sixty years of recollections · pdf filee. rach el. — e et e t ege — e s — d

S I X T YHY EA R S

R E C O L L E C T I O N S

BY

M . E R N E S T L E G O U VE0/ the Acau

'

émie-a mis:

TRANSLATED,W ITHNOTES, BY

AL B E RT D VA N D AM

Ti n Ed itor of‘

An Englishman in Paris

IN TWO VOLUMES

V O L . 1 1

5 0 5m R E M I N G T O N

LONDON AND SYDNEY

1 893

ALL ”G IVES ll”l l ? I D

C O N T E N T S

CHAPTER I

Legouvé’s firs t Play.

—How the Idea o f i t was conceived .—The

Development of it.—Prosper Goubaux ,the author of ‘ Trente Ans

ou la Vie d’un Joueur ’ and ‘ Richard Dar l ing ton .

’—Goubaux co llaborates ’ w i th M . Legouvé.

—M. Legouvé’s F i rs t Appearance

be fore the Reading Comm i ttee of the Comedic-Franca i se.—The

Comm i ttee dec l ines the Play.—The Manager of the Vaudev i l le

accepts it.—The Cas t ing of the P lay.—At the Dress Rehearsa l the

Authors conc lude that the P l ay is worth les s —M . Legouvé wri testo that effec t to the Manager, ask ing h im to w i thdraw the Play.

—The Servant forgets to del iver the Letter.—The P iece producedand its Fa i lure.

—The Author prom i ses himsel f to redeem his Nameas a Dramat i s t .—Prosper Goubaux, the Founder o f the Sys tem ofProfess iona l Educat ion i n France —The Pen s ion Sa int-Vi ctor.Goubaux’s Money Tria ls —His In terv iew w i th M . Lafitte—An

I n s igh t i n to a French School .—Goubaux'

s Pupi ls —Why he wrote‘ Trente An s ou la Vie d’un Joueur.’—A Cornei l le o f Melodrama .

—The Succes s of Goubaux’s Play.—He wr i tes another in con

j unct ion w i th Alexandre Dumas —A Glimpse of the Author o f‘ The Three Musketeers .

’- Frédéric Lemaitre—His Sugges tion s

to Authors .—The D i fference between Frédéric Lemaitre and

Ta lma.—A Portra i t o f Lemaitre—Lemaitre and Cas im i r Delav igne.

—Goubaux’s Career as a Tutor.—His F ina l V ictory.—His

Reward at the Hands of the State, 1

CHAPTER I I

A d igress ion on Dramat ic Co l laborat ion —Mme. Legouvé tel ls a Story—HerHusband sees the subject o f a Comedy in it.—He sets towork at once to draw the Plan .

—Opportune arr iva l of GoubauxThey make up thei r m inds to ! co l laborate once more.

—A few

ins tances of Co l laboration . How M . Legouvé and ProsperGoubaux wrote ‘ Lou i se de L ignero l les .

’—A French In terior.The Authors are s to pped by a difficulty —How Authors find thei r

Confen ts

Sen sat iona l Effects and Dénouemen ts .—How M . Legouvé found

his .—A true Story .

—M . Legouvé finds a Letter relat ing to i t amonghis papers and at the same t ime find s his Dénouemen t —A peep atthe Nat iona l Guards in the late Thirt ies —The Dres s Rehearsalsof ‘ Lou i se de Lign erol les .

’—The Prem iere— Success, 46

CHAPTER I I I

The four Pr inc i pa l I n terpreters of ‘ Lou i se de Lignero l les ’

; Md l le.

Mars,Firmin

,and Geffroy Joan n y .

—The comb ined Ages of thetwo Lovers .

-F irm in .- F irm in compared to his Successor ; De

launay.— F irm in ’s Appearan ce and Ga i t .—His Style as compared

to that of Delaunay .

—The Byp lay in Love.

—Avowals Then andNow .

— No more K neel ing at the bel oved Woman ’s feet .— F i rm in ’sWant of Memory .

-His Dev ices to m in im i se the ev i l effects of i t .—His l as t Years and Death .

— Joanny .—His Pecul iar i t ies .

—HisPunctua l i ty.

— Expects the same from his Fel low-Actors .

— ‘ I havea Chicken for D inner which cannot wa i t, etc.

’—His Ante-Theatr icalCareer .—His magn ificen t Style—His Pol i tenes s .

—Geffroy .—M .

Legouvé selects h im to p l ay a part in his P iece in preference tohis older and more exper ienced fel low-actors .

—He becomesFamou s in on e even ing—Mdl le. Mars . Was she Pretty ?’‘ Am I Pretty ?—Beauty On and Off the Stage—Refuses to p layany but Young G ir l ’s Parts .

—Her Reason s . -Her Art is tic Mer i ts .

—Her Love Affa irs —An Anecdote of her Early L i fe—Md l le.

Contat and the B lack Thread s—The Use of S lang on the contemporary s tage .

— Sardou’s firs t Attempt to introduce it.

—Mdl le.

Mars as a Dramat ic Adv i ser. -The Succes s of ‘ Lou i se de Lignerol les .

’—Md l le. Mars afra id of Md l le. Rachel —Her reluctance totel l her Age

—Her las t Years —Her Deathbed .

—Ex i t .— ‘ The

Ru l ing Pass ion s trong in Death,’

74

CHAPTER IV

Eugene Scr ibe—The beginn ing of my fr iend ship w i th h im .—A Letter

to h im and his an swer.— Scr i be’s B irth and Paren tage.—His Schoo l

days and Co l lege Chum s -His beginn ings as a Dramat i s t. -A

s trange Col laborateur.—A s cene from ‘ She Stoops to Conquer ’ inrea l l i fe—How Scr ibe became the owner of Sericourt.—My succes sw i th Lou ise de L ignero l les .

’—A P iece on an Epi sode i n the L i fe ofGenera l Lamarque.

-A qua l ified success —The ba l l s of the Duc deNemours .

—Court Dres s in the fort ies — Scribe wan ts to wr i te amodern p lay for Rachel . -I find the subject .— Scr i be at work .

An E s say on Scr ibe as a Dramat i s t .—Scr i be as a L i bretti s t.— A predicamen t of Dr Veron .

— Scri be converts a dul l tragedy into aspark l ing comedy.

~ —Scr ibe’s S tage Tr icks —His Dénouemen ts .

Con ten tsHis recons truction of two of Mol iere’s dénouemen ts .—Scribe as a

Stage Manager .— Scr i be and Lou i s Ph i l i ppe.-Scr ibe as a Fr iend

and as a Man —Scribe and his Love Affa i rs .

‘ How happy couldbe with ei ther, ’ etc —A Las t Love.

—His Death,

1 02

CHAPTER V

Rachel .—Why Adrienne Lecouvreur was wr i tten .— Rachel changes her

m ind ; the Piece dec l ined by the Comm i ttee o f the Coméd ieFranca ise.

—The Race of Managers to get hold of the Play.

— M .

Legouvé’s determ ination to impose the Play upon Rachel .—His

success — Rachel at Rehearsa l .— An ev i l forebod ing —Rachel ask sM . Legouvé for another P iece.

—He wr i tes it .

—The resul t . -Rachelas a Dramat i c Adv i ser .—Rachel in her True Character .—Her l as tDays

,1 7 2

CHAPTER V I

A Portrai t-Ga l lery .— Samuel Hahnemann , the In ven tor ofHomespathy .

— How I became acqua inted w i th h im .

—Hahnemann and his W i feat my l i ttle Daughter’ s Beds ide.

— A phys ical Portra i t .—His D irect ion s . Throw Phys ic to the Dogs .

’-He pred icts the Cr is i s to a

M inute—He saves my Daughter’s L i fe —The Par i s Facul ty ofMed ic ine d i sgus ted —A Doctor a la Mol iere.

— I t would have beenbetter that thi s l i ttle gi r l should have d ied —The Or igin of Hahnemann ’

s Sys tem—His Language.

—His re l igious Bel ief.— The Sentence under my Daughter’ s Portra i t . -Madame Hahnemann .

—HerH i s tory —Her Fai th in herHus band .

—Hahn eman n ’s D ietary .

-HisDeath at eighty- three.

— Chrét ien Urban .

—An ascet ic M us ic ian .His phys ica l Portra i t .— How he reconc i led his Rel igion w i th hisArt .—He gets a D i spensat ion from the Archbi shop of Pari s top lay i n the Orches tra of the Opéra .

—How he d id p lay .

- A V i s ionand what came of it .

—His V i s i ts to my W i le —A Les son to aLady o f T i tle—His Reverence for the Composer ’s Idea .

—He introduces Schubert to Frenchmen .

— Jean -Jacques Ampere. J eanJacques ’ Father .—Absen tm indednes s of the Father and So n .

Ampere’s persona l_ Belongings .

—The Difference between the

Father and Son in tel lectua l ly , 205

CHAPTER VI I

The Portra i t-Ga l lery con t inued —Two Dramat ic Coun sel lors —Whatcon s t i tutes a Dramat ic Counse l lor —Germa in Delav igne.

-A

Tr io of Suck ing P laywrigh ts .—Scribe an d the two Delav i gn es at

work—Thei r Thursday’s D inners .—An Exchange of Subjec ts —A

W i tt ic ism of Lou is Ph i l i ppe.—M. Mahérault.—Dramatic Coun o

Con ten ts

s ellor an d Art Co l lector .—M . Mahérault’s one Cl ien t .—M. Mahér

au lt’s Father. -The Origin of the Coméd ie-Franca ise of Tod ay.

—The Actors of the o ld Comédie-Franca i se dur ing the Reign ofTerror .—The D ifficul ties of con s ti tut ing the Comédie-Franca i se.

Counc i l ’s Opin ion .—The Way i t is Received .

—V irgi l ’s Tim id i ty.

—A French Counterpart of S i r Fretfu l P lagiary. - Scr ibe's Way ofaccept ing Adv ice—An Anecdote of Gouv ion Sa in t-Cyr .—How theAbbé was in troduced into ‘ Adr ienne Lecouvreur. ’ — Mahérault

’

s

Pass ion for the Drama .

—Mahérault as an Art Co l lector.—The Sa leof his Co l lect ion . I f after Death the Shades can feel

,

’2 3 1

CHAPTER V I I I

The Portra i t Ga l lery con t inued — M . Et ienne de Jouy,the Father of

the Par i s ian Chron ique.—The Salon of M. de Jouy .

—M . de Jouyas a Benedict . —Md l le. de Jouy, afterwards Mme. Boudonville.

M . de Jouy’s Gues ts .—M . de Jouy

’s Talen t for Parody.

—M. de

Jouy as a L i bret t is t and Dramat i s t.—A Gl impse of Talma .-The

Libret to of ‘ La Vesta le.

’—A F i rs t G l impse of Meyerbeer.—TheL i bretto of ‘ Gu i l laume Tel l ’ suggested ‘

by Mme. Boudonville.

I n tended for Meyerbeer — A S i lhouette of Ro s s in i , 2 57

CHAPTER IX

The Portrai t Gal lery cont inued .— Lamartine.

—Lamartin e’

s Pr ide.His Man ias .

- Lamartine’s opin ion of him sel f and of La Fon ta ine.His op in ion of Ros s in i .— Beranger’s opin ion of on e of Lamartin e’sPoem s . Lamartin e

’

s k indnes s . As a S tatesman .His firs tappearance in the Chamber .—His wonderfu l capac i ty for graspinga Subject . —His hatred of the Napoleon ic Legend —His Prophecyw i th regard to the ul timate resul t of it.— Lamartine and an Anecdoteof Turner, the Pa in ter .— How ‘ l

’Histoire des G i rond in s ’ was composed .

—Lamart ine goes to see an o ld Member of the Conven tion .

Lamartin e’s Impecun ios i ty.

—The Revolution of ’48 .—A Gl impse of

a Revo lutionary .

— Lamartine at the Hotel -de-V i l le.

—Lamart inem isj udged —Madame de Lamart ine.

—Her Devotion .

—Lamartin e’s

Funeral , a 2 73

CHAPTER X

The Portra i t-Ga l lery con t inued .—Beranger.—My firs t meeting wi th him .His pos i t ion in the World of Letters —His moral courage - The

Athei sm of the XVI l I th cen tury and ours .— Beranger ’s Rel igiousSen t iments .

—His adm i rat ion for the L i terature of Greece —Hisinfluence over Great Men .

—Whence i t sprang —His W i t . —Hisl ove of poor peop le and of young people.

—Th ree Letters, 309

SIXTY YEARS OF RECOLLECTIONS

CHAPTER I

Legouvé’s firs t Play.

—How the Idea of i t was conceived —TheDevel opmen t of it.—Prosper Goubaux ,

the author of ‘ Tren te An sou la Vie d ’un Joueur ’ and ‘ R ichard Dar l ing ton .

’— Goubaux ‘ co llaborates ’ w i th M . Legouvé

— M. Legouvé’s F irs t Appearance

before the Read ing Comm i ttee of the Coméd ie-Franca i se.

— The

Comm i ttee dec l ines the Play.— The Manager of the Vaudev i l le

accepts it.— The Cas ting of the Play .

— At the Dres s Rehearsal theAuthors conc lude that the P lay is worth les s —M . Legouvé wr i testo that effec t to the Manager, ask ing him to w i thdraw the Play .

—The Servan t forgets to del iver the Letter.—The P iece prod ucedand it s Fa i lure.

—The Author prom i ses h imsel f to redeem his Nameas a Dramat i s t .— Prosper Goubaux

,the Founder of the Sys tem of

Profess iona l Educat ion i n France —The Pen s ion Sa int-V i ctor .Goubaux’s Money Trials —His I n terv iew w i th M . Laffitte.

—An

I ns igh t i n to a French Schoo l .—Goubaux ’

s Pupi ls —Why he wroteTren te An s ou la Vie d ’un Joueur. ’— A Cornei l le of Mel odrama .

—The Succes s o f Goubaux’s Play .—He wri tes another in con

junct ion w i th Alexandre Dumas .-A Gl imps e of the Author of

‘ The Three Musketeers .

’- Frédéric Lemaitre —His Sugges t ion s

to Authors .— The D ifference between Frédéric Lemaitre and

Talma .—A Portra i t o f Lemaitre — Lemaitre and Cas im i r Delav igne.

—Goubaux’s Career as a Tutor .—His F ina l Victory —HisReward at the Hands of the State.

I

ON E morn ing whi le we were stay ing in the country

I was tak ing a strol l with my w ife and o ne ofmyVOL. I I A

2 S ix ty Years of Recollection s

dearest friends , Prosper Goubaux ,the author of

‘ R i chard Darl ington ,’ and ‘ Trente Ans ou la Vie

d ’un Joueur,

’ when al l of a sudden there flashed upon

me a tit le which s eemed to me to contain a fi t subject

fo r a comedy La Marche d’

un Secret . ’

I had no intention of im itating La Fontaine in

showing a secret trave l l ing from mouth to mouth and

gett ing magn ified in i ts progress . Not at al l . I was

tempted by a more profound idea ; I wanted to de

velop the‘ physio logy of ind iscretion

,

’ I wanted to

dramatise the various motives which cause us to d is

close a secret that has been confided to us .

The action of the piece was laid in the Pyrenees .

I t began with the conversat ion of two young fe l lows

of twenty . On e of thes e has j ust returned from his

fi rst appointment with a married woman ; his happiness

posit ively cho kes him ; he confides everything to -his

friend,because he finds i t impossible to hold his

tongue,because every young fe l low of twenty who is

in love or thinks he i s must necessari ly have a co n

fidan t i t i s the ‘ indi scretion of love and youth .

’

As a matter of course,his friend has sworn to keep

the secret . Unfortunate ly the friend is also in love,

but with a widow who keeps h im at arm ’s length .

She has got scent of the affai r and wants to know al l

about i t and insi sts upon her admirer tel l ing her.He objects he knows nothing about i t,but she

becomes very pres s ing.He refuses to surrender.She su lks or pretends to su lk .

S zlrtjf Years of Recollection s 3

‘ You do n o t care for me,

’

she says ;‘ i f y ou d id , y ou

would te l l me everything i f y ou did te l l me, i t would

prove your fai th in me,and who knows but that I

might be grateful i n my own way .

’

The bait held out is too tempting,the young

fe l low loses h is head and te l l s her everything . I t i s

the indes cretio n of egoism .

’

The young fe l low te l l s

the secret confided to him . I had conce ived a rather

pretty ending to that scene. As soon as the young

fe l low had parted with the whole of the secret,the

charming widow was supposed to rise from her seat

and d ismiss h im with a smi le, saying , My dear s i r,

heaven preserve me from entrust ing my honour to

a man who cannot keep the secret of a freind .

’

Thi rd stage. What wi l l the widow do with the

secret she has dragged from the young fe l low ? I t i s

de l ightfu l weather and al l the rest of the vis i tors at

Cauterets are out in the open ai r and enj oying them

se lves . She is alone with a gouty uncle who is s ome

what deaf besides .How i s she to spend her day,how

is she to get through the weari some hours ? ‘ I f I

told the story to my uncle? No , no , that wou ld be too

bad ofme. St i l l , i t m ight amuse him . Besides,I can

eas i ly keep back the names,I can even say that i t

happened at Bagneres ins tead ofat Cauterets . Upon

my word ,I fai l to s ee the harm of i t

,and I must do

something to amuse the poor o ld man .

’

She tel l s h im

everything and the th i rd phase of the play is ind is

cretion from weariness . ’ At night , al l the visi tors


have come back to Cauterets,they are assembled at

the Casino i n the reading and drawing- room,and

,as a

matter of course,there i s a good deal of desu l to ry

conversat ion . I think I must tel l you a story,

’ says

the uncle al l of a sudden . I n vain does the niece tug

at the ski rt of his coat to make him hold his tongue.

‘ Don ’t worry yourse l f,

’

he answers in a low voice.

I ’ l l ve i l the story careful ly.

’ And so wel l does he

ve i l i t that after five minutes everyone has recogn ised

the hero of the tale,and one of his l isteners gets up

saying Al low me to remind you,monsieur

,that you

have forgotten the most essential th ing in your story

— the name of the husband . I am the husband .

’

Goubaux was de l ighted with the subject. We

drew out the p lan of the p iece during the evening,I

wrote i t during the n ight and nex t morn ing we wrote

to the Comédie-Francaise,ask ing leave to read to the

Committee a piece i n on e act,entitled ,

‘ Le Sole i l

Couchant. ’

A few weeks later we are i n the presence of that

terrib le Committee which at that time was not what

i t i s to -day,a kind of counci l of ten stol id and mute

l ike j udges,making the author feel l ike a prisoner on

his trial . The actresses,even the young ones , were

present and the i r being there,threw a cheerfu l note

into the proceedings. They laughed at the com ic

scenes , they wept at the pathet ic ones, the bri l l ian t

passages of a play were applauded , i n short i t was a

kind . of ‘ undress ’ rehearsal which enl ightened the

S ix ty Years of Recollection s 5

author with regard to the weak o r strong points of

his piece,even the s i lence that fel l upon the l isteners

now and then served as a lesson . I am bound to say

that during the read ing ofthat particu lar piece i t was

the on ly lesson conveyed to me. I t l asted for an

hour during which I read with al l the warmth , with

al l the conviction of an author of twenty- n ine. I

fai led to produce a s ingle effect,n o t one

,and the

final resu l t was twelve b lack bal l s . The piece was

refused unan imously. I had gone back to the

country,and was try ing to get over my fai lure as

best I cou ld when'

I rece ived a short note from

Goubaux .

‘ The Committee of the Comédie- Francaise does

not know what i t i s about . I have read our piece to

Etienne Arago,the clever manager of the Vaudevi l le.He th inks i t very amusing.He is going to put i t

into rehearsal immediate ly ; he is going to cast i t

with the best ofhis company Bardou,that ex cel lent

Bardou,wi l l play the uncle

,pretty Mme. Thenard , the

widow,and for o n e ofthe lovers , he i s going to engage

a young fel low o n whom he bui lds great hopes .Hisname is Brindeau

,and I am told that he is very

good - looking and has a n ice voice. I ’ l l wri te him a

song fo r his fi rst entrance,i t wi l l s et him off al l the

better. Does that su i t y ou?’ I f i t su ited me ?

Three weeks later I came up from the country to be

present at the final rehearsal . I n those days the

Vaudevi l le theatre was in the Rue de Chartres . The


rehearsal begins,the chief of the claqueurs was seated

nex t to me . When the rehearsal was over,he said

,

I t i s not very s trong,your piece

,but we may manage

to pick two or three good things out of it . ’ I leave

the theatre,and in the middle of the Place du Palais

Royal, Goubaux ,

a friend whom he had brought to

the rehearsal and I stand stock sti l l and stare fix edly

at on e another.

What do y ou think of i t ?’ I ask .

‘ What do I think of i t,

’

ex claims Goubaux .

‘ I

th ink i t abominable.

’

That ’s what I th ink .

’

‘ And I too,

’ adds the friend .

‘ I f I had had a key

handy,I would have used it as a catcal l . Don ’t let

them play the piece i f you can he lp i t. ’He i s right,

’ says Goubaux .

‘We l l,I ’ l l take i t upon myse l f to go and see Arago

and to te l l h im that we withdraw the piece.

’

Nex t morn ing at ten I rang the bel l at Arago’s ;

i t was the cook who opened the door.

Monsieur has gone to take a bath,

’

she says .‘ Can I wri te to h im ?’

‘ Monsieur wi l l find pen and paper on that table.

’

I wrote to Arago as fol lows

‘ MY D EAR D I RECTOR,—Thi s letter w i l l show you what you have

probab ly never met w i th i n the course of your managemen t,namely

two authors who found thei r piece s o utterly bad at rehearsal that theyprefer to w i thdraw i t. Pray con s ider our Solei l Couchan t Setting

as a “ Solei l Couché ” ( “ A Sun that has s et — S incerelyYours

,

E . Lecouv s .

’

S ixty Years of Recollection s 7

Having written which , I repair to Goubaux’

s as fas t

as my legs wi l l carry me,and we rush into o ne

another’

s arms l i ke people who have j ust awakened

from a n ightmare.

The second day after that I leave home at e leven

in the morn ing and whi le strol l i ng along,happen to

cas t my ey e o n a p lay bi l l s tuck against a wal l . Ye

gods l ‘ To - n ight, First Performance of Le Sole i l

Couchant.”

I f a hundred thousand cand les had suddenly been

l ighted,nay

,i f the sun himsel f had concentrated al l his

beams on me,I cou ld not have fe l t more dazed . Of

course there and then I rush to Arago ’s . The same

cook opens the door and utters a l oud cry o n seeing

me.

‘ Great heavens ! ’ she ex c la imed,

‘ I forgot,

monsieur , to give your letter. There i t is,monsieur.

Don ’t te l l master,monsieur

,I ’d get such a scold ing.

’

The mischief had been done,there seemed to be a

kind offate about i t ; the best thing was to let matters

take thei r course and to wait. I n the even ing I go

and hide myse l f i n a box on the thi rd tier whi le

Goubaux brave ly goes down to the stage to support

our t roops. The fi rst scene,that between the young

fel lows confiding thei r love affai rs to o ne another,

went very we l l . Encouraged by this favourable be

g inn ing , I al so go down to the stage. Bardou ‘ was

o n .

’

The pub l ic laugh at some of his l ines and when

he‘ comes off

,

’

he says : ‘

I t’

s al l right, my lads , I’

ve

go t my publ ic in hand .

’ At the se l fsame moment a

8 S ixty Years of Recollection s

faint , though strident sound , for which I can find no

name,fal l s upon my ear.

What ’s that ?’ I ask .

That,

’ repl ies Goubaux,that’s a catcal l . ’

I s i t ?’

The sound had been provoked by Brin deau’

s song .He was singing out of tune and they were hiss inghim . I immed iate ly d isappeared and went back to

my box . I d id not go down again,but from that

moment the hissing went on un interruptedly. I have

never heard the l i ke in my l i fe. There were regular

d ialogues between the actors and the publ ic . On e of

the latter had a newspaper in his hand . Give us the

news from Spain ,’ they cried from the pit. Goubaux

’

s

three d aughters were i n an open box and simply

shrieked with l aughter. I n about twenty m inutes

I turned tai l in the most cowardly fashion . Goubaux

stood at the w1ngs , waiting for the actors to come off,

and hold ing out h is arms to them ,l ike they carry the

wounded off the battle-field . My dear,good friends

,

my dear,good friends

,

’

he said to each and al l ,‘we

real ly beg your pardon for having given you such ex

ecrable parts.’ I wish someone would get me some

th ing to drink,

’ said Bardou The p iece i s over the i r

heads,

’ murmured Mdl le . Thenard . Over the i r heads

or not,the curtain had to be let down in the middle

ofit

The papers said that the piece was by two men of

wit,who would assuredly take the i r revenge on some


future occas ion . I rece ived seven francs,fifty cen

t imes for my author’

s fees . Nex t morn ing I said to

Goubaux‘The nex t t ime I am knocked about l ike

that,my dear fe l low,

i t wi l l be at the Comédie- Fran

gaise, and with a five-act p iece.

’

Two years later, on the 6 th of june , 1 838, the cur

tain rose upon Lou ise de Lignerol les,

’ by Goubaux

and mysel f. Mdl le . Mars was the chief interpreter

and the piece brought me more than seven francs

fifty centimes .

The reader has al ready been enabled to j udge

Goubaux,from the scene at the wings of the Vaude

vi l le Theatre. A dramat ic au thor who in the midst

ofa fai lure pities his interpreters instead of reproach

ing them,tries to comfort instead of accusing them .

and apolog i ses for having given them bad parts,an

author who does al l that,paints as i t were his own

portra i t,without the hel p of anyone e l se. Neverthe

less,this is only a profi le

,fo r Goubaux had two pro

fessions,two profess ions s o utterly opposed to o ne

another as to ex clude apparently the possib i l i ty of

the i r ever going hand in hand, y et, he proved himsel f

as eminent in both as i f he had exerc ised but o ne.He was a dramatic author and a tutor. As a d ra

mat ic author he ranks foremost among orig inal

wri ters . As a professor he ranks among the publ ic

benefactors . France is i ndebted to him fo r a new

I o S ix ty Years of Recollection s

system of education . Yet,of th is dual ex i stence , so

frui tfu l i n resu lts,what does there remain ? Not even

a name,and s carce ly a recol lection .His dramas are

publ ished under a ps eudo nym of two syl lables, the

l ast of which only be longs to him ; (D inaux ) . His

educational work bears another name than his .Heought to have been doubly famous

,he i s unknown .

I t i s th is unknown man whom I would l ike the

reader to know i t is th is richly endowed and power

ful ly organ ised be ing in his fi fty years ’ struggle with

evi l fortune I would l i ke to sketch . Few men have

been more richly endowed by nature,and worse

treated by fate than Prosper Goubaux . The o n e

bestowed lavishly , the other grudged everything

mos t pers istently. The most crue l trials,the most

insuperable obstacles uprose before him at every step .

We l l,i t seems scarce ly cred ible

,but when endeavour

ing to place my finger upon the most characteri st ic

trai t of this man who laboured-

and suffered so much,

I can on ly find i t in that l ine of La Fontaine

‘ Et le don d ’agréer infus avec la vie.

’

Without a doubt his manly qual i t ies were to the ful l

as great as those mere ly ca lcu lated to please . I n

add ition to h is innate grace he possessed energy,

perseverance, an i ndom itable fai th neverthe less,with

him the power to please made i tse l f fel t beyond

everything , clothed everything,mingled with every

thing and final ly determined everything. Whence

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1 2 S ix ty Years of Recollection s

who are within an ace of be ing famous and who on

closer ex aminat ion turn out to be almost med iocre.

Altogether d ifferent i s a certain order of inte l lects,

which,l ike the sun on certain days

,rise upon the

horizon bereft of the i r halo and which shed more heat

than l ight. Those who only know them by the i r

works,only know them partly

,for the real book in

which to read them is thei r m ind,the i r heart

,the i r

conversation,the i r l i fe. What then has prevented

them giving the world the i r whole measure,what

have been the i r defects ? The defect was that they

had a few good qual i ties too many. God endowed

them with too l iberal a hand they were too fond of

too many things,they were apt at too many things .

The i r almost un iversal apti tude cons tantly impe l led

them to undertake different works,the publ ic gasped

for breath in trying to fol low them ; i n some in

stances they , the in te l lects , were weighed down by the

sombre motto of Bernard Palis s ey Poverty prevents

great minds from gett ing on .

’

Such was Goubaux .He was of mos t humble ex tract ion . His mother

kept a mercer’s shop in the Rue du Rempart, c lose to

the Theatre-Fran gais and which street has s ince then

disappeared . His chi ldhood was more than beset

with trials,i t was absolute ly unhappy ; a harsh and

even cruel stepfather wie lded his parental authori ty

ty ran ically ,and converted i t in to a martyrdom to the

chi ld who suffered from it , though wonderfu l to re

S ix ty Years of Recollection s 1 3

l ate,ne i ther his heart n or mind was affected by i t.

Fo r s ix years he was maltreated wi thout becoming

i l l - natured h imsel f ; for s ix years he ben t to the storm

w ithout becoming weak ; fo r s ix years he trembled

w ithout becoming a coward .His fi rst mental v ictory

was a wonderful ex p lo i t in i tse l f.He was more thann ine years o ld , I bel ieve, and he scarcely knew his

alphabet ; he refused to learn to read .His motherresorted to a very ingen ious trick to make him . She

too k a volume of stories and began to read h im on e.

The ardent imagination of the chi ld was de l ighted

with that beg inn ing , but al l at once , in the middle

ofthe story , when the mother had her smal l l i stener,

the playw right that was to be,under her spel l

,she

closed the book , saying :‘ I f you wish to know the

rest,you ’ l l have to read i t for yourself. ’ Eleven

days afterwards he read i t.

Having entered col lege on an ex hib i t ion,he made

such bri l l iant progress as to attain i n his own form

an honour,shared about the same t ime by two men

who have become eminent,M . Cousin and M . Vi l le

main . I n the absence of the professor, Goubaux

took his chai r n ow'

and then,and became the

teacher ofhis fel low pupi l s. From that moment he

displayed a dual qual i ty rare ly to be met with.Heseemed as fi t to teach as to learn . That un iversal

facul ty of comprehens ion , that marve l lous luc id ity of

inte l lect wh ich made the study of languages as easy

to him as that of sc ience ; his vast knowledge of

I 4 S ix ty Years of Recollection s

history as we l l as of mus ic,al l thes e were imported

by him into his sys tem of teaching . A born teacher

as i t were , he taught so natural ly , with so l i ttle effort,

and with such genu ine e loquence that the same

facu lty showed i tse l f i n h is pupi l s ; they could not

very wel l pretend to a d ifficu l ty to understand that

which he ex plained with so l i ttle difficu lty . The

clearness of inte l lect assumed with him the character

is tic which seems sole ly reserved for kindness,i t

became contagious . I n addition to this,he dearly

loved everything that cou ld be taught,he dearly

loved al l those to whom he could teach something .

I t was d ifficul t to resi st him . One becomes forc ibly

a good pupi l when the heart of a friend o bviously

hovers on the l ips of a teacher.He was fortunate i n getting a number of les son s,

fo r at n ineteen he was a married man , and at twenty

a father.He has o ften to ld me that,i n order to in

crease his modest budget , he went several t imes a

month to look after the books of a lottery agency

whence he returned at two in the morn ing,s inging

and clanking his stick on the flags to n es with a con

quering ai r, he had earned two francs and his supper.

Neverthe les s , a few years later, he was indebted to

that intel lect , which , without ex aggeration,might be

termed marve l lous , for a proposal which was almos t

equivalent to a fortune. A clever busines s man cal led

upon him . Mons ieur ,’

he said ,‘ you have a great

deal of learn ing and I happen to have none at al l ;

S ixty Years of Recollection s 1 5

but you have no money whatever,and I happen to

have some . Suppose we were to enact Florian in prose,

suppose we were to real ise the fable of the Bl ind and

the Halt. Let us go in to partnership and open a

board ing- school . Each wi l l bring his own capi ta l to

the concern— you , your inte l l igence I my money , and

we ’l l share the profi ts . The offer was eagerly ac

cepted ,and the St-Victor board ing school opened to

the de l ight ofthe young professor, who found himsel f

at the head of an importan t. establ i shment . Never

theles s,the purchase of the furn i tu re and the house

i tsel f had run away with a great deal of money,an

other partner had to be cal led in , and as a las t pay

ment,a bi l l of francs at s ix months had to be

given . There were two signatories to i t,though

,i n

real i ty,only o ne was respons ible

,and Goubaux was

highly amused at having to give his signature ; he

fe l t rather pleased than otherwi se at the idea that his

name was supposed to be worth francs,i t gave

him an ai r of commerc ial importance which flattered

his sense ofd ignity .

At the end ofthe s ix months,o n the eve of the bi l l

becoming due, his co - s ignatory d isappeared and the

young fe l low had to face that enormous debt , without

a penny to meet i t .His state ofmind may easi ly be

imag ined , though he himsel f fai led to grasp at fi rs t

the ex tent ofhis misfortune ,for these francs

were the bane of his whole after l ife. A debt of

francs does n ot seem very formidable ; in


real i ty,i t may mean a burden of two

,three or four

hundred thousand francs ; i t i s an unholy pact with

usury ; I have known Goubaux to borrow money at

1 8 per cent . I t means days and prodigious menta l

efforts spent in renewing a bi l l , i t means a super ior

i ntel lect,intended for better th ings

,drain ing its ener

gies in order to ex orcise the l aw officia l armed with

a stamped document, i n order to escape from some

brutal threat,i n order to substi tute o ne cred i tor for

another ; i t means a constant and ever i ncreasing

terror at the approach of the last day of the month,

i t means the necess i ty of having to break one ’s

promise a score of t imes ; i t means constant re

proaches from some quarter or other, s leepless n ights ,

desperate comb inat ions , i t means, i n one word,the

worst and most horrible s lavery— the servi tude of debt.

No doubt,Goubaux might , l i ke many others and

with greater j ust ificat ion , have fi led his pet it ion,for

he was being pun ished whi le perfectly innocent . But

he was five-and - twenty, chival rous and honourable to

a degree ; he fel t confident of his strength and in telli

gence and he had signed his name . Hence,he took

an oath to himse l f that he would pay and pay he d id,

but i t took him forty - four years to pay those

francs,and when he died the last i nstalment of the

debt had only been discharged a few weeks .

The fi rst cris i s i n that long struggle was terrible.

On e day he thought himse l f lost ; he had to pay

francs within the nex t twenty- fou r hours,and


he had not a lou is towards them . That terrible

word bankruptcy,the very sound of which rent h is

heart and made his l ips grow pale, he would have

to utter i t.He had taken refuge with some of his

relat ions in a room o n a fifth story ; they were

s imply d issolved in tears , and mad with despai r.He alone d id not despai r ; he was sti l l devis ing

means to avert the cris is . At that very moment a

carriage pass ing be low shook the windows of the

poorly furn ished apartment. ‘ Oh,those carriage

people,those rich egotists

,

’

ex claims on e of the

company,

‘ and to think that ’ to the man who is

seated in that carriage those francs wou ld

be a mere nothing, and y et, i f we were to ask him

or his l i ke to lend them to us , they would n o t lend

us 500 francs.’

'

At these words,Goubaux looks up .

Some on e . was preferring a charge against man kind

i n general , and that seemed an inj ust ice to him .

Why should y ou censure that ri ch man who happens

to be passing be low ,and whom y ou do n ot know ?’

he repliesfHow do you know but that he mighthelp me i f he knew ofmy trouble ?’ ‘ That i s ex

actly l i ke y ou and your unbearable opt im ism ,

’ i s the

answer. ‘ My Optim ism,as y ou choose to cal l i t

,i s

only s o much equ i ty or sound sense .

’ ‘

Sound sense,

y ou say . You have appl ied to a score of people,

every o ne of whom has refused y ou.

’ ‘ They could

no t he lp me .

’ ‘We l l , the one who drove by in his

carriage could help y ou,j ust go and ask him to do

VOL. 1 1 B


s o,and s ee what he ’ l l say.

’ ‘ Very we l l,

’

ex claims

Goubaux,

‘ I ’ l l go ,i f not to him ; at an y rate, to

someone who is as rich as he,and whom I .know

no more than I know him,and who wi l l not refuse

me.

’ ‘ You are mad .

’ ‘We’l l s ee about that . ’

With which he rushes home,snatches up a pen and

writes. To whom,do you think ? To M . Laffitte

whom he had never seen,and to whom he te l l s i n a

few words But I had better give the letter

verbatim

‘ MONSIEUR ,— I am five-and-twen ty,the father of three ch i ldren .

I am an hones t and honourab le man and peop le have to ld me that I amnot w i thout talen t. My spotles s n ame has been used as a mean s ofspeculat ion

,to found an es tab l i shmen t . I am being crushed by a debt

of twelve thousand fran cs and in three days I ’l l s tand d i sgraced beforethe world . When al l appeal to one’s fel l ow men has been in va in

,on e

general ly appeals to Prov idence, I appea l to you . M . Delan n eau whohas as i t were adopted me, w i l l tel l you that a favour so l ic i ted so frank lymay be gran ted wi th confidence. I t is the honourab le poor man whoappeals to the honourab le r ich man .

‘ My fate depend s on you . I am awa i t ing your an swer in your antechamber . My fam i ly is wa i ting some d i s tance from here. Have I presumed too far ?I have the honour to be, etc .

,

‘ P . GOU BAUX.

’

M . Laffitte told the servant to show him in and care

fu l ly looked at his vis i tor whose letter had impressed

him . The unmistakable honesty of Goubaux ’

s face

impressed him sti l l more , and five minutes later the

principal of the board ing school was saved for the

t ime being.

Only for the t ime being , nex t day the struggle had

to be begun afresh , for, first of al l,he had to pay


ignomin iously there and then . They te l l h im that i t

i s the assistant head -master,at which Goubaux turns

very pale and remains si lent for a moment or so .

‘ Al l right,

’

he says at last i n a subdued tone which

betrays both his anger and confusion ;‘ al l right

,go

back to the school room,I wi l l speak to him .

’

Why this change of tone,why this sudden subs id

ence,why this confusion ? Why? Because that man

was his creditor,who had lent him a considerable

sum of money at a cri t ical moment and on the con

d ition of entering the establ ishment as assistant

head -master. And Goubaux had no right to d ism iss

him . Goubaux was compe l led to stifle his indigna

tion,his kindness

,his fee l ing of justice

,his feel ing of

duty.He was compel led to manage with fai r wordsthis savage brute who was not only crue l but in cap

able besides. On e may easi ly imagine Goubaux’

s

feel ings under the ci rcumstances .

But let us inqu ire for a moment what would have

been the resu l t of a s im i lar s ituation in another insti

tution of the same kind ? What would have been

the feel ings , the behaviour of the two pupi ls and the i r

fe l lows face to face with this den ial of j ustice ? A

violent i rri tation , a feel ing of ind ignation against the

head of the establ i shment,whom they would have

accused of crue l ty and of weakness. What did Gou

baux’

s pupi l s do ? They simply pit ied him . On e of

them who knew the posi t ion ofaffai rs,who was aware

of his financial d ifficu l ties told the others,and thei r

S ix ty Years of Recollection s . 2 1

anger changed into commiserat ion,they became i f

possible,more affect ionate towards him . Poor man

,

’

they said,

‘ how he must suffer at n o t be ing able to

protect us,how i t must grieve h im to be able only to

defend us part ly.

’ This seems s o utterly incredible ,

that I should have hes i tated to repeat the words,

were I n o t in a posi t ion to name my informan t. I

have them from the l ips of one of Goubaux’

s o ld

pupi ls,from on e of the two victims of the assistant

head -master’s brutal i ty,from o ne ofour most bri l l iant

col leagues,M . Edmond Co ttin et, who n o t only told

me the fact,but added some characteri st ic detai ls.

Sure ly,

’

he said,

‘the Saint-Victor establ ishment

left much to desi re,the food was i nd i fferent, order and

d isc ipl ine were consp icuous by the i r absence, the

masters were often harsh and unj ust, but M . Goubaux

was there and his presence made up for everyth ing.

Would y ou be l ieve,that o n on e occasion when my

mother,annoyed at someth ing that had happened at

the school,wanted to take me away, I pos i t ively re

fused to be taken . I t'

Would ' grieve M . Goubaux ,

” I

answered . No t once,but a hundred times , when our

discontent was at its h ighest and we were perfectly

ripe for resistance, our anger van ished at the mere

s ight ofhis com ing into the room to take the place of

the ord inary master.He spoke s o wel l and had such

a fine vo ice. Everyth i ng he said went straight to

one’

s heart and m ind .He could make us cry o r

laugh o r think just as he l iked . And when he was

2 2 S ix ty Years of Recollections

gone, the memory of that hour was sufficient to make

us put up cheerful ly for a week with bad food and

bad masters. Moreover, we were very proud ofhis

success as a playwright. At the premieres of his

pieces,there were always hal f-a-dozen of us on the

field of battle,applauding frantical ly. His triumphs

were vi rtual ly our own . I n short,to this day

,after

a lapse of forty years,i t does me good to talk of M .

Goubaux , and I wi l l tel l you a story which wi l l st i l l

further prove the spel l he ex ercised over everyone.

H is e ldest daughter had reached the age of twenty,

but she had no marriage port ion . A d istingu ished

professor,and very wel l off to boot

,asked for her

hand . Why ? Of course you would say because he

cared for her. That was no doubt on e of the reasons ;

but the princ ipal reason was his admi ration for Gou

baux .He married the daughter for the pleasure of

cal l i ng M . Goubaux father- in

M . Co ttin et’

s words have opportunely reminded me

of Goubaux’

s other profess ion,of h is second sel f

wh ich agreed so wel l with h is fi rst. I used to cal l

h im jocularly ‘ Maitre He often beganthe scene of a drama on a sheet of paper headed‘ Pens ion Saint-Victor ’ ; he now and then repl ied

to a letter connected with his scholast i c duties whi le

lean ing against a w ing,and his author’s fees fre

The French equ ivalen t for our ‘ Jack o f al l trades,

’ though the des ignat ion i n French does n ot neces sar i ly imp ly that the person thusdes ignated is ‘ mas ter of none.

’—TR.


quently went to replen ish the empty ex chequer ofthe

schoolmaster. To whom d id he owe the p laywr ight ’s

talent ? To o ne of those acc idents ofwhich his ex

is ten ce was s o fu l l and which were at the same t ime

the work ofProv idence and ofhis own . Providence

afforded him the opportun ity,he embraced i t .

I I I

Goubaux loved almost everything,understood

everything,and fe l t an interest i n everything ; hence

he fe l t an in terest in the drama j ust as he fe l t an

interest i n everything e l se ; I might say a greater

interest than he fe l t i n anything e l se. A man g i fted

with a fert i le imag ination l i ke his has necessari ly a

strong l ik ing for works of fiction . One day when

d in ing with some friends , the conversation turned

on the drama An an imated discussion ensued

about the un ities of time and p lace. One of the

guests , an uncomprom ising c lass ic ist, contended that

the princip le of confin ing the action of a stage play

to a pe riod of twenty- four hours was n o t due to the

mere whim of one l i terary legis lator, that compl iance

with th is salutary injunct ion was one of the foremost

cond i t ions of success . ‘ A p iece, the action ofwh ich

would ex tend over a twelvemonth could n ot poss ibly

have any interest. ’

N0 in terest ,’ repl ied Goubaux with that dash and

bri l l iancy wh ich invested his conversat ion with such

a charm,

‘

n o i nterest because i t would ex tend over


a twelvemonth ? Why,i f i t ex tended over th irty

twe lvemonths i t would be al l the more interesting.

’

‘ Ha,ha, over th irty years ,

’

ex claimed his inter

locutor,

‘ i t would be as Boi leau says

Enfan t nu prem ier acte et barbon nu dern ier .

Ex actly ; a ch i ld i n the fi rst act,and an old man

in the last. That’

s ex actly where the i nterest would

lie,i n the change t ime works in al l th ings human ;

i n men ’s fortunes , i n men’s characters

,i n men ’s faces

and figures ; nay , even in men’s souls

,i n the gradual

and quasi fatal evolution of the good and evi l

pass ions . ’

‘ The theory sounds tempting enough ; what about

the pract ice ?’

The practice,’ repeated the playwright that was to

be,gett ing on his mettle by be ing contrad icted , I

'

l l

wager to write a piece the act ion of wh ich wi l l ex

tend over th irty years and which wi l l make you

shudder and cry.

’

You wri te a piece. But you have never wri tten a

p iece i n your l i fe.

’

‘ Al l the more reason to make a begmnmg.

’ And

a few months afterwards he read them the scenario

of what became the most popular drama of the

period . Trente ans ou la vie d ’un joueur.*He had

written the piece as he would have done anything

e l se, because the Opportun ity for doing i t presented

a The vers ion bes t known in Eng land is Rouge‘

et No i r ’ p layed bythe late M . Fech ter dur ing his les seeshi p of the Lyceum Theatre—TR .

S ix ty Years of Recollection 2 5

i tsel f. The moment he was i n need of a certain

talent,he had i t

,and there was an end of the

th ing.

When the p iece was fin ished,he had to find a

manager to play i t.He was told to sol ic i t the co l

labo ratio n ofVictor D ucange, one ofthe most famous

melodramatists ofthe t ime. On e morn ing , therefore ,

he cal l s upon the man , who nodded complacently ,

and wi th a sm i le when they addressed h im as the

Corne i l le of the Boulevards . ‘ The work shows the

hand of a novice,

’ says D ucange, after hav ing heard

the p lay,but there are a good many interesting th ings

in i t. What i t real ly wants i s a prologue,and I ’ l l

look to that. I t is n ot enough,young man

,to be able

to cook a good d inner,o n e must al so know how to

lay the cloth .

’

A few days later Victor D ucange showed the pro

logue to Goubaux,who as a un iversi ty man and

professor could'

n o t help notic ing sundry start l ing

l iberties the author had taken with grammar and

syntax .He ventured to po int them out in a t im id

way .

‘ My dear mons ieur,the fact that i t is I who have

wr i tten th i s must and w i l l suffice.

’

Goubaux d id no t

say another word .

The fi rst performance produced a tremendous

effect. Al l the former ru les of dramatic composit ion

toppled over l ike the wal l s ofjericho at the sound of

the t rumpet . A new road had been opened and


Goubaux,whose success had been

,as i t were

,a re

velat ion to h imse l f,attempted a further step on

i t.

The dramatist’

s talent i s a very special and pecul iar

gift . I t is not necessari ly related to any other intel

lectual facu lty. A man may have a great deal of wit

and cleverness,he may be a capi tal scholar and write

we l l,and y et be absol utely incapable of writing a

piece. I have seen men of great parts,cu l tured men of

letters bring me comed ies and dramas which seemed

to have been written by a chi ld . On the other hand,

I have had submitted to me,by peop le of very aver

age i ntel lect, stage plays in which there was a name

less someth ing which cou ld not have been replaced

by no matter what,which was not acqu i red

,of which

they would never get rid again and which unmis take

ably stamped them as dramati c authors . I n on e word

i t was tne gift, and Goubaux had that gift to a

supreme degree. With him everything was inborn,

even sk i l l everything was spontaneous,even ex peri

ence. Furthermore,see ing that he was a thinker as

wel l as a dramatist , his taste led him to fo und his

dramas on a character or on a pass io n rather than on

a mere fact. After having written ‘ Trente ans ou la

vie d ’un Joueur,’

he conce ived the i dea of portraying

a l i fe swayed by ambition R i chard Darl ington ’s . ’

This t ime,however

,he i nvited the co - operation of a

real master of dramatic art— Alex andre Dumas. The

share of each in that j oint work has been s et forth in


out by means of an apparatus in . the wings which

threw a powerfu l ray of coloured l ight on his

face and made i t look posi t ively green . To com

plete the effect he had arranged with the actress

who enacted the part of jenny that, i n rush

ing away from him towards the balcony,she would

drop the musl in scarf she had round her head

and shou lders . The wrap was,as i t were

,staring

him in the face when he stepped from the balcony on

to the stage i t was the spectre of h is wife. Any one

e l se would have shuddered or started back,or have

resorted to an equal ly hackneyed device.He s implybounded towards i t and picked i t up in the twinkl ing

of an ey e, crammed i t into his pocket l ike a handker

chief,and h is n ew father- in - law knocking at the door

at the same moment he went to open i t with that

insolent,devi l -may- care ease of which he seems to

have had the ex clus ive secret,whi le a bi t of the white'

material kept peep ing from his pocket and flapping

against hi s coat . I t was s imply ghastly. Those were

the moments that revealed o n e of the most stri k ing

traits of Frédéric Lemaitre ’s talent : namely,the art

of ind ividual i s ing a scene and to double i ts effect by

some pictu resque deta i l . Those who have seen h im

in i t wi l l not eas i ly forget the second act of La Vie

d ’un Joueur when he wishes to obtain from his wi fe

the s ignature which means her ru in ; the way he

watched Mme. Do rval whi le she was hes i tat ing to

give i t ; and his gloating, hal f-muttered cry of She i s


going to s ign,

’ whi le she took up the pen . What

after a l l,had he added to the tex t ? A gesture

,

nothing more.He simply took a pinch ofsnuff.Hegave the scene i ts trag i c effect by dragging i t down

to the ruffian’

s leve l .

But the piece i n which that talent verged o n the

subl ime was ‘ Les Mysteres de Paris . ’ Eugene Sue

had asked Goubaux to ass ist h im in dramatis ing

his nove l . Frédéric Lemaitre played jacques

Ferrand,the notary ,

the debauchee notary,the thief

who is l ooked upon as a saint in the ne ighbourhood .

The scene of the second act was la id in his office. A

poor ru ined manufacturer came to sol ic i t his aid the

office was fu l l of people , the clerks were al l at the i r

desks . jacques Ferrand was to give that unhappy

and deserv ing pet i tioner a note of 500 francs . The

two authors fe l t very pleased at having in troduced

the i ncident of that we l l - bestowed gi ft , but Frédéric

himsel f,i n the course of the rehearsals

,seemed

fidgetty and d issat isfied w i th the idea .

‘ What’s the matter ? That trai t of hypocri t ica l

generos i ty does not seem to strike y ou as t rue and

profound ?’ asked Goubaux .

I t’

s nei ther sufficiently hypocri t ical n o r suffic iently

profound,

’

was the brusque reply.

‘

jacques Ferrand’s

benevolence does , after al l , not cost h im very much .

There is no t much meri t in g iving 500 francs when

o ne has merely to take them o ut of one’s cashbox .

The real sa int often borrows in order to g ive, I wil l


n o t have anything to do with your note of 500

francs .’

‘ I n that case what shal l we do and what wi l l you

do ?’

‘ This i s how I would manage i t i f I were y ou.

When the poor fel low te l l s me of his m isfortunes , I’ l l

run to my cashbox to get the money for which he

asks me. But my cashbox i s being constantly drained

by my donat ions and on ly contains three hundred

francs in notes . I ’ l l make up the sum with s ix ty

francs in five franc pieces,I ’l l even add some smal l

change,and final ly find ing that I am sti l l short

,borrow

the rest from my princ ipal c lerk . That ’s the th ing to

do,for the affai r i s sure to be bru ited about and make

a noise i n the quarter. I n that way I beat Saint

Martin,see ing that I take even my ne ighbour ’s c loak

to clothe the poor. There i s no doubt about my

be ing a Saint after that. ’

I n the fourth act he tried to introduce an effect of

a sim i lar kind,but this time the authors d id not think

i t advisable to sat isfy him . I t was where Cicely, the

mulatto gi rl,for whom he has conce ived a mad

passion,enters h is room . At the s ight of her

,the

i nstincts of the brutal s ensual ist assert thei r sway and

lead to a scene between him and the gi rl i n which

entreaties , threats , tears , protestations of love fol low

o ne another i n rap id success ion . During o n e of the

final rehearsal s,Frederie was perambulat ing the

stage l ike a wi ld beast i n h is cage .

S ix ty Years of Recollections 3 1

‘What are y ou l ook ing for n ow ?’

asked Sue

laughing.

I s there n o means of putting a truss of straw in

o ne ofthe corners, and s o arouse a fear in the mind

of the publ ic that I m ight fl ing her down ?’ he

answered .

Frédéri c had to do without his truss of straw,he

proved none the less terrible i n the del ineation of

jacques Ferrand’s brutal sensual i ty. On the fi rst

n ight he was waiting for h is cue at the wings,j ust

before that ident ical scene, when he suddenly turned

to Goubaux who was standing by h is s ide, and in a

tone and accents which i t would be impossible to

describe, said , And n ow, I am going to give them a

taste ofmy qual i ty.

’

People have often compared Frédér ic Lemaitre to

Talma . I once asked Goubaux who had known the

latter very wel l whether the comparison was j ustified

in any way,and he repl ied in the affirmat ive

,

‘ for,

’

said he,

‘the same word— the word “ gen ius -best

describes both the i r talent. ’ Were they equal to o ne

another ? Perhaps , in vi rtue of the very d i fference

between them . Talma was the god of tragedy and

drama,Frédér ic was the demon of them . When

Talma spoke about his art , his features assumed a

k ind of pens ive though impass ioned express ion of

melancholy which was st i l l further increased by his

shorts ightedness and invested every sentence of his

w i th a nameless someth ing both poet ical and pro


found . Each of h is remarks showed the i ncessant

pursu it of the ideal and the real i st ic,of the accuracy

oftone and the beauty ofsound . The rhythm of the

l ine was o ne of his constant preoccupations . One

day he was talk ing to a friend about the two l ines of

Hamlet to his mother .

‘ Votre cr ime es t horr i ble,execrab le

,od ieux

,

Ma i s il n ’es t pas p l us grand que la bon té des d ieux l ’*

‘ I am pretty sure,

’

he said,

‘ of never miss ing the

effect of these two l ines. I have put notes to them ;

the fi rst l ine i s an ascending scale,the second a

descending scale.

’

Frédéric Lemai tre never troubled about that kind

of thing,and join ing Goubaux ’

s recol lections to my

own I fee l tempted to say that Frederie was es sen ti

al ly an artist of the earth earthly. What he invari

ably looked for was the accent,truth , passion and

force. Added to th is , he had some very grave and

almost unbearable defects,he droned

,and whined and

ranted,when he became pathet ic he became almos t

rid iculous,but al l th is was redeemed by o ne immense

qual i ty,the l i ke of which I have never met with in

any actor,name ly

,power. N0 o n e ever ‘ fi l led ’

the

stage,as he d id . Then there was his boldness of

gesture,of atti tude

,not to mention h is bursts of anger

and ind ignation . His facu lty for transformat ion was

Thi s,I bel ieve, is Duc i s ’ tran s lat ion of the two l ines

Con fes s yoursel f to heavenRepen t what’s pas t

,avo id what is to come.

’— TR.


pretty we l l un ique. I t is worthy of remark that he

was equal ly magn ificent in the part of D on César de

Bazan and in that ofRuy -Blas . But the most strik ing

coinc idence was that his features Offered the same

antithes i s as his talent. The grandiose and the

commonplace were i nex tricably mixed . Magnificent

eyes , a forehead beaming with i ntel l igence and a nose

which made y ou wonder how i t could have come

there. A nose starting as a Greek o ne and end ing up

l ike a trumpet ; a mobi le , contracti le mouth , equal ly

capable of ex pressing contempt and anger,w i th a

lower l ip the corners of which were absolute l y

commonplace and vulgar. Talma,away from the

theatre was s impl ic i ty and kindl iness i ts e l f ; Frédéric

was always attudin is ing,always act ing ; at times he

swaggered l ike a swashbuckler, at others he swayed

about l ike a Bohemian ; i n short, he was the

mummer ’ i n everything he d id,i n every word he

uttered . When he came to Goubaux ’

s school to see

his sons , his arr ival invariab ly caused a sensation .

With his hat ‘ stuck ’

o n the back ofhis head and

strik ing the s teps wi th his cane as he went , he in ter

pellated the servants at the top ofhis voice without

the least regard fo r the d ignity of the place. You ’ l l

te l l M . Goubaux that there wi l l be no rehearsal

to-day.

’

Yet,w i th al l th i s , some amazing moments of

grandeur and sel f- respect. Cas im i r De lavigne had

entrusted to h im the principal part i n ‘ Marino

Fal iero .

’

One day he comes to rehearsal in a semiVOL. I I C


state of i ntox ication . The ind ignant author snatches

the part from hishands

,saying

,

‘You ’l l not enact

my p iece,monsieur. ’ His eyes flashing with anger

,

he rushes towards the poet as i f to stri ke him to the

earth . I n fact,o ne blow from him would have been

sufficient,but Frédéric stops m idway and in a

subdued and trembl ing vo ice,says

,

‘ Monsieur

Delavigne,I thank you for having given me the

opportun ity of showing you to what degree I respect

you .

’

IV

My d igress ion on Frédéri c Lemaitre i s j ustified by

the fact of his having been indebted to Goubaux for

two of his best parts . But I am bound to remember

that in real i ty in Goubaux’

s l i fe,the drama was on ly

an intermed iate occupation , adding something to his

budget and to h is fame,but for al l that an inter

mediate occupation . The true foundation and the

dominant interest of his l i fe lay in that Saint-Victor

I nstitution to which we wi l l return once again to leave

i t no more,for i t i s there that we shal l s ee Goubaux

accompl ish his final solvency by a marvel l ous stroke

of pluck and invention .

Goubaux had with regard to publ ic educat ion ideas,

general ly accepted to - day,but which were considered

very novel and daring when he had the courage to

formulate them for the fi rst t ime. What s truck him

most forc ibly was the want of sympathy between the


the sol id and moral basis of class ical tu i tion was

tantamount to decapitating the inte l lect. According

to them it was simply nothing less than material is ing

the age , than making the earn ing of money the

sole aim of l ife. To al l of which Objections , Goubaux ,

with the authori ty acqu i red by long ex perience,re

pl ied :‘Why should that system of education be

less capable of e levating the mind and the heart ?

Are we to take i t that the Greek and Latin works

contain all the heroic ex amples,the lessons of

patriotism,the i nstances of strength of character ,

and loft iness of sou l ? I s there no poetry which

brings the ideal home to our l ives and to our souls

ou ts ide the poetry contained in the works of Homer

and Virgi l ? The world of science we wish to throw

open to young minds , that world which means

nothing less than the whole of the earth and the

heavens , i s that world not as good , as a means of

education , as the study of some speeches by Livy

or Tacitus ? Wil l the i nte l l igent contemplation of

the grand work of creation and of al l the co nquests

achieved by created man be less conduc ive to the

knowledge of God to young men than the often

uncertain interpretation of the remains of a dead

language be longing to a van ished people,and wi l l

that interpretation make better men of them than

that in te l l igent contemplation ? I n short,does not

the study of France hersel f, of her language and

l i terature deserve to stand in the front rank of publ ic


education ? Why then should there n o t be French

col leges i n France ?’

These words had the effect of impress ing a goodly

number of eminent men,but he was chal lenged to

make good his words by deeds . From that moment

his plan was virtual ly drawn up , i n order to carry i t

out,he resorted to hero ic measures : heroism is often

synonymous with wisdom . His establ i shment he ld

about a hundred pup i l s he d ism issed six ty,name ly

,

al l those who attended the col legiate classes,and re

mained with the few converts to the n ew method .

Apparently this was tantamount to committing

su ic ide.How was he to make both ends meet with

forty pupi ls when he had scarce ly been able to do s o

with a hundred ? The posi tion was al l the more

serious , see ing that his insti tut ion d id n o t be long sole ly

to himse lf.His cred i tors had a l ien on i t. To send

away hal f ofhis pupi l s was to deprive them ofhalf of

thei r security. I t was n o t a quest ion of ask ing them

fo r a del ay o r fo r a n ew loan,but he had to induce

them to sacrifice the i r guarantee.He was bound to

convert them to his ideas,to make

'

them share his

hopes,to insp i re them with his faith. We l l , after an

hour ’s conversation they were no t on ly won over , but

convinced. They were no t on ly d isarmed , but co n

ve'

rted . Thanks to his persuas ive and spontaneous

e loquence , he transformed his cred itors into lenders.

They n o t only d id no t ask h im fo r money ,but offered

him some. People who have tw i tted the ant with be


i ng a spendthri ft vied with o n e another for the honour

and pleasure of afford ing him the t ime to awai t the

successful i ssue of his idea. But this honourable

compet it ion to befriend him and this material as s ist

ance were not sufficient. A great many arrears of

debt worried and hampered him,when

,on e morn ing

,

as usual,there sprang from the earth or descended

from the sky a D en s ex n iacnina who intervened at

the cri t ical moment and enabled him to pursue his

onward march . Tru ly,he was

,as usual again

,in

debted in a great measure to himsel f,the miracle was

s imply the harvest of what he had sown . On the

l o th of june ' 1 855, I received the fol lowing letter

from him

‘ MY DEAR FRIEND ,— I have met w i th one of those pieces of goodfortune and spen t an hour of unal loyed j oy such as I have rarely

,very

rarely had in my l i fe. The j oy was occas ioned by the v i s i t of on e ofmy former pupi ls who was k ind enough to reco l lect a d i s tan t pas t andto acknowledge a debt to which I had never given a moment’s thought .The piece of good fortune con s i s ts in my being freed for a twelvemonthfrom al l care and anx iety . Such a thing has not happened to me s ince1 82 0 ; my dear fr iend G i lbert ,* has drawn up an accoun t between us

the elements of which had no ex i s tence s ave in his own affect ionateremembran ce of me, because I n ever con s i dered that he owed me apenny. Yes

,G i lbert

.brought me yes terday s ix tnon sana’

francs . I t isthe firs t use he made of his recently acqu ired wealth .

‘ However unexpected and usefu l th i s t imely a s s i s tance has been tome, I was s t i l l more deep ly touched by the act i tsel f than by the money ,and the tears which wel led i nto my eyes were due to the fact

,that

,

whi le l i s ten ing to G i lbert,I was p leased w i th mysel f. I was debat ing

w i th mys el f whether I would come and tel l you the s tory pers ona l ly,

but was afra id of break ing down in the m idd le of i t . I feel more sureof mysel f whi le wr i ting than wh i le talk ing.

M . G i lbert , who had been educated gratu i tous ly by Goubaux had j us tmade a very r ich and credi tab le match .He is the author of two cr i t ica ls tud ies , on e on Vauvenargues

,the other on Regn ard , both of which

ga ined the award of the Académ ie Franca i se.

S ix ty Years of Recollections 39

‘ Good -by e, my fa i thful chum of 1 837 , my fa i thfu l supporter from the

very day when I undertook that which I n ow hope to accomp l i sh soon .

A cord ial shake of the hand for you and a k is s for your w ife anddaugh ter .

Gouaaux .

’

A touching letter i f ever there was one. Neverthe

less it wants a po s tcriptum. The name of G i lbert

recal ls to my mind another,that ofAlex andre Dumas ,

the younger,who was also a pupi l ofGoubaux a l i ttle

before G i lbert . One day the rumour spread that the

elder Dumas had been wrecked and lost his l i fe off

the S ic i l ian coast ; Goubaux sent for the l ad .

‘ My

dear boy ,

’

he said to him,I trust that th is is a false

report , but if i t be true, remember that th is house is

yours . Heaven preserve me from pretending to be

able to rep lace your father , but I’ l l do everything in

my power to rem ind y ou of him .

’ And this happened

about 1 834 ,i.e.

,at the moment when Goubaux was

most cruel ly worried fo r money , and y et he did n o t

for a moment hes i tate to shou lder that new burden .His own misfortunes , instead of whol ly engross ing

h im,only had the effect ofmaking him more sensit ive

to m isfortunes which were no t his own . Whi le hal f

ru ined,he sti l l thought of sav ing others from ru in . I

need scarcely say that Dumas fol lowed Gilbert’

s

example .He al so remembe red in due t ime a debts im i lar to that of Gi lbert and which Goubaux had

also forgotten . Thanks to al l those instances of

gratitude and in spite ofhis own generos ity, Goubaux

came w i th in s ight of the goal , but in order to reach i t


he had to trave l a last bit of road which was harder to

him than i t m ight have been to others.

A scheme l ike Goubaux’

s,requ ires

,i n order to

succeed,three men : an i nventor

,a man who has

the gift of organ isation,and a good admin istrator.

Goubaux was an inventor of the fi rst water,his

facu l ty for organ isat ion was,however

,very second

rate,and as an admin istrator he ranked very low

indeed . Lucki ly,he conce ived the idea of charging

s omeone e l se with the admin istrative funct ions to

which he was so bad ly su ited . Who was that some

o n e ? The‘City of Paris. After having requested and

obtained her patronage, he bold ly proposed to put

her i n h is stead and place. The Ci ty of Paris

accepted the offer. The Saint-Victor I nsti tut ion

success ive ly assumed the names of ‘Ecole Frango is

I .’ ‘Ecole Chaptal,

’ ‘ Col lege Mun icipal Chaptal,’

and Goubaux changed his t i tle of Principal of the

insti tute for that of Director. The change meant

more than the discharge of al l h is l iab i l i t ies , i t meant

comfort and freedom from care. Freed at last from

debt and cark ing worries, he had the sat isfact ion of

watch ing,from the window of that room where he

had suffered and contrived so much , the influx of

more than e ighteen hundred scholars with in the

enlarged grounds ; he had the satisfaction of see ing‘

the wal l s of the original and humble establ ishment

ex tend‘

further and further unti l the establ ishment

swal lowed up the adj acent mansions and final ly be

S ixty Years ofRecollection s 4 1

came the centre ofa new system ofpubl ic educat ion in

France. But Goubaux was n o t content with having

founded the method,he wished

,before he d ied

,to

insure its future and he accompl ished his wish by one

of those strokes which vi rtual ly show the whole man .

At the period when he was merely the pri nc ipal

of the Saint-Victor I nsti tute his conc ierge was a

man whom he particu larly l iked and respected . The

concierge had a s on,an intel l igent lad . Goubaux

noticed his in te l l igence and took him away from

the porter’s lodge ; no, he d id n o t take him away ,

he as i t were left him there,for the lodge meant

the paternal home and Goubaux did n o t wish the

lad to be ashamed ofi t .

SO he took him in to the school,made him sleep

i n the dormitories,attend chapel and j oin the others

in play hours,but every n ow and then the lad went

back to the lodge to ass ist h i s father in his duties .

And would the reader know the resu l t of that educa

tion,and what became of the lad ?He became his

master’s pr inc ipal ass istant, then his successor and

final ly the chief ex ponent and cont inuator of his

method . At the hour I wri te ( 1 885-88) he governs

that magn ificent mun ic ipal col lege,yclept Chapta i ,

with a prest ige and lustre which is on ly another t i t le

to the cred it and honour of him who,as i t were ,

guessed his capab i l i t ies in that respect I t is no t

on ly an inst i tut ion ofwhich the c ity may fee l j ustly

proud , but the net i ncome derived from i t often


amounts to a hundred thousand francs per annum .

What I am going to say i s scarcely credible,i t i s

,

nevertheless,a fact. Twenty- seven years have e lapsed

s ince Goubaux breathed h is last and during that

t ime there has not been on e prefect of the Seine nor

one munic ipal counci l to e i ther of whom I d id not ad

dress at least o n e humble peti t ion,praying them

,n o t

to subst i tu te Goubaux’

s name for that of Chaptal

who has had absolute ly nothing to do with the

affai r,but mere ly to add the former’s name to the

l atter on the frontispiece or door of the bu i ld ing.

*

The name of Prosper Goubaux who did everything

is sti l l want ing on that frontisp iece . MM . Hauss

mann,Ju les Ferry

,Calmon

,Léon Say ,

al l of whom

I worried unti l they must have l oathed my very name

have al l given me the i r promise,not o n e of them

has kept i t . On e day I decided to address myse l f

to M . Thiers . I t was at Versai l les on New Year’s day

1 87 3 . M . Thiers had kind ly invited me to break

fast wi th h im in a non - official way,and just as we

were s i tt ing down to table, I asked him in a jocu lar

way :‘ M . le Pres iden t de l a Républ ique, wi l l you

make me a present for the n ew year ?’ With the

greates t of pleasure, my dear col league,’

he answered ,

l aughing .

‘What can I give you,I wonder

Thereupon I told him the story of Goubaux ’

s

Chaptal was a M in i s ter of the I n terior dur ing the F i rs t Empi reand d ied i n 1 83 2 .He was an em inen t profes sor of chem i s try andmade s ome va luab le d i s cover ies that benefited art and indus try .

—TR .


may endeavour to efface his name from his work,the

work wi l l,nevertheless , l ive, and Goubaux i s , in spite

ofeverything , the‘ creator ’ of the system of profes

s io nal education in France. Let us,therefore

,refrain

from attaching the smal lest trapping of woe to his

memory.He would ’

n o t thank us for i t,he who al

ways showed not only a placid,but a laughing face

to the blows of fortune. I n fact,I may say

,without

ex aggerat ion,that I never knew so cheerfu l a man

,as

that man who was so sore ly tried by fortune . I n the

midst of his most terrible angu ish there would sud

den ly come a burst of laughter, l i ke a ray of sunsh ine

pierc ing the banked -up , su l len clouds . I n a letter to

my daughter, after te l l ing her of the endless worries

wi th which he was for ever contend ing, he adds

Oh,by the by, on Sunday , we

’ l l be d in ing with the

Gi lberts. I don ’t feel hungry y et, but the appet ite

wi l l come i n goo d time.

’

One of his last col labora

teurs was Miche l Masson , gentle M iche l Masson ,

who with his long , s i lvery locks and p lac id face

looked l ike a white lamb . One day wh i le he was

work ing with Goubaux at some drama the name of

which I have forgotten , Goubaux proposed a n ew in

ciden t. The idea does not seem to strike Masson,

who with ever so many precautions and apologies

hints very tim id ly and in a kind of whisper that the

idea may not be al together appropr iate,‘ Al l right

,

Masson,

’

ex cla ims Goubaux , ris ing from his chair,‘ ify ou are going to be angry about it.

S ix ty Years ofRecollection s 45

The most admirable feature of Goubaux’

s gaiety

was that i t n o t on ly sharpened his fancy,imagination

.

and wit,but that i t assumed o ne of the forms by

which he man ifested his indom itable p l uck . Men ,

nay even God,might abandon him

,he steadfastly

refused to strike or desert his flag . On e of our

common friends,a lady

,said

,

‘ I f M . Goubaux fel l

i nto the s ea,and had been absolutely drowned for

more than an hour , people would sti l l see his arms

fran t ical ly waving above the water and his voice cry

for he lp.

’

Such was the man he had faith,hope and

charity, and these saved him .

CHAPTER I I

A d i gres s ion on Dramat ic Co l l aborat ion — Mme. Legouvé tel ls a S to ry.

—Her Husband sees the subject of a Comedy in it.—He s ets towork at once to draw the Plan .

— Opportune arr iva l of GoubauxThey make up thei r m ind s to tco l laborate once more.

—A few

in s tances of Co l laborat ion . How M . Legouvé and ProsperGoubaux wrote ‘ Lou ise de L i gn ero l les .

’-A French I n terior.

The Authors are s topped by a difficulty .—How Authors find thei r

Sen s at iona l Effects and Dénouemen ts .

— How M . Legouvé foundhis — A true S tory —M . Legouvé finds a Letter relat ing to i t amonghis papers and at the s ame t ime finds his Dénouemen t . —A peep atthe Nat iona l Guard s in the l ate Thirt ies —The Dres s Rehearsal sof Lou i se de L i gnerol les .

’—The Prem iere - Success .

THE system of col laborat ion is very much decried

nowadays I wi l l only say a few words in i ts defence.

Let us s uppress for a moment the resul ts of col labora

tion from the French reperto ry for the last s ix ty years,

and by the same stroke of the pen we lose a great

part of the dramatic work of Scribe, nearly the whole

of the dramatic work of Bayard , Mélesville, Duma

noir,Dennery , the whole of the dramatic work Of

Labiche,of Barriere

,the whole of the dramatic work

of D uvert and Lausanne, the whole of the dramatic

work of Me i lhac and Halevy,and last of al l

,five of

the masterp ieces i n the domains of comedy and the


drama I n comedy we lose ‘ Le Gendre de M .

Poirier,

’ ‘ Mademoise l le de la Seigltere’ and ‘ Made

mo is elle de Be l le- I sle,

’

for though these works bear

the name of one author only on the i r t it le pages,

they are,neverthe less, the work of two authors . I n

the drama we lose La Tour de Nes le and R i chard

Darl ington .

’

NO o ne respects and admires more

than I the immortal works which ,‘ fu l ly armed ’ have

sprung from on e brain,such as ‘

(E d ipe Ro i,

’

‘ Macbeth,

’ ‘ Po ly eucte ,’ ‘ Britann icus . ’ But are there

n o t,even among the masterp ieces , stage p lays due to

the association of two men of genius ? I s n o t‘ Le

Cid ’ by Corne i l le and Gui l len de Castro ? I s n o t

Iphigen ie ’ by Racine and Euripides i s no t Phedre ’

by Racine,Euripides and Seneca. Are there many

col laborateurs that have assisted the i r temporary

partners more effect ive ly than P lautus he lped Mol iere

in ‘ Amphitryon ’ and ‘ L’

Avare. I s n ot the best act

of the ‘ Psyché ’

of Mol iere the work of Corne i l le ?

I t seems to me that a form of art to wh ich we

owe such works , which causes our drama to re ign

throughout the whole of Europe deserves something

better than superc i l ious contempt , leaving alone the

fact that a number of bri l l iant but incomplete

i ntel lects which , i f left to the i r own resources would

have remained barren , have been l i fted out of them

selves by that k ind of assoc iation and proved the

sufficiently novel rule in ari thmet ic that twice one

make t/zree.


No o n e,then , need be su rprised at my taking up

the cudge l s fo r col laboratio n ; I am indebted to i t

for three friends ; Goubaux , Scribe and Labiche and

i f the pieces I wrote by mysel f ;‘ Medée

,

’ ‘ Par droi t

de con quéte ,

’ and Un jeune homme qu i n e fai t rien,

’

have not been less successful than the others i t i s pro

bably because I remembered whi le wri ti ng them what

I had learned during my col laboration with others .

Col laboration has at least this privi lege,i t arouses

to a strange degree the curios i ty of the outside world .

Not once but a hundred times have I been asked

But how do two authors manage to wri te o ne piece ;

i n what way is i t constructed,i n what way is i t

wri tten ?’ I doubt whether I cou ld give them a

better idea of that method of work than by showing

them a col laborat ion in the act.

I,had been married about three years and was con

s tan tly th ink ing of redeeming my fai lure when o ne

morn ing my wife,whi le talk ing about some of her

s chool friends , al l of a sudden uttered the name ofClélie.

Clélie,’ I repeated , laughing ,

‘ how does she come by

that name ? I s she a young Roman woman ?’ ‘ By

birth,no

,but in face and fee l ing

, y es . Handsome,

dark,tal l

,with a profi le l i ke that of an old medal

and eyes both fu l l of sweetness and courage , Clélie

added to those energeti c tra i ts a kind of bantering

spi ri t which she showed under rather curious ci rcum

stances . ’ ‘ Tel l me al l about i t I said .

‘ The story is worth tel l ing , said my wi fe.

‘She


had been married fo r something l ike four years to a

Creole who was pass ionately fond ofher,they were

l iving i n a n ice country place at Vineu i l near Chan

ti l ly. The o ld Prince de Bourbon was sti l l al ive

and his magn ificent hunts had made’

that part of the

count ry famous . One day the stag having j umped

the hedge of Clélie’

s garden, the whole of the pack ,

the huntsmen and some ofthe gent lemen ofthe hunt

themselves fol lowed su it and vi rtual ly enacted the

fab le of La Fontaine. Nex t morn ing, Clélie , whose

husband happened to be absent at the t ime, wrote

very pol ite ly, but at the same t ime very fi rmly to the

Prince complain ing of the damage that had been

done and ex pressing the formal des i re that the

th ing shou ld n o t occur again . A week later there

was another hunt and another invas ion ofher domi

ci le. Clélie was s i tt ing i n her smal l drawing- room

engaged with some embro idery when the servant came

to tel l her that the stag had leaped into the garden,

that the pack had come after it , and that the hunts

men and the rest were tearing at fu l l speed in the

d i rection of the hedge. Clélie gets up very qu ietly,

orders her servants to se ize two of the handsomest

hounds in the pack and,fol lowed by her gardener who

at her command has caugh t up his gun , proceeds to

the hedge , hold ing her p iece of embroidery. At the

same moment two young fe l lows o n horseback appear

o n the other s ide of the hedge.

‘ Stop gentlemen , I

forbid y ou to come any further,’she says

,st i l l putt ing

VOL. l l 1)


i n a stitch here and there . Great surpri se of the two

young fe l lows who begin to banter her i n a good

natured way,urging the i r horses meanwhi le to take

the j ump .

‘ I f you move an other step,gentlemen

,

’

says Clélie,my gardener wi l l fire on you without the

s l ightest compunction . This is an absolute case of

trespass ,’

she adds,l aughing

,

‘ and I have assuredly

the right to defend mysel f. Oh,by

- the-by e, before I

forget,you may te l l the Prince that I hold two of his

best hounds as hostages . ’ After hes itat ing for a

moment or so the young fe l lows l i fted the i r hats and

turned the i r horses ’ heads. The hunt had vi rtual ly

been stopped , the stag‘ got away ’ and the n ego tia

t ions between the Prince and Clélie for the resti tut ion

of the two staghounds brought about a correspond

ence and a series of proposals,term inating amids t al l

the courtly graces of the an cien regime, with the ap

pearan ce of Clélie i n the Prince’s drawing- rooms with

al l the honours of war thick upon her.

My wife’s story had worked me up to such a pitch

that I scarce ly gave myse l f t ime to finish my break

fast. I rushed to my writing- table,and before n ight

fal l I had bu i l t up and wri tten the whole of a fi rst

act . Goubaux happening to come i n to take ‘ pot

luck,

’ I read himwhat I had written during the day .

‘The deuce,

’

he ex claimed,

‘ but there is sufficient

material there for a five - act drama . That woman is

a character,and oh a character o n e can bui ld up a

drama.

’

Yes,

’ I replied,

‘the . thing is to find your


o n his bended knees and with tears,and sobs and

promises n o t to repeat the offence , the whole aecom

pan ied by recurrent periods of conjugal passion , al l

the more ardent from the i r be ing compl icated by

remorse,and what was worse

,s incere remorse.

’ ‘ And

she ?’ ‘ She l i stened to i t al l , submitted to every

th ing,with a mix ture of dign ity

,i ntense grief and

suppressed tears that made her l i ke one of the

women depicted by Corne i l le.

’

‘We l l,

’ I ex cla imed,

‘ here we have got the stand

point of our two characters,al l we have got to do is

to infl ict upon her a sufficient amount of suffering in

order to make her abandon her apparently calm

attitude ,to make her groan and shriek with rage and

grief,i n short

,to make the fai thlessness of the husband

the lead ing motive of the play. We must prove,by

a very vigorous dramatic act ion , that such faithless

ness may be fraught with as much danger and lead to

as many catastrophes as the faithlessness of the wife.

’

‘ I t i s decided ly an ex ce l lent subject,

’

ex claimed

Goubaux .

‘ I n that case,let - us set to work at once

,

my dear Goubaux ,and j ust teach me my craft

,by

writing this p iece with me.

’

This,then

,i s the way in which the primary sketch

of a piece i s drawn by two authors working in con

j unct ion,it is v irtually a con versation between tbese

two on a given subject. The o n e suppl ies the idea or

the fact , the other d iscusses i t with him ,they get

tal k ing together, looking for ideas , suggest ing to, and


contradic ti ng o ne another ; the shock of two minds

produces the fus ion of i deas , and from the fusion

springs the plan . When the plan is finished , i t has to

be carried out.

There are various ways of carrying out a p lan

sketched by two authors . I n some instances , o ne of

the authors undertakes to sketch the whole of the

work,which the other fi l l s in and fin ishes . I n others

the acts are d ivided between them ; the on e writes

the fi rst two acts , the other the last three, the whole

is revised by both .

Labiche and I wrote ‘ La Cigale chez les Fourm is ’

without ever working together. On e day I met h im

coming out ofthe Theatre-Francais,to the Committee

ofwhich he had j ust been read ing a o ne-act comedy,

enti tled ,‘

Les Fourm is. ’He was d issat isfied andmore or less hipped and offended . The Committee

had accepted his piece, but lukewarmly n o t to say

cold ly,and sole ly because i t was by h im .

‘The

Comm i ttee is s imp ly absu rd,

’

he said,

‘the p iece is

very amus ing, and there is a capital part for Pro

vost. I shou ld l ike y ou to read i t. ’ With which

he hands me the p iece. Two days later I gave him

my opin ion .

‘ My dear Labiche,

’ I said,l aughing

,

‘ I

am incl ined to s ide w i th the Comm i ttee. The fi rst

thi rd of the p iece is del ightful,the rest should be

rewri tten . What y ou want in i t is a young gi rl’s

part Face to face w i th the frugal,saving ants , y ou

want a lavish art ist,a grasshopper. ’ ‘ Your idea


strikes me as ex cel lent ; wi l l you rewrite the piece

by yourse l f —‘ I can,at any rate

,try. I leave for

Cannes to -morrow,I ’ l l take your manuscript wi th

me and in a fortn ight I ’ l l show you what I have

don ef

I returned in’

a fortn ight,I showed him the piece ;

we read i t to the Committee, i t i s accepted and played

and we score a genu ine s uccess, on the Occasion of

which I composed the fol lowing smal l d ist ich

‘ Entre Labiche et mo i l a part ie es t éga le1 1 a fa i t les Fourmis et j ’a i fa i t la Cigale.

Goubaux and I d id the very reverse,but our col l

aboration was none the less curious. The n ew year’s

hol idays being at hand , Goubaux publ icly informed

his pupi ls that he was going to take a short journey .

The journey was very short indeed , for i t merely

consisted in his tak ing his dress ing- bag and a change

of l inen from the Rue Blanche,where his school was

situated,to -my house i n the Rue Saint -Marc where

he took up his quarters in a smal l room adjoin ing the

drawing- room . I,on my side

,announced to al l and

sundry that we were going away for a week,and

when we had ‘ l owered the bl inds of the windows look

ing into the courtyard , we three, Goubaux ,my wife

and I were vi rtual ly isolated from the world,and our

l i fe of reclus io n '

began‘

.

At seven in the morn ing , we two , Goubaux and I ,

were in my study where we found the fire l ighted , the


tea prepared and the mistress of the house enacting

the part ofCharlotte i n ‘Werther’ to us

,she was cut

t ing bread and butter. After a quarter ofan hour of

cheerfu l gossip and laughter we set'

to work . Seated

at the same wri ting table,opposi te o ne another

, we

l oo ked l ike a couple ofschoolboys doing thei r lessons .

We were posi tive ly i n ecstasy with the thing. The

most cur ious feature ofthe arrangement , perhaps , was

that we began the same act at the beginning and at

the same t ime. Starting from the prearranged plan ,

we began both at the fi rst scenes,and in that way we

wrote the fi rst act,each bringing to the d ialogue and

to the portrayal ofthe characters h is ind ividual i ty of

fancy‘

o r reflection . At mid -day we three breakfasted

together, or rather we four, for my l i tt le daughter

who was about two,made her appearance at that

hour ; and her wonder ing looks , her p lump l i ttle

cheeks,her dress

,a masterpiece of maternal taste

and,coquetti shness

,her earnest demeanour as she

sat’

i n her high cha i r,the drol lery of her answers

,

(chi ldren have the knack of enunciat ing such unex

pected ideas , as to g ive one the impress ion that they

have real ly a sense ofhumour) consti tuted o ne of the

amusing parts of the breakfast . I t was strictly for

bidden to spe ak of or to al lude to our work dur ing

the meals , wh ich prohib i t ion d id‘

n o t prevent my wife

from notic ing with a sm i le, our anx ious or beam ing

l ooks and to deduct from them favourable progno s ti

cat ions o r the reverse. After breakfast, we had an

56 S ix ty Years ofRecollection s

hour ’s music, which had the effect of sooth ing our

minds,whi le at the same t ime i t served as a reward

and as an encouragement o r stimulant to further ex

ertion s . There is a mysterious bond between al l

the arts . A me lod ious piece of music often has the

effect of insp i ring y ou with a happy l i ne, and dur ing

that period of work Weber or Beethoven or Schu

bert has often assisted me in overcoming a difliculty

i n th is or that scene.

At the en d of ten days, Goubaux’

s hol idays bei ng

about to ex pire and our two acts be ing fin ished,we

summoned the reading committee,which committee

was composed of my wife.

‘ I am assum ing the

functions of Laforet,

*she said

,sett l ing herse l f com

fortably i n an armchair with her embroidery. We

each brought our ex ercises , and she added laughing ,‘ Little boy Goubaux

,let us hear what you have

don ef

The doub le lecture led to many interruptions. I t

was I who ex claimed now and then whi le l i sten ing

to Goubaux ,

‘We l l done,that ’s better than mine.

’

‘ Don ’t influence the Court,

’ said my wife g ravely .

And the Court,after having heard both s ides and

bei ng asked to state which of the acts she preferred

answered ,‘ I fancy I prefer them both ; both have

amused me,but not in the same places . The begin

n ing of the p iece seems to me more stri king in M .

Mol iere’s s ervan t , to whom he is sa id to have read his p lays wh i lecompos ing them—TR.


Goubaux’

s manuscript,but the end of the same has

pleased me better in M . Ernest Legouvé’

s . I l ike

the woman ’s part better in the one and the father’s

part better i n the other. I t stri kes me that by fus

i ng the two vers ions in to on e we’ l l get a perfect un ion

l ike ours .’

‘ This i s Solomon ’s wisdom unal loyed ,’

ex claimed

M . Goubaux ;‘ and as I have to resume my col lar

to -morrow,Legouvé wi l l accompli sh the union .

’

SO said so done . We spent the winter in finish ing

the piece and in the beg inn ing of spring went to

Eugene Sue to read i t to h im .He placed himsel fat h i s ease l i n order to l isten to us

,for he professed to

be able to l i sten best when painting.

The effect produced was both ex cel lent and d is

astrous at the same t ime. The fi rst three acts were

voted a great success,the other two cons idered ex e

crab le. No amount of correct ions,of improvements ,

of ex cis ion would mend'

them,they had simp ly to be

put as ide and n ew ones wri tten in the i r stead . All

the p luck had been taken out of us , and four months

elapsed during which we cudge l led our bra ins in vain

for a new solut ion . We were beginn ing to g ive up

al l hOpe of success , when unexpected aid , a provi

dential aux i l iary, go t us out ofour d ifficu l ty . Who

and what was that aux i l iary ? A th i rd col laborateur.

Who was that th i rd col laborateur ? A very curious

personage who often comes to the aid of authors

who , as a rule ,invoke no one’s a id

,and ofwhom , the

58 S ix ty I7 ears of Recollection s

personage,i t would therefore be we l l to say a few

words i n this chapter on col laboration . The in

dividual’

s name is Chance .

’

Chance,i n fact

,plays a great part

"

i n d ramat ic

conceptions. A word picked up at random,a book

o n e happens to read,a person on e happens to meet

,

may suggest al l at once the very idea for wh ich o n e

has been look ing in vai n

I n 1 849 , Emi le Augier was superintend ing the re

hearsals of Gabrie l le ,

’ at the Theatre-Frangais . Al l

went we l l unti l the fifth act,when the whole seemed

to come to a sudden stop. Both authors and actors

fe l t the necess i ty of some vigorous, unforeseen s itua

tion,i n order to put l i fe i n to that act. Augier cud

ge l led his brain to no purpose,he could find nothing.

On e morn ing he i s strol l i ng along the ! uai des

S aint- Peres , when on reaching the Pont des Arts,he

notices i n fron t of him,and looking at the I nsti tute

,

’

a man of about forty,accompan ied by his l i ttle

daughter. Owing to the early hour,the bridge was

almost deserted,and the chi ld

,find ing herse l f un

hampered in her movements, ran on i n front , then

came back to her father, flung hersel f in to h is arms ,

whi le he l i fted her up to kiss her amidst her pleasant

laughter and her embraces . The pictu re was abs o

Jutely del ightful ,“ and Augier

,who had been watch

ing them,could not he lp ex claim ing

,

‘ Bravo .

’

The

gentleman was none other than the ch ief i nterpreter

of ‘ Gabrie l le,

’ M . Regn ier, the l i tt le girl was his


been mix ed up and which suddenly recurred to my

mind,that I was inspi red . But the story is too

strik ing,i t has left too great al andmark in my l i fe

n ot to give i t i n fu l l .

I was in Rome i n 1 832 . I was on ly twenty -five and

became acquainted with a Frenchman , a l i tt le older

than mysel f, but to whom I took a great l iking on

account ofhis energet ic temperament and his original

turn of mind . Tal l,robust

,somewhat fu l l - blooded

,

with a black beard and very l ight blue eyes his

appearance produced the usual strange effects of

those contrasts . M . Auguste Leroux went shooting

in the neighbourhood of Rome with,Horace Vernet

,

practised fencing with Constantin,the ce lebrated

painter on porce la in,painted very n icely himse l f and

brought back from his shooting ex pedi t ions as many

pretty water colours as game,spent his money ‘ l i ke

a lord and was absolute ly weary of everything.Hehad a natural

,hered itary tendency to spleen

,which

,

i t should be said,was fu l ly justified by a terrible

event that had befal len him in his youth . On e morn

ing his father whi le s i tt ing at breakfast wi th his son

and his daughter,got up from the table without

saying a word,and a few minutes afterwards the

chi ldren heard the report of a pistol . As a matter

ofcourse they rushed out of the room ,and at about a

score of steps from the door found thei r father lying

Sixty Years of Recollection s 6 1

dead .He had blown his brains out. The catastrophe

cast a shadow on the young fel low ’s l i fe ; he often

said to me I ’ l l finish up l ike my father. ’

On our retu rn from I taly our cord ia l intercourse

soon changed into friendship.He i ntroduced me to

his s ister,whom he worshipped

,and whose ch i ldren he

positive ly idol i sed . The i r father’

s tragic death had

drawn the bond between them sti l l c loser. They had

been drawn together by fear as wel l as affection .Hehad also introduced me to his dearest or rather to his

then on ly friend , M . G . D elacour. M . D elacour,after

having spent many years i n the service of his country

had ret i red with the rank of l ieutenant- colone l .Hehad inheri ted a cons iderable fortune, and at the age

of forty-five marr ied a poor but marve l lously good

looking young gi rl . I have never seen a more str ik

ing contrast between man and w i fe. The husband

was s imple to a degree, even somewhat stern , but o n e

of those nob le, k indly natures which sh rink from

speech , and are content to let the i r deeds speak for

themselves . M . D elacour reminded me of some of

those mil itary characters of the fi rst Republ ic,s o

frequently met with at that per iod . As fo r the wife,

she was l ike a p icture by Watteau , t iny , plump, with

rosy cheeks and saucy eyes , teeth that were s o white

as to be a sm i le in themse lves , two ever-shift ing

d imples at the corners of the mouth , and such a

throat,bus t and arms ! I n short , a del ightful m ix ture

ofl itt le fa i ry , l i ttle dol l and Paris ienne.


The almost i nevitable consequences of such a

un ion may eas i ly be guessed— Mme . D elacour de

ceived her husband .He discovered her faithlessnessand consul ted his friend .

‘ You have but one course

open to you ,’ was the advice,

‘ to k i l l the lover and

di s card the wife.

’ ‘ The lover i s gone.

’ ‘ The wife

remain s , turn her out of your house.

’ But M . Dela

cour happened to be madly in love, the wife wept ,

flung hersel f at h is feet, promised amendment , the

husband was wi l l ing to forgive,M . Leroux alone re

mained inflex ible.

‘ I f you pardon ber’

to - day,she

wil l recommence to -mo rrow. I f I were you,I shou ld

put her away,

’

he said .

Two or three days later,on leaving his friend ’s

room,he found himsel f face to face i n the adjacent

room with the wife who had been watch ing for

him .

‘ I wo'

uld l ike to'

,speak with you

,monsieur

,

’

she said .

‘ I am at your servi ce,madame

,

’ saying

which he fol lows her i nto a small drawing- room, the

door of which she closes behind her. Then she goes

straight up to him,looks h im ful l i n the face and

says : ‘Why this merci less atti tude agai nst me ,

monsieur, what have'

I done to you ?’ ‘What have

you done to me,

’

he repl ies,qu ivering with suppressed

anger,‘ why

,al l the harm you have done to him

,you

have done to me. Why my merci less atti tude ?

Because I hate and despise you , because I .

’

look upon

you as the most wretched creature on earth for having

dece ived a man who dragged you out of your v’

erty,


almost saved y ou from starvat ion , and who cheri shed

y ou as a brother,a father and a lover at the same

t ime,who is o ne of the noblest hearted men I know

,

who has al l the del i cate fee l ings of a woman added

to al l the energies Of a man ; I hate y ou fo r having

vi rtual ly plunged the dagger into the breast of s o

kind a creature. I t shows that y ou have ne i ther

heart n or fee l ing. I t is out of p i ty and affect ion for

him,from horror fo r y ou that I am bent upon your

downfal l . Good -by e, madame ,’

he says,leaving the

room .

Left to hersel f, crushed beneath the witheri ng

blast of h is words,she fe l t al l of a sudden springing

up wi thin her on e of those terrible,i nstantaneous re

vol ts which remind one of on e of those instances of‘ fate ’ dep icted by the Greek dramatists . She rose

from her seat , reeled forward a few steps , and dropped

into another chai r,ex claim ing ,

Great heavens , I love

that man ! ’ Nothing could have been more true.

She loved that man , she loved him fo r his hatred and

contempt of her,she loved him for his hav ing told

her of both .His indignant denunc iation of her in

grati tude had shed a halo around h im ; she looked

upon him as a be i ng of a superior order ; henceforth

she had but o ne thought , on e w ish , to confess every ;

thing to him ; to fl ing hersel f at his feet,imploring

him to k i l l her,wh i le ex cla im ing :

‘

Str ike ,strike

,I

worsh ip the hand that shal l deal the b low.

’ A few

days e lapsed before she was enab led to carry out her


plan . Final ly , o ne morn ing when he cal led upon her

husband,she confronted him and without the sl ightes t

preamble , without a moment’s hesi tat ion

,i n a terrible

burst of sobs,headlong passion , horror of hersel f and

adoration of him,th i s tiny creature

,whom Fragonard

might have chosen for a mode l , ex pressed her love i n

passionate accents, the l ike of which for pathos

Alfred de Musset never found under h is pen . From

her he came straight to my house . I was out and he

left word that he would cal l nex t morn ing . When

he entered the room he looked so pale,so utterly un

done that I could not help remarking upon i t.Hetold me what had happened . His story posi t ively

terrified me, I behe ld‘ as in a glass darkly ’ such a

horrible future i n store for him that I cried out Go,

go to America,to Africa

,the farther the better. Go

away,friend

,or you are lost. The co nflagration i s

gain ing upon you,you are under the impress ion that

you are mere ly d isarmed , that you are moved with

pi ty,i t i s nothing of the kind ; you are i n love.

’ ‘ I ,’

he ex claimed , start ing from his chai r in sheer be

wilderment ;‘ I

,but that would be too

’

abominable

to contemplate. After al l I have said , after al l I have

done,after al l I fee l for him . No

,no; i t i s impossible,

i t would be worse than a cr ime.

’ ‘ You never spoke .

a truer word . And it is ex actly on that account that

you are struck to the very heart. You are greatly

mistaken i f you th ink that human nature i s i nvariably

beautifu l and nob le. I f you doubt my word go and


ask hal f-a- dozen priests,priests whose duty takes

them to the confess ional . You are i n love,j ust as

much as she i s,perhaps more than she i s . Take

my advice and go away .

’

This was at the beginning ofjune and nex t day I

went wi th my fami ly to Dieppe. I had had n o

news for a week , when , on my return from bathing

o n e morn ing , I found Leroux at our lodgings . You

here,

’ I said,horrified at the change a week had

wrought in his looks . ‘ What has happened ?’

You

told me to go away ,’

he answered in a painfu l tone,

we l l,I have come to take refuge with y ou give me

shel ter. The sight of your wi fe and chi ld,of your

domesti c peace and happ iness wi l l al lay my ex ci te

ment. Thank God ,I have as y et nothing to re

proach mysel f with . I have no t said a word to her.

I have come to seek near y ou the strength to remain

s i lent fo r ever. ’He stayed fo r a fortn ight and I shal l never forgetour ex curs ions to the forest ofArques . My wife, he

and I go t on to our horses after breakfast and fo r

hours together rode through the wild and sol i tary

country,amidst the magn ificent giant-beeches along

the crest of the rocks overlook ing the rust ic val ley

watered by the Sorgues .His head almost touchinghis horse ’s mane

,he scarcely ever uttered a word .His s i lence was so painful as to become contagious , i t

we ighed us down . We ourselves fel t re l uctant to

Speak , moved as we were by this sombre image of

von 1 1 E


despai r and by the ex pectat ion of some tragic and

mysterious catastrophe.

A letter he rece ived whi le he was wi th us affected

him intense ly. His s ister occupied the ground floor

of a smal l house,stand ing i n i ts own gardens i n the

Temple quarter. On e day she wrote to her brother

that a charm ing young woman had cal led on her and

proposed to take the fi rst floor,that in the course of

the negotiations she had become acquainted with the

ch i ldren both of whom she had smothered with kisses,

having evidently taken an affect ionate l i k ing to them .

She has even made them some trifl ing presents,

’ added

the sister,and they were offered in such a sweet and

de l icate way that i t was impossible to refuse them .Her emotion gives me the impress ion of be i ng

prompted by some recol lection .

’

The young woman was none other than the un

happy Mme. D elacour,who be ing frantic with grief at

the departure of the man she worshipped,had taken

to prowl ing around the house i n order to catch a

gl impse of the two chi ldren as they went in and out ,

i n order to get to speak to them and to inspi re them

with a l ik ing for her. Al l this was done with the hope

that he would come to hear of i t from his s ister and

that his heart would be touched .

W e left D ieppe together, he to return to Paris, we

to return to our modest country house. A month

later, I learnt . from his own l ips that al l I had fore

seen,had come to pass. They had met o n e another


plausible pretex t I have managed to stow away in a

smal l pavi l ion at the end of the garden about thirty

fagots of wood and several bottles of turpentine. At

e leven o ’clock to -morrow n ight,we’ l l wa lk into that

pavi l ion,she and I , with our m inds made up to die

and agreed as to the necess i ty of doing so . I ’ l l pour

the turpentine on the fagots and s et l ight to them ,

after which I ’ l l blow her brains out with a pistol and

do the same thing for myse lf. Goodbye,may you be

happy in this world,I am going to find out whether

there i s another. ’

What had happened during the t ime I had had

no tid ings from him ? What had been the terrible

phases of that tragic passion ? Why had his hai r

grown white,and why did he cal l her his ex ecu

tion er? More than bewi ldered mysel f, I went post

haste to Compiegne everything was over. I gathered

from the servants and neighbours a few particu lars of

the i r last days,which after a lapse of more than

half-a- century,I cannot write down without my pen

trembl ing between my fingers .

M . Leroux had made up his mind to put an end

to everything by committ ing suicide. I n order to

have his hands free he told her to go to Pari s to

make some purchases , but she s uspected his in ten

t ions,and vowed that henceforth she would not sti r

from his s ide for a single moment,be ing determ ined

to die with him .

0

M . Leroux being very fond of shooting was meces


sarily a great walker ; she on the contrary was very

de l icate and tiny , and l ike the majori ty of women

bo rn and bred i n Paris , unable to stand the fatigue

ofa couple of hours’ wal k . One morn ing

,soon after

daybreak,whi le he thought her s ti l l as leep

,he started

fo r the forest, his gun loaded wi th bal l cartridge .

Five minutes afterwards , at the bend of a path,he

found her waiting fo r him . I n a kind of frenzy,he

started at a gal lop across the woods ; she fol lowed

him,panting fo r breath

,almost choking

,las cerating

her feet among the brambles,but keep ing up with

him neverthe less, never los ing s ight of him . Fo r

ful l an hour they went o n,at the end of which she

stumbled,but sti l l c l inging to him and saying that

she would n o t leave him ,and that i f he wanted to

ki l l h imse l f,he would have to k i l l her fi rst. On that

day they conce ived the i r p lan . The i r l ast hours o n

earth must have been terrible. They sat down to

breakfast at twe lve and remained there Opposi te o ne

another, gloomy and si lent . When the servants came

to lay the cloth fo r d inner, the breakfast had no t

been touched. At n ine o’

clock,M . Leroux told

them that they might reti re for the night,and the

unhappy coup le were alone once more,with one

sol i tary candle between them . At eleven o ne of the

servants heard someone sti r i n the d i n ing- room, he

j umped out of bed ,opened his w indow and looked

out.He saw the window which almost reached the

leve l ofthe garden be ing opened , and his master and


mistress cl imb out of i t . Then they went straight to

the kenne l of a big dog, unfastened him and took

his chain . After which M . Leroux locked the front

door and flung the key over the wal l . I n another

moment,the couple went up the l arge avenue of

l ime trees leading to a smal l summer house . The

servant caught a gl impse of them now and then

through the gaps in the trees ; as they crossed the

paths,fitful patches of moo nl ight fi l tering through

the branches gave them the appearance of a couple

ofspectres,or rather of a couple of convicts

,for the

dog’s chain was fastened to the right wri st of the

o n e and the left wri st of the other. At last they

d isappeared from his V iew al together, and after l i stening for a l i ttle whi le

,and hearing no further sound the

man went back to bed and fel l asleep . An hour

later,perhaps , he awoke with a start, the dog was

bark ing violently and there was a crash of fal l ing

t imbers,accompan ied by the crackl ing of burn ing

wood . The pavi l ion was on fire .He rushed down,

the neighbours s ealed the wal l s,and appeared upon

the scene almost as soon as he , but too late, the

place was s imply ablaze. Among the ashes and

charred posts was found part of the shoulder of the

young woman and a wrist with the end of the i ron

chain round i t . The rest of those two human be ings,

worthy of p ity in spite of the i r error , had disappeared

in the flames and with them the ex planation of that

S ix ty Years of Recollection s 7 I

enigmatical and terrible phrase,

‘ To -morrow I am

going to k i l l myse l f with my ex ecut ioner. ’

Apparently we have drifted far away from my poor

play ; apparently on ly , for we have j ust go t back to

i t. The tragic story re l ated above had recurred to

me i n al l i ts detai l s at the unex pected sight of

Leroux’

s letter among some o ld papers. The story

haunted me al l day,and towards even ing

,by on e

of those phenomena of the imaginat ion,though

frequent enough with dramatic writers,the real

drama got gradual ly m ix ed up in my mind with

the fictit ious o n e,the cle

’

n onen zen t ofwhich was per

s is ten tly e lud ing my grasp . On e of the three per

s onages stood out from the other two and began to

form a part of my group of actors . I t was the

pe rsonage of the colone l,whose answer : ‘

No,

monsieur,I wi l l n o t fight y ou,

’ struck me al l at once

as the summary of a whole character,as the germ

of a dramatic part, as the start ing point of an

al together new s i tuation from wh i ch two acts m ight

be evolved . Brimfu l ofmy idea , I went post haste

to Goubaux’

s,he was away from home

,he was on

duty as a nat ional guard at the Min istry of Finances.

To the Minist ry of Finances I ran, Goubaux was on

guard . I tel l h im of my find,wh ich he th inks

adm i rable .

‘ I n that case ,’ I say ,

‘ let us set to work

at once.

’ ‘ I can'

t ,’

he repl ies ,‘ I have to keep the


dogs away,and chal lenge the people who want to

go in .

’ ‘What does that matter,i t wi l l be al l the

more amusing.

’ And forthwith we s et to plann ing

our act,he strid ing up and down , his rifle on his

shoulder,I runn ing by his s ide on the pavement

,

our conversation i nterrupted every now and then by

the No admittance here,

’ of the sentry .

By the t ime they came to rel ieve him,our plan had

takeri shape,and . two months after that our piece was

fin ished . I n another two months we read i t at

the Comédie- Francaise,where i t was unan imously

and enthusiast ical ly accepted . Mdl le. Mars under

took the principal part and on the 6th june 1 838

I had the satisfact ion of read ing on the playbi l l s

To-n ight for the fi rst t ime,

“ Louise de Lignerol les,

a drama in five acts,and in prose .

’ My heart beat

very fast when I read that ti t le on the wal ls,not

so fast,though

,as when I read that of ‘

Le Sole i l

Couchant. ’

The predictions with regard to ‘ Louise de Ligne

rol les ’ were more favourable. I had gathered two

very valuable ones the n ight before at the dress

rehearsal ; the fi rst from Casim ir D elvaign e.

‘ I t i s

very brutal , but strik ing i t wi l l succeed ,’

he said,when

the rehearsal was over. My second prophet was

an old actor who played the minor comic parts . His

name was Faure. I n h is young days,he had given

proof of great courage. I t was at Nantes i n 1 794 , at

the t ime when Carrier had the people drowned in


batches in the Loi re. Entering the Hotel -de-Vi l le

o ne day, he caught s ight ofthe bust ofthat fiend , and

snatching i t from its pl inth,he flung i t to the ground

where i t was shattered to p ieces . That’s what ought

to be done to the wretch h imse l f,

’

he shouted .Hewas adv i sed to leave the town as qu ick ly as he cou ld

and he came back to Paris,where he resumed his

very modest pos i t ion at the Comédie -Francaise.

‘ Monsieur,’

he said after the dress rehearsal of our

drama,

‘

y ou may make your m ind easy. Your

success i s assured ; al l the pett icoats wi l l come and

see your piece, and wherever the pett icoats go the

breeches i nvariably fol low.

’

Both predictions were real ised to the letter. At

midn ight o n the oth June ’

38 the names of Prosper

Goubaux and Ernest Legouvé,‘

the authors of the

drama we have j ust had the honour of perform ing

before y ou,

’

to quote Firmin ’

s own words were

greeted with unan imous applause. I had taken my

revenge fo r the fai lu re of‘

Le Sole i l Couchant ’ and

cou ld cla im the t i t le ofdramatic author.

CHAPTER I I I

The four Pr inc i pa l I n terpreters of ‘ Lou i se de L i gnero l les ’

; Mdl le.

Mars,F i rm in

,and Geffroy I oan n y .

—The combined Ages of thetwo Lovers .

— F i rm in .— F i rm in compared to his Succes sor ; De

Iaunay .— F irm in ’s Appearance and Ga it —His Sty le as compared

to that of Delaunay.

— The Byp lay in Love.

—Avowal s Then andNow .

— No more K neel ing at the bel oved Woman ’s feet . —F irm in ’sWant of Memory —His Dev ices to m in im i se the ev i l effects of i t .—His l as t Years and Death .

— ]oan n y .—His Pecul iar i t ies .

—HisPunctual i ty.

— Expects the same from his Fel l ow-Actors .

— ‘ I havea Chicken for D inner which can n ot wa i t, etc.

’—His Ante-Theatr icalCareer . —His magn ificen t S ty le —His Pol i tenes s .

—Geffroy .—M .

Legouvé selects h im to p lay a part i n his P iece in preference tohis older and more exper ienced fel l ow-actors .

—He becomesFamous in on e even ing — Mdl le. Mars . Was she Pretty ?’‘ Am I Pretty ? — Beauty On and Off the Stage — Refuses to p l ayany but Young G irl ’s Parts —Her Reason s .

—Her Art i s t ic Meri ts .

—Her Love Affa irs —An Anecdote of-her Early L i fe — Mdl le .

Con tat and the Black Thread .

— The Use of S lang on the contemporary s tage.

-Sardou’s firs t A ttempt to introduce it .

— Mdlle.

Mars as a Dramat ic Adv i ser .— The Succes s of ‘ Lou ise de L i gnerol les .

’—Mdl le. Mars afra id of Md l le. Rache l .—Her reluctan ce totel l her Age

—Her las t Years —Her Deathbed .

— Ex i t .— ‘ The

Rul ing Pas s ion s trong in Death .

’

WHEN the curtain rose for the fi rst t ime on ‘ Louise

de Lignerol les ,’

the two lovers of the play counted a

hundred and twenty-five years of ex i stence between

them . Y et, I may safe ly say , that I have never had


dazz l ing white teeth , which seemed to sparkle l i ke

the eyes,and to smi le l i ke the l ips . Shorter than

De launay and without so shape ly a figure,less

elegant i n i ts movements , Fi rm in , with his head

sl ightly ‘ stuck ’ forward . his body swaying more or

less on his legs,and beating his palms nervously

against o n e another,had not the charming grace of

Perdican,but the impassioned fire of his acting

,the

e lectrical effect of his voice made up for i t a l l . To

find a fi t compari son to h im we must go back to the

great tenors s uch as Rubin i and David,who n o t

only touched one ’s sou l , but made every nerve i n

one’s body qu iver l i ke the strings of a harp . Im

passioned as was Del aunay,Firm in had someth ing

more of ‘the devi l i n h im

,

’ and was with i t a l l as

l ight as a bi rd . There are some l i nes from ‘Le Mis

an thrope i n wh ich piece I heard them both , i n which

both de l ighted me,and in which I was enabled to

appreciate the s im i lari ty of and the d ifference be

tween the i r respect ive ta lents. They are the l i nes of

the Marqu is (Acas te) at the beginn ing of the thi rd

act. I n order to ex plain my idea,I had better quote

the verses .

Parb leu ! Je n e vo i s pas l orsque je m’examin e

,

On prendre aucun suj et d '

avoir l ’ame chagr ine,

J ’a i du bien, je su i s jeune

,et s ors d’une ma i s on

Qu i peut se d ire n ob le avec quel que ra i sonEt je cro i s par le rang que me donne ma race

,

Qu’ i l est fort peu d ’emplois don t je n e so i s en pas se.

Pour le coeur,don t surtout n ous devon s fa ire cas

,

On sa i t,san s van i té

, que je n’en manque pas

Et l’on m ’a vu pous ser , dan s le monde, un e affa i re


D ’une as sez v igoureuse et ga i l larde man iére.

Pour de l’esprit, j’

en a i,san s doute

,et du bon gout

,

A juger san s e'tude et ra isonner de tout

A fai re aux nouveaute’ s , don t je su is idolatre,

F i gure de s avan t sur les bancs du theatre,

Y decider en chef, et fa i re du fracas ,A tous les beaux endro i ts qu i mér i ten t des ahsJe su i s a s sez adro i t ; j ’a i bon a i r, bonne m ine,Les den ts bel les s urtout

,et la ta i l le fort fin e

,

Quand as e mettre bien, je cro i s , san s me flatter,

Qu’on sera i t mal ven u de me le d i sputer .Je me vo is dan s l’es time autan t qu’on y pu i s se etre.

Fort a imé du beau sexe,et bien aupres du ma

‘

i tre ;I e cro is qu ’

avec cela,mon cher marqu i s

, je cro iQu’on peut

,par tout pays

,etre con ten t de soi.

’

This charming piece,o n D elaunay

’

s l ips,sparkled

l ike a lark’

s m irror i n the sun .

‘ So many l ines,s o many

facets . The fa intest i ntention,the vaguest hint

,the

most del icate nuance of the author’s mean ing was

elucidated and put into proper rel ief. F i rmin,o n the

other hand , l aid stress upon nothing , d id n o t stop

to accentuate o r emphasi se,but carried the whole in

a s ingle movement wh ich was l i ke a flutter ofwings ,

l i ke the buzz ing fl ight ofa swarm ofbees .

Fi rmin had made himse l f famous by the manner

in which he to ld a woman of his love. No one

could fl ing himsel f at the feet of a woman with as

much passion as he. Nowadays , men no l onger fl ing

themselves at a woman ’s feet. I bel ieve I was the

l as t d ramat ic author who was bold enough to intro

duce that b i t of pantomime in a comedy. Bres san t,

The author uses the word ‘ m i ro i r a alouettes '

; literall° a m irro r

w i th which lurks are mught . I have seen them used in rance, but ,though to ld that they are employed in England , never seen them here.

—TK .


when tel l ing Mme. Madelei ne Brohan of his love i n‘ Par droi t de co nquéte,

’ graceful ly kne l t before her,

and at the same t ime e lectrified the aud ience by his

passionate pleading. When a few years later,M .

Febvre assumed the part he told me that he cou ld

not possibly fol low Bres san t’

s ex ample,that he did

not know kow to s et about t/zat kin d of t/zing ,that he

would simply fee l rid icu lous— and he was right . The

taste ‘ for that k ind of thing ’ had changed . To throw

one ’s sel f at a woman ’s feet,to k iss her hand

,to pay

her a compl iment, al l‘ that kind of thing dated from

a period when love was accompan ied by respect,when

a certain show of gal lantry was an essential e lement

in the act of ‘ paying one’

s court. ’ I defy any man,i n

our own days,to make a declaration of love on the

stage,as we understood i t then . The publ ic wou ld

spl i t i ts s ides wi th laughter,and the young woman or

girl to whom it was addressed would fol low su it,

i f she did not take the i n i tiative. I n order to convince

her of your affect ion , you must provoke her more or

less,I had almost said treat her more or less cava

lierly . I f on e had proposed such a' scene to Firmin

he would have said l ike M . Febvre : do n ot kn ow

kow to s et about t/zat kind of t/zing .

’

I t seems scarce ly cred ible but this very bri l l iant

actor had no memory,When enacting a long scene

at the far end of the stage , he was obl iged to have a

s econd prompter somewhere within earshot.Hei nvented the strangest devices i n order to refresh h is


memory. Sometimes he would select thi s o r that

armchai r,at others

,part of the des ign of the carpet

,

then again th is or that lamp to help h im out with a

hemist ich o r a l ine which was sure to escape him at

the moment he wanted i t.How d id he manage to

su i t his sp iri ted , his impress ive style to those fright

ful lapses of memory ?How ? S imply by making

those lapses contribute to those bursts of passion .

Like Mo lé, whose memory was as defective as his,

he drew from his struggle with the tex t indescribable

effects ; he appeared to be dragging his words from

his very entrai l s , h is stammering and stuttering

s imply became s o much qu ivering , headlong passion .His impetuos ity was, after al l , so thoroughly naturalthat during the run of Hernan i the s l ightest whisper

against the piece sufficed to ca l l i t forth . Though

thoroughly worn out with the duties of this crushing

part,he would start to his feet and overwhelm the

hosti le cri t ic wi th the most strik ing passages from his

role, rendered , i f poss ible , with add it ional fire and

sp i rit Odd to relate , th is ex ci tab le, high ly strung

creature spent his o ld age l ike a phi losopher and

ended up l ike a sto ic . Having ret i red from the stage,

he l ived for many years i n a smal l country cottage o n

the banks of the Se ine near Coudray , by himse l f,

smi l ing and contented , spend ing his days in read ing

Plutarch .

‘ When my friends come to see me I am

de l ighted . When they stay away I manage to do with

out them ,

’

he said . When deep in the seventies , he


fe l t that h is s ight began to fai l him,he could read no

lo nger,his legs refused to carry him and a profound

but mute me lancholy too k possess ion of his sou l an d

showed i tsel f i n his features , and o n e day without

having ever uttered a word of complaint,he painfu l ly

and slowly got on to the window si l l i n his drawing

room,which was s i tuated on the fi rs t floor and flung

himsel f head foremost on to the pavement below,

j ust as quiet ly,i n fact

,as a fol lower of Z eno would

have plunged a dagger i nto his breast.

Joan n y ,who l ike Firmin

,contributed greatly to the

success of Lou ise de Lignerol les,

’ was a s ingular

arti st in more senses than o n e. To begin with,he al

ways knew the whole of his part at the fi rst rehearsal

of no matter what n ew work .He brought h is manus cript in his pocket to mark the corrections and

al terations , but from the very fi rst day the whole of

the tex t was indel ibly stamped on his memory .

A vas t d ifference assuredly between this princip le of

be ing ‘ letter perfect ’ from the very beginn ing,and the

theory of some great actors of to - day who pretend that

a part should be learned on the stage during rehearsal ,

and during rehearsal on ly. Who is right ?He,or

they ? Perhaps both i t i s s imply a question of

school and period . Formerly when d iction was con

s idered the first and foremost thing, joan n y

’

s method

was the better. To - day the d ialogue i s as i t were

mix ed up with the gestures , the posi t ion of the actor

on the stage thoroughly modifies the accent of the


phrases,actors do n o t only play a part

,they ‘ walk it

,

’

I was tempted to say ‘ run it. ’ I n Sardou ’

s Bour

geo is de Pon tarcy Duty ’ in the Engl ish vers ion) , I

have heard and seen Mdl le. Bartet and M . Berton

ex change the most tender and purest protestations of

l ove,walk ing al l the whi le round the furn iture. I fee l

bound to add that the whole of i t was accompl ished

with infin ite grace and charm . Admitting that k ind

of pantomime to be the right thing,the method of

learn ing one’s part whi le enacting i t at rehearsal must

be the better on e, but when the characters in the p lay

were an imated without be ing agitated , Joan ny’

s

method was preferable.His second original trai t was his punctual i ty.

Having been a sai lor i n his early days, (he had lost

two fingers ofhis left hand in battle), he made his

appearance at rehearsal to the m inute,j ust as he

'would

have done on the fo ’c ’s le or quarter- deck of his sh ip.

But i f he kept n o o ne waiting for him, he equal ly

decl ined to wait fo r any o ne. I remember perfectly

wel l his pul l ing out his watch one day at a rehearsal

of Lou ise de Lignero l les . ’ We were in the middle of

a scene, but that d id n o t affect h im .

‘ One moment ,’

he said very quickly,

‘ it’

s five o ’clock ; i f we had

begun at the right hour we should have fin ished long

ago . My housekeeper has go t me a chicken fo r my

d i nner , I won’t let my housekeeper or the chicken

wait, so I w ish y ou a pleasant afternoon .

’ I wonder

what poor joan ny would say nowadays to the wantVOL. I I F


ofpunctual i ty which has become o n e of the trad i tions

of the House of Mol iere,’ where every watch is hal f

an -hour slow. The old hands sti l l manage to be

punctual,but the young ones

,and especial ly the

women,s eem to take a pride i n keeping people waiting.

Who is to blame ? Not on e in particu lar ; i t is s imply

the prevai l ing spi ri t. The idea of submitting to

d iscipl ine,of be ing bound by regulation s has gone

out of fashion . People no longer care to be part of a

whole,there i s no longer a milky way i n the domain

of art ; everybody wishes to be a star,and as such

moves at hi s own sweet wi l l,rotates by himsel f

,or i f

anything makes others revolve around him . I have

got an idea that this system is no more su i table on

the earth than i t would be in the sk ies .

Final ly, joan n y had a th ird pecul iari ty, he l i sped .

Of al l the drawbacks to good diction,l i sping is un

doubtedly the on e lend ing itse l f most to laughter.

Wel l,this l isper

,th is methodical

,systematical creature

was o ne of the most hearts tirring,original and poet i

cal arti sts I have known . Unfortunate ly for him,he

was the contemporary of Talma. The prox im ity of

men of gen ius i s fatal to the man of talent . The

former monopol ise al l the avai lable glory of thei r

time . The splendid l ight they shed reduces to a

mere fl icker everything that but for them would be

considered bri l l iant . joan n y , re legated to the Odéon

for a long whi le , only entered the Coméd ie - Francaise

after the death of his i l l us trious rival , and suddenly


ing with infin ite grace,he s aid

,

‘Wil l that do,M .

l’

auteur?’

I should indeed be wanting i n grati tude i f I did

n o t say a few words about M . Geffroy,before speak

ing of Mdl le. Mars . To begin with,I have a weak

ness for his talent and for a very good reason ; I , as i t

were,guessed that i t was in h im before anyone e l se.

The part of M . de Givry,the colone l who refuses to

‘ go out ’ had met with enthusiastic approval at the

reading of the play,they offered us ever so many

s ocie’

taires and tried artists to interpret i t. ‘ No,

’ I

repeated obstinate ly,

‘ I want the young fe l low I sawin La Fami l le de Lusigny

,

’

he alone i s able to give

with the necessary pluck the words of Colone l G ivry

when he appears upon the scene for the fi rst t ime i n

the fourth act.

As a matter of fact,the l ine i nvolved a very

,very

great risk . The fi rst words he had to say to Henri de

Lignerol les were,Monsieur

,you are the lover of my

wife.

’ Nowadays such a commencement wou ld

scarcely be cons idered very daring,but i t was d i f

feren t i n 1 838. I remember we l l enough the murmur

of revol t that ran through the house. The pit rose

as o n e man , or rather l ike a horse that gets on

its hind legs . I t was on ly what I ex pected . During

the rehearsals , al l the actors, Mdl le Mars included ,

had entreated me i n vain to ‘ cut the l ine.

’

You are

compromising the piece.

’ ‘ I don ’t care,

’ was my

answer. ‘ You are virtual ly invok ing a perfect storm


of hisses.’ ‘ I don ’t care.

’ But at any rate, do pre

pare your publ ic for that ex hibit ion of brutal i ty .

’

‘ No,there ’s n o t ime to do that . We are i n the

fourth act and we must define the colonel’s character

with o ne l ine. That l ine has an immense advantage,

i t is the character “ boi led down ” to one sentence.

The whole of the part is contained in it. The pub l ic

wi l l probably hiss fo r the moment , but you’ l l s ee

what they ’ l l do afterwards . ’

My view turned out to be the correct o ne. I had

inst inct ive ly establ ished two ru les,essentia l under

such condi t ions. The fi rst i s that a daring thing

should be done bold ly. Precautions in such a case

on ly tend to put the publ i c o n i ts guard,and show

that the author is afraid of i t . Now,i t is a fact that

a theatrical aud ience is s imp ly l i ke any other gather

ing ofmen ,i t is imposs ible to manage i t ex cept by

showing a bold front . The on ly way to impose o n

i t is by imposing on one ’s se l f. The second rule,

which s ince then Scribe has loud ly procla imed , is that

a theatrical effect is produced n o t by a b low but by

the counter-blow . I n Lou ise de Lignerol les the blow

had been very vio lent,but at the fourth l i ne after i t

came the counter-b low which served,as i t were

,as a

vau l ting-plank by means ofwhich to j ump clean over

the former. When M . de G ivry bruta l ly cla imed

his wife , h idden in Henri de L ignerol les’ rooms

, the

lover said ,‘ And i f she were here , do y ou th ink I

should be coward enough to g ive her up ?’

You


have been coward enough to corrupt her,

’ retorted

the colonel . And this tel l i ng retort— Goubaux’

s

i nvention,not mine— was the s ignal for deafening

applause which continued throughout . The part

was o n e prolonged,triumphant success of which M .

Geffroy had his wel l - deserved share,for he showed

himsel f i n advance of h is t ime by that carefu l attention

to detai l i n the matter of dress,manner and bearing ,

which consti tuted o n e of his great talents . With his

heavy moustache,close ly cropped redd ish hai r

,turn

ing grey and standing on end,his caval ry stride

,his

voice cutting through o n e l i ke steel,his brief answers

that reminded o n e of the crack of a whip,he posi

tively made o n e fee l afra id . You should have seen

him when Henri de Lignerol les said,

‘ Monsieur de

G ivry , you are a coward .

’ Taking a long breath,he

burst into a low sarcast ic chuckle,and simply an

swered,Do you think so ?’ At e ight o ’clock in the

even ing M . Geffroy was a ‘ mere hOpe,’ at m idnight

he was an actor of acknowledged talent .

I I

‘Was she pretty ?’ That i s general ly the fi rst

quest ion people ask you when you happen to speak

of an artist of former days . We l l,Mdl le. Mars was

pretty,she was even charm ing. So charming

,i n fact

,

that Scribe i n ‘ Valérie’ dared to put on her own

l ips the words,

‘ Am I pretty ?’

She was close upon

forty-five then,and the pub l i c repl ied to her by


applauding to a man . That applause,I fee l bound

to say,was due to a certain ex tent to the spi ri t of

the t imes. At presen t an author wou ld scarce ly

care to risk such an ex periment ; i t would want the

gal lants of the pi t of the early twenties to score a

simi lar success . I wi l l go further sti l l and say that

without the Optical condi tions ofthe playhouse,the

ex periment m ight not have succeeded then . There

are what we cal l stage beauties . Mdl le. Mars,i n

spite of her handsome eyes and magnificent teeth,

would not have passed muster,off the stage

,as a

good - look ing woman .Her complex ion was ne i therone th ing n or the other

,her nose was rather coar se

,

her head somewhat large, and her figure more or less

short But the stage i s a mag i c ian with the power

oftransforming everyth ing . I f i t be true that ex tra

refined features become somewhat ind istinct , i t i s also

true that too strongly marked trai ts become more or

less toned down . The stage both magnifies and

reduces ; i t has the effect of harmon ising thi ngs,and

owing to the optical de lusions prevai l i ng on the stage,

Mdl le. Mars remained fo r nearly fi fty years the mode l

young g i rl and young woman behind the footl i ghts.Hergreatest successes were scored in young gi rl s ’ parts.She continued to play Agnes ( i n Mol iere

’s Ecole des

Femmes ’

) when she was over forty. Scribe thought

he was do ing her a wonderfu l turn by writ ing fo r her

the part ofa young g i rl who having entered the convent

at s ix teen,and be ing compel led to leave i t at forty ,


during the Re ign of Terror, had to face the world

with al l the i nnocent,cand id

,unsoph isticated in ex

perien ced ways of the‘ bread and butter m iss ’ th ick

upon her,with the sou l of a chi ld

,and the body of

a matured woman . The conception was very ingenu

ous,the part absolute ly charming.

‘ I ’ l l have none of i t,

’

ex claimed Mdl le. Mars,‘ I ’ l l

have none of i t. I should be downright horrid.

i n i t.

Your two score years would affect my face,my

movements,my diction . Pray

,do not make a

mistake,I am not refusing the part from womanly

van ity,but from sheer artistic conscientiousness . I

can only be myse l f on the stage when I fee l that I am

young,when I am supposed to be young

,when I

know myse l f to be young.

’

She refused for the same reason and more cate

gorically sti l l , another three- act piece by Scribe,

ent it led ‘ La Grand ’mere,

’ in which in spite of her

white hairs, she won a young fel low away from a

young woman in order to restore his affections to

her grand -daughter. ‘ D on ’t talk to me of your s ex

agenarian lady. To begin wi th,i f I succeeded in

winn ing the heart of that young fel low,I would not

give i t up to any on e. Furthermore,take i t for

granted that in the gu ise of a grandmother, I should

look l ike a great -grandmother. ’ She was right. She

was no more fi t to play the part of a grandmother

than a tenor is fi t to sing a bass part.

Unfortunate ly, the poor woman was not content to


enact the young woman mere ly on the stage.Howoften have I seen her come to the rehearsals of

‘ Louise de Lignero l les ,’ nervous

,i rri table, her eyes

red wi th weeping. What was the reason ? That she

probably just had had a violent al tercat ion or ex p l ana

tion with o ne of the most elegant young fel l ows in

Paris ian soc iety who he ld her bound to him by the

t ies of a mutual affection but which,alas

,was

not shared to an equal degree. We l l,nothing

could make her give him up,ne i ther his frequent

fai thlessness nor the humi l iat ions to which she was

often ex posed by her frantic passion . I t was she

who was to ld by a phys ician to whom she had taken

him and who not iced her agony,to s et her mind at

rest because there was nothing serious the matter w ith

lier s on .

’ There i s no occasion to laugh or to throw

stones at her,for al l we know the talent and the

heart i n her case may have been s et ablaze by the

se l f- same spark . Who knows whether the on e would

have prese rved its youthful e lastic i ty and spi ri t without

the prolonged youth of the other ? We ought n o t to

j udge those strange beings we cal l great artists by

the common standard . They are of d ifferent ages at

the same t ime ; they are adu l ts when they have

scarce ly emerged from ch i ldhood ; they are mere

chi ld ren when ‘ they have reached the borderland

of o ld age.

’

I n that very drama of ‘ Lou ise de

L ignerol les ’ where she enacted the mother of a l i ttle

g i rl ofe ight she was constantly ch id ing the chi ld for


remain ing by her s ide when there was no necess ity.

‘What are you doing here,hanging on to my ski rts .

That ’s not l ike a l i ttle girl of your age. When you

have given me my reply,you should be romping

and playing at s k ipping rope or at battledore and

shuttlecock .

’

She virtual ly taught the chi ld how to

enact the chi ld .

Mdl le. Mars ’ acting was marked by three eminen t

qual i ties . To begin with,she had that rarest of al l

gi fts,the talent of ‘ composing ’ a part. There i s

nothing so d ifficu l t both to the actor and author as

to create a character that shal l hold together, that i s ,

whose moods , however varying , shal l accord so wel l

as a whole as to breed the conviction i n the minds of

the publ ic that they are look ing at and l istening to a

real l ivi ng be i ng. Mdl le . Mars ex ce l led in that pro

found art of ex tracting the harmonious whole of a

part from i ts very contrasting e lements themse lves .Her second gift was a marvel lous surety of ex ecut ion. I had a strik ing proof of i t o n e day . We had

to rehearse the most dramatic act of the piece. When

she arrived , she lo oked t i red , unnerved , there was not‘ a bright note i n her voice.

’ Wel l,she rehearsed

every l ine in that subdued voice without m iss ing a

word,without m iss ing an effect

,mere ly whispering

what under d i fferent c ircumstances she would have

said aloud,and making up for the defic iency in sound

by emphasis , and for the shortcomings of the vocal

organ by articu lation . I was simply amazed. I


find that I ’ l l break yours i n . You ’ l l be playing ‘ Le

Dissipateur to -morrow,and in the scene of the fourth

act , with which I have no fau l t to find , that wretched

arm ofyours saws the ai r l ike the sai l of a windmi l l .

I am going to tie a black string to your ‘ paw,

’ and post

myse l f at the wing where you play your scene. The

moment y ou attempt to move your arm,I ’l l

pu l l . ’

The scene commences,and at the second l ine Mdl le.

Mars ’ arm goes up,or rather tries to do so

,for there

i s a pul l at the string and the attempt at revol t i s

n ipped in the bud . The scene becomes an imated,the

young actress catches -the spi ri t of i t,and at a s i ng

ularly pathet ic l ine the poor arm gets fidgety ,and

attempts to free i tse l f a second time,but with the

same resul t. The scene becomes sti l l more touching

and goes on increasing in pathos,the poor arm wants

to emphasise the pathos,but is pu l led back for the

thi rd time. I t natural ly protests against i ts bondage,

the string protests on i ts s ide, unti l at last Mdl le. Mars

carried away by her growing ex ci tement,l i fts bo th

hands so impetuously that the string snaps in twain

and the arm is free to do as i t l ikes , and improves

the occas ion . When the scene i s over, Mdl le. Mars

makes her ex i t with a contri te mien and not daring to

look Mdl le . Contat in the face. But the latter goes up

to her,and taking hold of her hand says ,

‘ Bravo !

this i s a better lesson than any I could give you .

Henceforth , remember that the left arm shou ld not be


l i fted un less y o u can break the string by the force of

your natural emotion .

’

To - day,when the youngest and prettiest actresses

seek the i r success by means ofvulgar gestures , bodi ly

contort ions and trivial i ntonation,Mdl le. Contat

would scarce ly find pupi ls . Formerly an actress,i n

order to please, was bound to h ave taste, to -day she

must have sp ice .

’How could i t be otherwise,when

young women in society, and in the best society,set

the ex ample. Fifteen years ago , (this was wri tten in

1 886 - 87 ) Sardou made o ne of his young gi rl s tal k a

few phrases of s lang. There was a general cry of

ind ignation . To - day the adjectives ‘ stunn ing,

’

‘ s ide- spl i tt ing,

’

(eipatan t, tordan t) , consti tute part and

parce l of the usual vocabu lary of young gi rl s . I

may frankly confess that I cannot reconci le mysel f to

this. When I hear them utter these words,they

sound to me l ike oaths . Mdl le . Mars wou ld probably

have cons idered them blasphemy

Mdl le. Mars had another sterl ing and rare qual ity,

which I,above al l men

,ought no t to forget. She

was an ex ce l lent counsel lor. I n the thi rd act of our

drama Louise i nterrupted her husband ’s meeting with

his mistress . We had represented the husband as be

i ng embarrassed , grieved , and more or less repentant.‘ This is s imp ly absurd

,

’

ex cla imed Mdl le. Mars ;‘ he ought to get into a rage.He has done wrong

,

consequently he ought to accuse , to i l l - treat me,at

any rate i n speech— fo r that ’s your character, gentle


men . Your vani ty ru les everything. A hus band who

is caught by his wife at a c landestine meeting is

vi rtual ly in a rid icu lo us posi t ion,hence my husband

must get i n a towering pass io n . You need not m ind

me i n the case,I ’ l l come out al l the s tronger , and the

s cene of reco nci l iat ion wil l be al l the more touching.

’

When in due course that scene came,Lo u is e left

alone with her hus band,ex pres sed her confidence i n

him for the future,saying

,I have no longer any fear,

I am ignorant of everything I fee l as i f we had on ly

been married yes terday .

’ When she got to these

words she stopped sho rt and in her somewhat brusque

voice,her everyday voice

,said

,

‘ I ’ l l not speak this

l ine .

’ "Why not,madame ? Why not ? Becaus e

i t i s utterly useless i n that s i tuat ion .

’ Useles s,use

less,

’ I repeated , rather nett led ( I was only thirty and

not very patient,) I th ink i t very good .

’

You th ink

i t very good,I fee l as i f we had only been married

N )yesterday. Yes,madame

,i t ex press es as i t were

the confidence which makes Lou ise go back to her

fi rst day s of married happiness .

’ ‘ Have as much

married happiness as you l ike,but I refus e to say “ as

i fwe had on ly been married yesterday .

” Put some

thing e l se i nstead .

’ What am I to put ?’ ‘ Put tra

la,la

,la

,la

,— tra

,l a

,la

,la

,l a

,— tra

,la

,la

,la

,la !

’

‘ Great heavens,

’ I thought ,‘

she’

s gone out of her

mind .

’ Thereupon I went away.

While strid ing along and my anger gradual ly sub

s id ing,I began to reflect. What in the name of a l l

96 S irty Years of Recollection s

occasion she gave s uch a capital im itation of my jerky

and nervous d iction of those days that she managed

to cure me of i t for ever. The moment I feel ln

clin ed to re lapse i nto my old habi t, I think of Mdl le.

Mars and i t has the desi red effect. I may add that I

have never met with anyone so zealous and con s cien

t ious,watching

,as i t were over every part

,always

l i sten ing to what was going on on the stage,whether

she happened to be ‘ on ’ at the moment or not.

One morning we were standing chatt ing at the wings,

she was tel l ing me of her grievances against her

director. She was furious , her face, her gestures , her

voice,everything was ablaze. Al l at once her face

changes,she i s angry as ever i n speech , but her look ,

her ex press ion becomes m i lder, her i nvect ives are

uttered with a smi le , so that at the last sentence

though the language i s st i l l that of a fury, the face i s

that of an ange l . What had occurred ? This much :

whi le speaking she had carefu l ly l istened to the

actors on the stage and become aware that her

‘entrance ’ was n igh

,and as she was to ‘

enter ’ smi l

ing and amiable,she had prepared for i t amidst her

anger and whi lst talk ing , she had changed her features

as she changed her dresses when changing her parts .

On the fi rst n ight of ‘ Louise de Lignerol les,

’ before

the rise of the curtain , I noticed that she was rather

more agitated than is general ly the case with great

artists on the evening of a battle ; for on such occa

s ions they fee l themselves i n the i r element,l i ke a


great capta in amidst the roar of cannon . The

moment she caught s ight ofme, she came up to me,

saying,

‘ To -morrow you ’ l l d iscover the cred it I

deserved fo r act ing as I shal l act to - n ight , for I’ l l act

very wel l . ’ Nex t morn ing , i n fact , I learned that on

coming back to her house at five i n the afternoon on

the day ofthe fi rst performance, she found eve ryth ing

in the greatest d isorder. The servants had j ust

d iscovered that her d iamonds worth six ty thousand

francs,had been stolen .

I n spi te ofth i s,the performance from beginn ing to

end was a veritab le t riumph for her ; the success of

the piece i tsel f was very considerable. At the

twentieth performance,the 2 3rd August , the rece ipts

rose to five thousand s ix hundred francs , an enormous

figure i n those days . Mdl le. Mars went for her hol i

days,

* and was to make her re- appearance o n the

I s t October. She did n o t come back at the stated

period , and on ly retu rned s ix months later ; she only

resumed her character of Lou ise de L ignerol les

eighteen months after, and then only enacted i t twice

or thrice. What was the reason ? I t may be ex

plained in one word . Mdl le. Rache l had made her

first appearance o n the boards of the Comedic-Fran

calse in September. The bri l l iancy of this new star

in the theatrical firmamen t had frightened her. She

h id herse l f from fear ofbe ing ecl ipsed . She refused

They are often employed by great arti s ts i n France i n s tarr i ng theprov inces .

—TR.

VOL. I I


to reappear ex cept i n an enti re ly n ew part,in order

to oppose o n e triumph to another.

The n ew part was that of Mdl le. de Bel le- I sle

(Alex andre Dumas’ play of the same name). S ince

then every young and charm ing actress of the

Comédie - Francaise has ‘ attempted the part,’ not on e

has ever succeeded in effacing the recol lection of

Mdl le . Mars or of proving hersel f her equal,and y et

Mdl le. Mars was s ix ty- four years of age when she

played i t .

Here i s a rather curious fact,proving once more

the importance she attached to that great question of

her age. On e day,a friend of mine

,an ardent and

old admirer of everything connected with the stage ,

entreated me to introduce him to Mdl le. Mars .

This friend suffered from a pecul iar defect ; he had an

infal l ible memory. Everything in his m ind was

reduced to dates . I f the recol lect io n of his fi rst love

appointment happened to we l l i nto his heart,he im

med iately added with a me lancholy sigh,

‘ I t was on

the 1 3th September Whi le we were knocking

at Mdl le. Mars ’ door I fe l t vague ly apprehensive of

what might happen in consequence .

‘ By- the - by e,

’ I

said,

‘ don ’t let us have any of your awkward reco l

lections . ’ ‘ Don ’t worry yoursel f,

’

he repl ied ,‘ I ’l l

be careful . ’ The door i s Opened and in another

moment or so I present him to Mdl le. Mars as o n e

of her most fervent admirers , to which introduction he

adds immediately,‘ Yes

,madame

,i t i s ex actly forty

I OO S ix ty Years of Recollection s

think about i t ; but I must fi rst of al l s ee to that law

sui t of mine pend ing at Versai l les . When I shal l

have won that,you may bring me a confessor. !

‘ I have got an admirable o n e,

’ repl ied the operatic

artist,

‘the Abbé Gai l lard

,the curate of the Made

leine.

’ ‘ Very wel l , I’ l l write to you when I want

him .

’

A week later Mdl le. Mars i s suddenly an d danger

ous ly taken i l l .‘ Send me your curate at once,

’

she

writes to Mme. Dabadie. The good priest went, i t

was he who gave me the particulars of the last days

ofher who was once Mdl le. Mars,and he never al

luded to her grace,charm and fascinat ion without

be ing thoroughly moved . That part of the penitent

woman was Mdl le. Mars ’ final on e,and she enacted

i t as she had enacted al l the others , to perfection .

The priest i n speaking of her tr iumphant success of

former days , said to her : ‘ Where are al l those

beaut ifu l wreaths ,‘ Tru ly nowhere

,

monsieur l ’abbe,’ came the smi l ing answer

,

‘ but you

are preparing a much more lovely on e for me,which

wi l l l ast for ever. ’

On the last days, with her mind wandering now

and then and in the interva l s of prayer, she sudden ly

interrupted hersel f and after a moment’s pause

,began

to talk of Dorante,’ of ‘ love ’ and so forth . I t was a

passage from ‘ Les Fausses Confiden ces .

’ Then she

stopped again as i f l isten ing to what she had said,

and applauded. A touching and del ightful p icture,i f

S ix ty Years of Recollection s 1 0 1

ever there was one. This mingl ing of the parts of

the actress and spectator,that .voice l i stening to its

own music,those hands applauding her own words,

those al ternate l ines ‘

of the sacred tex t and of

comedy couplets,assuredly

,al l th i s has a grace

vying wi th that ofher most del ightfu l parts . Who

had the las t words ! David with his psalms o r Mari

vaux with his sprightly epigrams . I am incl ined to

th ink i t was Marivaux . That wh i ch precedes the

art ist c losest i n death i s art .

CHAPTER IV

Eugene Scr ibe—The beginn ing of’

my fr iendsh ip w i th him .-A Letter

to h im and his an swer . —Scr i be’s B irth an d Paren tage.—His Schoo l

days and Col lege Chums —His beginn ings as a Dramati s t. -A

s trange Col laborateur.— A scen e from ‘ She S toops to Conquer ’ i nrea l l ife—How Scr i be became the owner of Sericourt.— My succes sw i th Lou i se de L ignero l les .

’— A P iece on an Epi sode in the L i fe o fGenera l Lamarque.

-A qual ified success —The bal l s of the Due deNemours .

— Court Dres s in the fort ies — Scr ibe wan ts to wr i te amodern p lay for Rachel . - I find the subject — Scr ibe at work .

An E s say on Scr i be as a Dramat is t.— Scr i be as a L i bretti s t .—A predicamen t of Dr Veron .

—Scr i be converts a dul l tragedy into aspark l ing comedy.

— Scribe’s S tage Tr ick s .—His Dénouemen ts .His recon s truction of two of Mol iere’s dénouements .

— Scr ibe as aS tage-Manager .— Scr i be and Lou i s - Phi l i ppe.

— Scr i be as a Friendand as a Mam— Scr ibe and his Love-Affa irs . How happy cou ld Ibe w i th ei ther, ’ etc.

— A Las t Love —His Death .

I

MY friendship with Scribe, l i ke that wi th Casimir

Delavigne,began with the letter of a schoolboy to an

i l lustrious playwright. I was at the top of the fifth

form and had my mind ful l of theatrical ideas . On e

day I fancied I had hit upon a subject for a comedy

which seemed to me absolute ly de l ightful . The end

of the world was supposed to have been foretold,and

the date mentioned in the prediction was accepted

F i fth form according to Eng l ish scholas t ic rules —TR.


ness,heightened by a touch of sprightly i rony.He

i nst inct ively guessed that he was deal ing with some

young hopeful . ’

‘ Monsieur,

’

he wrote,

’ your subject i s nove l and

interesting ; un fortunate ly i n o rder to command the

s l ightest chance of s uccess,there i s o n e indispensable

cond ition,name ly

,that the publ ic i tsel f o n the fi rst

n ight shou ld fee l more or les s co nvinced that the end

of the world i s drawing n igh . That i s the obstacle.

At the present moment the publ ic i s far from bel ieving

this,and i t wi l l be difficul t to force that be l ief upon

them . Fortunately , people are talk ing of a comet

which is to appear nex t year,a comet which is ex

pected to shatter our globe l i ke a s imple wine-glass .

Let us wait for the comet. I ts coming may put the

publ ic in the humour to be terrified . I f so,I wi l l

take advantage of i t and wri te the piece ,or rather we

wi l l take advantage of i t, for I s incere ly trust that

that great event which wi l l overtopple so many things

wi l l also rend the ve i l behind which my anonymous

correspondent hides himse lf. ’

This letter, kindly withal , notwithstanding i ts tone

ofbanter, fi l led me with de l ight. I kept the precious

note l ike some treas ure, sti l l , I d id not make myse l f

known . I kept waiting for the comet and waited in

vain,i t frightened no o ne and left me with regard to

M. Scribe i n the posi t ion of M .

I l i ttle ex pected then that twenty years later I should

S ixty Years of Recollections 1 05

become his co l laborateur and friend,that I shou ld be

present at his most s ignal triumphs and have my

share i n some of these,and that final ly

,after a lapse

ofs ix ty years,I should take up the pen to save him

from supe rc i l ious i nd ifference and ob l ivion . I do no t

intend to wri te his ‘ apology,

’ I wil l ne i ther recrim in

ate n or pra ise him inord inate ly,I wi l l n ot attempt to

hide the weak points ofhis ta lent. I wi l l confine myse l f to painting him such as I knew him fo r

many years,at work

,i n h is study

,chatt ing

,wri ting

,

in i t iating me i n h i s method ofworking, and working

with me and wi l l leave as ide h i s works, trust ing to

posteri ty to assign to them the i r proper place.

The theory of envi ronment is very much the

fashion j ust n ow. I t appears to me to contain a

good deal of t ruth . The spot in which we happen

to be born,the ci rcumstances amid which we grow

up exerc ise a powerful i nfluence o n our l ives . Scribe

is a strik ing instance ofthis.He came i n to the world o n the 1 1 th June 1 79 1 , i n

the Rue Saint-Den is , in a s i lk warehouse , kept by his

mother,at the s ign ofthe Black Cat ,

’ a stone ’s throw

away from the (then) central market ; consequently

i n the midst of a bus iness quarter,inhab i ted by a

frugal , hard work ing midd le-class,far removed from

the aristocracy and almos t in contact w i th the people ,


not to say the populace.

’ His talent bears the stamp

of his orig in .

A second point worthy of notice i s the fact of his

guard ian having been a ce lebrated barrister to whom

he went every Sunday. To this connection he pro

bably owed his understand ing of business matters

with which he has often been reproached,and which

,

after al l,frequently proved an advantage i n h is

p ieces. There i s a th ird important’

ci rcumstance

which we shou ld n o t overlook ; he was educated at

Sainte -Barbe. Thence sprang,no doubt

,his tendency

for keeping up col lege friendships,the traces of which

are met with at every instant in his plays . There are

at least a score of Scribe’s pieces , the act ion of which

begins with the accidental or prearranged meet ing of

two col lege chums who,on finding themselves together

again after many years,feel a revival of al l the hopes

and affections of the i r youthfu l days,and the i r mutual

confes s ions and recol lection s supply a kind of affec

tion ate note to the sprightl iness of the ‘ex posit ion .

’

Truly,his sojourn at Sainte -Barbe had given him

cron ies eminently fi t to sti r wi th in his heart the love

for Compan ions of yore.

’ Two of these were Germain

and Casim ir Del avigne. Al l three were cal led ‘the

i nseparables . ’ Cas imir and Germain went to the i r

parents o n the days they had leave,and Germain

,

through his connection with the manager of a smal l

theatre, had tickets for the play.He went to i t everySunday , and went , as it were , for the whole three.


love- sick wight,

‘ and then I ’ l l leave her for ever.’

And the gambler keeps on gambl ing , and the love

s ick wight does not leave the damse l ; and seeing

that the dramatist i s both a love- s ick wight and a

gambler,he tries over and over again .

That was what Scribe d id , and he acted wise ly.

But Scribe or no Scribe, a playwright at the outset of

his career is bound to stumble and to make mistakes.He i s ignorant of his own part icu lar tendencies andhe wants someone to point them out to h im . I n

Scribe’s case that ‘ someone ’ was o n e of the oddest

characters I have known . Though he nominal ly

figures on the l i st of French dramatic authors,he had

scarce ly any talent,he had not even what we cal l

sparkle or wit. But the pierc ing eyes that flashed

from behind his glasses,the bushy

,mobi le ey ebrov

’

vs,

the sarcastic mouth,the long and inqu is i t ive looking

nose,al l thes e stamped him as an observer

,an in

quirer, a kind of s leuthhound . On e day when dis

cuss ing the ed itor of a period ical whose enemies

averred that his face was l i ke that of a pig,Beranger

witti ly remarked,

‘ A pig i f you l ike,but he has the

knack of find ing truffles .

’ Wel l, Scri be

’s friend dug

him out from beneath al l h is fa i l ures,and he con

ceived the strangest device to bring out what real ly‘ in h im was . ’He constantly repeated to h im You

wi l l be al l right. The day wi l l come when you will

show as much talent as Barré,Radet and D esfo n

taines . ’ ‘ How absurd of y ou to ex aggerate as you


do ,

’

repl ied Scribe .

‘ I am no t ex aggerat ing at al l ,

only y ou want two things, perseverance in your work

and sol i tude. I am going to take y ou away . I have

go t some friends a few miles d istant from Paris. They

have a very n ice house i n the country ,that’s where I

am going to take y ou.

’

You are going to take me,

y ou are going to take me ; what’s the good of tel l ing

me y ou are going to take me ? Your friends do n o t

know me,I do n o t know them .

’ ‘ I know them,and

that ’s enough . We’ l l take up our quarters fo r four

months with them,and in the autumn you ’ l l come

back to Pari s with five o r s ix charming pieces . ’ I n

another week our friends were comfortably settled in

two rooms adjoin ing on e another, Scribe under the

carefu l su rvei l l ance of his gaoler who only al lowed

h im to go down to h i s hosts after he had finished his

day ’s work,when he was su re to find ex cel lent fare

and a cord ial wel come. There was o n e th ing,how

ever,which made Scribe feel uncomfortable , namely ,

his fr iend s occasional rudeness to his host. When

the meat happened to be done to o much,or the

vegetab les too sal t , he simp ly ex cla imed :‘ This is

horrible stu ff, take i t away,take i t away.

’

Scribe ,

l ike most n ice-minded people when compel led to s it

by while the i r fr iends are making fools of themselves,

fel t awkward and fidgetty ,they feel as i f they and

no t the i r friends were the offenders. Scribe bent his

head over his p late, kicked his friend under the table

to make him hold his tongue, and when the d inner

1 1 0 S ix ty . Years of Recollection s

was over,remonstrated with h im in the l ive l iest terms .

That ’s not the way to speak to o ne ’s hosts ,’

he said .

‘ Don ’t trouble yours e l f about that , they l ike i t ,’ was

the answer. They l ike i t 1 why you are behaving as

i f you were at an inn .

’

The fact was that they were at an inn , or at any

rate i n a board ing - house,a board ing - house where

the friend paid for Scribe whom he housed,fed an d

provided for in a general way,i n order to compe l

h im to work,i n order to force his gen ius to sprout

forth . I t would be difficu lt to find a more curious

instance of admiration for talent . Only,for the sake

of thorough accuracy,I ought to add that the friend

was not whol ly prompted by pure love of art . For,i f

he had as much as suggested the t i tle of the piece,

ind icated i ts starting point or in spired a song , he as

sumed the part of col laborateur,cla imed the acknow

ledgment,shared the author’s fees and the glory accru

ing from the work .He undoubtedly worshippedScribe , but Scribe paid the budget of that worship .

These curious detai l s were told to me by Scribe at

Seri court whi le we were working at ‘ Adrienne

Lecouvreur,’ ‘ and

,

’ added he laughing,

‘ there i s th is

or that piece of m ine to which the fel low put his

name without having written a syl lable of i t . I t was

his due after al l,for I ’ l l never be able to repay him .He had the most wonderfu l knack of incit ing me to

work,of winding me up to the required pitch

,of

comforting me under di sappointment . I am even

1 1 2 S ix ty Years of Recollection s

I fee l sure,fo r i t is for sale. How long would it

take’

to get there ?” “ About three- quarters of an

hour. Upon my word,I should l ike to have a look

at my o ld room,

” I ex claimed aloud , j ust as the post

boys and horses came j ingl ing along. Méles v ille, do

y ou mind getting to Paris a couple of hours later ?”

I say ,turn ing to my compan ion . Not in the least ,

is the answer. “ Very we l l then,posti l l ion

,drive us

to Sericourt.” An hour later I was looking at the

garden,through the house

,the whole of my youthfu l

attempts uprose before me ; I fe l t moved beyond de

scription,and nex t morning I had bought the smal l

estate where the recol lection ofmy early thi rt ies he lps

me in cheerfu l ly bearing my s ix ties. ’

I n what way d id I become Scribe’s col laborateur ?

I n what way did we wri te ‘ Adrienne Lecouvreur?’

A short but necessary digress ion compel s me to

speak of mysel f, but i t i s only a roundabout way

back to him .

I I

The success of Louise de Lignerol les in 1 838 had

greatly encouraged me, and in 1 844 I read to the

Comm ittee ofthe Comedic -Francaise,a five - act drama

in verse , entit led ,‘ Guerrero ou 1a Trahison .

’ I t was

accepted without a d issentien t vo ice. After I had

read the third act , the members of the Committee ,contrary to al l precedent

,got up and catching hold of

my hands congratu lated me Provost offered to play

o ne of the principal parts . The main idea of the


work ex plained its success , for I may safely say that

i t was rather strong and absolutely new . A fact of

which I had heen°

an ey e-witness and a ce lebrated

personage whose friend I had been had insp i red that

idea. I n 1 82 9 I had spent my hol idays at Saint

Sever, i n the department of the Landes with a man

who had had hi s share of the world ’s populari ty and

glory name ly , Genera l Lamarque. His name under

the Empire was inseparably connected with a daring

ex plo it,the bold and heroic captu re ofCapri .

The genera l was a native of Saint - Sever and re

s ided there in 1 82 9 . R i ch,enjoying great considera

t ion,a scholar and a clever scholar to boot

,he was

simply wearing himse l fout with ennu i and rage. The

Bourbons had ex i led him in 1 8 1 5, and though the

sentence was revoked three years later,he was de

prived of al l chances of act ive service , struck off the

army l ist,etc.

,etc.He came to settle i n the smal l

town where he was born . The idea of his shattered

career fi l led him with despai r,nothing cou ld com

pensate o r comfort him for that. To begui le his grief

he bethought himse l f of bu i ld ing a veritable palace.

A twelvemonth was Spent in the bui ld ing of i t,and

when i t was finished , he flung himse l f headlong into a

translat ion of‘ Ossian ’ i n verse which took him

another twe lvemonth. When he had written the last

l ines,he took to cu l tivat ing flowers

,and from Paris

,

where he spent a few months every winter,he brought

col lect ions of geran iums , rose bushes , peon ies ; butVOL. 1 1 1 1


ne i ther bu i ld ing nor bedding , ne i ther rhyming , nor

con s tructing palaces prevented the craving of his

heart,al l these amus ements only so ured h im by the i r

i naneness,and he re lapsed into his former s lough of

despai r,a despondency sti l l more embittered by the

cruel sentiment of his inact ivi ty. His passion for

sold iering was so i ntense that when out rid ing with

his nephew and my s elfin the ne ighbourhood of Saint

Sever, he stopped more than once , saying al l of a

sudden :‘ Look here

,young men

,do you s ee that

he ight yonder ? Wel l,suppose i t were bristl ing with

cannon and occupied by Prussians,how would you

manage to take i t ?’

Saying which , he would put

spurs to his horse,shouting for us to fol low him

,and

breasting the hi l l,i n it iate us in the mysteries of

attacking an outwork . To cut my story short.

When in 1 82 3 the war with Spain broke out , he could

no longer restra in h imsel f. The sound of cannon

suddenly bursting forth in Europe made him lose his

head,and he

,the victor of Capri

,the ex i le of 1 8 1 5

wrote to the Min ister for War offering his sword,and

winding up his pet i tion with My greates t ambit ion

is to die on the battlefie ld wrapt in the folds of the'

white flag ’ What proved to be the bitteres t of al l

trials was that the Min ister proved more tenacious of

his reputation than he hims e l f ; he would not s anction

his propos ed faithles snes s and the offer was decl ined .

We should not be too hard on him . The pass io n for

war is as powerful as that of love and for gambl ing.


lent ind i fference . When leaving the house, I ran

against Mdl le. Mars who said ° ‘ Too severe i n i ts

tone,my friend

,to o severe .

’

The piece added a good

deal to my reputation , but not to my ex chequer.

Neverthe less I was indebted to it for o n e precious

favour,the friendship of Scribe who had been kind

enough to attend the rehearsals and who remained

a warm partisan of the play ; furthermore, for two

distinct ions,the Cross of the Legion of Honour and

a subsequent invitation to a bal l . At that part icu lar

period the D ue de Nemours gave some very bri l l ian t

bal ls at the Pavi l lon de Marsan , the i nvitations to

which were greatly prized . Court dress,the coat

a la Francaise,white kerseymere knee breeches

,

white s i lk stockings,sword

,etc.

,was strictly enforced .

I had been told that the prince had been very

much struck with my drama,and that he would

wi l l ingly send me an invitat ion,provided he fe l t sure

that i t would be accepted . I d id accept,and on my

name being announced by the attendant,the D ue ad

van ced a few steps toward s me,which d istinct ion

made me fee l somewhat awkward,seeing that I

had never spoken to a prince of royal blood .

My embarrassment , however, soon van ished when

I saw his . Timid ity if i t be accompanied by kind

nes s and courtesy in persons of high rank,i s not

far short of the qual ity of grace ; the t im id ity of

the D ue was of that kind .He was not a fluent

talker,but h is looks and gestures conveyed so amiably


what his tongue fai led to utter, that after a few

moments we were chatt ing together l i ke two young

fe l lows of the same age. My legs were the most

awkward part of me. I n 1 845 shapely calves were

n o t the ru le in society. Those confounded white

s i l k stockings fidgetted me a good deal,I fel t as i f I

were decol lete below . Moreover, peop le’s van ity

came i n to p lay,everyone was looking at everyone

e l se ’s legs. The fear of look ing rid icu lous made

peop le more sens it ive than usual . Fortunately the

young princes came to the rescue. Al l four were

gracefu l and e legant to a degree,but thei r t ibias

dwindled down to such thin and feeble broomsticks

that i t looked as i f they had ordered them ex press ly

to make us fee l at home . I t was impossible to feel

ashamed of one’

s legs after having looked at the i rs.

No legs ever ex erc ised the vi rtue of hospital i ty with

such k ind ly forethought . Towards e leven o ’c lock

the king made his appearance.He was the on ly one

who wore trousers .He stood watching the groups

of dancers wi th a kind of benevolent cynici sm,h is

hat repos ing on his abdomen as o n a tiny she l f,and

with such a merry,mischievous tw inkle i n his ey e

that I i nst inctive ly guessed what M . Thiers to ld me

s ince.

‘ The king,

’

he said o ne day to me,

‘was the

most bri l l i ant sto ry- te l ler and the greatest master of

banter in the whole ofhis kingdom .

’

‘ Guerrero ,’ had been the beginn ing ofmy intimacy

with Scribe . I often went to see him in the morn


i ng . One day I found him in a great state of ex c ite

ment. ‘ You are the very man I want,

’

he said,

‘ you

are going to give me a bi t of advice. I have had

an Offer which both tempts and frightens me. The

di rector of the Comédie- Francaise wants me to wri te

a part for Mdl le. Rachel . ’ ‘ We l l,who is to prevent

you ?’ ‘ Corne i l le and Racine . How can I possibly

put my humble prose i n that mouth accustomed to

recite the verse of “ Andromaque ” and‘What’s that to y ou ?

’ ‘ You would not be fright

ened ‘ Not in the least. ’ ‘You would dare to write

a prose part for the representative of Phedre and

Cami l le ?’ ‘ Certain ly,we l l

,find a subject and we ’ l l

wri te the piece together.’

Three days after that I enter Scribe’s room with

the class ical Eureka on my l ips . I te l l h im my idea .

‘ Your idea is not a good o n e,i t i s devoid of interest. ’

‘ Devoid of interest ,’ I ex claim , and forthwith begin

to defend my idea .

‘Let us try

,

’

he s ays,

‘ i f you r

idea has got anything in i t , we’

llfind it out in kalf-an

lion r or s o. And he immediately begins to turn my

idea upside down and inside out , to pul l i t to pieces ,

and to ex amine every shred of it . Not a thing in i t,

as I told you ; you must find something el se,

’

he

winds up . On that occasion I had the fi rst practical

demonstrat io n of Scribe’s marve l lo us faci l i ty of find

i ng out at a glance whether an idea was dramatic or

not.A few days later I cal l again , this time with

the subject of‘ Adrienne Lecouvreur.

’

The words


at a moment ’s notice. As a matter of course,I told

him the resu lt of my meditat ions , and then he s eated

himse l f o n a smal l chai r at his wri t ing- table,s aying

,

And now to work,to work .

’

There is no need to enter into particu lars of that

col laborat ion,I wi l l on ly point out two or three facts

calcu lated to show Scribe as a man , an author, and a

col laborateur.

I n our theatrical slang there ex i sts a very significantword ; i t i s the word

‘n n n ze

’

rotage’

The numbering

i s the plann ing of the sequential order of the scenes .

That sequential ordering is not on ly a k ind of class i

ficatio n,i t also comprises the deve lopment

,that is

,

the accumulat ing interest of the play . That number

ing is the i t inerary of the dramatis pers ona with the

points of i nteres t as land marks . Each scene mu s t

not on ly be the logical outcome of the scene that pre

ceded it and be connected with the o n e that fol lows

i t,but i t i s bound to impart to i t i ts motive and

movement , so as to push the piece forward without

interrupt ion and in that way to reach , stage by s tage,

the final a im,in other words the de’n on en zen t Scribe

had not on ly a talent for numbering,he had the

posit ive gen ius of it . NO sooner had the plan of a

piece been sketched than the whole materials for the

work came to him as i f by magic,and p laced them

se lves in the i r logical pos it ion . During o n e of our

fi rst convers at ions o n‘ Adrienne Lecouvreur

,

’ when

the s i tuat ions were sti l l i n a very s ketchy state,he


sudden ly go t up , then sat down again at his writ ing

table.

‘What are y ou doing ?’ I asked .

‘ Writing

out the sequence of the scenes of the fi rst act,

’

was

the answer. ‘ But we have n o t decided as to what

we are going to put in that fi rs t act. ’ ‘ Never m ind ,

never m ind . Don ’t interrupt the thread .

’ And forth

with he wrote

SCENE I .-The Pr inces se de Bou i l lon

,The Abbe’ .

SCENE I I .—The Same,the Duches se d’Aumon t.

SCENE I I I— The Same,the Pr ince de Bou i l lon .

‘ But my dear Scribe,’ I remarked

,i nterrupting

him,

‘ before bringing the Prince de Boui l lon on the3

s tage,we ought at least to know Never m ind

,

’

was the answer,

‘the Prince de Boui l lon is to appear

twice i n that act , and i f I do not“ bring him on at

that part icu lar moment,I shal l not know what to do

with him .

’

Saying which , he went o n wri t ing and a

few days later when al l the i nc idents and scen ic

movements ofthat fi rst act were final ly decided upon,

the personages almost natural ly took up the i r pos i t ion

at the points ass igned to them ,l ike guests at a

d inner where the hostess has inscribed the i r names .

I was simply aston ished . I have rare ly met with a

more i nstructive fact.

I n the midst of our work, Scribe was compe l led to

i nterrupt i t.He ex plained the reason in a letter

which I am anx ious to quote because i t affords no t

on ly a phase of his character, but a g l impse ofhis

l i fe.


My dear friend,

’

he wrote ,

‘ I am writ ing this to

ask y ou fo r a longer cred it . Our dear Adrienne i s

o ne of thos e creatures for whom everyth ing el se

shou ld be put as ide . When o n e is engaged with her,

on e should not be engaged with anyone or anything

but her. Unfortunate ly,j ust at the moment when I

am beginn ing the thi rd act , the Opéra -Comique

c laims my services for the n ew score of Auber ;

Buloz (the d irector of the Comédie- Francaise) asks

me for a five- act comedy , ‘ Le Puff,

’ which is to be

put on before ‘ Adrienne ’ and final ly Montigny (the

manager of the Gymnas e)’

is sounding a cry of alarm

because ‘ Charlotte Corday ’ has turned out a fai lu re .He ins ists upon my fin ishing La Dées se,

’ a piece i n

three acts,with music and songs in which Sain tine i s

col laborating with me. I do not know whether the

gods are particu larly wearisome,o n e th ing I do

know,th is goddess has bored me to death. I sat

down to her” in a desperate mood,working from five

i n the morn ing ti l l l ate at n ight , and by d int of such

labour managed to put together two more or less

presentable acts . But after thes e I fe l t fagged and

wrote to Sain tin e to come to the rescue for the thi rd .He came and saw ,but d id not conquer

,and now the

whole affai r has to be started afres h . Meanwhi le,

Adrienne whom I love with al l my heart , i s wait ing

and you are wait ing al so . But I wi l l take no engage

ment with regard to ‘

Le Puff,’

without your sanction .

I wish to put;

matters c learly to you,but i f my


Memoirs of Mdl le. Clai ron .

’ ‘ That ’s j ust i t,i t

hangs fire because i t i s true . I do not wish you to

misco nstrue my mean ing . The truth i s absolutely

necessary o n the stage,but i t has to be focussed in

accordance with the optical condit ions of the s tage.

I am not at al l surpri sed that the story in Mdl le.

Clai ron ’s Memoi rs ” struck you,i t was s ure to pro

duce a great effect in them ,because i t p l aces before

you an ind ividual Of flesh and blo od,a fact that has

happened and because the actress imparts as i t were

her own l i fe to the s tory. You take an interest i n her

by be ing interested in what she says . But on the

stage we are i n the absolute domain of fiction,and

fict ion has i ts laws . W e are speaking not to o n e

reader,but to fi fteen hundred ind ividuals and the

number of spectators,the s ize of the house i tse l f

change the moral condi tions of the effect,j us t as the

laws of optics and acoustics modify the material con

ditio n s of that effect . I nstead of that true narrative,

I am going to put an absolute ly fict it ious on e,ln

vented for Adrienne , su ited to Adrienne and which

wi l l produce the mo st startl ing effect upon the publ ic .

’

This was done,and on 6 th October 1 848 we read

‘Adrienne ’ to the Committee of the Comédie -Frangaise.

Our piece was rejected.

without a d issentient vote.

How it was enthusiastical ly underl ined and put in

rehearsal s ix months afterwards i s a play within a play

which I wi l l describe when I come to talk of Mdl le.

Rache l herself. At present I am in too great a hurry

S ix ty Years ofRecollection s 1 2 5

to leave Adrienne i n order to show the grand s ides of

Scribe’s character and career .

A careful review of Scribe'

s career as a playwright

must necessari ly deal with every branch of dramatic

art,because he himse l f deal t with everyone of these

and in each he has left us a model or two which

i f they are not absolute ly worthy of imitat ion , are , at

any rate deserving ofcons ideration .

Among the foremost g i fts of the dramatist , those

of invention and imaginat ion rank the highest . We

must be careful not to confound those two facu l t ies .

They are close ly connected , they support o n e another,

but each has its spec ia l character and its d ist inct

domain . I nvention creates,imagination works out

the th ing. To the o n e belongs the primary idea,the

find ing of the subject , to the other the ex ecution

thereof. Both are n o t always to be met with in the

same man and rarely i n equal proportions . A man

may have more imagination than i nvention,or more

i nvent ion than imaginat ion . Our own t imes afford

us two str ik ing instances of this. Balzac is a m ighty

inventor.He i nvents wonderfu l characters , splend id‘ start ing poin ts ,

’ but his execut ion,for l ack of im

aginatio n , is often heavy ; Balzac fal l s short of that

fert i l ity of inc idents , that l ivel iness of d ialogue wh ich

make a powerfu l work amus ing bes ides. The winged

goddess d id no t pass that way . Look,o n the other

hand,at Alex andre Dumas. The starting points of

his subjects belong as often as no t to someone e l se.


Sometimes he takes them from hi s tory , at others he

has them given to him by his co l laborateurs,then

again he s imply bo rrows them from o ther works .Hehimse l f i n his charming and unaffected ly good -natured

Memo i rs admits that ‘ Antony ’ was inspi red to him

by the fi rst performance of ‘ Marion De lorme.

’ I n

order to st i r his facu l ty of creation he often wanted

that tap on the cheek which a certain phi losopher,

who se name I forget , declared to be necessary to him

in order to acce lerate the pace of the world . But

no sooner was that impulse given than Alex andre

Dumas set the machine a- revolving and with a

vengeance. NO carriage drawn by the most sp i ri ted

team ever went down - hi l l at such a rattl ing gal lop,

with greater contempt for everything in its way , with

greater surety also than a drama or nove l by Alex andre

Dumas proceeded towards its den on en zen t. Even when

the horses are not his he makes them his by the way

he hand les the ribbons . Nay,they may give him cab

horses,he makes them step out l ike thoroughbreds .

With Scribe the powers of invention and imagina

tion were of equal value and of great value .Hehas often been contemptuously re legated among

the adaptors or arrangers of other people ’s ideas .

I n real i ty , no l i terature i n the world has produced

s o powerfu l a dramatic inventor. On e s ingle fact

wi l l s uffice to prove th is . For a s core of years

he pos i t ive ly held sway over the fo ur principal

theatres in Paris ; namely , the Opéra,the Opera

1 2 8 S ixty Years of Recollection s

sacrificing his duty as a son to assume the part of

God ; i t would be a magn ificent character to sketch ,’

he said to himse lf. ‘ And what a splendid part i t

would be for Talma.

’ Unfortunately Talma was dead,

but fo rtunate ly Meyerbeer was al ive,and Scribe com

posed the l ibretto of Le Prophete.

’

What was the Opéra- Comique before him ? A

charming but very m i ld k ind of playhouse. But ‘Le

D omino No ir,

’ La Dame B lan che,

" La S i rene,’ ‘ La

Ne ige,

’

Fra Diavolo,

’ ‘ La Part du

Diable,

’ opened a n ew road to music by endowing

lyrical comedy with a n ew form . Scribe has contri

buted h is share to Auber’s glory, see ing that Auber

would not have been the Auber he was without

Scribe.

‘ Do you know to whom I owe the phrase of

Amour sacré de l a said the composer of

La Muette de Po rtic i ’ (Masan iel lo) , on e day to me .

To Scribe. On e day whi le we were out walk ing he

marked the rhythm of the l ine so vivid ly to me that

the melody came as i t were of i tself.He had spokenmy duo to me.

’

Scribe, therefore, i s not on ly en

t i t led to o ne patent as an inventor with regard to the

Opera-Comique,but to two .

Before the advent of Scribe,a vaudevi l le was based

upon a sl ight story,more or less adorned with song ;

Scribe raised i t to the rank of comedy of char

acter— Le Theatre de Madame has become a branch

of the Comédie -Frangais e.

The presen t Gymnase — TR.

S ixty Years of Recollection s 1 2 9

And final ly,at the Comédie-Frangaise i tsel f, leaving

aside the nove l ex periments impl ied in such pieces as‘ La Camaraderie

,

’ ‘ La Calomn ie,

’ ‘ Le Verre d ’

Eau,

’

what i s ‘ Bertrand and Raton ’

? S imply the most

beauti fu l pol i t ica l come dy ofi ts repertory.

Such was Scribe as an inventor. As fo r his im

aginatio n ,i t was practical ly inex haust ible in devising

startl ing incidents,i n overcoming apparently insuper

able obstacles . I need only g ive o n e instance.

‘ La

Révol te au Sérai l ,’ a bal let

,the name of the author of

which I do not remember,* was be ing act ive ly re

hearsed at the Opéra,Mdl le. Tagl ion i was to enact

the principal part. Two days before the fi rst perfor

mance,which was al ready advertised with the quas i

sacred and bind ing word,

‘ I rrevocably,

’ over i t, the

Director ofthe Opéra (Dr Veron ) rushed into Scribe’s

study at n ine i n the morn ing :‘ I am simply going

frantic,ru in is staring me i n the face, y ou alone can

avert i t,

’

he s aid .

‘What is the matter ?’ asked

Scribe.

‘The performance ofmy bal let i s imposs ible .

’

‘ Why ?’ ‘

The whole ofthe success depends o n the

s i tuation of the second act,and that s i tuat ion is as

fol lows Mdl le . Tagl ion i who is shut up and bes ieged

by the revolut ionar ies in the palace,enl i sts al l the

women ofthe harem,provides them with arms

,dr i l l s

The author of ‘ La Révo l te nu Sera i l ’ was Md l le. Tagl ion i ’sfather . By a l l accounts , i t was one o f the mos t s tupid product ions ofthat mos t s tupid of indiv iduals . Nevertheles s , the fi rs t twen ty performances y ielded more money than the firs t twenty-five performancesof ‘ Robert le D iable,’ wh ich is not say ing l i tt le—TR.

VOL. I I

1 30 S ixty Years ofRecollection s

and converts them into sold iers,whose command she

assumes . She repe l s the attack .

’ ‘ That’s a very

original idea,

’ repl ies Scribe.

‘ That may be,

’ says

the d irector,‘ but we d iscovered yesterday that i t is

perfectly absurd .

’ ‘Why ?’ Because in the fi rst act

she has had a tal isman given to her by a magician .

Hence,she would on ly have to show that tal isman

and al l the eunuchs wou ld take to the i r heel s. ’

That ’s true remarks Scribe,‘ and i t makes the affai r

very serious . That ’s what I say,and under the c ir

cums tan ces my only hope l ies with you .

’ Very we l l,

I ’ l l be with you at rehearsal to - day and try to find

something afterwards . ’ ‘ That won’

t do at al l . I t ’s

no good trying to find afterwards,I want you to

find someth ing now,at th is very minute. I t ’s of n o

use your coming to dress rehearsal , there wi l l be no

more dress rehearsals . Between now and to - night,

this very day, you must find some means of enabl ing

me to give the bal let without changing anything,

for there i s no time to change anything,and without

the necess i ty of a day’

s de lay,for every day of de lay

means ten thousand francs.’ ‘ Very wel l

,

’ rep l ies

Scribe,‘ leave me to myse l f for an hour or so

,and I ’l l

try to think i t out.’

The director departs and slowly descends the

score of steps lead ing to the ground floor,but before

he can ask the concierge to let him out,he hears a

vo ice shouting after him :‘ Veron

,come back

,I have

found what you want. ’ As a matter of course,Veron


sombre five- act drama,i ntended for the Ambigu .

‘Wel l,my dear friend and master

,what ’s your

opin ion ?’ says the author after the fi rst act . Go on,

’

remarks Scribe seemingly absorbed in thought. Let

us have the second act. ’ The author goes on reading ,

the drama gett ing more sombre as he proceeds,and

Scribe ’s face l ighting up as the drama gets more

sombre. Somewhat surprised at that k ind of success

which he had certain ly not foreseen , the poor author

begins to stutter and stammer and to fee l very con

fused,unti l Scribe , unable to hold out any longer,

suddenly ex claims : ‘ Upon my word,i t’s absolutely

s ide- spl i tting.

’ ‘ I ’ l l t rouble you no longer, c/zer

maitre,we have had enough of this

,

’ says the author

somewhat nett led .

‘ I perce ive we l l enough that my

piece i s very bad .

’ What do you mean by bad say

i t i s ex ce l lent,de l ightful

,pos i t ively de l ightfu l . I t

contains some wonderfu l ly comic effects and I fee l

certain that Ferv ille wi l l be as amusing as Arnal . ’

At the name of Arnal,the tragic author

,i ndignant

beyond measure,leaps from his chai r.He made

sure that Scribe had not heard a syl lable of his play.

But he was utterly mistaken . Not on ly had Scribe

l i stened very attentive ly , but he had reconstructed

the piece while he was l isten ing , and as each lugubri

ous scene dragged its weary length along transformed

i t into a comedy - scene. When the reading was over

the huge,heavy , commonplace five- act melodrama

had become a del ightful , sparkl ing comedy in on e

S ix ty Years ofRecollections 1 33

act, which we know under the t i tle of ‘ La

Chanoinesse.

’

I I I

Nex t i n importance to the i nvention of the subject

stands the plann ing of a pl ay. Nowadays the plan

n ing ofa play is greatly scoffed at . The author who

happens to plan h is p iece carefu lly is treated to al l

sorts of n icknames ,‘ bone- setter,

’ ‘ osteolog ist,’ ‘

an

atomist,

’ d issector,

’ skeleton -maker,’

etc.

, etc. To all

ofwhich sobriquets I have but o n e rep ly. During the

last thi rty years a goodly number of o ld p ieces have

been revived the only successfu l ones are the pieces

based upon a good plan . The plan is to a play what

i t is to a house, the fi rst and foremost cond ition of its

beauty and stabi l i ty. You may load and overload

a bui ld ing with the most magn i ficent decoration and

ornament, y ou may use the most sol id mater ials , i f

that bu i ld ing be no t erected in accordance w i th the

laws ofequ i l ibrium and due proport ion that bu i ld ing

wi l l ne i ther p lease nor last The same hold s good of

a dramat ic story. The dramatic story must before al l

th ings be clear,and w i thout a plan there can be no

clearness . The dramatic story must proceed wi thout

stoppage to a defined goal , w i thout a plan such pro

gress is imposs ible. The dramatic story must ass ign

to each of its characters its proper pos it ion , each fact

must be placed at its ex act poin t wi thout a p lan there

can be no due regard to proportion . The plan does

n o t only include the order ing of the play : i t al so


i ncludes that which Alex andre Dumas , the e lder,

cal led the fi rst art icle of the playwright’s creed,the art

ofpreparing situations , in other wo rds , of logical ly and

natural ly leading up to them . The publ ic as a col lective

being i s a very odd creature, very ex acting,and most

Often very i l logical . I t insis ts upon everything being

led up to,upon be ing hin ted at to them

,and at the

same t ime i t wants to be startled by the quas i - unfo re

seen . I f,to use the popu lar ex press ion

,a th ing drops

upon them from the skies,they are shocked if a fact i s

too plainly announced beforehand,they are bored in

order to please them the playwr ight has to treat them

both as a confidant and as a dupe : that is,to drop

carelessly at some point of the play a word that shal l

pass almost unperce ived and y et give them an inkl ing

of what i s going to happen , a word that goes i n

at on e ear and out at the other, and which , when the‘s i tuat ion comes upon them ,

shal l e l ic i t an ex clama

tion of content , that ah ! which signifies :‘ True

,he

warned us , how stupid we were not to have guessed as

much .

’

After that the i r del ight knows no bounds, and

Scribe was a"

past-master in that particu lar trick of

de l ighting them . I would recommend the perusal of

o ne of his master-pieces , La Famllle Riquebourg,

’

and would ask the reader to pay particu lar attention

to a smal l glass of l iqueur introduced in the th i rd scene.

I t looks l ike nothing at al l i t i s brought in as a mere

adjunct on a salver,i t takes i ts place l ike a mere


s ight of i t for a moment and make everything sub

ord inate to i t . The novel i st may at a pinch begin

without knowing ex actly whither he i s going ; he

may,l i ke the hare of the fable

,stop every now and

then to browse the grass,to l isten from which quarter

the wind blows ; but the dramatic autho r i s bound

to take the torto ise as his model,though he must

go at a somewhat qu icker pace. I n other words ,

he must start at the right moment and not lo iter

by the way. Above al l,whi le advancing he must

never lose s ight of his goal .

Scribe i s on e of the authors of ou r t ime who was

ful ly al ive to the importance of the de’n onen zen t and

who succeeded bes t i n applying the s everest laws to

i t. Nay,he appl ied these laws to the works of

others also and most Often to the works he admired

most. One day I heard him in the heat of a con

versation on the art of writ ing comedy,reconstruct

two de’n on ein en ts of Mol iere,that of ‘ Les Femmes

Savantes ’ and that of ‘ Tartuffe.

’ ‘What a pity,

’

he

s aid,

‘ that Mol i ’ere term inates that beauti fu l character

play l ike a genre comedy by the trivial artifice of

a false piece of news,by a fictit ious ru in .He

had such a capital de’n ouemen t ready to hand. The

conclusion sprang so natural ly from the very entrai l s

of the subject. I should have fin ished my piece with

the admirab le scene between Vadius and Trissotin .

The picture of those two prigs ,” abusing and unmask

ing one another , destroying the i r own and the i r dupes’


i l lus ions would have terminated a masterly work in a

masterly way. As fo r “ Tartuffe ? that is al together

d ifferent . As a ru le people cavi l at the dc’n onenzen t;

personal ly I think i t admirable . Fi rst of al l,i t has

that meri t,as far as I am concerned , that without

that den ouemen t we should probably no t have had

the piece at al l , and there i s very l i tt le doubt that

Mol iere on ly go t the play sanct ioned by making the

k ing o ne of the actors i n i t. Secondly , that de’

nane

men t is unquestionably a strik ing picture ofthe t imes.

Here we have go t an honest, upright man who

has val iantly fought for his country and who having

become the victim of the most obvious and most

od ious of machinations finds n o t a single hand

stretched out to defend him e i ther in society o r o n

the part of the l aw. I n order to save him,the

sovere ign h imse l f has to intervene l ike the D eus ex

mackina. Where cou ld we find a more terrible

ind ictment against the re ign i tsel f than in that im

men se ~ eulogy of the king. That ’s why I admi re

that de’nouen zen t so much,

’ said Scribe ,‘ and that’s

why I would change i t i f I had to write the p iece to

day. To -day,in fact

,the only sovereign is the law

itsel f. The word of the sovere ign s imply means the

articles of the Code. The code ,therefore

,should be

entrusted with the role of Lou is X IV ; i t is to the

code I would look fo r my dc‘n onen zen t. I would

change Cleante into a mag istrate and when Tartuffe

says ,“The hous e bel ongs to me and I ’l l show y ou

1 38 S ixty Years of Recollection s

that i t does,Cleante should ex claim :

“ No,i t does

n o t belong to y ou ,for you owe i t to the gener

o s ity of a benefactor,to an absolute ly free gift

,and

the law has provided for wretches of your stamp

by these two avenging l ines : ‘ Every donation may

be revoked on the proof of the i ngrati tude of the

recipient. ’ I dare you to come and claim thi s house

before the law. I f y ou do , you wi l l find me there

also with the patent proofs of your abominable

ingrat itude. You had better come then,but remem

ber,I ’ l l be waiting for you .

”

Nex t to the plan of a comedy comes,as a matter

ofcourse,i ts style and the portrayal of i ts characters

before venturing to discuss these two subjects,I

would dwel l for a moment on a fundamental point of

our art which , moreover, occupies a cons iderable place

in Scribe ’s work and which partly consti tutes i ts

original i ty.

On the fi rst n ight of Hernan i,

’

Scribe occupied a

box i n the centre of the house on the fi rst t ier,I was

in a side bo x on the second tier,and I watched him

fol lowing the development of the piece with the

closest attention , standing up al l the whi le, and dar

ing to laugh openly at the most sensational i nc idents.

I t was not only a bold thing to do,for he made

himsel f a good many relentless enemies on that

occasion,but i t was also a bold profess ion of his

dramatic,I m ight add , his phi losophical , creed . The

fact is that every comic author has within h im the


Scribe sang the praises of conj ugal happiness , and

selected for h is hero ines young gi rl s who had not

been subject to such temptatio ns . On e has but

to take up the various works that compose Scribe’s

repertory,such as ‘

Le Mariage de Raison,

’ ‘Un e

Chaine,

’ ‘Les Premieres Amours

,

’‘

Le Mariage d ’

Argent,

’ and at no matter which page we open them

we shal l find everywhere the defence of paternal

authori ty,sense gett ing the better of pas s ion . Scribe’s

muse i s the ‘ feet- on - the - fender ’ muse,the

‘ bread

and - butter- cutting ’ muse,i f you l i ke

,but i t i s the

muse of the fami ly home. The story goes that

after see ing Le Mariage d ’

I n clinatio n,

’ a young gi rl

flung herse l f in to her mother’s arms,confess ing her

i ntention to elope after a play by Alex andre Dumas

she would have flung herse l f i nto the arms of her

lover,saying

,

‘ Take me away.

’

The bourgeois ie i s , furthermore, represented in

Scribe’s comedies by the patriotic sentiments with

which these comed ies teem . His warriors,his medal

led veteran s,his fire- eaters

,his co lone l s have raised

many a smile since,as far as we are concerned they

made us cry for we had not long ago been invaded

and our wounds were by no means healed ; each of

his songs in h is farcical comed ies proved a consola

t ion and a kind of revenge ; unless I am very much

mistaken we would not laugh at them nowadays .

Final ly,Scribe was both a conservative and an

agitator,supporting the throne and making sport of


the chamber ; prais ing the King and sati ri s ing his

M in isters in song,and especial ly pit i lessly scourgi ng

those recantat ions which those who profited by

them would fain have had us accept as convers ions .

I n connect ion with that subject,I happen to remem

ber a very interest ing story,its date i s the beginn ing

of the second Empire,somewhere about 1 854 . O ne

day,at some reception o r other

, Scribe happened to

run against an importan t personage,an o ld school

fe l low whom we wil l cal l M . de Verteu i l . ‘.What

are y ou doing asks his fr iend,

‘ some comedy on the

s to cks , I suppose ?’ ‘Yes

,

’ repl ies Scribe ,‘ I fancy I

have go t hold of a charm ing subject. I i ntend to

put o n the stage a ‘ Peer ofFrance,

’

Of the t ime of

Louis -Phi l ippe’s re ign,

“ who becomes a senator under

Napoleon I I I . You may see for yoursel f what a

fund ofcomic tra i ts I ought to ex tract from such a

senator’

s recantat ions,from his awkward posit ion in

t rying to reconc i le his adherence of to -day with his

adherence of formerly . I th ink i t wi l l be del ightful . ’

At that moment the two fr iends were separated by a

batch of guests and shortly afterwards Scribe went

home,engrossed in thought and not very cheerful .

The conversat ion had set him thinking.

‘ I am

afraid,

’

he said to himsel f,‘ that my subject is no t

as good as I fanc ied i t to be ; de Verteu i l is a

very clever man,I tried to g ive h im a spi ri ted ac

count ofmy plot , but i t went without a smi le . There

The peers created by Lou i s-Ph i l ippe were on ly l ife peers —TR.


i s n o mistake about i t,he d id not seem amused in

the least,a bad s ign that

,I fee l sure .

’ While tal king

to himsel f he mechan ical ly open s the even ing paper,

and the fi rst thing he sees i s the fol lowing : ‘ M . de

Verteui l , a former peer of France , has been cal led to

the Senate.

’

And now let us look for a moment at some of the

characters of Scribe ’s plays and at his style.

’

I may

frankly confess that these show the two weak points

i n Scribe’s works .He fai led to look at human ity inany other l ight than that of the ‘ float . ’He had aprofound knowledge of men and women

,but he

i nvariably saw them l ike so many theatrical person

ages ; hence, the curious fact that, though he has

created a great number of very attract ive parts,he has

produced very few general and deeply pondered types .

Not that l i fe and truth are wanting in the characters

he brings on the stage, his facu l ty of subt le obs erva

tion enables him wel l enough to d issect and to depict

boldly the i r foibles,thei r passions and aims ; they

talk as they should tal k , they behave as they shou ld

behave i n the si tuation in which they are placed,but

they are only the men and women of that s ituation

they fi l l i t adequate ly but never go beyond i t. On the

other hand , and to take on ly o n e i nstance,when one

reads Shakespeare , his characters seem to be endowed

with such powerfu l breath of genera l vi tal i ty,they are

stamped with such ind ividual i ty as to convey the idea

that in every poss ible c i rcumstance they would act


i s a great deal of jargon,consequently there are a great

many ephemeral elements i n that l anguage. Odd to

say ,the feel ing that springs eternal in the human

breast ’ i s subject to the most transitory form of ex

pres s ion . That part of a stage play which grows

obsolete soones t i s the love episode. Even such love

letters as have been written to yoursel f, should you

take them up after a lapse of years , wi l l make you die

with laughter. The i r com ic effect i s in d i rect propor

t io n to thei r tenderness . The art of the great dra

matis t i s to d istinguish in the current id iom the

perishable e lement in order to borrow from that id iom

only that which is strictly necessary to impregnate

h is dialogue with the tone and the flavour of the

moment .

Mol i ’ere writes both in the language of h is t ime

and in the language of al l t ime ; Scribe in vi rtue of

his very scen ic instinct,makes too much use of the

d ictionary of the Restorat ion . Final ly the impetu

o s ity ,the despotism of his dramatic temperament led

him to make everything subservient to the action of

the play ; absolutely everything,even to grammar

,

not from ignorance,for he knew his own language

very we l l , but knowingly , and with del iberate pre

medi tat ion . I happen ed to be present o ne day at a

rehearsal ofon e of h is pieces , when al l at once o ne of

his characters del ivered himsel f of a s l ightly incorrect

phrase. I suggested a more correct o n e.

‘ No,no

,my

dear boy,’ says Scribe ,

‘ your sentence i s too long ;


there is n o t ime for i t . My sentence is probably n ot

very orthodox,but the action i s proceeding apace

,

and the sentence must fol low su i t ; that’s what I cal l

the economical style.

’ On the other hand,i t is not

from economical motives,but from necess i ty, that he

wrote certa in lyrical l ines wi th which he is constantly

be ing reproached,and ofwhich reproach I wou ld fain

cleanse his memory . Fi rst of al l, y ou may adopt i t

as a princ iple that whenever y ou meet with a very

bad l ine i n an Opera that i t i s the composer and not

the l ibrett ist who has perpetrated it . The despotism

of the former is beyond most peop le’

s imag i nation,

and n o words can convey an idea of the fate of an

elegant strophe when he happens to lay hold of i t ;

he shatters i t to p ieces , he amputates i t, he suppl ies

art ificial l imbs to i t ; i t is s imp ly monstrous . The

famous Alex andrine of the Huguenots

Ses j ours son t menacés . Ab l je do i s l’y sous tra ire.

’

was never written by Scribe, i t be longs to Meyerbeer.

Scribe had correctly wri tten

Cc compl ot odieuxQu i menace ses j ours , ah je do is l

’

y sous tra ire.

’

But that qui happened to be i n Meyerbeer’s way.

Meyerbeer cut i t out, and subst i tuted his horrib le

hemist ich , the unfortunate l ibrett ist backed it as o ne

backs an accommodation bi l l , and when the b i l l was

protested , i t was he who pa id . I am anx ious to get to

the fi fth point ofmy dramat ic survey , to the‘ stag ing

VOL. 1 1 K


of a play,for there we shal l find Scribe occupying

the foremost rank .

IV

The staging of a’

play ,.

especially of a comedy , i s

al so a whol ly modern art. No doubt,i n former days

,

the author wrote on his manuscript : ‘The stage

represents a drawing- room,

’ but there was nothing

to show that the action d id take place i n a drawing

room . First of al l , the dramatis pers ona? kept on the i r

legs . We al l recol lect the actors at the Comédie

Francaise stepping to the footl ights , side by side and

del ivering thei r speeches before the prompter ’s box .

A clever wri ter who since then has been become an

oflicial personage wanted to introduce on the stage

of the Comédie-Frangaise what he cal led ‘ seated

comedy ’ Unfortunate ly,his p iece turned out a

fai lure and what he ca l led ‘ seated comedy ’ became

prostrate comedy. Scribe was on e of the fi rst to

introduce o n the stage the an imation and bustle of

real l i fe. The very nature of h is talent compe l led

him,as i t were, to do so. His bustl ing

,sparkl ing

comed ies,fu l l of i ncidents and apparently spontaneous

situations d id not lend themselves easi ly to the

sobriety of movement of the stage of yore. I n real i ty,

a manuscript ofScribe only contains part of h is work,

the part which i s spoken ; the rest must be enacted,

the gestures must complete the mean ing of the words,

the interval s of s i lence are part of the dialogue and

the smal l dots fin ish the sentence.


than ask the reader to p icture to h imse l f a general on

the battlefield,he was here, there, and everywhere at

the same t ime,he was enacting every part ; at o n e

moment he was the crowd , the nex t the Prophet,

the nex t the woman , then strid ing at the head of the

i nsurgents wi th a fierce ai r,h is s pectacles pushed up

to his forehead after that,and with his spectacles sti l l

on his forehead,rush ing to the opposi te s ide of the

stage,and enacting the part of Berthe, pointing out to

everyone his or her place, marking the bounds with

a piece of chalk , at the ex act spot where this or that

actor had to stop i n short,combin ing so sk i l ful ly the

evolution of his d iverse characters as to make the i r

most an imated movements perfectly we l l ordered and

invest ing that order throughout with grace.

No sooner was the thi rd act fin ished than we rushed

away to the Comédie-Frangaise to attend another

rehearsal , that of the second act of‘Les Contes de

l a Re ine de Navarre,’ an act al together d i fferent from

the other, an act played by four characters only , an

act of a more or less domest ic, home- l i ke nature.

And in accordance with the theme Scribe becomes

al l of a sudden a d i fferent man . The energy dis

played but hal f- an - hour previously in handl ing large

masses and in making them convey by thei r gestures

and grouping some of the effects of popular passions,

that energy had made room for a subtle,critical

facul ty of interpreting the most refined and del icate ly

shaded feel ings. Before his arrival the actors them 1


selves had become conscious that the act wanted l i fe ,

that i t was dragging somewhat heavi ly along. No

sooner does he set his foot on the stage,than

,without

adding a word,he

‘ besprinkles ’

the d ialogue w ith

such te l l ing gestu res,such effective attitudes, such

ingen ious pauses,he avai l s h imsel f so adroi tly of the

chai rs and tab les,as of s o many advantages ofpos i

t ion as to emphasise the s ituation and to he ighten

the in terest.His characters so vague i n outl ine but am inute before

,n ow stand out i n re l ief ; the act ion of

the p iece becomes c lear,an imated : fu l l of l i fe ; a

mag ician had touched i t with his wand .

Nor is that al l . The art of‘ stag ing ’ became a

kind ofrevelat ion to h im . By the l ight ofthat smal l,

dim lamp that stood o n the ricketty l i ttle tab le dur

ing rehearsals his manuscript revealed to him things

he d id n o t suspect of bei ng there.He has Often

told me what happened to him with a very interesting

drama,ent i tled ‘ Phi l ippe

,

’ which he had wri tten in

conjunction wi th Bayard and which turned on the

mystery ofan i l legitimate b i rth .

The p iece Opened w i th the d isc losure ofthat secret .

Scribe , who was to attend the rehearsals,makes

his appearance at the very moment the actor is

reveal ing the secret to the pub l ic .

‘ I t is too soon,

’

he ex cla ims ,‘we must put off that reve lat ion ti l l

the second s cene.

’ Nex t morn ing the reve lat ion

is introduced in to the second scene.

‘

Too soon,

’

he

ex cla ims once more,

‘ i t must be put off ti l l the


thi rd scene.

’

The reve lat ion was put off accord

ingly ,but Scribe sti l l cons idered it too premature .He kept o n deferri ng i t unti l final ly the original ex

posi tion became the de’n on en zen t of the piece.

Nevertheless,I fee l bound to qual i fy my praise. I f

Scribe was the founder of the modern art of staging ,’

i t i s but fai r to admit that two important parts of that

art were utterly beyond his ken .He had no knowledge e i ther ofscenery or costumes. Odd to relate, i t

wou ld be difficu l t to find an imagination going farther

a-field than Scribe ’s and remain ing so thoroughly

within the l im its of home. His imagination wandered

through every country of the world,whi le at the

same t ime i t always remained in Pari s . At the be

ginn i ng of h is comic operas and Operas he put The

scene of the piece i s l aid at St Petersbu rg ,’

The scene

of the piece i s laid in Madrid ,’ ‘ The scene of the

piece i s laid in Pekin ,’ notwithstand ing that the

scene of the piece was vi rtual ly i n Paris . When he

wrote the words ‘ an inn,

’ a kitchen,

’ a palace,

’ his‘ mind ’s ey e

’ always perce ived the sel fsame inn,

kitchen or palace. As for his characters,he mental ly

decked them out in al l k inds of finery,not to say rags

,

which had not the s l ightest connection with the

country in which those characters were supposed to

l ive and act.He made them speak and besti r themselves

,but as for housing and clothing them

,he d id

not trouble about i t . This defect,apparently al to

gether on the outside, was due to the deficiency in his


the honour of be ing a col league of yours ?’ ‘ You,

s i re ?’

Yes,i ndeed

,I . You have come to London

fo r an opera ; wel l , I a lso wrote an opera when I was

a young man,and I give you my word i t was by no

means bad .

’ ‘ I can we l l be l ieve that,s i re ; you have

done more difficu l t th ings than that. ’ More d ifficu l t

to you,perhaps

,but not to me. I took for my sub

jcet the Caval iers and Roundheads . ’ ‘ A good sub

jcet,s i re

,

’ assented the author of ‘ Les Huguenots. ’

‘ We l l,I happen to have come upon the manuscript

very recently. Shal l I give you an idea of i t ? I

should l ike to have your Opin ion on i t. ’ ‘ I am at

your d isposal,s i re.

’

Thereupon,Lou is - Phi l ippe i n h is most bri l l iant

manner starts te l l i ngScribe the substance ofhis fi rs t act,

and at fi rst Scribe s its l i sten ing,respectfu l ly

,without in

terruptio n as he would have l is tened to a speech from

the throne, but gradually ,as the piece proceeds

,the play

wright’s feel ings get the upper hand and he absolutely

forgets that his interlocutor i s , or at any rate was , a

king ; he forgets everything ex cept that there i s the

scenario of an opera be ing submitted to him,and

interrupting the speaker at a fau l ty passage , he s ays

Oh,that won ’t do at al l . ’ Why won ’t i t do asks

the King, s l ightly nett led . Because i t i s improbable,

and what’s worse

,devoid of interest . ’ ‘ Devoid of

interest, devoid of interest,’ repeats the King.

‘ My

dear Monsieur Scribe, j ust al low me. But the

K ing might have saved himsel f the trouble ; Scribe


was‘off thei r respect ive parts had been reversed

i t was the au thor who was the k ing for the moment.‘D o y ou know what y ou want there, s i re ? You want

a love scene there. Pol i t ics are we l l enough in a min is

terial counc i l,but in an opera we must have the love

pass ion .

’ ‘ I n that case,let ’s have a love scene,

’

repl ies Lou is-Phi l ippe, laugh ing. And forthwith

they begi n to devise and to d iscuss unti l i t i s t ime

fo r Scribe to return to town .

‘ Already,

’ says the

King ;‘o ne moment

,I ’ l l n o t let y ou go unless you

promise me to come and lunch with me to -morrow.

Our opera is n o t fin ished . I shal l ex pect y ou to

morrow.

’ Very wel l,s i re

,t i l l to -morrow.

’

Nex t morning o n arriving at C laremont whom

shou ld he see stand ing sentry at the door of the

King’s study ? The ! ueen , who was watching fo r him ,

apparently in a very ex ci ted state.

‘ May heaven

bless y ou,M . Scribe,

’

she said .

‘ For the fi rst t ime

si nce we left Paris the King dined hearti ly last n ight,

and during the whole of the even ing he was cheerfu l

and talked a good deal . Th is morn ing on enter ing

his room he was s i tt ing up in bed , rubbing his fore

head as his ancestor Henri IV used to do when he

fe l t puzz led and saying i n a low voice to himse l f,

“ That confounded Scribe , he th i nks i t is a very easy

matter.” And he was smi l ing al l the whi le. Oh , do

come back , Mons ieur Scribe , do come back as often

as y ou can , every day i f poss ible whi le y ou are in

London . Wil l y ou prom ise me ?’


Scribe promised and kept h is word . For a whole

week he went every morn ing to pour a few drops of

joy o n that broken heart,to shed a few rays of l ight

into that mournfu l home,and on his return to France

he bro ught back the most glorious author’s fees

he had ever received in his l i fe,the grati tude of an

ex i le,the affect ion of a deposed king and the bless

ings of a woman who was l i ttle short of a saint .

Thes e recol lections would be very incomplete i f I

om itted to show Scribe as a man and a friend . I t

would be worse than inaccuracy on my part,i t would

be a want of grat i tude. On e day,M . Thiers

,allud

i ng to himsel f said to me,After al l i s said and done

,

I am a good fe l low.

’ I wi l l paint Scribe with on e

word,he was a good fe l low in every possible sense

of that charming word . A good fel low is unaffected

a good fe l low i s l ive ly and gay a good fel low is good

and kind ; a good fe l low is artless, i f not always , at

any rate somet imes a good fe l low is modest. Wel l,

Scribe was al l that . W e may take i t that he could not

have been ignorant of h is own meri ts . Forty years of

success must have pretty wel l enl ightened him in that

respect, but he real ly seemed to give them no thought.

On e day in the course of conversat ion some on e

quoted enthusiastical ly the trenchant remark of

Royer-Col lard with regard to M . He i s not anass

,he i s the ass . ’ ‘ I don ’t cons ider that so very

ex traord inary,

’ said Scribe , i n the s implest way im

agin able,‘ I fancy I cou ld find as good .

’ I s not th is


yield twelve hundred francs a year for l i fe to the j oint

authoress . You may arrange the matter j ust as you

please ,provided i t looks genuine.

’

Rather a del i cate

proceed ing this o n the part of Scribe, who has been

s o often accused of plagiarism,but who in this ln

stance did not borrow his plot from any o n e,and

who,I fancy

,has not had many imitators i n that re

spect . But the best of the story has to be to ld . The

governess who had re l i shed her success,kept con

s tan tly suggesting to Scribe n ew plots for comed ies,

drawn from Engl ish nove l s,which Scribe as con

s tan tly decl ined with a sm i le. After that,the gover

ness,whenever they praised Scribe to her, protested

in a soft,gentle, co oing tone. Yes

, y es , there i s no

doubt about i t,he i s a charming young fel low . But

I am afraid grat i tude i s not on e of his pet vi rtues .

We wrote a very pretty piece together,seei ng that

i t brings us each twe lve hundred francs per annum ,

why does he refuse to write another ?’

Scribe never

d ispe l led her i l lus ion .

Assured ly a man who is not only superior to most

men but a good fel low to boot is a de l ightfu l phe

nomenon ,n o t to mention the splendid facu lty of im

agination which n o t on ly concocts a pretty piece out

of an ind i fferent nove l , but makes i t the basi s of a

k ind ly action .

V

I have now come to the most ‘ de l icate point

i n this essay. No doubt,old chums occupied a


l arge space i n Scribe’s l i fe but pett icoats occupied

a st i l l greater. The latter enacted as many parts

i n h is ex istence as they enacted in his p ieces,o r

to put i t correct ly , they have al l enacted the same

part . Where, in fact , could he have found so many

del ightfu l love scenes , i f n o t i n h is own heart ? A

woman who knew Scribe very wel l ,’

who,i n fact

,had

had every poss ible opportun ity of knowing him we l l ,

once gave me a descript ion of Scribe i n love.

’ I am

al lud ing to jenny Vertpré to whom Horace Walpole’s

mot o n Mme. de Choiseu l m ight we l l apply : She i s

the prett iest l i ttle fai ry that ever came out of a fai ry

egg,

’

for i t is the portrai t ofjenny Vertpré herse l f. A

young general of the First Empire having come to

bid her good -by e j ust before starting for Russia, cou ld

not w ithstand the temptation and carried her off i n

his b ig c loak , and snugly ensconced in the i r carriage,

they go t as far as Dantz ig ,she cos i ly wrapped up in the

c loak,l i ke a bi rd in its nest. She was on ly six teen

,

with eyes l i ke a squ i rre l ’s,gleaming l i tt le teeth l ike

those ofa mouse, and hai r the hue ofthe raven ’s wing.

And w ith i t al l,such a figure and such a smi le

,n o t to

mention her clevern ess. When Scribe drew the

de l ightful character ofMme. Pinchon, he wrote to her

as fol lows : ‘ My dear jenny ; I have d rawn a part for

y ou, made Up of your own say i ngs . ’ She was the

daughter ofan actor ofthe Vaudev i l le and had grown

up s ide by side, in fact , on the same story of the

same house w ith D éjaz et. Every morn ing the two


l i tt le gi rls went down to buy the milk and the char

coal for the two households . Trott ing about together

they compared notes as to the i r respect ive school

learn ing. D éjaz et cou ld read , and jenny Vertpré

knew her catechism . The l atter fact e l i c i ted the

serious admiss ion of D éjaz et years afterwards to

jenny , that she loved her very much ,‘ because i t i s to

you I owe my re l igious princ iples . ’ The comic part

of the business,

’ added jenny laughing, was that she

meant what she said,for D éjaz et has always been

very devout. She always went to mass in the l i ttle

vi l lage where she l ived,after she ret i red from the

stage.

’

From D éjaz et I led jenny Vertpre’ to tal k about

Scribe .

Oh,the scamp

,

’

she said,

‘ he would not have been

able to begin work without at least hal f-a-dozen letters

from as many women on his table .

’ What was he l ike

when young ?’ ‘ A kind of face such as o n e might

find described in a passport. Nose average,forehead

average,chin average

,shape average

,somewhat heavy.

What distingu ished h im from the crowd was a pai r

of smal l green eyes,fu l l of m ischief and sparkle and

never st i l l , beneath enormous,bushy eyebrows . But

there was above al l,his mouth

,with two d impled

corners l ike a chi ld ’s . And with i t al l amusing,spruce

and neat,with soft

,caj ol ing ways

,a regular boob’y.”

I protested .

‘ I am te l l ing you the truth,

’

she added

with her diabol ical l itt le smi le,

‘ i t was a posit ive s in


al so begins to tal k cleverly , becomes more press ing

and h is compan ion ’s res istance grows fainter and

fainter.He offers the hospi tal i ty of his bache lor’s

quarters and the offer is accepted . I n those days he

l ived near the Bourse,on the th i rd floor of a large

house. Off they go,i n a l i tt le whi le they reach his

home and are ascend ing the stai rcase. Al l of a

sudden when they get to the fi rst story,the l ady

stops. ‘ W e are not there, y et,

’ says Scribe.

‘ I n

deed,we are

,

’ says the lady.

‘ I am sorry to contra

dict you,

’ repl ies Scribe merri ly , o n e of these days I

may be fortunate enough -to l ive on the fi rst floor,but

at present . ‘ At present ,’ i nterrupts the lady

,

taking off her mask ,‘ at present i t i s I who am l iving

there.

’ ‘ I do n ’t understand , madame ?’ ‘ Yes

,mon

sieur,this i s my domici le

,and now

,good neighbour

,

al low me to thank you with al l my heart. I lost

my husband in the crowd and fe l t dead frightened .

Fortunately for me I happened to fal l i n with the

most charming of kn ight-errants who,for my edifica

t ion,improvised o n e of the most del ightfu l episodes

and love scenes he ever put in his comed ies,with the

prett iest de’n ouemen t possible, for al l of which kind

ness I fee l s incere ly obl iged and for which my hus

band wi l l come to thank him personal ly to -morrow.

’

Thereupon she sweetly curtsies to Scribe and dis !

appears through her own doorway , leaving him on the

landing,look ing more or less sheepish

,confused and

grieved . Whether the lady fel t touched by his re


proachful and regretfu l part ing glance , I am unable to

say . The l i tt le comedy in o ne act may have had a

seque l,but Scribe never breathed a syl lab le ofi t.

Al l h is adventures,though

,d id no t miscarry l ike

th is,inasmuch as he by n o means took his love- affairs

i n a tragical sp i ri t .He did n o t pretend to enact the

Antony. As long as the gi rl was pretty ,o good

tempered and kind he d id not trouble about the rest ,

and i f she dece ived him,provided i t was done with a

certain amount of c leverness,he put a good face

upon the matter by being the fi rst to laugh at i t.

I n those days there was a favouri te actress at the

Vaudevi l le of the name of Pau l ine,with the most

magn ificent pai r of black eyes I have ever seen in

my l ife. Brunet was her manager and he managed

to di rect her away from the paths of virtue. About

the same period , Scribe appeared upon the scene with

a p iece that ran fo r a hundred n ights. Pau l ine took

a fancy to him ,which drove Brunet to despai r at fi rst

,

though he managed to resign h imsel f to the fact

afterwards.He made up fo r his misfortunes as a

lover by his success as a manager. Paul ine v i rtual ly

t ied Scribe to the theatre with s i l ken bonds , and al l

would have been wel l but for the advent of a thi rd

th ief i n the shape of the handsome Darto is. That

was more than Brunet cou ld bear , and he rushed to

Scribe’

s house.

‘ My dear fe l low,

’

he ex c laimed in a

tone of despai r ‘we are be ing dece ived .

’ That we

t ick led Scribe to such an ex tent that he forget hisVOL. 1 1 L


own grief. The plural had the effect of reconci l ing

him to the plural ism of pretty Pau l ine .

Things d id not always work so smoothly,whether

h is inamoratas were fai thfu l or not. When he was

about forty,i n addition to the casual and un important

love- affairs which cropped up as frequently in his

ex i stence as they did in his p ieces,in add ition to these

he had two serious liais on s which every now and then

led to very comic pred icaments . His two lady

loves were both married women,but

'

s eparated from

thei r husbands,consequently with al l the i r t ime at

the i r d isposal,which fact m i l i tated against h is own

freedom . The mistress ’ freedom means the servitude

of her admirer. At that particu lar period the whole

of Pari s was rushing to s ee‘ Les P i lu les du Diable.

’

As a matter of course , Scribe goes to s ee the piece,

which does not stri ke him as very amusing. On his

return at n ight,he finds the fol lowing l i ttle note

,

‘ Every on e'

i s talk ing of “Les P i lu les du Diable

,

”

which I am longing to s ee. Take a box for to

morrow,I ’ l l be with you at seven ’ ‘ Hum

,

’ grunts

Scribe , two doses of these pi l l s i n twenty - fou r hours

is rather too much of a good thing. I suppose there

i s no he lp for i t,so I had better get the box .

’Heswal lows the second dose which he re l i shes even less

than the fi rst and gets home,not in the brightest

of tempers . On his table l ies a second note,couched

as fol lows,My dear boy , they have worked me up to

such a p i tch about “ Les P i lu les du Diable,that I am


by convert ing them into two of his most del ightful

comedies,viz . :

‘ Les Malheurs d ’un amant heureux ,

’

and Un e Chaine.

’ Final ly though,when about fi fty

he became once more master of his own destiny by

a bold stroke— he got married . That de’n on en zen t

may be reckoned among o n e of the very best of al l

h is comedies. First of al l , l i ke the sk i l fu l playwright

he was,he prepared that de’n on en zen t long beforehand .

At the outset of his double liais on he had declared

on h i s oath to both his mistresses,not once but a

hundred times that, had they been free , he would

have married them . Later on he swore to them that

i f they became widows he would marry them .

‘

The

years are going by,

’

he said to them,I wi l l wait for

y ou unti l I am fifty. But let i t be understood that

at fifty,i f you are not free

,I wi l l be.

’ Heaven alone

could tel l of the fervent suppl icat ions he addressed

to i t fo r the heal th and long l i fe of those two hus

bands . Not his best friend inspi red him with a

sim i lar sol ic i tude for his we l lbe ing. Heaven granted

his prayers,both husbands kept thei r heal th .He

married as he had said he would , shortly after h is

fiftieth birthday,and three months after his marriage

both husbands departed this l i fe .

‘ Great heavens,

can you imagine my position i f that m isfortune had

happened three months earl ier ? he ex claimed . How

could I have possibly got out of the d ifficu l ty ? The

very thought of i t makes me shudder. After al l,

’

he

added,I could not have married them both .

’


With his married l i fe, Scribe entered upon the

happiest period ofan ex istence which had been happy

throughoutHis reputation was at its zen i th and theful l cup ofunal loyed joy at his l ips . My dear fel low

,

’

he often said,

‘ up t i l l now I on ly knew what pleasure

meant,at present I know what happ iness means. ’His wife was comparative ly young ,

barely th i rty,

good - looking,l ive ly

,kind - hearted and a woman of

parts. Beranger,who knew her and whose songs she

sang in a very talented manner,said ofher that she

was strong enough inte l lectual ly to govern an emp i re.

Twe lve years went by in that way without the faintest

shadow o n the p i ctu re, without a cloud in the sky .

After that per iod when I happened to rem ind him o ne

morn ing of the almost unheard - of and un interrupted

success and happiness of his l i fe, he said to me in

a sad tone : No o ne knows where the shoe p i nches

ex cept he that wears it ’ I dared not quest ion him ,

but I not iced that from that day forward his imagina

t ion was n o t as bright as i t had been . When talk ing

about the subject of a play , he i nvariably proposed

painful and more o r less bitter subjects . You have

often asked me,’

he said o ne day,to prov ide a sequel

to our four br i l l iantly success fu l p ieces . We l l,I ’ l l

give y ou a ti tle wh i ch is an idea in i tse lf.’

Let us

hear the t i tle,

’ I said .

‘L

’

Amour d ’un V iei l lard ’

(The love-pas s ion of an o ld man .) I cou ld no t help

frown ing , see ing wh i ch he went o n qu ickly.

‘ Wa i t a

moment ,’

he said .

‘ I have no intent ion to write


another “Hernan i or Ecole des Viei l lards. What

I would l ike to portray is the sorrows of an old man

who i s being tenderly be loved . Do you fol low my

mean ing,he said “ tenderly ‘ Yes

, y es , I

understand ; i t would be the companion picture to“ Les Malheurs d

’

un amant heureux .

” But would

the subject be i nteresting to the publ ic ?’ Undoubt

edly i t would , for i t would be absolutely n ew,true

and I m ight say,tragic. I t would deal with a secret

phase of human l i fe which has up ti l l now escaped

observat ion , at any rate as far as the stage goes.

We men may and often do love an ugly woman,a

stupid woman,even a sp i teful and bad - tempered

woman,but never an old woman . On the other hand

with women , and I say this in the i r praise, for i t

proves that the i r love proceeds from thei r sou ls more

Often than i t does with us,the fame of a man

,his

talent,his heroism may bl ind them to his years .

General Cavaignac was over fifty when in june ( 1 848)he saved Pari s from a revolut ion . That victory

aroused the enthus iasm of several gi rl s who fel l i n

love with and wanted to marry him .

’ ‘ My dear

friend,

’ I answered ,‘ to that instance I cou ld add o ne

much more str iking and which bears absolute ly on

your subject. The old man of whom I want to te l l you

was Over s ix ty and your t i tle seems ex press ly made

for h im,so much d id he suffer from lovmg and be ing

beloved .

’ ‘Who was that,I wonder ? Béranger?

’

‘ Yes,Beranger

,i t i s evident that you do not know


his address from his dearest friends, d isgu is ing him

se l f by means of large blue Spectacles in order to

escape recogn it ion andpatiently await ing there, whi le

wandering through the woods , the en d of h is agony.He had the reward of his courage, at the end of the

twe lvemonth he went back into the world,i f not

absolutely cured,at any rate perfectly sel f- control led .

’

I had got thus far with my story,when Scribe, who

had been l isten ing w i th intense emotion,turned very

pale,and pressing h is hands against o n e another

,

said al l of a sudden in a scarcely aud ible voice, and

with i l l - suppressed sobs : My dear good friend ,

Beranger ’s story is absolute ly l ike mine.

’ Like

yours ? I ex claimed in amazement . ‘ Yes,I also

,at

the age of s ix ty or more, have sudden ly , and for the

fi rst t ime i n my l i fe fel t that bewi ldering, maddening

sensation which we cal l an intense pass ion . I also

met, not with a young gi rl , but with a young woman ,

w i l l i ng to throw everyth ing to the winds for", to sacri

fice everyth ing to,me. And l ike Beranger

,I behe ld

,

upris ing before me,my advanced age, my l ife, al l I

have been,and al l I have done. You have j ust said

i t,a man does not r id himsel f at wi l l of an honourable

and honest past. Al l'

the pieces in which I have sung

the praises and the hol iness of the matrimon ial tie, of

the puri ty of home l i fe,of love hal lowed by reason

,

flung thei r we ight upon me at once. Then,there was

my wife,my dear wi fe whom I would have dr iven to

despai r. And there was something e l se besides . I


was think ing ofmy enemies , my enemies in the press

who wou ld have soon d iscovered the secret and con

verted i t into a scandal . D id n o t they go as far to

incrim inate even my paternal affect ion for on e of my

n ieces . When I came to reflect upon al l this,my

commonsense,my most deep- seated affections

,my

horror of hav ing my name bru i ted about,gave me

courage and a twelvemonth ago I broke offwhat as

y et was n o t a bond . But heaven alone knows at the

cost ofhow much suffer ing. On e s ingle fact w i l l be

sufficient to p rove that to y ou. About a month ago

I went back to society for the first t ime ; name ly , to

a grand bal l at the Hote l -de-Vi l le. The fi rst person

I saw on entering the grand gal lery was she,she

rad iant with beauty and an imation,and wal tz ing

round with a charm ing young fel low. On e look at her

was sufl‘icien t. jealousy sees more in on e glance than

a hundred pa i r of ord inary eyes . I understood , as i f

I had read i t in an Open book that,deserted by me

she had , e i ther out of p ique o r from innate flcklenes s

flung hersel f head long in to some other love-pass ion .

The young fe l low with whom she was danc ing was

her lover. I fel t such a sharp pang at my heart

that I s ank back on the nearest couch,utterly undone

and rema ined motionless fo r a quarter of a n hour.

When I rose to go ,I found myse l f confronted with an

unknown personage who was s o pale and looked s o

crushed w ith despai r,that I could no t he lp say ing to

myse l f : ‘ Poor fel low,how much he must have


suffered . The poor fel low was no o n e but myse l f. I

had passed in front of a looking glass and had fai led

to recognise my own face. I n short, my dear friend ,

i f y ou and I were to go out at this moment and i f I

were to run against her suddenly in the s treet,I fee l

that I should drop sense less on the pavement. ’

This d isclosure on Scribe’s part had the effect of

drawing me st i l l c loser to h im,a whol ly n ew man had

been revealed to me.He had shown an intensi ty ofpassion the capac ity for which I d id not as much as

suspect,a hero ism of which I d id not th ink him

capable.His energetic res istance met with its reward . I n

the course of time even the scar of h is painfu l wound

disappeared ; the last years of his l i fe were years of

happiness and by his sudden death,which struck us

al l l ike a thunderclap he was spared the sadness

almost i nseparable from moral and phys ical decl ine.

Twenty- s ix years have gone by since that sorrowfu l

March day in 1 86 1,and at present when I look back

upon h im through the vista of the past he i s to me

what I feel convinced he wi l l remain to posterity

the most complete representat ive of French theatr ical

art i n the n ineteenth century. Some of his contem

poraries d id , no doubt, su rpass him in many phases

of that art , but not o n e has possessed in the same

degree,the two fundamental qual i ties of our national

art,i nvention and the facu l ty of composition . No

o ne created so many subjects for dramat ic represen

CHAPTER V

Rachel .—Why ‘ AdrienneLecouvreur was wr i tten .—Rachel changes her

m ind ; the P iece dec l ined by the Comm i ttee of the Come’d i cFran qaise.

-The Race of Managers to get ho ld of the Play.

— M .

Legouvé’s determ inat ion to impose the P lay upon RacheI.—His

succes s — Rachel at Rehearsal . -An ev i l foreboding—Rachel asksM . Legouvé for another P iece.

-He wr i tes it.—The result— Rachelas a Dramat ic Adv i ser.— Rachel i n her True Character . —Her las tDays .

AS I have al ready said,

‘ Adrienne Lecouvreur’

had been wr i tten at the request of Mdl le. Rachel,I

m ight say at her earnest entreaty. But the few

months we spent in writ ing the piece,were spent by

Mdl le . Rache l in taking a disl ike to i t. Fickle both

by imagination and by temperament,her l ack of

fi rmness aggravated the defect. She consu lted

everybody,and anyone could influence her. The

mere banter of a cri t ic was enough to s et her

against an idea,which but five minutes before had

del ighted her, and the same th ing happened in the

case of ‘ Adrienne .

’Her would -be advisers managed

to frighten her about th is projected ex curs ion into

the realms of drama . The idea of Herm ione and

S ix ty Years of Recollection s I 7 3

Paul ine condescending to speak in prose, the daughter

of Cornei l le and Racine becoming the godchi ld of

M . Scribe seemed noth ing less than sacri lege to them .

Hence,o n the day appointed fo r the reading of the

p iece,Mdl le . Rache l came to the meet ing ofthe Com

mittee,fu l ly resolved to decl ine the part. Everyone

had made i t a point to come. The actresses, who

at that t ime were privi leged to vote,ming led with

the actors,and a certa in ‘ Danie l - come- to -j udgment ’

ai r which pervaded the meet ing,i nsp i red me o n en

tering with evi l forebod ings . Scribe took up the

manuscript,and began to read . I en scon ced mysel f

in an armchair,and began to take stock .

’ I n another

moment or s o two comed ies were being unfolded

before me,ours and the other ; the latter a si lent

o ne,enacted in the hearts and m inds of the s ocie

taires . Vaguely appr ised of the secret intentions of

the i r i l lustrious fe l low- actress,they were vi rtual ly in

a pred icament.

A p l ay written for Mdl le. Rachel,and in which she

no longer desi red to act , m ight , i f accepted by the

Comm ittee,g ive r ise to ser ious d ifficu l t ies

,nay to l i t i

gatio n . The Comm i ttee,therefore

,took the i r cue for

the verd ict o n ‘ Adrienne’ from Mdl le. Rachel ’s face ;

the face rema in ing absolutely unmoved,the i rs fol lowed

s ui t. Dur ing those five long acts , she ne i ther sm i led ,

applauded,n or gave a s ign of approval they ne i ther

approved,app lauded nor sm i led . The general apathy

was so thorough , that Scribe , fancying that one ofour

1 74 S ix ty Years qfRecollection s

j udges was about to drop into a sound s lumber

stopped short and observed :‘ Don ’t m ind me, my dear fe l low,

I beg of you .

’

The s ocie'

taire i n quest ion protested most strongly

against the soft impeachment,and that was the sole

effect produced throughout. Stay , I am mistaken ,

there was another, or at any rate the beginn ing of

on e. I n the last scene but o n e of the fifth act,Mdl le.

Rache l , impressed by the s i tuation in spite of hersel f,

s l ightly leaned forward in her chai r,i n which up t i l l

then she had been apparently buried . She evidently

thought i t worth her whi le to be i n terested and to

l i sten,but see ing that I noticed the movement she

immed iate ly col lapsed , and resumed her stony look .

When Scribe had fin ished reading,he and I passed

into the room of the director, who in a few minutes

j oined us . I n a tone of regret, which we accepted as

s incere he to ld us that Mdl le. Rachel fai led to fancy

hersel f in the part we had written for her, and as

the play had been written at her own and special re

quest the Committee would prefer to consider the

reading as nul l and void .

‘ I n other words,

’ said

Scribe,‘ our piece i s rejected . Very wel l ! Every dog

has his day.

’

Nex t morn ing three different managers cal led to

ask us for our play. Scribe was fond of repri sals that

looked l ike revenges, and cons idered that they should

be i nfl icted , red hot ’ he,therefore wanted to accept

,

but I objected .

‘ My dear friend ,’ said I to him

,

‘the

1 76 S ix ty Years of Recollection

‘ You intended to spend s ix or seven days at Séri

court y ou had better go. I f,on your return , I have

made no progress,I ’ l l give in .

’ ‘ I shal l ex pect you

to breakfast th is day week at e leven,

’

he repl ied,and

went away.

Then I went to work . I cal led upon the n ew

d irector who had meanwhi le been appointed to the

Theatre -Fran gais , and made a l i tt le speech to him

somewhat to the fol lowing effect : You are no doubt

aware of Mdl le. Rache l ’s refusal to play our piece.

This refusal on her part may be a mistake or not,

I wi l l not d iscuss i t. But I am certain of on e thing,

that she has undoubted ly done us a great wrong . I t

i s not fai r to return his play to a man l ike M . Scribe ,

after having asked him to write i t. One does not

offend an author who stands in the very front rank,

i n that manner,nor

,i f you wi l l perm it me to say so

,a

younger man,who does not al together stand in the

l ast. Mdl le. Rache l must be aware Of al l th is,and a

moment ’s reflection on her part wi l l make her fee l

the j ustice of my remarks . A woman gifted as she

i s,cannot possibly be complete ly devoid of the sense

of what i s fi t. Now there i s o n e way of arranging the

thing,both in her i nterests and in our own . I am

not going to ask her to play our p iece,but I want her

to al low me to read i t to her personal ly,and not at

the theatre, with her comrades i n attendance, but at

her own house, and in the presen ce"’

of friends of her

o’

wn .

‘

She may invi te whomsoever she pleases,and


as many or as few as she l i kes. I wi l l come alone

with the manuscript. Shou ld the play fai l to please

her and that new committee, I wi l l wi thdraw and

admit that I have had a fai r hear ing. I f,o n the

other hand,i t pleases her and them

,she wi l l play it

and score a great success. She wi l l look upon me

for ever after wards as her best friend .

’

The di rector transm itted my offer which was ac

cepted , though on that same evening Mdl le. Rachel

was reported to have said to o n e of her female friends‘ I cannot decl ine M . Legouvé

’

s offer,but I shal l

never play this I refrain from wri t ing down

the word , which , though ex press ive to a degree, is

al together outs ide the c lass ical repertory. An ap

pointment was made for the nex t day but on e, the

j u ry se lected by the actress herse l f was composed of

ju les jan in , Merle,Rol le ,

and the d irector of the

Theatre-Frangais .

On my arrival I no doubt fe l t somewhat nervous , but

nevertheless,thorough ly se l f-possessed

,because I was

sure of the j ustice ofmy cause,though prepared for

the s truggle. My preparations were no t form idab le.

Scribe was an admirab le reader, and had rendered

our d ialogue in a marve l lous manner before the

Comm ittee.He fel l short , however, in one th ing. I n

my opin ion the part of Adr ienne had not been made

suficiently appropriate by the reader to Mdl le Rache l .He had read the part w i th a great deal of spi r i t andgrace , but he had read it as o ne reads the part of a

VOL. 1 1 M


walk ing lady.

’His de l ivery had been wanting ingrandeur, and he had n o t sufficiently ind icated the

heroism smouldering in the woman . Now this was

prec isely the point by which on e might hope to

interest Mdl le. Rachel , to accl imatise her to this

nove l k ind ofstage- character.

To her the enterprise was obviously fraught both

wi th danger and difficu lties , and we were bound to

lessen as much as possible the former, and to smooth

away the latter. We had to ind icate to her i n read

ing the part the best means of transit ion from o n e

l ine ofcharacters to another, and to convince her that

what to the audience would appear someth ing akin

to a metamorphosis, would in real i ty be to her a

mere change of costume . This appeared to me the

point on which Scribe had not laid suffic ient stress ,

and so for two days I took great pains to accentuate

i t and bring i t in to proper rel ief. I was wel comed in

a charming manner,fu l l of that ‘ soothing ’ grace

which was as i t were part of herse lf. She herse l f

sweetened the glass ofwater I might want,she herse l f

fetched me a chai r,she hersel f drew back the curtains

to give me a better l ight , I cou ld not help remember

ing the famous phrase : I shal l never act thi s

and I chuckled inwardly at this lavish display of

amiabi l i ty , the more s o as I knew the cause of this

pretty piece ofacting.How, i n fact, shou ld I be able to

accuse ofi l l -wi l l and prej ud ice a l istener so graciously

d isposed to l isten . I t is what in theatrical parlance


repl ies : ‘ I am in quest of the truth .

’ At th is re

partee jan in cried ,‘ Bravo l’ Oh

,oh

,

’ said I to myse l f,

‘ here is at least o n e friend’

; for after al l the repartee

d id n o t deserve such praise. Mdl le. Rache l had also

turned towards jan in , as i f to say : Has he turned

traitor ?’ Lucki ly the traitor ’s opin ion was soon shared

by everyone present . Mdl le. Rache l,surpri sed and

somewhat d isconcerted at her inabi l i ty to summon

to her aid the i ndi fference that had marked the fi rst

reading,slowly yie lded

,though sti l l res ist ing

,to the

general ly favourable impress ion . After this second

act,warmly applauded by al l

,she said l angu idly

‘ I have always considered this act the prett iest . ’

This was her last attempt at res istance,for at the

thi rd act she bravely threw her former Opin ion

overboard,prec isely as some pol i tic ians do with

the Opin ions they held but the day before. She

applauded,laughed and wept in turns

,add ing now

and then,

‘What an id iot I was . ’ And after the fifth

act,she flung herse l f in to my arms

,embraced me

cord ial ly and ex claimed Why did y ou not take to

the stage ?’

The reader had saved the author. Of course I

could n o t but fee l flattered,see ing that some t ime

previously after having heard M . Gui zot speak in the

chamber, she had ex claimed ‘ How I should l ike to

play tragedy with that man ! ’ Nex t day at the stroke

of eleven I entered Scribe’s room .

‘We l l,

’

he said

with a misch ievous look ,‘ what is the state of affai rs ?’

S ix ty Years of Recollection s

I nstead of answering,I took from my pocket a

pape r and read aloud ‘ Comédie-Frangais e, thi s day

at twe lve O ’clock,rehearsal of Adrienne

What ! ’ he shouted . Thereupon I told him every

th ing,and nex t morn ing, the serious work of re

hears ing began . I learned a great deal from it.

Every day at ten ,I went to Mdl le. Rachel ’s e i ther

with Scr i be o r by myse l f i f he happened to be pre

vented by the staging of Le Prophete,’ and unti l hal f

past e leven we went through the act that was to be

rehearsed at the theatre. The play was mounted in

e ight-and - twenty days,n o t o ne ofwhich passed with

out thi s double rehearsal— o ne in the morn ing , the

other in the afternoon . I t was dur ing that. t ime that

I conce ived my adm irat ion fo r Mdl le. Rache l ’s

perseverance, persp i cu i ty,facu l ty of assim i lat ion

,

modesty and good fe l lowship . No t an atom of the

van ity s o common to the great artist,no t the smal lest

wh im of the spo i l t chi ld of success she was ent ire ly

given up to her art,and sacr ificed everyth ing to her

art. She l istened to h i n ts,d iscussed them

,gave in

the moment she was convinced,but n o t a moment

before Here is a str ik ing proof. Those who have

seen her Adr ienne wi l l recol lect that o ne ofher most

te l l ing effects of the fi fth act was the cry of ‘ Ah l

Maurice,’

when in the m idst of her de l i r ium she

recognises her lover. I f ever there was a theatr ical

c ry that sounded l ike an insp i ration ofthe moment,i t

was that one. We l l , i t took Rache l th ree days , no t


ex actly to d iscover the real p itch of i t,but to accept

i t. Scribe had given her the key ; she res isted Scribe,

she resisted me.

‘ I t sounds false ! ’ she maintained

obstinate ly,

‘ i t sounds theatrica l . ’ ‘ I t sounds false

because you spoi l i t i n de l ivery,

’ repl ied Scribe , who

could be very rough and tenacious on the battlefield ,

that is,during rehearsal s . At last

,after three days of

miscarried attempts,the cry entered her very heart ,

and she reproduced i t with admirable inaccuracy. I

say inaccuracy , because on her l ips thi s cry became

subl ime . That was o n e of her spec ial gi fts , you

handed her a penny,and she transmuted i t i nto a lou is .

Those rehearsal s have left another recol lection

thoroughly characterist i c of her. A few days before

the fi rst performance the theatre was closed for an

evening rehearsal . Scribe was detained at the Opera

and d id not put in an appearance. The fi rst four

acts took us t i l l e leven o ’clock,then everybody left

ex cept Mdl le. Rachel , M . Regnier,M . Mai l lard and

mysel f. Al l at once Mdl le. Rache l said to me,

‘We

are kings of al l we survey,“

suppose we were to t ry the

fi fth act wh ich we have not y et rehearsed . I have

been studying i t by mysel f for the last three days and

would l ike to s ee the effect. ’ We went on to the

stage,the gas was turned off

,consequently there were

no foot- l ights,there was nothing but the trad it ional

smal l l amp by the s ide of the prompter ’s box shorn

ofi ts occupant the aud ience consisted of the fi reman

on duty, doz ing away on a chai r between the wings ,


Adr ienne ,shou ld die young. I seemed to be i n my

own room breathing my last , I was watching my own

deathbed . When I uttered the word5 ° “ Farewel l

y e triumphs of the stage : Farewe l l ! y e del ights of

the art I have loved so we l l ,” I was shedding real

tears . I t was because I was thinking with despai r,

that t ime would efface al l traces of what was my

talent once,and that soon there would remain nothing

of her who was once Rache l

I I

The success of ‘ Adrienne ’ had insp i red Mdl le.

Rache l with great confidence i n me. She said openly

that I had given her talent a n ew lease of l i fe, by

making her strike out a new l ine against her own in

clin ation . Our rehearsals had shown her that I was as

capable of teaching her how to play a woman ’s part as

ofwri ting one,and she asked me to help her i n taking

y et another forward step . I n Adrienne she had de

serted poetry for prose, the ant ique for the modern ,

the peplos and the chlamys for the brocaded gown ;she now wanted to play an absolutely modern part

in a walking dress . She no longer wanted to be a

heroine but a woman i n society , i n other words :

Mdl le. Rache l . ’ I proposed ‘ Louise de Lignerol les ’ to

her. She had seen Mdl le. Mars in the part, and been

deeply impressed ; but the thought of chal lenging

comparison tempted her rather than frightened her.

Read your p iece to me,

’

she said,and we ’ l l s ee.

’


I d id read i t to her, she p layed the part, and scored

a triple success a success due to her talent, a success

due to her beauty,and last

,a success due to the

e legance ofher dresses. The l ast was al l the more

pleasing to her,seeing the treasury paid for it

heaven alone knows , with what an outcry . Four

d resses costing 1 500 francs the four— the theatre was

pos it ive ly be i ng ru ined . Nowadays they would cost

6000 francs and be paid for without a murmur, which

would be the right thing. This second success st i l l

fu rther strengthened the bonds between Mdl le. Rache l

and myse l f. I was almost looked upon as a friend .

She d id me the honour to ask my advice about some

of her other parts . On e evening she read to me

Em i le Aug ier’s drama ‘ Diana ’ which she was then

rehears ing and this read ing of the p lay confi rmed an

opin ion I had long he ld,name ly

,that there is a vast

d ifference between read ing and acting. An ex ce l lent

reader m ight make but an ind i fferent comed ian , and

an ex ce l lent actor but an ind i fferent reader,the two

arts d iffering almost enti rely from on e another. The

actor represents on ly o ne character i n a p lay,whereas

the reader has to represent them al l . The one has

on ly the i nstrument ofhis vo ice to aid him,the other

is ass isted by his d ress,his gestures

,his bearing

,and

his fac ial play, s o much s o that Mdl le. Rache l who

p layed the touch ing part of D iane ’ with remarkab le

talent , read the p iece i tse l f in an al together ord inary

way. She afforded me,fu rthermore , the greater


pleasure of enacting before me and for me alone,

with her sister Mdl le. Sarah Fe l ix ,the scene between

Célimen e and Arsinoe.

I t was a clever,i nc is ive

,effect ive reading

,but

want ing in youthfu l sparkle and gaiety ,Youth

and lovel iness are i nd ispensable to save the part

ofCélimen e from becoming odious . When they had

fin ished the scene,I l aughed and told her that i t

was very n ice,but that her Célimen e was a woman

of forty . Final ly,one

'

day,after a long discussion

o n women ’s parts o n the stage ,she asked me to

wri te one ex press ly for her.

‘ I f you wi l l"

do thi s for

me,

’

she added , smi l ing ,‘ I wi l l wri te you a letter

without a s ingle mistake i n the spe l l ing .

’ I n order to

carry out this thi rd attempt,I conce ived the idea of

a t ragedy which shou ld be both ancient and modern .

Let me ex plain . During the l ast forty years, an

tiquity has , as i t were, become a n ew world to us .

Numberless cri t ical,archaeological

,h i storical

,numis

matical and artistic stud ies have al l of a sudden

thrown a n ew l ight on the habits,be l iefs

,monuments

,

and labours of antiqu ity. The Greek drama has,as

i t were,been recal led to l i fe by the researches of

German scholars , and by the learned and ingen ious

work of M . Patin on the three great tragic wri ters.

Fortified by these n ew reve lations,I took up a sub

ject which had always attracted me by reason of

i ts very mysteriousness , name ly , Medea . I fe l t

that the Greek poet had not said the l ast word on


assuming the part of a servant , Medea watching her

rival ’s every ex press ion of art less delight , then al l of

a sudden bounding towards Creusa, al ready writh ing

with ex cruciating pain , and replying to her with

savage glee :‘ What does th is mean ? I t means

that you must die

What a splend id si tuat ion ! What a contrast to

depict for an actress l ike Mdl le. Rachel . With my

mind ful l of the idea , I s et to work immediate ly , and

wrote the scene i n two days . When it was finished ,

the remain ing incidents of the drama as i t had pre

sented itsel f to my mind , gradual ly grouped them

selves around the scene,an d after a twe lvemonth’s

work,I took my play to Mdl le. Rachel .Her fi rst

glance at i t boded me no good,she frowned at the

very ti tle,but this d id not dishearten me knowing

her as I did , and remembering her refusal to play

Adrienne. Consequently,when I had fin ished read

ing,I said in an off-hand tone ‘We l l ?’ We l l

,

’

she

repl ied ,‘ I ex pected something more original

, y ou

must remember I have al ready played so many Greek

parts. ’ But Medea i s not a Greek in my drama,she

is a Barbarian .

’ Another thing,I have never played

the part of a mother. ’

Al l the more reason why you should begin to do

so . How do I know that I shal l be able to ex press

the fee l ings of a mother on the stage ?’ ‘ Your own

motherly love ! Why should you not be able to ex

press that which you so intensely fee l ?’ I n the second


and third acts I have come upon sudden trans i t ions

from fury to sobbing,I don ’ t know how to do that

k ind ofth ing.

’ ‘ I do,

’ I l aughed,and I ’ l l teach y ou.

’

That was the way in which I managed to imbue her

gradual ly with the idea of the character I had tried

to sketch,that i s

,without de l iberately contrad icting

her, by the al ternate use of argument and persuas ion

,

by constantly keeping in view both the receptive and

n o n - recept ive,the doci le and refracto ry qual it ies of

that rare i ntel l igence,unti l

,at last

,she threw hersel f

into the study of Medée with the same pass ion she

had shown in the cases ofAdrienne and Lou ise .

I shal l never forget o n e of those days of study . I

was ex pected at ten o’

clock in the morn ing at the

smal l vi l la she then rented at Auteu i l . On my

arrival I found her i n the garden,gathering flowers

,

tying them into bouquets she was in a merry mood,

l aughing,as happy as a chi ld , the very fact of l iving

fi l led her with joy .

‘ I am p leased to see y ou,

’

she

said,we ’ l l set to work w i th a wi l l . I fee l particu larly

wel l to -day. What a b less ing i t is to fee l we l l . I have

done w i th al l the fol l ies ofyouth , they are too clear at

the price, and after al l there is noth ing compared to

the joy of breath ing the fresh ai r, glad ly, and without

restraint I fee l sure we shal l get o n capita l ly to

day.

’ I asked her if she would l i ke to try the great

s cene between Medea and Creusa , the terri b le scene

al ready al luded to .

I f y ou l ike ,’

she replied ,

‘we had better begin at


once.

’ However,after a few minutes of work and

pre l im inary essay,during which she seemed uncertain

ofher powers and doubtfu l of her effects,she suddenly

stopped .

‘ My dear friend,do you know what we must do

,

’

she said , we must cut out that scene.

’

‘ Are you jok ing ?’ I repl ied ,

‘ what,cut out the

most powerful,the most nove l

,and the most effec

t ive scene in the whole of the three acts as far as you

are concerned ?’ ‘ Never m ind me and my effects ;

let us look to the part and above al l , to the play. I t ’s

my opin ion that thi s scene ki l l s the piece,because i t

k i l l s the in terest in i t. ’

You cannot sure ly mean what you say,

’ I repl ied

the interest posit ive ly converges towards this Yes,

an interest of horror and sicken ing terror,but that i s

n o t what we want in the thi rd act . just reflect for a

moment that I have to s lay my chi ldren,and remain

sympathet ic al l the whi le. I repeat “ sympathet ic,

”

whi lst k i l l ing them . How can I command sympa

thy five minutes after committing an atrocious deed,

after murdering i n cold blood , treacherously and

foul ly ? The murder of Creusa on the stage,makes

the murder of the chi ld ren imposs ible ; the o n e drags

down the other, and I become simply a wholesale

murderess . I fee l the loss of that scene as wel l as

you do ; I am perfectly aware of what I cou ld make

of i t,but— afterwards

,I would fai l to bel ieve i n the

real i ty of my tears .’


ask me what i t was ? I wi l l te l l you . You remember

that after having created i t with great success,I

suddenly re l i nqu ished i t ?’ ‘ I even remember the

curious ex planation given at the t ime,’ I repl ied .

‘ I know what y ou refer to ,’

she said laughing .

‘ They wanted to make out that I was jealous of

Beauvallet as Po ly eucte. I,jealous of Beauvallet

,

a very l ikely thing indeed . The truth is,that I

ceased to play Paul ine for a whi le,out of respect for

the character. You do not know what a strange

creature I am . A fatal acc ident in my l i fe brought

me i n contact with a man of low sentiments and

ideas,but of powerfu l inte l lect

,by which he soon

gained such mastery over me,that whi le cursing i t

I submitted to i t. ’ ‘ But why did you submi t ?’

‘ Why indeed ? You men of intel lect fancy you are

lynx - eyed,and al l the whi le you are s imply so many

moles when i t comes to reading our hearts,the hearts

of actresses who happen to be women at the same

t ime. You s imply s ee noth ing at al l ; true, we our

selves often see no more than that. Why did I sub

m it to a man I hated and despised ? Because he had

a hold on me,because he had got hold of a secret

which he used as a weapon against me,because he

had persuaded me that he could further my theatri

cal career. To be frank with you,I am not quite sure

that I d id not look upon his perverse power over me

as a proof of force. And y et, so intense ly d id I loathe

him,that o ne n ight i n the first act of “ Maria Stuart ”


I actua l ly put a smal l pi sto l in my pocket, with the

fi rm intention of shooting him in the stage-box i n

which he alw ays showed himsel f conspicuously when

ever I played . What a sensation i t would have

caused Of course I sm i led when I heard her utter

this bi t of theatrical bombast, and she went on :‘ I

understand, y ou think I am on ly act ing a bi t of

comedy before y ou. Never m ind,

’

she added wi th

strange pers istence, I wanted y ou to know this story

and I want y ou to bel ieve i t , for i t i s the plain unva’

r

n ished truth . I gave up the part of Paul ine so sud

den ly ,because I fe l t unworthy of playing i t

,because

there came a time when I hated mysel f s o much that

I fe l t I could n o l onger act s o noble a character and

utter the lofty sent iments placed on her l ips . Those

admirable l ines burnt my tongue l i ke fire,and I

could speak them n o longer,I real ly could not

She spoke with such apparent truth , that her words

made a profound impression upon me and I became

serious. Then she went o n in an att itude and voice

I shall never forget : ‘ That al l th i s sounds very im

probable,I know ful l we l l ; but what wou ld y ou say

i f I la id bare my whole heart to y ou ? You have a

great admi rat ion fo r me, I be l ieve ? You al l go into

ecstasies when y o u hear me declaim some great part ?

We l l , let me te l l y ou,there was once a Rache l wi th in

me ten t imes greater than the o ne y ou know. I

have not attained the he ight of fame that m ight have

been mine. I have given proof of some talent,no

VOL. 1 1 N


doubt,but I might have been a gen ius . Ah ! would

that I had been d i fferently brought up , that my sur

round ings had been different . I f I had led a d ifferent

l i fe,what an art ist I should have been . When I th ink

of al l thi s,I am torn by such regrets Here

she came to a sudden stop and covered her face with

her hands for a minute or two,unti l I saw tears trick

l ing through her fingers . I was very much aston ished

and as ked mysel f how much truth there was in’

what

I saw ? Were these genu ine tears,or had she the

gift ofproducing them at wi l l ? Was it her i ntent ion

to dece ive me,o r d id she dece ive herse l f? Imagina

tion i s so important a factor in shaping the actions of

those high - strung creatures,that on e never knows

where the truth begins,and where i t ends . What

was the cause ofher being so deeply moved ? Was

it r egret at a non - real ised artisti c ideal , or was she

merely creating a part as she went on ? Did she

want to impose upon me ?

Mme . Talma has left i t on record that her

emotion in Iphigenie ’ was caused n ot by the l ines of

Racine but by the sound of her own voice i n del iver

i ng them . Was Mdl le. Rache l ’s a s im i lar instance ?

Did she feel moved at the sound ofher own vo ice ?

Had she a particu lar reason for selecting me as the

depositary of her confess ions,I who could hardly be

termed a friend ? I was lost i n specu lation and ex

pected every moment to s ee her remove her hands

from her face,laugh in mine at the s ight of my


to d iscover i n that strange character i tse l f the reason

ofthat hope against hope,which might sti l l remain in

me. During those three months,I made some pro

found psychological stud ies indeed . I fancy the

reader wi l l fee l some i n terest i n th is l i ttle voyage of

d iscovery.

Mdl le. Rachel had no doubt an ex cel lent heart .

N0 more affectionate daughter,no more loving s ister

,

no more devoted mother than she. Dependents,

i nferiors,servants

,the

‘ smal l fry ’ of the theatre,

s imply worshipped her. While i n London,I saw her

burst into tears on hearing of the death of a young

Neapol i tan Prince at the age of twenty- three,and she

sobbed so violently,that her brother who was at the

same t ime her manager,was afraid i t m ight impair

her voice for that n ight,and wi th the practical

phi losophy of the manager told her ‘ that we are al l

mortal . ’ But I also remember having caught her o n e

day in her dress i ng- room dancing a sort of cancan in

the costume ofVirgin ia . Oh , Mademoisel le Rachel ,’

I ex claimed,

‘ and in that dress too,i t real ly i s too

horrible.

’ ‘ That is j ust why it i s charm ing,you

great n inny,’

she retorted,laughing. After al l

,my

dear fe l low ,i n my inmost heart I am a l i tt le mounte

bank .

’ This was true and not true ; she was a l i ttle

mountebank and at the same t ime she was a Virgin ia .

A tragic actress i n vi rtue of her voice,in te l l igence


and ga i t,she was before everyth ing an actress at heart

and in her i nmost soul . One day,after an aristo

crat ic reception where she had assumed al l the a i rs of

a great lady,she fe l t the need of hav ing her ‘ fl ing ,

’

and there and then before some friends indulged in

antics and gestures worthy of the ver iest guttersn ipe.

That was the strange,characteri st ic mark of th is

mul t ip le be ing. The incongruous was the acme of

her de l ight. Blended w i th everyth ing el se, and ever

floating to the top , there was the temperament of

the jeer ing,flout ing street-arab, speaking al l k inds

of languages and changing her vocabulary accord ing

to her interlocutor,del ight ing most in gett ing the

l augh offolk,and catch i ng them unaware.

Poor M . Vien net had a spec imen ofth i s to his cost.

M . Viennet was a man of parts and talent ; he was

loyal to a fau l t,brusque to a degree that m ight

be mistaken for good-nature,al l his defects ag

gravated ,by an amount of se l f-esteem

,which was

no doubt j ustified by his meri ts ; unfortunate ly his

conce i t and his meri ts pu l led different ways.Hewas a very successful , sat i r ical poet, and considered

h imsel f a trag ic wr i ter of gen ius. One day, then ,

he made his appearance i n Mdl le. Rachel ’s dress ing

room .

‘ You probab ly do n o t know me,mademoisel le.

I am Viennet ’

‘ Oh , mons ieur,’

she repl ied in her most wheed l ing

vo ice,

‘who does no t know Vien net ?

’


‘ I have been told that you would l i ke to create a

new part. ’

I am dying to do s o .

’

I have brought you a most admirable part .’

There is n o need to add the superlative.

’

‘ I want n o compl iments , and have no wish to se l l

y ou a pig in a poke. I do not ask you to enact my

tragedy , but simply to let me read i t to you . True,

I am perfectly certain that when you have heard

i t

And I fee l equal ly sure.

’

Then y ou are agreeab le to my reading i t ?’

Am I agreeable,M . Vien n et ? I am on ly too

pleased . Nay, i f you wi l l perm it me to say so,too

proud that y ou should have selected so humble an

artist as mysel f to be your interpreter. ’

Very we l l when shal l i t be then ? To -morrow

Yes,say to

-morrow.

’

At two o ’c lock‘Yes

,at two o ’clock .

’

Thereupon Vien n et departs triumphant,but trium

phant without surprise,calm

,as becomes a man who

has s imply rece ived the homage due to h im .

‘ She is real ly very n ice and charm ing this young

traged ienne,’

he says to everyone he meets . A good

deal ofbrain , taste, and tact. She i s absolutely bent

o n playing my Rox ane.

’

Nex t day he cal ls at the appointed hour.

Madame is n o t at home.

’


to the t ime when the Faubourg St. Germain had taken

her under its wings as the high Priestess of art. She

was asked to l’

Abbay e-aux -Bois,to meet the Arch

b ishop of Pari s, s o that he might hear her reci te.Her spotless fame was l i ke a sacred fire, around whichsome of the greatest lad ies of France kept watch .

One ofthese, by no means the least i l lustrious or the

least c lever, w ish ing to show her respect for the great

artist before the world at large , took her i n an open

carriage in broad dayl ight for a drive to the Champs

Elysees,her own daughter s itt ing with her back to

the horses . On the i r return from this dr ive,Mdl le.

Rache l flung herse l f at the Duchess’ feet, ex claim ing

in a voice broken by emotion and tears Oh Madame,

such a proof of esteem from you is more precious to

me than al l my talent. ’ The emotion of the actress

was fu l ly shared by the Duchess and her daughter,

who both asked Rache l to rise,and embraced her.

Shortly afterwards, Mdl le. Rachel takes leave. The

grand drawing - room led into two smal ler ones .

Mdl le. Rache l crossed these l atter two without having

not iced that the Duchess ’ daughter had accompan ied

her as a mark of respect and sympathy. When she

gets to the last door,Mdl le. Rache l opens i t

,turns

round , and fancying hersel f qu ite alone, s imply puts

her finger to her nose and inflates her cheeks l i ke

Gavroche when he wishes to ex press h i s contempt for

men and th ings in general .

Unfortunate ly th is last door had panel s oflooking

S ix ty Years of Recollections 2 0 1

glass wh i ch reflected the actress ’ movement, into the

second drawing- room,where the Duchess’ daughter

was st i l l l i nger ing. She catches s ight ofRache l and

her ex press ive pantomime,rushes back to her mother

and , chok ing with ind ignation , te l l s her what she has

seen . She hersel f told me the story some t ime after

wards,and whi le tel l ing i t cou ld scarce ly suppress

her emotion . I po inted out to her that she took the

matter much too serious ly, that Mdl le. Rache l was

real ly no t so ungratefu l as she appeared,that she was

nei ther i nd ifferent to the Duchess’ good opin ion

,n or

fa i led to apprec iate her kindness to hersel f. The

matter was s imp ly th is,when she reached the door ,

the smal l m ischievous imp that l ives i n her brain ,

popped out of its box and began to jeer at her real

fee l i ng.

My phi losoph ical len iency may have mere ly sprung

from the w ish to keep up my own courage, but

later on th is foresa id l i ttle imp,when I began to

think of him,caused me much uneas iness , and my

forebod ings proved correct .

On her retu rn from Russ ia, Mdl le. Rachel told me

plain ly that she had n o i ntention of ever play ing‘ Médée.

’ I was fur ious and commenced an act ion

aga inst her which I won . She appealed and lost

aga in . She was cas t in s ix thousand francs damages

wh ich I d iv ided between the Soc iety of Dramatic

Authors and the Society ofAuthors. I then publ ished

my piece, and the rapid sale of several ed i t ions en


abled my friends at the Academy to construe th is

into a val id claim to the vacant chai r. I had my re

venge,but i t was after al l an unsatisfactory on e

,s ee

i ng that the foremost cond it ion of the success of a

play i s i ts representation on the stage. I st i l l craved

for further reparation,when the l uck iest chance of

my whole l i fe,perhaps

,brought me i n contact with

a tragic actress of gen ius,to wit

,Adelaide R i stori .

Médée’ transformed into Medea ’ became for that

grand interpreter the means of a veritable triumph,i n

which I had my share . My tragedy,taken by her to

every capital i n Europe, and even to America,trans

lated success ive ly into I tal ian,Engl ish

,German and

Dutch , was enacted everywhere ex cept on the stage

for which i t had been written .

But the most surpris ing resu l t of my success,was

my reconci l iation with Mdl le . Rache l . With one of

her characteri st i c,generous impu lses

,she was the fi rst

to applaud my success , instead of be ing vex ed at i t.

She was thankfu l to me for having taken up my own

cudge l s and avenged mysel f in that manner,even

upon her. My step invested me with a certain

grandeur in her eyes,and she was the fi rst to hold

out the hand of friendship under ci rcumstances I shal l

never forget. She was at Cannet and dying. Pure

chance brought me th ither,and I immediately wen t

to s ee her. I was told that her days were spent in

those alternate periods of i l l us ion and sombre clai r

voyance which are the i nvariable symptoms of organic

2 04 S ix ty Years ofRecollection s

Three days later,she was dead . Something of her

remained behind .

The reader wi l l remember her heartrending sobs

at the rehearsal of ‘ Adrienne,

’

her fear of dy ing

young,and that sad phrase :

‘

Soon there wi l l be

nothing left ofwhat was once Rache l .’

She was mistaken , however, something does re

main ofher,the halo round her name !

We l in k i t almost natural ly with that of another

young and subl ime arti st,taken away l ike Rache l

,in

the prime of l i fe. W e speak in the same breath of

Rachel and of Mal ibran .

CHAPTER VI

A Por tra i t-Gal lery.—Samuel Hahnemann , the I n ven tor o fHomaepathy .

—How I became acqua inted w i th h im .-Hahnemann and his W i fe

at my l i tt le Daughter’ s Beds ide.— A phys ica l Portrai t—His D irec

t ions . Throw Phys ic to the Dogs .

’-He predicts the Cr i s i s to a

M inute—He saves my Daugh ter’s L i fe — The Par is Facul ty ofMed ic ine d i sgus ted —A Doctor a l a Mo llére.

— I t would have beenbetter that this l i ttle girl shou ld have died —The Origin of Hahnemann ’

s Sys tem—His Language —His re l igious Bel ief. —The Sentence under my Daugh ter’s Portra i t—Madame Hahnemann .

—HerH is to ry —Her Fa i th in herHusband .

-Hahn eman n ’s D ietary .

—HisDeath at eighty-th ree.

—Chrét ien Urhan .

—An ascet ic Mus ic ian .His phys ica l Portra i t —How he reconc i led his Rel igion w i th hisArt—He gets a D i s pen sat ion from the Archbi shop of Par i s top lay in the Orches tra of the Opéra .

—How he d id play .

—A V i s ionand what came of it .

—His V i s i ts to my W i fe—A Les son to aLady o f Ti t le.

-His Reverence for the Composer ’s I dea .

—He introduces Schubert to Frenchmen .

— Jean -Jacques Ampere — JeanJacques ’ Father.—Absen tm i ndednes s of the Father and Son .

Ampere’s persona l Belongings —The D i fference between the

Father and Son in tel lectual ly .

SAMUEL HAHN EMANN was o ne of the great revo lu

tio naries of the n ineteenth century. I t was he who

towards 1 835 began a revolut ion in med ical sc ience

which st i l l las ts . I am not d iscussing the system,

I am simply stat ing the fact.

An acc ident fo r wh ich I cou ld no t be suffic iently

gratefu l brought me in contact wi th h im at the


moment when his reputation was fast changing into

fame. I contributed,perhaps

,someth ing to this

,and

the story of the i ntimate friendship that sprang up

between us may aid the reader in gain ing an idea of

that ex traordinary and superior human be ing.

My l ittle daughter, then about four years Old,lay

dying our fami ly physician , who was attached to the

Hote l -Dieu,Dr R had told o n e of our friends

i n the morn ing that her condition was hopeless .Hermother and I were watching perhaps for the last t ime

by her bedside : Schoelcher and Goubaux were w i th

us,and in the room was also a young man in even ing

dress,who three hours before was a stranger to us .

His name was Amaury Duval and he was on e of the

most promising pupi ls of M . Ingres.

We had wished to preserve at least a vis ible re

membran ce of the dear, l i ttle creature we were al

ready bewai l ing as lost , and Amaury , at the urgent

request of Schoelcher" had left a reception in

order to paint that sad portrait. When the dear

and charming fe l low,who was only twenty-n ine then

,

entered the room,deeply moved by our despai r

,

ne i ther we nor he suspected that a few hours later he

should render us the greatest service anyone could

render us , and that we should be i ndebted to h im for

V ictor Schoelcher, already ment ioned on e of the mos t magn ificen ttypes of the hones t s tra ightforward , incorrupt i b le Repub l ican .He wason the barr icade w i th Baud in and E squ iros on the 3d December ’

51 ,when Baud in was k i l led .

—TR .


must wai t for his tu rn .

‘ Don ’t tal k about wait ing ,’

shouts G’

oubaux .

‘ My friend’

s daughter i s dying ;

the doctor must go back with me immed iate ly.

’ ‘ But,

monsieur,

’ protests the servant ‘Yes

,I understand

,

I understand ,’ says Goubaux ,

‘ I came i n last . What

does that matte r. “The l ast shal l be the first

,

” says

the Gospel .’ Then turn ing to those around him

,he

adds,

‘ I s i t not so,mesdames ? Am I not right in

supposing that you wi l l g ive me your tu rn,

’ and with

out waiting for an answer,he makes straight for the

doctor’

s consu l t ing room,opens the door and

interrupts a consu l tat ion .

‘ Doctor,

’

he says to

Hahnemann,

‘ I know I am acting in defiance of al l

regulations and conventional i ty,but you must put

as ide everything and come with me. I want to

take you to a l i tt le girl of four who wi l l sure ly die i f

you do not go to her you cannot let herdie,can you ?’

And his i rres ist ible fascination produces i ts usual

effect ; an hour afterwards Hahnemann and his wi fe

enter the s ickroom accompanied by Goubaux .

I n spi te of al l my trouble and grief,i n spite of my

brain racking with pain for want of sleep,I cou ld not

he lp comparing the man who entered the room to o ne

of the characters from the we i rd tales of Hoffmann .

Short, but we l l -knitted and walk ing with a fi rm step ,

wrapt in a furcoat from nape to hee l and lean ing on

a thick cane with golden knob,he walked at once to

the bedside.He was close upon e ighty then,with an

admirab le head of long and si lky hai r combed back


wards and carefu l ly arranged into a rol l round the

neck ; eyes,of a dark blue i n the centre with an

almost white ring round the pupi l,a proud

,command

ing mouth with protrud ing lower l ip and aqui l ine

nose. After having cast a fi rst look at the chi ld,he

asked fo r particu lars ofher i l l ness without taking his

eyes Off her fo r an instant. Then his cheeks flushed,

the ve i ns in his forehead stood o ut l i ke whipcord and

in an angry voice,he ex cla imed

,

‘ Fl ing al l those

drugs out of the window every via l and bott le that’s

there. Take the co t from thi s room,change the

sheets and the pi l lows and give her as much water as

she wi l l drink . They have l ighted a furnace i n the

poor chi ld ’s body. W e must fi rst of al l ex t ingu ish

the fire. After that we’ l l s ee.

’ W e t im id ly objected

that th is change of temperature and l i nen mightprove very dangerous to her.

‘What wi l l prove

fatal to her,’was the answer,

‘ is this atmosphere and

the drugs . Carry her in to the draw ing- room,I ’ l l

come back to - n ight. And above al l,give her water

,

as much water as poss ible.

’He came back that.night , he came back nex t morn

ing,and began to give her med ic ines ofhis own .He

ex pressed no opin ion'

as to the final i ssue,but mere ly

said each t ime ,‘ We have gained another day.

’ On

the tenth day the danger grew al l at once imm inent

The ch i ld ’s knees had almost become rig id with the

chi l l of death. At e ight o ’clock at n ight he made

his appearance , and remained for a quarter of anVOL. I I 0


hour. Apparently he was in a state of intense

anx iety,and after having consul ted with h is wife ,

who always accompan ied him ,he handed us some

medic ine saying, G ive her th is , and be carefu l to note

whether between now and on e o’

clock her pul se be

comes stronger. ’ At e leven o’clock I was hold ing my

daughter’s arm ,when I fancied I fe l t a s l ight modifi

cat ion in the pulsat ion . I cal led my wife , I cal led

Goubaux and Schoelcher. Let the reader p icture to

himsel f the four of us,looking at the watch

,counting

the beats of the pul se, not daring to affi rm anything ,

fearing to rejoice unti l a few minutes had e lapsed ,

when we absolutely flung ourse lves into o n e another’s

arms,the pulse had ‘ gone up .

’ Towards midn ight

Chrétien Urban " entered the room . After look ing

at the chi ld,he drew to my side

,saying with an ai r

of profound convict ion,

‘ My dear M . Legouvé, your

daughter is safe.

’

She i s a trifle better,

’ I answered,

scarcely knowing what I said,

‘ but as for her being out

ofdanger,let alone on the way to recovery ‘ I

te l l y ou she is safe,

’

he ins isted,then bending over

the co t by which I was sitting alone,he kissed her

o n her forehead and went away .

A week later,the patient was

,i n fact

,on the road to

recovery. This cure assumed the importance of an

event in Pari s , I m ight almost say that i t created a

scandal . I was not al together unknown and people

M . Legouvé has given a portra i t of Chrét ien Urban which w i l l befound i n the fo l low ing pages — TR.


o ne day the co - operat ion of o n e of his col leagues for

his youngest chi ld . The case was very serious and

the most drastic treatment resorted to . Al l at once,

after a terrible n ight of suffering on the part of the

l i tt le o ne ,Hahnemann

,bes ide himse l f with pity and

grief,ex claimed :

‘ No,i t i s not possible that God

shou ld have created those dear and innocent be ings

for us to infl ict such tortures upon . No,a thousand

t imes “ No . I wi l l not be the ex ecutioner of my

chi ldren .

’ And aided by his profound knowledge of

chemistry begotten from long study , he rushed as i t

were i n quest of n ew remedies and bu i l t up a com

p lete med ical system of which his fatherly affection

was vi rtual ly the foundation . Such was the man,and

as he was then,he had always been . The powerfu l

structure of his face, his square j aws , the almost ln

cessant qu iver of his nostri ls , the constant twi tching

of the mouth , the corners of which had dropped from

age, everything attested conviction , pass ion , power.

His language was as original as his character and

figure. One day I asked him why he always pre

scribed water even to people i n good health. What

is the use of crutches to people who have got sound

legs,and wine i s after al l no better than crutches . ’ I t

is also from his l ips that I heard that strange sentence

which,taken in i ts absolute sense, i s apt to puzz le o n e ,

but which , i f properly understood goes to the very

foundation of med ical science :‘ There are no d is

eases,there are people who are i l l . ’ His re l igious


fai th was as i ntense as his med ical fai th . I had two

strik ing proofs of this . One spring day o n enteri ng

his room,I said :

‘ Oh,mons ieur

,what a beauti fu l

day. They are al l beauti fu l days,

’

he repl ied in his

calm and grave voice. Like Marc-Aure l ius he l ived

in the bosom of a harmon ious un iverse. When my

daughter was qu ite recovered,I showed him the

charm ing drawing of Amaury Duval .He l ooked fo ra long whi le and with intense emotion at the pic ture

of the dear l i tt le creature he had snatched,as i t were

,

from the j aws of death,at the l i tt le creature

,such as

he had seen her for the fi rst t ime when she was o n the

brink of the grave , then he asked me to give him

a pen and he wrote at the bottom

‘ God has b les sed her and s aved her.

‘ SAMUEL HAHNEMAN N .

’He s imp ly looked upon h imsel f as a min ister whocounters igns the orders ofhis master.His portra i t would n ot be complete

.without that of

his wife. She never left h i s s ide. I n his consu l t ing

room she sat at a smal l table c lose to his desk,work

ing l i ke him and for him . She was present at al l his

consul tat ions,whatever the s ex ofthe pat ient

,and the

subject ofthe consul tation . She took al l the symptoms

down in writ ing , gave her advice to her husband in

German and prepared al l the med ic ine. She aecom

pan ied h im in the rare instances of his vis it ing a

patient at his own home . But the most notable fact

in connection with herse l f was that Hahnemann was


the thi rd o ld man to whom she had l inked her ex ‘

is tence in that way. She had started with a painter,

then passed o n to an author and fin ished up with a

doctor.

Here is her history. When between five- and

twenty and thi rty Mdl le. d’Hervilly (that was her

maiden name) , handsome, tal l , e legant,wi th her

fresh and youthfu l face s et i n a frame of fai r

curly hai r,her smal l blue eyes as p iercing as

any black ones,l inks her fate to

'

that of a cele

brated pupi l of D avid . Without marrying the

painter,she becomes wedded to his style of painting

and might have s igned more than on e of his can

vas ses , as later she s igned the prescriptions ofHahne

mann . When M . L died,she turned to poetry

,

represented in th is instance by a poet who was

seventy,for as she went

,her taste for old men de

veloped . Fired by the communion with the poet,

she took to writing short poems with the same ardour

she had shown in painting historical p ictures,and

the poet having departed this l i fe i n the course of time,

she became somewhat t i red of septuagenarians,and

married Hahnemann who was e ighty. After that she

became as great a revolutionary in med ical science as

she had been a classic ist i n l i terature and painting.

One day when complain ing to her of the d ishonesty

and want of loyal ty of a servant whom we had been

obl iged to d ismiss , she said : ‘Why did o y ou not tel l

me of this before ? We have remedies for that kind


impres sed me with the idea— to the ex tent he d id

ofbe ing superior to the i r fe l low- creatures . Then how

d id I come to abandon his doctri ne ? Pure ly from

admiration of the man . I t requi res more than mere

confidence to be a fol lower ofhomo pathy , i t wants

faith . The theory ofi nfin ites imal doses i s so entire ly

opposed to commonsense that on e must bl indly

bel ieve in the man to be able to be l ieve in the th ing.

With the d isappearance of Hahnemann my worship

fe l l with the object of my worship , and his successors

seemed to me such an immeasurable d istance behind

him,that gradual ly— and also owing to a n ew friend

ship I had contracted— I returned to the medical

creed ofmy forebears , i n which I am l ike ly to die . I

owed , nevertheless, this tribute to Hahnemann , and

my ex -voto wi l l be al l the more valuable,se ing that i t

is offered by an apostate.

During the fi rst years of Louis - Phi l ippe ’s re ign

there was seen on the Boulevards every even ing

about s ix, a short man , almost bent double, i f not

absolutely humpbacked , and wrapt in a long l ight blue

coat.His head recl ined on his chest,he was appar

ently lost in deep thought,h is eyes were i nvariably

turned towards the ground . His ashen -grey com

plex ion , his long nose , l i ke that of Pascal , his asceti c

look which reminded on e of a mediaeval monk,pro

voked the questio n on the part of those who saw him,

S ix ty Years of Recollection s 2 I 7

‘ Who i s th is man ?’

The surpri se became greater

st i l l i f they happened to see th i s cenobit ical - looking

ind ividual stop at the angle ofthe Rue Marivaux and

enter the doors ofthe Café Anglai s . But the surpri se

changed into stupor i f in about an another hour they

happened to see him emerge from the fash ionab le

restaurant,cross the road in the d i rect ion of the Rue

Le Pe let ier,d isappear in to the art ists

’

entrance to the

Académ ie Nationale de Musique (otherwise the Opéra)and final ly take his place among the music ians in the

orchestra. Who was he ?He was , i n fact , a kind of

fourteenth centu ry monk,pitchforked by accident

into the Pari s of the n ineteen th century and into the

OpéraHis name was Urhan,and his parents

,as i f

foreseeing what he would be, had named him Chrétien

(Christ ian).

Chrétien Urban had two creeds .His sou l wasequal ly d ivided between fa i th and music .He neverm issed going to mass

,str ictly fol lowed every penance

of the Cathol ic Church,fasted every day unt i l s ix

o ’clock,never tasted flesh

,making his d inner offish

and mi l k at the Café Ang la i s , and p layed the fi rst

v iol in at the Opéra . What had induced him to

occupy a desk there ? Assuredly he had no t done

s o w i thout many misg iv ings and violent struggles

w i th his cons c ience.His mystic ism forbade him to

co -Operate in the i n terpretat ion ofworks put under

the ban ofthe Church , to be an act ive performer in

that amalgam of temptation and seduct ion,but o n


the other hand , he bel ieved nearly as much in Gliick,

Mozart and Rossin i as in God , and he not on ly

wo rshipped rel igious music but dramat ic music. To

give up l istening to and playing Orphée,’ La Ves

tale ,

’ ‘ Gui l laume Te l l ,’

Les Huguenots ,’

etc., would

have driven him to despai r. What was he to do ?He go t out of i t by a d ispensation and by a com

promise . The dispensation was granted to him by

the Archbishop ofParis , who cou ld not refrain from

smi l ing when Urban came to ask him for perm ission to

play the viol in at the Opéra. The compromise was

s imply a matter between himse l f and his consc ience.He promised himse l f to play with h is back turned tothe stage and he kept his pledge. The temptation of

the ey e was , at any rate , avoided in that way.Henever al lowed himsel f to glance at an art ist , at a piece

of scenery or a costume. The thing answered more

o r less i n the concerted pieces when the whole of the

orchestra was playing,but Urban was fi rs t v iol i n

( leader) , as such he alone accompan ied certain pas

ofthe bal let. These pas are as i t were duos between

the instrumental i st and the bal lerina ; i n a duo the

executants should look at o n e another ; the i r looks

are the only means of commun ion . Urhan d id not

trouble himse l f about that. At the beginn ing of the

piece he took up his i nstrument as o n e takes up one ’s‘ beads ,

’ and with his eyes closed he played the ai r

of the bal let , conscientiously , re l igiously and with a

great deal ofexpression,but without the least concern


to point out its origin .

’ I fe l t i n an awkward posit ion .

On the o ne hand,I d id not wish to refuse him , lest I

should vex him I d id not wish to rid icu le h is vers ion

ofthe affai r, lest I should hurt h is fee l ings ; I d id not

wish to appear to be l ieve i n i t , lest I should make

myse l f look rid icu lous . After cudge l l ing my brain

for awhi le,I managed to sat isfy him and got out of

the d ifficulty with flying colours . But on ly on e

Journal consented to print my miraculous story— La

Gaz ette de France.

As a rule such eccentric i t ies lend to laughter, but

n o o n e ever dreamt of laughing at Urban . Few men

of his t ime enJoy ed greater consideration . The

s inceri ty of his faith,the austeri ty of his l i fe

,his

ardent chari ty (he gave away al l he earned) com

manded the respect and admi rat ion of everyone.

People i n s tinct ive ly fe l t that he was what they

honour most and jus tly ,a sterl ing ind ividual i ty. His

digni ty as an artist had become proverbial . This

d ign ity d id n o t only spring from his sel f- respect,but

from a reverence for his art. I can quote a strik ing

proof of i t. The Marqu is de Prau lt,a very inte l l igent

amateur of music,had organ ised a series of matinées

ofchamber mus ic at h is man s ion in the Faubourg St

Hono ré and had confided the i r d i rect ion to Urhan,

who at the same t ime played the fi rst viol in . On on e

occasion a young duchess (the Marquis’ matinées had

become the fashion , society was del ighted to ai r i ts

real or assumed appreciat ion of high - class music) , a


young duchess,e legant

'

and handsome, enters the

room in the midd le of a piece,and after caus ing the

l i tt le flutter of ex ci tement she was probably bent

upon causing by her late arrival , s its down and en

gages in smal l talk with the lady nex t to her.

Urban gives a sharp rap o n his desk,stops the

quartet,puts h is bow under h i s arm ,

looks vague ly

around h im unti l the noi se has ceased and when

s i lence re igns once more grave ly recommences the

piece n’

a capo. I p ledge y ou my word that from that

day forward no o n e ever made a noise at the matinées

ofthe Marqu is de Prau l t . At the termination of the

performance I went up to him and congratu lated him

o n what he had done . I wi l l never al low anyone to

show a want of respect in my presence,to a master

p iece,

’

he rep l ied calm ly.He had not fe l t hurt on

his own account , but on that of Beethoven .

As a vi rtuoso, Urban on ly occup ied a secondary

rank . There were a dozen more ski l fu l viol in ists

than he in Paris,but he made up for his relat ive in

feriority as an executant by a g i ft as rare as i t is

precious,he had an ind ividual style. Urhan

’

s style

was due to his profound knowledge of al l the great

masters , also to his rel ig ious and unbend ing respect

for the i r works.He would n o more perm it any at

tempt at al ter ing the i r character in thei r execution,

than he would pe rm it a noise during the i r performance.Habeneck h imsel f often had a hard tuss le w i th h imo n the subject , espec ial ly in the organ isat ion of the


concerts ofthe Conservatoi re in which he (Urhan ) had

proved himse l f o ne of the foremost and most usefu l

ofaux i l iaries . Any attempt ofHaben eck to curtai lwords o r to suppress a few i nstruments i n the render

ing of a symphony met with the most determ ined

protest and opposit ion from Urhanhand on on e occa

sion when the double bass parts had been e l im inated

from the Choral Symphony , Urban drew attent ion to

the sacri lege i n an article and s igned i t .

Urhan had a sti l l more ind ividual merit. As a rule

the admirers of the past have a contempt for the

pres ent . The i r admi ration of the old masters becomes

compl icated in vi rtue of the i r contempt for the n ew.

The i r cu l t i s a jealous,narrow

,ex clus ive cul t . They

bui ld for themselves a k ind of smal l Olympus whence

they do not emerge,and the entrance to which they

strenuously defend . Urban’

s love of the old masters

was only equal led by his passionate admiration for

the masters of our t ime,and even of those of ‘ to

morrow.

’ Urban was as i t were a musical s leuth

hound,and he also brought the apostle ’s zeal to bear

upon this . I t was he who introduced Schubert to

Frenchmen . Schubert i s somewhat she lved to-day,

neverthe less , he caused a musical revolution among

us .He showed us that on e might and could writemasterpieces of o ne page. To a certain ex tent

,and

from a particular point of view,on e might cal l him

the La Fontaine of music,because he crams as much

science, as much art , as much pathos and as much


I I I

I met Jean -Jacques Ampere for the fi rst t ime whi le

I was a candidate for a vacant chai r at the Académie

Frangaise. At seven o ’clock when we sat down , qu ite

by acc ident,nex t to o n e another at the hospitable

board of the Comte de Bel le- I sle,on e of the most

del ightfu l d i lettante I have known , we were strangers

at n ine o ’clock,there had sprung up a bond between

us . W e had,at any rate

,o n e point in common

,

he was the son of a man of gen ius ; I was the son

of a man of talent, and we had both been brought

up in the worship of our respect ive fathers,and with

the happy burden of an honourable name to sustain .

I n addit ion to thi s,my multifarious tastes responded

to his multifarious gifts. From the first moment I

fe l t amazed at the ferti l i ty and spontanei ty of that

imagination . S ince then , I have known him most

intimate ly ; I was sincere ly attached to him ,and in

order to define his character accurate ly I have been

compel led to invoke the names of the most bri l l iant

and i l lustrious in legend and history— preserving,of

course , al l due proportion in my comparisons . One

thing is , however, certain : the most insatiable con

querors never pursued the i r conquests wi th the feverish

passion of J . J . Ampere i n quest of a masterp iece,a

monument or a d iscovery* What was his special ty ?

Jean -Jacques Ampere,the s on of the em inen t savan t J . C . Ampere

whose name is bes t known in connection w i th the firs t exper imen ts ine lectric telegraphy in France. Jean -Jacques ’ is fam i l iar to al l s tuden tsof French l i terature —TR .

S ix ty Years of Recollections 2 2 5

We l l , his special ty was everything. Poet ry, the

drama,archaeology

,history

,cri t ic i sm

, everyth ing

attracted him,and noth ing seemed sufficient. After

the dead languages,the modern ; after the modern ,

hieroglyphics,after the study of books

,the study of

countries,after the study of countries

,the study of

men . At twenty he went to l ive fo r three months near

Goethe i n order to gain an accurate knowledge of the

high - priest of contemporary poetry .He was n o t a

trave l ler,s imply an inhabitant of every country o n

the face of the earth .He was j ust as much at homei n Rome , i n London , in He idel berg as in Paris .

Added to thi s,a thorough man of the world and

conversant with the usages of the best soc iety every

where,fo r he had been we l comed in every inte l lectua l

and art ist ic set i n Europe.He knew al l the i r undercurrents

,al l the l i ttle foib les and hobbies of the men

and women ofwhich the se sets were composed . This

fami l iar knowledge,together wi th his immense and

un iversal scholarsh ip made him the most ex trao r

dinary can sen r, I have ever met with . From on e end

of Europe to the other, people said‘the charm ing

Ampere.

’

That adjective greatly annoyed M . de Rémusat to

whom it was also frequent ly appl ied .He was rightthe word impl ies something superfic ial , art ificial ,

world ly,wh ich n o more suffices to paint the character

of Ampere than that of the author of ‘ Abelard .

’

Ampere’s soul was to the fu l l as r ichly endowed as

VOL. I I P


his mind . The generosi ty of his feel ings was only

equal led by the tendernes s of his affect ion . But he

could be contemptuous ly i ndignant as we l l . An

ardent advocate of l iberty l ike his master and friend

M . de Tocquevi l le , the Coup d’Etat drove him to a

state of veritable fury. For thi rteen long years he

never ceased to launch his invect ives— both written

and spoken , i n prose as in verse ,against the n ew

empire,and more than once he was within an ace of

being seriously compromised . Two love - passions

equal ly odd,fi l led the whole of his ex i stence. At

twenty he fel l madly in love with a woman of forty

at s ix ty he conce ived an ardent affection for a gi rl of

twenty. Both passions were the more durable i nas

much as ne i ther was shared , and only ceased with the

death of the object of i t. Odd to re late, for every

thing in connection with him is odd,that heart

,al

ways in bondage was the compan ion of a character

stubbornly and savage ly independent. The s l ightest

restraint was odious to him,he would be s lave to

nothing.He never had a home,he rented a room

,no

matter where,by the month or by the day as fancy

d ictated .He never bought any furn i ture ; al l hi searthly possess ions in that way consisted of a trunk

i f that can be cal led furn iture— in which he stored his

manuscripts,books

,toi let requ is i tes and clothes . The

latter,to tel l the truth

,did not take up much room .He never had more than on e coat when i t was worn

out,a fact of which he himse l f was never conscious

,a


l i fe,surrounded by watchfu l care for h is every comfort ,

he entered the d in ing- room i n a d istracted state,j ust

as they were s itting down to table. I can ’t make i t

out,

’

he said,I don ’t know what I have done with the

key ofmy room . I have looked for i t everywhere and

cannot find i t . ’ ‘ Ask the servant. ’ ‘ I have asked

he has not got i t. ’ Where can you have left i t

That’

s what I can ’t make out . I have looked every

where,in the drawers

,i n the wardrobe

,i n my l itt le

cupboard , I can’t find i t anywhere.

’ Did you say

you.

had looked in the chest of drawers ?’ asked the

sprightly hostess . I n the chest of drawers

i n your room ?’

Yes .

’ Then you did get in to your

room .

’ Of course I got into my room,see ing that I

am tel l ing you that I looked everywhere.

’ But how

did you get i nto your room ?’ ‘

Parbleau,with my

True,

’

he ex claimed,

‘ I got in with my key .

That i s real ly too funny, i t must have been i n the

l ock,and i t i s there sti l l . ’— There i s no need to

describe the laughter which hai led the l ast words .

Unl ike his father,his absent -mindedness never in

terfered with his affections,which nei ther d istance

,

t ime,nor place, could d imin ish , let alone efface. One

day while at Rome,near the fi rst woman he wor

shipped— I am al lud ing to Mme. Recamier— a letter

reaches him from his father,claiming his immediate

return to Lyons , where the elder Ampere happened

to be at that t ime,a letter couched in the most affec

tionate terms.He tears h imsel f away from the


woman he loves,and arrives i n Lyons , his heart al

most breaking.He i s we l comed with open arms ,nex t morn ing at breakfast his father takes his seat ,

evidently lost in thought and without utter ing a

word . Sudden ly he l ooks up and says,

‘ Jean

Jacques,

’

(he had named his s on Jean -Jacques in re

membran ce of Rousseau),‘ Jean - Jacques

,i t i s very

odd,but I fancied that the s ight ofy ou would give

me greater j oy than i t has done.

’

Those very comical and artlessly cruel words would

never have been uttered by the Ampere with whom

I am deal ing.

I n fact,n o two men could have been more l i ke and

at the same t ime more unl ike than that father and

that so n . Those two superior intel lects had two

characteri stics in common , ferti l i ty of i nvention and

the facu lty ofi n i tiat ive . But the moment they are at

work,the bifurcat ion commences. Whi le the father,

confining himse l f str ictly to sc ience,evolves from his

concentration o n one point two or three immorta l

d iscoveries , the s on l ike a river which has broken its

dams , ex pands his genius over a hundred d ifferent

works. Are we to regret th is ? No . I n ci rcum

scribing his sphere of action he might,perhaps , have

produced a more enduri ng work,but he would n o t

have been himse l f, name ly , that mult iple be ing ,

charged wi th e lectr ic i ty and em i tt ing sparks at every

shock .His works are mere ly ‘ vanguard ’ works .His ‘H isto ire de la Li ttérature au Treiz ieme S iecle ,’

his


Histoire Romaine at Rome,

’ his archze o logical stud ies

are more or less forgotten , because there have been so

many imitat ions ofthem . The domain of thought is

l ike Ameri ca,there are two classes of labourers there ,

the pioneers who make the i r way into the backwoods ,

clear the land , carry l ight and l i fe where there was

nought but sol i tude before them,and the archi tects

,

the bui lders who raise houses and monuments and

virtual ly efface the trace of the labours that served as

the foundations of thei rs. Amp’

ere was a pioneer.He was more than that.He deserved a better t i tle ,which was given to him final ly by a very e loquent

voice. On the day of his funeral,the s cho larly

’

and

bri l l iant M .Hauréau suddenly fe l t some o n e grasp his

arm . I t was a man of about forty,who in a tone of

deep,intense conviction said to him

,

‘ Monsieur,he

whom we have j ust consigned to his last resting-place

was a great ci t izen .

’

The man who spoke thus was

Montalembert.

2 3 2 S irty Years of Recollection s

the fi rst three acts of‘ Tartuffe ’ were finished,Mol i ‘ere

read them to the Prince .

‘ Your piece wants an

addi tional scene,Mol iere .

’ ‘What kind of o ne ,

Prince ?’ ‘ People wi l l be sure to accuse you of

s coffing at rel igion , anticipate the i r cri t ic ism by

marking the d ifference between real and sham piety.

’

Resul t the admirable l ines,beginn ing with

‘ I l es t de faux dévots a in s i que de faux braves .

’

I t seems to me that what has been usefu l to

Mol iere cannot be al together useless to others .

Bes ides,there are facts

,which in themse lves settle

the question . I n the poem,the novel

,the historical

o r moral work the author‘

appeals d i rectly to the

reader. Wh en he has wri tten ‘ The End ’ at the

bottom of his manuscript his work i s vi rtual ly fin ished .

When the playwright has penned the same word he

i s only hal f—way. A book is a se l f- dependent work,

not so a play. I t has vi rtual ly two b i rths : at the

fi rst,the author may lay claim to the sole patern ity

,

’

but at the second , when i t leaves the swaddl ing

clo thes of manuscript to make i ts appearance on

the stage, the in termediaries between i t and the

publ ic are numberless . The l icenser of plays and

his readers , the managers , the actors , the spectators

at the dress rehearsals are so many counse l lors with

whom the author d iscusses , against whom he defends ,

at whose suggest ions he demol ishes , certain parts and

reconstructs other parts of his work . We have but


to ask the most sk i l fu l playwrights and they wi l l te l l

us how much they owe to advice from the outs ide.

Unfortunate ly the efficient dramatic adviser is rare

i ndeed . Ne i ther natural bri l l iancy,n or a cu l t ivated

inte l lect i s suffic ient to fi t h im for the post. I have

known men of s terl ing in te l lectual meri t,remarkable

writers whose op i n ion o n a book was equ ivalent to a

verd ict and who at the hearing of a piece emitted

Op in ions al together value less. On the other hand , I

have known men of the world with l i tt le o r n o know

ledge of l i terature whose impress ions of a play were

infal l ible as a test of i ts worth with regard to the

publ ic . And why ? Because the j udgment of a play

requi res before everyth ing , a great deal of intu i t ion ,

i nstinct,I m ight say ,

the gift of d ivinat ion . When

a piece is read to y ou,you have not to apprec iate i t

as i t is,but as i t wi l l be. The stage wi l l al together

transform it,hence in l isten ing to i t

,your mind ’s ey e

must see i t beforehand as i t wi l l be o n the stage, y ou

must foresee or guess what that perspective of the

stage is l i kely to add to o r take away from it ; you

must , by a k ind of foreknowledge , enter into the pre

j ud ices,take count of the susceptib i l i t ies of that

highly strung and many- s ided col lective be ing we cal l

the publ ic . This o r that phrase wh ich passes um

noticed before three or fou r l isteners , assumes , al l at

once,in a large p lay-house

,enormous proport ions . I n

some cas es , success is a matter of lat i tude ; a play

that succeeds in o ne quarter may be a fai lu re in


another. This should certain ly be considered . Then

there is the i nterpretat ion , the surround ing ci rcum

s tances , and the ficklen es s in j udgment. Hoffmann,

the ers twhi le and clever writer of the journal a’es

D e‘bats meets a friend a few hours before the fi rst per

forman ce of h is play ;‘Les Rendez-vous Bourgeois . ’

‘I want you to come with me to - night to s ee a piece .

which w i l l be hissed three hundred times in suc

cess ion .

’

The true dramatic counsel lor detects even

the possible success behind the i n i t ial fai lu re.

I t has been my good fortune to know two such

eminent dramat ic counse l lors . The fi rst bears a name

rendered i l lustrious by someone e l se,but to the lustre

ofwhich he has large ly contributed : I am al lud ing

to Germain De lavigne.

Truly an amiable and "original character i f ever

there was on e,th is Germain De lavigneHe has put

his name to a great many comed ies,i n none did his

name figure by i tse l f on the t i t le page.He wasincapable ofwri ting a piece without a col laborateur

,

not because his inte l lect was barren,for I have rare ly

known a more ferti le,a more subtle

,a more versat i le

,

but because his dearly prized indolence prevented him

from accompl ish ing by himse l f the hard travai l of

bringing forth a dramatic chi ld . No on e was less l ike

the lark of La Fontaine .

El le bfitit un n id,pond

,couve et fa i t éclore

A l a hate ; le tout al la du m ieux qu ’il put .’He d id not m ind bui ld ing a nest, provided someone


when in want of a piece of h istorical , anecdotal or

artist ic informat ion,and the l iving book immed iate ly

repl ied,fal l ing open of its own accord at the ex act

place wanted . The contrast in the character of the

three compan ions was shown in the i r habits when at

work . Cas im i r De lavigne worked marching up and

down the room, Scribe never left h is chai r, Germain

never left h is couch .He had scarcely got out of bedwhen he lay down again on the sofa .He spent hisex i stence on his back l ike an O riental , only, instead

of smoking he took snuff,and instead of dreaming

,

he read .

The fol lowing trifl ing fact shows this dramat i c

counse l lor at work . Scribe brings him ‘ Genevieve,

ou la Jalousie paterne l le.

’

The reader may be aware

that the piece deal s wi th a father who shows every

su i tor for his daughter ’s hand the door,becau se he

cannot make up his m ind to part with her. When

Scribe has fin ished reading his piece,Germain s ays

‘ Your piece i s an impos s ibi l i ty. Your father i s a

downright ego t ist who sacrifices everything to h im

se lf. As for loving his daughter,he does not love her

a bit . ’

Scribe takes h is piece home with him and at the i r

nex t meet ing reads his comedy which he has al tered

and corrected .

‘ This time,

’ Germain ex claims,

‘ you

have made your father more imposs ible sti l l ; he i s

too fond of his daughter. ’ A profound remark

whence sprang the th i rd and las t form of that l i ttle


masterp iece of de l i cate portrai tu re enti tled Gene

vieve.

’

The Thursday d inners were not on ly devoted to

consul tation,there was an ex change of subjects

,a

borrowing and lending of de’

n onen zen ts . On e day

Cas im i r makes his appearance i n a state ofgreat co n

s ternation ,he is at an utter loss for the a

’e’

n on en zen t of

the fi fth act of l’Eco le de Viei l lards,

’

the final s i tua

t ion persistently e l udes hi s grasp .

‘ On e moment ,’ says Scribe,

‘ I am j ust putting the

l as t touches to a vaudevi l le, enti t led,

“ M iche l and

Christine,

” and have hi t upon an ingen ious device for

sett l ing matters sati sfactori ly , the device would su i t

your piece admirably , y ou may have i t and we l come.

’

And what wi l l y ou do ?’ ‘ I

’

l l keep it j ust the

same.

’ And what about the publ i c ?’

The publ ic,

the pub l ic w i l l n o t find it out. No one w i l l suspect

for one moment that the clen on en -

zen t ofa l i ttle,o ne

act p iece and that ofa grand five-act comedy in verse

can be the se l f- same th ing. You may take i t wi thout

fear , j ust asi

l wi l l keep i t without remorse.

’

Scr ibe ’s

pred iction proved correct , n o t a single cri t ic noticed the

l i keness , but , ofcourse , the den onenzen t of the vaude

vi l le appeared charming , whi le that of the comedy

seemed weak . A thin thread suffices to tie a short

act together, i t must be untied w i th a deft and l ight

hand,but a grand work requ i res more force and v igour

in its solut ion than in its concept ion .

Those kindly ex changes gave rise to another very


curious incident. Casim i r was turn ing over i n his

mind a l ive ly,amu s ing

,spiri ted subject for a two

act comedy ; i t was to be founded on a d iplomatic

misunders tanding a young fe l low who has been sent

to a smal l State i n Germany in search of a particu lar

costume for a bal l i s m istaken for an important

d iplomatic envoy. On the same day that Casim i r

had made up hi s m ind to work out this plot, Scribe

and Germain appear at the weekly meet ing with a

plot with which they profess themse lves de l ighted ;

the story of a young pri nce s s of eighteen who with al l

her grace,coquetry

, fin es se and ignorance has , more

over,a secret affection which sets her heart aglow

,and

is al l of a sudden thrown amidst the i ntrigues of a

smal l court . She steers her course among the su i tors

for her royal hand with as much s ki l l as,and a good

deal more sprightly gaiety than , Pene lope hersel f.

Both plots meet with the same enthus iastic reception,

and the three compan ions part from o n e another with

the applause awaiting the two pieces al ready ringing

in the i r ears . A few days e lapse when o n e fin e

morn ing Scribe gets the fol lowing letter from Casim i r‘ My dear friend

,I cannot get your princess out of

my head . I am posit ive ly in love with her. I want

you to give her to me. My diplomatist seemed to

please you . Take him . Let us make an ex change.

’

‘Very we l l ,’ says Scribe,

‘ let us make an ex change.

’

And the transact ion resu l ted in the i dea of Casim i r

develop ing into ‘ Le Diplomate,

’ and that of Scribe


go t married .I advised ly say the day

,for they both

go t married on the same day which ci rcumstance

e l ic i ted a clever n zot from Louis-Phi l ippe. The

brothers went to apprise him of the impending

change i n the i r cond ition .

‘ We are both going to

get married on Thursday, s i re.

’ ‘ I ndeed,and at the

the same hour ?’ ‘

Yes,s i re.

’ ‘ And in the same

church ?’ ‘ Yes , s i re.

’ And to the same woman ?’

Our second dramatic counse l lor al so deserves a

place among the cabinet p ictures of the n ineteenth

century.

On the 5th June 1 879 , there died in Paris at the

age of e ighty - four a gentleman of whose ‘ l i fe ’ and

death the publ ic were made aware at the same t ime

by some short obituary notices in the papers . His

name was M . Mahérault.

Who and what was M . Mahérault .? An unknown

man who deserves to be known for three d ifferent

reasons .He was in turns and at the same t ime aneminent admin istrator, a very valuable dramatic

counse l lor and a noted art conno isseur and col lector.

Having entered the Min istry for War when very

young,he rose gradual ly to the most important

positio ns,solely in vi rtue of the services he rendered.

The D uc d’

Orléan s,struck by his high admin istrative

capaci ties °and his views on mi l i tary reform said on e


day ,Mons ieur Mahérault, y ou shal l be my Min ister

fo rWar. ’

The death of the Duc made an end of those

bri l l iant ex pectations ; at the advent of the Second

Republ ic,he was at the head ofa department and was

promoted to the post of secretary-general,on which

occas ion Scribe wrote him the fol lowing charm ing

letter

MY DEAR SECRETARY-GENERAL,—~Long l ive the

Repub l i c and your wife and mine,and Lisbeth and the

whole of your fami ly which is vi rtual ly ou rs. We

furthermore beg to thank the actual government for

d ischarging the debts ofthe Monarchy — Yours under

al l re igns,E . SCRIBE .

’

I n 1 851 , General de Saint-Arnaud wished to i nclude

h im in the reorgan isation of the Counci l of State, on

the sole condi tion that he shou ld attend the reception

of the Prince-Pres ident that n ight at the Elysee.

Mahérault s imply repl ied : ‘ I f I possess no other

c laims to the promotion,that vis i t wi l l n o t provide

me with any ; i f o n the other hand , as I be l ieve, I

have some cla ims,the visi t is useless

,and the cond i

t ion offens ive ; I w i l l not go to the Elysee.

’He kepthis word , and was no t appointed . Such was the man

in his publ ic capaci ty .

As fo r his second role ,that of dramatic counsel lor

,

he only enacted i t fo r the benefi t of o ne author,but

he enacted i t with a vengeance. I t is no exaggera

VOL. 1 1 !


t ion to s ay that the maintenance and increase of

Scribe’s glory had become a profess ion with Mahé

raul t . Each morn ing , however pressing his admin is

trative business , he cal led on Scribe on h is way to the

Ministry,and as a matter of course

,found the

playwright at work . The vis i t often lasted on ly a

few minutes , j ust long enough to go in,to say How

do y ou do ,

’ to cast his eyes over the hal f-fin ished page

o n the wri ting table, to sn iff the ai r of that study , and

to inqu ire i f things were go ing al l right,whether there

was not some matter with this or that manager in

which he,Mahérault

,cou ld be of us e

,and to go out

again . More often than not,Scribe did not stop his

work,did not get off his chai r, but , his eyes fix ed on

his paper,went on wr it ing

,mere ly saying : ‘ Oh

,i t’s

you how are you ? How is your wife ?’

The scene

meanwhi le,was proceed ing apace . But every now

and then , Scribe put down h is pen ,saying ? ‘ You are

the very man I want ; you remember the s i tuation

that puzz led me yesterday. I th ink I ’ve made i t al l

right . Just l isten to i t. ’ Then when he had finished

reading : ‘We l l,what do you think of i t ?’ I f

Mahérault happened to say ,‘ I don ’t think you have

got hold of i t I am not al together satisfied,and I ’ l l

tel l you why ;’

Scribe invariably repl ied in his

qu ietest manner : Very we l l , you had better go now,

I ’l l j ust s ee who is right , you or I , and I’ l l read you

to - n ight what I have done.

’ I n what way had

Mahérault become entitled to th is confidence ? By


the sound of loud laughter and song proceed ing

from the passages of the prison , on inqui ry she

found that the comedians of the The’

atre-Francais

had arrived,they were accused of preaching modera

tion,of a want of c ivic zeal

,nay

,of conspi ring in

favour of royal ty,by having performed a play of

reactionary tendencies. They took thei r i ncarceration

in such a cheerful spi ri t that o n e of them said ,‘ How

wel l we did play to - n ight. I suppose i t was the

threat hanging over us that spurred us on . We

s imply showed our accusers that we d id not care a

snap of the fingers for them . We’ l l perhaps be

gullotined ,but never m ind

,i t was a capital perfor

mance.

’ I have got an idea that i t i s on ly French

arti s ts who could make that k ind of thing a pretex t

for playing with greater spiri t and bri l l iancy. When

the Re ign of Terror was at an end,the Directory

establ ished , and Fran cois de Neufchateau had become

a min ister,his great anx iety was to reconstruct the

Theatre -Francais. I t was the least he could do for

i t. Unfortunate ly the Theatre - Francais was by

then a name and noth ing more. Overthrown by the

Revolution,i t had spl i t up into three i nferior theatres

,

three companies under the di rection of three enter

pris ing managers,al l three ofwhom were fast going

to ru in .

One bankruptcy fol lowed hard upon another

nothing therefore seemed easier than to effect a re

conci l iation between those members who had been


un ited s o l ong and who while separated were suffer

ing dearly fo r that separat ion . Seemed ; i n real i ty

noth ing was more d ifficu l t than to bring about that

j uncture. There were obstacles of al l k inds material

obstacles ; several of the older and n o t a few of the

most eminen t members having gone to the provinces

and even to fore ign countries . Then there were

pol i t ical obstacles ; the most ardent party- fee l ing

d ivided many there were the republ icans on the on e

hand,the royal i sts on the other

,and al l were equal ly

i rreconci lable and fanatical ly incensed against thei r

opponents . The charming Mdl le. Contat,whom the

dearest remin iscences bound to the monarchy,ex

cla imed :‘ I wou ld prefer be ing gui l lotined n o t only

with regard to my head,but from head to foot rather

than appear o n the same boards with that horrible

Jacobin of a Dugazon .

’ Added to th i s there was the

vex ed quest ion of profess ional van ity. More than

on e of those actors o n j oin ing a second - rate company

had become a leader, nay a star. The non -com

missioned officers had become captain s , and the cap

ta ins colone l s. T rue, we have seen in our days a

French marshal redescend by his own wi l l to the

s imple rank of a general of d iv is ion in the very army

ofwhich but the day before he had been the chief,

but i n the army of actors such abnegat ion of se l f is

unknown . An understudy who has happened to be

come the lead ing man in his own l ine consent to

become an understudy once more, a star consent ing


volun tari ly to re-enter the group of nebulae ? Perish

the thought ! There was , final ly,the question of

pounds,shi l l ings

,and pence

,the salaries were most

uncertain,but considerably larger in the case of

temporary engagements ; thi s or that leading actor

had only signed with the impress ario with a sol id

guarantee for the whole of his money, i n that way the

concern might go ‘ smash but the actor himsel f was

safe. The difficu lty , therefore , was to remove those

many obstacles,to s at isfy confl i ct ing claims

,to s i lence

rival passions,to co nci l iate opposing interests . To

do thi s required l i ttle s hort of a miracle, and the

miracle was accompl ished by the e lder Mahérault.

Franc is de Neufchateau gave him plenary powers and

in fact,put the whole of the burden of the work on

him, Mahérault put h is heart and sou l i n the busi

ness . You are undertaking an imposs ible tas k,

’ said

Saint-Prix ,the actor to him ‘ you do not know the

race you are deal ing with,they wi l l k i l l you with p in

pricks. ’ ‘ They may i f they l i ke,

’ repl ied Mahérault,

meanwhi le I ’ l l put fresh l i fe i nto them . I want the

Coméd ie-Frangais e to become a national insti tution , I

wish the artists to have a home of thei r own and the

home to be cal led “ The House of Mol iere,Cornei l le

,

and Racine.

”He proved as good as his word .

On the 1 1 th Priarial of the year V I I of the First

R epublic (3oth May 1 799) the wal ls of Paris d isplayed

the fol lowing bi l l,Re - opening of theTheatre-Francais

.

Le Cid and L’Eco le

'

des Maris .” The s ight of that


had finished and read his piece to h im ,he s imply

handed it over to him ,after which Mahérault began

to state his real advice , his advice, pen i n hand .

I have before me a file of papers , l abe l led ,‘ My

Remarks o n Scribe’

s pieces,before the i r performance .

’

Thes e ‘ remarks ’

are nothing less than so many

analyses of ten,twelve pages each

,

’

I have seen some

oftwenty-five pages .

Mahérault analyses the work act by act, scene by

scene,character by character

,almost l ine for l ine.

No t a single contrad iction escapes his vigi lant ey e,

not an error butwhat he points i t out ; I say ‘ points

i t out,

’ I m ight say pursues,for he brings the im

placable honesty of the conscientious head of a

department to bear upon his funct ions . His sinceri ty

often trenches upon harshness,as for instance :

‘These

verses are deplorably weak,they contain ne i ther an

epigram nor an original thought . The bad prose

they are intended to replace was far better. ’ W e are

confronted with the bluff,not to say rough

,honesty

ofintercourse which Montaigne claimed from genuine

friendship. I greatly honour Mahérault for that

s incerity,but I must confess that I admire Scribe

as much .He shows his ex ceptional character i n

this as he does in everything.

The authors who consu l t the i r friends may be

d ivided into three .classes : the humb le who have no

confidence i n themse lves,the vain who never lack

confidence i n themse lves,and the men of parts

,the


men ofstrength , who l i sten to ,apprec iate

,and benefi t

by,everything. At the fi rst cri t ica l remarks that

fal l from your l ips,the humble are sure to ex claim :

I ndeed y ou are right,i t is very bad .

’

And they are

ready there and then to condemn the whole of the

work and to throw it into the fire. One i s always

obl iged to snatch the i r ‘ fEneid’ from the i r hands .

But that class ofauthor is not very numerous .

The vain ones look surpri sed , sm i le di sdainful ly,and show great i rri tat ion . They are the grandsons

of Oronte.

* An celo t‘

l'

was a type of that k ind .

After having l i stened to o ne ofh is comed ies and over

whe lmed him w i th the adjectives,

‘ del ightful,

’ ‘ charm

ing ’

ex qu is ite,a l i stener ventured tim id ly to remark,

‘The second act is perhaps a l i ttle to o long.

’ ‘ I th ink

i t to o short,’ rep l ied An celo t emphatical ly. Then

come the masters of thei r craft , whose d istinct ive

tra i t is no t only to ask fo r adv ice,but to l i sten to i t,

to profi t even by bad advice, to interpret the l i stener’s

s i lence , to read on his face the effect of the i r

words,to al low fo r the character and intel l igence of

each of the i r counse l lors,i n short

, to j udge thei r

j udges ; th is is the character istic of superior men .

Some short fragments from the correspondence of

the two friends wi l l tend to show in what manner the

The Oron te of Mo l iere’ s ‘ M isan thrope,’ not the one o f ‘ L’Eco ledes Femmes .

’—TR.

1’ The somet ime D irec tor of the Vaudev i l le and member of the

Académ ie-a gn ise.—TR.


on e gave advice , i n what manner the other profited by

it

SERICOURT, September, 1 842 .

I have en t irely recon s tructed the fourth act, m ind , from the firs t tothe las t l ine, and con s iderab ly a ltered the others . W i l l you and can youlet me read them to you once more, i f i t be not trespas s ing too muchon your friend shi p

‘ SERICOURT,Octoéer, [ 845

‘ I w i l l have fin i shed my s econd volume (thi s t ime i t was a n ovel ) inthree days . I

’

ll br ing i t to Par i s to you and put i t to s choo l w i thyou for a whi le. The firs t vo lume has fared too wel l at your hands forits brother not to cl a im the s ame care .

S ince you wen t away , I have read al l your remark s on my threeacts

,or nearly al l , for your remark s , dear fr iend , are an as tound ing and

gigan t ic bi t of w ork , and l ike everything you do , con sc ien t ious toa degree. From what I have read

,you are perfect ly r igh t ; a l l your

n otes are i n excel len t ta s te,and marked by profound cr i t ic i sm ,

but l

am real ly at a los s whether to thank you or n ot,for now I feel boun d

to attend to every one of your sugges t ion s and that w i l l takeme a longwh i le.

’

Mahérault in addi tion to the subtle crit ical facu l ty

which he brought to bear upon his functions of

dramatic adviser,had two qual i ties essential to the

part .He on ly advis ed you to do that of which youwere capable. I was always compl imenting him upon

that acute percept ion,and o n e day I told him in con

n ectio n with this a capital anecdote about Gouvion

Saint-Cyr which I had from M . Guizot

Gouvion Saint-Cyr was on ly second - in - command

to General in Spain . The enemy was harass ;

ing our army corps,and there was a doubt whether

we ought to give battle or retreat. The general - in

chief summons a counci l of war at which Gouvion

Saint-Cyr strongly pronounces i n favour of a retreat,

which advice i s adopted . An hour before the t ime


from his l ips,and he ran and fluttered and buzzed

throughout the piece l i ke some winged creature.

‘

You are enti tled to author’s fees

,

’

we said to

Mahérault,laughing.

The cause of Mahérault’

s thorough knowledge of

scen ic conditions was his inord inate love of the drama .

As I have said,he had commenced going to the play

when he was two years old,and he st i l l went at

e ighty. Scribe had had him put on the permanent

and fi rst n ight free- l i st everywhere and he was to

be s een everywhere,operas

,comed ies

,farces

,melo

dramas,scratch performances

,rehearsal s, he never

m iss ed anything.He always arrived before the lever

a’

e ria’ean . When he went to the theatre

,the d inner

at his house was earl ier than usual,lest he should miss

a scene. On e day,whi le they were rehears ing a p iece

ofhis son -in - l aw ’

s,M . de Najac

,Mahérault was e ighty

two then,he j umped over a seat s o l ightly that M .

Saint-Germain who is as sprightly in ord inary con

versation as he i s o n the stage,said to the author : I

have j ust noticed your young pick le of a father- ln - law

jumping from the pi t into the stal l s . ’ Towards his

latter days,his doctor having forbidden h im to leave

home un less the weather was favourab le,his son - in

law was bound to come to h is room after every

premiere, no matter how late, and to give him ful l

particu lars of the performance ; he would not wait

unti l nex t morn ing.

Assuredly i t was not h is phys ical strength that


kept him young in body as we l l as in m ind unt i l the

last moments of his l i fe.He had just suffic ientmuscu lar substance to carry him through , i t was a

second passion which often proved but on e and the

same with the fi rst,a pass ion as heal thy and ardent

as that of the sportsman,the pass ion of the art

col lector.I I I

Art col lectors who are mi l l iona i res have n o doubt a

claim to the world ’s cons iderat ion ; I have known

some very ab le conno isseurs among them ,but they

always lack the two great marks of the col lector,

they are n o t cal led upon to make sacrifices and to

give themse lves trouble. With them i t i s in n ine

cases out often only a question of van i ty. They as

i t were commission someone e l se to have taste for

them,they find the money and o n the strength of

the i r representative’s knowledge they are promoted

to the noble rank ofamateurs . But to ferret ou t bi t

by bit and in the course ofmany years , a col lection of

arti stic objects which const i tutes in i tse l f a work of

art,to d iscover what was unknown , to appreciate at its

right artist ic value what had been m isj udged,to

bring to l ight forgotten talent, to resusci tate the

art product ions of a whole period , to be runn ing

hither and thither, to compare, to take counsel , to

s acrifice part of one’

s we l l earned rest , to st int

one'

s se l f even in one's barest needs, to do al l

this i n order to get together, after forty years of


hard work,as d id M . Sauvageo t for instance, a col

lect ion worth s everal hundred thousand francs out of

a yearly salary which never ex ceeded four thousand ,

that’

s what I wou ld cal l science,patience

,and pas

s io nate love and taste for art . And Mahérault who

throughout his l i fe had never anything but his

government place to depend on has left an al together

rare co l lect ion of drawings,prints and engravings of

the e ighteenth century . That was the period he

had selected as h is domain in which he took up a

distinctly separate,albei t smal l space

,namely

,i n

everyth ing that bore upon the drama .

I t was he who des igned for the magnificent col

lect ion of stage dresses by Martinet fi fty or s ix ty

portrai ts of the principal Paris art ists in thei r best

parts,for he drew very we l l

,and among h is papers

,

I find the fol lowing charming note

‘ MY DRAWINGS IN SEPIA

‘ The s cene of the Armcha i r from Le Mar iage de F igaro .

” Scen efrom 4th Act of Chen ier

’

s“ Hen ry VI I I .” Scene from 4th Act of

Chen ier’s “ Charles IX .

” Scene from 2 n d Act of Legouvé ’s “ Mortde Henr i

And at the en d of the notes I find the priceput

upon the drawings by Mahérault

CHARLES IX , 25 francs .

‘ PHILIPPE I I , 2 5francs .

‘ HENRI IV,2 5francs

Total 75 francs . Not a very h igh figure,but how

e loquent in its very modesty ; how we l l i t shows us

the sav ing penny by penny of the poor col lector


stints himse l f ; I have known some (though Mahé

rau l t was n o t of the number) who , i n order to increase

the i r col lection have grudged the i r fami l ies the i r dai ly

food ; they stifle the st i l l smal l voice of the i r con

science with the ex cuse that at the sale the i r col lee

tion— l ike the trusty servant of the gospel— wi l l remit

to thei r he i rs ten t imes the talents with which i t

had been entrusted . Mahérault often said to his

daughter : ‘ I hOpe to leave you a magnificent

The sale took place a twe lvemonth after h is death,

I fancy that on that day the shade of Mahérault

which must be diaphanous indeed,i f our shade re

semble our body,must have found means to s l ip into

that auction room,i n wh ich he spent so many hours

of his l i fe and have quivered with pride and joy when

i t heard the auctioneer state the splend id total of

the proceeds— four hundred and twenty -five thousand

francs . Thus,

‘ i f after death shades feel ,’ i t must

have been o ne of his red letter days i n Paradise.

CHAPTER VI I I

The Portrai t Gal lery con t inued — M . Etienne de Jouy,the Father of

the Par i s ian Chron ique.—The Salon of M . de Jouy .

—M . de Jouyas a Bened ict — Md l le . de J 'ouy, afterwards Mme. Boudo nville.

M . de Jouy’s Gues ts . —M . de Jouy

’s Talen t for Parody.

-M . de

Jouy as a L i bret ti s t and Dramat i s t .—A Gl impse of Talma .— The

L i bretto of ‘ La Ves ta le .

’—A F i rs t G l impse of Meyerbeer . -The

Libretto of ‘ Gu i l laume Tel l ’ sugges ted by Mme. Boudonville.

I n tended for Meyerbeer —A S i lhouette of Ros s in i,

I

DURING the greater part of Louis-Phi l ippe’s re ign ,

the two rival schools of French l i terature had virtu

al ly se lected two drawing- rooms as the i r respective

headquarters those ofM . Nodier and ofM . de Jouy.

These two names may be taken as the two standards

under which the Oppos ing fact ions fought . I was

a frequent vis i tor to both these centres , but s o much

has been wri tten about that pres ided over by M .

Nodier that I wi l l on ly speak about M . de Jouy’

s . I

have met many interest ing personages there,o ne of

the most curious was undoubted ly the host h im se lf.

A few years before the great revolut ion,M . de Jouy

began l ife as a ‘ middy i n the K ing ’s navy and took

part in several naval engagements against the Engl i sh ,VOL. 1 1 B.

2 58 S ix ty Years ofRecollection

los ing two fingers i n o n e of these, the name of which

I forget . I f at that time someone had told him that

one day he would be a famous litte'

rateur,poet and

member of the Académie- Francaise,he would

'

cer

tain ly have been great ly surpri sed . At that period

he was a handsome,brave

,and somewhat foolhardy

young fel low,a kind of e ighteenth century d ’

Ar

tagnon,tal l

,robust

,with charming features

,a quan

t i ty of fai r hai r,drooping in wi ld

,unkempt locks on

his shoulders,a pai r of magn ificent

,large blue eyes

,

a mobi le mouth , an inex haust ible flow of an imal

sp i ri ts,and in ex ce l lent health . The world smi led on

him,and he smi led o n the world . Literature and

poetry occupied but a smal l space i n h is mental ex

is ten ce,his whole l ibrary consi sted of a smal l volume

of Horace ’ from which he quoted constantly,and of

o ne book of Voltaire’s which he carried upon his

person . When he came to Paris,he made his debut

i n l i terature as a general Opens a battle,by two

cannon shots,the l ibretto of ‘ La Vestale ’ fi rst

,

then later on ‘ L’

Ermite de la Chaussée d’

An tin .

’

As far as the latter went,everything about i t was

posit ive ly n ew,i ts form

,i ts t i tle

,i ts subject

,and. i ts

author. I n h is capacity of a man ofthe world,and

add icted to its pleasures,as a bri l l ian t and somewhat

pugnacious talker he recorded the i ncidents of h is

dai ly l i fe whi le record ing the dai ly ex i stence of the

big ci ty. What we cal l ‘ Pari sian ism,

’ took i ts start

with ‘ L’

Ermite de la Chaussée The school


‘

The salon ofM . de Jouy ’ i s the fi rst l ine of the

synopsis of th is chapter. M . de Jouy had , i n fact , a

salon,which in the l i terary acceptation of the term ,

i t

is a rare and diffi cu l t th ing to have. I t i s not given

to everyone to have a salon , however ri ch , powerful

and aristocratic he may be. The fi rst and foremost

requis i te in a salon is a woman to enact the hostess .

Now ,i t so happened that M . de Jouy

,though

married , had no wife.He was too fond of othermen ’s w ives to have remained attached for any length

oft ime to h is own . Shortly after h i s marriage with

a young Engl ish gi rl,of very high bi rth and of a

distinctly original turn of inte l lect,there was a separa

tion . I am afraid I have used the wrong word ; for

there was ne i ther separation nor scandal . The tie

was not severed,i t was s imply unfastened . There

was not the s l ightes t grievance against the wife there

was no serious cause ofreproach against the husband ,

un less i t was that he gradual ly lost the habi t of going

home. Lucki ly the un ion,though short

,had borne

fru i t a daughter,who was brought up by her mother

unti l she was s ix teen . But she often saw her father,

she worshipped both her parents and bore a remark

able l ikeness to both . She had in add ition to the

mother’s refined heart and lofty sentiments,the

bri l l iancy and l ive ly temperament of the father and

these qual i ties , enhanced by that strong moral sense

o ld,he becomes a herm i t . Everyone knows the Eng l i sh vers ion When

the dev i l was s ick , etc —TR .


which often forces i tse l f upon young people placed in

d ifficu l t s i tuations,had made her a charm ing and

al together ind ividual woman . Throughout her l i fe

she endeavoured,n o t to reun ite those who were

parted,the i r utter d iss im i lari ty of character effectu

al ly forbade such an attempt,but to bring them

more or less together.

M . de Jouy wi l l ingly lent himse l f to the idea,for

his posi t ion as a man separated from his wife affected

him n o more seriously than his pos it ion as a married

man . Wedlock had been such a trivia l thing with

him,that he fai led to regard it as a chain

,let alone as

a sacrament. I remember as i f i t were yesterday,his

saying to me i n connection with ‘Louise de Lignerol les,

’

i n wh ich I had attempted to depict the often terrible

consequences of the husband ’s adul tery :‘ But my

dear boy ,all this is s imply s o much nonsense. Who

,

i n the name of al l that ’s good , gave y ou the idea of

bu i ld ing five acts and a trag ic catastrophe on the

peccad i l l o of a husband who happens to have a

mistress. You are assuredly not under the impress ion

that y ou are going to draw tears from anyone w i th

that k ind ofth ing ?’

When his daughter was s ix teen , she retu rned to his

roof and kept house fo r h im . I t was n o t an easy task.

The reader has heard of the sentence Mme. Necker,

the wife of the austere Min ister, wrote i n her pocket

book : ‘ No t to forget to re- compl iment M . Thomas '


on his Petréide.

’ M . de Jouy’

s gatherings were not

altogether made up of people who had constantly to

be ‘re- compl imented ,

’ namely,poets and litte’rateurs .

There were a good many orators and pol i tical men,

such as Manuel,Benj amin Constant

,the latter with

his fai r hai r, and German - student look,fl i tt ing from

group to group,and scattering his bri l l ian t paradox es

broadcast . Added to these came the beauties of the

Restoration and the Monarchy of July,such as Mme .

Sampayo, Mme. de Vatry,Mme. Friant

,

‘ sai l ing

through the dazz l ing hal l s,the i r brows bedecked

with flowers,

’ as the poet says. There was,further

more,a crowd of fore igners of both sex es

,attracted

thither by the great reputat ion of the host. On o ne

or two occasions I met Ro s tOpchin e there, and heard

him talk . Wel l,M . de Jouy

’

s daughter,married to a

young and charming staff- officer,M . Boudon ville

,

steered her course amidst al l these celebri t ies,carefu l

of the i r susceptibi l i t ies,of the i r jealousy of o n e

another, without giving umbrage to anyone, without

committ ing a single blunder or m istake. She con

s tan tly reminded me of those sk i l fu l gondol iers,gl id

ing so deftly and gracefu l ly through the network of

the canals i n Venice.Her father’s j ovial,cord ial and

spontaneous temperament provided the l ighter notes

in the entertainment. His was,no doubt

, the l ive l iest

imagination I have ever known . Conversat ion meant

The origina l word is relouer, wh ich is as ques t ionab le French as

‘re-compl iment, ’ is que stionable_English.

— TR.


hyperbol ical compl iments. ‘ Do y ou hear what this

gentleman says ofme,my dear ?’ he laughed .

‘We l l ,

he does not ex press by a hundredth part what I th ink

o n the subject. ’

The l i terary l i fe ofM . de Jouy may be summed up

by three dates , which again may be summed by three

names : La Vestale,

’

L’

Ermite de la Chaussée

d’

An tin and Syl la.

’

‘ Syl la ’ was on e of the most startl ing successes of

the century. I t has been asserted that the success

was enti re ly due to a wig,because Talma appeared in

i t wi th the Napoleon ic lock on his forehead . Those

detractors had best be referred to the words of

Alex andre Dumas,who without be ing compe l led by

the least offic ial miss ion made the j ourney from Pari s

to Saint-Germain on the day of M . de Jouy’

s funeral,

in order to s ing the praises of the bold nove l ty of

the fifth act of that play on the author’s grave. To

this eu logy I wou ld l ike to add two sign ificant trai ts

ofTalma’s talent. The fourth act was founded on a

scene which inspi red both the author and actor wi th

great hopes,whi le at the same t ime they were greatly

afraid ofi t. Syl la fal l s asleep , and in the midst of his

slumbers his victims are supposed to uprise before

him l ike the terrible phantoms of Shakespeare’s

R i chard I I I .’ I t was ex pected that this s omnambu

lism of remorse would be productive of an enormous

effect as enacted by Talma. But a great practical

d ifficu lty attended with great danger presented itse l f.

S ix ty Years of Recollections 2 65How shou ld Syl l a fal l asleep ? The supposed d if

ficulty would provoke a sm i le nowadays , but at that

t ime the quest ion was a grave o ne.

’

Was he to fal l

as leep in a chai r ? Under such cond i tions the effect

would be lost. Was he to fal l as leep on a bed ? I n

that case he would have had to lie down before the

publ ic,and how cou ld he ri sk doing such a thing ?

That an actor shou ld de l iver his l ines seated o r walk

ing up and down was admiss ib le,but lying down .

Heaven forfend the thought,i t wou ld show a pos i

t ive d isrespect to the pub l i c. Talma was i n a great

state of ex c i tement. Fortunate ly,he was n o t the

man to give i n easi ly when he fanc ied he had go t

hold of a tremendous effect,s o he brave ly has a

couch p laced on the stage,and when the terrib le

scene draws n igh,seats h imse l f on i t i n a care less ,

matter-ofcourse way. Then he de l ivers h is fi rst l ines ,

his hands rest ing on his knees. At the nex t few l ines

he l i fts o ne ofhis arms,ex tends one ofhis legs and

puts i t , without seeming to pay attention to i t , o n the

bed .He goes on speak ing whi le stretching i t at fu l l

length , the other leg fol lows su i t , his body gradual ly

leans back , his head final ly recl ines on the pi l low and

Syl la is as leep,without the pub l ic hav ing not iced

as i t were, that he was‘ go ing to bed .

’How sk i l fu lo ne had to be in those days in order to be bold .

I fee l re l uctant to d ism iss the piece without record

ing another s troke of gen ius in Talma ’s ‘ by -play .

’

I n the th i rd act there is a very magnificent scene


where the d ictator, surrounded by h i s courtiers , is

reminded of the people who are be ing butchered out

s ide by heartrend ing and host i le cries . Immed iately

afterwards o ne of the crowd rushes on to the stage

and makes straight for Syl la , ex claim ing

Combien en proscr i s tu , Syl l aJe n e sa i s pas

’

is the answer.

The reply befits the author of the Corne l ian Laws ,

and Talma accord ing to h is inspi ration , the tone of

the man of the crowd , the countenances of his

courtiers,uttered that terr ible sentence i n d i fferent

fashions . On some n ights he mere ly al lowed i t to

drop negl igently from his l ips,superc i l ious ly

,as i f

paying no attention whatsoever to h is words and pro

ducing i n that way a horrible contrast to the fury of

his i nterlocutor. On others,he would h is s the

phrase at h im l ike a wi ld beast and with such violence

as to terri fy h is audience.He was a great gen iusi ndeed . I t was not a succes s the actor scored

,i t was a

genu ine triumph . Let me hasten to add,for the sake

ofthe author,that from that day forward

,M . de Jouy

ceased to be ‘ L’

Ermite’ to become ‘

the author of

Syl la .

”

I I

The l ibretto of‘ La Vestale had raised M . de Jouy

to the posi t ion of our foremost lyrical poet and

procured h im the patronage of the men whom I con

sider the most wretched i n creation,the dramatic


the story of Gui l laume Te l l would make a capital

subject for a l ibretto.He combines al l the necessaryfeatu res

,he is a grand character, he i s the hero of a

very interesting s i tuat ion ; his su rround ings would

furn ish a very ex ce l lent local p icture.

’ ‘ Bravo,

’

ex claims M . de Jouy. Admirab le ,

’ adds Meyerbeer,

and there and then the plan is d rawn out, the out

l ines ofthe principal characters put in , etc.,etc.

And n ow,how did i t happen that Ross in i composed

the music of ‘ Gui l laume Te l l,

’ and that Meyerbeer d id

not compose i t ? I am unable to te l l , nevertheless , I

am thankfu l to Chance or Fate,see ing that to i t we

owe the masterp iece of modern music Nowadays

the l ibretto of ‘ Gui l laume Te l l ’ i s very severely

handled , the verses are constantly be i ng rid icu led , but

I never heard anyone make greater sport of them

than M . de iJouy .himsel f.‘ My dear Jouy

,

’ said

Rossin i to him o n e day,

‘ I have taken the l iberty to

change a word in the chorus that accompan ies Mdl le

Tagl ion i ’s dance. You wrote

“ ‘ To i que l’aiglon n e su ivra i t pas .

”

(Thou whom the eaglet would not

I have put instead

To i que l ’o i seau ne su ivra i t pas .

Thou whom the bird would n ot

‘ And I am much obl iged to you for do ing i t,

’

ex

claims M . de Jouy.

‘ The eaglet does convey the

idea of a dancing bird,does i t not ?’ ‘ Then why


d id y ou put that eaglet there ?’ asked Rossin i , laugh

ing.

‘ I d idn ’t put i t there,i t ’s that id iot of a

H ippolyte Bis,

’ says M . de Jouy.

‘ Then why d id

y ou take that id iot of a H ippolyte B is fo r your

col laborateur? inqu i res Ross in i,l augh ing louder than

ever. ‘Why,why ? Because I am a good - natured

id iot myse l f,who does not know his own mind . I

was to ld that he i s poor, but clever, that he had

written a tragedy on Atti la which was performed at

the Odéon . I never saw his tragedy , but they

were always quoting a l ine which was cons idered

subl ime

Ses regards affamés devoraien t l’un ivers .

‘ I t’

s those confounded “ hungry looks that have

caused al l the mischief. Hippolyte Bis cal led me a

great ‘ poet,after that I became l i ke a bi t of putty i n

his hands,and al lowed him to introduce i n my l ibretto

a lo t of verses which wi l l be a stand ing d isgrace to

me with posteri ty fo r centuries and centuries . For

there is n o .mistake about it , thanks to y ou,I am

immortal and whi le there is o ne opera left,they ’ l l go

o n s ing ing verses , l ike that o ne

Aux repti les je l’abandon neEt leur horr ible fa im lu i repond d 'un

And to th ink that I have put my name to them .

Oh,the brute.

’

Al l th is happened and was said o n the Boulevard

Montmartre j ust by the Passage des Panoramas where


we happened to run against Ross in i,who had just

come from home.He had a fortn ight’s stubble onhis chin .

‘ You are look ing at my beard,

’

he said .

‘ This is i n consequence of a vow I made. I am just

finishing my orchestration,and lest I should be

tempted to go out to d inner or an at home,I

have taken an oath not to shave mysel f unti l my

work is finished .

‘ Are you pleased with what you are doing ?’ asked

M . de Jouy.

‘ I t i sn’

t bad,

’

he repl ied with a smi le. I t’ s Gluck,

w it/z ideas of my own . My chief ex ertions bear on

the reci tat ives and basses. You had better notice the

bal let music al so,it is s omewnat saa

’

,as befits a people

in tlzatpos ition . But you may make your mind easy,

friend Jouy. There are perhaps a few verses that are

bad,but the l ibretto i s al l r ight

,and I trust I shal l

not spoi l i t. ’

The resu l t i s known to everyone. On the fi rst

n ight the overture met with a tremendou’

s success

The fi rst act al so produced a great effect, and the

second was simply o n e long triumph from beginn ing

to en d . The third and fourth acts met with a some

what chi l l ing reception,and on entering M . de Jouy

’

s

drawing- room at midn ight,Rossin i said

,

‘ I t i s a gnas z

The l i fe that had began so bri l l iantly ended

placid ly and sweetly,though somewhat sad ly. Dur

ing his latter years , when he was al ready very old

2 7 2 S ix ty Years ofRecollection s

taken to the magn ificent c i rcu lar bal cony with i ts

superb forged i ron rai l ing . Wrapped in an ample

dress ing gown , his eyes fix ed on the large open

square,he sat watching the arrival of the young

couples and joyous groups that had come to spend

the i r le isure day in the country ; he rare ly took his

eyes off them as , amidst loud laughter, they made

thei r way to the rusti c drink ing shops,the smal l

restaurants and t iny theatre he tried to get a gl impse

ofthem as they rested beneath the spreading branches

of the natural arbours,he strained his ears to catch

snatches of thei r songs,resounding through the open

windows,and at such t imes there was a momentary

gleam of youth and gaiety on the withered,wrinkled

features . The fast wan ing imagination had conjured

up,for an instant on ly

,o n e of the chapters of

L’

Ermite de l a Chaussée

CHAPTER IX

The Portra i t Ga l lery cont inued .

—Lamartine.—Lamartin e

’

s Pride.His Man ias .—Lamartin e’s opin ion of himsel f and of La Fon ta ine.His opin ion of Ros s in i .— Beranger’s Opin ion of on e of Lamartin e’s

Poems . Lamartin e’

s k indnes s . As a S ta tesman .His firs tappearance in the Chamber.—His wonderfu l capac i ty for graspinga Subject —His hatred of the Napoleon ic Legend —His Prophecyw i th regard to the u l timate resul t of it.— Lamartine and an Anecdoteof Turner, the Pa inter .— How l

’His to ire des G i rond in s ’ was composed .

- Lamart ine goes to see an o ld Member of the Conven tion .

Lamartin e’s Impecun ios i ty.

—The Revolution of ’48 .—A Gl impse of

a Revolutionary .

— Lamart ine at the Hotel -de-Vi l le.

— Lamart inemisjudged .

—Madame de Lamartine.

—Her Devot ion .

—Lamartin e’

s

Funera l .

THERE is o ne th ing which has never fai led to stri ke

me : the marvel lous inst inct ofthe pub l i c in recogn is

ing genius at its fi rst cry. The moment the man of

gen ius appears,the moment he speaks

,the hearts of

al l go out to him’

and procla im him king. I t would

m m as i f al l his future ach ievements are wr i tten be

forehand ih what he has j ust accomp l ished . The

début contains , as i t were, the advance summary of

a long l ife ofglory. Apologis ing fo r the comparison

when app l ied to a poet , I fee l inc l ined to say that i tVOL. 1 1 S


is the splendour of a magn ificent sunl i t day , enti rely

fore told in the fi rst ray at dawn .

This was the case with Lamartine.

‘ Les Médita

t ions ’ had not been out ’ four- and - twenty hours , and

lo and behold , by some nameless phenomenon of

moral e lectric ity, that name , unknown the day before,

was al ready o n everyone’s l ips . M . de Tal leyrand

himse l f, startled by the noise, took the book and read

i t from beginn ing to en d i n a few hours snatched

from sleep,and that same morn ing he wrote to o ne

of his fr iends : ‘ Unto us a poet has been born this

n ight. ’

I wi l l not stop to analyse the numerous poet ical

beauties of Lamartin e ’

s works ; I am in too great a

hurry to come to the man to l inger wi th the poet.

Lamartine has been too often accused of pride,and

in support of the accusation people always quote that

famous reply of h is to a father who had taken his son

to see him :‘We l l , Monsieur de Lamartine, what do

you th ink of my young fe l low ?’ ‘He was notsufficiently moved at the s ight of me

,

’ repl ied the

poet . To those who take the trouble to think,and

who knew Lamartine,there i s not the least s ign of

pride i n th is.He was not th inking of himse l f whenhe uttered the words

,he was think ing of some great

reputation .He would have never said what he didsay i f he had meant to apply i t to himse l f ; i n apply


original trai t in a man ’s character not to overrate his

talents i n the art ofwhich he i s a perfect master, and

here we touch upon o n e of the most curious sides of

this very complex nature. Modesty, w i th the superior

inte l lect is , after al l , but the Spiri t of comparison .

We l l,when Lamartine compared himse l f to h is con

temporaries , he cons idered h imsel f very great, but

when he compared himse l f to geniuses of the fi rst

water,or even to h imse l f, that i s , when he drew a

paral le l between what he had done and what he might

have done ,he was

,I repeat

,modest . On e day

,I

ventured to say to him ,I wi sh you to ex plain to me

a fact which seems to defy ex planation at my own

hands : I l ike La Fontaine ’s verses as wel l as yours,

I have an equal faci l i ty for learn ing them by heart ;

I ex perience an equal pleasure i n repeating them to

mysel f ; but at the end of s ix months I sti l l know the

verses of La Fontaine and no longer know yours.

What is the reason ?’ ‘ I am going to te l l you,

’

he

said . La Fontaine writes wi th a pen and even wi th

a grav ing- tool,I wri te with a brush ; he writes , I

mere ly colour , his outl ines are clearly drawn,mine

are vague ; consequently i t i s very natural that his

should rema in stamped on the memory and that

mine should become gradual ly effaced .

’

S truck and

moved by the justice and s impl ici ty of the answer, I

went on .

‘ Neverthe less,

’ I said in a tone of deep

conviction,

‘ no French poet has been more richly

endowed than y ou. You have as much genius as the


gre‘ates t among them .

’ ‘ I t may be,

’

he repl ied smi l

ing ,‘ but I have not as much talent ; talent , my dear

friend , i s the thing acqu i red by work and wi l l . I

have never worked,and I cannot correct.

‘

Whenever

I have tried to rewrite some verses,I have only made

them worse . Just compare me to Victor Hugo as a

vers ifier,why

,I am a s imple learner compared to

him.

’ ‘You are much more l ike that other spoi l t

ch i ld of the Muses,and who

,l i ke y ou ,

never knew

what i t is to make an effort or to engage i n a struggle ,

and who produced his notes i n the same way y ou

produce your verses,I mean Ross in i . ’ ‘ Don ’t put me

o n a leve l wi th Rossin i . Ross in i lzas produced works.He composed “ Gui l laume Te l l,

” “ Othel lo ,” “

Le

Barbier.” I have on ly produced essays . ’He d id no t ex actly mean what he said,he perhaps

counted on my admi rat ion to contrad ict him,and he

would have fe l t greatly aston ished i f I had taken his

defini t ion l i teral ly ; neverthe less , behind this exaggera

tion ofterms I m ight almost say of blasphemy , there

was a true and sincere fee l ing ; to borrow the clever

ex press ion ofCard inal de Retz,Lamartine recogn ised

the fact of n o t having g iven his worth fu l l play.

Peop le have often hin ted that the d isda in with which

he spoke ofhis own verses was on ly so much affec

tation,noth ing better than a comedy. No man

was less of a comed ian than Lamartine. A diplo

matis t, y es . Clever , and so clever at t imes as to be

almost bungl ing ,but never des cend ing to the tr ick of


vu lgar ‘ posing.

’He had a sincere d isdain for hispoet ical grandeur, because he fe l t h imsel f to be a poet

very superior to his works, and above al l , a man

very superior to the poet , as wi l l be seen directly .

Hence there was in h is van ity as an author a kind of

s impl ic ity and unaffected good humour which added

to his powers offascinat ion . I can hear h im ask me,

as i f i t were to -day : Did you read my last verses in

Le Conse i l ler du Peuple No .

’ ‘ Then read them ,

my dear fe l low,they are very pretty.

’ Then correct

i ng himse l f,

‘Wel l,I mean rather pretty.

’He tookhis own measure

,he j udged himse l f

,and what is more

rare,he al lowed others to j udge him . Beranger had

become very enthusiasti c about ‘ Jocelyn .

’ My dear

friend,

’

he said to Lamarti ne,

‘ i t i s a masterpiece of

poesy,emotion

,and inspi ration .

’ Then he added with

a mischievous smi le,characteri st i c of him But what

a pity about those three or four hundred l i nes which

you gave your concierge to compose.

’ What d id La

martine do ? Laughed for he thought the cri t ici sm

very clever and amusing and went repeat ing i t every

where. That i s very unl ike the gen us irritabile

vo tum.

’ There never was in fact,an i nstance of se l f

respect less i rri table and less prone to i rri tate. Al l

the petty pass ions of poets,envy

,hatred

,vind ictive

ness , were foreign to h is character.He proved thatwe l l enough in his poetical war with Barthelemy .

The poor creature had he ld him up to publ ic

i ndignation,to scorn , to rid icu le. We l l

,i n h is admir


written Les Meditatio n s than founded the Second

Republ ic. ’ Lamartine ,giving a big yawn

,turned

round and asked : What were you saying , dear

friend ?’

The friend sl ightly correcting the sentence ,

repl ied : ‘ I f I had had the choice,I would

'

s oon er

have written “Les Méditations ” than founded the

Second Republ ic.’ We l l,

’ answered Lamartine,that

proves to me that you are only a s impleton .

’ With

which he rose from his chai r and in a second threw

off his drowsiness . Let us put as ide my own ind i

viduality ,look at the general question

,and j udge the

immense superiori ty of the statesman over the poet .

The o ne rack ing and ex hausting his brain in marshal

l ing words and harmon is ing sounds the other,being

the real Word,that is the

’

thought, the word and the

act i n on e,real is ing what the poet only dreams, seeing

al l that is great and good in h im convert i tsel f i nto

facts and ben eficen t facts,i nto ben eficen t facts which

not on ly benefi t the generations present,but often

ex tend to most d istant poster i ty . Do you know

what i t means to be a great Statesman ? I t i s a poet

in the act of transform ing hi s words into deeds . ’ To

act, the need to act , the hope to be able to act was

in fact,the constant preoccupation of him whom the

world chooses to regard as a mere subl ime dreamer.His most ardent admi ration was reserved for Voltai re .

And the reason ‘ Because,

’ as he said,there i s not

a single l i ne of h is that does not vi rtual ly consti tute

an act : not a word that fe l l from his pen Or l ips that

S zxty Years of Recollection s 2 8 1

d id n o t play its part in publ ic affai rs . Voltai re was

for forty years the greatest event of his centu ry.

Hence people say the age ofVoltai re,as they say the

age ofLouis X IV,and the age ofPericles . ’

To complete the portra i t. One day , i n one ofthose

rare moments of effusion in which he showed the

whole of his thoughts,for beneath the semblance of

spontane i ty and candour,he was very secret ive , and

perfectly sel f- control led,keeping in his i nmost sou l

certa in hidden recesses into which no o n e , not he him

se l f perhaps,penetrated

,o ne day then

,he ex cla imed

That o ne might be a Napoleon,less the sword at his

s ide.

’ Here we have the thought lying deepest in

Lamartine’

s heart . To ru le over a great nation by

the force of thought,to command by the force of

i n tel lect. To be the conqueror of his epoch,i ts do

m inant power wi thout shedd ing a d rop of blood , and

without imposing upon men any other yoke than that

ofj ust ice,p i ty and generos ity.

‘ Dreams and vis ions ,’

i t wi l l be said . But he managed to real i se such a

dream fo r three months , and he pursued the v is ion

for s ix teen years.

The anc ients named the poets vates,wh ich means

prophet. No man deserved the name better than

Lamart ine.He was a seer. Some name less inst inct

ofd ivinat ion revealed to him,at the same t ime ,

great

publ ic cr ises , and the part he should play in them .

When o ne reads his conversat ion w i th Lady Stan

hope in his Voyage en Or ient ,’

o ne is aston ished at

N82 S ix ty Years of Recollection s

the clearness with which he marks to h imsel f h is own

goal,and with the consi stency he proceeded towards

i t . I f we study his character from the year 1 832 , we

cannot fai l to be s truck with it. At his fi rst appear

ance i n the Chamber, he i s asked to which party he

in tends to belong :‘ To the social istic party.

’

The

word had never been heard in a parl iamenta’

ry as

s embly .

‘

Social ist ic ,’ remarks his col league

,

‘ what

does that mean ? I t i s only a word .

’ ‘ No,

’ repl ies

Lamartine,

‘ i t i s an idea .

’ ‘ But on which side are

you going to si t ; there appears to be no room for

you on any of the benches ?’ ‘ I n that case,

’ repl ies

Lamartine with a semi - satrical,semi -confiden t sm i le,

‘ I ’ l l take my seat on the cei l i ng .

’ A strange

reply,no doubt

,but characteri st i c of him and

showing his nature.He always went by instinctto the spot whither wings on ly could carry him and

support him when he got there .

Superfic ial m inds are apt to compare Lamartine as

an orator,to a virtuoso who

,when he has fin ished

with his bravura songs,launches i nto poet ical dithy

rambics,and often out of sheer fancy concerns him

sel f with a few pract ical questions ; for the reader

should remember that he was o n e of the most ardent

defenders of rai lways against Arago ; but to those

who think, every o n e of his speeches shows the

careful ly premed itated conduct of the pol i tical man

who shi rks no problem,because he foresees that the

day may come when he wi l l have to s olve them al l .


good ones among them ,nay some beaut i fu l ones ;

that ’s what has ru ined me i n the i r opin ion .

’

At t imes,his foresight found vent in the rostrum , i n

words ofprophecy. When the Chamber wished to

vote the bi l l fo r the return of Napoleon’s remains,

Lamart ine protested . The strange un ion of l iberal ism

and imperial ism under the Restoration had always

shocked him . To him it was nothing less than a lie.He refused to be influenced by the fact that al l thegreat poets of the period

,French as we l l as foreign

,

Manzon i,Lord Byron

,Beranger

,Victor Hugo and

Casimi r De lavigne had constituted themse lves to

coryphae i ofNapoleon ’s immense glory . While ful ly

admiring the genius,he kept relentless ly looking for

the tyrant behind the conqueror,and launched against

him that terrible anathema .

R ien d ’

humain n e battai t s ou s son épa i s se armure.

’

This ‘Coupl ing ’ of l iberty and despotism seemed to

him on the part of l iberty noth ing less than adu lter

ous as a consequence he uprose against that

triumphal return with al l the strength of his e loquence.

No more admirable words ever resounded from that

rostrum , and when he fe l t hims el f vanquished at last

he flung as a parting cry that solemn warn ing which

to -day strikes us as o n e of the prophecies of the

Cassand ra ofo ld Be i t so then,seeing that nothing

less wi l l satisfy y ou. Bring back his remains . Take“the column as a pedestal for his statue i t i s

,


after al l h is work,his monument , but I entreat y ou

to wri te at least o n the base To Napoleon

(To Napoleon alone).

I n a l i tt le whi le Lamartin e ’

s opposi t ion grew more

and more conspicuous , though he never entered into

any conspi racy or p lot,whatever m ight be i ts a im.

’

N0 o ne was less ofa conspi rator than he, fi rst, because

to conspi re means to be several , and because he l i ked

to march alone ; second ly , because h is generous d is

posit ion d is l iked any and everything savouri ng of

clandestine machination . But his speeches , his con

versat ion and eventual ly his books conspi red fo r h im

he publ ished Les Girond ins ’ which was both a book

and an act.

As a book i t possesses a k ind of pecul iar mer i t,

wh ich is pretty we l l i nd icated by a sentence of

Lamart ine himse l f. On the day he ascended Mount

Lebanon fo r the fi rst t ime he was s o deeply moved by

the grandeur ofthe spectacle that there and then , and

face to face with the spectac le i tsel f, he improvised a

magn ificent descript ion ofit One ofhis compan ions,

a young oflicer cou ld no t he lp remarking : But where

do y ou see al l this , Monsieur de Lamart ine ? I fai l

I may be a l lowed to an t ic i pate my narrat ive by quoting a factwh ich suffic ien tly showed his determ inat ion to s tand a loof fromorgan is ed movements .He s tead fas t ly refus ed to take part i n thecampai n in favour of the banquets , but when the leaders of the movemen ts ad fin a l ly convened the peo it: to meet them in the publ icthorough fares and afterwards for pru en tial reasons

,hes i tated to pro

ceed thi ther , Lamartine sa id ‘ I will go , though I had no compan ionbut my shadow.

’

The banquets led ind i rect ly to the revo lut ion o f ’48 .—TR.


to perceive a s ingle thing of what you are des crib

ing.

’ ‘ I don ’t wonder at that . I am lo o king at the

scene with the eyes of a po et. You are look ing at i t

with the eyes of a staff- captain .

“ Here we have the

merit and the defect of Lamartine as a historian at

the same time . N0 o n e has depicted the grand days

of the Revo l ution with greater force ; no o n e has

given more s triking portraits of the princ ipal actors

in that drama . The reason why ? Because he sees

them in the aggregate both with his bodi l y eyes and

with thos e of his imagination because he transfo rms

without d isfiguring them in o n e word,because he i s

a poet. Unfortunate ly,he i s not sufficient of a s taff

captain,hence

,we have got an eloquent

,fasc inating

book,ful l of pathos

,and admirable j ust as a whole

,

but far less perfect i n the matter Of detai l,which

imperfection brings home to our m inds the difference

between accuracy and truth . Lamartine had read a

great deal , but at random ,unsystematical ly

,and as

fancy prompted him .He was as i t were,unprovided

with the capital of instruction,he had not even a

l ibrary. A few volumes scattered about his room,

trying to constitute themse lves i nto a compact body,

though even then they would not have had a permanent

abid ing place , made up the whole of his baggage as

A s im i lar anecdote is told of Turner,when he showed his picture

of ‘ Coven t Garden ’ to a lady who had come to v is i t h im ! ‘ Verybeaut i ful indeed , Mr Turner, but I have been to Coven t Garden also ,and I fa i l to see i t as you do .

‘ ‘ Don ’ t y ou w i sh you cou ld , madamsa id the pain ter somewhat b l untly —TR.


admirat ion for anyone unl ike themselves . S l ightly

i ncl in ing his head , covered wi th a cotton n ightcap ,

the o ld member of the Co nvention asked in a curt

and trenchant voice :‘What is your business with

me,mo nsieur ?’ "I have come to ask you for some

correct particu lars of the Co nvention , the history of

which I am writing .

’ ‘ You l ’ says the old man , l ook

ing fix edly at him ; then , with o n e of those vigorous

expres sions which formed part of the d ict ionary of

yore,

‘You haven ’t got guts enough to wri te that

history,saying which he l ies down again . La

martine was not a bit shocked at the answer e i ther

in the spi ri t or subs tance. That past partic iple did

n o t frighten him in the least . I n fact,he made fre

quent us e of i t h imse l f, though i t j arred somewhat

wi th the general character of h is poetry ; but , as

Pascal has i t,the human heart is made up of con

tras ts . Consequently , he refused to take No for an

answer,and final ly obtained some valuable par

ticulars .

The boo k produced an enormous sensat ion and

had a cons iderable i nfluence on the events of the

t ime, n o t because i t was , as has been unjustly said , an

apology of the Re ign of Terror ; i f i t had been that ,

everyone would have shrank from it i n horror and dis

gust,but because i t was the apology of the Republic.

I have con s i derably toned down the expres s ion in Eng l i sh ; in fact ,i t would have been d i fficul t to find the exact equ ivalen t for the Frenchverb, or rather the pas t partic i p le of i t, used by Dr Soubervielle — TE .

S ix ty Years ofRecollection s 2 89

Lamart ine re i nstated the latter in i ts proper place i n

h istory by presenting i t in a poet ica l and grand iose

form ; he purified i t by l i ft ing i t out of the mire of

atroci t ies of which it had been the vict im rather than

the accompl ice ; he sti rred France to ideas of glory

and l iberty which seemed so many sat i res o n that

pusi l lan imous pol icy more or less tain ted with the

bourgeois spi ri t,the pol icy of abandoning the lead

to other nations,which I must confess

,I have

n o t the courage to blame under the present

ci rcumstances,for after al l what i s a secondary

posi tion compared ‘

to dismemberment and muti la

t ion ? But in those days we sti l l had the right

to have national suscept ibi l i t ies and to foster grand

aspirations . ‘Les Girondins ’ responded to those

thoughts . Lamartine translated that undefined agi ta

t i on of the publ ic m ind by the words which have

become historical : ‘ France i s intense ly bored ’ I n

short,l i ke the grand seabi rds

,he fe l t that the storm

was n igh , and pl ied his wings towards a d istant goal

which he vague ly perce ived . One of his friends,un

easy at the evident d i rect io n in which his ideas were

tend ing , and having asked him the reason,he rep l ied

tex tual ly , as fol lows I s ee whither France is trave l

l ing , I’

ll be wait ing fo r her o n the road ten years

hence. I’

ll be there and she ’ l l take me up by the

way,and I may be usefu l to her. The words

themselves have led us to the Hote l -de-V i l le.

VO I. I I .


I I I

Lamartine’

s dream has been real ised ; after a

storm of twenty- four hours he s tands at the he lm .His unaffected greatness was admirable to a degree .

During three months he governed , admin istrated ,

moderated,ru led

,electrified the mob without an

i l legal act , however trifl ing, witho ut resort ing to

violence o r armed force , without fi ring a shot , with

out shedd ing a drop of blood . With what d id he

govern ? With simple wo rds. When men swayed

by the most furious passions and the most urgent

needs,driven by the most fatal theories knocked at

the doors of the Hotel - de -Vil le,he

'

mere ly left the

Counci l,stepped on a chai r

,spoke fo r a quarter- of

an -hour,ask ing ingenuous ly of those who aecom

pan ied him‘ I s that right

,

’ and the pas s ions subs ided,

the roars and ye l l s ceased,the savage brutes grew

subdued ; i t was no longer a scene from contem

porary his tory that was be i ng enacted,but a scene

from mythology. Such th ings had n o t been seen

since the days of Orpheus .

There were some magnificent days i n Lamartine’

s

ex i stence during those three months . Which was

the most magnificent ? The day of the red flag ?

No. That of the mani festo ? No . That on which

he repl ied to the madman who clamoured for his

head : ‘Would to heaven you had i t on your

shoulders ?’

NO . I n my opin ion the l 6 th Apri l


great and genu ine. On the eve o r o n the mo rrow of

great events , smal l bi l l s ofa reddis h violet were found

posted up at the street corners , mere ly d isplaying the

lacon ic but threaten ing s entences : ‘The people are

no t satisfied wi th the events of yesterday. I f the

provisional government commits s uch mistakes again ,

two hundred thousand of us wi l l go and remind them

of the i r duty. S zgnea’

Sobrier.

’

The mystery,the

brevity , the fi rmnes s of the s tyle had the effect of

adding large ly to the prevalent fear. True ,people

laughed among themse lves at those everlast ing two

hundred thousand men who appeared regularly on

those bi l ls and whom no o n e had ever seen,but they

,

nevertheless,shook in the i r shoes . I t was we l l known

that the house i n the Rue de R ivol i was the head

quarters of the Revolut ion,whence constantly i ssued

pass -words and orders which the working population

obeyed .

On the 1 6 th Apri l Paris was thrown into a great

s tate of ex c itement by the rumour that a form idable

popu lar movement was impending. I happened to

be passing the door of Sobrier’s min is try and went in

to get the news . The yard,the stai rcas es

,every nook

and corner resounded wi th the rattle of rifles sentries

everywhere. As a matter of course,l was going upstairs

when a sentry barred the way. You can ’t pass here.

’

I always pass. ’ ‘What is your business,ci tizen P I

wish to see Monsieur Sobrier.

’ Citizen Sobrier i s en

gaged . That may be, but he wi l l s ee me.

’‘ Your


name, c iti zen? Monsieur Legouvé.

’ I am bound to

admit that I took a k ind offiend ish de l ight in fl inging

broadcast the monsieurs ’ in the sanctuary erected to

the cu l t of the civic virtues. Al l at once the sen try

notices an apparently important personage coming

down the stai rs . ‘ Citi zen ,’

he ye l l s ,‘ here is c it izen

Legouvé who wishes to speak with c i t izen Sobrier.

’

‘

Let him go up .

’ Much ob l iged , monsieur,’ I

answer,and in another moment I find mysel f in a

vast room where I behold Sobrier bending over a big

table , his loins gi rded wi th a crimson sash with a pai r

ofpistol s st ick ing out of i t and rapid ly fi l l i ng i n smal l

bu l let ins which he hands to orderl ies crowd ing

round him .

‘ You are j ust i n t ime,

’

he said when

he caught sigh t ofme.

‘ I want recru i ts,and I ’l l take

y ou.

’

On e moment,

’ I answered,laughing

,

‘ I am

no t s o eas i ly taken as al l that ; before I en l ist , I must

know with whom,fo r whom

,and against whom I am

going to fight. ’ I am going to te l l you .

’ Thereupon ,

al l his bu l let ins having been fi l led in and d istr ibuted ,

he leads me to a window recess and says : ‘ I t is

nothing less than a quest ion of saving Par is from

wholesale massacre and burn ing.

’ ‘ I don ’t understand .

’

‘ There are people who are born scourges ofhuman ity

and Blanqui is o ne. While I am talk ing to you , he

is gathering around h im a hundred thousand madmen

and savages who obey his s l ightest commands in an

hour from now they ’l l start from the Champ de Mars

where they have appointed to meet and march to


the Hotel -de -Vi l le they ’ l l overthrow the government

and butcher everyone who res i sts them , having made

up thei r mind to s et fire to everything in the event of

thei r gett ing the worse.

’ Vas t ly ex aggerated as the

story seemed to me— for in those days we fai led to

conceive the poss ibi l i ty of such monstro us th ings

Sobrier’

s face and tone of voice produced a deep im

press ion .

‘ Oh he ex claimed , clutching his head ,

while the tears stood in his eyes ;‘ Oh , and I who

dreamt of an ange l i c republ ic .

’ Then interrupting

himse l f for a moment,he went on , i n an intensely ex

ci ted,energet ic tone.

‘We must prevent th is at al l

costs,and prevent i t I wi l l . I have promised La

martine.

’ ‘ Lamartine,

’ I repeated ,‘ you saw Lamar

tine ?’ ‘ Yes,he sent for me during the n ight . W e

talked together for nearly an hour : i t ’s al l over, I am

his,body and soul . My dear , Legouvé, what a man ,

what a subl ime republ ican and what a magn ificent

strategistHe himsel f drew up the whole of my planof attack . I am going to mass my men in the streets

adjoin ing the route B lanqui wi l l take, and when his

vanguard and the front ranks of his main body shal l

have passed,I cut h is band in two he shal l find my

two hundred thousand men between himsel f and the

Hotel -de-Vil le,and I defy him to advance.

’

The plan succeeded . The Hote l - de-Vil le was pre

served from destruction,the provis ional government

maintained , the c ity saved , and the day that had

been looked forward to with fear and trembl ing,was


see the profound wisdom of Lamartine , they rai s ed

the cry of treason . The defenders of the party of

moral o rder of that t ime accus ed him of having

from sheer ambition and weakness compounded with

the revolutionaries, from which i t wi l l be seen that

the proverb to the effect that ‘the days succeed o n e

another,but are not l ike o n e another,

’ does not apply

to part ies i n the State. The conduct of Lamartine

was admirable i n that respect,i nasmuch as he foresaw

calumny and announced beforehand the ingrati tude

which wou ld be his lot. On the day he started from

the Ministry of Fore ign Affai rs to repair to the

Assembly in order to show it the necess i ty of e lect

ing M . Ledru-Rol l in,he said aloud :

‘ Do you know

what I am going to do ? I am go ing to save Pari s

and lose my populari ty.

’ And he went . The e lec

t ion over,he left the Chamber

,got into a cab with

o ne of his friends,Comte d ’

Esgrign y ,from whom I

have these particulars,and aftera moment’s s i lence

remarked :‘ My dear fel low

,the end has come . I n

another month,I ’ l l on ly be fi t to fl ing to the dogs . ’

I n the course ofhis ex i stence he has been justly com

pared to very great men indeed,but on that day he

deserved to have his name associated with the name

that remains purest in history,that of Washington .

H is forebod ings proved true ; i n a few days, in

fluen ce , prestige, everything van ished , leaving in the i r

stead,pain

,disappointment

,and bi tterness . The

troublous days of June found h im,as always

,ready to


confront the danger,but they struck him a mortal

blow.He had foreseen them in despai r, and ex

pressed his angu ish in one of those sentences , both

tragic and vulgar,which sprang rather than fe l l from

his l ips l ike a kind ofex plosion . We’l l not get out

ofthis,ex cept by a tremendous

‘sweep ofthe broom in

the blood - stained streets . ’ Al l the subsequent events

were equal ly bi tter , and the presidentia l e lection of

the l oth December (the e lection of Lou is-Napoleon)

fi l led his cup of patriot ic grief to the brim . I t was

n o t the loss of power that broke h is heart, but the

knowledge that his work was be ing destroyed , the

Republ ic overthrown,and l iberty

.

becoming a mean

ingles s phrase ,the s ight of a nation enthusiastical ly

prostrat ing herse l f before the name which had pro

voked his loudest curse . I t seemed as i f the sound

of that name aroused the prophet ic instinct once

more , as i f i t enabled h im to s ee the penalty we should

have to pay o ne day for this fet ichism,and l ike

Brutus o n the plains ofThessaly,he uttered the cry

Of despai r : ‘ These people are unstable as sand . I

ought to have had mysel f k i l led o n the s teps of

Louis -Phi l ippe’s throne.

’

And now I have come to those dark and last years

wh ich were to him but a protracted struggle against

the serv i tude of debt , during which , i t must be

admitted,he often fa i led in d ign i ty— from sheer pride.He was too apt to remember what France owed to

him,and to o apt to fo rget what he owed to himse lf.

2 98 S it ty Years of Recollection s

I wi l l no t stop to d i scuss the subject , remembering

as I do that del ightfu l reply of Saint -Marc Girardin

be fore whom some o n e charged Lamartine with

improvidence and dissipation .

‘ There may be some

t ruth in what you say,but I know many people who

have put the i r names to as many bi l l s and who have

n o t put the i r names to Les Meditatio n s .

” Bes ides ,

we ought not to forget that h is trial s became sancti

fied as i t were by his unremitt ing labour, that the

devotion shown under them invested them with a

poesy of the i r own . Lamartinewas no longer the

Lamartine of o ld,the idea frequently e l uded h is grasp

whi le the pen ,l ike

’

Walter Scott’s , sti l l laboured on ,

l aboured on without ceas ing,to pay what he owed .

Heaven vouchsafed to him an adm irable aux i l iary in

that l abour o n e i nstance wi l l suffice to prove i t.

Lamartine had taken up his quarters for the time

being at Saint - Point . On e even ing o n e of his friends

came to stay with him for a l i ttle whi le.

‘Yours is

indeed an opportune vis it,

’ said the poet. ‘ I have

just put the last touches to a long art icle on Beranger

fo r the S ie’

cle. Here are the proofs,read them

,you

wil l be del ighted , i t i s a magn ificent essay.

’ I n due

t ime the friend goes to his room and to bed,and

begins read ing the proofs . I t had j ust struck mid

night when there was a knock at his door. ‘Who is i t ?’

In order to preserve as,

much as po s s ib le the epigrammatic turn of theremark , I have taken a l i berty w i th the French text which run s

,

‘Mais

je con nais tan t dc gen s 7 1 1 i enfimt an tan t rt qui n on pasfait Les Med i tat ion s .

” — TI! .


correspondence . The end of the story is worthy of

the beginn ing. Nex t morn ing at the breakfast table

Mme. de Lamartine starts interrogating her accom

plice by means of s ignals and looks , and he i n h i s

tu rn and by the same means conveys to her that

the correct ions have been made. We l l , dear friend ,’

says Lamartine,

‘ have y ou read my“ Béranger?

‘ Of course I have.

’ ‘ Magn ificent,i sn

’

t i t . ’ ‘ Mag

n ificen t is the word,s t i l l there are o n e or two pass

ages. ‘ Don ’t ask me to make any changes ;

I ’l l not make any,the th ing is perfect . ’ ‘ No doubt

i t is,s ti l l

,i f you wil l perm it me to show you two

sl ight modificat ions . Saying which , he hands

the corrected proofs to Lamartine, who casts his eyes

over them and ex claims Ex ce l lent,very just indeed .

You are perfectly right . ’ Then turn ing to his wife ,

he says Thes e things would never have struck you ,

my dear. ’ Mme. de Lamartine s imply bent over her

plate and smi led .

This admirable compan ion through good and evi l

days,had to leave the man in whom her l i fe had been

centred to battle with the world . Not quite alone,

though,fo r she had the comfort in leaving him

,to

bequeath,as i t were

,a devotion equal to hers

,a

'

daughter ’s devo t ion,which tenderly watched over the

last sad years,so ful l of angu ish

,of the poet

,which

vigi lantly watches to -day over the poet ’s posthumous

fame. The memory of Lamartine has its Antigone.His obsequies were marked by a pathet ic incident.


His remains were taken to Saint - Point , and left the

rai l at Macon . I t was winter and snowing fast , as

the hearse s lowly wended its way through the smal l

communes and boroughs scattered along the route.

At the entrance to each vi l lage stood the priest wait

ing fo r the coffin to offer up a prayer. The be l l s ofthe

d ifferent churches never ceased to l l i ng,they answered

o ne another,and announced to the more d istant ones

the approach of the funeral process ion . At a short

d istance from Saint - Point an old peasan t stood weep

ing o n his doorstep.

‘ You ' may we l l c ry , my good

man ,

’ said J u les San deau, taking his hands in his

own ,

‘

y ou have sustained a great loss .’ ‘ I ndeed

,

mons ieur,he was an honour to our commune

,

’

was

the answer. The o ld peasant spoke the truth,La

mart ine was an honour to the commune as he was to

the province , to the province as he was to Fran’

ce,to

France as he was to Europe,as he was to humani ty

at large he was an honour to manhood i tsel f.

What I wish to study final ly in Lamartine i s t/ze

man,that is

,o ne of the strangest and most original

be ings the world has produced . One ’s aston ishment

in him never ceased,everything in h im was both in

harmony and in contrast . The aristo crat ic beauty of

the face and the Splend id gai t was marred by a care

lessness ofd ress which became sti l l more conspicuous

by his princely ai r and inborn e legance. Eloquence

ofthe most sta rtl ing and striking kind , the e loquence

of the tribune, ful l of sentences sharply outl ined l ike


medals and powerfu l ideas tran s lated into bri l l iant

language,the whole emphasised by a glass fu l l of

wine he was fo r ever waving over the heads of the

terrified shorthand reporters . A crushing burden of

debt,the ex i stence of which he could not have ex

plained,fo r his wants were few

,almost none he was

as sober and frugal as an Arab . Not a s ingle ex

travagan t taste ; i n the way of lux uries he on ly cared

fo r horses . Not a single vice ; I am mistaken , he had

on e,at any rate

,he boasted of o ne

,but the reason

why he broke himsel f of i t i s s o strange that I give

i t here as the fin ishing touch to his portra i t .“When I was young

,

’

he said,

‘ I was a passionate

gambler,but o n e night at Naples

,I d iscovered an

infal l ible means of breaking the bank . Of course

from that moment , I could not go on playing , I was

sure to win .

’ I have got an idea that that k ind of

gambler is not often met with .

I t has often been s aid that God had endowed him

with almost every bless ing,beauty

,high -birth

,courage

,

genius but s omething more rare than al l those gifts

had been vouchsafed to him,name ly

,the facu lty to

us e them at wi l l . They were ever ready to obey his

cal l . No matter at what hour he was always ready

to speak , write , or act . I f a great danger came upon

him in the middle of the night,when he was wrapped

in sleep , no cry of s urpri s e started from his l ips,he

d isplayed not a moment ’s fear. His hero i sm was

there as he arose , his courage awoke when he did .


distinct ive trait of that admirable be ing , the supreme

seal with which nature had marked him ,the crown

she had set upon al l h is other merits . There was

a name less grandeur about Lamartin e’

s kindness ,

which grandeur,i n fact

,stamped everything he

’

d id .His sympathy n o t only included the whole of

humanity,but every l iving thing created . Like

those saints of the Middle-Ages,who

,i t was said ,

were bound by a mystical affin i ty to the dumb crea

tures and whom legend repres ents to us as surrounded

by animals,accompanying thei r every step

,whi le the

birds flutter overhead,Lamartine seemed to keep up

a mysterious connect ion with the lower creation .Hehas painted i t in words and images more te l l ing even

than the l ines of Virgi l and Homer. So great was

the sympathet ic power of his voice,look and m ien

that he seemed able to command by some name

less magnetic attraction the crowd of an imals l iving

under his roof,to keep them around him

,the i r eyes

fix ed on his . Thos e dogs,bi rds

,horses were not so

many objects of amusement to Lamartine as they

are to people with nothing special to do .He lookedupon them as comrades

,nay

,as he said himsel f

,as

brothers .He i nterrogated,answered them

,for he

seemed to unders tand them . There was a constant

communication , nay, communio n between that superior

sou l and those ‘ mere germs of s o uls . ’ I can s ee him

as i t were but yesterday lying o n the couch and con

versing on very serio us s ubjects with two broken -haired


terriers squatted at his feet,whi le a smal l greyhound

was perched o n his head ; the latter pretty an imal

ex ecuting such sundry gracefu l evolutions now and

then that I cou ld n o t help ex press ing my admirat ion .

Look at her,

’ said Lamartine,without turn ing round ,

She i s l i sten ing,she knows we are ta lk ing of her, She

i s such a l i tt le coquette

There are,however

,numberless people whose ex

ceeding great love for an imals leaves them none to

bestow upon men . Lamartine d id n o t be long to

these,his humani ty even ex tended to human be i ngs .

His pity fo r,his generosi ty to

,those who suffered was

boundless and inex haust ible,and on e day when o ne

of his friends reproached him with some instance of

ex travagant chari ty , he repl ied ,‘ You ’ l l n o t enter

into the parad ise of the good, y ou are n ot too

No o ne could have leve l led that reproach at him ; I

leave the reader to j udge for himse l f.

A poor young poet,of the name ofArmand Le

bai l ly,whom I knew

,was slowly dying ofconsumption

at the Saint-Louis hospi tal . I induced Lamartine to

pay him a vis i t,feel ing certa in that his vis i t wou ld do

the dying man more good than the vis i ts of hal f-a

hundred doctors . The moment we crossed the

Sainte-Catherine ward , .I caught s ight of the poor

young fel low at the far end of the room .He wass i tt ing near the stove ,

his el bows o n the table, and

his hands clutching his head , the l ong ha i r o n wh ich

almost hid his face. At the sound of our steps heVOL. 1 1 U


looks up with a wi ld terrified stare, but the moment

he recognises my compan ion,stupefaction , j oy ,

pride ,sympathy

,al l s truggle for the mastery in his

features . ! uivering l ike an aspen leaf, he ri ses ,

comes towards us and has bare ly the strength to

bend reverently over the hand the great poet holds

out to him and to touch i t with his l ips . Lamartin e’

s

conversation was S imply a mix ture of a father’s

kindness and a poet ’s goodness .He spoke to Lebai l ly of his verses , he even repeated some of them

,

n o S ister of Chari ty could have been more admir

able and considerate . I n about a quarter- of-an

hour we got up and see ing that the patient

wished to accompany him as far as the door,

Lamartine said,

‘ Take my arm and don ’t mind

lean ing on it. ’ I n that way we crossed that long

room between the two rows of i ts inmates,some

standing at the foot of thei r beds,others too weak to

get offthe i r chai rs , others again rais ing themse lves in

the i r beds , but al l taking off the i r caps as we passed .

The name of the i l lustrious vis itor had transpired,

and had , as i t were, thrown the whole of the ho sp ital

into a state of ex c itement. Lebailly’

s eyes flashed

with pride as he looked to the right and left ; they

said as p lain ly as words : ‘ This is my friend,I take

his arm .

’

The poor fe l l ow laughed and wept at the

same t ime ; he had ceased to s uffer for the time being.

When we got back to his carriage,Lamartine said

‘ This poor young fel low is no doubt very i l l,but he

308 S it ty Years of Recollection s

he has ever taken his standpoin t o n a more lofty leve l

than that of the world because he has been a great

poet , trying to put his precepts into practice. There

is a talk of erecting a monument to h im ; i f so , let

those responsible fo r the idea remember what the

ancients did . They crowded the i r forums with al tars

dedicated to youth , beauty, and valou r. Let them

raise a column ded icated to poesy,and place atop of

i t the statue ofLamartine . That i s his rightfu l place.

Right at the summit,looking up at the heavens

,and

commanding the ci ty of which he has been the glory

and the salvation . Let i t be a statue which,l ike the

God of Day , shal l uphold a golden lyre with both

The projected monumen t took the shape of a n iggard ly bus t,

relegated to Pas sy, on e of the suburbs of Par is — TR .

CHAPTER X

The Portra i t-Ga l lery con t inued .

— Be’ ranger.— My firs t meet ing w i th h im.His pos i t ion in the World of Letters .—His mora l courage —The

Atheism of the XVI I l th cen tury and ours . —Be' ranger’s Rel igiousSen t imen ts —His adm i rat ion for the L i terature of Greece.

—Hisi nfluence over Great Men .

—Whence i t s prang —His W i t .—Hislove of poor peop le and of young peop le —Three Letters .

I

IT would be sheer ingrati tude on my part n o t to

devote some Space to Beranger among the masters

of l i terature of my younger days . Though we were

never o n very i nt imate terms , his i nfluence over me

was very real . Three letters of his placed -at the end

of th i s chapter wi l l show him in o ne of his most

characteris t ic and least known sides ; name ly , as a

l i terary adv is er.

I t was i n the salon of M . de Jouy that I met

Beranger for the firs t t ime.His pos i t ion in that

gathering was a prom inent one.His talent com

mended adm i ration ; his independent j udgment, co n

s iderat ion , and his sati r ical tendency ,fear.He bold ly

sat i r ised the famous pet i tion addres sed to Charles X to

debar the Comed ic-Frangaise from p laying the plays of


the romanticists , and this in the face of the s ignatures to

that pet i tion,for the re was n o t a s ingle o ne wanting,

no t even that of his host .He had the courage to

take up the cudge ls for Victor Hugo in that gather

ing,to place the Iphigenia of Eurip ides above that

ofRacine,he even dared to speak of God . I n those

days a good ly number of class ic ists were frankly

athe isti c . Let me ex pla in . I do not mean the kind

of dogmatic,democratic

,pedantic athe i s m from

which has sprung that in to lerance of incredul ity

which would glad ly condemn to the stake tho s e ‘who

attend mass,j ust as in olden times they burned those

who d id not go to mass,not the athei sm that drew

from the brooding,savage Mallefille the

‘ Don ’t talk

to me ofGod,i t i s the despot of Heaven .

’ No , the

athei sm of the l iberals of the Restorat ion savoured of

the l ight bantering tone of that of the eighteenth

centu ry ; i t was witty , good - natured,laughter- loving.

I remember Lemerc ier replying to someone who

spoke to him about the sou l . ‘Yes

,I know

,the sou l

that leaves the body when we die. You remind me

of chi ldren who when they s ee a watch drop on the

floor and find out that i t has stopped,ex claim in a

contrite voice :“ Oh

,the l i ttle th ing is dead .

” We l l,

i t was amidst that sceptical society,at o n e of M . de

Jouy’

s Thursday d inners that Beranger,pressed to

sing a n ew song, bold ly intoned Le Dieu des Bonnes

Gens .

’ At the sound of that fi rs t l i ne

‘ I l es t n u D ieu,devan t l u i je m’in cline ;

’

3 1 2 S ix ty Years of Recollection

Sous Pericles , j ’eus Athenes pour mere ;Je v is i ta i Socrate en pr i son 1De Ph id ias j’encen sai les mervei l les ,De l

’

llis sus j ’a i vu les bords fleurir,J ’a i sur I’Hymete évei l lé les abei l lesC ’

es t la,c ’es t la, que je voudra i s mourir

Fed ,as i t were

,upon Homer

,Euripides , Sophocles ,

nay P lato,he conce ived the plan after h is fi rst

success,to ra ise the leve l of the song , to enlarge i ts

scope .He considered the t i t le of ‘Successor to

D ésaugiers’ a m i ld kind of glory ; he aspi red to

something better than to make Venus rhyme to

Bacchus .He wished to move his hearers , to makethem think

,to put grand poetry into smal l couplets

and introduce into the burden of h is songs not on ly

pol i tics,but lofty quest ions of phi losophy and eth ics .

‘Le Dieu des bonnes gens ’ was his fi rst attempt in

that d irection and as he often told me afterwards , he

quaked more or less when s ubmitting his work to that

d istinguished and s coffing gathering . The succes s

was s imply immense.He had been clever enough to

mingle with that confession of faith so many beauti

fu l l ines, s o much patriotism,so much grandeur of

imagery and n ow and then so much wit that they

condoned the bel ief fo r the sake of the talent. His

thi rd strophe aroused the enthusiasm of everyone.

Un conquéran t,dan s sa fortune al t iere

,

Se fi t umjeu des sceptres et des l o i sEt de s es pas on peut vo i r l a pous s iereEmprein te en cor s ur le bandeau des ro i s

There and then the song writer was voted not on ly


a great poet, but a great lyri c poet .His preponderance i n the l i terary world was s ingu larly increased by

this .

I t i s d ifficu l t to get a correct idea nowadays of

the part played by Beranger at that period .He wasvi rtual ly the counse l lor of the men ofhis t ime and n o

one wie lded a greater influence over his con tempor

aries . And y et, he by n o means aflected to possess

such influence,nay

,more ,

he i n n o way courted

i t. Very sober i n speech , more sober in gestures, he

waited unt i l people came to him,but whi le waiting

,

be attracted . The most prominent men of that t ime,

Manue l,Benjam in Constant, Laffitte , Thiers , con

sulted Beranger in everything they d id . At the

revolution of J uly ( 1 830) Tal leyrand ex pres sed the

des i re to meet Beranger. But thei r re lat ion to o ne

another was that of two great powers they were l ike

two sovere igns whose d ign i ty prevents them from

making the fi rst cal l . Beranger wou ld not go to the

mansion in the Rue St Florentin whe re the Restor

ation had been hatched M . de Tal leyrand could n o t

very wel l mount the five fl ights of stai rs leading to

Beranger’s dom ic i le. They confined themse lves to

talk ing to on e another through intermed iaries,there

was,i n fact

,an interchange ofd iplomatic notes .

Later o n,Beranger commanded the friendsh ip of

three of the greatest inte l lects of the n ineteenth

century , Chateaubriand , Lamartine and Lamcn nais .He knew and recogn ised that the i r gen ius was


superior to his own,and y et al l three submitted , as

i t were to his domin ion,al l three made him the i r

confidant,the i r counse l lor

,the i r arbiter

,the i r inter

med ia ry in the most cri t ica l c i rcumstances of the i r

l ives . I t was to h im that Lamartine imparted his

dreams of financial specu lat ion , Chateaubriand his

never- ending complaints of money worries, Lamen

nais the misgivings of his conscience. Heaven alone

knows how many days he spent in lett ing in some

l ight upon the darkness of Lamartin e’

s affai rs . As

for Chateaubriand ’s,Beranger used to sum up the

s ituat ion in his jocu lar way :‘What

’

s the good of

talk ing ? I t isn ’t the poor fe l low’s fau l t ; he has

never been able to do wi thout a servant to help him

to put on his breeches .

’ With . regard to Lamen n ais,

Beranger d id al l he could to prevent h im from fling

i ng away his priest ly gown .

‘Remain a priest

,

’

he

kept o n saying :‘ remain a priest

,you haven ’t the

right to cease be ing a priest . Part of your honour

is at stake. I n your case,leaving the Church does

n o t mean abdicat ion , i t means desertion .

’ Lamen

nais refused to be gu ided by him on that poin t,but

l ike Beranger’s other two friends,continued to re

cogn ise the value of and to accept his advice i n

everything el se.

I I

Whence came this s ingular influence on the part of

a mere wri ter of songs ? I t sprang from three th ings :

fi rst from his innate kindness . I never met with a kinder


was n o t only the best he could give but the best

that cou ld be given to y ou. No o ne had the gift to

an equal degree of adapting the advice to the in

telligen ce, character, posit ion and resources of the

recipient . Final ly there was the th i rd cause of h is

great influence . That sound sen se always assumed

a pungent form and often a deeply phi losophical .

I t never ceased to be sound sense and there was

always an inte l lectual flavour about i t. His co nver

sat ion was not on ly charm ing but fru i tfu l i n suggest

ing ideas. I t was de l ightfu l to look back upon . Not

once but a hundred times d id I d iscover that this or

that idea,s imply enunciated by Beranger in the

course of a conversation and the j usti ce of which

had struck me at the t ime,gradual ly got hold of my

mind,developed and grew there, unti l i t final ly bore

unex pected fru it. I t was l i ke a l iving germ deposited

within my mind .

Beranger has been twitted sometimes with carefu l ly

preparing his epigrams,with pol ishing them before

hand and with repeating them after having us ed them

once . Admitt ing the truth of this the harm would

n o t be great , they were assured ly worth repeating.

When Alfred de Muss et sent him his first poems,he

said : ‘You have got magnificent horses in your

stables , but you do n o t know how to drive them .

’

Then he added cheerful ly Never mind,you ’ l l know

o ne day ; unfortunate ly, i t frequently happens that by

the t ime o ne does know,the horses are dead .

’He


was equal ly p la in spoken with Lamart ine who never

resented i t . One day , whi le talk ing to him about‘ Jocelyn

’ for which he had an in tense admiration ,

he remarked .

‘What a splend id poem ,my dear friend

,

a poem ful l of gen ius of deep fee l ing’

and imagin

ation . But why the deuce d id you put those two o r

three hundred l ines i n which must have been written

by you r conc ierge ?’ Lamartine burst out laughing

and repl ied as frankly :‘ Because

,my dear friend

,I

am suffering from the serious defect of n o t be ing able

to correct . ’ Lamart ine was right , o ne of the last

ed it ions ofhis con tains Varian ts which are s imply so

many blots ; whenever Lamartine changes an in

d ifferent l ine,he puts a worse i n i ts stead .

Beranger was n o t equal ly successfu l in his part of

poet ica l advi ser to Victor Hugo .He i ntense lyadmi red Hugo ’s lyrica l poems , but was by n o means

enthus iast ic about ‘

Le Ro i He was afraidOf Victor Hugo ’s gen ius m istaking i ts d i rection

,and

cal led his imag inat ion to his aid in order to point

th is out.He conceived the idea of assuming the

name ofT riboulet h imself. Pray,s i re

,

’

he wrote,

‘ do

g ive your fool leave to tug at your cloak and to tel l

y ou in a whisper what people dare not say to y ou

aloud .

’ And under that cover of the foo l ’s cap and

bauble,he sent the poet some very subtle , j ust and

pointed , though withal measured crit ic isms . Victor

Hugo read them,sm i led and remarked in a sat i rica l

The original o f ‘ The Foo l’

s Revenge and ‘ R igo letto .

'—TR.


way .

‘ I see very wel l what Beranger i s driving at

with thi s letter.He certai n ly thought i t very bri l l iantand does not wish i t to be lost to pos terity

,so he

said to himse l f : “ At Victor Hugo ’s death,al l his

papers wi l l be publ ished and my letter amongst them .

”

But I ’ l l upset h is plan and wi l l burn the epistle .

’ To

which Beranger repl ied jocu larly :‘ I f ever I fee l

i nc l ined to address something to posteri ty,I Shal l

certain ly not se lect Victor Hugo as the carrier. ’ Let

me hasten to add that Beranger was as ready to hear

the truth as to utter i t . On e of his friends somewhat

impatient at hearing him adopt about himse l f an

humble tone which was not absolute ly free from

affectation , objected to it.‘ Look here

,my dear

Beranger,why not have done with al l th i s modesty

,

which cannot be al together s incere. After al l,you

know wel l enough that you are very talented .

’ For a

moment Beranger sat surprised at thi s home thrust

and remained si lent , then answered :‘We l l

, y es ;

when I look around me,when I read what i s be ing

written nowadays,I come to the conclusion that I

am not devoid of talent but my dear friend,when I

begin to th ink of Corne i l le, Mol iere, La Fontaine and

other great men, a s incere and profound spi ri t of

humil i ty comes over me. Modesty,after al l

,is on ly

the spiri t of comparison .

’ This i s but on e of the

sensible and jud ic ious remarks that fel l constantly

from his l ips . I n defining modes ty,he at the same

t ime defined pride ; for i f modesty can o nly be


them to cal l upon him . The prize awarded to me by

the Académie-Francais e for my poem brought me a

letter from his pen .He wrote to me from ‘ La

Force,

’ where he was undergoing a month’

s imprison

ment,and after having conveyed his gratulations

in the most flattering and sympathetic terms, he

i nvited me to go and s ee him . I t i s scarce ly credible

but I ne i ther went to s ee him nor repl ied to h i s letter.

Why,oh

,why ? Becaus e I was too tim id , because I

fe l t a kind of false shame . Young people often suffer

from those unaccountable scruples . I n those days

my admiration for great men was so intense that

more than once I went as far as thei r door without

having the courage to ring the be l l . I remember that

every now and then whi le talk ing to M . Lemercier,

I suddenly stopped in the midd le of a sentence,

saying to mysel f : ‘What ’s the use of tel l ing him .He knows every word of what I am going to say tohim . I t was absurd

,but at that time I was ignorant

ofthe fact that youth in itse l f possesses such a charm

as to convert i ts awkwardness into gracefulness and

that people take an affectionate de l ight in watch ing

young people ’s confusion .

As soon as Beranger came out of prison,I wrote

him a letter,ex pressing my regret and apologis ing

fo r my neglect which brought me the fol lowing reply.

I transcribe i t in ex tem o and without ex punging the

flattering remarks , because they testi fy to his loving

sympathy with young beginners .

S ix ty Years of Recollection s 3 2 r

‘MONS I EUR,— M . de jouy had indeed apprised me of

your intend ing vis i t to La Force, and I fel t proud to

think that a brow with the laurel s fresh upon it would

s t00p beneath the pr ison gates in order to come and

see me. I am glad that our fr iend told y ou ofmy

disappointment,seeing that to -day I am indebted to

i t fo r a proof ofyour apprec iat ion , which , be l ieve me,

affects me very much. I read the verses to which

y ou owe your pub l i c success,long ago ,

and the poem

contains someth ing even more precious than beauti

fu l verses ; the fee l ings which pervade the whole at

test a lofty soul,and I cannot but rej oice

,monsieur ,

to find that everything in y ou foreshadows the

worthy bearer of an al ready i l lustrious name. I t

on ly makes me more anx ious to become acquainted

with y ou. I f I knew the ex act day y ou in tended

cal l ing,I wou ld make i t a point of remain ing at

home to wel come y ou,fo r ex cept on Tl mrsa

’ay s I am

nearly always runn ing about on bus iness,which

makes me afra id ofmiss ing your prom ised vis i t un

les s y ou would be good enough to appoint the day .

But,afte r a l l

,monsieur, I have o ne other resource

left,namely

,to cal l upon y ou,

in order to ex press my

s incere and cord ial feel i ngs,and the interest which I

feel towards y ou.

Your very humble se rvant,

‘ BERANGERJ

October 30, 1 82 9.

VOL. I I .


Here is his second letter. I had publ ished a

volume of poems under the t i tle of ‘Les Morts

Bizarres ’ and sent h im a copy , asking him at the

same t ime fo r his advice. I t was his answer to my

request .

‘ MONS IEUR ,— The most sk i l fu l way of getting

praised by the majori ty of men ,and above al l , by

those who are advanced in years , i s to ask the i r advice.

I am perfectly certain , though , that no such in ten

tion prompted your request for my advice. I f I cou ld

harbour such an idea for a moment , the candour with

which every one of your l ines is stamped would be

the most effectual appeal against such a suspicion ;

hence,monsieur

,s ince you have appealed to my

candour,my praise wi l l be somewhat stinted .

‘ I l ike the elegy to the memory of your father

ex ceedingly ; the sentiment by which i t i s inspired

throughout makes i t touching from the first l ine to

the last . I should regret i ts greater perfection ,

because a more correct style and a more concise

form would hamper the ex press ions of your heart

and contrast painfu l ly with them .

‘ But it seems to me that the subsequent pieces,

with the ex ception,however

,of the fragment on

Maria Lucrez ia,

”which I ex cept because i t i s fu l l of

fee l ing l ike the elegy,would have required more

carefu l workmanship,a less “ happy-

go- lucky” phrase

ology , a greater firmness of vers ificatio n and often a


laughing at i t mysel f, though i t wi l l not prevent me

from treating the second head ing of my sermon .

La Mort de Charles - ! u int ,” monsieur, contains

some very noble passages , and the drama seems to

me as complete as the framework would al low.

Nevertheless , I prefer to i t“Phalere

” which is

founded upon a powerfu l and true idea , rendered

very happi ly. As fo r “ Pompei , some passages struck

me as very in ferior, but others gave me the impres

sion ofunquestionable meri t, such as for instance that

of“The S lave ” and that of “ The Last Love Couple.

”

The latter have reconci led me to the unsatisfactory

tone ofthe poem as a whole. I f I am to sum up my

impression,mons ieur

,I wi l l frankly tel l you that

throughout the volume there i s ample proof of real

talent,of i nspi red talent , but which lacks a deter

mined purpose. You appear,up t i l l now,

not to

have asked yoursel f in what way to uti l ise the happy

gifts accorded to you by nature,and pending the

revel ation in that respect by your own vocation,you

are begu i l ing the time with pre ludes on a lyre,the

whole resources ofwhich you are al ready fu l ly able

to appreciate.

‘ Yes,monsieur

,I trust that

,encouraged by the

memory of a father s o j ustly regretted,you may add

to the‘

glory of the reputation he has bequeathed to

y ou. As far as I am able to judge,you have on ly

to work and to persevere i n order to accompl ish

this.

S ixty Years of Recollections 32 5

‘ Pray ex cuse the length of this letter and my

frankness which is perhaps somewhat too great. At

the age of twenty I had the pleasure of com ing in

contact twice with the author of “ Le Méri te des

Femmes .

” As a matter of course we tal ked about

poetry he was kind enough to give me some sterl ing

advice which I have n o t forgotten . My letter,I trust

,

wi l l prove to y ou that I am n o t ungratefu l . I on ly

regret my inabi l i ty to d ischarge my debt more

worthi ly. But I cannot he lp repeating : what induced

y ou to apply for l i terary adv ice to a song writer who

does n o t even know Latin?

Pray,accept

,mon s ieur

,the assurance of my great

esteem and my sincere devotion .

‘ BERANGER .

‘ Marclz 1 0,

This is a curious letter in more than one respect.

To begin with , i t shows the uncommon candour of

Beranger, his great facul ty of j udgment and at the

same t ime a pecul iar trai t of his character. Like

most peop le fond ofbantering others , he stood greatly

in fear of be ing bantered l ike most clever people he

s tood greatly i n fear ofbe ing selected as the vict im of

o ther peop le’s c leverness or even of expos ing himse l f

to the suspicion of be ing made such a victim .He isalways on his guard agains t s uch a poss ib i l i ty. I

have no t hes i tated for a moment to po int out th is

weaknes s , see ing that i t d im in ishes in no way his


innate sentiments of j ust ice , goodness and moral

force.

Les Morts Bizarres met with but a meagre success

and I fel t greatly d iscouraged . For a l i ttle while I

made up my mind to abandon poetry and to go to

the bar ; fo r a l i ttle whi le only. Nevertheless , I fe l t

in a state of painfu l uncertainty. I real ly did not

know which road to choose. My prize poem had no

doubt put my foot in the st i rrup,but several roads

were o pen to me and I d id not know which to choose.

I had reached that painfu l period when a young

fel low is fee l ing in h is way. I made up my mind to

consul t Beranger. Here i s his reply

Have y ou an idea, monsieur, of the awkward , nay,

the fearful predicament you place me in by honouring

me with your co nfidence ? Are you aware that y ou

are virtual ly asking me to preside at your l i terary '

ex i stence ? No doubt, this i s a great proof of your

esteem,and I cannot but fee l greatly impressed by it,

but unfortunately this i s not sufficient for me to accept

a mentorship of that nature. I n your letter you

stand sel f- accused of not having been to s ee me

sufficiently often ; we l l , monsieur, th is confess ion on

your part ex plains my hesi tat ion to reply to your

letter,amiable as i t i s i n that respect. How

,i n fact ,

can o ne lay down a rule of conduct for a man whom

o ne has n o t had the opportun ity and time to s tudy.

Your reply wi l l be that I have read your d i fferent


t ry to find out whether there does not ex i st within

yoursel f some creed of human ity or patriot ism on

which y ou may hang your efforts and your thoughts.

You have a kind heart , a generous and l iberal m ind

as y et, the world cannot have succeeded in spoi l ing

them by its fiatteries , i t cannot have removed all

feel ing of sympathy for your fe l low creatures . We l l ,

that sentiment,i f properly consul ted

,wi l l prove a

safer guide i n your stud ies and your work than

anything the most learned men can te l l you ; such

a sentiment has sufficed to make of me,weakl ing as

.I am,someth ing ; something very fragi le, no doubt ,

but after al l , something .

My language , monsieur, wil l no doubt surprise you ,

i t is s o utterly un l ike anything you are i n the habit of

hearing in your own s et,but bel ieve me

,I am on ly

trying to ex plain the principles that have guided

my conduct s ince I attained the age of d iscrim ina

tion that hour struck very early for me,for at fifteen

I was obl iged to assume the duties of a man and to

look to my own education . To those who wou ld

oppose the ex ample of a great poet to that of an

humble songster and who wou ld tel l you that Byron

had no faith,I would say that Byron

,the representa

t ive of an aristocratic state of things,which is fast

tumbl ing to pieces and disappearing,could only have

had negat ive bel iefs . But they were,after al l

,bel iefs

,

and there can be no doubt that h is were,i n a certain

sense, as strong as his genius was magn ificent. Be


l ieving, as he must have done, that the aristocracy was

the flower of humankind and see ing i t blasted o n al l

s ides , he cou ld no t but curse and reach that state

ofmisan th ropy,furious and i ron ical in turns

,which

has been s o id iotical ly aped in France. But what

is misanthropy after al l ? S imply a d isappointed

i l l - requ ited love passion .

At your age the love passion is attended by hap

pier results ; your heart i s in the fu l l flush ofyouth ,

let i ts concern be for others as wel l as fo r yourse l f ;

ex tend the scope ofyour investigat ions , and above

al l do no t be misled by the ficti tious surroundings

amidst wh i ch happy c i rcumstances have placed y ou.

Your m ind and heart wi l l soon find food for your

meditations,and o ne day when y ou least ex pect i t

the i r d i rection w i l l be revealed to y ou. Nature has

mapped out the use fo r every facul ty she bestows , we

have only to go o n look ing fo r i t long enough .

Learn , see ing that y ou are fi t to learn ; meditate,

seeing that y ou can command lei su re to med itate ;

but,above al l

,let your concern be more fo r others

than for yourself.‘ I feel that al l th is seni le dr ive l , wi l l appear very

vague, nay , rid iculous to y ou ; pray do n o t mind

tel l i ng me s o ; y ou as ked me for advice, and I im

parted my secret to y ou, i t was the best way to show

y ou that trus t begets trus t . I s incerely hope that

y ou wil l look upon th is letter as a proof of friendsh ip

and es teem . I w ish y ou to be l ieve in those my

3'


fee l ings fo r y ou and to consider me at your d i sposal

whenever y ou may want me. I t wi l l never be too

often . W’ i th al l my heart

,yours

,

‘BERANGERJ

I consider i t wisest not to add anyth ing to this

letter. I ts publ icat ion i s prompted by a deep fee l ing

ofgrati tude and by the hope that i t may prove as

usefu l as i t has proved to me,for this letter has o ften

stood me i nstead of

Ofal l the portrai ts i n thi s ‘ Gal lery ’ there is not on e s o s trik ing ly‘ l ike ’

as that of Beranger . What is perhaps more cur ious s t i l l w i thregard to his l i terary influence is

,that after many years it remain s w i th

the educated c las ses . I t is no uncommon th ing to heat peop le in the

bes t s oc iety c lamour for a s ong of Beranger. There n ever was a so i réeat M . Thiers ’ in which his fr iend

,Mign et a great profes s or, d id not get

up and rec i te o ne.

— TR .

THE END

Eden , Remington 8c Co’

s New Books

ATALL LIBRARIES, B OOK SELLERS AND B OOK STALLS

THE REM I N I SCEN CE S OF A M I D SHI PMAN ’

S LI FE,from 1 850-1 856 . By Captain

CECIL SLOANE-STANLEY,R N . 2 vols

,2 55.

The Daily Te legraph say s A m id sh i pman ’s ex i s tence s ome fortyor fifty years ago had a picturesque var iety . I f a cadet , at presen t undergo ing a somewhat laborious tra in ing in the Br i tann ia

,w i shes to as sure him

sel f oi the fact,he can hard ly do better than take up the v iv id records

which,w i th the t i tle of Remin is cences of a M idsh ipman

,1 850 have

j us t been publ i shed .

’

By the Author of ‘ The K reutz er Son ata .

’ Pr ice 3d ; pos t free 4d .

THE ARCHB I SHOP AN D THE THREE OLD

M EN . By COUNT LEo TOLSTO I . Trans lated fromthe Rus s ian by Ro samond Venn ing.

The Daily C h ron icle s ay s cur ious l i tt le al legory by Coun tTol sto i . The moral of the l i ttle tale is not far to seek .

’

Z OHRAH: A Story of the Sahara . By ISABEL DON .

Crown 65.

TheW es tmin s ter Review say s I s a wel l-wr i tten ta le,picturesque,

ful l of loca l colour,and l igh t in touch and

,though s lender, its good and

careful fin i sh,deftnes s of hand l ing

,and sound workman shi p show that the

wri ter has ga ined that command over her pen which is the firs t requ i s i te ofsucces s ful authorsh ip . The figure of the Arab woman , Z ohrah , is drawnw i th sympathy

,and the s l igh t y et suffic i t plot is worked out w i th much

del icacy .

’

PR I CK LY PEAR BLOSSOM S . Poems by W .H.C. NATION. Crown clot/z

, 53 . firs t out

A TALE THAT I S TOLD . By ED ITHESCOMBE .

Author of Bits I Remember . ’ Crown clot/9,1 5 6d .

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