is a writer, and which I do + not hesitate to say makes him the equal, or perhaps the superior, of the + statesman, is his judgment, whatever it may be, on human affairs, and his + absolute devotion to certain principles. Machiavelli, Hobbes, Bossuet, + Leibnitz, Kant, Montesquieu, <i>are</i> the science which statesmen apply. + "A writer ought to have settled opinions on morals and politics; he should + regard himself as a tutor of men; for men need no masters to teach them to + doubt," says Bonald. I took these noble words as my guide long ago; they + are the written law of the monarchical writer. And those who would confute + me by my own words will find that they have misinterpreted some ironical + phrase, or that they have turned against me a speech given to one of my + actors—a trick peculiar to calumniators. + </p> + <p> + As to the intimate purpose, the soul of this work, these are the + principles on which it is based. + </p> + <p> + Man is neither good nor bad; he is born with instincts and capabilities; + society, far from depraving him, as Rousseau asserts, improves him, makes + him better; but self-interest also develops his evil tendencies. + Christianity, above all, Catholicism, being—as I have pointed out in + the Country Doctor (<i>le Medecin de Campagne</i>)—a complete system + for the repression of the depraved tendencies of man, is the most powerful + element of social order. + </p> + <p> + In reading attentively the presentment of society cast, as it were, from + the life, with all that is good and all that is bad in it, we learn this + lesson—if thought, or if passion, which combines thought and + feeling, is the vital social element, it is also its destructive element. + In this respect social life is like the life of man. Nations live long + only by moderating their vital energy. Teaching, or rather education, by + religious bodies is the grand principle of life for nations, the only + means of diminishing the sum of evil and increasing the sum of good in all + society. Thought, the living principle of good and ill, can only be + trained, quelled, and guided by religion. The only possible religion is + Christianity (see the letter from Paris in "Louis Lambert," in which the + young mystic explains, <i>a propos</i> to Swedenborg's doctrines, how + there has never been but one religion since the world began). Christianity + created modern nationalities, and it will preserve them. Hence, no doubt, + the necessity for the monarchical principle. Catholicism and Royalty are + twin principles. + </p> + <p> + As to the limits within which these two principles should be confined by + various institutions, so that they may not become absolute, every one will + feel that a brief preface ought not to be a political treatise. I cannot, + therefore, enter on religious discussions, nor on the political + discussions of the day. I write under the light of two eternal truths—Religion + and Monarchy; two necessities, as they are shown to be by contemporary + events, towards which every writer of sound sense ought to try to guide + the country back. Without being an enemy to election, which is an + excellent principle as a basis of legislation, I reject election regarded + as <i>the only social instrument</i>, especially so badly organized as it + now is (1842); for it fails to represent imposing minorities, whose ideas + and interests would occupy the attention of a monarchical government. + Elective power extended to all gives us government by the masses, the only + irresponsible form of government, under which tyranny is unlimited, for it + calls itself law. Besides, I regard the family and not the individual as + the true social unit. In this respect, at the risk of being thought + retrograde, I side with Bossuet and Bonald instead of going with modern + innovators. Since election has become the only social instrument, if I + myself were to exercise it no contradiction between my acts and my words + should be inferred. An engineer points out that a bridge is about to fall, + that it is dangerous for any one to cross it; but he crosses it himself + when it is the only road to the town. Napoleon adapted election to the + spirit of the French nation with wonderful skill. The least important + members of his Legislative Body became the most famous orators of the + Chamber after the Restoration. No Chamber has ever been the equal of the + <i>Corps Legislatif</i>, comparing them man for man. The elective system + of the Empire was, then, indisputably the best. + </p> + <p> + Some persons may, perhaps, think that this declaration is somewhat + autocratic and self-assertive. They will quarrel with the novelist for + wanting to be an historian, and will call him to account for writing + politics. I am simply fulfilling an obligation—that is my reply. The + work I have undertaken will be as long as a history; I was compelled to + explain the logic of it, hitherto unrevealed, and its principles and moral + purpose. + </p> + <p> + Having been obliged to withdraw the prefaces formerly published, in + response to essentially ephemeral criticisms, I will retain only one + remark. + </p> + <p> + Writers who have a purpose in view, were it only a reversion to principles + familiar in the past because they are eternal, should always clear the + ground. Now every one who, in the domain of ideas, brings his stone by + pointing out an abuse, or setting a mark on some evil that it may be + removed—every such man is stigmatized as immoral. The accusation of + immorality, which has never failed to be cast at the courageous writer, + is, after all, the last that can be brought when nothing else remains to + be said to a romancer. If you are truthful in your pictures; if by dint of + daily and nightly toil you succeed in writing the most difficult language + in the world, the word <i>immoral</i> is flung in your teeth. Socrates was + immoral; Jesus Christ was immoral; they both were persecuted in the name + of the society they overset or reformed. When a man is to be killed he is + taxed with immorality. These tactics, familiar in party warfare, are a + disgrace to those who use them. Luther and Calvin knew well what they were + about when they shielded themselves behind damaged worldly interests! And + they lived all the days of their life. + </p> + <p> + When depicting all society, sketching it in the immensity of its turmoil, + it happened—it could not but happen—that the picture displayed + more of evil than of good; that some part of the fresco represented a + guilty couple; and the critics at once raised a cry of immorality, without + pointing out the morality of another position intended to be a perfect + contrast. As the critic knew nothing of the general plan I could forgive + him, all the more because one can no more hinder criticism than the use of + eyes, tongues, and judgment. Also the time for an impartial verdict is not + yet come for me. And, after all, the author who cannot make up his mind to + face the fire of criticism should no more think of writing than a traveler + should start on his journey counting on a perpetually clear sky. On this + point it remains to be said that the most conscientious moralists doubt + greatly whether society can show as many good actions as bad ones; and in + the picture I have painted of it there are more virtuous figures than + reprehensible ones. Blameworthy actions, faults and crimes, from the + lightest to the most atrocious, always meet with punishment, human or + divine, signal or secret. I have done better than the historian, for I am + free. Cromwell here on earth escaped all punishment but that inflicted by + thoughtful men. And on this point there have been divided schools. Bossuet + even showed some consideration for great regicide. William of Orange, the + usurper, Hugues Capet, another usurper, lived to old age with no more + qualms or fears than Henri IV. or Charles I. The lives of Catherine II. + and of Frederick of Prussia would be conclusive against any kind of moral + law, if they were judged by the twofold aspect of the morality which + guides ordinary mortals, and that which is in use by crowned heads; for, + as Napoleon said, for kings and statesmen there are the lesser and the + higher morality. My scenes of political life are founded on this profound + observation. It is not a law to history, as it is to romance, to make for + a beautiful ideal. History is, or ought to be, what it was; while romance + ought to be "the better world," as was said by Mme. Necker, one of the + most distinguished thinkers of the last century. + </p> + <p> + Still, with this noble falsity, romance would be nothing if it were not + true in detail. Walter Scott, obliged as he was to conform to the ideas of + an essentially hypocritical nation, was false to humanity in his picture + of woman, because his models were schismatics. The Protestant woman has no + ideal. She may be chaste, pure, virtuous; but her unexpansive love will + always be as calm and methodical as the fulfilment of a duty. It might + seem as though the Virgin Mary had chilled the hearts of those sophists + who have banished her from heaven with her treasures of loving kindness. + In Protestantism there is no possible future for the woman who has sinned; + while, in the Catholic Church, the hope of forgiveness makes her sublime. + Hence, for the Protestant writer there is but one Woman, while the + Catholic writer finds a new woman in each new situation. If Walter Scott + had been a Catholic, if he had set himself the task of describing truly + the various phases of society which have successively existed in Scotland, + perhaps the painter of Effie and Alice—the two figures for which he + blamed himself in his later years—might have admitted passion with + its sins and punishments, and the virtues revealed by repentance. Passion + is the sum-total of humanity. Without passion, religion, history, romance, + art, would all be useless. + </p> + <p> + Some persons, seeing me collect such a mass of facts and paint them as + they are, with passion for their motive power, have supposed, but wrongly, + that I must belong to the school of Sensualism and Materialism—two + aspects of the same thing—Pantheism. But their misapprehension was + perhaps justified—or inevitable. I do not share the belief in + indefinite progress for society as a whole; I believe in man's improvement + in himself. Those who insist on reading in me the intention to consider + man as a finished creation are strangely mistaken. <i>Seraphita</i>, the + doctrine in action of the Christian Buddha, seems to me an ample answer to + this rather heedless accusation. + </p> + <p> + In certain fragments of this long work I have tried to popularize the + amazing facts, I may say the marvels, of electricity, which in man is + metamorphosed into an incalculable force; but in what way do the phenomena + of brain and nerves, which prove the existence of an undiscovered world of + psychology, modify the necessary and undoubted relations of the worlds to + God? In what way can they shake the Catholic dogma? Though irrefutable + facts should some day place thought in the class of fluids which are + discerned only by their effects while their substance evades our senses, + even when aided by so many mechanical means, the result will be the same + as when Christopher Columbus detected that the earth is a sphere, and + Galileo demonstrated its rotation. Our future will be unchanged. The + wonders of animal magnetism, with which I have been familiar since 1820; + the beautiful experiments of Gall, Lavater's successor; all the men who + have studied mind as opticians have studied light—two not dissimilar + things—point to a conclusion in favor of the mystics, the disciples + of St. John, and of those great thinkers who have established the + spiritual world—the sphere in which are revealed the relations of + God and man. + </p> + <p> + A sure grasp of the purport of this work will make it clear that I attach + to common, daily facts, hidden or patent to the eye, to the acts of + individual lives, and to their causes and principles, the importance which + historians have hitherto ascribed to the events of public national life. + The unknown struggle which goes on in a valley of the Indre between Mme. + de Mortsauf and her passion is perhaps as great as the most famous of + battles (<i>Le Lys dans la Vallee</i>). In one the glory of the victor is + at stake; in the other it is heaven. The misfortunes of the two + Birotteaus, the priest and the perfumer, to me are those of mankind. La + Fosseuse (<i>Medecin de Campagne</i>) and Mme. Graslin (<i>Cure de Village</i>) + are almost the sum-total of woman. We all suffer thus every day. I have + had to do a hundred times what Richardson did but once. Lovelace has a + thousand forms, for social corruption takes the hues of the medium in + which it lives. Clarissa, on the contrary, the lovely image of impassioned + virtue, is drawn in lines of distracting purity. To create a variety of + Virgins it needs a Raphael. In this respect, perhaps literature must yield + to painting. + </p> + <p> + Still, I may be allowed to point out how many irreproachable figures—as + regards their virtue—are to be found in the portions of this work + already published: Pierrette Lorrain, Ursule Mirouet, Constance Birotteau, + La Fosseuse, Eugenie Grandet, Marguerite Claes, Pauline de Villenoix, + Madame Jules, Madame de la Chanterie, Eve Chardon, Mademoiselle + d'Esgrignon, Madame Firmiani, Agathe Rouget, Renee de Maucombe; besides + several figures in the middle-distance, who, though less conspicuous than + these, nevertheless, offer the reader an example of domestic virtue: + Joseph Lebas, Genestas, Benassis, Bonnet the cure, Minoret the doctor, + Pillerault, David Sechard, the two Birotteaus, Chaperon the priest, Judge + Popinot, Bourgeat, the Sauviats, the Tascherons, and many more. Do not all + these solve the difficult literary problem which consists in making a + virtuous person interesting? + </p> + <p> + It was no small task to depict the two or three thousand conspicuous types + of a period; for this is, in fact, the number presented to us by each + generation, and which the Human Comedy will require. This crowd of actors, + of characters, this multitude of lives, needed a setting—if I may be + pardoned the expression, a gallery. Hence the very natural division, as + already known, into the Scenes of Private Life, of Provincial Life, of + Parisian, Political, Military, and Country Life. Under these six heads are + classified all the studies of manners which form the history of society at + large, of all its <i>faits et gestes</i>, as our ancestors would have + said. These six classes correspond, indeed, to familiar conceptions. Each + has its own sense and meaning, and answers to an epoch in the life of man. + I may repeat here, but very briefly, what was written by Felix Davin—a + young genius snatched from literature by an early death. After being + informed of my plan, he said that the Scenes of Private Life represented + childhood and youth and their errors, as the Scenes of Provincial Life + represented the age of passion, scheming, self-interest, and ambition. + Then the Scenes of Parisian Life give a picture of the tastes and vice and + unbridled powers which conduce to the habits peculiar to great cities, + where the extremes of good and evil meet. Each of these divisions has its + local color—Paris and the Provinces—a great social antithesis + which held for me immense resources. + </p> + <p> + And not man alone, but the principal events of life, fall into classes by + types. There are situations which occur in every life, typical phases, and + this is one of the details I most sought after. I have tried to give an + idea of the different districts of our fine country. My work has its + geography, as it has its genealogy and its families, its places and + things, its persons and their deeds; as it has its heraldry, its nobles + and commonalty, its artisans and peasants, its politicians and dandies, + its army—in short, a whole world of its own. + </p> + <p> + After describing social life in these three portions, I had to delineate + certain exceptional lives, which comprehend the interests of many people, + or of everybody, and are in a degree outside the general law. Hence we + have Scenes of Political Life. This vast picture of society being finished + and complete, was it not needful to display it in its most violent phase, + beside itself, as it were, either in self-defence or for the sake of + conquest? Hence the Scenes of Military Life, as yet the most incomplete + portion of my work, but for which room will be allowed in this edition, + that it may form part of it when done. Finally, the Scenes of Country Life + are, in a way, the evening of this long day, if I may so call the social + drama. In that part are to be found the purest natures, and the + application of the great principles of order, politics, and morality. + </p> + <p> + Such is the foundation, full of actors, full of comedies and tragedies, on + which are raised the Philosophical Studies—the second part of my + work, in which the social instrument of all these effects is displayed, + and the ravages of the mind are painted, feeling after feeling; the first + of the series, <i>The Magic Skin</i>, to some extent forms a link between + the Philosophical Studies and Studies of Manners, by a work of almost + Oriental fancy, in which life itself is shown in a mortal struggle with + the very element of all passion. + </p> + <p> + Besides these, there will be a series of Analytical Studies, of which I + will say nothing, for one only is published as yet—The Physiology of + Marriage. + </p> + <p> + In the course of time I purpose writing two more works of this class. + First the Pathology of Social Life, then an Anatomy of Educational Bodies, + and a Monograph on Virtue. + </p> + <p> + In looking forward to what remains to be done, my readers will perhaps + echo what my publishers say, "Please God to spare you!" I only ask to be + less tormented by men and things than I have hitherto been since I began + this terrific labor. I have had this in my favor, and I thank God for it, + that the talents of the time, the finest characters and the truest + friends, as noble in their private lives as the former are in public life, + have wrung my hand and said, Courage! + </p> + <p> + And why should I not confess that this friendship, and the testimony here + and there of persons unknown to me, have upheld me in my career, both + against myself and against unjust attacks; against the calumny which has + often persecuted me, against discouragement, and against the too eager + hopefulness whose utterances are misinterpreted as those of overwhelming + conceit? I had resolved to display stolid stoicism in the face of abuse + and insults; but on two occasions base slanders have necessitated a reply. + Though the advocates of forgiveness of injuries may regret that I should + have displayed my skill in literary fence, there are many Christians who + are of opinion that we live in times when it is as well to show sometimes + that silence springs from generosity. + </p> + <p> + The vastness of a plan which includes both a history and a criticism of + society, an analysis of its evils, and a discussion of its principles, + authorizes me, I think, in giving to my work the title under which it now + appears—<i>The Human Comedy</i>. Is this too ambitious? Is it not + exact? That, when it is complete, the public must pronounce. + </p> + <p> + PARIS, July 1842 + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Human Comedy, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HUMAN COMEDY *** + +***** This file should be named 1968-h.htm or 1968-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/6/1968/ + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny, and David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + </body> +</html> diff --git a/1968.txt b/1968.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6199db6 --- /dev/null +++ b/1968.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2421 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Human Comedy, by Honore de Balzac + +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: The Human Comedy + Introductions and Appendix + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Commentator: George Saintsbury + +Release Date: November, 1999 [Etext #1968] +Posting Date: March 8, 2010 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HUMAN COMEDY *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny + + + + + +THE HUMAN COMEDY + +INTRODUCTIONS AND APPENDIX + + + +By Honore De Balzac + + + + Note: + + This reposting is dedicated to Dagny, who, 10 years ago, + was part of the "Balzac Team" which produced 113 eBooks + for Project Gutenberg. I cannot locate her present email + address to thank her for the extraordinarily fine work she + did at a time when we had none of the present easy programs + to help locate errors--and to notify her that all her Balzac + files have been rechecked and reposted. + + DW + + + + CONTENTS + + Honore de Balzac + Introduction and brief biography by George Saintsbury. + + Appendix + List of titles in French with English translations and grouped + in the various classifications. + + Author's introduction + Balzac's 1842 introduction to The Human Comedy. + + + + + + +HONORE DE BALZAC + + _"Sans genie, je suis flambe!"_ + +Volumes, almost libraries, have been written about Balzac; and perhaps +of very few writers, putting aside the three or four greatest of all, is +it so difficult to select one or a few short phrases which will in any +way denote them, much more sum them up. Yet the five words quoted above, +which come from an early letter to his sister when as yet he had not +"found his way," characterize him, I think, better than at least some +of the volumes I have read about him, and supply, when they are properly +understood, the most valuable of all keys and companions for his +comprehension. + +"If I have not genius, it is all up with me!" A very matter-of-fact +person may say: "Why! there is nothing wonderful in this. Everybody +knows what genius is wanted to make a name in literature, and most +people think they have it." But this would be a little short-sighted, +and only excusable because of the way in which the word "genius" is too +commonly bandied about. As a matter of fact, there is not so very much +genius in the world; and a great deal of more than fair performance is +attainable and attained by more or less decent allowances or exhibitions +of talent. In prose, more especially, it is possible to gain a very +high place, and to deserve it, without any genius at all: though it is +difficult, if not impossible, to do so in verse. But what Balzac felt +(whether he was conscious in detail of the feeling or not) when he used +these words to his sister Laure, what his critical readers must feel +when they have read only a very little of his work, what they must feel +still more strongly when they have read that work as a whole--is that +for him there is no such door of escape and no such compromise. He had +the choice, by his nature, his aims, his capacities, of being a genius +or nothing. He had no little gifts, and he was even destitute of some of +the separate and indivisible great ones. In mere writing, mere style, +he was not supreme; one seldom or never derives from anything of his the +merely artistic satisfaction given by perfect prose. His humor, except +of the grim and gigantic kind, was not remarkable; his wit, for a +Frenchman, curiously thin and small. The minor felicities of the +literature generally were denied to him. _Sans genie, il etait flambe_; +_flambe_ as he seemed to be, and very reasonably seemed, to his friends +when as yet the genius had not come to him, and when he was desperately +striving to discover where his genius lay in those wonderous works +which "Lord R'Hoone," and "Horace de Saint Aubin," and others obligingly +fathered for him. + +It must be the business of these introductions to give what assistance +they may to discover where it did lie; it is only necessary, before +taking up the task in the regular biographical and critical way of the +introductory cicerone, to make two negative observations. It did +not lie, as some have apparently thought, in the conception, or the +outlining, or the filling up of such a scheme as the _Comedie Humaine_. +In the first place, the work of every great writer, of the creative +kind, including that of Dante himself, is a _comedie humaine_. All +humanity is latent in every human being; and the great writers are +merely those who call most of it out of latency and put it actually on +the stage. And, as students of Balzac know, the scheme and adjustment +of his comedy varied so remarkably as time went on that it can hardly be +said to have, even in its latest form (which would pretty certainly have +been altered again), a distinct and definite character. Its so-called +scenes are even in the mass by no means exhaustive, and are, as they +stand, a very "cross," division of life: nor are they peopled by +anything like an exhaustive selection of personages. Nor again is +Balzac's genius by any means a mere vindication of the famous definition +of that quality as an infinite capacity of taking pains. That Balzac had +that capacity--had it in a degree probably unequaled even by the dullest +plodders on record--is very well known, is one of the best known things +about him. But he showed it for nearly ten years before the genius came, +and though no doubt it helped him when genius had come, the two things +are in his case, as in most, pretty sufficiently distinct. What the +genius itself was I must do my best to indicate hereafter, always +beseeching the reader to remember that all genius is in its essence and +quiddity indefinable. You can no more get close to it than you can get +close to the rainbow, and your most scientific explanation of it +will always leave as much of the heart of the fact unexplained as the +scientific explanation of the rainbow leaves of that. + + + +Honore de Balzac was born at Tours on the 16th of May, 1799, in the same +year which saw the birth of Heine, and which therefore had the honor +of producing perhaps the most characteristic writers of the nineteenth +century in prose and verse respectively. The family was a respectable +one, though its right to the particle which Balzac always carefully +assumed, subscribing himself "_de_ Balzac," was contested. And there +appears to be no proof of their connection with Jean Guez de Balzac, +the founder, as some will have him, of modern French prose, and the +contemporary and fellow-reformer of Malherbe. (Indeed, as the novelist +pointed out with sufficient pertinence, his earlier namesake had no +hereditary right to the name at all, and merely took it from some +property.) Balzac's father, who, as the _zac_ pretty surely indicates, +was a southerner and a native of Languedoc, was fifty-three years old at +the birth of his son, whose Christian name was selected on the ordinary +principle of accepting that of the saint on whose day he was born. +Balzac the elder had been a barrister before the Revolution, but under +it he obtained a post in the commissariat, and rose to be head of that +department for a military division. His wife, who was much younger than +himself and who survived her son, is said to have possessed both beauty +and fortune, and was evidently endowed with the business faculties so +common among Frenchwomen. When Honore was born, the family had not long +been established at Tours, where Balzac the elder (besides his +duties) had a house and some land; and this town continued to be their +headquarters till the novelist, who was the eldest of the family, was +about sixteen. He had two sisters (of whom the elder, Laure, afterwards +Madame Surville, was his first confidante and his only authoritative +biographer) and a younger brother, who seems to have been, if not a +scapegrace, rather a burden to his friends, and who later went abroad. + +The eldest boy was, in spite of Rousseau, put out to nurse, and at seven +years old was sent to the Oratorian grammar-school at Vendome, where he +stayed another seven years, going through, according to his own account, +the future experiences and performances of Louis Lambert, but making no +reputation for himself in the ordinary school course. If, however, he +would not work in his teacher's way, he overworked himself in his own by +devouring books; and was sent home at fourteen in such a state of health +that his grandmother (who after the French fashion, was living with her +daughter and son-in-law), ejaculated: _"Voila donc comme le college nous +renvoie les jolis enfants que nous lui envoyons!"_ It would seem indeed +that, after making all due allowance for grandmotherly and sisterly +partiality, Balzac was actually a very good-looking boy and young man, +though the portraits of him in later life may not satisfy the more +romantic expectations of his admirers. He must have had at all times +eyes full of character, perhaps the only feature that never fails in men +of intellectual eminence; but he certainly does not seem to have been in +his manhood either exactly handsome or exactly "distinguished-looking." +But the portraits of the middle of the century are, as a rule, rather +wanting in this characteristic when compared with those of its first +and last periods; and I cannot think of many that quite come up to one's +expectations. + +For a short time he was left pretty much to himself, and recovered +rapidly. But late in 1814 a change of official duties removed the +Balzacs to Paris, and when they had established themselves in the famous +old _bourgeois_ quarter of the Marais, Honore was sent to divers private +tutors or private schools till he had "finished his classes" in 1816 +at the age of seventeen and a half. Then he attended lectures at the +Sorbonne where Villemain, Guizot, and Cousin were lecturing, and +heard them, as his sister tells us, enthusiastically, though there are +probably no three writers of any considerable repute in the history of +French literature who stand further apart from Balzac. For all three +made and kept their fame by spirited and agreeable generalizations +and expatiations, as different as possible from the savage labor of +observation on the one hand and the gigantic developments of imagination +on the other, which were to compose Balzac's appeal. His father destined +him for the law; and for three years more he dutifully attended the +offices of an attorney and a notary, besides going through the necessary +lectures and examinations. All these trials he seems to have passed, if +not brilliantly, yet sufficiently. + +And then came the inevitable crisis, which was of an unusually severe +nature. A notary, who was a friend of the elder Balzac's and owed him +some gratitude offered not merely to take Honore into his office, but +to allow him to succeed to his business, which was a very good one, in +a few years on very favorable terms. Most fathers, and nearly all French +fathers, would have jumped at this; and it so happened that about +the same time M. de Balzac was undergoing that unpleasant process of +compulsory retirement which his son has described in one of the best +passages of the _Oeuvres de Jeunesse_, the opening scene of _Argow +le Pirate_. It does not appear that Honore had revolted during his +probation--indeed he is said, and we can easily believe it from his +books, to have acquired a very solid knowledge of law, especially in +bankruptcy matters, of which he was himself to have a very close shave +in future. A solicitor, indeed, told Laure de Balzac that he found +_Cesar Birotteau_ a kind of _Balzac on Bankruptcy_; but this may have +been only the solicitor's fun. + +It was no part of Honore's intentions to use this knowledge--however +content he had been to acquire it--in the least interesting, if nearly +the most profitable, of the branches of the legal profession; and he +protested eloquently, and not unsuccessfully, that he would be a man of +letters and nothing else. Not unsuccessfully; but at the same time with +distinctly qualified success. He was not turned out of doors; nor were +the supplies, as in Quinet's case only a few months later, absolutely +withheld even for a short time. But his mother (who seems to have been +less placable than her husband) thought that cutting them down to the +lowest point might have some effect. So, as the family at this time +(April 1819) left Paris for a house some twenty miles out of it, she +established her eldest son in a garret furnished in the most Spartan +fashion, with a starvation allowance and an old woman to look after +him. He did not literally stay in this garret for the ten years of his +astonishing and unparalleled probation; but without too much metaphor +it may be said to have been his Wilderness, and his Wanderings in it to +have lasted for that very considerable time. + +We know, in detail, very little of him during the period. For the first +years, between 1819 and 1822, we have a good number of letters to Laure; +between 1822 and 1829, when he first made his mark, very few. He began, +of course, with verse, for which he never had the slightest vocation, +and, almost equally of course, with a tragedy. But by degrees and +apparently pretty soon, he slipped into what was his vocation, and like +some, though not very many, great writers, at first did little better in +it than if it had not been his vocation at all. The singular tentatives +which, after being allowed for a time a sort of outhouse in the +structure of the _Comedie Humaine_, were excluded from the octavo +_Edition Definitive_ five-and-twenty years ago, have never been the +object of that exhaustive bibliographical and critical attention which +has been bestowed on those which follow them. They were not absolutely +unproductive--we hear of sixty, eighty, a hundred pounds being paid for +them, though whether this was the amount of Balzac's always sanguine +expectations, or hard cash actually handed over, we cannot say. They +were very numerous, though the reprints spoken of above never extended +to more than ten. Even these have never been widely read. The only +person I ever knew till I began this present task who had read them +through was the friend whom all his friends are now lamenting and are +not likely soon to cease to lament, Mr. Louis Stevenson; and when I once +asked him whether, on his honor and conscience, he could recommend me +to brace myself to the same effort, he said that on his honor and +conscience he must most earnestly dissuade me. I gather, though I am not +sure, that Mr. Wedmore, the latest writer in English on Balzac at any +length, had not read them through when he wrote. + +Now I have, and a most curious study they are. Indeed I am not sorry, +as Mr. Wedmore thinks one would be. They are curiously, interestingly, +almost enthrallingly bad. Couched for the most part in a kind of +Radcliffian or Monk-Lewisian vein--perhaps studied more directly from +Maturin (of whom Balzac was a great admirer) than from either--they +often begin with and sometimes contain at intervals passages not unlike +the Balzac that we know. The attractive title of _Jane la Pale_ (it +was originally called, with a still more Early Romantic avidity for +_baroque_ titles, _Wann-Chlore_) has caused it, I believe, to be +more commonly read than any other. It deals with a disguised duke, a +villainous Italian, bigamy, a surprising offer of the angelic first wife +to submit to a sort of double arrangement, the death of the second wife +and first love, and a great many other things. _Argow le Pirate_ opens +quite decently and in order with that story of the _employe_ which +Balzac was to rehandle so often, but drops suddenly into brigands +stopping diligences, the marriage of the heroine Annette with a retired +pirate marquis of vast wealth, the trial of the latter for murdering +another marquis with a poisoned fish-bone scarf-pin, his execution, +the sanguinary reprisals by his redoubtable lieutenant, and a finale +of blunderbusses, fire, devoted peasant girl with _retrousse_ nose, and +almost every possible _tremblement_. + +In strictness mention of this should have been preceded by mention of +_Le Vicaire des Ardennes_, which is a sort of first part of _Argow le +Pirate_, and not only gives an account of his crimes, early history, +and manners (which seem to have been a little robustious for such a +mild-mannered man as Annette's husband), but tells a thrilling tale of +the loves of the _vicaire_ himself and a young woman, which loves are +crossed, first by the belief that they are brother and sister, and +secondly by the _vicaire_ having taken orders under this delusion. _La +Derniere Fee_ is the queerest possible cross between an actual fairy +story _a la_ Nordier and a history of the fantastic and inconstant loves +of a great English lady, the Duchess of "Sommerset" (a piece of +actual _scandalum magnatum_ nearly as bad as Balzac's cool use in his +acknowledged work of the title "Lord Dudley"). This book begins so +well that one expects it to go on better; but the inevitable defects +in craftsmanship show themselves before long. _Le Centenaire_ connects +itself with Balzac's almost lifelong hankering after the _recherche de +l'absolu_ in one form or another, for the hero is a wicked old person +who every now and then refreshes his hold on life by immolating a virgin +under a copper-bell. It is one of the most extravagant and "Monk-Lewisy" +of the whole. _L'Excommunie_, _L'Israelite_, and _L'Heritiere de +Birague_ are mediaeval or fifteenth century tales of the most +luxuriant kind, _L'Excommunie_ being the best, _L'Israelite_ the most +preposterous, and _L'Heritiere de Birague_ the dullest. But it is not +nearly so dull as _Dom Gigadus_ and _Jean Louis_, the former of which +deals with the end of the seventeenth century and the latter with the +end of the eighteenth. These are both as nearly unreadable as anything +can be. One interesting thing, however, should be noted in much of this +early work: the affectionate clinging of the author to the scenery of +Touraine, which sometimes inspires him with his least bad passages. + +It is generally agreed that these singular _Oeuvres de Jeunesse_ were +of service to Balzac as exercise, and no doubt they were so; but I think +something may be said on the other side. They must have done a little, +if not much, to lead him into and confirm him in those defects of style +and form which distinguish him so remarkably from most writers of his +rank. It very seldom happens when a very young man writes very much, be +it book-writing or journalism, without censure and without "editing," +that he does not at the same time get into loose and slipshod habits. +And I think we may set down to this peculiar form of apprenticeship of +Balzac's not merely his failure ever to attain, except in passages and +patches, a thoroughly great style, but also that extraordinary method +of composition which in after days cost him and his publishers so much +money. + +However, if these ten years of probation taught him his trade, they +taught him also a most unfortunate avocation or by-trade, which he never +ceased to practise, or to try to practise, which never did him the least +good, and which not unfrequently lost him much of the not too abundant +gains which he earned with such enormous labor. This was the "game +of speculation." His sister puts the tempter's part on an unknown +"neighbor," who advised him to try to procure independence by _une bonne +speculation_. Those who have read Balzac's books and his letters will +hardly think that he required much tempting. He began by trying to +publish--an attempt which has never yet succeeded with a single man of +letters, so far as I can remember. His scheme was not a bad one, indeed +it was one which has brought much money to other pockets since, being +neither more nor less than the issuing of cheap one-volume editions of +French classics. But he had hardly any capital; he was naturally quite +ignorant of his trade, and as naturally the established publishers and +booksellers boycotted him as an intruder. So his _Moliere_ and his +_La Fontaine_ are said to have been sold as waste paper, though if any +copies escaped they would probably fetch a very comfortable price now. +Then, such capital as he had having been borrowed, the lender, either +out of good nature or avarice, determined to throw the helve after the +hatchet. He partly advanced himself and partly induced Balzac's parents +to advance more, in order to start the young man as a printer, to which +business Honore himself added that of typefounder. The story was just +the same: knowledge and capital were again wanting, and though actual +bankruptcy was avoided, Balzac got out of the matter at the cost not +merely of giving the two businesses to a friend (in whose hands they +proved profitable), but of a margin of debt from which he may be said +never to have fully cleared himself. + +He had more than twenty years to live, but he never cured himself of +this hankering after _une bonne speculation_. Sometimes it was ordinary +stock-exchange gambling; but his special weakness was, to do him +justice, for schemes that had something more grandiose in them. Thus, +to finish here with the subject, though the chapter of it never actually +finished till his death, he made years afterwards, when he was a +successful and a desperately busy author, a long, troublesome, and +costly journey to Sardinia to carry out a plan of resmelting the slag +from Roman and other mines there. Thus in his very latest days, when he +was living at Vierzschovnia with the Hanska and Mniszech household, +he conceived the magnificently absurd notion of cutting down twenty +thousand acres of oak wood in the Ukraine, and sending it _by railway_ +right across Europe to be sold in France. And he was rather reluctantly +convinced that by the time a single log reached its market the freight +would have eaten up the value of the whole plantation. + +It was perhaps not entirely chance that the collapse of the printing +scheme, which took place in 1827, the ninth year of the Wanderings in +the Wilderness, coincided with or immediately preceded the conception of +the book which was to give Balzac passage into the Promised Land. +This was _Les Chouans_, called at its first issue, which differed +considerably from the present form, _Le Dernier Chouan ou la Bretagne +en 1800_ (later _1799_). It was published in 1829 without any of the +previous anagrammatic pseudonyms; and whatever were the reasons which +had induced him to make his bow in person to the public, they were well +justified, for the book was a distinct success, if not a great one. It +occupies a kind of middle position between the melodramatic romance of +his nonage and the strictly analytic romance-novel of his later time; +and, though dealing with war and love chiefly, inclines in conception +distinctly to the latter. Corentin, Hulot, and other personages of the +actual Comedy (then by no means planned, or at least avowed) appear; and +though the influence of Scott is in a way paramount* on the surface, +the underwork is quite different, and the whole scheme of the loves of +Montauran and Mademoiselle de Verneuil is pure Balzac. + + * Balzac was throughout his life a fervent admirer of Sir Walter, + and I think Mr. Wedmore, in his passage on the subject, distinctly + undervalues both the character and the duration of this esteem. + Balzac was far too acute to commit the common mistake of thinking + Scott superficial--men who know mankind are not often blind to + each other's knowledge. And while Mr. Wedmore seems not to know + any testimony later than Balzac's _thirty-eighth_ year, it is in + his _forty-sixth_, when all his own best work was done, except the + _Parents Pauvres_, that he contrasts Dumas with Scott saying that + _on relit Walter Scott_, and he does not think any one will + re-read Dumas. This may be unjust to the one writer, but it is + conclusive as to any sense of "wasted time" (his own phrase) + having ever existed in Balzac's mind about the other. + +It would seem as if nothing but this sun of popular approval had been +wanting to make Balzac's genius burst out in full bloom. Although we +have a fair number of letters for the ensuing years, it is not very easy +to make out the exact sequence of production of the marvelous harvest +which his genius gave. It is sufficient to say that in the three +years following 1829 there were actually published the _Physiologie +du Mariage_, the charming story of _La Maison du Chat-que-Pelote_, +the _Peau de Chagrin_, the most original and splendid, if not the most +finished and refined, of all Balzac's books, most of the short _Contes +Philosophiques_, of which some are among their author's greatest +triumphs, many other stories (chiefly included in the _Scenes de la Vie +Privee_) and the beginning of the _Contes Drolatiques_.* + + * No regular attempt will after this be made to indicate the date of + production of successive works, unless they connect themselves + very distinctly with incidents in the life or with general + critical observations. At the end of this introduction will be + found a full table of the _Comedie Humaine_ and the other works. + It may perhaps be worth while to add here, that while the labors + of M. de Lovenjoul (to whom every writer on Balzac must + acknowledge the deepest obligation) have cleared this matter up + almost to the verge of possibility as regards the published works, + there is little light to be thrown on the constant references in + the letters to books which never appeared. Sometimes they are + known, and they may often be suspected, to have been absorbed into + or incorporated with others; the rest must have been lost or + destroyed, or, which is not quite impossible, have existed chiefly + in the form of project. Nearly a hundred titles of such things are + preserved. + +But without a careful examination of his miscellaneous work, which is +very abundant and includes journalism as well as books, it is almost +as impossible to come to a just appreciation of Balzac as it is without +reading the early works and letters. This miscellaneous work is all the +more important because a great deal of it represents the artist at quite +advanced stages of his career, and because all its examples, the earlier +as well as the later, give us abundant insight on him as he was "making +himself." The comparison with the early works of Thackeray (in _Punch_, +_Fraser_, and elsewhere) is so striking that it can escape no one who +knows the two. Every now and then Balzac transferred bodily, or with +slight alterations, passages from these experiments to his finished +canvases. It appears that he had a scheme for codifying his +"Physiologies" (of which the notorious one above mentioned is only +a catchpenny exemplar and very far from the best) into a seriously +organized work. Chance was kind or intention was wise in not allowing +him to do so; but the value of the things for the critical reader is +not less. Here are tales--extensions of the scheme and manner of the +_Oeuvres de Jeunesse_, or attempts at the _goguenard_ story of 1830--a +thing for which Balzac's hand was hardly light enough. Here are +interesting evidences of striving to be cosmopolitan and polyglot--the +most interesting of all of which, I think, is the mention of certain +British products as "mufflings." "Muffling" used to be a domestic joke +for "muffin;" but whether some wicked Briton deluded Balzac into the +idea that it was the proper form or not it is impossible to say. Here +is a _Traite de la Vie Elegante_, inestimable for certain critical +purposes. So early as 1825 we find a _Code des Gens Honnetes_, which +exhibits at once the author's legal studies and his constant attraction +for the shady side of business, and which contains a scheme for +defrauding by means of lead pencils, actually carried out (if we may +believe his exulting note) by some literary swindlers with unhappy +results. A year later he wrote a _Dictionnaire des Enseignes de +Paris_, which we are glad enough to have from the author of the +_Chat-que-Pelote_; but the persistence with which this kind of +miscellaneous writing occupied him could not be better exemplified than +by the fact that, of two important works which closely follow this in +the collected edition, the _Physiologie de l'Employe_ dates from 1841 +and the _Monographie de la Presse Parisienne_ from 1843. + +It is well known that from the time almost of his success as a novelist +he was given, like too many successful novelists (_not_ like Scott), to +rather undignified and foolish attacks on critics. The explanation may +or may not be found in the fact that we have abundant critical work of +his, and that it is nearly all bad. Now and then we have an acute remark +in his own special sphere; but as a rule he cannot be complimented on +these performances, and when he was half-way through his career this +critical tendency of his culminated in the unlucky _Revue Parisienne_, +which he wrote almost entirely himself, with slight assistance from his +friends, MM. de Belloy and de Grammont. It covers a wide range, but +the literary part of it is considerable, and this part contains that +memorable and disastrous attack on Sainte-Beuve, for which the critic +afterwards took a magnanimous revenge in his obituary _causerie_. +Although the thing is not quite unexampled it is not easily to be +surpassed in the blind fury of its abuse. Sainte-Beuve was by no means +invulnerable, and an anti-critic who kept his head might have found, as +M. de Pontmartin and others did find, the joints in his armor. But when, +_a propos_ of the _Port Royal_ more especially, and of the other works +in general, Balzac informs us that Sainte-Beuve's great characteristic +as a writer is _l'ennui, l'ennui boueux jusqu'a mi-jambe_, that his +style is intolerable, that his historical handling is like that of +Gibbon, Hume, and other dull people; when he jeers at him for exhuming +"La mere Angelique," and scolds him for presuming to obscure the glory +of the _Roi Soleil_, the thing is partly ludicrous, partly melancholy. +One remembers that agreeable Bohemian, who at a symposium once +interrupted his host by crying, "Man o' the hoose, gie us less o' yer +clack and mair o' yer Jairman wine!" Only, in human respect and other, +we phrase it: "Oh, dear M. de Balzac! give us more _Eugenie Grandets_, +more _Pere Goriots_, more _Peaux de Chagrin_, and don't talk about what +you do not understand!" + +Balzac was a great politician also, and here, though he may not have +been very much more successful, he talked with more knowledge and +competence. He must have given himself immense trouble in reading the +papers, foreign as well as French; he had really mastered a good deal +of the political religion of a French publicist. It is curious to +read, sixty years after date, his grave assertion that "_La France a +la conquete de Madagascar a faire_," and with certain very pardonable +defects (such as his Anglophobia), his politics may be pronounced not +unintelligent and not ungenerous, though somewhat inconsistent and +not very distinctly traceable to any coherent theory. As for the +Anglophobia, the Englishman who thinks the less of him for that must +have very poor and unhappy brains. A Frenchman who does not more or less +hate and fear England, an Englishman who does not regard France with +a more or less good-humored impatience, is usually "either a god or +a beast," as Aristotle saith. Balzac began with an odd but not +unintelligible compound, something like Hugo's, of Napoleonism and +Royalism. In 1824, when he was still in the shades of anonymity, he +wrote and published two by no means despicable pamphlets in favor of +Primogeniture and the Jesuits, the latter of which was reprinted in +1880 at the last _Jesuitenhetze_ in France. His _Lettres sur Paris_ in +1830-31, and his _La France et l'Etranger_ in 1836, are two considerable +series of letters from "Our Own Correspondent," handling the affairs of +the world with boldness and industry if not invariably with wisdom. They +rather suggest (as does the later _Revue Parisienne_ still more) the +political writing of the age of Anne in England, and perhaps a little +later, when "the wits" handled politics and society, literature and +things in general with unquestioned competence and an easy universality. + +The rest of his work which will not appear in this edition may be +conveniently despatched here. The _Physiologie du Mariage_ and the +_Scenes de la Vie Conjugale_ suffer not merely from the most obvious +of their faults but from defect of knowledge. It may or may not be that +marriage, in the hackneyed phrase, is a net or other receptacle where +all the outsiders would be in, and all the insiders out. But it is quite +clear that Coelebs cannot talk of it with much authority. His state +may or may not be the more gracious: his judgment cannot but lack +experience. The "Theatre," which brought the author little if any +profit, great annoyance, and a vast amount of trouble, has been +generally condemned by criticism. But the _Contes Drolatiques_ are not +so to be given up. The famous and splendid _Succube_ is only the best of +them, and though all are more or less tarred with the brush which tars +so much of French literature, though the attempt to write in an archaic +style is at best a very successful _tour de force_, and represents an +expenditure of brain power by no means justifiable on the part of a +man who could have made so much better use of it, they are never to be +spoken of disrespectfully. Those who sneer at their "Wardour Street" Old +French are not usually the best qualified to do so; and it is not to be +forgotten that Balzac was a real countryman of Rabelais and a legitimate +inheritor of _Gauloiserie_. Unluckily no man can "throw back" in this +way, except now and then as a mere pastime. And it is fair to recollect +that as a matter of fact Balzac, after a year or two, did not waste much +more time on these things, and that the intended ten _dizains_ never, as +a matter of fact, went beyond three. + +Besides this work in books, pamphlets, etc., Balzac, as has been said, +did a certain amount of journalism, especially in the _Caricature_, his +performances including, I regret to say, more than one puff of his own +work; and in this, as well as by the success of the _Chouans_, he became +known about 1830 to a much wider circle, both of literary and of private +acquaintance. It cannot indeed be said that he ever mixed much in +society; it was impossible that he should do so, considering the vast +amount of work he did and the manner in which he did it. This subject, +like that of his speculations, may be better finished off in a single +passage than dealt with by scattered indications here and there. He was +not one of those men who can do work by fits and starts in the intervals +of business or of amusement; nor was he one who, like Scott, could work +very rapidly. It is true that he often achieved immense quantities of +work (subject to a caution to be given presently) in a very few days, +but then his working day was of the most peculiar character. He could +not bear disturbance; he wrote best at night, and he could not work at +all after heavy meals. His favorite plan (varied sometimes in detail) +was therefore to dine lightly about five or six, then to go to bed and +sleep till eleven, twelve, or one, and then to get up, and with the help +only of coffee (which he drank very strong and in enormous quantities) +to work for indefinite stretches of time into the morning or afternoon +of the next day. He speaks of a sixteen hours' day as a not uncommon +shift or spell of work, and almost a regular one with him; and on one +occasion he avers that in the course of forty-eight hours he took but +three of the rest, working for twenty-two hours and a half continuously +on each side thereof. In such spells, supposing reasonable facility of +composition and mechanical power in the hand to keep going all the time, +an enormous amount can of course be accomplished. A thousand words +an hour is anything but an extraordinary rate of writing, and fifteen +hundred by no means unheard of with persons who do not write rubbish. + +The references to this subject in Balzac's letters are very numerous; +but it is not easy to extract very definite information from them. It +would be not only impolite but incorrect to charge him with unveracity. +But the very heat of imagination which enabled him to produce his work +created a sort of mirage, through which he seems always to have regarded +it; and in writing to publishers, editors, creditors, and even his own +family, it was too obviously his interest to make the most of his labor, +his projects, and his performance. Even his contemporary, though elder, +Southey, the hardest-working and the most scrupulously honest man of +letters in England who could pretend to genius, seems constantly to have +exaggerated the idea of what he could perform, if not of what he had +performed in a given time. The most definite statement of Balzac's that +I remember is one which claims the second number of _Sur Catherine de +Medicis_, "La Confidence des Ruggieri," as the production of a single +night, and not one of the most extravagant of his nights. Now, "La +Confidence des Ruggieri" fills, in the small edition, eighty pages +of nearer four hundred than three hundred words each, or some thirty +thousand words in all. Nobody in the longest of nights could manage +that, except by dictating it to shorthand clerks. But in the very +context of this assertion Balzac assigns a much longer period to the +correction than to the composition, and this brings us to one of the +most curious and one of the most famous points of his literary history. + +Some doubts have, I believe, been thrown on the most minute account of +his ways of composition which we have, that of the publisher Werdet. But +there is too great a consensus of evidence as to his general system to +make the received description of it doubtful. According to this, +the first draft of Balzac's work never presented it in anything like +fulness, and sometimes it did not amount to a quarter of the bulk +finally published. This being returned to him from the printer in +"slip" on sheets with very large margins, he would set to work on the +correction; that is to say, on the practical rewriting of the thing, +with excisions, alterations, and above all, additions. A "revise" +being executed, he would attack this revise in the same manner, and not +unfrequently more than once, so that the expenses of mere composition +and correction of the press were enormously heavy (so heavy as to eat +into not merely his publisher's but his own profits), and that the last +state of the book, when published, was something utterly different from +its first state in manuscript. And it will be obvious that if anything +like this was usual with him, it is quite impossible to judge his actual +rapidity of composition by the extent of the published result. + +However this may be (and it is at least certain that in the years above +referred to he must have worked his very hardest, even if some of the +work then published had been more or less excogitated and begun during +the Wilderness period), he certainly so far left his eremitical habits +as to become acquainted with most of the great men of letters of the +early thirties, and also with certain ladies of more or less high +rank, who were to supply, if not exactly the full models, the texts +and starting-points for some of the most interesting figures of +the _Comedie_. He knew Victor Hugo, but certainly not at this time +intimately; for as late as 1839 the letter in which he writes to Hugo to +come and breakfast with him at Les Jardies (with interesting and +minute directions how to find that frail abode of genius) is couched in +anything but the tone of a familiar friendship. The letters to Beyle +of about the same date are also incompatible with intimate knowledge. +Nodier (after some contrary expressions) he seems to have regarded +as most good people did regard that true man of letters and charming +tale-teller; while among the younger generation Theophile Gautier and +Charles de Bernard, as well as Goslan and others, were his real and +constant friends. But he does not figure frequently or eminently in any +of the genuine gossip of the time as a haunter of literary circles, +and it is very nearly certain that the assiduity with which some of his +heroes attend _salons_ and clubs had no counterpart in his own life. In +the first place he was too busy; in the second he would not have been at +home there. Like the young gentleman in _Punch_, who "did not read books +but wrote them," though in no satiric sense, he felt it his business not +to frequent society but to create it. + +He was, however, aided in the task of creation by the ladies already +spoken of, who were fairly numerous and of divers degrees. The most +constant, after his sister Laure, was that sister's schoolfellow, Madame +Zulma Carraud, the wife of a military official at Angouleme and the +possessor of a small country estate at Frapesle, near Tours. At both +of these places Balzac, till he was a very great man, was a constant +visitor, and with Madame Carraud he kept up for years a correspondence +which has been held to be merely friendly, and which was certainly +in the vulgar sense innocent, but which seems to me to be tinged with +something of that feeling, midway between love and friendship, which +appears in Scott's letters to Lady Abercorn, and which is probably not +so rare as some think. Madame de Berny, another family friend of higher +rank, was the prototype of most of his "angelic" characters, but she +died in 1836. He knew the Duchesse d'Abrantes, otherwise Madame Junot, +and Madame de Girardin, otherwise Delphine Gay; but neither seems to +have exercised much influence over him. It was different with another +and more authentic duchess, Madame de Castries, after whom he dangled +for a considerable time, who certainly first encouraged him and probably +then snubbed him, and who is thought to have been the model of his +wickeder great ladies. And it was comparatively early in the thirties +that he met the woman whom, after nearly twenty years, he was at last to +marry, getting his death in so doing, the Polish Madame Hanska. These, +with some relations of the last named, especially her daughter, and +with a certain "Louise"--an _Inconnue_ who never ceased to be so--were +Balzac's chief correspondents of the other sex, and, as far as is known, +his chief friends in it. + +About his life, without extravagant "pudding" of guesswork or of mere +quotation and abstract of his letters, it would be not so much difficult +as impossible to say much; and accordingly it is a matter of fact that +most lives of Balzac, including all good ones, are rather critical +than narrative. From his real _debut_ with _Le Dernier Chouan_ to his +departure for Poland on the long visit, or brace of visits, from which +he returned finally to die, this life consisted solely of work. One of +his earliest utterances, "_Il faut piocher ferme_," was his motto to +the very last, varied only by a certain amount of traveling. Balzac +was always a considerable traveler; indeed if he had not been so his +constitution would probably have broken down long before it actually +did; and the expense of these voyagings (though by his own account he +generally conducted his affairs with the most rigid economy), together +with the interruption to his work which they occasioned, entered no +doubt for something into his money difficulties. He would go to Baden or +Vienna for a day's sight of Madame Hanska; his Sardinian visit has been +already noted; and as a specimen of others it may be mentioned that he +once journeyed from Paris to Besancon, then from Besancon right +across France to Angouleme, and then back to Paris on some business +of selecting paper for one of the editions of his books, which his +publishers would probably have done much better and at much less +expense. + +Still his actual receipts were surprisingly small, partly, it may be, +owing to his expensive habits of composition, but far more, according to +his own account, because of the Belgian piracies, from which all popular +French authors suffered till the government of Napoleon the Third +managed to put a stop to them. He also lived in such a thick atmosphere +of bills and advances and cross-claims on and by his publishers, that +even if there were more documents than there are it would be exceedingly +difficult to get at facts which are, after all, not very important. +He never seems to have been paid much more than 500 pounds for the +newspaper publication (the most valuable by far because the pirates +could not interfere with its profits) of any one of his novels. And to +expensive fashions of composition and complicated accounts, a steady +back-drag of debt and the rest, must be added the very delightful, and +to the novelist not useless, but very expensive mania for the +collector. Balzac had a genuine taste for, and thought himself a genuine +connoisseur in, pictures, sculpture, and objects of art of all kinds, +old and new; and though prices in his day were not what they are in +these, a great deal of money must have run through his hands in this +way. He calculated the value of the contents of the house, which in his +last days he furnished with such loving care for his wife, and which +turned out to be a chamber rather of death than of marriage, at some +16,000 pounds. But part of this was Madame Hanska's own purchasing, and +there were offsets of indebtedness against it almost to the last. In +short, though during the last twenty years of his life such actual "want +of pence" as vexed him was not due, as it had been earlier, to the fact +that the pence refused to come in, but only to imprudent management +of them, it certainly cannot be said that Honore de Balzac, the most +desperately hard worker in all literature for such time as was allotted +him, and perhaps the man of greatest genius who was ever a desperately +hard worker, falsified that most uncomfortable but truest of +proverbs--"Hard work never made money." + +If, however, he was but scantily rewarded with the money for which he +had a craving (not absolutely, I think, devoid of a touch of genuine +avarice, but consisting chiefly of the artist's desire for pleasant +and beautiful things, and partly presenting a variety or phase of the +grandiose imagination, which was his ruling characteristic), Balzac had +plenty of the fame, for which he cared quite as much as he cared for +money. Perhaps no writer except Voltaire and Goethe earlier made such +a really European reputation; and his books were of a kind to be more +widely read by the general public than either Goethe's or Voltaire's. +In England (Balzac liked the literature but not the country, and never +visited England, though I believe he planned a visit) this popularity +was, for obvious reasons, rather less than elsewhere. The respectful +vogue which French literature had had with the English in the eighteenth +century had ceased, owing partly to the national enmity revived and +fostered by the great war, and partly to the growth of a fresh and +magnificent literature at home during the first thirty years of the +nineteenth in England. But Balzac could not fail to be read almost at +once by the lettered; and he was translated pretty early, though not +perhaps to any great extent. It was in England, moreover, that by far +his greatest follower appeared, and appeared very shortly. For it would +be absurd in the most bigoted admirer of Thackeray to deny that the +author of _Vanity Fair_, who was in Paris and narrowly watching French +literature and French life at the very time of Balzac's most exuberant +flourishing and education, owed something to the author of _Le Pere +Goriot_. There was no copying or imitation; the lessons taught by Balzac +were too much blended with those of native masters, such as Fielding, +and too much informed and transformed by individual genius. Some +may think--it is a point at issue not merely between Frenchmen and +Englishmen, but between good judges of both nations on each side--that +in absolute veracity and likeness to life, in limiting the operation of +the inner consciousness on the outward observation to strictly artistic +scale, Thackeray excelled Balzac as far as he fell short of him in the +powers of the seer and in the gigantic imagination of the prophet. But +the relations of pupil and master in at least some degree are not, I +think, deniable. + +So things went on in light and in shade, in homekeeping and in travel, +in debts and in earnings, but always in work of some kind or another, +for eighteen years from the turning point of 1829. By degrees, as he +gained fame and ceased to be in the most pressing want of money, Balzac +left off to some extent, though never entirely, those miscellaneous +writings--reviews (including puffs), comic or general sketches, +political diatribes, "physiologies" and the like--which, with his +discarded prefaces and much more interesting matter, were at last, +not many years ago, included in four stout volumes of the _Edition +Definitive_. With the exception of the _Physiologies_ (a sort of short +satiric analysis of this or that class, character, or personage), which +were very popular in the reign of Louis Philippe in France, and which +Albert Smith and others introduced into England, Balzac did not do any +of this miscellaneous work extremely well. Very shrewd observations are +to be found in his reviews, for instance his indication, in reviewing La +Touche's _Fragoletta_, of that common fault of ambitious novels, a sort +of woolly and "ungraspable" looseness of construction and story, which +constantly bewilders the reader as to what is going on. But, as a rule, +he was thinking too much of his own work and his own principles of +working to enter very thoroughly into the work of others. His politics, +those of a moderate but decided Royalist and Conservative, were, as has +been said, intelligent in theory, but in practice a little distinguished +by that neglect of actual business detail which has been noticed in his +speculations. + +At last, in the summer of 1847, it seemed as if the Rachel for whom +he had served nearly if not quite the full fourteen years already, and +whose husband had long been out of the way, would at last grant herself +to him. He was invited to Vierzschovnia in the Ukraine, the seat +of Madame Hanska, or in strictness of her son-in-law, Count Georges +Mniszech; and as the visit was apparently for no restricted period, and +Balzac's pretensions to the lady's hand were notorious, it might have +seemed that he was as good as accepted. But to assume this would have +been to mistake what perhaps the greatest creation of Balzac's great +English contemporary and counterpart on the one side, as Thackeray was +his contemporary and counterpart on the other, considered to be the +malignity of widows. What the reasons were which made Madame Hanska +delay so long in doing what she did at last, and might just as well, it +would seem, have done years before, is not certainly known, and it would +be quite unprofitable to discuss them. But it was on the 8th of October +1847 that Balzac first wrote to his sister from Vierzschovnia, and it +was not till the 14th of March 1850 that, "in the parish church of +Saint Barbara at Berditchef, by the Count Abbe Czarski, representing +the Bishop of Jitomir (this is as characteristic of Balzac in one way +as what follows is in another) a Madame Eve de Balzac, born Countess +Rzevuska, or a Madame Honore de Balzac or a Madame de Balzac the elder" +came into existence. + +It does not appear that Balzac was exactly unhappy during this huge +probation, which was broken by one short visit to Paris. The interest +of uncertainty was probably much for his ardent and unquiet spirit, and +though he did very little literary work for him, one may suspect that +he would not have done very much if he had stayed at Paris, for signs +of exhaustion, not of genius but of physical power, had shown themselves +before he left home. But it is not unjust or cruel to say that by the +delay "Madame Eve de Balzac" (her actual baptismal name was Evelina) +practically killed her husband. These winters in the severe climate of +Russian Poland were absolutely fatal to a constitution, and especially +to lungs, already deeply affected. At Vierzschovnia itself he had +illnesses, from which he narrowly escaped with life, before the +marriage; his heart broke down after it; and he and his wife did not +reach Paris till the end of May. Less than three months afterwards, on +the 18th of August, he died, having been visited on the very day of his +death in the Paradise of bric-a-brac which he had created for his Eve in +the Rue Fortunee--a name too provocative of Nemesis--by Victor Hugo, +the chief maker in verse as he himself was the chief maker in prose of +France. He was buried at Pere la Chaise. The after-fortunes of his house +and its occupants were not happy: but they do not concern us. + +In person Balzac was a typical Frenchman, as indeed he was in most ways. +From his portraits there would seem to have been more force and address +than distinction or refinement in his appearance, but, as has been +already observed, his period was one ungrateful to the iconographer. His +character, not as a writer but as a man, must occupy us a little longer. +For some considerable time--indeed it may be said until the publication +of his letters--it was not very favorably judged on the whole. We may, +of course, dismiss the childish scandals (arising, as usual, from clumsy +or malevolent misinterpretation of such books as the _Physiologie de +Mariage_, the _Peau de Chagrin_, and a few others), which gave rise to +the caricatures of him such as that of which we read, representing him +in a monk's dress at a table covered with bottles and supporting a young +person on his knee, the whole garnished with the epigraph: Scenes de la +Vie Cachee. They seem to have given him, personally, a very unnecessary +annoyance, and indeed he was always rather sensitive to criticism. This +kind of stupid libel will never cease to be devised by the envious, +swallowed by the vulgar, and simply neglected by the wise. But Balzac's +peculiarities, both of life and of work, lent themselves rather fatally +to a subtler misconstruction which he also anticipated and tried to +remove, but which took a far stronger hold. He was represented--and +in the absence of any intimate male friends to contradict the +representation, it was certain to obtain some currency--as in his +artistic person a sardonic libeler of mankind, who cared only to take +foibles and vices for his subjects, and who either left goodness and +virtue out of sight altogether, or represented them as the qualities +of fools. In private life he was held up as at the best a self-centered +egotist who cared for nothing but himself and his own work, capable of +interrupting one friend who told him of the death of a sister by the +suggestion that they should change the subject and talk of "something +real, of _Eugenie Grandet_," and of levying a fifty per cent commission +on another who had written a critical notice of his, Balzac's, life and +works.* + + * Sandeau and Gautier, the victims in these two stories, were + neither spiteful, nor mendacious, nor irrational, so they are + probably true. The second was possibly due to Balzac's odd notions + of "business being business." The first, I have quite recently + seen reason to think, may have been a sort of reminiscence of one + of the traits in Diderot's extravagant encomium on Richardson. + +With the first of these charges he himself, on different occasions, +rather vainly endeavored to grapple, once drawing up an elaborate +list of his virtuous and vicious women, and showing that the former +outnumbered the latter; and, again, laboring (with that curious lack +of sense of humor which distinguishes all Frenchmen but a very few, and +distinguished him eminently) to show that though no doubt it is very +difficult to make a virtuous person interesting, he, Honore de Balzac, +had attempted it, and succeeded in it, on a quite surprising number of +occasions. + +The fact is that if he had handled this last matter rather more lightly +his answer would have been a sufficient one, and that in any case the +charge is not worth answering. It does not lie against the whole of his +work; and if it lay as conclusively as it does against Swift's, it would +not necessarily matter. To the artist in analysis as opposed to the +romance-writer, folly always, and villainy sometimes, does supply a much +better subject than virtuous success, and if he makes his fools and +his villains lifelike and supplies them with a fair contrast of better +things, there is nothing more to be said. He will not, indeed, be +a Shakespeare, or a Dante, or even a Scott; but we may be very well +satisfied with him as a Fielding, a Thackeray, or a Balzac. As to the +more purely personal matter I own that it was some time before I could +persuade myself that Balzac, to speak familiarly, was a much better +fellow than others, and I myself, have been accustomed to think him. But +it is also some time since I came to the conclusion that he was so, and +my conversion is not to be attributed to any editorial retainer. His +education in a lawyer's office, the accursed advice about the _bonne +speculation_, and his constant straitenings for money, will account for +his sometimes looking after the main chance rather too narrowly; and as +for the Eugenie Grandet story (even if the supposition referred to in +a note above be fanciful) it requires no great stretch of charity +or comprehension to see in it nothing more awkward, very easily +misconstrued, but not necessarily in the least heartless or brutal +attempt of a rather absent and very much self-centered recluse absorbed +in one subject, to get his interlocutor as well as himself out of +painful and useless dwelling on sorrowful matters. Self-centered and +self-absorbed Balzac no doubt was; he could not have lived his life +or produced his work if he had been anything else. And it must be +remembered that he owed extremely little to others; that he had the +independence as well as the isolation of the self-centered; that he +never sponged or fawned on a great man, or wronged others of what was +due to them. The only really unpleasant thing about him that I know, and +even this is perhaps due to ignorance of all sides of the matter, is +a slight touch of snobbishness now and then, especially in those late +letters from Vierzschovnia to Madame de Balzac and Madame Surville, +in which, while inundating his mother and sister with commissions +and requests for service, he points out to them what great people the +Hanskas and Mniszechs are, what infinite honor and profit it will be +to be connected with them, and how desirable it is to keep struggling +engineer brothers-in-law and ne'er-do-well brothers in the colonies out +of sight lest they should disgust the magnates. + +But these are "sma' sums, sma' sums," as Bailie Jarvie says; and +smallness of any kind has, whatever it may have to do with Balzac the +man, nothing to do with Balzac the writer. With him as with some others, +but not as with the larger number, the sense of _greatness_ increases +the longer and the more fully he is studied. He resembles, I think, +Goethe more than any other man of letters--certainly more than any other +of the present century--in having done work which is very frequently, if +not even commonly, faulty, and in yet requiring that his work shall be +known as a whole. His appeal is cumulative; it repeats itself on each +occasion with a slight difference, and though there may now and then be +the same faults to be noticed, they are almost invariably accompanied, +not merely by the same, but by fresh merits. + +As has been said at the beginning of this essay, no attempt will be +made in it to give that running survey of Balzac's work which is +always useful and sometimes indispensable in treatment of the kind. +But something like a summing up of that subject will here be attempted +because it is really desirable that in embarking on so vast a voyage the +reader should have some general chart--some notes of the soundings and +log generally of those who have gone before him. + +There are two things, then, which it is more especially desirable to +keep constantly before one in reading Balzac--two things which, taken +together, constitute his almost unique value, and two things which not +a few critics have failed to take together in him, being under the +impression that the one excludes the other, and that to admit the other +is tantamount to a denial of the one. These two things are, first, an +immense attention to detail, sometimes observed, sometimes invented or +imagined; and secondly; a faculty of regarding these details through a +mental lens or arrangement of lenses almost peculiar to himself, which +at once combines, enlarges, and invests them with a peculiar magical +halo or mirage. The two thousand personages of the _Comedie Humaine_ +are, for the most part, "signaled," as the French official word has it, +marked and denoted by the minutest traits of character, gesture, gait, +clothing, abode, what not; the transactions recorded are very often +given with a scrupulous and microscopic accuracy of reporting which no +detective could outdo. Defoe is not more circumstantial in detail +of fact than Balzac; Richardson is hardly more prodigal of +character-stroke. Yet a very large proportion of these characters, of +these circumstances, are evidently things invented or imagined, +not observed. And in addition to this the artist's magic glass, his +Balzacian speculum, if we may so say (for none else has ever had it), +transforms even the most rigid observation into something flickering and +fanciful, the outline as of shadows on the wall, not the precise contour +of etching or of the camera. + +It is curious, but not unexampled, that both Balzac himself when he +struggled in argument with his critics and those of his partisans who +have been most zealously devoted to him, have usually tried to exalt the +first and less remarkable of these gifts over the second and infinitely +more remarkable. Balzac protested strenuously against the use of +the word "gigantesque" in reference to his work; and of course it is +susceptible of an unhandsome innuendo. But if we leave that innuendo +aside, if we adopt the sane reflection that "gigantesque" does not +exceed "gigantic," or assert as constant failure of greatness, but +only indicates that the magnifying process is carried on with a certain +indiscriminateness, we shall find none, I think, which so thoroughly +well describes him. + +The effect of this singular combination of qualities, apparently the +most opposite, may be partly anticipated, but not quite. It results +occasionally in a certain shortcoming as regards _verite vraie_, +absolute artistic truth to nature. Those who would range Balzac in +point of such artistic veracity on a level with poetical and universal +realists like Shakespeare and Dante, or prosaic and particular realists +like Thackeray and Fielding, seem not only to be utterly wrong but to +pay their idol the worst of all compliments, that of ignoring his own +special qualifications. The province of Balzac may not be--I do no think +it is--identical, much less co-extensive, with that of nature. But it is +his own--a partly real, partly fantastic region, where the lights, the +shades, the dimensions, and the physical laws are slightly different +from those of this world of ours, but with which, owing to the things it +has in common with that world, we are able to sympathize, which we +can traverse and comprehend. Every now and then the artist uses his +observing faculty more, and his magnifying and distorting lens less; +every now and then he reverses the proportion. Some tastes will like him +best in the one stage; some in the other; the happier constituted +will like him best in both. These latter will decline to put _Eugenie +Grandet_ above the _Peau de Chagrin_, or _Le Pere Goriot_ above the +wonderful handful of tales which includes _La Recherche de l'Absolu_ +and _Le Chef-d'oeuvre Inconnu_, though they will no doubt recognize +that even in the first two named members of these pairs the Balzacian +quality, that of magnifying and rendering grandiose, is present, and +that the martyrdom of Eugenie, the avarice of her father, the blind +self-devotion of Goriot to his thankless and worthless children, would +not be what they are if they were seen through a perfectly achromatic +and normal medium. + +This specially Balzacian quality is, I think, unique. It is like--it may +almost be said to _be_--the poetic imagination, present in magnificent +volume and degree, but in some miraculous way deprived and sterilized +of the specially poetical quality. By this I do not of course mean that +Balzac did not write in verse: we have a few verses of his, and they are +pretty bad, but that is neither here nor there. The difference between +Balzac and a great poet lies not in the fact that the one fills the +whole page with printed words, and the other only a part of it--but in +something else. If I could put that something else into distinct words +I should therein attain the philosopher's stone, the elixir of life, the +_primum mobile_, the _grand arcanum_, not merely of criticism but of +all things. It might be possible to coast about it, to hint at it, +by adumbrations and in consequences. But it is better and really +more helpful to face the difficulty boldly, and to say that Balzac, +approaching a great poet nearer perhaps than any other prose writer in +any language, is distinguished from one by the absence of the very +last touch, the finally constituting quiddity, which makes a great poet +different from Balzac. + +Now, when we make this comparison, it is of the first interest to +remember--and it is one of the uses of the comparison, that it suggests +the remembrance of the fact--that the great poets have usually been +themselves extremely exact observers of detail. It has not made them +great poets; but they would not be great poets without it. And when +Eugenie Grandet starts from _le petit banc de bois_ at the reference to +it in her scoundrelly cousin's letter (to take only one instance out +of a thousand), we see in Balzac the same observation, subject to the +limitation just mentioned, that we see in Dante and Shakespeare, in +Chaucer and Tennyson. But the great poets do not as a rule _accumulate_ +detail. Balzac does, and from this very accumulation he manages to +derive that singular gigantesque vagueness--differing from the poetic +vague, but ranking next to it--which I have here ventured to note as +his distinguishing quality. He bewilders us a very little by it, and he +gives us the impression that he has slightly bewildered himself. But the +compensations of the bewilderment are large. + +For in this labyrinth and whirl of things, in this heat and hurry +of observation and imagination, the special intoxication of Balzac +consists. Every great artist has his own means of producing this +intoxication, and it differs in result like the stimulus of beauty or of +wine. Those persons who are unfortunate enough to see in Balzac little +or nothing but an ingenious piler-up of careful strokes--a man of +science taking his human documents and classing them after an orderly +fashion in portfolio and deed-box--must miss this intoxication +altogether. It is much more agreeable as well as much more accurate +to see in the manufacture of the _Comedie_ the process of a Cyclopean +workshop--the bustle, the hurry, the glare and shadow, the steam and +sparks of Vulcanian forging. The results, it is true, are by no means +confused or disorderly--neither were those of the forges that worked +under Lipari--but there certainly went much more to them than the dainty +fingering of a literary fretwork-maker or the dull rummagings of a +realist _a la Zola_. + +In part, no doubt, and in great part, the work of Balzac is dream-stuff +rather than life-stuff, and it is all the better for that. What is +better than dreams? But the coherence of his visions, their bulk, their +solidity, the way in which they return to us and we return to them, make +them such dream-stuff as there is all too little of in this world. If it +is true that evil on the whole predominates over good in the vision +of this "Voyant," as Philarete Chasles so justly called him, two +very respectable, and in one case very large, though somewhat opposed +divisions of mankind, the philosophic pessimist and the convinced and +consistent Christian believer, will tell us that this is at least not +one of the points in which it is unfaithful to life. If the author is +closer and more faithful in his study of meanness and vice than in his +studies of nobility and virtue, the blame is due at least as much to his +models as to himself. If he has seldom succeeded in combining a really +passionate with a really noble conception of love, very few of his +countrymen have been more fortunate in that respect. If in some of his +types--his journalists, his married women, and others--he seems to have +sacrificed to conventions, let us remember that those who know attribute +to his conventions such a power if not altogether such a holy influence +that two generations of the people he painted have actually lived more +and more up to his painting of them. + +And last of all, but also greatest, has to be considered the immensity +of his imaginative achievement, the huge space that he has filled for us +with vivid creation, the range of amusement, of instruction, of (after a +fashion) edification which he has thrown open for us all to walk in. +It is possible that he himself and others more or less well-meaningly, +though more or less maladroitly, following his lead, may have +exaggerated the coherence and the architectural design of the _Comedie_. +But it has coherence and it has design; nor shall we find anything +exactly to parallel it. In mere bulk the _Comedie_ probably, if not +certainly, exceeds the production of any novelist of the first class +in any kind of fiction except Dumas, and with Dumas, for various and +well-known reasons, there is no possibility of comparing it. All others +yield in bulk; all in a certain concentration and intensity; none even +aims at anything like the same system and completeness. It must be +remembered that owing to shortness of life, lateness of beginning, +and the diversion of the author to other work, the _Comedie_ is the +production, and not the sole production, of some seventeen or eighteen +years at most. Not a volume of it, for all that failure to reach the +completest perfection in form and style which has been acknowledged, +can be accused of thinness, of scamped work, of mere repetition, of mere +cobbling up. Every one bears the marks of steady and ferocious labor, +as well as of the genius which had at last come where it had been +so earnestly called and had never gone away again. It is possible to +overpraise Balzac in parts or to mispraise him as a whole. But so long +as inappropriate and superfluous comparisons are avoided and as his own +excellence is recognized and appreciated, it is scarcely possible to +overestimate that excellence in itself and for itself. He stands alone; +even with Dickens, who is his nearest analogue, he shows far more +points of difference than of likeness. His vastness of bulk is not more +remarkable than his peculiarity of quality; and when these two things +coincide in literature or elsewhere, then that in which they coincide +may be called, and must be called, Great, without hesitation and without +reserve. + + GEORGE SAINTSBURY. + + + + + +APPENDIX + + + +THE BALZAC PLAN OF THE COMEDIE HUMAINE + + +The form in which the Comedie Humaine was left by its author, with +the exceptions of _Le Depute d'Arcis_ (incomplete) and _Les Petits +Bourgeois_, both of which were added, some years later, by the Edition +Definitive. + +The original French titles are followed by their English equivalents. +Literal translations have been followed, excepting a few instances where +preference is shown for a clearer or more comprehensive English title. + + +[Note from Team Balzac, the Etext preparers: In some cases more than one +English translation is commonly used for various translations/editions. +In such cases the first translation is from the Saintsbury edition +copyrighted in 1901 and that is the title referred to in the personages +following most of the stories. We have added other title translations of +which we are currently aware for the readers' convenience.] + + + + +COMEDIE HUMAINE + + + + +SCENES DE LA VIE PRIVEE + + SCENES FROM PRIVATE LIFE + + + La Maison du Chat-qui Pelote + At the Sign of the Cat and Racket + + Le Bal de Sceaux + The Ball at Sceaux + + La Bourse + The Purse + + La Vendetta + The Vendetta + + Mme. Firmiani + Madame Firmiani + + Une Double Famille + A Second Home + + La Paix du Menage + Domestic Peace + + La Fausse Maitresse + The Imaginary Mistress + Paz + + Etude de femme + A Study of Woman + + Autre etude de femme + Another Study of Woman + + La Grande Breteche + La Grand Breteche + + Albert Savarus + Albert Savarus + + Memoires de deux Jeunes Mariees + Letters of Two Brides + + Une Fille d'Eve + A Daughter of Eve + + La Femme de Trente Ans + A Woman of Thirty + + La Femme abandonnee + The Deserted Woman + + La Grenadiere + La Grenadiere + + Le Message + The Message + + Gobseck + Gobseck + + Le Contrat de Mariage + A Marriage Settlement + A Marriage Contract + + Un Debut dans la vie + A Start in Life + + Modeste Mignon + Modeste Mignon + + Beatrix + Beatrix + + Honorine + Honorine + + Le Colonel Chabert + Colonel Chabert + + La Messe de l'Athee + The Atheist's Mass + + L'Interdiction + The Commission in Lunacy + + Pierre Grassou + Pierre Grassou + + + + +SCENES DE LA VIE PROVINCE + + SCENES FROM PROVINCIAL LIFE + + Ursule Mirouet + Ursule Mirouet + + Eugenie Grandet + Eugenie Grandet + + Les Celibataires: + The Celibates: + Pierrette + Pierrette + + Le Cure de Tours + The Vicar of Tours + + Un Menage de Garcon + A Bachelor's Establishment + The Two Brothers + The Black Sheep + La Rabouilleuse + + Les Parisiens en Province: + Parisians in the Country: + L'illustre Gaudissart + Gaudissart the Great + The Illustrious Gaudissart + + La Muse du departement + The Muse of the Department + + Les Rivalites: + The Jealousies of a Country Town: + La Vieille Fille + The Old Maid + + Le Cabinet des antiques + The Collection of Antiquities + + Le Lys dans la Vallee + The Lily of the Valley + + Illusions Perdues:--I. + Lost Illusions:--I. + Les Deux Poetes + The Two Poets + + Un Grand homme de province a Paris, 1re partie + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Part 1 + + Illusions Perdues:--II. + Lost Illusions:--II. + Un Grand homme de province, 2e p. + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Part 2 + + Eve et David + Eve and David + + + + +SCENES DE LA VIE PARISIENNE + + SCENES FROM PARISIAN LIFE + + Splendeurs et Miseres des Courtisanes: + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life: + Esther heureuse + Esther Happy + + A combien l'amour revient aux vieillards + What Love Costs an Old Man + + Ou menent les mauvais Chemins + The End of Evil Ways + + La derniere Incarnation de Vautrin + Vautrin's Last Avatar + + Un Prince de la Boheme + A Prince of Bohemia + + Un Homme d'affaires + A Man of Business + + Gaudissart II. + Gaudissart II. + + Les Comediens sans le savoir + The Unconscious Humorists + The Unconscious Comedians + + Histoire des Treize: + The Thirteen: + Ferragus + Ferragus + + La Duchesse de Langeais + The Duchesse de Langeais + + La Fille aux yeux d'or + The Girl with the Golden Eyes + + Le Pere Goriot + Father Goriot + Old Goriot + + Grandeur et Decadence de Cesar Birotteau + The Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau + + La Maison Nucingen + The Firm of Nucingen + + Les Secrets de la princesse de Cadignan + The Secrets of a Princess + The Secrets of the Princess Cadignan + + Les Employes + The Government Clerks + Bureaucracy + + Sarrasine + Sarrasine + + Facino Cane + Facine Cane + + Les Parents Pauvres:--I. + Poor Relations:--I. + La Cousine Bette + Cousin Betty + + Les Parents Pauvres:--II. + Poor Relations:--II. + Le Cousin Pons + Cousin Pons + + Les Petits Bourgeois + The Middle Classes + The Lesser Bourgeoise + + + + +SCENES DE LA VIE POLITIQUE + + SCENES FROM POLITICAL LIFE + + Une Tenebreuse Affaire + The Gondreville Mystery + An Historical Mystery + + Un Episode sous la Terreur + An Episode Under the Terror + + L'Envers de l'Histoire Contemporaine: + The Seamy Side of History: + The Brotherhood of Consolation: + Mme. de la Chanterie + Madame de la Chanterie + + L'Initie + Initiated + The Initiate + + Z. Marcas + Z. Marcas + + Le Depute d'Arcis + The Member for Arcis + The Deputy for Arcis + + + + +SCENES DE LA VIE MILITAIRE + + SCENES FROM MILITARY LIFE + + Les Chouans + The Chouans + + Une Passion dans le desert + A Passion in the Desert + + + + +SCENES DE LA VIE DE CAMPAGNE + + SCENES FROM COUNTRY LIFE + + Le Medecin de Campagne + The Country Doctor + + Le Cure de Village + The Country Parson + The Village Rector + + Les Paysans + The Peasantry + Sons of the Soil + + + + +ETUDES PHILOSOPHIQUES + + PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES + + La Peau de Chagrin + The Magic Skin + + La Recherche de l'Absolu + The Quest of the Absolute + The Alkahest + + Jesus-Christ en Flandre + Christ in Flanders + + Melmoth reconcilie + Melmoth Reconciled + + Le Chef-d'oeuvre inconnu + The Unknown Masterpiece + The Hidden Masterpiece + + L'Enfant Maudit + The Hated Son + + Gambara + Gambara + + Massimilla Doni + Massimilla Doni + + Les Marana + The Maranas + Juana + + Adieu + Farewell + + Le Requisitionnaire + The Conscript + The Recruit + + El Verdugo + El Verdugo + + Un Drame au bord de la mer + A Seaside Tragedy + A Drama on the Seashore + + L'Auberge rouge + The Red Inn + + L'Elixir de longue vie + The Elixir of Life + + Maitre Cornelius + Maitre Cornelius + + Sur Catherine de Medicis: + About Catherine de' Medici + Le Martyr calviniste + The Calvinist Martyr + + La Confidence des Ruggieri + The Ruggieri's Secret + + Les Deux Reves + The Two Dreams + + Louis Lambert + Louis Lambert + + Les Proscrits + The Exiles + + Seraphita + Seraphita + + + + +AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION + + + +In giving the general title of "The Human Comedy" to a work begun nearly +thirteen years since, it is necessary to explain its motive, to relate +its origin, and briefly sketch its plan, while endeavoring to speak of +these matters as though I had no personal interest in them. This is +not so difficult as the public might imagine. Few works conduce to +much vanity; much labor conduces to great diffidence. This observation +accounts for the study of their own works made by Corneille, Moliere, +and other great writers; if it is impossible to equal them in their fine +conceptions, we may try to imitate them in this feeling. + +The idea of _The Human Comedy_ was at first as a dream to me, one of +those impossible projects which we caress and then let fly; a chimera +that gives us a glimpse of its smiling woman's face, and forthwith +spreads its wings and returns to a heavenly realm of phantasy. But this +chimera, like many another, has become a reality; has its behests, its +tyranny, which must be obeyed. + +The idea originated in a comparison between Humanity and Animality. + +It is a mistake to suppose that the great dispute which has lately +made a stir, between Cuvier and Geoffroi Saint-Hilaire, arose from +a scientific innovation. Unity of structure, under other names, had +occupied the greatest minds during the two previous centuries. As we +read the extraordinary writings of the mystics who studied the sciences +in their relation to infinity, such as Swedenborg, Saint-Martin, +and others, and the works of the greatest authors on Natural +History--Leibnitz, Buffon, Charles Bonnet, etc., we detect in the +_monads_ of Leibnitz, in the _organic molecules_ of Buffon, in the +_vegetative force_ of Needham, in the correlation of similar organs of +Charles Bonnet--who in 1760 was so bold as to write, "Animals vegetate +as plants do"--we detect, I say, the rudiments of the great law of Self +for Self, which lies at the root of _Unity of Plan_. There is but one +Animal. The Creator works on a single model for every organized being. +"The Animal" is elementary, and takes its external form, or, to be +accurate, the differences in its form, from the environment in which +it is obliged to develop. Zoological species are the result of these +differences. The announcement and defence of this system, which is +indeed in harmony with our preconceived ideas of Divine Power, will +be the eternal glory of Geoffroi Saint-Hilaire, Cuvier's victorious +opponent on this point of higher science, whose triumph was hailed by +Goethe in the last article he wrote. + +I, for my part, convinced of this scheme of nature long before the +discussion to which it has given rise, perceived that in this respect +society resembled nature. For does not society modify Man, according to +the conditions in which he lives and acts, into men as manifold as the +species in Zoology? The differences between a soldier, an artisan, a man +of business, a lawyer, an idler, a student, a statesman, a merchant, a +sailor, a poet, a beggar, a priest, are as great, though not so easy +to define, as those between the wolf, the lion, the ass, the crow, +the shark, the seal, the sheep, etc. Thus social species have always +existed, and will always exist, just as there are zoological species. If +Buffon could produce a magnificent work by attempting to represent in +a book the whole realm of zoology, was there not room for a work of the +same kind on society? But the limits set by nature to the variations of +animals have no existence in society. When Buffon describes the lion, he +dismisses the lioness with a few phrases; but in society a wife is not +always the female of the male. There may be two perfectly dissimilar +beings in one household. The wife of a shopkeeper is sometimes worthy of +a prince, and the wife of a prince is often worthless compared with the +wife of an artisan. The social state has freaks which Nature does not +allow herself; it is nature _plus_ society. The description of social +species would thus be at least double that of animal species, merely in +view of the two sexes. Then, among animals the drama is limited; there +is scarcely any confusion; they turn and rend each other--that is all. +Men, too, rend each other; but their greater or less intelligence makes +the struggle far more complicated. Though some savants do not yet admit +that the animal nature flows into human nature through an immense tide +of life, the grocer certainly becomes a peer, and the noble sometimes +sinks to the lowest social grade. Again, Buffon found that life was +extremely simple among animals. Animals have little property, and +neither arts nor sciences; while man, by a law that has yet to be +sought, has a tendency to express his culture, his thoughts, and his +life in everything he appropriates to his use. Though Leuwenhoek, +Swammerdam, Spallanzani, Reaumur, Charles Bonnet, Muller, Haller and +other patient investigators have shown us how interesting are the habits +of animals, those of each kind, are, at least to our eyes, always and +in every age alike; whereas the dress, the manners, the speech, the +dwelling of a prince, a banker, an artist, a citizen, a priest, and +a pauper are absolutely unlike, and change with every phase of +civilization. + +Hence the work to be written needed a threefold form--men, women, and +things; that is to say, persons and the material expression of their +minds; man, in short, and life. + +As we read the dry and discouraging list of events called History, +who can have failed to note that the writers of all periods, in Egypt, +Persia, Greece, and Rome, have forgotten to give us a history of +manners? The fragment of Petronius on the private life of the Romans +excites rather than satisfies our curiosity. It was from observing this +great void in the field of history that the Abbe Barthelemy devoted his +life to a reconstruction of Greek manners in _Le Jeune Anacharsis_. + +But how could such a drama, with the four or five thousand persons which +society offers, be made interesting? How, at the same time, please +the poet, the philosopher, and the masses who want both poetry and +philosophy under striking imagery? Though I could conceive of the +importance and of the poetry of such a history of the human heart, I +saw no way of writing it; for hitherto the most famous story-tellers had +spent their talent in creating two or three typical actors, in depicting +one aspect of life. It was with this idea that I read the works +of Walter Scott. Walter Scott, the modern troubadour, or finder +(_trouvere=trouveur_), had just then given an aspect of grandeur to a +class of composition unjustly regarded as of the second rank. Is it not +really more difficult to compete with personal and parochial interests +by writing of Daphnis and Chloe, Roland, Amadis, Panurge, Don Quixote, +Manon Lescaut, Clarissa, Lovelace, Robinson Crusoe, Gil Blas, Ossian, +Julie d'Etanges, My Uncle Toby, Werther, Corinne, Adolphe, Paul and +Virginia, Jeanie Deans, Claverhouse, Ivanhoe, Manfred, Mignon, than +to set forth in order facts more or less similar in every country, +to investigate the spirit of laws that have fallen into desuetude, to +review the theories which mislead nations, or, like some metaphysicians, +to explain what _Is_? In the first place, these actors, whose existence +becomes more prolonged and more authentic than that of the generations +which saw their birth, almost always live solely on condition of their +being a vast reflection of the present. Conceived in the womb of their +own period, the whole heart of humanity stirs within their frame, which +often covers a complete system of philosophy. Thus Walter Scott raised +to the dignity of the philosophy of History the literature which, from +age to age, sets perennial gems in the poetic crown of every nation +where letters are cultivated. He vivified it with the spirit of the +past; he combined drama, dialogue, portrait, scenery, and description; +he fused the marvelous with truth--the two elements of the times; and he +brought poetry into close contact with the familiarity of the humblest +speech. But as he had not so much devised a system as hit upon a manner +in the ardor of his work, or as its logical outcome, he never thought of +connecting his compositions in such a way as to form a complete history +of which each chapter was a novel, and each novel the picture of a +period. + +It was by discerning this lack of unity, which in no way detracts from +the Scottish writer's greatness, that I perceived at once the scheme +which would favor the execution of my purpose, and the possibility of +executing it. Though dazzled, so to speak, by Walter Scott's amazing +fertility, always himself and always original, I did not despair, for I +found the source of his genius in the infinite variety of human nature. +Chance is the greatest romancer in the world; we have only to study it. +French society would be the real author; I should only be the secretary. +By drawing up an inventory of vices and virtues, by collecting the +chief facts of the passions, by depicting characters, by choosing +the principal incidents of social life, by composing types out of a +combination of homogeneous characteristics, I might perhaps succeed in +writing the history which so many historians have neglected: that of +Manners. By patience and perseverance I might produce for France in the +nineteenth century the book which we must all regret that Rome, Athens, +Tyre, Memphis, Persia, and India have not bequeathed to us; that history +of their social life which, prompted by the Abbe Barthelemy, Monteil +patiently and steadily tried to write for the Middle Ages, but in an +unattractive form. + +This work, so far, was nothing. By adhering to the strict lines of a +reproduction a writer might be a more or less faithful, and more or less +successful, painter of types of humanity, a narrator of the dramas of +private life, an archaeologist of social furniture, a cataloguer of +professions, a registrar of good and evil; but to deserve the praise of +which every artist must be ambitious, must I not also investigate the +reasons or the cause of these social effects, detect the hidden sense +of this vast assembly of figures, passions, and incidents? And finally, +having sought--I will not say having found--this reason, this motive +power, must I not reflect on first principles, and discover in what +particulars societies approach or deviate from the eternal law of truth +and beauty? In spite of the wide scope of the preliminaries, which might +of themselves constitute a book, the work, to be complete, would need a +conclusion. Thus depicted, society ought to bear in itself the reason of +its working. + +The law of the writer, in virtue of which he is a writer, and which I do +not hesitate to say makes him the equal, or perhaps the superior, of the +statesman, is his judgment, whatever it may be, on human affairs, +and his absolute devotion to certain principles. Machiavelli, Hobbes, +Bossuet, Leibnitz, Kant, Montesquieu, _are_ the science which statesmen +apply. "A writer ought to have settled opinions on morals and politics; +he should regard himself as a tutor of men; for men need no masters to +teach them to doubt," says Bonald. I took these noble words as my guide +long ago; they are the written law of the monarchical writer. And +those who would confute me by my own words will find that they have +misinterpreted some ironical phrase, or that they have turned against me +a speech given to one of my actors--a trick peculiar to calumniators. + +As to the intimate purpose, the soul of this work, these are the +principles on which it is based. + +Man is neither good nor bad; he is born with instincts and capabilities; +society, far from depraving him, as Rousseau asserts, improves him, +makes him better; but self-interest also develops his evil tendencies. +Christianity, above all, Catholicism, being--as I have pointed out in +the Country Doctor (_le Medecin de Campagne_)--a complete system for +the repression of the depraved tendencies of man, is the most powerful +element of social order. + +In reading attentively the presentment of society cast, as it were, from +the life, with all that is good and all that is bad in it, we learn this +lesson--if thought, or if passion, which combines thought and feeling, +is the vital social element, it is also its destructive element. In this +respect social life is like the life of man. Nations live long only +by moderating their vital energy. Teaching, or rather education, by +religious bodies is the grand principle of life for nations, the only +means of diminishing the sum of evil and increasing the sum of good in +all society. Thought, the living principle of good and ill, can only be +trained, quelled, and guided by religion. The only possible religion is +Christianity (see the letter from Paris in "Louis Lambert," in which the +young mystic explains, _a propos_ to Swedenborg's doctrines, how there +has never been but one religion since the world began). Christianity +created modern nationalities, and it will preserve them. Hence, no +doubt, the necessity for the monarchical principle. Catholicism and +Royalty are twin principles. + +As to the limits within which these two principles should be confined +by various institutions, so that they may not become absolute, every one +will feel that a brief preface ought not to be a political treatise. I +cannot, therefore, enter on religious discussions, nor on the political +discussions of the day. I write under the light of two eternal +truths--Religion and Monarchy; two necessities, as they are shown to be +by contemporary events, towards which every writer of sound sense ought +to try to guide the country back. Without being an enemy to election, +which is an excellent principle as a basis of legislation, I reject +election regarded as _the only social instrument_, especially so badly +organized as it now is (1842); for it fails to represent imposing +minorities, whose ideas and interests would occupy the attention of +a monarchical government. Elective power extended to all gives us +government by the masses, the only irresponsible form of government, +under which tyranny is unlimited, for it calls itself law. Besides, I +regard the family and not the individual as the true social unit. In +this respect, at the risk of being thought retrograde, I side with +Bossuet and Bonald instead of going with modern innovators. Since +election has become the only social instrument, if I myself were to +exercise it no contradiction between my acts and my words should be +inferred. An engineer points out that a bridge is about to fall, that it +is dangerous for any one to cross it; but he crosses it himself when it +is the only road to the town. Napoleon adapted election to the spirit of +the French nation with wonderful skill. The least important members of +his Legislative Body became the most famous orators of the Chamber +after the Restoration. No Chamber has ever been the equal of the _Corps +Legislatif_, comparing them man for man. The elective system of the +Empire was, then, indisputably the best. + +Some persons may, perhaps, think that this declaration is somewhat +autocratic and self-assertive. They will quarrel with the novelist for +wanting to be an historian, and will call him to account for writing +politics. I am simply fulfilling an obligation--that is my reply. The +work I have undertaken will be as long as a history; I was compelled +to explain the logic of it, hitherto unrevealed, and its principles and +moral purpose. + +Having been obliged to withdraw the prefaces formerly published, in +response to essentially ephemeral criticisms, I will retain only one +remark. + +Writers who have a purpose in view, were it only a reversion to +principles familiar in the past because they are eternal, should always +clear the ground. Now every one who, in the domain of ideas, brings his +stone by pointing out an abuse, or setting a mark on some evil that it +may be removed--every such man is stigmatized as immoral. The accusation +of immorality, which has never failed to be cast at the courageous +writer, is, after all, the last that can be brought when nothing else +remains to be said to a romancer. If you are truthful in your pictures; +if by dint of daily and nightly toil you succeed in writing the most +difficult language in the world, the word _immoral_ is flung in your +teeth. Socrates was immoral; Jesus Christ was immoral; they both were +persecuted in the name of the society they overset or reformed. When a +man is to be killed he is taxed with immorality. These tactics, familiar +in party warfare, are a disgrace to those who use them. Luther and +Calvin knew well what they were about when they shielded themselves +behind damaged worldly interests! And they lived all the days of their +life. + +When depicting all society, sketching it in the immensity of its +turmoil, it happened--it could not but happen--that the picture +displayed more of evil than of good; that some part of the fresco +represented a guilty couple; and the critics at once raised a cry +of immorality, without pointing out the morality of another position +intended to be a perfect contrast. As the critic knew nothing of the +general plan I could forgive him, all the more because one can no more +hinder criticism than the use of eyes, tongues, and judgment. Also the +time for an impartial verdict is not yet come for me. And, after all, +the author who cannot make up his mind to face the fire of criticism +should no more think of writing than a traveler should start on his +journey counting on a perpetually clear sky. On this point it remains +to be said that the most conscientious moralists doubt greatly whether +society can show as many good actions as bad ones; and in the picture +I have painted of it there are more virtuous figures than reprehensible +ones. Blameworthy actions, faults and crimes, from the lightest to the +most atrocious, always meet with punishment, human or divine, signal or +secret. I have done better than the historian, for I am free. Cromwell +here on earth escaped all punishment but that inflicted by thoughtful +men. And on this point there have been divided schools. Bossuet even +showed some consideration for great regicide. William of Orange, the +usurper, Hugues Capet, another usurper, lived to old age with no more +qualms or fears than Henri IV. or Charles I. The lives of Catherine +II. and of Frederick of Prussia would be conclusive against any kind +of moral law, if they were judged by the twofold aspect of the morality +which guides ordinary mortals, and that which is in use by crowned +heads; for, as Napoleon said, for kings and statesmen there are the +lesser and the higher morality. My scenes of political life are founded +on this profound observation. It is not a law to history, as it is to +romance, to make for a beautiful ideal. History is, or ought to be, what +it was; while romance ought to be "the better world," as was said by +Mme. Necker, one of the most distinguished thinkers of the last century. + +Still, with this noble falsity, romance would be nothing if it were not +true in detail. Walter Scott, obliged as he was to conform to the ideas +of an essentially hypocritical nation, was false to humanity in his +picture of woman, because his models were schismatics. The Protestant +woman has no ideal. She may be chaste, pure, virtuous; but her +unexpansive love will always be as calm and methodical as the fulfilment +of a duty. It might seem as though the Virgin Mary had chilled the +hearts of those sophists who have banished her from heaven with her +treasures of loving kindness. In Protestantism there is no possible +future for the woman who has sinned; while, in the Catholic Church, the +hope of forgiveness makes her sublime. Hence, for the Protestant writer +there is but one Woman, while the Catholic writer finds a new woman in +each new situation. If Walter Scott had been a Catholic, if he had set +himself the task of describing truly the various phases of society which +have successively existed in Scotland, perhaps the painter of Effie +and Alice--the two figures for which he blamed himself in his later +years--might have admitted passion with its sins and punishments, +and the virtues revealed by repentance. Passion is the sum-total of +humanity. Without passion, religion, history, romance, art, would all be +useless. + +Some persons, seeing me collect such a mass of facts and paint them +as they are, with passion for their motive power, have supposed, +but wrongly, that I must belong to the school of Sensualism and +Materialism--two aspects of the same thing--Pantheism. But their +misapprehension was perhaps justified--or inevitable. I do not share the +belief in indefinite progress for society as a whole; I believe in man's +improvement in himself. Those who insist on reading in me the intention +to consider man as a finished creation are strangely mistaken. +_Seraphita_, the doctrine in action of the Christian Buddha, seems to me +an ample answer to this rather heedless accusation. + +In certain fragments of this long work I have tried to popularize the +amazing facts, I may say the marvels, of electricity, which in man +is metamorphosed into an incalculable force; but in what way do +the phenomena of brain and nerves, which prove the existence of an +undiscovered world of psychology, modify the necessary and undoubted +relations of the worlds to God? In what way can they shake the Catholic +dogma? Though irrefutable facts should some day place thought in the +class of fluids which are discerned only by their effects while their +substance evades our senses, even when aided by so many mechanical +means, the result will be the same as when Christopher Columbus detected +that the earth is a sphere, and Galileo demonstrated its rotation. Our +future will be unchanged. The wonders of animal magnetism, with which +I have been familiar since 1820; the beautiful experiments of Gall, +Lavater's successor; all the men who have studied mind as opticians have +studied light--two not dissimilar things--point to a conclusion in favor +of the mystics, the disciples of St. John, and of those great thinkers +who have established the spiritual world--the sphere in which are +revealed the relations of God and man. + +A sure grasp of the purport of this work will make it clear that I +attach to common, daily facts, hidden or patent to the eye, to the acts +of individual lives, and to their causes and principles, the importance +which historians have hitherto ascribed to the events of public national +life. The unknown struggle which goes on in a valley of the Indre +between Mme. de Mortsauf and her passion is perhaps as great as the most +famous of battles (_Le Lys dans la Vallee_). In one the glory of the +victor is at stake; in the other it is heaven. The misfortunes of the +two Birotteaus, the priest and the perfumer, to me are those of mankind. +La Fosseuse (_Medecin de Campagne_) and Mme. Graslin (_Cure de Village_) +are almost the sum-total of woman. We all suffer thus every day. I have +had to do a hundred times what Richardson did but once. Lovelace has a +thousand forms, for social corruption takes the hues of the medium +in which it lives. Clarissa, on the contrary, the lovely image of +impassioned virtue, is drawn in lines of distracting purity. To create +a variety of Virgins it needs a Raphael. In this respect, perhaps +literature must yield to painting. + +Still, I may be allowed to point out how many irreproachable figures--as +regards their virtue--are to be found in the portions of this work +already published: Pierrette Lorrain, Ursule Mirouet, Constance +Birotteau, La Fosseuse, Eugenie Grandet, Marguerite Claes, Pauline +de Villenoix, Madame Jules, Madame de la Chanterie, Eve Chardon, +Mademoiselle d'Esgrignon, Madame Firmiani, Agathe Rouget, Renee de +Maucombe; besides several figures in the middle-distance, who, though +less conspicuous than these, nevertheless, offer the reader an example +of domestic virtue: Joseph Lebas, Genestas, Benassis, Bonnet the cure, +Minoret the doctor, Pillerault, David Sechard, the two Birotteaus, +Chaperon the priest, Judge Popinot, Bourgeat, the Sauviats, the +Tascherons, and many more. Do not all these solve the difficult literary +problem which consists in making a virtuous person interesting? + +It was no small task to depict the two or three thousand conspicuous +types of a period; for this is, in fact, the number presented to us by +each generation, and which the Human Comedy will require. This crowd of +actors, of characters, this multitude of lives, needed a setting--if +I may be pardoned the expression, a gallery. Hence the very natural +division, as already known, into the Scenes of Private Life, of +Provincial Life, of Parisian, Political, Military, and Country Life. +Under these six heads are classified all the studies of manners which +form the history of society at large, of all its _faits et gestes_, as +our ancestors would have said. These six classes correspond, indeed, to +familiar conceptions. Each has its own sense and meaning, and answers to +an epoch in the life of man. I may repeat here, but very briefly, what +was written by Felix Davin--a young genius snatched from literature by +an early death. After being informed of my plan, he said that the Scenes +of Private Life represented childhood and youth and their errors, as +the Scenes of Provincial Life represented the age of passion, scheming, +self-interest, and ambition. Then the Scenes of Parisian Life give a +picture of the tastes and vice and unbridled powers which conduce to +the habits peculiar to great cities, where the extremes of good and +evil meet. Each of these divisions has its local color--Paris and +the Provinces--a great social antithesis which held for me immense +resources. + +And not man alone, but the principal events of life, fall into classes +by types. There are situations which occur in every life, typical +phases, and this is one of the details I most sought after. I have tried +to give an idea of the different districts of our fine country. My work +has its geography, as it has its genealogy and its families, its places +and things, its persons and their deeds; as it has its heraldry, its +nobles and commonalty, its artisans and peasants, its politicians and +dandies, its army--in short, a whole world of its own. + +After describing social life in these three portions, I had to delineate +certain exceptional lives, which comprehend the interests of many +people, or of everybody, and are in a degree outside the general law. +Hence we have Scenes of Political Life. This vast picture of society +being finished and complete, was it not needful to display it in its +most violent phase, beside itself, as it were, either in self-defence or +for the sake of conquest? Hence the Scenes of Military Life, as yet the +most incomplete portion of my work, but for which room will be allowed +in this edition, that it may form part of it when done. Finally, the +Scenes of Country Life are, in a way, the evening of this long day, if +I may so call the social drama. In that part are to be found the purest +natures, and the application of the great principles of order, politics, +and morality. + +Such is the foundation, full of actors, full of comedies and tragedies, +on which are raised the Philosophical Studies--the second part of my +work, in which the social instrument of all these effects is displayed, +and the ravages of the mind are painted, feeling after feeling; the +first of the series, _The Magic Skin_, to some extent forms a link +between the Philosophical Studies and Studies of Manners, by a work +of almost Oriental fancy, in which life itself is shown in a mortal +struggle with the very element of all passion. + +Besides these, there will be a series of Analytical Studies, of which +I will say nothing, for one only is published as yet--The Physiology of +Marriage. + +In the course of time I purpose writing two more works of this class. +First the Pathology of Social Life, then an Anatomy of Educational +Bodies, and a Monograph on Virtue. + +In looking forward to what remains to be done, my readers will perhaps +echo what my publishers say, "Please God to spare you!" I only ask to be +less tormented by men and things than I have hitherto been since I began +this terrific labor. I have had this in my favor, and I thank God for +it, that the talents of the time, the finest characters and the truest +friends, as noble in their private lives as the former are in public +life, have wrung my hand and said, Courage! + +And why should I not confess that this friendship, and the testimony +here and there of persons unknown to me, have upheld me in my career, +both against myself and against unjust attacks; against the calumny +which has often persecuted me, against discouragement, and against the +too eager hopefulness whose utterances are misinterpreted as those of +overwhelming conceit? I had resolved to display stolid stoicism in +the face of abuse and insults; but on two occasions base slanders have +necessitated a reply. Though the advocates of forgiveness of injuries +may regret that I should have displayed my skill in literary fence, +there are many Christians who are of opinion that we live in times when +it is as well to show sometimes that silence springs from generosity. + +The vastness of a plan which includes both a history and a criticism of +society, an analysis of its evils, and a discussion of its principles, +authorizes me, I think, in giving to my work the title under which it +now appears--_The Human Comedy_. Is this too ambitious? Is it not exact? +That, when it is complete, the public must pronounce. + + +PARIS, July 1842 + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Human Comedy, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HUMAN COMEDY *** + +***** This file should be named 1968.txt or 1968.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/9/6/1968/ + +Produced by John Bickers, and Dagny + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/1968.zip b/1968.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dee0f1d --- /dev/null +++ b/1968.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9b0c231 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #1968 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1968) diff --git a/old/20041110-1968.txt b/old/20041110-1968.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b394d94 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/20041110-1968.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2413 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Human Comedy: Introductions & Appendix +by Honore de Balzac + +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.net + + +Title: The Human Comedy: Introductions & Appendix + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Release Date: November 10, 2004 [EBook #1968] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HUMAN COMEDY *** + + + + +Produced by Dagny, and John Bickers + + + + + + THE HUMAN COMEDY: + INTRODUCTIONS AND APPENDIX + + + + CONTENTS + + Honore de Balzac + Introduction and brief biography by George Saintsbury. + + Appendix + List of titles in French with English translations and grouped + in the various classifications. + + Author's introduction + Balzac's 1842 introduction to The Human Comedy. + + + + + + HONORE DE BALZAC + + + + _"Sans genie, je suis flambe!"_ + +Volumes, almost libraries, have been written about Balzac; and perhaps +of very few writers, putting aside the three or four greatest of all, +is it so difficult to select one or a few short phrases which will in +any way denote them, much more sum them up. Yet the five words quoted +above, which come from an early letter to his sister when as yet he +had not "found his way," characterize him, I think, better than at +least some of the volumes I have read about him, and supply, when they +are properly understood, the most valuable of all keys and companions +for his comprehension. + +"If I have not genius, it is all up with me!" A very matter-of-fact +person may say: "Why! there is nothing wonderful in this. Everybody +knows what genius is wanted to make a name in literature, and most +people think they have it." But this would be a little short-sighted, +and only excusable because of the way in which the word "genius" is +too commonly bandied about. As a matter of fact, there is not so very +much genius in the world; and a great deal of more than fair +performance is attainable and attained by more or less decent +allowances or exhibitions of talent. In prose, more especially, it is +possible to gain a very high place, and to deserve it, without any +genius at all: though it is difficult, if not impossible, to do so in +verse. But what Balzac felt (whether he was conscious in detail of the +feeling or not) when he used these words to his sister Laure, what his +critical readers must feel when they have read only a very little of +his work, what they must feel still more strongly when they have read +that work as a whole--is that for him there is no such door of escape +and no such compromise. He had the choice, by his nature, his aims, +his capacities, of being a genius or nothing. He had no little gifts, +and he was even destitute of some of the separate and indivisible +great ones. In mere writing, mere style, he was not supreme; one +seldom or never derives from anything of his the merely artistic +satisfaction given by perfect prose. His humor, except of the grim and +gigantic kind, was not remarkable; his wit, for a Frenchman, curiously +thin and small. The minor felicities of the literature generally were +denied to him. _Sans genie, il etait flambe_; _flambe_ as he seemed to +be, and very reasonably seemed, to his friends when as yet the genius +had not come to him, and when he was desperately striving to discover +where his genius lay in those wonderous works which "Lord R'Hoone," +and "Horace de Saint Aubin," and others obligingly fathered for him. + +It must be the business of these introductions to give what assistance +they may to discover where it did lie; it is only necessary, before +taking up the task in the regular biographical and critical way of the +introductory cicerone, to make two negative observations. It did not +lie, as some have apparently thought, in the conception, or the +outlining, or the filling up of such a scheme as the _Comedie +Humaine_. In the first place, the work of every great writer, of the +creative kind, including that of Dante himself, is a _comedie +humaine_. All humanity is latent in every human being; and the great +writers are merely those who call most of it out of latency and put it +actually on the stage. And, as students of Balzac know, the scheme and +adjustment of his comedy varied so remarkably as time went on that it +can hardly be said to have, even in its latest form (which would +pretty certainly have been altered again), a distinct and definite +character. Its so-called scenes are even in the mass by no means +exhaustive, and are, as they stand, a very "cross," division of life: +nor are they peopled by anything like an exhaustive selection of +personages. Nor again is Balzac's genius by any means a mere +vindication of the famous definition of that quality as an infinite +capacity of taking pains. That Balzac had that capacity--had it in a +degree probably unequaled even by the dullest plodders on record--is +very well known, is one of the best known things about him. But he +showed it for nearly ten years before the genius came, and though no +doubt it helped him when genius had come, the two things are in his +case, as in most, pretty sufficiently distinct. What the genius itself +was I must do my best to indicate hereafter, always beseeching the +reader to remember that all genius is in its essence and quiddity +indefinable. You can no more get close to it than you can get close to +the rainbow, and your most scientific explanation of it will always +leave as much of the heart of the fact unexplained as the scientific +explanation of the rainbow leaves of that. + + + +Honore de Balzac was born at Tours on the 16th of May, 1799, in the +same year which saw the birth of Heine, and which therefore had the +honor of producing perhaps the most characteristic writers of the +nineteenth century in prose and verse respectively. The family was a +respectable one, though its right to the particle which Balzac always +carefully assumed, subscribing himself "_de_ Balzac," was contested. +And there appears to be no proof of their connection with Jean Guez de +Balzac, the founder, as some will have him, of modern French prose, +and the contemporary and fellow-reformer of Malherbe. (Indeed, as the +novelist pointed out with sufficient pertinence, his earlier namesake +had no hereditary right to the name at all, and merely took it from +some property.) Balzac's father, who, as the _zac_ pretty surely +indicates, was a southerner and a native of Languedoc, was fifty-three +years old at the birth of his son, whose Christian name was selected +on the ordinary principle of accepting that of the saint on whose day +he was born. Balzac the elder had been a barrister before the +Revolution, but under it he obtained a post in the commissariat, and +rose to be head of that department for a military division. His wife, +who was much younger than himself and who survived her son, is said to +have possessed both beauty and fortune, and was evidently endowed with +the business faculties so common among Frenchwomen. When Honore was +born, the family had not long been established at Tours, where Balzac +the elder (besides his duties) had a house and some land; and this +town continued to be their headquarters till the novelist, who was the +eldest of the family, was about sixteen. He had two sisters (of whom +the elder, Laure, afterwards Madame Surville, was his first confidante +and his only authoritative biographer) and a younger brother, who +seems to have been, if not a scapegrace, rather a burden to his +friends, and who later went abroad. + +The eldest boy was, in spite of Rousseau, put out to nurse, and at +seven years old was sent to the Oratorian grammar-school at Vendome, +where he stayed another seven years, going through, according to his +own account, the future experiences and performances of Louis Lambert, +but making no reputation for himself in the ordinary school course. +If, however, he would not work in his teacher's way, he overworked +himself in his own by devouring books; and was sent home at fourteen +in such a state of health that his grandmother (who after the French +fashion, was living with her daughter and son-in-law), ejaculated: +_"Voila donc comme le college nous renvoie les jolis enfants que nous +lui envoyons!"_ It would seem indeed that, after making all due +allowance for grandmotherly and sisterly partiality, Balzac was +actually a very good-looking boy and young man, though the portraits +of him in later life may not satisfy the more romantic expectations of +his admirers. He must have had at all times eyes full of character, +perhaps the only feature that never fails in men of intellectual +eminence; but he certainly does not seem to have been in his manhood +either exactly handsome or exactly "distinguished-looking." But the +portraits of the middle of the century are, as a rule, rather wanting +in this characteristic when compared with those of its first and last +periods; and I cannot think of many that quite come up to one's +expectations. + +For a short time he was left pretty much to himself, and recovered +rapidly. But late in 1814 a change of official duties removed the +Balzacs to Paris, and when they had established themselves in the +famous old _bourgeois_ quarter of the Marais, Honore was sent to +divers private tutors or private schools till he had "finished his +classes" in 1816 at the age of seventeen and a half. Then he attended +lectures at the Sorbonne where Villemain, Guizot, and Cousin were +lecturing, and heard them, as his sister tells us, enthusiastically, +though there are probably no three writers of any considerable repute +in the history of French literature who stand further apart from +Balzac. For all three made and kept their fame by spirited and +agreeable generalizations and expatiations, as different as possible +from the savage labor of observation on the one hand and the gigantic +developments of imagination on the other, which were to compose +Balzac's appeal. His father destined him for the law; and for three +years more he dutifully attended the offices of an attorney and a +notary, besides going through the necessary lectures and examinations. +All these trials he seems to have passed, if not brilliantly, yet +sufficiently. + +And then came the inevitable crisis, which was of an unusually severe +nature. A notary, who was a friend of the elder Balzac's and owed him +some gratitude offered not merely to take Honore into his office, but +to allow him to succeed to his business, which was a very good one, in +a few years on very favorable terms. Most fathers, and nearly all +French fathers, would have jumped at this; and it so happened that +about the same time M. de Balzac was undergoing that unpleasant +process of compulsory retirement which his son has described in one of +the best passages of the _Oeuvres de Jeunesse_, the opening scene of +_Argow le Pirate_. It does not appear that Honore had revolted during +his probation--indeed he is said, and we can easily believe it from +his books, to have acquired a very solid knowledge of law, especially +in bankruptcy matters, of which he was himself to have a very close +shave in future. A solicitor, indeed, told Laure de Balzac that he +found _Cesar Birotteau_ a kind of _Balzac on Bankruptcy_; but this may +have been only the solicitor's fun. + +It was no part of Honore's intentions to use this knowledge--however +content he had been to acquire it--in the least interesting, if nearly +the most profitable, of the branches of the legal profession; and he +protested eloquently, and not unsuccessfully, that he would be a man +of letters and nothing else. Not unsuccessfully; but at the same time +with distinctly qualified success. He was not turned out of doors; nor +were the supplies, as in Quinet's case only a few months later, +absolutely withheld even for a short time. But his mother (who seems +to have been less placable than her husband) thought that cutting them +down to the lowest point might have some effect. So, as the family at +this time (April 1819) left Paris for a house some twenty miles out of +it, she established her eldest son in a garret furnished in the most +Spartan fashion, with a starvation allowance and an old woman to look +after him. He did not literally stay in this garret for the ten years +of his astonishing and unparalleled probation; but without too much +metaphor it may be said to have been his Wilderness, and his +Wanderings in it to have lasted for that very considerable time. + +We know, in detail, very little of him during the period. For the +first years, between 1819 and 1822, we have a good number of letters +to Laure; between 1822 and 1829, when he first made his mark, very +few. He began, of course, with verse, for which he never had the +slightest vocation, and, almost equally of course, with a tragedy. But +by degrees and apparently pretty soon, he slipped into what was his +vocation, and like some, though not very many, great writers, at first +did little better in it than if it had not been his vocation at all. +The singular tentatives which, after being allowed for a time a sort +of outhouse in the structure of the _Comedie Humaine_, were excluded +from the octavo _Edition Definitive_ five-and-twenty years ago, have +never been the object of that exhaustive bibliographical and critical +attention which has been bestowed on those which follow them. They +were not absolutely unproductive--we hear of sixty, eighty, a hundred +pounds being paid for them, though whether this was the amount of +Balzac's always sanguine expectations, or hard cash actually handed +over, we cannot say. They were very numerous, though the reprints +spoken of above never extended to more than ten. Even these have never +been widely read. The only person I ever knew till I began this +present task who had read them through was the friend whom all his +friends are now lamenting and are not likely soon to cease to lament, +Mr. Louis Stevenson; and when I once asked him whether, on his honor +and conscience, he could recommend me to brace myself to the same +effort, he said that on his honor and conscience he must most +earnestly dissuade me. I gather, though I am not sure, that Mr. +Wedmore, the latest writer in English on Balzac at any length, had not +read them through when he wrote. + +Now I have, and a most curious study they are. Indeed I am not sorry, +as Mr. Wedmore thinks one would be. They are curiously, interestingly, +almost enthrallingly bad. Couched for the most part in a kind of +Radcliffian or Monk-Lewisian vein--perhaps studied more directly from +Maturin (of whom Balzac was a great admirer) than from either--they +often begin with and sometimes contain at intervals passages not +unlike the Balzac that we know. The attractive title of _Jane la Pale_ +(it was originally called, with a still more Early Romantic avidity +for _baroque_ titles, _Wann-Chlore_) has caused it, I believe, to be +more commonly read than any other. It deals with a disguised duke, a +villainous Italian, bigamy, a surprising offer of the angelic first +wife to submit to a sort of double arrangement, the death of the +second wife and first love, and a great many other things. _Argow le +Pirate_ opens quite decently and in order with that story of the +_employe_ which Balzac was to rehandle so often, but drops suddenly +into brigands stopping diligences, the marriage of the heroine Annette +with a retired pirate marquis of vast wealth, the trial of the latter +for murdering another marquis with a poisoned fish-bone scarf-pin, his +execution, the sanguinary reprisals by his redoubtable lieutenant, and +a finale of blunderbusses, fire, devoted peasant girl with _retrousse_ +nose, and almost every possible _tremblement_. + +In strictness mention of this should have been preceded by mention of +_Le Vicaire des Ardennes_, which is a sort of first part of _Argow le +Pirate_, and not only gives an account of his crimes, early history, +and manners (which seem to have been a little robustious for such a +mild-mannered man as Annette's husband), but tells a thrilling tale of +the loves of the _vicaire_ himself and a young woman, which loves are +crossed, first by the belief that they are brother and sister, and +secondly by the _vicaire_ having taken orders under this delusion. _La +Derniere Fee_ is the queerest possible cross between an actual fairy +story _a la_ Nordier and a history of the fantastic and inconstant +loves of a great English lady, the Duchess of "Sommerset" (a piece of +actual _scandalum magnatum_ nearly as bad as Balzac's cool use in his +acknowledged work of the title "Lord Dudley"). This book begins so +well that one expects it to go on better; but the inevitable defects +in craftsmanship show themselves before long. _Le Centenaire_ connects +itself with Balzac's almost lifelong hankering after the _recherche de +l'absolu_ in one form or another, for the hero is a wicked old person +who every now and then refreshes his hold on life by immolating a +virgin under a copper-bell. It is one of the most extravagant and +"Monk-Lewisy" of the whole. _L'Excommunie_, _L'Israelite_, and +_L'Heritiere de Birague_ are mediaeval or fifteenth century tales of +the most luxuriant kind, _L'Excommunie_ being the best, _L'Israelite_ +the most preposterous, and _L'Heritiere de Birague_ the dullest. But +it is not nearly so dull as _Dom Gigadus_ and _Jean Louis_, the former +of which deals with the end of the seventeenth century and the latter +with the end of the eighteenth. These are both as nearly unreadable as +anything can be. One interesting thing, however, should be noted in +much of this early work: the affectionate clinging of the author to +the scenery of Touraine, which sometimes inspires him with his least +bad passages. + +It is generally agreed that these singular _Oeuvres de Jeunesse_ were +of service to Balzac as exercise, and no doubt they were so; but I +think something may be said on the other side. They must have done a +little, if not much, to lead him into and confirm him in those defects +of style and form which distinguish him so remarkably from most +writers of his rank. It very seldom happens when a very young man +writes very much, be it book-writing or journalism, without censure +and without "editing," that he does not at the same time get into +loose and slipshod habits. And I think we may set down to this +peculiar form of apprenticeship of Balzac's not merely his failure +ever to attain, except in passages and patches, a thoroughly great +style, but also that extraordinary method of composition which in +after days cost him and his publishers so much money. + +However, if these ten years of probation taught him his trade, they +taught him also a most unfortunate avocation or by-trade, which he +never ceased to practise, or to try to practise, which never did him +the least good, and which not unfrequently lost him much of the not +too abundant gains which he earned with such enormous labor. This was +the "game of speculation." His sister puts the tempter's part on an +unknown "neighbor," who advised him to try to procure independence by +_une bonne speculation_. Those who have read Balzac's books and his +letters will hardly think that he required much tempting. He began by +trying to publish--an attempt which has never yet succeeded with a +single man of letters, so far as I can remember. His scheme was not a +bad one, indeed it was one which has brought much money to other +pockets since, being neither more nor less than the issuing of cheap +one-volume editions of French classics. But he had hardly any capital; +he was naturally quite ignorant of his trade, and as naturally the +established publishers and booksellers boycotted him as an intruder. +So his _Moliere_ and his _La Fontaine_ are said to have been sold as +waste paper, though if any copies escaped they would probably fetch a +very comfortable price now. Then, such capital as he had having been +borrowed, the lender, either out of good nature or avarice, determined +to throw the helve after the hatchet. He partly advanced himself and +partly induced Balzac's parents to advance more, in order to start the +young man as a printer, to which business Honore himself added that of +typefounder. The story was just the same: knowledge and capital were +again wanting, and though actual bankruptcy was avoided, Balzac got +out of the matter at the cost not merely of giving the two businesses +to a friend (in whose hands they proved profitable), but of a margin +of debt from which he may be said never to have fully cleared himself. + +He had more than twenty years to live, but he never cured himself of +this hankering after _une bonne speculation_. Sometimes it was +ordinary stock-exchange gambling; but his special weakness was, to do +him justice, for schemes that had something more grandiose in them. +Thus, to finish here with the subject, though the chapter of it never +actually finished till his death, he made years afterwards, when he +was a successful and a desperately busy author, a long, troublesome, +and costly journey to Sardinia to carry out a plan of resmelting the +slag from Roman and other mines there. Thus in his very latest days, +when he was living at Vierzschovnia with the Hanska and Mniszech +household, he conceived the magnificently absurd notion of cutting +down twenty thousand acres of oak wood in the Ukraine, and sending it +_by railway_ right across Europe to be sold in France. And he was +rather reluctantly convinced that by the time a single log reached its +market the freight would have eaten up the value of the whole +plantation. + +It was perhaps not entirely chance that the collapse of the printing +scheme, which took place in 1827, the ninth year of the Wanderings in +the Wilderness, coincided with or immediately preceded the conception +of the book which was to give Balzac passage into the Promised Land. +This was _Les Chouans_, called at its first issue, which differed +considerably from the present form, _Le Dernier Chouan ou la Bretagne +en 1800_ (later _1799_). It was published in 1829 without any of the +previous anagrammatic pseudonyms; and whatever were the reasons which +had induced him to make his bow in person to the public, they were +well justified, for the book was a distinct success, if not a great +one. It occupies a kind of middle position between the melodramatic +romance of his nonage and the strictly analytic romance-novel of his +later time; and, though dealing with war and love chiefly, inclines in +conception distinctly to the latter. Corentin, Hulot, and other +personages of the actual Comedy (then by no means planned, or at least +avowed) appear; and though the influence of Scott is in a way +paramount* on the surface, the underwork is quite different, and the +whole scheme of the loves of Montauran and Mademoiselle de Verneuil is +pure Balzac. + +* Balzac was throughout his life a fervent admirer of Sir Walter, + and I think Mr. Wedmore, in his passage on the subject, distinctly + undervalues both the character and the duration of this esteem. + Balzac was far too acute to commit the common mistake of thinking + Scott superficial--men who know mankind are not often blind to + each other's knowledge. And while Mr. Wedmore seems not to know + any testimony later than Balzac's _thirty-eighth_ year, it is in + his _forty-sixth_, when all his own best work was done, except the + _Parents Pauvres_, that he contrasts Dumas with Scott saying that + _on relit Walter Scott_, and he does not think any one will + re-read Dumas. This may be unjust to the one writer, but it is + conclusive as to any sense of "wasted time" (his own phrase) + having ever existed in Balzac's mind about the other. + +It would seem as if nothing but this sun of popular approval had been +wanting to make Balzac's genius burst out in full bloom. Although we +have a fair number of letters for the ensuing years, it is not very +easy to make out the exact sequence of production of the marvelous +harvest which his genius gave. It is sufficient to say that in the +three years following 1829 there were actually published the +_Physiologie du Mariage_, the charming story of _La Maison du +Chat-que-Pelote_, the _Peau de Chagrin_, the most original and splendid, +if not the most finished and refined, of all Balzac's books, most of the +short _Contes Philosophiques_, of which some are among their author's +greatest triumphs, many other stories (chiefly included in the _Scenes +de la Vie Privee_) and the beginning of the _Contes Drolatiques_.* + +* No regular attempt will after this be made to indicate the date of + production of successive works, unless they connect themselves + very distinctly with incidents in the life or with general + critical observations. At the end of this introduction will be + found a full table of the _Comedie Humaine_ and the other works. + It may perhaps be worth while to add here, that while the labors + of M. de Lovenjoul (to whom every writer on Balzac must + acknowledge the deepest obligation) have cleared this matter up + almost to the verge of possibility as regards the published works, + there is little light to be thrown on the constant references in + the letters to books which never appeared. Sometimes they are + known, and they may often be suspected, to have been absorbed into + or incorporated with others; the rest must have been lost or + destroyed, or, which is not quite impossible, have existed chiefly + in the form of project. Nearly a hundred titles of such things are + preserved. + +But without a careful examination of his miscellaneous work, which is +very abundant and includes journalism as well as books, it is almost +as impossible to come to a just appreciation of Balzac as it is +without reading the early works and letters. This miscellaneous work +is all the more important because a great deal of it represents the +artist at quite advanced stages of his career, and because all its +examples, the earlier as well as the later, give us abundant insight +on him as he was "making himself." The comparison with the early works +of Thackeray (in _Punch_, _Fraser_, and elsewhere) is so striking that +it can escape no one who knows the two. Every now and then Balzac +transferred bodily, or with slight alterations, passages from these +experiments to his finished canvases. It appears that he had a scheme +for codifying his "Physiologies" (of which the notorious one above +mentioned is only a catchpenny exemplar and very far from the best) +into a seriously organized work. Chance was kind or intention was wise +in not allowing him to do so; but the value of the things for the +critical reader is not less. Here are tales--extensions of the scheme +and manner of the _Oeuvres de Jeunesse_, or attempts at the +_goguenard_ story of 1830--a thing for which Balzac's hand was hardly +light enough. Here are interesting evidences of striving to be +cosmopolitan and polyglot--the most interesting of all of which, I +think, is the mention of certain British products as "mufflings." +"Muffling" used to be a domestic joke for "muffin;" but whether some +wicked Briton deluded Balzac into the idea that it was the proper form +or not it is impossible to say. Here is a _Traite de la Vie Elegante_, +inestimable for certain critical purposes. So early as 1825 we find a +_Code des Gens Honnetes_, which exhibits at once the author's legal +studies and his constant attraction for the shady side of business, +and which contains a scheme for defrauding by means of lead pencils, +actually carried out (if we may believe his exulting note) by some +literary swindlers with unhappy results. A year later he wrote a +_Dictionnaire des Enseignes de Paris_, which we are glad enough to +have from the author of the _Chat-que-Pelote_; but the persistence +with which this kind of miscellaneous writing occupied him could not +be better exemplified than by the fact that, of two important works +which closely follow this in the collected edition, the _Physiologie +de l'Employe_ dates from 1841 and the _Monographie de la Presse +Parisienne_ from 1843. + +It is well known that from the time almost of his success as a +novelist he was given, like too many successful novelists (_not_ like +Scott), to rather undignified and foolish attacks on critics. The +explanation may or may not be found in the fact that we have abundant +critical work of his, and that it is nearly all bad. Now and then we +have an acute remark in his own special sphere; but as a rule he +cannot be complimented on these performances, and when he was half-way +through his career this critical tendency of his culminated in the +unlucky _Revue Parisienne_, which he wrote almost entirely himself, +with slight assistance from his friends, MM. de Belloy and de +Grammont. It covers a wide range, but the literary part of it is +considerable, and this part contains that memorable and disastrous +attack on Sainte-Beuve, for which the critic afterwards took a +magnanimous revenge in his obituary _causerie_. Although the thing is +not quite unexampled it is not easily to be surpassed in the blind +fury of its abuse. Sainte-Beuve was by no means invulnerable, and an +anti-critic who kept his head might have found, as M. de Pontmartin +and others did find, the joints in his armor. But when, _a propos_ of +the _Port Royal_ more especially, and of the other works in general, +Balzac informs us that Sainte-Beuve's great characteristic as a writer +is _l'ennui, l'ennui boueux jusqu'a mi-jambe_, that his style is +intolerable, that his historical handling is like that of Gibbon, +Hume, and other dull people; when he jeers at him for exhuming "La +mere Angelique," and scolds him for presuming to obscure the glory of +the _Roi Soleil_, the thing is partly ludicrous, partly melancholy. +One remembers that agreeable Bohemian, who at a symposium once +interrupted his host by crying, "Man o' the hoose, gie us less o' yer +clack and mair o' yer Jairman wine!" Only, in human respect and other, +we phrase it: "Oh, dear M. de Balzac! give us more _Eugenie Grandets_, +more _Pere Goriots_, more _Peaux de Chagrin_, and don't talk about +what you do not understand!" + +Balzac was a great politician also, and here, though he may not have +been very much more successful, he talked with more knowledge and +competence. He must have given himself immense trouble in reading the +papers, foreign as well as French; he had really mastered a good deal +of the political religion of a French publicist. It is curious to +read, sixty years after date, his grave assertion that "_La France a +la conquete de Madagascar a faire_," and with certain very pardonable +defects (such as his Anglophobia), his politics may be pronounced not +unintelligent and not ungenerous, though somewhat inconsistent and not +very distinctly traceable to any coherent theory. As for the +Anglophobia, the Englishman who thinks the less of him for that must +have very poor and unhappy brains. A Frenchman who does not more or +less hate and fear England, an Englishman who does not regard France +with a more or less good-humored impatience, is usually "either a god +or a beast," as Aristotle saith. Balzac began with an odd but not +unintelligible compound, something like Hugo's, of Napoleonism and +Royalism. In 1824, when he was still in the shades of anonymity, he +wrote and published two by no means despicable pamphlets in favor of +Primogeniture and the Jesuits, the latter of which was reprinted in +1880 at the last _Jesuitenhetze_ in France. His _Lettres sur Paris_ in +1830-31, and his _La France et l'Etranger_ in 1836, are two +considerable series of letters from "Our Own Correspondent," handling +the affairs of the world with boldness and industry if not invariably +with wisdom. They rather suggest (as does the later _Revue Parisienne_ +still more) the political writing of the age of Anne in England, and +perhaps a little later, when "the wits" handled politics and society, +literature and things in general with unquestioned competence and an +easy universality. + +The rest of his work which will not appear in this edition may be +conveniently despatched here. The _Physiologie du Mariage_ and the +_Scenes de la Vie Conjugale_ suffer not merely from the most obvious +of their faults but from defect of knowledge. It may or may not be +that marriage, in the hackneyed phrase, is a net or other receptacle +where all the outsiders would be in, and all the insiders out. But it +is quite clear that Coelebs cannot talk of it with much authority. His +state may or may not be the more gracious: his judgment cannot but +lack experience. The "Theatre," which brought the author little if any +profit, great annoyance, and a vast amount of trouble, has been +generally condemned by criticism. But the _Contes Drolatiques_ are not +so to be given up. The famous and splendid _Succube_ is only the best +of them, and though all are more or less tarred with the brush which +tars so much of French literature, though the attempt to write in an +archaic style is at best a very successful _tour de force_, and +represents an expenditure of brain power by no means justifiable on +the part of a man who could have made so much better use of it, they +are never to be spoken of disrespectfully. Those who sneer at their +"Wardour Street" Old French are not usually the best qualified to do +so; and it is not to be forgotten that Balzac was a real countryman of +Rabelais and a legitimate inheritor of _Gauloiserie_. Unluckily no man +can "throw back" in this way, except now and then as a mere pastime. +And it is fair to recollect that as a matter of fact Balzac, after a +year or two, did not waste much more time on these things, and that +the intended ten _dizains_ never, as a matter of fact, went beyond +three. + +Besides this work in books, pamphlets, etc., Balzac, as has been said, +did a certain amount of journalism, especially in the _Caricature_, +his performances including, I regret to say, more than one puff of his +own work; and in this, as well as by the success of the _Chouans_, he +became known about 1830 to a much wider circle, both of literary and +of private acquaintance. It cannot indeed be said that he ever mixed +much in society; it was impossible that he should do so, considering +the vast amount of work he did and the manner in which he did it. This +subject, like that of his speculations, may be better finished off in +a single passage than dealt with by scattered indications here and +there. He was not one of those men who can do work by fits and starts +in the intervals of business or of amusement; nor was he one who, like +Scott, could work very rapidly. It is true that he often achieved +immense quantities of work (subject to a caution to be given +presently) in a very few days, but then his working day was of the +most peculiar character. He could not bear disturbance; he wrote best +at night, and he could not work at all after heavy meals. His favorite +plan (varied sometimes in detail) was therefore to dine lightly about +five or six, then to go to bed and sleep till eleven, twelve, or one, +and then to get up, and with the help only of coffee (which he drank +very strong and in enormous quantities) to work for indefinite +stretches of time into the morning or afternoon of the next day. He +speaks of a sixteen hours' day as a not uncommon shift or spell of +work, and almost a regular one with him; and on one occasion he avers +that in the course of forty-eight hours he took but three of the rest, +working for twenty-two hours and a half continuously on each side +thereof. In such spells, supposing reasonable facility of composition +and mechanical power in the hand to keep going all the time, an +enormous amount can of course be accomplished. A thousand words an +hour is anything but an extraordinary rate of writing, and fifteen +hundred by no means unheard of with persons who do not write rubbish. + +The references to this subject in Balzac's letters are very numerous; +but it is not easy to extract very definite information from them. It +would be not only impolite but incorrect to charge him with +unveracity. But the very heat of imagination which enabled him to +produce his work created a sort of mirage, through which he seems +always to have regarded it; and in writing to publishers, editors, +creditors, and even his own family, it was too obviously his interest +to make the most of his labor, his projects, and his performance. Even +his contemporary, though elder, Southey, the hardest-working and the +most scrupulously honest man of letters in England who could pretend +to genius, seems constantly to have exaggerated the idea of what he +could perform, if not of what he had performed in a given time. The +most definite statement of Balzac's that I remember is one which +claims the second number of _Sur Catherine de Medicis_, "La Confidence +des Ruggieri," as the production of a single night, and not one of the +most extravagant of his nights. Now, "La Confidence des Ruggieri" +fills, in the small edition, eighty pages of nearer four hundred than +three hundred words each, or some thirty thousand words in all. Nobody +in the longest of nights could manage that, except by dictating it to +shorthand clerks. But in the very context of this assertion Balzac +assigns a much longer period to the correction than to the +composition, and this brings us to one of the most curious and one of +the most famous points of his literary history. + +Some doubts have, I believe, been thrown on the most minute account of +his ways of composition which we have, that of the publisher Werdet. +But there is too great a consensus of evidence as to his general +system to make the received description of it doubtful. According to +this, the first draft of Balzac's work never presented it in anything +like fulness, and sometimes it did not amount to a quarter of the bulk +finally published. This being returned to him from the printer in +"slip" on sheets with very large margins, he would set to work on the +correction; that is to say, on the practical rewriting of the thing, +with excisions, alterations, and above all, additions. A "revise" +being executed, he would attack this revise in the same manner, and +not unfrequently more than once, so that the expenses of mere +composition and correction of the press were enormously heavy (so +heavy as to eat into not merely his publisher's but his own profits), +and that the last state of the book, when published, was something +utterly different from its first state in manuscript. And it will be +obvious that if anything like this was usual with him, it is quite +impossible to judge his actual rapidity of composition by the extent +of the published result. + +However this may be (and it is at least certain that in the years +above referred to he must have worked his very hardest, even if some +of the work then published had been more or less excogitated and begun +during the Wilderness period), he certainly so far left his eremitical +habits as to become acquainted with most of the great men of letters +of the early thirties, and also with certain ladies of more or less +high rank, who were to supply, if not exactly the full models, the +texts and starting-points for some of the most interesting figures of +the _Comedie_. He knew Victor Hugo, but certainly not at this time +intimately; for as late as 1839 the letter in which he writes to Hugo +to come and breakfast with him at Les Jardies (with interesting and +minute directions how to find that frail abode of genius) is couched +in anything but the tone of a familiar friendship. The letters to +Beyle of about the same date are also incompatible with intimate +knowledge. Nodier (after some contrary expressions) he seems to have +regarded as most good people did regard that true man of letters and +charming tale-teller; while among the younger generation Theophile +Gautier and Charles de Bernard, as well as Goslan and others, were his +real and constant friends. But he does not figure frequently or +eminently in any of the genuine gossip of the time as a haunter of +literary circles, and it is very nearly certain that the assiduity +with which some of his heroes attend _salons_ and clubs had no +counterpart in his own life. In the first place he was too busy; in +the second he would not have been at home there. Like the young +gentleman in _Punch_, who "did not read books but wrote them," though +in no satiric sense, he felt it his business not to frequent society +but to create it. + +He was, however, aided in the task of creation by the ladies already +spoken of, who were fairly numerous and of divers degrees. The most +constant, after his sister Laure, was that sister's schoolfellow, +Madame Zulma Carraud, the wife of a military official at Angouleme and +the possessor of a small country estate at Frapesle, near Tours. At +both of these places Balzac, till he was a very great man, was a +constant visitor, and with Madame Carraud he kept up for years a +correspondence which has been held to be merely friendly, and which +was certainly in the vulgar sense innocent, but which seems to me to +be tinged with something of that feeling, midway between love and +friendship, which appears in Scott's letters to Lady Abercorn, and +which is probably not so rare as some think. Madame de Berny, another +family friend of higher rank, was the prototype of most of his +"angelic" characters, but she died in 1836. He knew the Duchesse +d'Abrantes, otherwise Madame Junot, and Madame de Girardin, otherwise +Delphine Gay; but neither seems to have exercised much influence over +him. It was different with another and more authentic duchess, Madame +de Castries, after whom he dangled for a considerable time, who +certainly first encouraged him and probably then snubbed him, and who +is thought to have been the model of his wickeder great ladies. And it +was comparatively early in the thirties that he met the woman whom, +after nearly twenty years, he was at last to marry, getting his death +in so doing, the Polish Madame Hanska. These, with some relations of +the last named, especially her daughter, and with a certain "Louise" +--an _Inconnue_ who never ceased to be so--were Balzac's chief +correspondents of the other sex, and, as far as is known, his chief +friends in it. + +About his life, without extravagant "pudding" of guesswork or of mere +quotation and abstract of his letters, it would be not so much +difficult as impossible to say much; and accordingly it is a matter of +fact that most lives of Balzac, including all good ones, are rather +critical than narrative. From his real _debut_ with _Le Dernier +Chouan_ to his departure for Poland on the long visit, or brace of +visits, from which he returned finally to die, this life consisted +solely of work. One of his earliest utterances, "_Il faut piocher +ferme_," was his motto to the very last, varied only by a certain +amount of traveling. Balzac was always a considerable traveler; indeed +if he had not been so his constitution would probably have broken down +long before it actually did; and the expense of these voyagings +(though by his own account he generally conducted his affairs with the +most rigid economy), together with the interruption to his work which +they occasioned, entered no doubt for something into his money +difficulties. He would go to Baden or Vienna for a day's sight of +Madame Hanska; his Sardinian visit has been already noted; and as a +specimen of others it may be mentioned that he once journeyed from +Paris to Besancon, then from Besancon right across France to +Angouleme, and then back to Paris on some business of selecting paper +for one of the editions of his books, which his publishers would +probably have done much better and at much less expense. + +Still his actual receipts were surprisingly small, partly, it may be, +owing to his expensive habits of composition, but far more, according +to his own account, because of the Belgian piracies, from which all +popular French authors suffered till the government of Napoleon the +Third managed to put a stop to them. He also lived in such a thick +atmosphere of bills and advances and cross-claims on and by his +publishers, that even if there were more documents than there are it +would be exceedingly difficult to get at facts which are, after all, +not very important. He never seems to have been paid much more than +500 pounds for the newspaper publication (the most valuable by far +because the pirates could not interfere with its profits) of any one +of his novels. And to expensive fashions of composition and +complicated accounts, a steady back-drag of debt and the rest, must be +added the very delightful, and to the novelist not useless, but very +expensive mania for the collector. Balzac had a genuine taste for, and +thought himself a genuine connoisseur in, pictures, sculpture, and +objects of art of all kinds, old and new; and though prices in his day +were not what they are in these, a great deal of money must have run +through his hands in this way. He calculated the value of the contents +of the house, which in his last days he furnished with such loving +care for his wife, and which turned out to be a chamber rather of +death than of marriage, at some 16,000 pounds. But part of this was +Madame Hanska's own purchasing, and there were offsets of indebtedness +against it almost to the last. In short, though during the last twenty +years of his life such actual "want of pence" as vexed him was not +due, as it had been earlier, to the fact that the pence refused to +come in, but only to imprudent management of them, it certainly cannot +be said that Honore de Balzac, the most desperately hard worker in all +literature for such time as was allotted him, and perhaps the man of +greatest genius who was ever a desperately hard worker, falsified that +most uncomfortable but truest of proverbs--"Hard work never made +money." + +If, however, he was but scantily rewarded with the money for which he +had a craving (not absolutely, I think, devoid of a touch of genuine +avarice, but consisting chiefly of the artist's desire for pleasant +and beautiful things, and partly presenting a variety or phase of the +grandiose imagination, which was his ruling characteristic), Balzac +had plenty of the fame, for which he cared quite as much as he cared +for money. Perhaps no writer except Voltaire and Goethe earlier made +such a really European reputation; and his books were of a kind to be +more widely read by the general public than either Goethe's or +Voltaire's. In England (Balzac liked the literature but not the +country, and never visited England, though I believe he planned a +visit) this popularity was, for obvious reasons, rather less than +elsewhere. The respectful vogue which French literature had had with +the English in the eighteenth century had ceased, owing partly to the +national enmity revived and fostered by the great war, and partly to +the growth of a fresh and magnificent literature at home during the +first thirty years of the nineteenth in England. But Balzac could not +fail to be read almost at once by the lettered; and he was translated +pretty early, though not perhaps to any great extent. It was in +England, moreover, that by far his greatest follower appeared, and +appeared very shortly. For it would be absurd in the most bigoted +admirer of Thackeray to deny that the author of _Vanity Fair_, who was +in Paris and narrowly watching French literature and French life at +the very time of Balzac's most exuberant flourishing and education, +owed something to the author of _Le Pere Goriot_. There was no copying +or imitation; the lessons taught by Balzac were too much blended with +those of native masters, such as Fielding, and too much informed and +transformed by individual genius. Some may think--it is a point at +issue not merely between Frenchmen and Englishmen, but between good +judges of both nations on each side--that in absolute veracity and +likeness to life, in limiting the operation of the inner consciousness +on the outward observation to strictly artistic scale, Thackeray +excelled Balzac as far as he fell short of him in the powers of the +seer and in the gigantic imagination of the prophet. But the relations +of pupil and master in at least some degree are not, I think, +deniable. + +So things went on in light and in shade, in homekeeping and in travel, +in debts and in earnings, but always in work of some kind or another, +for eighteen years from the turning point of 1829. By degrees, as he +gained fame and ceased to be in the most pressing want of money, +Balzac left off to some extent, though never entirely, those +miscellaneous writings--reviews (including puffs), comic or general +sketches, political diatribes, "physiologies" and the like--which, +with his discarded prefaces and much more interesting matter, were at +last, not many years ago, included in four stout volumes of the +_Edition Definitive_. With the exception of the _Physiologies_ (a sort +of short satiric analysis of this or that class, character, or +personage), which were very popular in the reign of Louis Philippe in +France, and which Albert Smith and others introduced into England, +Balzac did not do any of this miscellaneous work extremely well. Very +shrewd observations are to be found in his reviews, for instance his +indication, in reviewing La Touche's _Fragoletta_, of that common +fault of ambitious novels, a sort of woolly and "ungraspable" +looseness of construction and story, which constantly bewilders the +reader as to what is going on. But, as a rule, he was thinking too +much of his own work and his own principles of working to enter very +thoroughly into the work of others. His politics, those of a moderate +but decided Royalist and Conservative, were, as has been said, +intelligent in theory, but in practice a little distinguished by that +neglect of actual business detail which has been noticed in his +speculations. + +At last, in the summer of 1847, it seemed as if the Rachel for whom he +had served nearly if not quite the full fourteen years already, and +whose husband had long been out of the way, would at last grant +herself to him. He was invited to Vierzschovnia in the Ukraine, the +seat of Madame Hanska, or in strictness of her son-in-law, Count +Georges Mniszech; and as the visit was apparently for no restricted +period, and Balzac's pretensions to the lady's hand were notorious, it +might have seemed that he was as good as accepted. But to assume this +would have been to mistake what perhaps the greatest creation of +Balzac's great English contemporary and counterpart on the one side, +as Thackeray was his contemporary and counterpart on the other, +considered to be the malignity of widows. What the reasons were which +made Madame Hanska delay so long in doing what she did at last, and +might just as well, it would seem, have done years before, is not +certainly known, and it would be quite unprofitable to discuss them. +But it was on the 8th of October 1847 that Balzac first wrote to his +sister from Vierzschovnia, and it was not till the 14th of March 1850 +that, "in the parish church of Saint Barbara at Berditchef, by the +Count Abbe Czarski, representing the Bishop of Jitomir (this is as +characteristic of Balzac in one way as what follows is in another) a +Madame Eve de Balzac, born Countess Rzevuska, or a Madame Honore de +Balzac or a Madame de Balzac the elder" came into existence. + +It does not appear that Balzac was exactly unhappy during this huge +probation, which was broken by one short visit to Paris. The interest +of uncertainty was probably much for his ardent and unquiet spirit, +and though he did very little literary work for him, one may suspect +that he would not have done very much if he had stayed at Paris, for +signs of exhaustion, not of genius but of physical power, had shown +themselves before he left home. But it is not unjust or cruel to say +that by the delay "Madame Eve de Balzac" (her actual baptismal name +was Evelina) practically killed her husband. These winters in the +severe climate of Russian Poland were absolutely fatal to a +constitution, and especially to lungs, already deeply affected. At +Vierzschovnia itself he had illnesses, from which he narrowly escaped +with life, before the marriage; his heart broke down after it; and he +and his wife did not reach Paris till the end of May. Less than three +months afterwards, on the 18th of August, he died, having been visited +on the very day of his death in the Paradise of bric-a-brac which he +had created for his Eve in the Rue Fortunee--a name too provocative of +Nemesis--by Victor Hugo, the chief maker in verse as he himself was +the chief maker in prose of France. He was buried at Pere la Chaise. +The after-fortunes of his house and its occupants were not happy: but +they do not concern us. + +In person Balzac was a typical Frenchman, as indeed he was in most +ways. From his portraits there would seem to have been more force and +address than distinction or refinement in his appearance, but, as has +been already observed, his period was one ungrateful to the +iconographer. His character, not as a writer but as a man, must occupy +us a little longer. For some considerable time--indeed it may be said +until the publication of his letters--it was not very favorably judged +on the whole. We may, of course, dismiss the childish scandals +(arising, as usual, from clumsy or malevolent misinterpretation of +such books as the _Physiologie de Mariage_, the _Peau de Chagrin_, and +a few others), which gave rise to the caricatures of him such as that +of which we read, representing him in a monk's dress at a table +covered with bottles and supporting a young person on his knee, the +whole garnished with the epigraph: Scenes de la Vie Cachee. They seem +to have given him, personally, a very unnecessary annoyance, and +indeed he was always rather sensitive to criticism. This kind of +stupid libel will never cease to be devised by the envious, swallowed +by the vulgar, and simply neglected by the wise. But Balzac's +peculiarities, both of life and of work, lent themselves rather +fatally to a subtler misconstruction which he also anticipated and +tried to remove, but which took a far stronger hold. He was +represented--and in the absence of any intimate male friends to +contradict the representation, it was certain to obtain some currency +--as in his artistic person a sardonic libeler of mankind, who cared +only to take foibles and vices for his subjects, and who either left +goodness and virtue out of sight altogether, or represented them as +the qualities of fools. In private life he was held up as at the best +a self-centered egotist who cared for nothing but himself and his own +work, capable of interrupting one friend who told him of the death of +a sister by the suggestion that they should change the subject and +talk of "something real, of _Eugenie Grandet," and of levying a fifty +per cent commission on another who had written a critical notice of +his, Balzac's, life and works.* + +* Sandeau and Gautier, the victims in these two stories, were + neither spiteful, nor mendacious, nor irrational, so they are + probably true. The second was possibly due to Balzac's odd notions + of "business being business." The first, I have quite recently + seen reason to think, may have been a sort of reminiscence of one + of the traits in Diderot's extravagant encomium on Richardson. + +With the first of these charges he himself, on different occasions, +rather vainly endeavored to grapple, once drawing up an elaborate list +of his virtuous and vicious women, and showing that the former +outnumbered the latter; and, again, laboring (with that curious lack +of sense of humor which distinguishes all Frenchmen but a very few, +and distinguished him eminently) to show that though no doubt it is +very difficult to make a virtuous person interesting, he, Honore de +Balzac, had attempted it, and succeeded in it, on a quite surprising +number of occasions. + +The fact is that if he had handled this last matter rather more +lightly his answer would have been a sufficient one, and that in any +case the charge is not worth answering. It does not lie against the +whole of his work; and if it lay as conclusively as it does against +Swift's, it would not necessarily matter. To the artist in analysis as +opposed to the romance-writer, folly always, and villainy sometimes, +does supply a much better subject than virtuous success, and if he +makes his fools and his villains lifelike and supplies them with a +fair contrast of better things, there is nothing more to be said. He +will not, indeed, be a Shakespeare, or a Dante, or even a Scott; but +we may be very well satisfied with him as a Fielding, a Thackeray, or +a Balzac. As to the more purely personal matter I own that it was some +time before I could persuade myself that Balzac, to speak familiarly, +was a much better fellow than others, and I myself, have been +accustomed to think him. But it is also some time since I came to the +conclusion that he was so, and my conversion is not to be attributed +to any editorial retainer. His education in a lawyer's office, the +accursed advice about the _bonne speculation_, and his constant +straitenings for money, will account for his sometimes looking after +the main chance rather too narrowly; and as for the Eugenie Grandet +story (even if the supposition referred to in a note above be +fanciful) it requires no great stretch of charity or comprehension to +see in it nothing more awkward, very easily misconstrued, but not +necessarily in the least heartless or brutal attempt of a rather +absent and very much self-centered recluse absorbed in one subject, to +get his interlocutor as well as himself out of painful and useless +dwelling on sorrowful matters. Self-centered and self-absorbed Balzac +no doubt was; he could not have lived his life or produced his work if +he had been anything else. And it must be remembered that he owed +extremely little to others; that he had the independence as well as +the isolation of the self-centered; that he never sponged or fawned on +a great man, or wronged others of what was due to them. The only +really unpleasant thing about him that I know, and even this is +perhaps due to ignorance of all sides of the matter, is a slight touch +of snobbishness now and then, especially in those late letters from +Vierzschovnia to Madame de Balzac and Madame Surville, in which, while +inundating his mother and sister with commissions and requests for +service, he points out to them what great people the Hanskas and +Mniszechs are, what infinite honor and profit it will be to be +connected with them, and how desirable it is to keep struggling +engineer brothers-in-law and ne'er-do-well brothers in the colonies +out of sight lest they should disgust the magnates. + +But these are "sma' sums, sma' sums," as Bailie Jarvie says; and +smallness of any kind has, whatever it may have to do with Balzac the +man, nothing to do with Balzac the writer. With him as with some +others, but not as with the larger number, the sense of _greatness_ +increases the longer and the more fully he is studied. He resembles, I +think, Goethe more than any other man of letters--certainly more than +any other of the present century--in having done work which is very +frequently, if not even commonly, faulty, and in yet requiring that +his work shall be known as a whole. His appeal is cumulative; it +repeats itself on each occasion with a slight difference, and though +there may now and then be the same faults to be noticed, they are +almost invariably accompanied, not merely by the same, but by fresh +merits. + +As has been said at the beginning of this essay, no attempt will be +made in it to give that running survey of Balzac's work which is +always useful and sometimes indispensable in treatment of the kind. +But something like a summing up of that subject will here be attempted +because it is really desirable that in embarking on so vast a voyage +the reader should have some general chart--some notes of the soundings +and log generally of those who have gone before him. + +There are two things, then, which it is more especially desirable to +keep constantly before one in reading Balzac--two things which, taken +together, constitute his almost unique value, and two things which not +a few critics have failed to take together in him, being under the +impression that the one excludes the other, and that to admit the +other is tantamount to a denial of the one. These two things are, +first, an immense attention to detail, sometimes observed, sometimes +invented or imagined; and secondly; a faculty of regarding these +details through a mental lens or arrangement of lenses almost peculiar +to himself, which at once combines, enlarges, and invests them with a +peculiar magical halo or mirage. The two thousand personages of the +_Comedie Humaine_ are, for the most part, "signaled," as the French +official word has it, marked and denoted by the minutest traits of +character, gesture, gait, clothing, abode, what not; the transactions +recorded are very often given with a scrupulous and microscopic +accuracy of reporting which no detective could outdo. Defoe is not +more circumstantial in detail of fact than Balzac; Richardson is +hardly more prodigal of character-stroke. Yet a very large proportion +of these characters, of these circumstances, are evidently things +invented or imagined, not observed. And in addition to this the +artist's magic glass, his Balzacian speculum, if we may so say (for +none else has ever had it), transforms even the most rigid observation +into something flickering and fanciful, the outline as of shadows on +the wall, not the precise contour of etching or of the camera. + +It is curious, but not unexampled, that both Balzac himself when he +struggled in argument with his critics and those of his partisans who +have been most zealously devoted to him, have usually tried to exalt +the first and less remarkable of these gifts over the second and +infinitely more remarkable. Balzac protested strenuously against the +use of the word "gigantesque" in reference to his work; and of course +it is susceptible of an unhandsome innuendo. But if we leave that +innuendo aside, if we adopt the sane reflection that "gigantesque" +does not exceed "gigantic," or assert as constant failure of +greatness, but only indicates that the magnifying process is carried +on with a certain indiscriminateness, we shall find none, I think, +which so thoroughly well describes him. + +The effect of this singular combination of qualities, apparently the +most opposite, may be partly anticipated, but not quite. It results +occasionally in a certain shortcoming as regards _verite vraie_, +absolute artistic truth to nature. Those who would range Balzac in +point of such artistic veracity on a level with poetical and universal +realists like Shakespeare and Dante, or prosaic and particular +realists like Thackeray and Fielding, seem not only to be utterly +wrong but to pay their idol the worst of all compliments, that of +ignoring his own special qualifications. The province of Balzac may +not be--I do no think it is--identical, much less co-extensive, with +that of nature. But it is his own--a partly real, partly fantastic +region, where the lights, the shades, the dimensions, and the physical +laws are slightly different from those of this world of ours, but with +which, owing to the things it has in common with that world, we are +able to sympathize, which we can traverse and comprehend. Every now +and then the artist uses his observing faculty more, and his +magnifying and distorting lens less; every now and then he reverses +the proportion. Some tastes will like him best in the one stage; some +in the other; the happier constituted will like him best in both. +These latter will decline to put _Eugenie Grandet_ above the _Peau de +Chagrin_, or _Le Pere Goriot_ above the wonderful handful of tales +which includes _La Recherche de l'Absolu_ and _Le Chef-d'oeuvre +Inconnu_, though they will no doubt recognize that even in the first +two named members of these pairs the Balzacian quality, that of +magnifying and rendering grandiose, is present, and that the martyrdom +of Eugenie, the avarice of her father, the blind self-devotion of +Goriot to his thankless and worthless children, would not be what they +are if they were seen through a perfectly achromatic and normal +medium. + +This specially Balzacian quality is, I think, unique. It is like--it +may almost be said to _be_--the poetic imagination, present in +magnificent volume and degree, but in some miraculous way deprived and +sterilized of the specially poetical quality. By this I do not of +course mean that Balzac did not write in verse: we have a few verses +of his, and they are pretty bad, but that is neither here nor there. +The difference between Balzac and a great poet lies not in the fact +that the one fills the whole page with printed words, and the other +only a part of it--but in something else. If I could put that +something else into distinct words I should therein attain the +philosopher's stone, the elixir of life, the _primum mobile_, the +_grand arcanum_, not merely of criticism but of all things. It might +be possible to coast about it, to hint at it, by adumbrations and in +consequences. But it is better and really more helpful to face the +difficulty boldly, and to say that Balzac, approaching a great poet +nearer perhaps than any other prose writer in any language, is +distinguished from one by the absence of the very last touch, the +finally constituting quiddity, which makes a great poet different from +Balzac. + +Now, when we make this comparison, it is of the first interest to +remember--and it is one of the uses of the comparison, that it +suggests the remembrance of the fact--that the great poets have +usually been themselves extremely exact observers of detail. It has +not made them great poets; but they would not be great poets without +it. And when Eugenie Grandet starts from _le petit banc de bois_ at +the reference to it in her scoundrelly cousin's letter (to take only +one instance out of a thousand), we see in Balzac the same +observation, subject to the limitation just mentioned, that we see in +Dante and Shakespeare, in Chaucer and Tennyson. But the great poets do +not as a rule _accumulate_ detail. Balzac does, and from this very +accumulation he manages to derive that singular gigantesque vagueness +--differing from the poetic vague, but ranking next to it--which I +have here ventured to note as his distinguishing quality. He bewilders +us a very little by it, and he gives us the impression that he has +slightly bewildered himself. But the compensations of the bewilderment +are large. + +For in this labyrinth and whirl of things, in this heat and hurry of +observation and imagination, the special intoxication of Balzac +consists. Every great artist has his own means of producing this +intoxication, and it differs in result like the stimulus of beauty or +of wine. Those persons who are unfortunate enough to see in Balzac +little or nothing but an ingenious piler-up of careful strokes--a man +of science taking his human documents and classing them after an +orderly fashion in portfolio and deed-box--must miss this intoxication +altogether. It is much more agreeable as well as much more accurate to +see in the manufacture of the _Comedie_ the process of a Cyclopean +workshop--the bustle, the hurry, the glare and shadow, the steam and +sparks of Vulcanian forging. The results, it is true, are by no means +confused or disorderly--neither were those of the forges that worked +under Lipari--but there certainly went much more to them than the +dainty fingering of a literary fretwork-maker or the dull rummagings +of a realist _a la Zola_. + +In part, no doubt, and in great part, the work of Balzac is +dream-stuff rather than life-stuff, and it is all the better for that. +What is better than dreams? But the coherence of his visions, their +bulk, their solidity, the way in which they return to us and we return +to them, make them such dream-stuff as there is all too little of in +this world. If it is true that evil on the whole predominates over good +in the vision of this "Voyant," as Philarete Chasles so justly called +him, two very respectable, and in one case very large, though somewhat +opposed divisions of mankind, the philosophic pessimist and the +convinced and consistent Christian believer, will tell us that this is +at least not one of the points in which it is unfaithful to life. If +the author is closer and more faithful in his study of meanness and +vice than in his studies of nobility and virtue, the blame is due at +least as much to his models as to himself. If he has seldom succeeded +in combining a really passionate with a really noble conception of +love, very few of his countrymen have been more fortunate in that +respect. If in some of his types--his journalists, his married women, +and others--he seems to have sacrificed to conventions, let us +remember that those who know attribute to his conventions such a power +if not altogether such a holy influence that two generations of the +people he painted have actually lived more and more up to his painting +of them. + +And last of all, but also greatest, has to be considered the immensity +of his imaginative achievement, the huge space that he has filled for +us with vivid creation, the range of amusement, of instruction, of +(after a fashion) edification which he has thrown open for us all to +walk in. It is possible that he himself and others more or less +well-meaningly, though more or less maladroitly, following his lead, +may have exaggerated the coherence and the architectural design of the +_Comedie_. But it has coherence and it has design; nor shall we find +anything exactly to parallel it. In mere bulk the _Comedie_ probably, +if not certainly, exceeds the production of any novelist of the first +class in any kind of fiction except Dumas, and with Dumas, for various +and well-known reasons, there is no possibility of comparing it. All +others yield in bulk; all in a certain concentration and intensity; +none even aims at anything like the same system and completeness. It +must be remembered that owing to shortness of life, lateness of +beginning, and the diversion of the author to other work, the +_Comedie_ is the production, and not the sole production, of some +seventeen or eighteen years at most. Not a volume of it, for all that +failure to reach the completest perfection in form and style which has +been acknowledged, can be accused of thinness, of scamped work, of +mere repetition, of mere cobbling up. Every one bears the marks of +steady and ferocious labor, as well as of the genius which had at last +come where it had been so earnestly called and had never gone away +again. It is possible to overpraise Balzac in parts or to mispraise +him as a whole. But so long as inappropriate and superfluous +comparisons are avoided and as his own excellence is recognized and +appreciated, it is scarcely possible to overestimate that excellence +in itself and for itself. He stands alone; even with Dickens, who is +his nearest analogue, he shows far more points of difference than of +likeness. His vastness of bulk is not more remarkable than his +peculiarity of quality; and when these two things coincide in +literature or elsewhere, then that in which they coincide may be +called, and must be called, Great, without hesitation and without +reserve. + + GEORGE SAINTSBURY. + + + + + APPENDIX + + THE BALZAC PLAN + OF THE COMEDIE HUMAINE + + + +The form in which the Comedie Humaine was left by its author, with the +exceptions of _Le Depute d'Arcis (incomplete) and _Les Petits +Bourgeois_, both of which were added, some years later, by the Edition +Definitive. + +The original French titles are followed by their English equivalents. +Literal translations have been followed, excepting a few instances +where preference is shown for a clearer or more comprehensive English +title. + +[Note from Team Balzac, the Etext preparers: In some cases more than +one English translation is commonly used for various translations/ +editions. In such cases the first translation is from the Saintsbury +edition copyrighted in 1901 and that is the title referred to in the +personages following most of the stories. We have added other title +translations of which we are currently aware for the readers' +convenience.] + + + COMEDIE HUMAINE + + +SCENES DE LA VIE PRIVEE +SCENES FROM PRIVATE LIFE + +La Maison du Chat-qui Pelote +At the Sign of the Cat and Racket + +Le Bal de Sceaux +The Ball at Sceaux + +La Bourse +The Purse + +La Vendetta +The Vendetta + +Mme. Firmiani +Madame Firmiani + +Une Double Famille +A Second Home + +La Paix du Menage +Domestic Peace + +La Fausse Maitresse +The Imaginary Mistress +Paz + +Etude de femme +A Study of Woman + +Autre etude de femme +Another Study of Woman + +La Grande Breteche +La Grand Breteche + +Albert Savarus +Albert Savarus + +Memoires de deux Jeunes Mariees +Letters of Two Brides + +Une Fille d'Eve +A Daughter of Eve + +La Femme de Trente Ans +A Woman of Thirty + +La Femme abandonnee +The Deserted Woman + +La Grenadiere +La Grenadiere + +Le Message +The Message + +Gobseck +Gobseck + +Le Contrat de Mariage +A Marriage Settlement +A Marriage Contract + +Un Debut dans la vie +A Start in Life + +Modeste Mignon +Modeste Mignon + +Beatrix +Beatrix + +Honorine +Honorine + +Le Colonel Chabert +Colonel Chabert + +La Messe de l'Athee +The Atheist's Mass + +L'Interdiction +The Commission in Lunacy + +Pierre Grassou +Pierre Grassou + + +SCENES DE LA VIE PROVINCE +SCENES FROM PROVINCIAL LIFE + +Ursule Mirouet +Ursule Mirouet + +Eugenie Grandet +Eugenie Grandet + +Les Celibataires: +The Celibates: + Pierrette + Pierrette + + Le Cure de Tours + The Vicar of Tours + +Un Menage de Garcon +A Bachelor's Establishment +The Two Brothers +The Black Sheep +La Rabouilleuse + +Les Parisiens en Province: +Parisians in the Country: + L'illustre Gaudissart + Gaudissart the Great + The Illustrious Gaudissart + + La Muse du departement + The Muse of the Department + +Les Rivalites: +The Jealousies of a Country Town: + La Vieille Fille + The Old Maid + + Le Cabinet des antiques + The Collection of Antiquities + +Le Lys dans la Vallee +The Lily of the Valley + +Illusions Perdues:--I. +Lost Illusions:--I. + Les Deux Poetes + The Two Poets + + Un Grand homme de province a Paris, 1re partie + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Part 1 + +Illusions Perdues:--II. +Lost Illusions:--II. + Un Grand homme de province, 2e p. + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Part 2 + + Eve et David + Eve and David + + +SCENES DE LA VIE PARISIENNE +SCENES FROM PARISIAN LIFE + +Splendeurs et Miseres des Courtisanes: +Scenes from a Courtesan's Life: + Esther heureuse + Esther Happy + + A combien l'amour revient aux vieillards + What Love Costs an Old Man + + Ou menent les mauvais Chemins + The End of Evil Ways + + La derniere Incarnation de Vautrin + Vautrin's Last Avatar + +Un Prince de la Boheme +A Prince of Bohemia + +Un Homme d'affaires +A Man of Business + +Gaudissart II. +Gaudissart II. + +Les Comediens sans le savoir +The Unconscious Humorists +The Unconscious Comedians + +Histoire des Treize: +The Thirteen: + Ferragus + Ferragus + + La Duchesse de Langeais + The Duchesse de Langeais + + La Fille aux yeux d'or + The Girl with the Golden Eyes + +Le Pere Goriot +Father Goriot +Old Goriot + +Grandeur et Decadence de Cesar Birotteau +The Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau + +La Maison Nucingen +The Firm of Nucingen + +Les Secrets de la princesse de Cadignan +The Secrets of a Princess +The Secrets of the Princess Cadignan + +Les Employes +The Government Clerks +Bureaucracy + +Sarrasine +Sarrasine + +Facino Cane +Facine Cane + +Les Parents Pauvres:--I. +Poor Relations:--I. + La Cousine Bette + Cousin Betty + +Les Parents Pauvres:--II. +Poor Relations:--II. + Le Cousin Pons + Cousin Pons + +Les Petits Bourgeois +The Middle Classes +The Lesser Bourgeoise + + +SCENES DE LA VIE POLITIQUE +SCENES FROM POLITICAL LIFE + +Une Tenebreuse Affaire +The Gondreville Mystery +An Historical Mystery + +Un Episode sous la Terreur +An Episode Under the Terror + +L'Envers de l'Histoire Contemporaine: +The Seamy Side of History: +The Brotherhood of Consolation: + Mme. de la Chanterie + Madame de la Chanterie + + L'Initie + Initiated + The Initiate + +Z. Marcas +Z. Marcas + +Le Depute d'Arcis +The Member for Arcis +The Deputy for Arcis + + +SCENES DE LA VIE MILITAIRE +SCENES FROM MILITARY LIFE + +Les Chouans +The Chouans + +Une Passion dans le desert +A Passion in the Desert + + +SCENES DE LA VIE DE CAMPAGNE +SCENES FROM COUNTRY LIFE + +Le Medecin de Campagne +The Country Doctor + +Le Cure de Village +The Country Parson +The Village Rector + +Les Paysans +The Peasantry +Sons of the Soil + + +ETUDES PHILOSOPHIQUES +PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES + +La Peau de Chagrin +The Magic Skin + +La Recherche de l'Absolu +The Quest of the Absolute +The Alkahest + +Jesus-Christ en Flandre +Christ in Flanders + +Melmoth reconcilie +Melmoth Reconciled + +Le Chef-d'oeuvre inconnu +The Unknown Masterpiece +The Hidden Masterpiece + +L'Enfant Maudit +The Hated Son + +Gambara +Gambara + +Massimilla Doni +Massimilla Doni + +Les Marana +The Maranas +Juana + +Adieu +Farewell + +Le Requisitionnaire +The Conscript +The Recruit + +El Verdugo +El Verdugo + +Un Drame au bord de la mer +A Seaside Tragedy +A Drama on the Seashore + +L'Auberge rouge +The Red Inn + +L'Elixir de longue vie +The Elixir of Life + +Maitre Cornelius +Maitre Cornelius + +Sur Catherine de Medicis: +About Catherine de' Medici + Le Martyr calviniste + The Calvinist Martyr + + La Confidence des Ruggieri + The Ruggieri's Secret + + Les Deux Reves + The Two Dreams + +Louis Lambert +Louis Lambert + +Les Proscrits +The Exiles + +Seraphita +Seraphita + + + + + AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION + + + +In giving the general title of "The Human Comedy" to a work begun +nearly thirteen years since, it is necessary to explain its motive, to +relate its origin, and briefly sketch its plan, while endeavoring to +speak of these matters as though I had no personal interest in them. +This is not so difficult as the public might imagine. Few works +conduce to much vanity; much labor conduces to great diffidence. This +observation accounts for the study of their own works made by +Corneille, Moliere, and other great writers; if it is impossible to +equal them in their fine conceptions, we may try to imitate them in +this feeling. + +The idea of _The Human Comedy_ was at first as a dream to me, one of +those impossible projects which we caress and then let fly; a chimera +that gives us a glimpse of its smiling woman's face, and forthwith +spreads its wings and returns to a heavenly realm of phantasy. But +this chimera, like many another, has become a reality; has its +behests, its tyranny, which must be obeyed. + +The idea originated in a comparison between Humanity and Animality. + +It is a mistake to suppose that the great dispute which has lately +made a stir, between Cuvier and Geoffroi Saint-Hilaire, arose from a +scientific innovation. Unity of structure, under other names, had +occupied the greatest minds during the two previous centuries. As we +read the extraordinary writings of the mystics who studied the +sciences in their relation to infinity, such as Swedenborg, +Saint-Martin, and others, and the works of the greatest authors on +Natural History--Leibnitz, Buffon, Charles Bonnet, etc., we detect in +the _monads_ of Leibnitz, in the _organic molecules_ of Buffon, in the +_vegetative force_ of Needham, in the correlation of similar organs of +Charles Bonnet--who in 1760 was so bold as to write, "Animals vegetate +as plants do"--we detect, I say, the rudiments of the great law of +Self for Self, which lies at the root of _Unity of Plan_. There is but +one Animal. The Creator works on a single model for every organized +being. "The Animal" is elementary, and takes its external form, or, to +be accurate, the differences in its form, from the environment in +which it is obliged to develop. Zoological species are the result of +these differences. The announcement and defence of this system, which +is indeed in harmony with our preconceived ideas of Divine Power, will +be the eternal glory of Geoffroi Saint-Hilaire, Cuvier's victorious +opponent on this point of higher science, whose triumph was hailed by +Goethe in the last article he wrote. + +I, for my part, convinced of this scheme of nature long before the +discussion to which it has given rise, perceived that in this respect +society resembled nature. For does not society modify Man, according +to the conditions in which he lives and acts, into men as manifold as +the species in Zoology? The differences between a soldier, an artisan, +a man of business, a lawyer, an idler, a student, a statesman, a +merchant, a sailor, a poet, a beggar, a priest, are as great, though +not so easy to define, as those between the wolf, the lion, the ass, +the crow, the shark, the seal, the sheep, etc. Thus social species +have always existed, and will always exist, just as there are +zoological species. If Buffon could produce a magnificent work by +attempting to represent in a book the whole realm of zoology, was +there not room for a work of the same kind on society? But the limits +set by nature to the variations of animals have no existence in +society. When Buffon describes the lion, he dismisses the lioness with +a few phrases; but in society a wife is not always the female of the +male. There may be two perfectly dissimilar beings in one household. +The wife of a shopkeeper is sometimes worthy of a prince, and the wife +of a prince is often worthless compared with the wife of an artisan. +The social state has freaks which Nature does not allow herself; it is +nature _plus_ society. The description of social species would thus be +at least double that of animal species, merely in view of the two +sexes. Then, among animals the drama is limited; there is scarcely any +confusion; they turn and rend each other--that is all. Men, too, rend +each other; but their greater or less intelligence makes the struggle +far more complicated. Though some savants do not yet admit that the +animal nature flows into human nature through an immense tide of life, +the grocer certainly becomes a peer, and the noble sometimes sinks to +the lowest social grade. Again, Buffon found that life was extremely +simple among animals. Animals have little property, and neither arts +nor sciences; while man, by a law that has yet to be sought, has a +tendency to express his culture, his thoughts, and his life in +everything he appropriates to his use. Though Leuwenhoek, Swammerdam, +Spallanzani, Reaumur, Charles Bonnet, Muller, Haller and other patient +investigators have shown us how interesting are the habits of animals, +those of each kind, are, at least to our eyes, always and in every age +alike; whereas the dress, the manners, the speech, the dwelling of a +prince, a banker, an artist, a citizen, a priest, and a pauper are +absolutely unlike, and change with every phase of civilization. + +Hence the work to be written needed a threefold form--men, women, and +things; that is to say, persons and the material expression of their +minds; man, in short, and life. + +As we read the dry and discouraging list of events called History, who +can have failed to note that the writers of all periods, in Egypt, +Persia, Greece, and Rome, have forgotten to give us a history of +manners? The fragment of Petronius on the private life of the Romans +excites rather than satisfies our curiosity. It was from observing +this great void in the field of history that the Abbe Barthelemy +devoted his life to a reconstruction of Greek manners in _Le Jeune +Anacharsis_. + +But how could such a drama, with the four or five thousand persons +which society offers, be made interesting? How, at the same time, +please the poet, the philosopher, and the masses who want both poetry +and philosophy under striking imagery? Though I could conceive of the +importance and of the poetry of such a history of the human heart, I +saw no way of writing it; for hitherto the most famous story-tellers +had spent their talent in creating two or three typical actors, in +depicting one aspect of life. It was with this idea that I read the +works of Walter Scott. Walter Scott, the modern troubadour, or finder +(_trouvere=trouveur_), had just then given an aspect of grandeur to a +class of composition unjustly regarded as of the second rank. Is it +not really more difficult to compete with personal and parochial +interests by writing of Daphnis and Chloe, Roland, Amadis, Panurge, +Don Quixote, Manon Lescaut, Clarissa, Lovelace, Robinson Crusoe, Gil +Blas, Ossian, Julie d'Etanges, My Uncle Toby, Werther, Corinne, +Adolphe, Paul and Virginia, Jeanie Deans, Claverhouse, Ivanhoe, +Manfred, Mignon, than to set forth in order facts more or less similar +in every country, to investigate the spirit of laws that have fallen +into desuetude, to review the theories which mislead nations, or, like +some metaphysicians, to explain what _Is_? In the first place, these +actors, whose existence becomes more prolonged and more authentic than +that of the generations which saw their birth, almost always live +solely on condition of their being a vast reflection of the present. +Conceived in the womb of their own period, the whole heart of humanity +stirs within their frame, which often covers a complete system of +philosophy. Thus Walter Scott raised to the dignity of the philosophy +of History the literature which, from age to age, sets perennial gems +in the poetic crown of every nation where letters are cultivated. He +vivified it with the spirit of the past; he combined drama, dialogue, +portrait, scenery, and description; he fused the marvelous with truth +--the two elements of the times; and he brought poetry into close +contact with the familiarity of the humblest speech. But as he had not +so much devised a system as hit upon a manner in the ardor of his +work, or as its logical outcome, he never thought of connecting his +compositions in such a way as to form a complete history of which each +chapter was a novel, and each novel the picture of a period. + +It was by discerning this lack of unity, which in no way detracts from +the Scottish writer's greatness, that I perceived at once the scheme +which would favor the execution of my purpose, and the possibility of +executing it. Though dazzled, so to speak, by Walter Scott's amazing +fertility, always himself and always original, I did not despair, for +I found the source of his genius in the infinite variety of human +nature. Chance is the greatest romancer in the world; we have only to +study it. French society would be the real author; I should only be +the secretary. By drawing up an inventory of vices and virtues, by +collecting the chief facts of the passions, by depicting characters, +by choosing the principal incidents of social life, by composing types +out of a combination of homogeneous characteristics, I might perhaps +succeed in writing the history which so many historians have +neglected: that of Manners. By patience and perseverance I might +produce for France in the nineteenth century the book which we must +all regret that Rome, Athens, Tyre, Memphis, Persia, and India have +not bequeathed to us; that history of their social life which, +prompted by the Abbe Barthelemy, Monteil patiently and steadily tried +to write for the Middle Ages, but in an unattractive form. + +This work, so far, was nothing. By adhering to the strict lines of a +reproduction a writer might be a more or less faithful, and more or +less successful, painter of types of humanity, a narrator of the +dramas of private life, an archaeologist of social furniture, a +cataloguer of professions, a registrar of good and evil; but to +deserve the praise of which every artist must be ambitious, must I not +also investigate the reasons or the cause of these social effects, +detect the hidden sense of this vast assembly of figures, passions, +and incidents? And finally, having sought--I will not say having found +--this reason, this motive power, must I not reflect on first +principles, and discover in what particulars societies approach or +deviate from the eternal law of truth and beauty? In spite of the wide +scope of the preliminaries, which might of themselves constitute a +book, the work, to be complete, would need a conclusion. Thus +depicted, society ought to bear in itself the reason of its working. + +The law of the writer, in virtue of which he is a writer, and which I +do not hesitate to say makes him the equal, or perhaps the superior, +of the statesman, is his judgment, whatever it may be, on human +affairs, and his absolute devotion to certain principles. Machiavelli, +Hobbes, Bossuet, Leibnitz, Kant, Montesquieu, _are_ the science which +statesmen apply. "A writer ought to have settled opinions on morals +and politics; he should regard himself as a tutor of men; for men need +no masters to teach them to doubt," says Bonald. I took these noble +words as my guide long ago; they are the written law of the +monarchical writer. And those who would confute me by my own words +will find that they have misinterpreted some ironical phrase, or that +they have turned against me a speech given to one of my actors--a +trick peculiar to calumniators. + +As to the intimate purpose, the soul of this work, these are the +principles on which it is based. + +Man is neither good nor bad; he is born with instincts and +capabilities; society, far from depraving him, as Rousseau asserts, +improves him, makes him better; but self-interest also develops his +evil tendencies. Christianity, above all, Catholicism, being--as I +have pointed out in the Country Doctor (_le Medecin de Campagne_)--a +complete system for the repression of the depraved tendencies of man, +is the most powerful element of social order. + +In reading attentively the presentment of society cast, as it were, +from the life, with all that is good and all that is bad in it, we +learn this lesson--if thought, or if passion, which combines thought +and feeling, is the vital social element, it is also its destructive +element. In this respect social life is like the life of man. Nations +live long only by moderating their vital energy. Teaching, or rather +education, by religious bodies is the grand principle of life for +nations, the only means of diminishing the sum of evil and increasing +the sum of good in all society. Thought, the living principle of good +and ill, can only be trained, quelled, and guided by religion. The +only possible religion is Christianity (see the letter from Paris in +"Louis Lambert," in which the young mystic explains, _a propos_ to +Swedenborg's doctrines, how there has never been but one religion +since the world began). Christianity created modern nationalities, and +it will preserve them. Hence, no doubt, the necessity for the +monarchical principle. Catholicism and Royalty are twin principles. + +As to the limits within which these two principles should be confined +by various institutions, so that they may not become absolute, every +one will feel that a brief preface ought not to be a political +treatise. I cannot, therefore, enter on religious discussions, nor on +the political discussions of the day. I write under the light of two +eternal truths--Religion and Monarchy; two necessities, as they are +shown to be by contemporary events, towards which every writer of +sound sense ought to try to guide the country back. Without being an +enemy to election, which is an excellent principle as a basis of +legislation, I reject election regarded as _the only social +instrument_, especially so badly organized as it now is (1842); for it +fails to represent imposing minorities, whose ideas and interests +would occupy the attention of a monarchical government. Elective power +extended to all gives us government by the masses, the only +irresponsible form of government, under which tyranny is unlimited, +for it calls itself law. Besides, I regard the family and not the +individual as the true social unit. In this respect, at the risk of +being thought retrograde, I side with Bossuet and Bonald instead of +going with modern innovators. Since election has become the only +social instrument, if I myself were to exercise it no contradiction +between my acts and my words should be inferred. An engineer points +out that a bridge is about to fall, that it is dangerous for any one +to cross it; but he crosses it himself when it is the only road to the +town. Napoleon adapted election to the spirit of the French nation +with wonderful skill. The least important members of his Legislative +Body became the most famous orators of the Chamber after the +Restoration. No Chamber has ever been the equal of the _Corps +Legislatif_, comparing them man for man. The elective system of the +Empire was, then, indisputably the best. + +Some persons may, perhaps, think that this declaration is somewhat +autocratic and self-assertive. They will quarrel with the novelist for +wanting to be an historian, and will call him to account for writing +politics. I am simply fulfilling an obligation--that is my reply. The +work I have undertaken will be as long as a history; I was compelled +to explain the logic of it, hitherto unrevealed, and its principles +and moral purpose. + +Having been obliged to withdraw the prefaces formerly published, in +response to essentially ephemeral criticisms, I will retain only one +remark. + +Writers who have a purpose in view, were it only a reversion to +principles familiar in the past because they are eternal, should +always clear the ground. Now every one who, in the domain of ideas, +brings his stone by pointing out an abuse, or setting a mark on some +evil that it may be removed--every such man is stigmatized as immoral. +The accusation of immorality, which has never failed to be cast at the +courageous writer, is, after all, the last that can be brought when +nothing else remains to be said to a romancer. If you are truthful in +your pictures; if by dint of daily and nightly toil you succeed in +writing the most difficult language in the world, the word _immoral_ +is flung in your teeth. Socrates was immoral; Jesus Christ was +immoral; they both were persecuted in the name of the society they +overset or reformed. When a man is to be killed he is taxed with +immorality. These tactics, familiar in party warfare, are a disgrace +to those who use them. Luther and Calvin knew well what they were +about when they shielded themselves behind damaged worldly interests! +And they lived all the days of their life. + +When depicting all society, sketching it in the immensity of its +turmoil, it happened--it could not but happen--that the picture +displayed more of evil than of good; that some part of the fresco +represented a guilty couple; and the critics at once raised a cry of +immorality, without pointing out the morality of another position +intended to be a perfect contrast. As the critic knew nothing of the +general plan I could forgive him, all the more because one can no more +hinder criticism than the use of eyes, tongues, and judgment. Also the +time for an impartial verdict is not yet come for me. And, after all, +the author who cannot make up his mind to face the fire of criticism +should no more think of writing than a traveler should start on his +journey counting on a perpetually clear sky. On this point it remains +to be said that the most conscientious moralists doubt greatly whether +society can show as many good actions as bad ones; and in the picture +I have painted of it there are more virtuous figures than +reprehensible ones. Blameworthy actions, faults and crimes, from the +lightest to the most atrocious, always meet with punishment, human or +divine, signal or secret. I have done better than the historian, for I +am free. Cromwell here on earth escaped all punishment but that +inflicted by thoughtful men. And on this point there have been divided +schools. Bossuet even showed some consideration for great regicide. +William of Orange, the usurper, Hugues Capet, another usurper, lived +to old age with no more qualms or fears than Henri IV. or Charles I. +The lives of Catherine II. and of Frederick of Prussia would be +conclusive against any kind of moral law, if they were judged by the +twofold aspect of the morality which guides ordinary mortals, and that +which is in use by crowned heads; for, as Napoleon said, for kings and +statesmen there are the lesser and the higher morality. My scenes of +political life are founded on this profound observation. It is not a +law to history, as it is to romance, to make for a beautiful ideal. +History is, or ought to be, what it was; while romance ought to be +"the better world," as was said by Mme. Necker, one of the most +distinguished thinkers of the last century. + +Still, with this noble falsity, romance would be nothing if it were +not true in detail. Walter Scott, obliged as he was to conform to the +ideas of an essentially hypocritical nation, was false to humanity in +his picture of woman, because his models were schismatics. The +Protestant woman has no ideal. She may be chaste, pure, virtuous; but +her unexpansive love will always be as calm and methodical as the +fulfilment of a duty. It might seem as though the Virgin Mary had +chilled the hearts of those sophists who have banished her from heaven +with her treasures of loving kindness. In Protestantism there is no +possible future for the woman who has sinned; while, in the Catholic +Church, the hope of forgiveness makes her sublime. Hence, for the +Protestant writer there is but one Woman, while the Catholic writer +finds a new woman in each new situation. If Walter Scott had been a +Catholic, if he had set himself the task of describing truly the +various phases of society which have successively existed in Scotland, +perhaps the painter of Effie and Alice--the two figures for which he +blamed himself in his later years--might have admitted passion with +its sins and punishments, and the virtues revealed by repentance. +Passion is the sum-total of humanity. Without passion, religion, +history, romance, art, would all be useless. + +Some persons, seeing me collect such a mass of facts and paint them as +they are, with passion for their motive power, have supposed, but +wrongly, that I must belong to the school of Sensualism and +Materialism--two aspects of the same thing--Pantheism. But their +misapprehension was perhaps justified--or inevitable. I do not share +the belief in indefinite progress for society as a whole; I believe in +man's improvement in himself. Those who insist on reading in me the +intention to consider man as a finished creation are strangely +mistaken. _Seraphita_, the doctrine in action of the Christian Buddha, +seems to me an ample answer to this rather heedless accusation. + +In certain fragments of this long work I have tried to popularize the +amazing facts, I may say the marvels, of electricity, which in man is +metamorphosed into an incalculable force; but in what way do the +phenomena of brain and nerves, which prove the existence of an +undiscovered world of psychology, modify the necessary and undoubted +relations of the worlds to God? In what way can they shake the +Catholic dogma? Though irrefutable facts should some day place thought +in the class of fluids which are discerned only by their effects while +their substance evades our senses, even when aided by so many +mechanical means, the result will be the same as when Christopher +Columbus detected that the earth is a sphere, and Galileo demonstrated +its rotation. Our future will be unchanged. The wonders of animal +magnetism, with which I have been familiar since 1820; the beautiful +experiments of Gall, Lavater's successor; all the men who have studied +mind as opticians have studied light--two not dissimilar things--point +to a conclusion in favor of the mystics, the disciples of St. John, +and of those great thinkers who have established the spiritual world +--the sphere in which are revealed the relations of God and man. + +A sure grasp of the purport of this work will make it clear that I +attach to common, daily facts, hidden or patent to the eye, to the +acts of individual lives, and to their causes and principles, the +importance which historians have hitherto ascribed to the events of +public national life. The unknown struggle which goes on in a valley +of the Indre between Mme. de Mortsauf and her passion is perhaps as +great as the most famous of battles (_Le Lys dans la Vallee_). In one +the glory of the victor is at stake; in the other it is heaven. The +misfortunes of the two Birotteaus, the priest and the perfumer, to me +are those of mankind. La Fosseuse (_Medecin de Campagne_) and Mme. +Graslin (_Cure de Village_) are almost the sum-total of woman. We all +suffer thus every day. I have had to do a hundred times what +Richardson did but once. Lovelace has a thousand forms, for social +corruption takes the hues of the medium in which it lives. Clarissa, +on the contrary, the lovely image of impassioned virtue, is drawn in +lines of distracting purity. To create a variety of Virgins it needs a +Raphael. In this respect, perhaps literature must yield to painting. + +Still, I may be allowed to point out how many irreproachable figures +--as regards their virtue--are to be found in the portions of this +work already published: Pierrette Lorrain, Ursule Mirouet, Constance +Birotteau, La Fosseuse, Eugenie Grandet, Marguerite Claes, Pauline de +Villenoix, Madame Jules, Madame de la Chanterie, Eve Chardon, +Mademoiselle d'Esgrignon, Madame Firmiani, Agathe Rouget, Renee de +Maucombe; besides several figures in the middle-distance, who, though +less conspicuous than these, nevertheless, offer the reader an example +of domestic virtue: Joseph Lebas, Genestas, Benassis, Bonnet the cure, +Minoret the doctor, Pillerault, David Sechard, the two Birotteaus, +Chaperon the priest, Judge Popinot, Bourgeat, the Sauviats, the +Tascherons, and many more. Do not all these solve the difficult +literary problem which consists in making a virtuous person +interesting? + +It was no small task to depict the two or three thousand conspicuous +types of a period; for this is, in fact, the number presented to us by +each generation, and which the Human Comedy will require. This crowd +of actors, of characters, this multitude of lives, needed a setting +--if I may be pardoned the expression, a gallery. Hence the very +natural division, as already known, into the Scenes of Private Life, of +Provincial Life, of Parisian, Political, Military, and Country Life. +Under these six heads are classified all the studies of manners which +form the history of society at large, of all its _faits et gestes_, as +our ancestors would have said. These six classes correspond, indeed, +to familiar conceptions. Each has its own sense and meaning, and +answers to an epoch in the life of man. I may repeat here, but very +briefly, what was written by Felix Davin--a young genius snatched from +literature by an early death. After being informed of my plan, he said +that the Scenes of Private Life represented childhood and youth and +their errors, as the Scenes of Provincial Life represented the age of +passion, scheming, self-interest, and ambition. Then the Scenes of +Parisian Life give a picture of the tastes and vice and unbridled +powers which conduce to the habits peculiar to great cities, where the +extremes of good and evil meet. Each of these divisions has its local +color--Paris and the Provinces--a great social antithesis which held +for me immense resources. + +And not man alone, but the principal events of life, fall into classes +by types. There are situations which occur in every life, typical +phases, and this is one of the details I most sought after. I have +tried to give an idea of the different districts of our fine country. +My work has its geography, as it has its genealogy and its families, +its places and things, its persons and their deeds; as it has its +heraldry, its nobles and commonalty, its artisans and peasants, its +politicians and dandies, its army--in short, a whole world of its own. + +After describing social life in these three portions, I had to +delineate certain exceptional lives, which comprehend the interests of +many people, or of everybody, and are in a degree outside the general +law. Hence we have Scenes of Political Life. This vast picture of +society being finished and complete, was it not needful to display it +in its most violent phase, beside itself, as it were, either in +self-defence or for the sake of conquest? Hence the Scenes of Military +Life, as yet the most incomplete portion of my work, but for which +room will be allowed in this edition, that it may form part of it when +done. Finally, the Scenes of Country Life are, in a way, the evening +of this long day, if I may so call the social drama. In that part are +to be found the purest natures, and the application of the great +principles of order, politics, and morality. + +Such is the foundation, full of actors, full of comedies and +tragedies, on which are raised the Philosophical Studies--the second +part of my work, in which the social instrument of all these effects +is displayed, and the ravages of the mind are painted, feeling after +feeling; the first of the series, _The Magic Skin_, to some extent +forms a link between the Philosophical Studies and Studies of Manners, +by a work of almost Oriental fancy, in which life itself is shown in a +mortal struggle with the very element of all passion. + +Besides these, there will be a series of Analytical Studies, of which +I will say nothing, for one only is published as yet--The Physiology +of Marriage. + +In the course of time I purpose writing two more works of this class. +First the Pathology of Social Life, then an Anatomy of Educational +Bodies, and a Monograph on Virtue. + +In looking forward to what remains to be done, my readers will perhaps +echo what my publishers say, "Please God to spare you!" I only ask to +be less tormented by men and things than I have hitherto been since I +began this terrific labor. I have had this in my favor, and I thank +God for it, that the talents of the time, the finest characters and +the truest friends, as noble in their private lives as the former are +in public life, have wrung my hand and said, Courage! + +And why should I not confess that this friendship, and the testimony +here and there of persons unknown to me, have upheld me in my career, +both against myself and against unjust attacks; against the calumny +which has often persecuted me, against discouragement, and against the +too eager hopefulness whose utterances are misinterpreted as those of +overwhelming conceit? I had resolved to display stolid stoicism in the +face of abuse and insults; but on two occasions base slanders have +necessitated a reply. Though the advocates of forgiveness of injuries +may regret that I should have displayed my skill in literary fence, +there are many Christians who are of opinion that we live in times +when it is as well to show sometimes that silence springs from +generosity. + +The vastness of a plan which includes both a history and a criticism +of society, an analysis of its evils, and a discussion of its +principles, authorizes me, I think, in giving to my work the title +under which it now appears--_The Human Comedy_. Is this too ambitious? +Is it not exact? That, when it is complete, the public must pronounce. + + + +PARIS, July 1842 + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Human Comedy: Introductions & +Appendix, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HUMAN COMEDY *** + +***** This file should be named 1968.txt or 1968.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.net/1/9/6/1968/ + +Produced by Dagny, and John Bickers + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.net/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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.net + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.net + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/20041110-1968.zip b/old/20041110-1968.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f60d86e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/20041110-1968.zip diff --git a/old/hciaa10.txt b/old/hciaa10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9037e24 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/hciaa10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2311 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext Human Comedy: Introductions & Appendix +#91 in our series by Honore de Balzac + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. + + +The Human Comedy: Introductions & Appendix + +by Honore de Balzac + +November, 1999 [Etext #1968] + + +Project Gutenberg Etext Human Comedy: Introductions & Appendix +*****This file should be named hciaa10.txt or hciaa10.zip****** + +Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER, hciaa11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, hciaa10a.txt + + +Etext prepared by Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com +and John Bickers, jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any +of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +We are now trying to release all our books one month in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. To be sure you have an +up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file sizes +in the first week of the next month. Since our ftp program has +a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed] a +look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see a +new copy has at least one byte more or less. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-six text +files per month, or 432 more Etexts in 1999 for a total of 2000+ +If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then the +total should reach over 200 billion Etexts given away this year. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only ~5% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we +manage to get some real funding; currently our funding is mostly +from Michael Hart's salary at Carnegie-Mellon University, and an +assortment of sporadic gifts; this salary is only good for a few +more years, so we are looking for something to replace it, as we +don't want Project Gutenberg to be so dependent on one person. + +We need your donations more than ever! + + +All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/CMU": and are +tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. (CMU = Carnegie- +Mellon University). + +For these and other matters, please mail to: + +Project Gutenberg +P. O. Box 2782 +Champaign, IL 61825 + +When all other email fails. . .try our Executive Director: +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> +hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org +if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if +it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . . + +We would prefer to send you this information by email. + +****** + +To access Project Gutenberg etexts, use any Web browser +to view http://promo.net/pg. This site lists Etexts by +author and by title, and includes information about how +to get involved with Project Gutenberg. You could also +download our past Newsletters, or subscribe here. This +is one of our major sites, please email hart@pobox.com, +for a more complete list of our various sites. + +To go directly to the etext collections, use FTP or any +Web browser to visit a Project Gutenberg mirror (mirror +sites are available on 7 continents; mirrors are listed +at http://promo.net/pg). + +Mac users, do NOT point and click, typing works better. + +Example FTP session: + +ftp sunsite.unc.edu +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg +cd etext90 through etext99 +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET GUTINDEX.?? [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99] +GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books] + +*** + +**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal advisor** + +(Three Pages) + + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG- +tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor +Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association at +Carnegie-Mellon University (the "Project"). Among other +things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this +etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors, +officers, members and agents harmless from all liability, cost +and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or +indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause: +[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration, modification, +or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word pro- + cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of the + net profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon + University" within the 60 days following each + date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare) + your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money, time, +scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts, royalty +free copyright licenses, and every other sort of contribution +you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project Gutenberg +Association / Carnegie-Mellon University". + +*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Etext prepared by Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com +and John Bickers, jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz + + + + + +THE HUMAN COMEDY: +INTRODUCTIONS AND APPENDIX + + + +CONTENTS + + Honore de Balzac + Introduction and brief biography by George Saintsbury. + + Appendix + List of titles in French with English translations and grouped + in the various classifications. + + Author's introduction + Balzac's 1842 introduction to The Human Comedy. + + + + + + HONORE DE BALZAC + + + +/"Sans genie, je suis flambe!"/ + +Volumes, almost libraries, have been written about Balzac; and perhaps +of very few writers, putting aside the three or four greatest of all, +is it so difficult to select one or a few short phrases which will in +any way denote them, much more sum them up. Yet the five words quoted +above, which come from an early letter to his sister when as yet he +had not "found his way," characterize him, I think, better than at +least some of the volumes I have read about him, and supply, when they +are properly understood, the most valuable of all keys and companions +for his comprehension. + +"If I have not genius, it is all up with me!" A very matter-of-fact +person may say: "Why! there is nothing wonderful in this. Everybody +knows what genius is wanted to make a name in literature, and most +people think they have it." But this would be a little short-sighted, +and only excusable because of the way in which the word "genius" is +too commonly bandied about. As a matter of fact, there is not so very +much genius in the world; and a great deal of more than fair +performance is attainable and attained by more or less decent +allowances or exhibitions of talent. In prose, more especially, it is +possible to gain a very high place, and to deserve it, without any +genius at all: though it is difficult, if not impossible, to do so in +verse. But what Balzac felt (whether he was conscious in detail of the +feeling or not) when he used these words to his sister Laure, what his +critical readers must feel when they have read only a very little of +his work, what they must feel still more strongly when they have read +that work as a whole--is that for him there is no such door of escape +and no such compromise. He had the choice, by his nature, his aims, +his capacities, of being a genius or nothing. He had no little gifts, +and he was even destitute of some of the separate and indivisible +great ones. In mere writing, mere style, he was not supreme; one +seldom or never derives from anything of his the merely artistic +satisfaction given by perfect prose. His humor, except of the grim and +gigantic kind, was not remarkable; his wit, for a Frenchman, curiously +thin and small. The minor felicities of the literature generally were +denied to him. /Sans genie, il etait flambe/; /flambe/ as he seemed to +be, and very reasonably seemed, to his friends when as yet the genius +had not come to him, and when he was desperately striving to discover +where his genius lay in those wonderous works which "Lord R'Hoone," +and "Horace de Saint Aubin," and others obligingly fathered for him. + +It must be the business of these introductions to give what assistance +they may to discover where it did lie; it is only necessary, before +taking up the task in the regular biographical and critical way of the +introductory cicerone, to make two negative observations. It did not +lie, as some have apparently thought, in the conception, or the +outlining, or the filling up of such a scheme as the /Comedie +Humaine/. In the first place, the work of every great writer, of the +creative kind, including that of Dante himself, is a /comedie +humaine/. All humanity is latent in every human being; and the great +writers are merely those who call most of it out of latency and put it +actually on the stage. And, as students of Balzac know, the scheme and +adjustment of his comedy varied so remarkably as time went on that it +can hardly be said to have, even in its latest form (which would +pretty certainly have been altered again), a distinct and definite +character. Its so-called scenes are even in the mass by no means +exhaustive, and are, as they stand, a very "cross," division of life: +nor are they peopled by anything like an exhaustive selection of +personages. Nor again is Balzac's genius by any means a mere +vindication of the famous definition of that quality as an infinite +capacity of taking pains. That Balzac had that capacity--had it in a +degree probably unequaled even by the dullest plodders on record--is +very well known, is one of the best known things about him. But he +showed it for nearly ten years before the genius came, and though no +doubt it helped him when genius had come, the two things are in his +case, as in most, pretty sufficiently distinct. What the genius itself +was I must do my best to indicate hereafter, always beseeching the +reader to remember that all genius is in its essence and quiddity +indefinable. You can no more get close to it than you can get close to +the rainbow, and your most scientific explanation of it will always +leave as much of the heart of the fact unexplained as the scientific +explanation of the rainbow leaves of that. + + + +Honore de Balzac was born at Tours on the 16th of May, 1799, in the +same year which saw the birth of Heine, and which therefore had the +honor of producing perhaps the most characteristic writers of the +nineteenth century in prose and verse respectively. The family was a +respectable one, though its right to the particle which Balzac always +carefully assumed, subscribing himself "/de/ Balzac," was contested. +And there appears to be no proof of their connection with Jean Guez de +Balzac, the founder, as some will have him, of modern French prose, +and the contemporary and fellow-reformer of Malherbe. (Indeed, as the +novelist pointed out with sufficient pertinence, his earlier namesake +had no hereditary right to the name at all, and merely took it from +some property.) Balzac's father, who, as the /zac/ pretty surely +indicates, was a southerner and a native of Languedoc, was fifty-three +years old at the birth of his son, whose Christian name was selected +on the ordinary principle of accepting that of the saint on whose day +he was born. Balzac the elder had been a barrister before the +Revolution, but under it he obtained a post in the commissariat, and +rose to be head of that department for a military division. His wife, +who was much younger than himself and who survived her son, is said to +have possessed both beauty and fortune, and was evidently endowed with +the business faculties so common among Frenchwomen. When Honore was +born, the family had not long been established at Tours, where Balzac +the elder (besides his duties) had a house and some land; and this +town continued to be their headquarters till the novelist, who was the +eldest of the family, was about sixteen. He had two sisters (of whom +the elder, Laure, afterwards Madame Surville, was his first confidante +and his only authoritative biographer) and a younger brother, who +seems to have been, if not a scapegrace, rather a burden to his +friends, and who later went abroad. + +The eldest boy was, in spite of Rousseau, put out to nurse, and at +seven years old was sent to the Oratorian grammar-school at Vendome, +where he stayed another seven years, going through, according to his +own account, the future experiences and performances of Louis Lambert, +but making no reputation for himself in the ordinary school course. +If, however, he would not work in his teacher's way, he overworked +himself in his own by devouring books; and was sent home at fourteen +in such a state of health that his grandmother (who after the French +fashion, was living with her daughter and son-in-law), ejaculated: +/"Voila donc comme le college nous renvoie les jolis enfants que nous +lui envoyons!"/ It would seem indeed that, after making all due +allowance for grandmotherly and sisterly partiality, Balzac was +actually a very good-looking boy and young man, though the portraits +of him in later life may not satisfy the more romantic expectations of +his admirers. He must have had at all times eyes full of character, +perhaps the only feature that never fails in men of intellectual +eminence; but he certainly does not seem to have been in his manhood +either exactly handsome or exactly "distinguished-looking." But the +portraits of the middle of the century are, as a rule, rather wanting +in this characteristic when compared with those of its first and last +periods; and I cannot think of many that quite come up to one's +expectations. + +For a short time he was left pretty much to himself, and recovered +rapidly. But late in 1814 a change of official duties removed the +Balzacs to Paris, and when they had established themselves in the +famous old /bourgeois/ quarter of the Marais, Honore was sent to +divers private tutors or private schools till he had "finished his +classes" in 1816 at the age of seventeen and a half. Then he attended +lectures at the Sorbonne where Villemain, Guizot, and Cousin were +lecturing, and heard them, as his sister tells us, enthusiastically, +though there are probably no three writers of any considerable repute +in the history of French literature who stand further apart from +Balzac. For all three made and kept their fame by spirited and +agreeable generalizations and expatiations, as different as possible +from the savage labor of observation on the one hand and the gigantic +developments of imagination on the other, which were to compose +Balzac's appeal. His father destined him for the law; and for three +years more he dutifully attended the offices of an attorney and a +notary, besides going through the necessary lectures and examinations. +All these trials he seems to have passed, if not brilliantly, yet +sufficiently. + +And then came the inevitable crisis, which was of an unusually severe +nature. A notary, who was a friend of the elder Balzac's and owed him +some gratitude offered not merely to take Honore into his office, but +to allow him to succeed to his business, which was a very good one, in +a few years on very favorable terms. Most fathers, and nearly all +French fathers, would have jumped at this; and it so happened that +about the same time M. de Balzac was undergoing that unpleasant +process of compulsory retirement which his son has described in one of +the best passages of the /Oeuvres de Jeunesse/, the opening scene of +/Argow le Pirate/. It does not appear that Honore had revolted during +his probation--indeed he is said, and we can easily believe it from +his books, to have acquired a very solid knowledge of law, especially +in bankruptcy matters, of which he was himself to have a very close +shave in future. A solicitor, indeed, told Laure de Balzac that he +found /Cesar Birotteau/ a kind of /Balzac on Bankruptcy/; but this may +have been only the solicitor's fun. + +It was no part of Honore's intentions to use this knowledge--however +content he had been to acquire it--in the least interesting, if nearly +the most profitable, of the branches of the legal profession; and he +protested eloquently, and not unsuccessfully, that he would be a man +of letters and nothing else. Not unsuccessfully; but at the same time +with distinctly qualified success. He was not turned out of doors; nor +were the supplies, as in Quinet's case only a few months later, +absolutely withheld even for a short time. But his mother (who seems +to have been less placable than her husband) thought that cutting them +down to the lowest point might have some effect. So, as the family at +this time (April 1819) left Paris for a house some twenty miles out of +it, she established her eldest son in a garret furnished in the most +Spartan fashion, with a starvation allowance and an old woman to look +after him. He did not literally stay in this garret for the ten years +of his astonishing and unparalleled probation; but without too much +metaphor it may be said to have been his Wilderness, and his +Wanderings in it to have lasted for that very considerable time. + +We know, in detail, very little of him during the period. For the +first years, between 1819 and 1822, we have a good number of letters +to Laure; between 1822 and 1829, when he first made his mark, very +few. He began, of course, with verse, for which he never had the +slightest vocation, and, almost equally of course, with a tragedy. But +by degrees and apparently pretty soon, he slipped into what was his +vocation, and like some, though not very many, great writers, at first +did little better in it than if it had not been his vocation at all. +The singular tentatives which, after being allowed for a time a sort +of outhouse in the structure of the /Comedie Humaine/, were excluded +from the octavo /Edition Definitive/ five-and-twenty years ago, have +never been the object of that exhaustive bibliographical and critical +attention which has been bestowed on those which follow them. They +were not absolutely unproductive--we hear of sixty, eighty, a hundred +pounds being paid for them, though whether this was the amount of +Balzac's always sanguine expectations, or hard cash actually handed +over, we cannot say. They were very numerous, though the reprints +spoken of above never extended to more than ten. Even these have never +been widely read. The only person I ever knew till I began this +present task who had read them through was the friend whom all his +friends are now lamenting and are not likely soon to cease to lament, +Mr. Louis Stevenson; and when I once asked him whether, on his honor +and conscience, he could recommend me to brace myself to the same +effort, he said that on his honor and conscience he must most +earnestly dissuade me. I gather, though I am not sure, that Mr. +Wedmore, the latest writer in English on Balzac at any length, had not +read them through when he wrote. + +Now I have, and a most curious study they are. Indeed I am not sorry, +as Mr. Wedmore thinks one would be. They are curiously, interestingly, +almost enthrallingly bad. Couched for the most part in a kind of +Radcliffian or Monk-Lewisian vein--perhaps studied more directly from +Maturin (of whom Balzac was a great admirer) than from either--they +often begin with and sometimes contain at intervals passages not +unlike the Balzac that we know. The attractive title of /Jane la Pale/ +(it was originally called, with a still more Early Romantic avidity +for /baroque/ titles, /Wann-Chlore/) has caused it, I believe, to be +more commonly read than any other. It deals with a disguised duke, a +villainous Italian, bigamy, a surprising offer of the angelic first +wife to submit to a sort of double arrangement, the death of the +second wife and first love, and a great many other things. /Argow le +Pirate/ opens quite decently and in order with that story of the +/employe/ which Balzac was to rehandle so often, but drops suddenly +into brigands stopping diligences, the marriage of the heroine Annette +with a retired pirate marquis of vast wealth, the trial of the latter +for murdering another marquis with a poisoned fish-bone scarf-pin, his +execution, the sanguinary reprisals by his redoubtable lieutenant, and +a finale of blunderbusses, fire, devoted peasant girl with /retrousse/ +nose, and almost every possible /tremblement/. + +In strictness mention of this should have been preceded by mention of +/Le Vicaire des Ardennes/, which is a sort of first part of /Argow le +Pirate/, and not only gives an account of his crimes, early history, +and manners (which seem to have been a little robustious for such a +mild-mannered man as Annette's husband), but tells a thrilling tale of +the loves of the /vicaire/ himself and a young woman, which loves are +crossed, first by the belief that they are brother and sister, and +secondly by the /vicaire/ having taken orders under this delusion. /La +Derniere Fee/ is the queerest possible cross between an actual fairy +story /a la/ Nordier and a history of the fantastic and inconstant +loves of a great English lady, the Duchess of "Sommerset" (a piece of +actual /scandalum magnatum/ nearly as bad as Balzac's cool use in his +acknowledged work of the title "Lord Dudley"). This book begins so +well that one expects it to go on better; but the inevitable defects +in craftsmanship show themselves before long. /Le Centenaire/ connects +itself with Balzac's almost lifelong hankering after the /recherche de +l'absolu/ in one form or another, for the hero is a wicked old person +who every now and then refreshes his hold on life by immolating a +virgin under a copper-bell. It is one of the most extravagant and +"Monk-Lewisy" of the whole. /L'Excommunie/, /L'Israelite/, and +/L'Heritiere de Birague/ are mediaeval or fifteenth century tales of +the most luxuriant kind, /L'Excommunie/ being the best, /L'Israelite/ +the most preposterous, and /L'Heritiere de Birague/ the dullest. But +it is not nearly so dull as /Dom Gigadus/ and /Jean Louis/, the former +of which deals with the end of the seventeenth century and the latter +with the end of the eighteenth. These are both as nearly unreadable as +anything can be. One interesting thing, however, should be noted in +much of this early work: the affectionate clinging of the author to +the scenery of Touraine, which sometimes inspires him with his least +bad passages. + +It is generally agreed that these singular /Oeuvres de Jeunesse/ were +of service to Balzac as exercise, and no doubt they were so; but I +think something may be said on the other side. They must have done a +little, if not much, to lead him into and confirm him in those defects +of style and form which distinguish him so remarkably from most +writers of his rank. It very seldom happens when a very young man +writes very much, be it book-writing or journalism, without censure +and without "editing," that he does not at the same time get into +loose and slipshod habits. And I think we may set down to this +peculiar form of apprenticeship of Balzac's not merely his failure +ever to attain, except in passages and patches, a thoroughly great +style, but also that extraordinary method of composition which in +after days cost him and his publishers so much money. + +However, if these ten years of probation taught him his trade, they +taught him also a most unfortunate avocation or by-trade, which he +never ceased to practise, or to try to practise, which never did him +the least good, and which not unfrequently lost him much of the not +too abundant gains which he earned with such enormous labor. This was +the "game of speculation." His sister puts the tempter's part on an +unknown "neighbor," who advised him to try to procure independence by +/une bonne speculation/. Those who have read Balzac's books and his +letters will hardly think that he required much tempting. He began by +trying to publish--an attempt which has never yet succeeded with a +single man of letters, so far as I can remember. His scheme was not a +bad one, indeed it was one which has brought much money to other +pockets since, being neither more nor less than the issuing of cheap +one-volume editions of French classics. But he had hardly any capital; +he was naturally quite ignorant of his trade, and as naturally the +established publishers and booksellers boycotted him as an intruder. +So his /Moliere/ and his /La Fontaine/ are said to have been sold as +waste paper, though if any copies escaped they would probably fetch a +very comfortable price now. Then, such capital as he had having been +borrowed, the lender, either out of good nature or avarice, determined +to throw the helve after the hatchet. He partly advanced himself and +partly induced Balzac's parents to advance more, in order to start the +young man as a printer, to which business Honore himself added that of +typefounder. The story was just the same: knowledge and capital were +again wanting, and though actual bankruptcy was avoided, Balzac got +out of the matter at the cost not merely of giving the two businesses +to a friend (in whose hands they proved profitable), but of a margin +of debt from which he may be said never to have fully cleared himself. + +He had more than twenty years to live, but he never cured himself of +this hankering after /une bonne speculation/. Sometimes it was +ordinary stock-exchange gambling; but his special weakness was, to do +him justice, for schemes that had something more grandiose in them. +Thus, to finish here with the subject, though the chapter of it never +actually finished till his death, he made years afterwards, when he +was a successful and a desperately busy author, a long, troublesome, +and costly journey to Sardinia to carry out a plan of resmelting the +slag from Roman and other mines there. Thus in his very latest days, +when he was living at Vierzschovnia with the Hanska and Mniszech +household, he conceived the magnificently absurd notion of cutting +down twenty thousand acres of oak wood in the Ukraine, and sending it +/by railway/ right across Europe to be sold in France. And he was +rather reluctantly convinced that by the time a single log reached its +market the freight would have eaten up the value of the whole +plantation. + +It was perhaps not entirely chance that the collapse of the printing +scheme, which took place in 1827, the ninth year of the Wanderings in +the Wilderness, coincided with or immediately preceded the conception +of the book which was to give Balzac passage into the Promised Land. +This was /Les Chouans/, called at its first issue, which differed +considerably from the present form, /Le Dernier Chouan ou la Bretagne +en 1800/ (later /1799/). It was published in 1829 without any of the +previous anagrammatic pseudonyms; and whatever were the reasons which +had induced him to make his bow in person to the public, they were +well justified, for the book was a distinct success, if not a great +one. It occupies a kind of middle position between the melodramatic +romance of his nonage and the strictly analytic romance-novel of his +later time; and, though dealing with war and love chiefly, inclines in +conception distinctly to the latter. Corentin, Hulot, and other +personages of the actual Comedy (then by no means planned, or at least +avowed) appear; and though the influence of Scott is in a way +paramount* on the surface, the underwork is quite different, and the +whole scheme of the loves of Montauran and Mademoiselle de Verneuil is +pure Balzac. + +* Balzac was throughout his life a fervent admirer of Sir Walter, + and I think Mr. Wedmore, in his passage on the subject, distinctly + undervalues both the character and the duration of this esteem. + Balzac was far too acute to commit the common mistake of thinking + Scott superficial--men who know mankind are not often blind to + each other's knowledge. And while Mr. Wedmore seems not to know + any testimony later than Balzac's /thirty-eighth/ year, it is in + his /forty-sixth/, when all his own best work was done, except the + /Parents Pauvres/, that he contrasts Dumas with Scott saying that + /on relit Walter Scott/, and he does not think any one will + re-read Dumas. This may be unjust to the one writer, but it is + conclusive as to any sense of "wasted time" (his own phrase) + having ever existed in Balzac's mind about the other. + +It would seem as if nothing but this sun of popular approval had been +wanting to make Balzac's genius burst out in full bloom. Although we +have a fair number of letters for the ensuing years, it is not very +easy to make out the exact sequence of production of the marvelous +harvest which his genius gave. It is sufficient to say that in the +three years following 1829 there were actually published the +/Physiologie du Mariage/, the charming story of /La Maison du Chat- +que-Pelote/, the /Peau de Chagrin/, the most original and splendid, if +not the most finished and refined, of all Balzac's books, most of the +short /Contes Philosophiques/, of which some are among their author's +greatest triumphs, many other stories (chiefly included in the /Scenes +de la Vie Privee/) and the beginning of the /Contes Drolatiques/.* + +* No regular attempt will after this be made to indicate the date of + production of successive works, unless they connect themselves + very distinctly with incidents in the life or with general + critical observations. At the end of this introduction will be + found a full table of the /Comedie Humaine/ and the other works. + It may perhaps be worth while to add here, that while the labors + of M. de Lovenjoul (to whom every writer on Balzac must + acknowledge the deepest obligation) have cleared this matter up + almost to the verge of possibility as regards the published works, + there is little light to be thrown on the constant references in + the letters to books which never appeared. Sometimes they are + known, and they may often be suspected, to have been absorbed into + or incorporated with others; the rest must have been lost or + destroyed, or, which is not quite impossible, have existed chiefly + in the form of project. Nearly a hundred titles of such things are + preserved. + +But without a careful examination of his miscellaneous work, which is +very abundant and includes journalism as well as books, it is almost +as impossible to come to a just appreciation of Balzac as it is +without reading the early works and letters. This miscellaneous work +is all the more important because a great deal of it represents the +artist at quite advanced stages of his career, and because all its +examples, the earlier as well as the later, give us abundant insight +on him as he was "making himself." The comparison with the early works +of Thackeray (in /Punch/, /Fraser/, and elsewhere) is so striking that +it can escape no one who knows the two. Every now and then Balzac +transferred bodily, or with slight alterations, passages from these +experiments to his finished canvases. It appears that he had a scheme +for codifying his "Physiologies" (of which the notorious one above +mentioned is only a catchpenny exemplar and very far from the best) +into a seriously organized work. Chance was kind or intention was wise +in not allowing him to do so; but the value of the things for the +critical reader is not less. Here are tales--extensions of the scheme +and manner of the /Oeuvres de Jeunesse/, or attempts at the +/goguenard/ story of 1830--a thing for which Balzac's hand was hardly +light enough. Here are interesting evidences of striving to be +cosmopolitan and polyglot--the most interesting of all of which, I +think, is the mention of certain British products as "mufflings." +"Muffling" used to be a domestic joke for "muffin;" but whether some +wicked Briton deluded Balzac into the idea that it was the proper form +or not it is impossible to say. Here is a /Traite de la Vie Elegante/, +inestimable for certain critical purposes. So early as 1825 we find a +/Code des Gens Honnetes/, which exhibits at once the author's legal +studies and his constant attraction for the shady side of business, +and which contains a scheme for defrauding by means of lead pencils, +actually carried out (if we may believe his exulting note) by some +literary swindlers with unhappy results. A year later he wrote a +/Dictionnaire des Enseignes de Paris/, which we are glad enough to +have from the author of the /Chat-que-Pelote/; but the persistence +with which this kind of miscellaneous writing occupied him could not +be better exemplified than by the fact that, of two important works +which closely follow this in the collected edition, the /Physiologie +de l'Employe/ dates from 1841 and the /Monographie de la Presse +Parisienne/ from 1843. + +It is well known that from the time almost of his success as a +novelist he was given, like too many successful novelists (/not/ like +Scott), to rather undignified and foolish attacks on critics. The +explanation may or may not be found in the fact that we have abundant +critical work of his, and that it is nearly all bad. Now and then we +have an acute remark in his own special sphere; but as a rule he +cannot be complimented on these performances, and when he was half-way +through his career this critical tendency of his culminated in the +unlucky /Revue Parisienne/, which he wrote almost entirely himself, +with slight assistance from his friends, MM. de Belloy and de +Grammont. It covers a wide range, but the literary part of it is +considerable, and this part contains that memorable and disastrous +attack on Sainte-Beuve, for which the critic afterwards took a +magnanimous revenge in his obituary /causerie/. Although the thing is +not quite unexampled it is not easily to be surpassed in the blind +fury of its abuse. Sainte-Beuve was by no means invulnerable, and an +anti-critic who kept his head might have found, as M. de Pontmartin +and others did find, the joints in his armor. But when, /a propos/ of +the /Port Royal/ more especially, and of the other works in general, +Balzac informs us that Sainte-Beuve's great characteristic as a writer +is /l'ennui, l'ennui boueux jusqu'a mi-jambe/, that his style is +intolerable, that his historical handling is like that of Gibbon, +Hume, and other dull people; when he jeers at him for exhuming "La +mere Angelique," and scolds him for presuming to obscure the glory of +the /Roi Soleil/, the thing is partly ludicrous, partly melancholy. +One remembers that agreeable Bohemian, who at a symposium once +interrupted his host by crying, "Man o' the hoose, gie us less o' yer +clack and mair o' yer Jairman wine!" Only, in human respect and other, +we phrase it: "Oh, dear M. de Balzac! give us more /Eugenie Grandets/, +more /Pere Goriots/, more /Peaux de Chagrin/, and don't talk about +what you do not understand!" + +Balzac was a great politician also, and here, though he may not have +been very much more successful, he talked with more knowledge and +competence. He must have given himself immense trouble in reading the +papers, foreign as well as French; he had really mastered a good deal +of the political religion of a French publicist. It is curious to +read, sixty years after date, his grave assertion that "/La France a +la conquete de Madagascar a faire/," and with certain very pardonable +defects (such as his Anglophobia), his politics may be pronounced not +unintelligent and not ungenerous, though somewhat inconsistent and not +very distinctly traceable to any coherent theory. As for the +Anglophobia, the Englishman who thinks the less of him for that must +have very poor and unhappy brains. A Frenchman who does not more or +less hate and fear England, an Englishman who does not regard France +with a more or less good-humored impatience, is usually "either a god +or a beast," as Aristotle saith. Balzac began with an odd but not +unintelligible compound, something like Hugo's, of Napoleonism and +Royalism. In 1824, when he was still in the shades of anonymity, he +wrote and published two by no means despicable pamphlets in favor of +Primogeniture and the Jesuits, the latter of which was reprinted in +1880 at the last /Jesuitenhetze/ in France. His /Lettres sur Paris/ in +1830-31, and his /La France et l'Etranger/ in 1836, are two +considerable series of letters from "Our Own Correspondent," handling +the affairs of the world with boldness and industry if not invariably +with wisdom. They rather suggest (as does the later /Revue Parisienne/ +still more) the political writing of the age of Anne in England, and +perhaps a little later, when "the wits" handled politics and society, +literature and things in general with unquestioned competence and an +easy universality. + +The rest of his work which will not appear in this edition may be +conveniently despatched here. The /Physiologie du Mariage/ and the +/Scenes de la Vie Conjugale/ suffer not merely from the most obvious +of their faults but from defect of knowledge. It may or may not be +that marriage, in the hackneyed phrase, is a net or other receptacle +where all the outsiders would be in, and all the insiders out. But it +is quite clear that Coelebs cannot talk of it with much authority. His +state may or may not be the more gracious: his judgment cannot but +lack experience. The "Theatre," which brought the author little if any +profit, great annoyance, and a vast amount of trouble, has been +generally condemned by criticism. But the /Contes Drolatiques/ are not +so to be given up. The famous and splendid /Succube/ is only the best +of them, and though all are more or less tarred with the brush which +tars so much of French literature, though the attempt to write in an +archaic style is at best a very successful /tour de force/, and +represents an expenditure of brain power by no means justifiable on +the part of a man who could have made so much better use of it, they +are never to be spoken of disrespectfully. Those who sneer at their +"Wardour Street" Old French are not usually the best qualified to do +so; and it is not to be forgotten that Balzac was a real countryman of +Rabelais and a legitimate inheritor of /Gauloiserie/. Unluckily no man +can "throw back" in this way, except now and then as a mere pastime. +And it is fair to recollect that as a matter of fact Balzac, after a +year or two, did not waste much more time on these things, and that +the intended ten /dizains/ never, as a matter of fact, went beyond +three. + +Besides this work in books, pamphlets, etc., Balzac, as has been said, +did a certain amount of journalism, especially in the /Caricature/, +his performances including, I regret to say, more than one puff of his +own work; and in this, as well as by the success of the /Chouans/, he +became known about 1830 to a much wider circle, both of literary and +of private acquaintance. It cannot indeed be said that he ever mixed +much in society; it was impossible that he should do so, considering +the vast amount of work he did and the manner in which he did it. This +subject, like that of his speculations, may be better finished off in +a single passage than dealt with by scattered indications here and +there. He was not one of those men who can do work by fits and starts +in the intervals of business or of amusement; nor was he one who, like +Scott, could work very rapidly. It is true that he often achieved +immense quantities of work (subject to a caution to be given +presently) in a very few days, but then his working day was of the +most peculiar character. He could not bear disturbance; he wrote best +at night, and he could not work at all after heavy meals. His favorite +plan (varied sometimes in detail) was therefore to dine lightly about +five or six, then to go to bed and sleep till eleven, twelve, or one, +and then to get up, and with the help only of coffee (which he drank +very strong and in enormous quantities) to work for indefinite +stretches of time into the morning or afternoon of the next day. He +speaks of a sixteen hours' day as a not uncommon shift or spell of +work, and almost a regular one with him; and on one occasion he avers +that in the course of forty-eight hours he took but three of the rest, +working for twenty-two hours and a half continuously on each side +thereof. In such spells, supposing reasonable facility of composition +and mechanical power in the hand to keep going all the time, an +enormous amount can of course be accomplished. A thousand words an +hour is anything but an extraordinary rate of writing, and fifteen +hundred by no means unheard of with persons who do not write rubbish. + +The references to this subject in Balzac's letters are very numerous; +but it is not easy to extract very definite information from them. It +would be not only impolite but incorrect to charge him with +unveracity. But the very heat of imagination which enabled him to +produce his work created a sort of mirage, through which he seems +always to have regarded it; and in writing to publishers, editors, +creditors, and even his own family, it was too obviously his interest +to make the most of his labor, his projects, and his performance. Even +his contemporary, though elder, Southey, the hardest-working and the +most scrupulously honest man of letters in England who could pretend +to genius, seems constantly to have exaggerated the idea of what he +could perform, if not of what he had performed in a given time. The +most definite statement of Balzac's that I remember is one which +claims the second number of /Sur Catherine de Medicis/, "La Confidence +des Ruggieri," as the production of a single night, and not one of the +most extravagant of his nights. Now, "La Confidence des Ruggieri" +fills, in the small edition, eighty pages of nearer four hundred than +three hundred words each, or some thirty thousand words in all. Nobody +in the longest of nights could manage that, except by dictating it to +shorthand clerks. But in the very context of this assertion Balzac +assigns a much longer period to the correction than to the +composition, and this brings us to one of the most curious and one of +the most famous points of his literary history. + +Some doubts have, I believe, been thrown on the most minute account of +his ways of composition which we have, that of the publisher Werdet. +But there is too great a consensus of evidence as to his general +system to make the received description of it doubtful. According to +this, the first draft of Balzac's work never presented it in anything +like fulness, and sometimes it did not amount to a quarter of the bulk +finally published. This being returned to him from the printer in +"slip" on sheets with very large margins, he would set to work on the +correction; that is to say, on the practical rewriting of the thing, +with excisions, alterations, and above all, additions. A "revise" +being executed, he would attack this revise in the same manner, and +not unfrequently more than once, so that the expenses of mere +composition and correction of the press were enormously heavy (so +heavy as to eat into not merely his publisher's but his own profits), +and that the last state of the book, when published, was something +utterly different from its first state in manuscript. And it will be +obvious that if anything like this was usual with him, it is quite +impossible to judge his actual rapidity of composition by the extent +of the published result. + +However this may be (and it is at least certain that in the years +above referred to he must have worked his very hardest, even if some +of the work then published had been more or less excogitated and begun +during the Wilderness period), he certainly so far left his eremitical +habits as to become acquainted with most of the great men of letters +of the early thirties, and also with certain ladies of more or less +high rank, who were to supply, if not exactly the full models, the +texts and starting-points for some of the most interesting figures of +the /Comedie/. He knew Victor Hugo, but certainly not at this time +intimately; for as late as 1839 the letter in which he writes to Hugo +to come and breakfast with him at Les Jardies (with interesting and +minute directions how to find that frail abode of genius) is couched +in anything but the tone of a familiar friendship. The letters to +Beyle of about the same date are also incompatible with intimate +knowledge. Nodier (after some contrary expressions) he seems to have +regarded as most good people did regard that true man of letters and +charming tale-teller; while among the younger generation Theophile +Gautier and Charles de Bernard, as well as Goslan and others, were his +real and constant friends. But he does not figure frequently or +eminently in any of the genuine gossip of the time as a haunter of +literary circles, and it is very nearly certain that the assiduity +with which some of his heroes attend /salons/ and clubs had no +counterpart in his own life. In the first place he was too busy; in +the second he would not have been at home there. Like the young +gentleman in /Punch/, who "did not read books but wrote them," though +in no satiric sense, he felt it his business not to frequent society +but to create it. + +He was, however, aided in the task of creation by the ladies already +spoken of, who were fairly numerous and of divers degrees. The most +constant, after his sister Laure, was that sister's schoolfellow, +Madame Zulma Carraud, the wife of a military official at Angouleme and +the possessor of a small country estate at Frapesle, near Tours. At +both of these places Balzac, till he was a very great man, was a +constant visitor, and with Madame Carraud he kept up for years a +correspondence which has been held to be merely friendly, and which +was certainly in the vulgar sense innocent, but which seems to me to +be tinged with something of that feeling, midway between love and +friendship, which appears in Scott's letters to Lady Abercorn, and +which is probably not so rare as some think. Madame de Berny, another +family friend of higher rank, was the prototype of most of his +"angelic" characters, but she died in 1836. He knew the Duchesse +d'Abrantes, otherwise Madame Junot, and Madame de Girardin, otherwise +Delphine Gay; but neither seems to have exercised much influence over +him. It was different with another and more authentic duchess, Madame +de Castries, after whom he dangled for a considerable time, who +certainly first encouraged him and probably then snubbed him, and who +is thought to have been the model of his wickeder great ladies. And it +was comparatively early in the thirties that he met the woman whom, +after nearly twenty years, he was at last to marry, getting his death +in so doing, the Polish Madame Hanska. These, with some relations of +the last named, especially her daughter, and with a certain "Louise"-- +an /Inconnue/ who never ceased to be so--were Balzac's chief +correspondents of the other sex, and, as far as is known, his chief +friends in it. + +About his life, without extravagant "pudding" of guesswork or of mere +quotation and abstract of his letters, it would be not so much +difficult as impossible to say much; and accordingly it is a matter of +fact that most lives of Balzac, including all good ones, are rather +critical than narrative. From his real /debut/ with /Le Dernier +Chouan/ to his departure for Poland on the long visit, or brace of +visits, from which he returned finally to die, this life consisted +solely of work. One of his earliest utterances, "/Il faut piocher +ferme/," was his motto to the very last, varied only by a certain +amount of traveling. Balzac was always a considerable traveler; indeed +if he had not been so his constitution would probably have broken down +long before it actually did; and the expense of these voyagings +(though by his own account he generally conducted his affairs with the +most rigid economy), together with the interruption to his work which +they occasioned, entered no doubt for something into his money +difficulties. He would go to Baden or Vienna for a day's sight of +Madame Hanska; his Sardinian visit has been already noted; and as a +specimen of others it may be mentioned that he once journeyed from +Paris to Besancon, then from Besancon right across France to +Angouleme, and then back to Paris on some business of selecting paper +for one of the editions of his books, which his publishers would +probably have done much better and at much less expense. + +Still his actual receipts were surprisingly small, partly, it may be, +owing to his expensive habits of composition, but far more, according +to his own account, because of the Belgian piracies, from which all +popular French authors suffered till the government of Napoleon the +Third managed to put a stop to them. He also lived in such a thick +atmosphere of bills and advances and cross-claims on and by his +publishers, that even if there were more documents than there are it +would be exceedingly difficult to get at facts which are, after all, +not very important. He never seems to have been paid much more than +500 pounds for the newspaper publication (the most valuable by far +because the pirates could not interfere with its profits) of any one +of his novels. And to expensive fashions of composition and +complicated accounts, a steady back-drag of debt and the rest, must be +added the very delightful, and to the novelist not useless, but very +expensive mania for the collector. Balzac had a genuine taste for, and +thought himself a genuine connoisseur in, pictures, sculpture, and +objects of art of all kinds, old and new; and though prices in his day +were not what they are in these, a great deal of money must have run +through his hands in this way. He calculated the value of the contents +of the house, which in his last days he furnished with such loving +care for his wife, and which turned out to be a chamber rather of +death than of marriage, at some 16,000 pounds. But part of this was +Madame Hanska's own purchasing, and there were offsets of indebtedness +against it almost to the last. In short, though during the last twenty +years of his life such actual "want of pence" as vexed him was not +due, as it had been earlier, to the fact that the pence refused to +come in, but only to imprudent management of them, it certainly cannot +be said that Honore de Balzac, the most desperately hard worker in all +literature for such time as was allotted him, and perhaps the man of +greatest genius who was ever a desperately hard worker, falsified that +most uncomfortable but truest of proverbs--"Hard work never made +money." + +If, however, he was but scantily rewarded with the money for which he +had a craving (not absolutely, I think, devoid of a touch of genuine +avarice, but consisting chiefly of the artist's desire for pleasant +and beautiful things, and partly presenting a variety or phase of the +grandiose imagination, which was his ruling characteristic), Balzac +had plenty of the fame, for which he cared quite as much as he cared +for money. Perhaps no writer except Voltaire and Goethe earlier made +such a really European reputation; and his books were of a kind to be +more widely read by the general public than either Goethe's or +Voltaire's. In England (Balzac liked the literature but not the +country, and never visited England, though I believe he planned a +visit) this popularity was, for obvious reasons, rather less than +elsewhere. The respectful vogue which French literature had had with +the English in the eighteenth century had ceased, owing partly to the +national enmity revived and fostered by the great war, and partly to +the growth of a fresh and magnificent literature at home during the +first thirty years of the nineteenth in England. But Balzac could not +fail to be read almost at once by the lettered; and he was translated +pretty early, though not perhaps to any great extent. It was in +England, moreover, that by far his greatest follower appeared, and +appeared very shortly. For it would be absurd in the most bigoted +admirer of Thackeray to deny that the author of /Vanity Fair/, who was +in Paris and narrowly watching French literature and French life at +the very time of Balzac's most exuberant flourishing and education, +owed something to the author of /Le Pere Goriot/. There was no copying +or imitation; the lessons taught by Balzac were too much blended with +those of native masters, such as Fielding, and too much informed and +transformed by individual genius. Some may think--it is a point at +issue not merely between Frenchmen and Englishmen, but between good +judges of both nations on each side--that in absolute veracity and +likeness to life, in limiting the operation of the inner consciousness +on the outward observation to strictly artistic scale, Thackeray +excelled Balzac as far as he fell short of him in the powers of the +seer and in the gigantic imagination of the prophet. But the relations +of pupil and master in at least some degree are not, I think, +deniable. + +So things went on in light and in shade, in homekeeping and in travel, +in debts and in earnings, but always in work of some kind or another, +for eighteen years from the turning point of 1829. By degrees, as he +gained fame and ceased to be in the most pressing want of money, +Balzac left off to some extent, though never entirely, those +miscellaneous writings--reviews (including puffs), comic or general +sketches, political diatribes, "physiologies" and the like--which, +with his discarded prefaces and much more interesting matter, were at +last, not many years ago, included in four stout volumes of the +/Edition Definitive/. With the exception of the /Physiologies/ (a sort +of short satiric analysis of this or that class, character, or +personage), which were very popular in the reign of Louis Philippe in +France, and which Albert Smith and others introduced into England, +Balzac did not do any of this miscellaneous work extremely well. Very +shrewd observations are to be found in his reviews, for instance his +indication, in reviewing La Touche's /Fragoletta/, of that common +fault of ambitious novels, a sort of woolly and "ungraspable" +looseness of construction and story, which constantly bewilders the +reader as to what is going on. But, as a rule, he was thinking too +much of his own work and his own principles of working to enter very +thoroughly into the work of others. His politics, those of a moderate +but decided Royalist and Conservative, were, as has been said, +intelligent in theory, but in practice a little distinguished by that +neglect of actual business detail which has been noticed in his +speculations. + +At last, in the summer of 1847, it seemed as if the Rachel for whom he +had served nearly if not quite the full fourteen years already, and +whose husband had long been out of the way, would at last grant +herself to him. He was invited to Vierzschovnia in the Ukraine, the +seat of Madame Hanska, or in strictness of her son-in-law, Count +Georges Mniszech; and as the visit was apparently for no restricted +period, and Balzac's pretensions to the lady's hand were notorious, it +might have seemed that he was as good as accepted. But to assume this +would have been to mistake what perhaps the greatest creation of +Balzac's great English contemporary and counterpart on the one side, +as Thackeray was his contemporary and counterpart on the other, +considered to be the malignity of widows. What the reasons were which +made Madame Hanska delay so long in doing what she did at last, and +might just as well, it would seem, have done years before, is not +certainly known, and it would be quite unprofitable to discuss them. +But it was on the 8th of October 1847 that Balzac first wrote to his +sister from Vierzschovnia, and it was not till the 14th of March 1850 +that, "in the parish church of Saint Barbara at Berditchef, by the +Count Abbe Czarski, representing the Bishop of Jitomir (this is as +characteristic of Balzac in one way as what follows is in another) a +Madame Eve de Balzac, born Countess Rzevuska, or a Madame Honore de +Balzac or a Madame de Balzac the elder" came into existence. + +It does not appear that Balzac was exactly unhappy during this huge +probation, which was broken by one short visit to Paris. The interest +of uncertainty was probably much for his ardent and unquiet spirit, +and though he did very little literary work for him, one may suspect +that he would not have done very much if he had stayed at Paris, for +signs of exhaustion, not of genius but of physical power, had shown +themselves before he left home. But it is not unjust or cruel to say +that by the delay "Madame Eve de Balzac" (her actual baptismal name +was Evelina) practically killed her husband. These winters in the +severe climate of Russian Poland were absolutely fatal to a +constitution, and especially to lungs, already deeply affected. At +Vierzschovnia itself he had illnesses, from which he narrowly escaped +with life, before the marriage; his heart broke down after it; and he +and his wife did not reach Paris till the end of May. Less than three +months afterwards, on the 18th of August, he died, having been visited +on the very day of his death in the Paradise of bric-a-brac which he +had created for his Eve in the Rue Fortunee--a name too provocative of +Nemesis--by Victor Hugo, the chief maker in verse as he himself was +the chief maker in prose of France. He was buried at Pere la Chaise. +The after-fortunes of his house and its occupants were not happy: but +they do not concern us. + +In person Balzac was a typical Frenchman, as indeed he was in most +ways. From his portraits there would seem to have been more force and +address than distinction or refinement in his appearance, but, as has +been already observed, his period was one ungrateful to the +iconographer. His character, not as a writer but as a man, must occupy +us a little longer. For some considerable time--indeed it may be said +until the publication of his letters--it was not very favorably judged +on the whole. We may, of course, dismiss the childish scandals +(arising, as usual, from clumsy or malevolent misinterpretation of +such books as the /Physiologie de Mariage/, the /Peau de Chagrin/, and +a few others), which gave rise to the caricatures of him such as that +of which we read, representing him in a monk's dress at a table +covered with bottles and supporting a young person on his knee, the +whole garnished with the epigraph: Scenes de la Vie Cachee. They seem +to have given him, personally, a very unnecessary annoyance, and +indeed he was always rather sensitive to criticism. This kind of +stupid libel will never cease to be devised by the envious, swallowed +by the vulgar, and simply neglected by the wise. But Balzac's +peculiarities, both of life and of work, lent themselves rather +fatally to a subtler misconstruction which he also anticipated and +tried to remove, but which took a far stronger hold. He was +represented--and in the absence of any intimate male friends to +contradict the representation, it was certain to obtain some currency +--as in his artistic person a sardonic libeler of mankind, who cared +only to take foibles and vices for his subjects, and who either left +goodness and virtue out of sight altogether, or represented them as +the qualities of fools. In private life he was held up as at the best +a self-centered egotist who cared for nothing but himself and his own +work, capable of interrupting one friend who told him of the death of +a sister by the suggestion that they should change the subject and +talk of "something real, of /Eugenie Grandet," and of levying a fifty +per cent commission on another who had written a critical notice of +his, Balzac's, life and works.* + +* Sandeau and Gautier, the victims in these two stories, were + neither spiteful, nor mendacious, nor irrational, so they are + probably true. The second was possibly due to Balzac's odd notions + of "business being business." The first, I have quite recently + seen reason to think, may have been a sort of reminiscence of one + of the traits in Diderot's extravagant encomium on Richardson. + +With the first of these charges he himself, on different occasions, +rather vainly endeavored to grapple, once drawing up an elaborate list +of his virtuous and vicious women, and showing that the former +outnumbered the latter; and, again, laboring (with that curious lack +of sense of humor which distinguishes all Frenchmen but a very few, +and distinguished him eminently) to show that though no doubt it is +very difficult to make a virtuous person interesting, he, Honore de +Balzac, had attempted it, and succeeded in it, on a quite surprising +number of occasions. + +The fact is that if he had handled this last matter rather more +lightly his answer would have been a sufficient one, and that in any +case the charge is not worth answering. It does not lie against the +whole of his work; and if it lay as conclusively as it does against +Swift's, it would not necessarily matter. To the artist in analysis as +opposed to the romance-writer, folly always, and villainy sometimes, +does supply a much better subject than virtuous success, and if he +makes his fools and his villains lifelike and supplies them with a +fair contrast of better things, there is nothing more to be said. He +will not, indeed, be a Shakespeare, or a Dante, or even a Scott; but +we may be very well satisfied with him as a Fielding, a Thackeray, or +a Balzac. As to the more purely personal matter I own that it was some +time before I could persuade myself that Balzac, to speak familiarly, +was a much better fellow than others, and I myself, have been +accustomed to think him. But it is also some time since I came to the +conclusion that he was so, and my conversion is not to be attributed +to any editorial retainer. His education in a lawyer's office, the +accursed advice about the /bonne speculation/, and his constant +straitenings for money, will account for his sometimes looking after +the main chance rather too narrowly; and as for the Eugenie Grandet +story (even if the supposition referred to in a note above be +fanciful) it requires no great stretch of charity or comprehension to +see in it nothing more awkward, very easily misconstrued, but not +necessarily in the least heartless or brutal attempt of a rather +absent and very much self-centered recluse absorbed in one subject, to +get his interlocutor as well as himself out of painful and useless +dwelling on sorrowful matters. Self-centered and self-absorbed Balzac +no doubt was; he could not have lived his life or produced his work if +he had been anything else. And it must be remembered that he owed +extremely little to others; that he had the independence as well as +the isolation of the self-centered; that he never sponged or fawned on +a great man, or wronged others of what was due to them. The only +really unpleasant thing about him that I know, and even this is +perhaps due to ignorance of all sides of the matter, is a slight touch +of snobbishness now and then, especially in those late letters from +Vierzschovnia to Madame de Balzac and Madame Surville, in which, while +inundating his mother and sister with commissions and requests for +service, he points out to them what great people the Hanskas and +Mniszechs are, what infinite honor and profit it will be to be +connected with them, and how desirable it is to keep struggling +engineer brothers-in-law and ne'er-do-well brothers in the colonies +out of sight lest they should disgust the magnates. + +But these are "sma' sums, sma' sums," as Bailie Jarvie says; and +smallness of any kind has, whatever it may have to do with Balzac the +man, nothing to do with Balzac the writer. With him as with some +others, but not as with the larger number, the sense of /greatness/ +increases the longer and the more fully he is studied. He resembles, I +think, Goethe more than any other man of letters--certainly more than +any other of the present century--in having done work which is very +frequently, if not even commonly, faulty, and in yet requiring that +his work shall be known as a whole. His appeal is cumulative; it +repeats itself on each occasion with a slight difference, and though +there may now and then be the same faults to be noticed, they are +almost invariably accompanied, not merely by the same, but by fresh +merits. + +As has been said at the beginning of this essay, no attempt will be +made in it to give that running survey of Balzac's work which is +always useful and sometimes indispensable in treatment of the kind. +But something like a summing up of that subject will here be attempted +because it is really desirable that in embarking on so vast a voyage +the reader should have some general chart--some notes of the soundings +and log generally of those who have gone before him. + +There are two things, then, which it is more especially desirable to +keep constantly before one in reading Balzac--two things which, taken +together, constitute his almost unique value, and two things which not +a few critics have failed to take together in him, being under the +impression that the one excludes the other, and that to admit the +other is tantamount to a denial of the one. These two things are, +first, an immense attention to detail, sometimes observed, sometimes +invented or imagined; and secondly; a faculty of regarding these +details through a mental lens or arrangement of lenses almost peculiar +to himself, which at once combines, enlarges, and invests them with a +peculiar magical halo or mirage. The two thousand personages of the +/Comedie Humaine/ are, for the most part, "signaled," as the French +official word has it, marked and denoted by the minutest traits of +character, gesture, gait, clothing, abode, what not; the transactions +recorded are very often given with a scrupulous and microscopic +accuracy of reporting which no detective could outdo. Defoe is not +more circumstantial in detail of fact than Balzac; Richardson is +hardly more prodigal of character-stroke. Yet a very large proportion +of these characters, of these circumstances, are evidently things +invented or imagined, not observed. And in addition to this the +artist's magic glass, his Balzacian speculum, if we may so say (for +none else has ever had it), transforms even the most rigid observation +into something flickering and fanciful, the outline as of shadows on +the wall, not the precise contour of etching or of the camera. + +It is curious, but not unexampled, that both Balzac himself when he +struggled in argument with his critics and those of his partisans who +have been most zealously devoted to him, have usually tried to exalt +the first and less remarkable of these gifts over the second and +infinitely more remarkable. Balzac protested strenuously against the +use of the word "gigantesque" in reference to his work; and of course +it is susceptible of an unhandsome innuendo. But if we leave that +innuendo aside, if we adopt the sane reflection that "gigantesque" +does not exceed "gigantic," or assert as constant failure of +greatness, but only indicates that the magnifying process is carried +on with a certain indiscriminateness, we shall find none, I think, +which so thoroughly well describes him. + +The effect of this singular combination of qualities, apparently the +most opposite, may be partly anticipated, but not quite. It results +occasionally in a certain shortcoming as regards /verite vraie/, +absolute artistic truth to nature. Those who would range Balzac in +point of such artistic veracity on a level with poetical and universal +realists like Shakespeare and Dante, or prosaic and particular +realists like Thackeray and Fielding, seem not only to be utterly +wrong but to pay their idol the worst of all compliments, that of +ignoring his own special qualifications. The province of Balzac may +not be--I do no think it is--identical, much less co-extensive, with +that of nature. But it is his own--a partly real, partly fantastic +region, where the lights, the shades, the dimensions, and the physical +laws are slightly different from those of this world of ours, but with +which, owing to the things it has in common with that world, we are +able to sympathize, which we can traverse and comprehend. Every now +and then the artist uses his observing faculty more, and his +magnifying and distorting lens less; every now and then he reverses +the proportion. Some tastes will like him best in the one stage; some +in the other; the happier constituted will like him best in both. +These latter will decline to put /Eugenie Grandet/ above the /Peau de +Chagrin/, or /Le Pere Goriot/ above the wonderful handful of tales +which includes /La Recherche de l'Absolu/ and /Le Chef-d'oeuvre +Inconnu/, though they will no doubt recognize that even in the first +two named members of these pairs the Balzacian quality, that of +magnifying and rendering grandiose, is present, and that the martyrdom +of Eugenie, the avarice of her father, the blind self-devotion of +Goriot to his thankless and worthless children, would not be what they +are if they were seen through a perfectly achromatic and normal +medium. + +This specially Balzacian quality is, I think, unique. It is like--it +may almost be said to /be/--the poetic imagination, present in +magnificent volume and degree, but in some miraculous way deprived and +sterilized of the specially poetical quality. By this I do not of +course mean that Balzac did not write in verse: we have a few verses +of his, and they are pretty bad, but that is neither here nor there. +The difference between Balzac and a great poet lies not in the fact +that the one fills the whole page with printed words, and the other +only a part of it--but in something else. If I could put that +something else into distinct words I should therein attain the +philosopher's stone, the elixir of life, the /primum mobile/, the +/grand arcanum/, not merely of criticism but of all things. It might +be possible to coast about it, to hint at it, by adumbrations and in +consequences. But it is better and really more helpful to face the +difficulty boldly, and to say that Balzac, approaching a great poet +nearer perhaps than any other prose writer in any language, is +distinguished from one by the absence of the very last touch, the +finally constituting quiddity, which makes a great poet different from +Balzac. + +Now, when we make this comparison, it is of the first interest to +remember--and it is one of the uses of the comparison, that it +suggests the remembrance of the fact--that the great poets have +usually been themselves extremely exact observers of detail. It has +not made them great poets; but they would not be great poets without +it. And when Eugenie Grandet starts from /le petit banc de bois/ at +the reference to it in her scoundrelly cousin's letter (to take only +one instance out of a thousand), we see in Balzac the same +observation, subject to the limitation just mentioned, that we see in +Dante and Shakespeare, in Chaucer and Tennyson. But the great poets do +not as a rule /accumulate/ detail. Balzac does, and from this very +accumulation he manages to derive that singular gigantesque vagueness +--differing from the poetic vague, but ranking next to it--which I +have here ventured to note as his distinguishing quality. He bewilders +us a very little by it, and he gives us the impression that he has +slightly bewildered himself. But the compensations of the bewilderment +are large. + +For in this labyrinth and whirl of things, in this heat and hurry of +observation and imagination, the special intoxication of Balzac +consists. Every great artist has his own means of producing this +intoxication, and it differs in result like the stimulus of beauty or +of wine. Those persons who are unfortunate enough to see in Balzac +little or nothing but an ingenious piler-up of careful strokes--a man +of science taking his human documents and classing them after an +orderly fashion in portfolio and deed-box--must miss this intoxication +altogether. It is much more agreeable as well as much more accurate to +see in the manufacture of the /Comedie/ the process of a Cyclopean +workshop--the bustle, the hurry, the glare and shadow, the steam and +sparks of Vulcanian forging. The results, it is true, are by no means +confused or disorderly--neither were those of the forges that worked +under Lipari--but there certainly went much more to them than the +dainty fingering of a literary fretwork-maker or the dull rummagings +of a realist /a la Zola/. + +In part, no doubt, and in great part, the work of Balzac is dream- +stuff rather than life-stuff, and it is all the better for that. What +is better than dreams? But the coherence of his visions, their bulk, +their solidity, the way in which they return to us and we return to +them, make them such dream-stuff as there is all too little of in this +world. If it is true that evil on the whole predominates over good in +the vision of this "Voyant," as Philarete Chasles so justly called +him, two very respectable, and in one case very large, though somewhat +opposed divisions of mankind, the philosophic pessimist and the +convinced and consistent Christian believer, will tell us that this is +at least not one of the points in which it is unfaithful to life. If +the author is closer and more faithful in his study of meanness and +vice than in his studies of nobility and virtue, the blame is due at +least as much to his models as to himself. If he has seldom succeeded +in combining a really passionate with a really noble conception of +love, very few of his countrymen have been more fortunate in that +respect. If in some of his types--his journalists, his married women, +and others--he seems to have sacrificed to conventions, let us +remember that those who know attribute to his conventions such a power +if not altogether such a holy influence that two generations of the +people he painted have actually lived more and more up to his painting +of them. + +And last of all, but also greatest, has to be considered the immensity +of his imaginative achievement, the huge space that he has filled for +us with vivid creation, the range of amusement, of instruction, of +(after a fashion) edification which he has thrown open for us all to +walk in. It is possible that he himself and others more or less well- +meaningly, though more or less maladroitly, following his lead, may +have exaggerated the coherence and the architectural design of the +/Comedie/. But it has coherence and it has design; nor shall we find +anything exactly to parallel it. In mere bulk the /Comedie/ probably, +if not certainly, exceeds the production of any novelist of the first +class in any kind of fiction except Dumas, and with Dumas, for various +and well-known reasons, there is no possibility of comparing it. All +others yield in bulk; all in a certain concentration and intensity; +none even aims at anything like the same system and completeness. It +must be remembered that owing to shortness of life, lateness of +beginning, and the diversion of the author to other work, the +/Comedie/ is the production, and not the sole production, of some +seventeen or eighteen years at most. Not a volume of it, for all that +failure to reach the completest perfection in form and style which has +been acknowledged, can be accused of thinness, of scamped work, of +mere repetition, of mere cobbling up. Every one bears the marks of +steady and ferocious labor, as well as of the genius which had at last +come where it had been so earnestly called and had never gone away +again. It is possible to overpraise Balzac in parts or to mispraise +him as a whole. But so long as inappropriate and superfluous +comparisons are avoided and as his own excellence is recognized and +appreciated, it is scarcely possible to overestimate that excellence +in itself and for itself. He stands alone; even with Dickens, who is +his nearest analogue, he shows far more points of difference than of +likeness. His vastness of bulk is not more remarkable than his +peculiarity of quality; and when these two things coincide in +literature or elsewhere, then that in which they coincide may be +called, and must be called, Great, without hesitation and without +reserve. + + GEORGE SAINTSBURY. + + + + + APPENDIX + + THE BALZAC PLAN + OF THE COMEDIE HUMAINE + + + +The form in which the Comedie Humaine was left by its author, with the +exceptions of /Le Depute d'Arcis (incomplete) and /Les Petits +Bourgeois/, both of which were added, some years later, by the Edition +Definitive. + +The original French titles are followed by their English equivalents. +Literal translations have been followed, excepting a few instances +where preference is shown for a clearer or more comprehensive English +title. + +[Note from Team Balzac, the Etext preparers: In some cases more than +one English translation is commonly used for various translations/ +editions. In such cases the first translation is from the Saintsbury +edition copyrighted in 1901 and that is the title referred to in the +personages following most of the stories. We have added other title +translations of which we are currently aware for the readers' +convenience.] + + + COMEDIE HUMAINE + + +SCENES DE LA VIE PRIVEE +SCENES FROM PRIVATE LIFE + +La Maison du Chat-qui Pelote +AT the Sign of the Cat and Racket + +Le Bal de Sceaux +The Ball at Sceaux + +La Bourse +The Purse + +La Vendetta +The Vendetta + +Mme. Firmiani +Madame Firmiani + +Une Double Famille +A Second Home + +La Paix du Menage +Domestic Peace + +La Fausse Maitresse +The Imaginary Mistress +Paz + +Etude de femme +A Study of Woman + +Autre etude de femme +Another Study of Woman + +La Grande Breteche +La Grand Breteche + +Albert Savarus +Albert Savarus + +Memoires de deux Jeunes Mariees +Letters of Two Brides + +Une Fille d'Eve +A Daughter of Eve + +La Femme de Trente Ans +A Woman of Thirty + +La Femme abandonnee +The Deserted Woman + +La Grenadiere +La Grenadiere + +Le Message +The Message + +Gobseck +Gobseck + +Le Contrat de Mariage +A Marriage Settlement +A Marriage Contract + +Un Debut dans la vie +A Start in Life + +Modeste Mignon +Modeste Mignon + +Beatrix +Beatrix + +Honorine +Honorine + +Le Colonel Chabert +Colonel Chabert + +La Messe de l'Athee +The Atheist's Mass + +L'Interdiction +The Commission in Lunacy + +Pierre Grassou +Pierre Grassou + + +SCENES DE LA VIE PROVINCE +SCENES FROM PROVINCIAL LIFE + +Ursule Mirouet +Ursule Mirouet + +Eugenie Grandet +Eugenie Grandet + +Les Celibataires: +The Celibates: + Pierrette + Pierrette + + Le Cure de Tours + The Vicar of Tours + +Un Menage de Garcon +A Bachelor's Establishment +The Two Brothers +The Black Sheep + +Les Parisiens en Province: +Parisians in the Country: + L'illustre Gaudissart + Gaudissart the Great + The Illustrious Gaudissart + + La Muse du departement + The Muse of the Department + +Les Rivalites: +The Jealousies of a Country Town: + La Vieille Fille + The Old Maid + + Le Cabinet des antiques + The Collection of Antiquities + +Le Lys dans la Vallee +The Lily of the Valley + +Illusions Perdues:--I. +Lost Illusions:--I. + Les Deux Poetes + The Two Poets + + Un Grand homme de province a Paris, 1re partie + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Part 1 + +Illusions Perdues:--II. +Lost Illusions:--II. + Un Grand homme de province, 2e p. + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris, Part 2 + + Eve et David + Eve and David + + +SCENES DE LA VIE PARISIENNE +SCENES FROM PARISIAN LIFE + +Splendeurs et Miseres des Courtisanes: +Scenes from a Courtesan's Life: + Esther heureuse + Esther Happy + + A combien l'amour revient aux vieillards + What Love Costs an Old Man + + Ou menent les mauvais Chemins + The End of Evil Ways + + La derniere Incarnation de Vautrin + Vautrin's Last Avatar + +Un Prince de la Boheme +A Prince of Bohemia + +Un Homme d'affaires +A Man of Business + +Gaudissart II. +Gaudissart II. + +Les Comediens sans le savoir +The Unconscious Humorists +The Unconscious Comedians + +Histoire des Treize: +The Thirteen: + Ferragus + Ferragus + + La Duchesse de Langeais + The Duchesse de Langeais + + La Fille aux yeux d'or + The Girl with the Golden Eyes + +Le Pere Goriot +Father Goriot + +Grandeur et Decadence de Cesar Birotteau +The Rise and Fall of Cesar Birotteau + +La Maison Nucingen +The Firm of Nucingen + +Les Secrets de la princesse de Cadignan +The Secrets of a Princess +The Secrets of the Princess Cadignan + +Les Employes +The Government Clerks +Bureaucracy + +Sarrasine +Sarrasine + +Facino Cane +Facine Cane + +Les Parents Pauvres:--I. +Poor Relations:--I. + La Cousine Bette + Cousin Betty + +Les Parents Pauvres:--II. +Poor Relations:--II. + Le Cousin Pons + Cousin Pons + +Les Petits Bourgeois +The Middle Classes +The Lesser Bourgeoise + + +SCENES DE LA VIE POLITIQUE +SCENES FROM POLITICAL LIFE + +Une Tenebreuse Affaire +The Gondreville Mystery +An Historical Mystery + +Un Episode sous la Terreur +An Episode Under the Terror + +L'Envers de l'Histoire Contemporaine: +The Seamy Side of History: +The Brotherhood of Consolation: + Mme. de la Chanterie + Madame de la Chanterie + + L'Initie + Initiated + The Initiate + +Z. Marcas +Z. Marcas + +Le Depute d'Arcis +The Member for Arcis +The Deputy for Arcis + + +SCENES DE LA VIE MILITAIRE +SCENES FROM MILITARY LIFE + +Les Chouans +The Chouans + +Une Passion dans le desert +A Passion in the Desert + + +SCENES DE LA VIE DE CAMPAGNE +SCENES FROM COUNTRY LIFE + +Le Medecin de Campagne +The Country Doctor + +Le Cure de Village +The Country Parson +The Village Rector + +Les Paysans +The Peasantry +Sons of the Soil + + +ETUDES PHILOSOPHIQUES +PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES + +La Peau de Chagrin +The Magic Skin + +La Recherche de l'Absolu +The Quest of the Absolute +The Alkahest + +Jesus-Christ en Flandre +Christ in Flanders + +Melmoth reconcilie +Melmoth Reconciled + +Le Chef-d'oeuvre inconnu +The Unknown Masterpiece +The Hidden Masterpiece + +L'Enfant Maudit +The Hated Son + +Gambara +Gambara + +Massimilla Doni +Massimilla Doni + +Les Marana +The Maranas +Juana + +Adieu +Farewell + +Le Requisitionnaire +The Conscript +The Recruit + +El Verdugo +El Verdugo + +Un Drame au bord de la mer +A Seaside Tragedy +A Drama on the Seashore + +L'Auberge rouge +The Red Inn + +L'Elixir de longue vie +The Elixir of Life + +Maitre Cornelius +Maitre Cornelius + +Sur Catherine de Medicis: +About Catherine de' Medici + Le Martyr calviniste + The Calvinist Martyr + + La Confidence des Ruggieri + The Ruggieri's Secret + + Les Deux Reves + The Two Dreams + +Louis Lambert +Louis Lambert + +Les Proscrits +The Exiles + +Seraphita +Seraphita + + + + + AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION + + + +In giving the general title of "The Human Comedy" to a work begun +nearly thirteen years since, it is necessary to explain its motive, to +relate its origin, and briefly sketch its plan, while endeavoring to +speak of these matters as though I had no personal interest in them. +This is not so difficult as the public might imagine. Few works +conduce to much vanity; much labor conduces to great diffidence. This +observation accounts for the study of their own works made by +Corneille, Moliere, and other great writers; if it is impossible to +equal them in their fine conceptions, we may try to imitate them in +this feeling. + +The idea of /The Human Comedy/ was at first as a dream to me, one of +those impossible projects which we caress and then let fly; a chimera +that gives us a glimpse of its smiling woman's face, and forthwith +spreads its wings and returns to a heavenly realm of phantasy. But +this chimera, like many another, has become a reality; has its +behests, its tyranny, which must be obeyed. + +The idea originated in a comparison between Humanity and Animality. + +It is a mistake to suppose that the great dispute which has lately +made a stir, between Cuvier and Geoffroi Saint-Hilaire, arose from a +scientific innovation. Unity of structure, under other names, had +occupied the greatest minds during the two previous centuries. As we +read the extraordinary writings of the mystics who studied the +sciences in their relation to infinity, such as Swedenborg, Saint- +Martin, and others, and the works of the greatest authors on Natural +History--Leibnitz, Buffon, Charles Bonnet, etc., we detect in the +/monads/ of Leibnitz, in the /organic molecules/ of Buffon, in the +/vegetative force/ of Needham, in the correlation of similar organs of +Charles Bonnet--who in 1760 was so bold as to write, "Animals vegetate +as plants do"--we detect, I say, the rudiments of the great law of +Self for Self, which lies at the root of /Unity of Plan/. There is but +one Animal. The Creator works on a single model for every organized +being. "The Animal" is elementary, and takes its external form, or, to +be accurate, the differences in its form, from the environment in +which it is obliged to develop. Zoological species are the result of +these differences. The announcement and defence of this system, which +is indeed in harmony with our preconceived ideas of Divine Power, will +be the eternal glory of Geoffroi Saint-Hilaire, Cuvier's victorious +opponent on this point of higher science, whose triumph was hailed by +Goethe in the last article he wrote. + +I, for my part, convinced of this scheme of nature long before the +discussion to which it has given rise, perceived that in this respect +society resembled nature. For does not society modify Man, according +to the conditions in which he lives and acts, into men as manifold as +the species in Zoology? The differences between a soldier, an artisan, +a man of business, a lawyer, an idler, a student, a statesman, a +merchant, a sailor, a poet, a beggar, a priest, are as great, though +not so easy to define, as those between the wolf, the lion, the ass, +the crow, the shark, the seal, the sheep, etc. Thus social species +have always existed, and will always exist, just as there are +zoological species. If Buffon could produce a magnificent work by +attempting to represent in a book the whole realm of zoology, was +there not room for a work of the same kind on society? But the limits +set by nature to the variations of animals have no existence in +society. When Buffon describes the lion, he dismisses the lioness with +a few phrases; but in society a wife is not always the female of the +male. There may be two perfectly dissimilar beings in one household. +The wife of a shopkeeper is sometimes worthy of a prince, and the wife +of a prince is often worthless compared with the wife of an artisan. +The social state has freaks which Nature does not allow herself; it is +nature /plus/ society. The description of social species would thus be +at least double that of animal species, merely in view of the two +sexes. Then, among animals the drama is limited; there is scarcely any +confusion; they turn and rend each other--that is all. Men, too, rend +each other; but their greater or less intelligence makes the struggle +far more complicated. Though some savants do not yet admit that the +animal nature flows into human nature through an immense tide of life, +the grocer certainly becomes a peer, and the noble sometimes sinks to +the lowest social grade. Again, Buffon found that life was extremely +simple among animals. Animals have little property, and neither arts +nor sciences; while man, by a law that has yet to be sought, has a +tendency to express his culture, his thoughts, and his life in +everything he appropriates to his use. Though Leuwenhoek, Swammerdam, +Spallanzani, Reaumur, Charles Bonnet, Muller, Haller and other patient +investigators have shown us how interesting are the habits of animals, +those of each kind, are, at least to our eyes, always and in every age +alike; whereas the dress, the manners, the speech, the dwelling of a +prince, a banker, an artist, a citizen, a priest, and a pauper are +absolutely unlike, and change with every phase of civilization. + +Hence the work to be written needed a threefold form--men, women, and +things; that is to say, persons and the material expression of their +minds; man, in short, and life. + +As we read the dry and discouraging list of events called History, who +can have failed to note that the writers of all periods, in Egypt, +Persia, Greece, and Rome, have forgotten to give us a history of +manners? The fragment of Petronius on the private life of the Romans +excites rather than satisfies our curiosity. It was from observing +this great void in the field of history that the Abbe Barthelemy +devoted his life to a reconstruction of Greek manners in /Le Jeune +Anacharsis/. + +But how could such a drama, with the four or five thousand persons +which society offers, be made interesting? How, at the same time, +please the poet, the philosopher, and the masses who want both poetry +and philosophy under striking imagery? Though I could conceive of the +importance and of the poetry of such a history of the human heart, I +saw no way of writing it; for hitherto the most famous story-tellers +had spent their talent in creating two or three typical actors, in +depicting one aspect of life. It was with this idea that I read the +works of Walter Scott. Walter Scott, the modern troubadour, or finder +(/trouvere=trouveur/), had just then given an aspect of grandeur to a +class of composition unjustly regarded as of the second rank. Is it +not really more difficult to compete with personal and parochial +interests by writing of Daphnis and Chloe, Roland, Amadis, Panurge, +Don Quixote, Manon Lescaut, Clarissa, Lovelace, Robinson Crusoe, Gil +Blas, Ossian, Julie d'Etanges, My Uncle Toby, Werther, Corinne, +Adolphe, Paul and Virginia, Jeanie Deans, Claverhouse, Ivanhoe, +Manfred, Mignon, than to set forth in order facts more or less similar +in every country, to investigate the spirit of laws that have fallen +into desuetude, to review the theories which mislead nations, or, like +some metaphysicians, to explain what /Is/? In the first place, these +actors, whose existence becomes more prolonged and more authentic than +that of the generations which saw their birth, almost always live +solely on condition of their being a vast reflection of the present. +Conceived in the womb of their own period, the whole heart of humanity +stirs within their frame, which often covers a complete system of +philosophy. Thus Walter Scott raised to the dignity of the philosophy +of History the literature which, from age to age, sets perennial gems +in the poetic crown of every nation where letters are cultivated. He +vivified it with the spirit of the past; he combined drama, dialogue, +portrait, scenery, and description; he fused the marvelous with truth +--the two elements of the times; and he brought poetry into close +contact with the familiarity of the humblest speech. But as he had not +so much devised a system as hit upon a manner in the ardor of his +work, or as its logical outcome, he never thought of connecting his +compositions in such a way as to form a complete history of which each +chapter was a novel, and each novel the picture of a period. + +It was by discerning this lack of unity, which in no way detracts from +the Scottish writer's greatness, that I perceived at once the scheme +which would favor the execution of my purpose, and the possibility of +executing it. Though dazzled, so to speak, by Walter Scott's amazing +fertility, always himself and always original, I did not despair, for +I found the source of his genius in the infinite variety of human +nature. Chance is the greatest romancer in the world; we have only to +study it. French society would be the real author; I should only be +the secretary. By drawing up an inventory of vices and virtues, by +collecting the chief facts of the passions, by depicting characters, +by choosing the principal incidents of social life, by composing types +out of a combination of homogeneous characteristics, I might perhaps +succeed in writing the history which so many historians have +neglected: that of Manners. By patience and perseverance I might +produce for France in the nineteenth century the book which we must +all regret that Rome, Athens, Tyre, Memphis, Persia, and India have +not bequeathed to us; that history of their social life which, +prompted by the Abbe Barthelemy, Monteil patiently and steadily tried +to write for the Middle Ages, but in an unattractive form. + +This work, so far, was nothing. By adhering to the strict lines of a +reproduction a writer might be a more or less faithful, and more or +less successful, painter of types of humanity, a narrator of the +dramas of private life, an archaeologist of social furniture, a +cataloguer of professions, a registrar of good and evil; but to +deserve the praise of which every artist must be ambitious, must I not +also investigate the reasons or the cause of these social effects, +detect the hidden sense of this vast assembly of figures, passions, +and incidents? And finally, having sought--I will not say having found +--this reason, this motive power, must I not reflect on first +principles, and discover in what particulars societies approach or +deviate from the eternal law of truth and beauty? In spite of the wide +scope of the preliminaries, which might of themselves constitute a +book, the work, to be complete, would need a conclusion. Thus +depicted, society ought to bear in itself the reason of its working. + +The law of the writer, in virtue of which he is a writer, and which I +do not hesitate to say makes him the equal, or perhaps the superior, +of the statesman, is his judgment, whatever it may be, on human +affairs, and his absolute devotion to certain principles. Machiavelli, +Hobbes, Bossuet, Leibnitz, Kant, Montesquieu, /are/ the science which +statesmen apply. "A writer ought to have settled opinions on morals +and politics; he should regard himself as a tutor of men; for men need +no masters to teach them to doubt," says Bonald. I took these noble +words as my guide long ago; they are the written law of the +monarchical writer. And those who would confute me by my own words +will find that they have misinterpreted some ironical phrase, or that +they have turned against me a speech given to one of my actors--a +trick peculiar to calumniators. + +As to the intimate purpose, the soul of this work, these are the +principles on which it is based. + +Man is neither good nor bad; he is born with instincts and +capabilities; society, far from depraving him, as Rousseau asserts, +improves him, makes him better; but self-interest also develops his +evil tendencies. Christianity, above all, Catholicism, being--as I +have pointed out in the Country Doctor (/le Medecin de Campagne/)--a +complete system for the repression of the depraved tendencies of man, +is the most powerful element of social order. + +In reading attentively the presentment of society cast, as it were, +from the life, with all that is good and all that is bad in it, we +learn this lesson--if thought, or if passion, which combines thought +and feeling, is the vital social element, it is also its destructive +element. In this respect social life is like the life of man. Nations +live long only by moderating their vital energy. Teaching, or rather +education, by religious bodies is the grand principle of life for +nations, the only means of diminishing the sum of evil and increasing +the sum of good in all society. Thought, the living principle of good +and ill, can only be trained, quelled, and guided by religion. The +only possible religion is Christianity (see the letter from Paris in +"Louis Lambert," in which the young mystic explains, /a propos/ to +Swedenborg's doctrines, how there has never been but one religion +since the world began). Christianity created modern nationalities, and +it will preserve them. Hence, no doubt, the necessity for the +monarchical principle. Catholicism and Royalty are twin principles. + +As to the limits within which these two principles should be confined +by various institutions, so that they may not become absolute, every +one will feel that a brief preface ought not to be a political +treatise. I cannot, therefore, enter on religious discussions, nor on +the political discussions of the day. I write under the light of two +eternal truths--Religion and Monarchy; two necessities, as they are +shown to be by contemporary events, towards which every writer of +sound sense ought to try to guide the country back. Without being an +enemy to election, which is an excellent principle as a basis of +legislation, I reject election regarded as /the only social +instrument/, especially so badly organized as it now is (1842); for it +fails to represent imposing minorities, whose ideas and interests +would occupy the attention of a monarchical government. Elective power +extended to all gives us government by the masses, the only +irresponsible form of government, under which tyranny is unlimited, +for it calls itself law. Besides, I regard the family and not the +individual as the true social unit. In this respect, at the risk of +being thought retrograde, I side with Bossuet and Bonald instead of +going with modern innovators. Since election has become the only +social instrument, if I myself were to exercise it no contradiction +between my acts and my words should be inferred. An engineer points +out that a bridge is about to fall, that it is dangerous for any one +to cross it; but he crosses it himself when it is the only road to the +town. Napoleon adapted election to the spirit of the French nation +with wonderful skill. The least important members of his Legislative +Body became the most famous orators of the Chamber after the +Restoration. No Chamber has ever been the equal of the /Corps +Legislatif/, comparing them man for man. The elective system of the +Empire was, then, indisputably the best. + +Some persons may, perhaps, think that this declaration is somewhat +autocratic and self-assertive. They will quarrel with the novelist for +wanting to be an historian, and will call him to account for writing +politics. I am simply fulfilling an obligation--that is my reply. The +work I have undertaken will be as long as a history; I was compelled +to explain the logic of it, hitherto unrevealed, and its principles +and moral purpose. + +Having been obliged to withdraw the prefaces formerly published, in +response to essentially ephemeral criticisms, I will retain only one +remark. + +Writers who have a purpose in view, were it only a reversion to +principles familiar in the past because they are eternal, should +always clear the ground. Now every one who, in the domain of ideas, +brings his stone by pointing out an abuse, or setting a mark on some +evil that it may be removed--every such man is stigmatized as immoral. +The accusation of immorality, which has never failed to be cast at the +courageous writer, is, after all, the last that can be brought when +nothing else remains to be said to a romancer. If you are truthful in +your pictures; if by dint of daily and nightly toil you succeed in +writing the most difficult language in the world, the word /immoral/ +is flung in your teeth. Socrates was immoral; Jesus Christ was +immoral; they both were persecuted in the name of the society they +overset or reformed. When a man is to be killed he is taxed with +immorality. These tactics, familiar in party warfare, are a disgrace +to those who use them. Luther and Calvin knew well what they were +about when they shielded themselves behind damaged worldly interests! +And they lived all the days of their life. + +When depicting all society, sketching it in the immensity of its +turmoil, it happened--it could not but happen--that the picture +displayed more of evil than of good; that some part of the fresco +represented a guilty couple; and the critics at once raised a cry of +immorality, without pointing out the morality of another position +intended to be a perfect contrast. As the critic knew nothing of the +general plan I could forgive him, all the more because one can no more +hinder criticism than the use of eyes, tongues, and judgment. Also the +time for an impartial verdict is not yet come for me. And, after all, +the author who cannot make up his mind to face the fire of criticism +should no more think of writing than a traveler should start on his +journey counting on a perpetually clear sky. On this point it remains +to be said that the most conscientious moralists doubt greatly whether +society can show as many good actions as bad ones; and in the picture +I have painted of it there are more virtuous figures than +reprehensible ones. Blameworthy actions, faults and crimes, from the +lightest to the most atrocious, always meet with punishment, human or +divine, signal or secret. I have done better than the historian, for I +am free. Cromwell here on earth escaped all punishment but that +inflicted by thoughtful men. And on this point there have been divided +schools. Bossuet even showed some consideration for great regicide. +William of Orange, the usurper, Hugues Capet, another usurper, lived +to old age with no more qualms or fears than Henri IV. or Charles I. +The lives of Catherine II. and of Frederick of Prussia would be +conclusive against any kind of moral law, if they were judged by the +twofold aspect of the morality which guides ordinary mortals, and that +which is in use by crowned heads; for, as Napoleon said, for kings and +statesmen there are the lesser and the higher morality. My scenes of +political life are founded on this profound observation. It is not a +law to history, as it is to romance, to make for a beautiful ideal. +History is, or ought to be, what it was; while romance ought to be +"the better world," as was said by Mme. Necker, one of the most +distinguished thinkers of the last century. + +Still, with this noble falsity, romance would be nothing if it were +not true in detail. Walter Scott, obliged as he was to conform to the +ideas of an essentially hypocritical nation, was false to humanity in +his picture of woman, because his models were schismatics. The +Protestant woman has no ideal. She may be chaste, pure, virtuous; but +her unexpansive love will always be as calm and methodical as the +fulfilment of a duty. It might seem as though the Virgin Mary had +chilled the hearts of those sophists who have banished her from heaven +with her treasures of loving kindness. In Protestantism there is no +possible future for the woman who has sinned; while, in the Catholic +Church, the hope of forgiveness makes her sublime. Hence, for the +Protestant writer there is but one Woman, while the Catholic writer +finds a new woman in each new situation. If Walter Scott had been a +Catholic, if he had set himself the task of describing truly the +various phases of society which have successively existed in Scotland, +perhaps the painter of Effie and Alice--the two figures for which he +blamed himself in his later years--might have admitted passion with +its sins and punishments, and the virtues revealed by repentance. +Passion is the sum-total of humanity. Without passion, religion, +history, romance, art, would all be useless. + +Some persons, seeing me collect such a mass of facts and paint them as +they are, with passion for their motive power, have supposed, but +wrongly, that I must belong to the school of Sensualism and +Materialism--two aspects of the same thing--Pantheism. But their +misapprehension was perhaps justified--or inevitable. I do not share +the belief in indefinite progress for society as a whole; I believe in +man's improvement in himself. Those who insist on reading in me the +intention to consider man as a finished creation are strangely +mistaken. /Seraphita/, the doctrine in action of the Christian Buddha, +seems to me an ample answer to this rather heedless accusation. + +In certain fragments of this long work I have tried to popularize the +amazing facts, I may say the marvels, of electricity, which in man is +metamorphosed into an incalculable force; but in what way do the +phenomena of brain and nerves, which prove the existence of an +undiscovered world of psychology, modify the necessary and undoubted +relations of the worlds to God? In what way can they shake the +Catholic dogma? Though irrefutable facts should some day place thought +in the class of fluids which are discerned only by their effects while +their substance evades our senses, even when aided by so many +mechanical means, the result will be the same as when Christopher +Columbus detected that the earth is a sphere, and Galileo demonstrated +its rotation. Our future will be unchanged. The wonders of animal +magnetism, with which I have been familiar since 1820; the beautiful +experiments of Gall, Lavater's successor; all the men who have studied +mind as opticians have studied light--two not dissimilar things--point +to a conclusion in favor of the mystics, the disciples of St. John, +and of those great thinkers who have established the spiritual world-- +the sphere in which are revealed the relations of God and man. + +A sure grasp of the purport of this work will make it clear that I +attach to common, daily facts, hidden or patent to the eye, to the +acts of individual lives, and to their causes and principles, the +importance which historians have hitherto ascribed to the events of +public national life. The unknown struggle which goes on in a valley +of the Indre between Mme. de Mortsauf and her passion is perhaps as +great as the most famous of battles (/Le Lys dans la Vallee/). In one +the glory of the victor is at stake; in the other it is heaven. The +misfortunes of the two Birotteaus, the priest and the perfumer, to me +are those of mankind. La Fosseuse (/Medecin de Campagne/) and Mme. +Graslin (/Cure de Village/) are almost the sum-total of woman. We all +suffer thus every day. I have had to do a hundred times what +Richardson did but once. Lovelace has a thousand forms, for social +corruption takes the hues of the medium in which it lives. Clarissa, +on the contrary, the lovely image of impassioned virtue, is drawn in +lines of distracting purity. To create a variety of Virgins it needs a +Raphael. In this respect, perhaps literature must yield to painting. + +Still, I may be allowed to point out how many irreproachable figures-- +as regards their virtue--are to be found in the portions of this work +already published: Pierrette Lorrain, Ursule Mirouet, Constance +Birotteau, La Fosseuse, Eugenie Grandet, Marguerite Claes, Pauline de +Villenoix, Madame Jules, Madame de la Chanterie, Eve Chardon, +Mademoiselle d'Esgrignon, Madame Firmiani, Agathe Rouget, Renee de +Maucombe; besides several figures in the middle-distance, who, though +less conspicuous than these, nevertheless, offer the reader an example +of domestic virtue: Joseph Lebas, Genestas, Benassis, Bonnet the cure, +Minoret the doctor, Pillerault, David Sechard, the two Birotteaus, +Chaperon the priest, Judge Popinot, Bourgeat, the Sauviats, the +Tascherons, and many more. Do not all these solve the difficult +literary problem which consists in making a virtuous person +interesting? + +It was no small task to depict the two or three thousand conspicuous +types of a period; for this is, in fact, the number presented to us by +each generation, and which the Human Comedy will require. This crowd +of actors, of characters, this multitude of lives, needed a setting-- +if I may be pardoned the expression, a gallery. Hence the very natural +division, as already known, into the Scenes of Private Life, of +Provincial Life, of Parisian, Political, Military, and Country Life. +Under these six heads are classified all the studies of manners which +form the history of society at large, of all its /faits et gestes/, as +our ancestors would have said. These six classes correspond, indeed, +to familiar conceptions. Each has its own sense and meaning, and +answers to an epoch in the life of man. I may repeat here, but very +briefly, what was written by Felix Davin--a young genius snatched from +literature by an early death. After being informed of my plan, he said +that the Scenes of Private Life represented childhood and youth and +their errors, as the Scenes of Provincial Life represented the age of +passion, scheming, self-interest, and ambition. Then the Scenes of +Parisian Life give a picture of the tastes and vice and unbridled +powers which conduce to the habits peculiar to great cities, where the +extremes of good and evil meet. Each of these divisions has its local +color--Paris and the Provinces--a great social antithesis which held +for me immense resources. + +And not man alone, but the principal events of life, fall into classes +by types. There are situations which occur in every life, typical +phases, and this is one of the details I most sought after. I have +tried to give an idea of the different districts of our fine country. +My work has its geography, as it has its genealogy and its families, +its places and things, its persons and their deeds; as it has its +heraldry, its nobles and commonalty, its artisans and peasants, its +politicians and dandies, its army--in short, a whole world of its own. + +After describing social life in these three portions, I had to +delineate certain exceptional lives, which comprehend the interests of +many people, or of everybody, and are in a degree outside the general +law. Hence we have Scenes of Political Life. This vast picture of +society being finished and complete, was it not needful to display it +in its most violent phase, beside itself, as it were, either in self- +defence or for the sake of conquest? Hence the Scenes of Military +Life, as yet the most incomplete portion of my work, but for which +room will be allowed in this edition, that it may form part of it when +done. Finally, the Scenes of Country Life are, in a way, the evening +of this long day, if I may so call the social drama. In that part are +to be found the purest natures, and the application of the great +principles of order, politics, and morality. + +Such is the foundation, full of actors, full of comedies and +tragedies, on which are raised the Philosophical Studies--the second +part of my work, in which the social instrument of all these effects +is displayed, and the ravages of the mind are painted, feeling after +feeling; the first of the series, /The Magic Skin/, to some extent +forms a link between the Philosophical Studies and Studies of Manners, +by a work of almost Oriental fancy, in which life itself is shown in a +mortal struggle with the very element of all passion. + +Besides these, there will be a series of Analytical Studies, of which +I will say nothing, for one only is published as yet--The Physiology +of Marriage. + +In the course of time I purpose writing two more works of this class. +First the Pathology of Social Life, then an Anatomy of Educational +Bodies, and a Monograph on Virtue. + +In looking forward to what remains to be done, my readers will perhaps +echo what my publishers say, "Please God to spare you!" I only ask to +be less tormented by men and things than I have hitherto been since I +began this terrific labor. I have had this in my favor, and I thank +God for it, that the talents of the time, the finest characters and +the truest friends, as noble in their private lives as the former are +in public life, have wrung my hand and said, Courage! + +And why should I not confess that this friendship, and the testimony +here and there of persons unknown to me, have upheld me in my career, +both against myself and against unjust attacks; against the calumny +which has often persecuted me, against discouragement, and against the +too eager hopefulness whose utterances are misinterpreted as those of +overwhelming conceit? I had resolved to display stolid stoicism in the +face of abuse and insults; but on two occasions base slanders have +necessitated a reply. Though the advocates of forgiveness of injuries +may regret that I should have displayed my skill in literary fence, +there are many Christians who are of opinion that we live in times +when it is as well to show sometimes that silence springs from +generosity. + +The vastness of a plan which includes both a history and a criticism +of society, an analysis of its evils, and a discussion of its +principles, authorizes me, I think, in giving to my work the title +under which it now appears--/The Human Comedy/. Is this too ambitious? +Is it not exact? That, when it is complete, the public must pronounce. + + + +PARIS, July 1842 + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext Human Comedy: Introductions & Appendix + diff --git a/old/hciaa10.zip b/old/hciaa10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9bebeaa --- /dev/null +++ b/old/hciaa10.zip |