Honore de Balzac, His Life and Writings - Mary F. Sandars
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In February, 1848, it was absolutely necessary that Balzac should go
to Paris, as money must at once be found, to meet the calls which the
ill-fated Chemin de Fer du Nord was making on its shareholders. Balzac
suffered terribly from cold on the journey, and arrived at the Rue
Fortunee at a most unfortunate time, just before the Revolution of
February, 1848.
In consequence of the disturbed state of the political atmosphere, the
outlook for literature was tragic; and Balzac, who was in immediate
want of money, found himself in terrible straits. Living with two
servants in his luxurious little house, surrounded by works of art
which had cost thousands of francs, he was almost dying of hunger. His
food consisted of boiled beef, which was cooked and eaten hot once a
week, and the remaining six days he subsisted on the cold remains. It
seemed impossible to raise money for his present pressing necessities.
He managed to sell "L'Initie,"[*] at a ridiculously small price, to an
ephemeral journal called _Le Spectateur Republicain_, but only
received in return bills at a long date, and it was doubtful whether
he was ever paid the money due to him.
[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
Lovenjoul.
Nevertheless, whatever effects his privations may have had on his
health, they did not subdue his spirits, as both Lemer and
Champfleury,[*] who each spent several hours with him in the Rue
Fortunee, talk of his undiminished vivacity, his hearty fits of
laughter, and his confident plans for the future. Lemer, who had known
him before, does indeed remark that he seemed much aged; but
Champfleury, who saw him for the first time, is only struck with his
strength, animal spirits, and keen intelligence. In the midst of the
despondent unhealthy tendencies of the literary talent of his day, he
was still, with his _joie de vivre_, a man apart. _Naif_, full of a
charming pride, he loved literature "as the Arab loves the wild horse
he has found a difficulty in subduing." Nevertheless, material
prosperity, as ever, occupied an important place in the foreground of
his scheme of life, and his mind was still running on the theatre, as
the great means of gaining money. He warned Champfleury not to follow
his example, which led after the production of many books to an
existence of deplorable poverty, but to write only three novels a
year, so that ten months annually should be left for making a fortune
by working for the theatre, "car il faut que l'artiste mene une vie
splendide."[+]
[*] "Balzac, sa Vie, son Oeuvre," by Julien Lemer.
[+] "Grandes Figures d'Hier et d'Aujourd'hui," by Champfleury.
Schemes still coursed each other through his quick-moving brain. He
wished to create an association of all the great dramatists of the
day, who should enrich the French stage with plays composed in common.
He was rather despondent about this, however, as he said that most
writers were cowardly and idle, and he as afraid they would therefore
refuse to join his society. Scribe was the only one who would work;
"Mais quelle litterature que 'Les Memoires d'un Colonel de Hussards!'"
he exclaimed in horror.[*] Another plan for becoming colossally rich
of which he talked seriously, was to gain a monopoly of all the arts,
and to act as auctioneer to Europe: to buy the Apollo Belvedere, for
instance, let all the nations compete for it against each other, and
then to sell to the highest bidder.
[*] "Notes Historiques sur M. de Balzac," by Champfleury.
He took a gloomy view of the political situation, because, though he
had a great admiration for Lamartine, he feared that the poet would
not have sufficient strength of mind, to take advantage of the great
majority he would doubtless have in the next Assemblee Constituante,
and to make himself the chief of a strong government, when he might
justify his magnificent _role_, by presiding at the accomplishment of
the great social and administrative reforms, demanded by justice, and
material, moral, and intellectual progress. In one of his remarks was
a touch of sadness. He told Lemer that, at the present crisis, all
authors should sacrifice their writing for a time, and throw
themselves with energy into politics. "Et pour cela il faut etre
jeune," he added with a sigh; "et moi, je suis vieux!"
However, on March 18th, 1848, a letter written by him appeared in the
_Constitutionnel_, in which he stated that he would stand as deputy if
requested to do so.[*] In consequence, the "Club de la Fraternite
Universelle" wrote to inform him that his name had been put on the
list of candidates for election, and invited him to explain his
political views at a meeting of the Club. In the _Constitutionnel_ of
April 19th Balzac answered this request by refusing to go to the
meeting, and at the same time announced that he had no intention of
canvassing, and wished to owe his election solely to votes not asked
for, but given voluntarily. He further commented on the fact that from
1789 to 1848 France had changed its constitution every fifteen years,
and asked if it were not time, "for the honour of our country, to
find, to found, a form, an empire, a durable government; so that our
prosperity, our commerce, our arts, which are the life of our
commerce, the credit, the glory, in short, all the fortune of France,
shall not be periodically jeopardised?"
[*] "Honore de Balzac," by Edmond Bire.
Naturally, these uncompromising views did not meet with favour from
the "citoyens membres du Club de la Fraternite Universelle," and
Balzac was not elected a member of the Assemblee Nationale.
CHAPTER XV
1848 - 1849
Description of interior of house in the Rue Fortunee--"La Maratre"
--Projected plays--"Le Faiseur"--Balzac seeks admission for the
last time to the Academie Francaise--He returns to Wierzchownia
--Failing health--Letters to his family--Family relations are
strained.
During his stay in Paris, which lasted from February till the end of
September, Balzac was careful not to admit any strangers to the
mysterious little house in the Rue Fortunee. Even his trusted friends
were only shown the magnificence of his residence with strict
injunctions about secrecy, so afraid was he that the news of his
supposed riches should reach the ears of his creditors. He was only
the humble custodian, he said, of all these treasures. Nothing
belonged to him; he was poorer than ever, and was only taking charge
of the house for a friend. This was difficult to believe, and his
acquaintances, who had always been sceptical about his debts, laughed,
and said to his delight, yet annoyance, that he was in reality a
millionaire, and that he kept his fortune in old stockings.
Theophile Gautier, after remarking how difficult it was to gain an
entrance to this carefully-guarded abode, describes it thus: "He
received us, however, one day, and we were able to see a dining-room
panelled in old oak, with a table, mantelpiece, buffets, sideboards,
and chairs in carved wood, which would have made a Berruguete, a
Cornejo Duque, or a Verbruggen envious; a drawing-room hung with
gold-coloured damask, with doors, cornices, plinths, and embrasures
of ebony; a library ranged in cupboards inlaid with tortoiseshell
and copper in the style of Buhl; a bathroom in yellow breccia, with
bas-reliefs in stucco; a domed boudoir, the ancient paintings of which
had been restored by Edmond Hedouin; and a gallery lighted from the top,
which we recognised later in the collection of 'Cousin Pons.' On the
shelves were all sorts of curiosities--Saxony and Sevres porcelain,
sea-green horns with cracked glazing; and on the staircase which was
covered with carpet, were great china vases, and a magnificent lantern
suspended by a cable of red silk."[*]
[*] "Portraits Contemporains: Honore de Balzac," by Theophile Gautier.
The gallery, the holy of holies of this temple of Art, where the
treasures laboriously collected and long concealed, were at last
assembled, is described exactly in "Le Cousin Pons." It was a large
oblong room, lighted from the top, the walls painted in white and
gold, but "the white yellowed, the gold reddened by time, gave
harmonious tones which did not spoil the effect of the canvases."[*]
[*] "Le Cousin Pons," by Honore de Balzac.
There were fourteen statues in this gallery mounted on Buhl pedestals,
and all round the walls were richly decorated ebony buffets containing
_objets d'art_, while in the centre stood carved wooden cases, which
showed to great advantage some of the greatest rarities in human work
--costly jewellery, and curiosities in ivory, bronze, wood, and
enamel. Sixty-seven pictures adorned the walls of this magnificent
apartment, among them the four masterpieces, the loss of which is the
most tragic incident in the melancholy story of poor old Pons. There
were a "Chevalier de Malte en Priere," by Sebastian del Piombo; a
"Holy Family," by Fra Bartolommeo; a "Landscape," by Hobbema; and a
"Portrait of a Woman," by Albert Durer. Apparently they were in
reality mediocre as works of art, but they were a source of the utmost
pride and delight to their owner, who said enthusiastically of one of
them--the Sebastian del Piombo--that "human art can go no further."
When we know that in the novel Balzac is speaking of his own cherished
possessions, we think of his own words, "Ideas project themselves with
the same force by which they are conceived,"[*] and can understand the
reason of the positive pain we feel, when the poor old Cousin Pons is
bereft of his treasures. The great _voyant_ was transported by his
powerful imagination into the personality of the old musician, and the
heartrending situation he had evoked must have been torture to him;
though with the courage and conscientiousness of the true artist he
did not hesitate in the task he had set himself, but ever darkened and
deepened the shadows of his tragedy towards the close.
[*] "Le Pere Goriot," by Honore de Balzac.
It is not surprising to hear that this sumptuous house cost 400,000
francs, but it is astonishing, and it gives the inhabitant of
steady-going England an idea of the inconvenience of revolutions, that
its owner and occupant should in 1848 have been starving in the midst
of magnificence, and that it should have been impossible for him to
find a purchaser for some small curiosity, if he had wished to sell it
to buy bread. Part of the cost of the house had been defrayed by Madame
Hanska, but Balzac had evidently overstepped her limits, and had
involved himself seriously in debt. One of the alleged reasons given
by the lady for the further deferment of her promise to become Madame
Honore de Balzac, was the state of embarrassment to which Balzac had
reduced himself by his expenditure in decoration; and, in his despair
and disgust, the home he had been so happily proud of, and which
seemed destined never to be occupied, soon became to him "that
rascally plum box."
At this time, however, he was still tasting the joys of ownership, and
was, as usual, hopeful about the future. His dreams of theatrical
success seemed at last destined to come true.[*] Hostein, who had
rushed to the Rue Fortunee as soon as he heard of the arrival of the
great man, to ask for the play promised him in place of "Pierre et
Catherine," found Balzac as usual at his desk, and was presented with
a copy-book on which was written in large characters, "Gertrude,
tragedie bourgeoise." The play was read next day in Balzac's
drawing-room to Hostein, Madame Dorval, and Melingue; and Hostein
accepted it under the name of "La Maratre," Madame Dorval expressing
much objection to its first title. Eventually, to Madame Dorval's and
Balzac's disappointment, Madame Lacressoniere, who had much influence
with Hostein, was entrusted with the heroine's part; and the tragedy
was produced at the Theatre-Historique on May 25th, 1848. In spite of
the disturbed state of the political atmosphere, which was ruinous to
the theatres, the play met with considerable success; and the critics
began to realise that when once Balzac had mastered the _metier_ of
the theatre, he might become a great dramatist. About this time,
Cogniard, the director of the Porte-Saint-Martin, received a letter
with fifty signatures, asking for a second performance of "Vautrin."
He communicated this request to Balzac, who stipulated that if
"Vautrin" were again put on the stage, all caricature of Louis
Philippe should be avoided by the actor who played the principal part.
He added that when he wrote the play he had never intended any
political allusion. However, "Vautrin" was not acted till April, 1850,
when, without Balzac's knowledge, it was produced at the Gaite.
Balzac, who heard of this at Dresden, on his journey to Paris from
Russia, wrote to complain of the violation of his dramatic rights, and
in consequence the play was withdrawn from the boards of the Gaite.
[*] "Honore de Balzac," by Edmond Bire.
During his stay in Paris in 1848, Balzac sketched out the plots of
many dramas. The director of the Odeon, in despair at the emptiness of
his theatre after the political crisis of June, offered Victor Hugo,
Dumas, and Balzac[*] a premium of 6,000 francs, and a royalty on all
receipts exceeding 4,000 francs, if they would produce a play for his
theatre; and in response to this offer Balzac promised "Richard
Sauvage," which he never wrote. The manager of the Theatre Francais,
M. Lockroy, also made overtures to the hitherto despised dramatist;
and Balzac thought of providing him with a comedy entitled "Les Petits
Bourgeois," but abandoned the idea. "Is it," he wrote to Hippolyte
Rolle, "the day after a battle when the _bourgeoisie_ have so
generously shed their blood for menaced civilisation; is it at the
time when they are in mourning, that they should be represented on the
stage?"[+]
[*] "Honore de Balzac," by Edmond Bire.
[+] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 332.
At this time, however, Balzac had in his portfolio a play quite ready
to be acted--one which had several times changed its title, being
called by its author successively "Mercadet," "Le Speculateur," and
"Le Faiseur." It was read and accepted by the Comedie Francaise on
August 17th, 1848, under the name of "Le Faiseur"; and when Balzac
returned to Russia at the end of September, he asked his friend
Laurent-Jan to take charge of the comedy during his absence. Evidently
he heard that matters were not going very smoothly, as in December he
wrote to Laurent-Jan from Wierzchownia to say that if the Comedie
Francaise refused "Mercadet"--which had been "recue a l'unanimite" on
August 17th--it might be offered to Frederick Lemaitre; and a few days
later, hearing that the piece was "recue seulement a corrections," by
the Comedie Francaise, he withdrew it altogether. "Le Faiseur" or
"Mercadet" was then offered to the Theatre Historique, and Balzac
already saw in imagination his sister and his two nieces attending the
first night's performance, decked out in their most elegant toilettes.
As he was in Russia, and his mother did not go to the theatre, they
would be the sole representatives of the family; and Hostein must
therefore provide them with one of the best boxes in the theatre. If
there were hissings and murmurings, as Balzac expected from past
experiences, his younger niece Valentine would be indignant; but
Sophie would still preserve her dignity, "and you, my dear sister.
. . . But what can a box do against a theatre?"
Nevertheless, though Hostein accepted "Le Faiseur," he announced that
his clients preferred melodrama to comedy, and that, in order to fit
it for his "theatre de boulevard," the play would require
modifications which would completely change its character. Balzac
naturally objected to these proposed alterations, as they sounded
infinitely more sweeping than the "corrections" of the Comedie
Francaise, and the play was never acted during his life. On August
23rd, 1851, however, as we have already seen, "Mercadet le Faiseur,"
with certain modifications made by M. Dennery, and also with omissions
--for the play as Balzac originally wrote it was too long for the
theatre--was received with tremendous acclamations at the Gymnase; and
on October 22nd, 1868, it was acted at the Comedie Francaise, and
again in 1879 and in 1890.
Mercadet, first played by Geoffroy, who conceived Balzac's creation
admirably, and at the Comedie Francaise less successfully by Got, is a
second Figaro, with a strong likeness to Balzac himself. He is
continually on the stage, and keeps the audience uninterruptedly
amused by his wit, good-humour, hearty bursts of laughter, and
ceaseless expedients for baffling his creditors. The action of the
play is simple and natural, and the dialogue scintillates with _bon
mots_, gaiety, and amusing sallies. The play had been conceived and
even written in 1839 or 1840, and never did Balzac's imperishable
youth shine out more brilliantly than in its execution. It is curious
to notice that his innate sense of power as a dramatist, which never
deserted him, even when he seemed to have found his line in quite a
different direction, was in the end amply justified.
His vivacity and hopefulness never forsook him for long. Even in his
terrible state of health in 1849, and in spite of his disappointment
at the non-appearance of "Le Faiseur," he was in buoyant spirits, and
informed his sister in one of his letters, that he was sending a
comedy, "Le Roi des Mendiants," to Laurent-Jan, as soon as he could
manage to transport it to St. Petersburg. There, the French Ambassador
would be entrusted with the charge of despatching it to Paris, as
manuscripts were not allowed to travel by post.[*] About three weeks
later,[+] he wrote to ask his mother to tell Madame Dorval that he was
preparing another play, with a great _role_ in it designed specially
for her. However, owing to Balzac's failing health the drama never
took form, and Madame Dorval died on April 20th, 1849, about three
weeks after his letter was despatched.
[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 393.
[+] "Correspondance," vol. ii, p. 397.
At the time of his stay in the Rue Fortunee in 1848, he was, however,
satisfied about "Mercadet," which had, as we have seen, been accepted
by the Comedie Francaise; and the production of which would help, he
doubtless hoped, to relieve him from his monetary difficulties. Ready
money was an ever-pressing necessity. Emile de Girardin, in his
political activity during the Revolution of 1848, had not forgotten
his personal resentments, and soon after Balzac's arrival in Paris he
requested him to pay at once the 721 francs 85 centimes which he still
owed _La Presse_.[*] This Balzac could not possibly do, and most
probably he forgot all about the matter. Not so his antagonist, who on
October 7th, 1848, after Balzac had returned to Russia, demanded
immediate payment; and four days afterwards applied to the Tribunal of
the Seine for an order that the debt should be paid from the future
receipts of "Le Faiseur," which was at that time in rehearsal at the
Theatre Francais. This demand was granted, but as after all the play
was withdrawn, Emile de Girardin did not receive his money. However,
he was paid in the end, as he wrote Balzac a receipt dated December
30th, 1848, for 757 francs 75 centimes, a sum which included legal
expenses as well as the original debt.
[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," by the Vicomte de Spoelberch de
Lovenjoul.
There were to be two elections to the Academie Francaise in January,
1849, as M. Chateaubriand's and M. Vatout's armchairs were both
vacant; and Balzac determined again to try his fortune. He wrote the
required letter before his departure to Russia, and this was read at a
meeting of the illustrious Forty on October 5th, 1848.[*] Apparently,
Balzac's absence from France, which prevented him from paying the
prescribed visits, militated against his chances of success, as his
ardent supporter, M. Vacquerie, wrote in _L'Evenement_ of January 9th,
1849: "Balzac is now in Russia. How can he be expected to pay visits?
He will not become a member of the Academie because he has not been in
Paris? And when posterity says, 'He wrote "Splendeurs et Miseres des
Courtisanes," "Le Pere Goriot," "Les Parents Pauvres," and "Les
Treize,"' the Academie will answer: 'Yes, but he went on a journey.'"
[*] "Honore de Balzac," by Edmond Bire.
At the first election, which took place on January 11, 1849, the Duc
de Noailles was at the head of the list, with twenty-five papers in
his favour, and Balzac received two; at the second, on January 18th,
when M. de Saint-Priest was the successful candidate, two members of
the Academy again voted for Balzac at the first round of the ballot,
but at the third and deciding round his name was not included at all.
Balzac wrote to Laurent-Jan to ask for the names of his supporters, as
he wished to thank them; and about the same time, in a letter to his
brother-in-law, M. Surville, he let it be understood that he would
never again present himself as a candidate for admission to the
Academie Francaise, as he intended to put that body in the wrong.
This is anticipation; we must return to the end of September, 1848,
when Balzac, after having arranged the necessary business matters,
hurried back to Madame Hanska. For the better guardianship of his
treasures, he left his mother with two servants installed in the Rue
Fortunee, and he expected to return to Paris by the beginning of 1849.
His family did not hear from him for more than a month after his
arrival, when his mother received a letter full, as usual, of
directions and commissions, but giving no news of his own doings. He
was evidently ill at the time he wrote, and a few days afterwards was
seized with acute bronchitis, and was obliged to put off his projected
return to Paris.
Balzac's health all through the winter was deplorable, and under the
direction of the doctor at Wierzchownia, he went through a course of
treatment for his heart and lungs. This doctor was a pupil of the
famous Franck, the original of Benassis in the "Medecin de Campagne,"
and Balzac appears to have had complete faith in him, and to have been
much impressed by his dictum, that French physicians, though the first
in the world for diagnosis, were quite ignorant of curative methods.
Balzac's passion at this time for everything Russian, must have been
peculiarly trying to his family. It surely seemed to them madness that
he should separate himself from his country, should gradually see less
and less of his friends, and should show an inclination to be ashamed
of his relations, for the sake of a woman crippled with rheumatism,
and no longer young, who, however passionately she may have loved him
in the past, seemed now to have grown tired of him. Sophie and
Valentine Surville were no doubt delighted to receive magnificent silk
wraps from their uncle, trimmed with Russian fur; but the letter
accompanying the gift must, we think, have rather spoiled their
pleasure, or at any rate was likely to have hurt their mother's
feelings. It was surely hardly necessary to inform "ma pauvre Sophie"
that it was in vain for her to compete with the Countess Georges in
proficiency on the piano, as the latter had "the genius of music, as
of love"; and a long string of that wonderful young lady's perfections
must have been rather wearying to those who had not the felicity of
being acquainted with her. Apparently the young Countess possessed
deep knowledge without pedantry, and was of delicious naivete,
laughing like a little child; though this did not prevent her from
showing religious enthusiasm about beautiful things. Further, she was
of angelic goodness, intensely observant, yet extremely discreet, most
respectful to her adored mother, very industrious, and she lived only
for duty. "All these advantages are set off by a proud air, full of
good breeding, an air of ease and grandeur which is not possessed by
every queen, and which is quite lost in France, where every one wishes
to be equal. This outward distinction, this look of being a great
lady, is one of the most precious gifts which God, the God of women,
can bestow on them."[*] To paint her character aright, Balzac says, it
would be necessary to blend in one word virtues which a moralist would
consider it impossible to find united in a single human being; and her
"sublime education" was a crown to the whole edifice of her
perfections.
[*] "Correspondance," vol. ii. p. 345.
The only consolation which an impartial though possibly unprincipled
observer, might have offered at this point to the unfortunate Sophie
and Valentine, would be the fact that the young Countess was evidently
extremely plain, as even Balzac's partiality only allows him to say:
"Physically she possesses grace, which is more beautiful even than
beauty, and this triumphs over a complexion which is still brown (she
is hardly sixteen years old), and over a nose which, though well cut,
is only charming in the profile."