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tME

VVRiGS
miX^NDREOUMAS

LIBRARY
University of California.
Class

THE LIFE AND WRITINGS OF

ALEXANDRE DUMAS

ft

ALEXANDRE DUMAS PERK.

THE

LIFE

AND WRITINGS
OF

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
(1802-1870)
BY

HARRY

A.

SPURR
IN ARCADIA,
"

AUTHOR OF "a COCKNEV

ETC,

WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS

NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES,

PUBLISHERS

COMPANY

'^Wlf^n

flOOI/l

Copyright,

1902,

By

harry

a.

SPURR.

I'liblisheil

ill

October, 190*

THE OUTCOME OF MANY YEARS OF LOVING STUDY,

IS

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
TO

MADAME DUMAS yf/^,

IN (iRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF

HER

SYMPATHY AND HELP.

21658

PREFACE
The
centenary of the birth of Alexandre
in
"

pere occurred
factory " Life

July of this year.

of the great

Dumas As no satisexists in

Frenchman
his

English, this was thought an appropriate

for giving the public, with

moment
and

whom

romances are so
character,
to the

popular, an account of
writings,

Dumas's

life,

which should be both interesting

ordinary reader,
reference.

and
the

trustworthy as

book of
tell

The

general reader

author has endeavoured to

"

the

man

in the public library "

who Dumas
his confrh'es

was, what he did, which books he did

write and v/hich he did not write, and finally, what

and the great

critics

have said of him.

One
way

or two points

may

be dealt with here, by

criticism.

of anticipating

obvious

The

first

relates to the omission

from the following pages of

"

the spiteful libels of

sagnac,
etc.

MM.

de Mirecourt," de Casto take

It is

almost impossible at this date for

the

any one, particularly an Englishman,

circumstantial
refute
alleofations
It
:

of these o-entlemen
is

and
in

them

in detail.

now over

sixty years

since they were

made

they had their source

admitted enmity,

and their medium was equally

vii

; ;

VI 11

PREFACE
Dumas
ignored them
;

contemptible.
in the higher

his colleagues

ranks of literature discredited them

willingly,

his

enemies accepted them

proof.

without de-

manding
to

"

M. de Mirecourt" was sentenced

;

imprisonment

for publishing his statements

is
still

but

their improbability
falseness.

stronger proof of their

When

Dumas's "collaborators" denied

their behalf,"

the

allegations

made "on
to dictate

"

M. de

Mirecourt" impudently accused

allowed
"

them of having
;

Dumas
"

their denials

when he
in

proved

Dumas's

illiteracy,
in

by an anecdote

which he cited M. Maquet

support, that gentle-

man promptly gave the libeller the lie! We make no apology for dwelling on
for

this point,

the

charges of

this

M. Jacquot have been

Ouerard
complacency

accepted almost universally as the truth.

cites

the gentleman
in

with obvious

Larousse
stantly,

his

"

Dictionnaire

and

Mr

Fitzgerald

testimony almost as often

" quotes him concondemns the man's as he makes use of it.

Mr
is

Henley's

article in

Chambers's

"

Encyclopaedia"

probably the only biographical account of

is

Dumas

which

trustworthy.

That

in the ninth edition of

" is

the " Encyclopaedia Britannica

by

Mr

Fitzgerald.

Of M. Ouerard, who in his "Supercheries " proves to his own satisfaction that with one or two insignificant exceptions Dumas never wrote anything at
all,
it

is

sufficient to point out that

he considered

PREFACE
that

ix

author as merely " a clever arranger of the

thouehts of others."
**

When
issued,
at

a new edition of the

the
1S4S,
exposds

Supercheries

"

was

of

M.

Ouerard,
tinued,

which stopped

were not conexpressed their

treat-

and the editors

formally

recrret that the yireat writer

had received such

further

ment from the

edition of the

critic.

They

hinted

that
first

only a determination to use the material of the

work in its entirety prevented them from dealing with M. Ouerard's accusations. We have referred to Mr Fitzgerald. His " Life and Adventures of Alexander Dumas " was written
shortly after the novelist's death,
is

now

forgotten,

and
in

is

probably out of
"
"

print.

This relieves us from

the necessity of saying more than that

his

Mr Lang
in in

Essays

in

Little,"

in his

French Novelists,"
Century,

the
"

Nineteenth

Mr Mr W. H. Pollock Mr A. B. Walkley
all

Brander Matthews

Playhouse Impressions," and others, have

the

con-

demned

of the subject and the writer.

book as being inaccurate and unworthy A great change has

in

taken place

the literary estimation

;

of

Dumas

during the past thirty years

and
in

it

is

our aim to

convey

this desirable revolution

opinion to the

mind of the ordinary

reader.

Consistent with the declaration

made

above,

we

have itrnored the charo-es brouo-ht against

Dumas

with reference to his attitude toward Louis Philippe

PREFACE
of the

The ex-employee
dignitary

Duke

of Orleans

is

accused

of having alternately abused and fawned upon that

when he became
of

king.

We

prefer to take
allegations

the

responsibility

suppressing

the

respecting this episode in Dumas's career as utterly

at variance with his practice

and

his nature.

Another

omission

requires

explanation.
far as

We
they

have dealt with the plays of Dumas, so

affected his career, in Part
I.;

we have touched on

them book
at

in
;

general

terms

in

other portions of the

but have refrained from dealing with them

extensively.

all

The

general

reader of

the

English-speaking public
plays,

does not

know Dumas's
cannot

and has had no opportunity of seeing them

reading them,
therefore
;

or

of

one

hope

to interest

him

in

them
its

and

at the risk of throwinsf

the subject out of

proper proportion
fully.

omitted to treat them

know and appreciate him as recommend " Le Drame clA.

Parigot, published

we have To those who do a dramatist, we can Dumas " by M, H.

by Calmann-Levy. There is a general confusion in books of reference As Glinel concerning the year of Dumas's birth.
shows, by reproducing the certificate of birth, the

author was born

in

1S02.

The

author has tried to

make

his

book as accurate
difficult,

as possible, but the task has been

impartial and complete biography of

as no
exists,

Dumas

PREFACE
even
in

xi

French.

He

will

therefore be grateful to

any

critic,

friendly or otherwise,
fact in the text.

who

will point

out

any errors of
Note.
Jils for

My

thanks are due to

;

Madame Dumas
to

her kind assistance

to

M. D'Hauterive, her
;

son-in-law, for similar kindness

Mr

Lang-,

Mr

W. M.
replies

Rossetti
to

and
;

inquiries

Mr Swinburne for courteous to Mr Robert Garnett for

;

valuable advice and help

for information

to

M.M. Calmann-Levy
F.

given

to

Mr

M. Duncan

for his

photographs of
Library
;

illustrations in the British

Museum
the

and

to

W.

E.

Roch, secretary of

Villers-Cotterets Centenary Fetes Committee.

CONTENTS
Dedicatio.v

Prefack

Vll

List ok iLLusxRAiiONS

I'ART

I.

HIS LIFE
Birth,

AND CHARACTER
(1802-30)

Manhood and Early Successes The Reign o.f Dumas I. (1830-48)

.

40
94

Wanderings, Decline and Death

(1848-70)

Character

PART
His Writings

II.

HIS WRITINGS
.

183

PART

III.

HIS c;enius

A Defence A Counterclaim
Xlll

273

309

XIV

CONTENTS
APPENDICES
PAGE

A.
B. C.

History and Fiction

a Comparison
.

351

Chronology of Dumas's Life

355 357

Tabular Analysis of Dumas's Writings

D. List of Books Consulted

Index

......

373
577

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

Alexandre Dumas
House
in

pere

Frontispiece
8

which Dumas was Born, Villers-Cotterets

s.w

Dumas

IN 1828 {from a drawing

'D'^y^^w)

Portrait of Dumas, after Maurin

DuMAS's Theatre, the
"

...
. .

30 36 86
108
185

Historique

Alexandre
"

DuMAS_/f/y

.....
"
.

Title-Pageof "NouvELLES Contemporaixes

"

D'Artagnan

" (/r<7w///^

DoRE statue,

Paris).
.

209
342

The Dumas Monument

by Dore, Paris

PART
HIS LIFE
Birth,

AND CHARACTER
(1S02-30)

Manhood and Early Successes

Dumas
I.

The Rlign
and Death

OF
(
I

(1830-48) Wanderings, Decline

S4S-70) Character

l-RO.M

BlRTII TO ^IaXIIOOD

AM) FaMH (1802-30)

\\\ like

Defoe,

we were about

to offer fiction in the

in

Louise of

biography, instead of biography

more

or less romantic form,

face the story of
sub-titles in

we should be tempted
"

to pre-

Dumas

with one of those elaborate

which the author of

It
if

Robinson Crusoe

"

delighted.
this

would probably run somewhat

in

fashion,

one, which of
''

we allowed ourselves course we do not

:

to prepare

The life and adventures of Alexandre Dumas of the World, loho i^^as both a blaekand
a lohite

man

a Royalist

and

a Republiean,
;

an aristocrat and a sans-culotte

loho took

part

in three revolutions,
;

and made
or dead,

three
books

different reputations

who wrote more

livino^

than any other

ereeted two
''

man

who

made his unmade it

Monte Cristas f one of which fortune and the other of which ; who enriched the world and was
life
;

poor all his

toorther with an account

of his exploits as dramatist, romancer, traveller, politician, wit,

journalist, diplomat ist,

soldier, lecturer, cook, historian, poet, etci'


4
Before

LIFE
this

AND WRITINGS t)F

Alexander entered the world he was about to conquer, much was already his own by inheritance. He was born into the atmosphere
of fiery light

and

fierce heat

which the Revolution

destined to possess a

had

left

behind

it.

He was

good share of blue and of black blood, for his grandfather

was no other than the Marquis Antoinela

Alexandre Davy de
man,
self-exiled to

Pailleterie, a

French noble-

mother

Dumas.
full

was a It was a romantically

San Domingo, and his grandnegro-woman, Louise-Cessette

ill-assorted match,
possibilities.

of interesting

The

son of this

marriage threw over parentage and aristocracy,

enlisted
in

the

French army as a private under

his mother's

name, and at thirty-one years of age

had

risen to the rank of general.

fruitful

Times and

cir-

cumstances were both

hero.

and portentous

for they were leading up to the birth of our

790 the swarthy young Republican Hercules, being stationed at Villers-Cotterets, a little town on
In
1

the high road from Paris to Laon,

fell in

love with

an innkeeper's daughter there, and duly married

heron

the 28th of November, 1792.

Thus when

Alexandre was born, ten years later (on the 24th July, 1802, to be exact), he was a quadroon, and

dowered at birth with many of the characteristics, good and bad, of the African race the ardent.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
Impulsive
soul

imaj^inative temperament, the levity of nature, the

a
the

host

of

qualities

which were

strange to the comprehension of both friends and

enemies

in

after-life
all

because side by side with

characteristics
of

them were Frenchman,

All his

native
full

the

existent in

vigour.

life

Dumas was
made

taunted with his negro

with
lean

descent

the caricaturists and lampooners,

execrable taste,
calves of the
gibes.
"

the

crisp

hair

and

quadroon the subject of innumerable Blackwood " tells us that a person more
correct

remarkable for inquisitiveness than for

breeding once took the liberty to question the

romancer

rather

closely

concerning his

genea-

logical tree.

"You
"
I

are a quadroon,
sir,"

]\I.

am,

replied the

Dumas ? " he began. author, who had sense

of a descent he could

enough not
not conceal.
"

to be

ashamed
?

And " Was " And

your father
a mulatto."

."

your grandfather ?"

hastily

"

negro,"

answered

patience was

waning

fast

too

Dumas, whose fast for him to

trouble about accuracy.

"

And may
was
"
?

enquire what your great-grand"

father
"

An

ape, sir

thundered the great man

"

an

6
ape,
sir.

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
pedigree commences where yours

My
"
!

terminates

Dumas's
that he
his

title

of

Marquis was another favourite

It

topic for the malice of his enemies.

was asserted
because

was not

truly

"

De

la

Pailleterie,"

grandparents w^ere not married.

;

Mr. Fitzgerald
''

repeated this assertion

"

but M. Parigot
. .

refutes

it.

Son grandpere paternel

la

avait

cpousc une

negresse Marie-Cessette

{^sic)

Amerique, a
death,

Guinodee, en

Dumas, decedee en 1772." Although

after his father's
his life alluded
in

the legitimate holder of the

title

Dumas
it
;

never but once

that indiscretion

publicly to
nified,

was absurdly mag-

was doubted. Yet (says Janin) when M. Theodore Anne, in his

of the statement

and the truth

researches concerning the cross of St. Louis, dis-

covered the origin of the La

Pailleteries,

and proved

them to be indisputably noble, Dumas said simply, " I knew it." His son for his part said, " I did not know it." Such was the pride of the father and the
son.

But to return.
first

The

of

three

Alexanders
"

Mr.

A.

B.
"

Walkley has dubbed him Alexandre the greatest was a true Frenchman, an ardent Republican, a The son, who brilliant soldier, and an honest man. was apt, at times, to decorate his facts with a gorgeous edge of appropriate fiction, seems to have
*

Alexandre

Dumas

Pere f" Les Grands

I'.crivains

Fran^ais

").

ALKXANDilE DUMAS
clone

no more than

justice

to

liis

father, in tlie

proud appreciations contained

Tliose

in his "

Memoires."

who

are incredulous respecting the wildly

heroic deeds of the four ^lusketeers should read

General
kept the

Dermoncourt's account of how

l^rido^e

Dumas

of Clausen single-handed, against

the Austrians

an act which

gained that hero the

"
;

name
Cenis,

of "

the Horatius of the Tyrol

or the story

of that terrible night assault of the fort at

Mont

when the General led three hundred soldiers " Every man who falls," up an ice-wall. said Dumas curtl)-, "must understand beforehand that
he he
is

a dead man,

that

nothing can

save him.
b)'

It will

be useless then to cry out

give

and
fall

so doing

may

the alarm, and ruin

tells us,

our chances."
;

Three men, so the son

crag to
crag.

did

and

their

bodies dropped into the darkness, bounding from

But not a cry was heard

siofh
!

moan
him

not a

not

When
ambition,

General Dumas's Republicanism brought

Bonaparte's ever-increasing
his

into conflict with

he turned

back on the Egyptian

Unhappily,
into

campaign, and set

the

sail

for France.

the ship was obliged to put

Tarentum, and
prison.

Frenchmen were thrown

into

The

General's account of his

strucrcrle

a^rainst the in-

sidious manoeuvres of his jailers,

who
is

tried to poison

him with food and with medicine,

a terribly en-

"

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
inclines
all

thralling one,
for
it is

and

one to believe

in heredity,

told with

that artless art of which the

son, in after years,

became such a master.

that

Our readers may think

scionably tedious
in

we

are as uncon-

getting our hero born, as

in

Charles

II.

could possibly have been

;

accom-

plishing the opposite process

and we

will therefore

hasten to quote the following historic document

a letter written by General
General, Brune
"
I
:

Dumas

to his brother

am

glad to

tell

you that

my

wife gave birth

yesterday morning to

a fine boy,

pounds, and
that
if

is

eighteen inches

who weighs nine long. You can guess

outer world
in

he continues to grow

in the

same proportion as he has done he promises to be a good size

the
!

in the inner,

But a
in a

sad, brief

fatherhood was in store for the

proud parent.
tion,

The effects of his two years' struggle

in

Neapolitan prison, against poison and persecu-

beean to show themselves

the soldier's

constitution.

He took a journey to
and

Paris to consult
to

specialist,

learning his fate, set

work

to

secure the good-will of his comrades there on behalf

of

the

future widow.

The

little

three-year-old

went

too, rode cock-horse with the

sword of Marshal

Brude, whilst wearing the hat of Murat, King of

Naples.

At

last

even the boy became conscious

,\

>-

HOUSE WHEKK DLMAS WAS BoKN, VILLKKS-CUTTEKKTS.

ALEXANDRE DUxMAS
of the

shadow

that had fallen on the household.

in

"My

father,"

he wrote

after years,

weak, went out less often, niore rarely

horse, kept his

"grew very mounted his

took

room

for longer periods,

me
all

more sadly on

his knees."

Then
redress

the broken-hearted

General, refused

by his old colleague the Emperor, died, suffering, and in poverty, and greatly troubling for The widow, in spite of her those he left behind.
prayers and tears,
in spite of

her husband's brilliant

services to France, in spite of the intercession of

soldiers

as

brilliant

colleagues

Dumas's

own

friends

and

failed to obtain

a pension

from the

Not a sou would Napoleon grant, to keep from starvation the widow of the man who had once dared to foresee and condemn the ambitiEmperor.
ous Emperor,
in

the " patriot," General Bonaparte.

And now
a
life

there began for both

poverty,
a

widow and son

of

of

cruel

time

humiliation

sweetened only by the affection of the mother for

the son, and the son for the mother.

The widow went back

tion.

to her father's house with

her children, and Alexandre began his life-educa-

Of these

early days he has gossipped very

pleasantly, telling us of the three houses

visited, that of

which he

Madame

Darcourt, where he rejoiced

" Buffon,"

his heart with

an illustrated copy of

and

of

M. Collard, who owned two

treasures, a big

10

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
park, both ot which the youthful
heart.
;

Bible and a

little

Alexandre learnt almost by

too, the

boy had a

childish passion
his

and

For mythology, " Robinson

Crusoe "(!) gave him

he
writes, "

geography.
years of age,

"And
I

so,"

when

five or six

possessed

these two accomplishments (reading and writing)

in

superior

degree,
I

fact

which
a

made me
little

wondrously conceited.
the
jacket, taking part,

can

still

see myself, about

in

height of a jack-boot, and

cotton
in

with the utmost precocity,

the

conversation

of

tributing thereto

my
of

grown-up people, and constore of knowledge, profane

early days

and sacred."

The memory

these

was

alwa)-s

dear to our Dumas, and he loved to dwell upon

them, and introduce them and reintroduce them
into
his

books.

He

tell

us that the places, sur-

roundings, people

had their and those who care

and events of these days all influence on his writings and character,
to pursue the subject will find
in "

traces of these times

Ange

Pitou," " Catherine

Blum," "Conscience I'Enfant," and other books.

The
in

descriptions of these early days, as given

"

the

Memoires," are

full

of delicate

humour and
lifelike

charm.
its

Dumas

tells

us of the old

chateau, and

park, in which he revelled,

and draws a

portrait of his august relative

M. Deviolaine, a man

who had indeed "a

stern look but a o-entle heart."

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
That gentleman's
daughter,
Ceciha,

il

was one of Dumas, then as the boy's favourite playmates. always, had a great tendency to vertigo, and the mischievous girl delighted in trapping him into some
such
ful

peril.

Once during
fell

their

rompings the youth-

Alexandre
:

into a pond,

and ran the

his
least

risk of

drowning

the

occasion

prompted

first

mot,

showed the tells an amusing lad's story of an adventure which befell him about this time. He and a companion were fighting outside a grocer's shop, and Dumas was unluckily pushed into a tub of honey. The grocer, who was busy work inside, with a knife in his hand, ran after at
which

was not very witty, at coolness and gaiety. He

if it

the terrified

boy,

who imagined

that

something

worse than the

to

fate

of the blind mice

was about
and
care-

happen

to him.

The

grocer overtook his victim,

.
.

threw him down, raised his knife

fully

scraped the honey off the trembling youngster's

trousers.

Alexandre's
one.

first

day

at school

was an eventful
jokes of a

According

to the brutal

custom of the times

schoolmaster found
truth,

he was subject
the

to a series of practical

rough and painful nature.

The

new boy

crying,

and guessing the

punished

the boys for such cruelty to a newcomer.

Alexandre
school was

foresaw a
over,

warm
his

reception outside

when

and

heart

sank at the prospect.

He


12

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

determined to face the situation, since there was no help for it, and assuming a boldness which he

boy he met and challenged him to fight. Young Dumas's impetuosity soon carried all before it his opponent was thoroughly beaten, and ever after that little Alexandre was respected and let alone.
certainly did not feel, he accosted the
first
;

In due course the boy was prepared to receive

communion, and there naturally followed him a period of religious exaltation. He tells us that when the time came he swooned from excess of emotion. But Dumas was never one
his
for
first

on

whom

religion

in

the

narrow sense obtained

this

any hold, and he soon recovered from

state

morbid

of ultra-piety.

More

lasting

was the love

of sport which he acquired in his boyhood.

He

was

friendly with
at last

all

the keepers and poachers, and

when
did a

he possessed a gun of his own

little

sly shooting

on

his

own

account.

His

adventures at the boar-hunts and other sporting

expeditions in which he was allowed to take part
are told

and

his

by Dumas with much gaiety and relish, character-sketches of his companions are

drawn to the life. Alexandre was not by any means a studious boy, and he watched with anxiety the various vain efforts made to get him into colleges set apart for the
sons of
officers.

When

a vacancy occurred in the

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
Seminary of Soissons, he saw himself
tion
''tin

13
in

imaginaraillery

pre t re

inalgrc

hiV and
him
in

the
to

of the

fair

Cecilia

prompted

hide

away

from his mother for three days,

hut.

a bird-catcher's
;

He

was

forgiven, of course

some

sort of teachino- at

and obtained the hands of two Abbes

of very opposite types, the gentle, pious Gregoire,

and the

bluff,

worldly

Fortier,

struggled hopelessly to

instil

Three masters some notion of mathe-

matics into the boy's head.

that kind of brain at
all.

He
were
It

did not possess

These

peaceful

lessons

interrupted

by
idol

"alarums and excursions" such as Dumas's

Shakespeare
has
described.

was now
Paris.

1814,

and the

Allies

were approaching
"

Madame

Dumas

fled thither out of hearino- of that terrible

bogey-cry, "

and as a consequence her son got a sight of the young king of Rome, who, on the abdication of the Emperor, was acclaimed as his father's successor by fickle and
!

The Cossacks

enthusiastic

Paris.

The

skirmishes in the streets

of \Mllers-Cotterets are vividly described

It

by Dumas.

was

at this period, according to

our author him-

self,

that his

mother

laid before

him the choice of

and an
lad

being a

Davy de

la Pailleterie, a " Marquis,"

aristocrat, like his grandfather, or a Republican, a

simple " Dumas," as his father had been.

did not hesitate, althouHi

The

the advantac^es of the

14

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
new monarchy
of Louis
to him.

former career, under the

XVIII., were frankly pointed out

"
child,"

Other indications of the nature of "the

who was
ing.

to

be

" father of the

man," were not want-

A certain
his pupil

M.

Oblet, one of those

who

strove

vainly to teach the volatile Alexandre mathematics,

gave

an accomplishment invaluable to him

life

throughout his

a beautiful writing-hand.
it,

The
first

first

indication of the boy's future career, the

promptings towards

were afforded by the

visit to Villers-Cotterets

of the son of a neighbour,

a youth
in

named Auguste Lafarge, who was a clerk This city -mouse stirred the deep but Paris.
his departure, the

slumbering ambitions of his poor "country cousin,"

and when, on

young

visitor left

behind him an epigram, levelled against a cruel

inamorata of the neighbourhood,
with a desire to write French verse
his

Dumas was
also.
" to

fired

However,
complete,

tutor gave him some

"

bout-rimes

which, for the moment, effectually

student's ardour.

quenched the

Then came the thrilling drama of the " Hundred Dumas had the good fortune to see the Days," Emperor pass through the little town of VillersCotterets on his way to Waterloo, and on his
return from that fatal
field,

and

his description of the

two episodes

is

most

vivid.

His passionate admiraliim then, as

tion for will-power

and genius made

he

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
always remained, a Bonapartist
vidualist

15
is

that

an

indi-

in

sentiment and

fiction,

though a staunch

Republican

in practice

and

politics.

He

has given us a pen-picture of himself at this

"
I

period.

was
says.

rather
"
I

good-looking
long,

young
hair,

monkey," he
which
fell

had

curling

over
I

my
was

shoulders, and which did not

fifteen.
I

crispen until

had big blue eyes,

which are

still

the best feature of

my

face,

a straight

nose, small
lips,

and rather well-shaped, big and mobile

teeth.

and white and rather regular

startlingly

Lastly,

add a

pale complexion,

which turned
crisp."

darker at the time that

my

hair

became
out -door

He was
without

a lad of

spirit, "

without knowledge and

life

fear,"

and

his

roving,

was

building up his frame with the strength to face the

enormous life-work before him.

At

sixteen a "calf" love-affair gave a necessary

" finishinof

touch" to Dumas's education.

He was
Paris.

stricken with admiration for one of

disdainful damsels

two somewhat
from

who came on

visit

At

that time our shabby-genteel hero dressed in

rather an antiquated fashion,

rivals

and the

girls

and

his

anxious to
attire,

made "show
the

sly fun of the boy.

On

one occasion,

off" before the "fair" in his gala

impetuous Alexandre sprang across a

wide
larly

ditch.

The

feat

impressive

for the

was skilful, but not particujumper split his tight knee-

16

LIFE

AND WHITINGS OF
effort.

breeches in the

In the end the girls bade

the love-sick but gauche

his marbles!

young gentleman return

for
in

to

But he had learnt somethinsf,

pride and heart.
there entered

he

had loved, and suffered

upon the scene an imdrama of Dumas's life. Our hero was at this time only the junior clerk of M. Mennesson, the notary, with little more than clerkly prospects and ambitions, when there came to VillersCotterets an elegant young aristocrat, the Vicomte Adolphe Ribbing de Leuven by name. De Leuven dazzled his young friend completely. He could make amorous verse he had written plays, he had
portant actor in the
;

And now

even read one of them, at the Gymnase Theatre, at

Paris
;

and being admitted behind the scenes of

the theatres, could talk airily and familiarly to his

envious friend of Mars and of Talma.

London what The young and .aspiring heart does not know summons that was at first a whisper became to the soul of the ardent young Alexandre a call, ever louder and more imperative and now, a day's holicall

The

to

Paris

the

call

to

it.'*

day at Soissons brought

Shakespeare.
it

Dumas

into contact with

It

was Shakespeare

diluted

by Ducis,
entered

is

true,
;

but even Ducis could not entirely spoil

"

"

Hamlet

and the young

all

provincial,

who

the theatre ignorant of

raptured

came out endazzled- transformed. Whilst de Leuven

three names,

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
was
excitlnor

17

the

ambition of his friend, another

la

comrade,

Amedee de
coming

Ponce, assisted to equip

by teaching him ItaHan, so that he might read Dante and Ariosto in the original, and German, enough to read Schiller. Better still, he gave him this priceless advice, " Be sure that which Dumas gratefully records
for the
fight,
:

Dumas

there

is

something else

in life besides pleasure, love,

sport, dancing,

and
:

all

the wild dreams of youth.

There

is

Work

learn to

work

learn, that

is,

to

be

happy."

Dumas's blood
be remembered
is

and

parentage
;

had important

influences on his character

and a third factor to the atmosphere of the times into

which he was born.

Even

in his village seclusion,

young Dumas could, as it were, feel the hot breath The literary-political of Romanticism on his brow. a moderate was then commencing revolution " like Casimir Delavigne was conquer" Romantic
:

ing Paris with his " Vepres Siciliennes"

Beranger

was

thrilling

France

with his

songs

and the popular

old Republican
in songs, plays,

feeling against the

spirit

Bourbons

modified

expressed

the
now

itself

squibs and pamphlets.

These Dumas read

greedily,

and the seed fell on fertile ground. Furthermore, de Leuven condescended to collaborate with the young clerk in some vaudevilles and other plays,

and when the

aristocrat returned with his father to

18
Paris,

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

he carried Dumas's heart and hopes with

passed, and doleful

him.

The months
headquarters
Parisian

news came from

dramatist.

to

the

would - be

The

managers seemed strangely blind

to their

own

best interests.

At
it

this

juncture

Dumas was

promoted
entered,

to a clerkship

with one M. Lefevre, a

Crepy notary, and

with
his

was from this town that he accustomed impetuosity, into

is

one of those rash enterprises of which youth

so

commonly

guilty,

and which so often appear

Paillet

afterwards in the light of inspirations.

comrade named
to

and proposed that

in

came one day to Dumas the absence of M. Lefevre,

visit to Paris,
It

who was about

pay a three days'

they, too, should take a holiday in that city.

was

one of those mad, impossible schemes which always

recommended themselves
out to do the forty or

to

Dumas.

Two

clerks,

with thirty-five francs between them, were to set

fifty

miles to Paris, enjoy

themselves
hours
!

in

the

city,

and return

in

seventy-two

problem.

But Dumas's ingenuity was equal to the Paillet had a horse, and the two youths
alternately.

used

it

That halved

the

walking

distance.

The one on

foot carried the gun,

and

way was to pay the game Whenever they sighted for their food in Paris. a keeper, one rode off with the game and gun, the
that they shot on the

"

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
to propitiate and,
if

19

other stayed behind to demonstrate his innocence,

necessary,
" tip
"

the keeper,

Paillet explained to the landlord of the little hotel

they patronised that they had wagered with some

Englishmen
food, lodging

to visit Paris without

to

spending a sou
for the

and so persuaded the landlord

and beds,
in

supply them with

exchange

game.

this plan was young Alexandre's. At Paris the first ambition of the budding author was realised for, thanks to his friend de Leuven, he saw Talma, the tragedian, in " Sylla," and had the

Needless to say,

overwhelming joy of being admitted

man's dressing-room.
as to his profession,

into the great

Dumas was
and had
"

duly questioned

to confess, with

deep

humiliation, that he

was

only a notary's clerk."

"

You need

not despair on that account," said the

" Corneille

kindly actor.

was an

attorney's clerk.
brilliant
!"

Gentlemen," he went on, turning to the

company, "let
laid his
"

me

present to you a future Corneille

Then, at the young man's earnest request. Talma,

hand on Dumas's
I

crisp locks, saying

Alexandre Dumas,

baptise thee Poet, in the

name
if

of Shakespeare, of Corneille, and of Schiller

Return to the country

go back

to

your

office,

and

you have a true

After

call,

the Angel of Poetry will be

!

sure to find you, wherever you are

such

benediction,

the

moment when

Dumas

should come to close quarters with his fate

; ;

20
in Paris

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
time, and, to the ardent
!

was but a matter of

young man's mind, the sooner the better The opportunity came sooner. M. Lefevre had returned to Crepy before his truant clerk, and Dumas answered the inevitable reproof with a rash
resignation.
to

This

fertile

brain had already begun

grow

its first

crop of ideas.

The

notary's clerk

resolved to attack Paris at once.

He
tune

could scarcely have chosen a more Inoppor-

moment,

for

his

mother's
francs.

resources

had

dwindled to a capital of 253

Nevertheless,
;

Dumas

contrived to

sell

some

old engravings

won

his coach-fare to

Paris from the proprietor of the

his
skill

posting-house,

by means of

at billiards
to

and then, armed with

letters

written

General

Dumas by
Victor,

his father's old friends.

Marshals Jourdan,

Sebastiani,

and the

rest

tokens
had
first

which he
knelt
fears

believed to be better than any letters of introduction

he

set out for Paris.

He

and and

prayed with his mother, who, with

sighs, let

many

him go on

his audacious quest.

life

At
there

this
is

point in the

of Alexandre
Until
life,

a sharp dividing-line.

Dumas now he had

been a boy, living an aimless

without ambition

and without prospects.

to
"
I

He
all
:

himself has confessed

the imperfect nature of his education, adding,

possessed, however,
the physical advantages
I

which a

rustic life gives

could ride any horse

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
I

21

walked a dozen leagues to dance

foil

at

ball,
;

and

was pretty smart with the

and

pistol

could

play tennis like a St Georges, and rarely missed a

hare or a partridge at thirty paces."

patrons had tried to

His kindly
freed himself
to live,

make
him
;

a musician, a priest, a

notary, or a scholar of

now he

from

all

restraining influences,

and began

think, plan,

and work

for

himself

The

change, as

we

shall see,

worked wonders.
is

Perhaps the phrase

"for himself" (and

misleading; for his worst friends

he

made many)
love
for

never
mother.

doubted
"
I

Dumas's

passionate

was a man, woman depended on me. now," he writes, I was going to repay my mother in some degree Truly, he for all the care she had lavished on me." was a man, in two senses he had reached the age of a man, and he acted with all a man's courage
his " for a
:

and sense of

responsibility.

Of
to

all

his long

and adventurous
struggles
;

career, the story

of Dumas's

early

is

the

most familiar
life,

the general

reader

every sketch of his

it,

however

short, deals with

so that we,

in turn,

can be as brief as this interesting period

will allow.

On

his

arrival

in

Paris

Dumas went

to each

of his father's old comrades, and experienced the

sad but inevitable disillusionment.

Sebastiani, turned their backs

Jourdan, Victor,

on

their old colleague's

son

Verdier had himself been superannuated, and


22

LIFE
in

AND WRITINGS OF
influence.

was poor

money and

General Foy,
found the
Nevertheless,

however, received

Dumas

kindly, but

young

provincial woefully ignorant.

he bade the youth write down he saw the

cried out
*'

his address.

When

clerk's exquisite

penmanship the General

We

are saved

"
I

"Why?"
You write Dumas felt
"

such a good hand

"
!

profoundly humiliated.

He

resolved

then and there to earn his living one day, not by his

penmanship, but by his pen.

This

skill in

caligraphy obtained for the despair-

man a clerkship in the Secretary's department of the Duke of Orleans, with a salary of about
ing young
fifty

pounds a

year.

Fifty

pounds a year
!

It

was

the riches of
full

Monte
into
his
"
!

Cristo

Dumas

hurried

home

of joy, reached

Villers-Cotterets at midnight,

and rushed
"

mother's bedroom,

shouting
first

Victory
!

Victory

He

had indeed drawn

i

blood
des

Once

installed in his

modest lodgings. No.

set

Pate

Italiens,

Dumas
noble

himself to study.

The

days were
till

his

master's,

and from seven

to

ten every evening he returned to the bureau but half the night he spent reading work
;

Juvenal, Tacitus, Suetonius;

or in studying geoalso followed with a

graphy and

physioloG^y.

He

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
certain
curiosity
;

23

the theatrical productions of the

In

period
si)le,

but as he was not

s)'mpathy with the

the dialogue, the construction of those plays,

felt

which were of the pre-Romantic type, he

desire to Imitate them.

no

So

steadily did he work,

however, that when two months later his mother

joined him, she scarcely

knew

her son again

he

had become so serious

Meanwhile the Romantics, like a crowd without leaders, growled and threatened inarticulately.
Their growing power was greatly augmented by
the stupidity of the Government,
that

who

persecuted

very moderate innovator Casimir Delavigne,

his

and ennobled Ancelot,

Royalist

rival.

The
already

year 1823 was indeed a year of revolution, literary

and

political.

Hugo and Lamartlne had

In

begun the attack

Ballades
"

poetry, with

the
;

"

Odes and
the

and

the

" Meditations "

Nodier had

published his genre

romances.

Then came
"

turn of the painters; and the

full

Salon of 1824 was

"

of pictures of a

new type Scheffer's

Delacroix's

of

Gaston

de

Foix,"

Death Massacre of
the
his

Chios,"
cents."
'

and

Coigniet's " Massacre

of

Inno-

Gericault, too,

was

at

work on
fan

famous

Wreck of the Medtisar From abroad came winds to Byron, who died in this year, was
the future author of "

the

flames.

deeply impressing
;

Antony

"

Scott,

who was

24

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
men
of the rising generation,

eagerly read by the

ideas of romance in had revolutionised the general, and Dumas's notions in particular and

old

Cooper, the now-forgotten, found

in the

country of

Chateaubriand and Rousseau a congenial

his poetic

home

for

romances of the

prairies.

All this time the

young

collaborators, de

Leuven

and Dumas, had not been idle. In spite of his content with his modest salary, young Alexandre
had spent more than double that income, during the
first

year,

and

his mother's little store

crisis

gone.

At

this

a third

was almost person was taken

into the flourishing dramatic partnership

a clever
play
"

drunkard named Rousseau

which

resulted

and the
et

little

"

La Chasse

lAmour

though

rejected at the Theatre Gymnase, was accepted at the Ambigu, and played with success in 1S25. This lightened the poverty which was weighing upon the author's household, and thus emboldened, Dumas put together three little stories which he had written, and persuaded a foolish publisher to go halves with

him

in

the risk

of producing

them.

This

little

volume, " Nouvelles Contemporaines," of

shall treat at greater length later on,
in

which we

was published

was not a success. Dumas tells us variously that four and again that six copies only were sold. It was favourably reviewed, however, by Etienne Arago, and proved a species of letter-of1826, but


ALEXANDRE DUMAS
introduction to Buloz,

25

when

the Revue des

Deux

Mondes came
possibilities

into existence.

In the midst of these ever-growing interests and

for

Alexandre had now the privilege

of contributing (without pay) to a monthly magazine

called

Le

Psyche, and was interested, along with a

named Lassagne, in the fortunes of a second play called " La Noce et I'Enterrement "
colleague

blow

fell

upon him.

News

of this employee's

frivolous dallying with the

ears of the authorities,

to

Muses had reached the and Lassagne was forbidden

practices
for

encourage such

evil

the

future.

Dumas was
superior,

so alarmed at this threatened stoppage

of his life-work, that he found courage to beard his

M. Oudard,

in his den.

That

official, it

appeared, would be pleased to permit the young

clerk his literary pranks,
if

he strove to emulate

Delavigne
thing

but

Dumas
if

replied, with

more honesty
what M.
there

than prudence, that

in

he did not hope to do somehe would then This

the

future very different from

Delavigne had done,

renounce
treated
as
all

and

his

ambitions.

answer was

an impertinence by the chiefs of the

bureau, and laughed at as the drollest of jokes by

the rest of the staff

From

this

time dated the

in the

series of petty persecutions

which

end cost
less in

the youth his salary, and nearly lost him his place.

Whilst

Dumas was

struggling on,

more or

26

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
own

the dark as to the nature and direction of his

abilities,

two events of great importance happened.

Louis XVIII. had died, and had been succeeded by

Charles X., whose career
that of our

James

II.

some respects resembled Charles had pledged himself

in
;

on

his accession to abolish the censorship

it.

but he

soon attempted to re-impose

agitation followed,

political-literary

and

after a struggle the

obnoxious

threat

was withdrawn.
actors.

arrival in Paris of

The other event was the Kean and an English company of

Not
so long before, English

Shakespearean

players had been pelted from the pit of the Porte St

Martin, but at this

moment

(1827) the French had

Scott
;

been seized with Anglo-mania.

read and

dramatised on

all

hands

was being Guizot was

studying the British constitution, for future appli-

Byron was a literary Dumas was even more prepared to welfashion. come Shakespeare than were the majority of his
cation to French politics, and

fellow-Romantics.
electrified him.

He

saw

"

Hamlet,"

and

it

He knew
he
"

every word of the play

beforehand, and strange as he found the English

style of acting,

saw light"
But

for the first tim.e

on

the path of his future.

self:

let

him speak

for

him-

''Ah, this
this
last!

was what
I

my soul had been seeking after

was what

had lacked, and which had come

at

Here were

actors forgetting that they were

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
acting"

27
life,

here

was mock
art;

life

become

real

by

the

power of

here was truth

of speech and

action,

which transformed the players into human

beings, with their virtues, passions,

and weaknesses,

instead of into cold-blooded posers, unnatural, de-

clamatory, sententious. ...

read

nay, devoured
I

not only the repertory of Shakespeare but that of

every other foreign dramatic poet, and

came
world

to

recognise that in the world of the theatre everything

emanates from Shakespeare, as

in the real

all

emanates from the sun. ...

that he

recognised, in short,
after

was the one who had created most,

that

God."
"
I

From

moment my
to

career
is

was decided
sent to every

felt

that the special call

which
;

man had come

me, then
failed

felt

a confidence
I

which has never since

me.

Nevertheless

did not disguise from myself the difficulties which

such a life-work would involve.

all

other professions this one

I knew that above demanded deep and

special study,

and

that, to
first

operate with success upon

living

life, I

should

need to study 'dead nature'

long and earnestly.

Shakespeare, Corneille, Moliere,

Calderon, Goethe, and Schiller

laid their

works
probed

before me, like bodies on the surgeon's table, and

with scalpel

in

hand, long nights through,

them
life.

to the heart to discover the secret of their

I

saw by what admirable mechanism these

28

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

authors set the nerves and muscles of their creatures

skill

moving and working, and noted with what

they clothed and re-clothed with different flesh

that

framework which was always the same."

translated the " Fiesco
"

Dumas had

of Schiller,

and vainly attempted

but Shakespeare

to dramatise Scott with Soulie,

filled his

heart and brain with

new

thoughts, greater ambitions.

No

sooner had the

English actors gone than the Salon opened, and

the young author, paying an early
visit,

was im-

mediately impressed by a picture representing the

murder of Monaldeschi by order of Queen Christine of Sweden. Dumas seized upon the incident
then and there as a subject for a poetic drama
,

he found the details of the tragedy

in the " Biographie

in

an

article

Michaud," and set to work.

although

"Christine" was soon written.

classical in style, for
it

was only halfobserved some of

It

the

" unities,"

it

was thoroughly romantic

to

in form.

"What,
infant,

then,

was
? "

be done with the bastard

born outside the pale of the Institute and

the

Academy

Dumas asked

himself.

The

Comedie Fran^aise, a State-endowed theatre, ruled by the Government and a committee of its actors, and bound by tradition to the classic school of Corneille and Racine, would not be likely to tolerate
any suspicion of vulgarity, in the shape of plays But this very cast in the mould of Shakespeare.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
to obtain,

29

system of national control enables young writers

by

right, at least

a hearing.

There was,

Dumas

learnt,

an

official

examiner of plays, who

would probably be a year before he got down to " Christine," so great were his arrears of work
;

but there was the commissary, Baron Taylor, open

to

give

attention

to
in

more favoured
obtaining
it

candidates.

Dumas

succeeded

an

appointment

was for seven in the morning the only time the overworked official Very droll is the young dramatist's could spare. account of Baron Taylor in his bath, groaning
with the Baron, though

whilst a merciless poet read every line of a fiveact tragedy to him.

At

the end of the

cross,

reading

the

commissary was frozen and

offered
to

and poor

Dumas
became

come again

but the kindly

Baron encouraged him

to begin his

quite enthusiastic at the

own play, and end. Thanks to

;

Taylor's exertions, the trembling author read the

play before the brilliant staff of the Fran9aise

he

was applauded
of remark that
his sorrowing

loudly,

and the play was accepted

It is

with acclamation, subject to revision.

worthy

Dumas, hurrying home

rewrote
it

to delight

mother with the news,

lost the

on the way,

and
it

that night.

MS. He knew
of

every line of

by heart
appointed
to

The gentleman
Comedie Franqaise

on

behalf

the

consider "Christine" was

30
of the

LIFE
classic

AND WRITINGS OF
school,

and he smilingly bade the

to his

young
there.

iconoclast

go back

desk

and

stay

Yet again the play was more set aside for revision and
;

read,
this

and once

time

Dumas

took the opportunity of remodelling and entirely

altering the motive of the play.

Poor
her

" Christine "

No

sooner was she clad

in

new

robe, than bureaucratic

and

social intrigues

forced

Dumas
its

to consent to the indefinite

postpone-

ment of
was
path.
far

production, in favour of another version

of the subject by a

more

influential writer.

But he

from being daunted, and a chance occur-

rence

set

him on the road to success by another

the office cupboard from which

One day

Dumas
As

usually got his

writing-paper was locked, and he was

oblio^ed to o-o into another ofiice to fetch

some.

he passed through the room his eyes

fell

on a book

which was lying on a desk.

It

was a volume of

Anquetil, open at the passage which describes the

Duke de
trick

Guise's jealousy of St Megrin, and the

in conse-

which he played upon the Duchess

quence.

Guise gave her a dose of what he called

"poison," but which turned out to be harmless soup.

The

seemed so dramatic that it excited Dumas's interest, and he sought for and read the story of the murder of St Megrin, and of Bussy dAmboise in the " Memoires d'Estoile." From
incident

DIMAS

IN

1828.

I'KOM A UKAWIX(.t BV DKVKKIA.


ALEXANDRE DUMAS
these, he tells us,

31
"

he constructed his play of

Henri

Trois et sa Cour."
"
I

was then twenty-five years of age," he writes

"

Henri Trois' was

my

second serious work.

it

Let
to the

a conscientious critic take

and submit
will
;

it

most searching examination

of plot, nothing.

he

find
in the

in

the

matter of style everything to censure

I

matter
since,

have written
is

fifty

dramas

and none of them

more

skilfully

constructed."
boastful
if

These are bold words, and would be

ofood critics did not confirm them.

The young
for

author's superiors

were equally busy

during this time.

fear

They
should

piled the

work upon him

minute of their
not been able

that

he

use

time in writing his

"trashy" dramas; they took

if

away
to

his salary,

and
his

Dumas had
the

borrow from
he and
the

Lafitte,

famous

banker and
from our

politician,

mother would have starved.

Finally,

Duke

of Orleans withheld

author the
staff.

customary yearly bonus given to his

for all that, "

But

Henri Trois" was written,

was read

privately,

and greeted with enthusiasm

was read before the Comedie Francaise, and accepted by acclamation. Soon the news got about that a new play a play which would revolutionise the French staQfe had been written by an obscure young man. and little

by

little

the public excitement grew.

The

produc-

32
tion

LIFE
was

AND WRITINGS OF
for

fixed

February

loth,
less

1829,

and

rehearsals

went forward more or

smoothly.

Firmin (the leading actor since Talma's death) and

Mars were to play the chief parts, and Dumas was full of joy and hope and pride, when news came to him that his mother was dying.
Mdlle.

Madame Dumas had

spirits,

never possessed the buoyant

the hopeful temperament, the love of daring

which characterised her quadroon son.

tions caused her

She would

probably have borne the anxieties which his ambi-

him

for she loved

if

her friends
trouble

him and believed in and neighbours had not aggrawith

their

vated

her

croaking,

spiteful

tongues.
play, the
less

On

the eve of the production of her son's

poor widow, coming away after a more or

fell

trying interview of this nature,

fit

down

in

an apoplectic

Alexandre, struck with despair,

all

rendered his mother

the help which devotion

and

intelligence could give, but the fateful

still

night

came, and found her

unconscious and

in

danger.

Of

all " first nights "

on record, probably that of

strange.
it

"Henri

III."

was the most eventful and

event, as a triumph,

As an epoch-making
greater even

was

than

"Hernani" a year
accounts of those

later,

and

"Antony," which afterwards made such a sensational dSbut.

this

The

who

witnessed
author's
justice.

premiere have assured us that the

description does the scene no

more than

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
*

33

passed the whole day by

my

mother's bed-

side,"

he says.

"

She was
I

still

unconscious.

At
box

a quarter to eight

left

her,

and entered

my

as the curtain rose."

was received complacently, although the exposition of the plot was long, stiff and tedious.
first

"The

act

As
"

the curtain

fell I
I

ran out to revisit

my

mother."

On my

return

had just time

to cast a glance

round the auditorium.

will recollect

Those who were present

sented.

what a magnificent coup dceil it preThe first tier was crowded with men
the whole aristocracy was massed

resplendent with the Orders of five or six countries

on

their breasts

together in the boxes, and the ladies glistened with

diamonds."

"The second act,

about which
I

containing the sarbacane episode,

had been so nervous, passed withfell

out opposition, and the curtain

of applause."
"

in

the midst

From

the third

act, to
:

the close the play was

was a growing delirium. Everyone applauded, even the women and amongst them Madame Malibran, leaning far out of a box and clinging with both hands to a column to keep
no longer a success
it
;

herself from falling."

Then, w^hen Firmin came forward to name the author, the enthusiasm was so unanimous that the Duke of Orleans himself rose and listened, standc

34

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

ing, to the

name.

announcement of his talented employee's That night Dumas received an effusive

from the very
official

letter of congratulation,

who

had deprived him of

his salary

Next morning the

successful

young playwright's
sold the

room was crowded with bouquets, which he proudly

placed on his mother's bed.

Dumas had

manuscript of his play for 6,000 francs, and repaid

Lafitte,

when news came

that

"Henri Trois
Interior.

"

was

suspended by the Minister of the

Happily,

Dumas
order,

straightway obtained a revocation of the

but during the
interim

the

young author
success.

could scarcely be said to breathe

He began immediately to pay for his An anonymous attack in one of the papers
a challenge from the
greater honour
still
!

brought

fiery

young

author,

and

seven

" classical "

playwrights

drew up a pompous him to save the national theatre from " despicable mountebanks," and to keep to the orthodox writers

address to the King, imploring

that
other

is,

themselves.

Happily Charles X. replied

pit,

simply, that he had only his place in the

as

Frenchmen had, and could not interfere. About this time Nodier, of whom we have spoken, was holding his salon at the Arsenal, and Dumas had the eood fortune to be admitted to that brilliant
literary circle.

Nodier's daughter, Marie Mennessierin

Nodier,

tells

her recollections of her father an

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
amusing story of Dumas's
Arsenal.
first

35

introduction to the

The

librarian

was

constantly

pestered

by poorer literary brethren, who called to sponge on him. Therefore, when one day Marie begged her father to receive a handsome young " man of

wary bibliophile flatly called refused. laughed, went away, and again. Marie was much taken with the gay, goodyoung fellow, and Nodier at last grumblingly looking
letters "

who had Dumas

called, the

consented to see him, preparing as he spoke to

part with a score or two of francs.

He

received

Dumas,
ingly as

first

with distrust, then with surprise, chatted

with him animatedly, and parted with him as unwill-

he had greeted him.

not mentioned

Needless to say,

money was

Nodier gave the young writer more than money

and a literary encourageHere ment and education which was invaluable. the young author met Hugo, De Vigny, Sainte
he gave him a
social
life,

Beuve,

De

Musset, and others almost as brilliant

but less known.

for the witty

Thenceforth a place was kept

writer at the famous

young
"

Sunday

dinners of the Arsenal, and

" little

here in

due course,
friendship
affectionate

Alexandre

was brought.

The
close,

between the two men remained

and unalterable, until the elder man's death. Fame now came swiftly to the author of the Dumas was appointed first great romantic play.

36

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
Duke
of Orleans, under

assistant-librarian to the

Delavigne, at the princely salary of

^loo a

year!

of "Henri Trois" was the lion of Paris for the winter of 1829; Deveria made an engraving- of him David of Angers a medallion. " Nothing was wanting to my glory," says Dumas

The

author

frankly,

" not

even that

little

shade of the ridiculous

literary

which

always
stories

accompanies

reputations."

Wild

were repeated

in

"classic" circles, of

the triumphant orgies of the Romantics,

how they

had danced about a bust of Racine, crying exultantly how they were callthat they had " done for him " ing for the heads of the Academicians on chargers,
;

and so
the
*'

forth.

No

wonder the Seven appealed to

King
Henri Trois," indeed, was a revelation and a
It

was a romance drawn from French history its characters were real in origin, and true instead of dull to life in their words and deeds declamatory couplets, and a tawdry, meaningless plot, the audience was enthralled by the rapid,
revolution.
;

merciless development of a story of

human

passion.

The
the

love of St Megrin for the Duchess of Guise,

Duke's jealousy of St Megrin, both private

political,

and
his

the vivid picture of Henri HI. and

life

mignons and the everyday

of the French

court

the

series of dramatic scenes

which develop

the intrigue, until St Megrin goes to the assigna-

AL,EXANDRE DUMAS.

FROM A LITHOGRAPH BY DELPAC'H OF A DRAWING BY MAURIR.

ALEXANDRE DUJMAS
tion

37

which Guise forces

novel,

his wife to

make

all

this

was so
the

so congenial, so startling,
talked of nothinof else.
characteristic tact,

that for

moment Paris Our author, with

up

determined to

follow

this success

with another as soon as he

possibly could.

He

withdrew "Christine" from the

Comedie Francaise, where it was receiving lukewarm treatment, and took it to the Odeon. He had reconstructed the play, "to make it more modern and more dramatic " and for this purpose had taken coach to Havre and back, working out
;

the remodelled play in his brain, to the jolting of

coach

But

this

time the "classicists" were not to be

taken by surprise.

The

play was forbidden

then,

when

was withdrawn and the rehearsals went forward, an opposition was organised. Fortunately the young "romantics" rallied round Dumas; his friendly rival Soulie brought in a number of his workmen to form a claque, and the forces were aljout On March 30th, 1830, the battle of the equal. The theatre resounded alterOdeon was fought nately with applause and "hissing"; roars of delight
the mandate

and of disgust succeeded each

battle lasted seven hours.

other.

This

terrible

"

Ten

times overthrown,

the play sprang to

its

feet after
it

each reverse, and at

two

in the

morning

finished,

having thrown the

its

public, panting, thrilled and terrified, on

knees!"


38

"

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

Yet the success of" Christine " was still undecided when the curtain fell, and Dumas and his backers
retired

to

supper,

jubilant

but exhausted.

The

author had seen that

many

parts of the dialogue

urgently required to be altered or omitted, and had

arranged that the revisions should be sent to the

how was it possible for the host of that joyous company to find the time to do the work? Hugo and Alfred de Vigny grasped
actors next

morning

but

the situation, and

came

to

the

rescue.

Bidding

Dumas

entertain his guests, they retired to another

room and wrought at the play for the rest of the night, and at dawn walked away, arm-in-arm, leaving the revised MS. on the mantelpiece in the room where the revellers were snoring. With the change consequent on his achievement
of fame and (in a less degree) of fortune, closed

Dumas
took

a chapter

in

his

life

which had an im-

portant influence on his future.

When

he

first

lodgings in Paris, he was not quite twenty-one.

lived in a garret,
like Beranger's
"

He

dreamed of fame, and was happy,

hero
qu'on est bien
h.

Dans

line grenier,

vingt ans

The handsome
stress,

lad

had

for

neighbour one

Madame

INTarie-Catherine Lebay, a

amicably separated from her husband.

life

brightened the

young and pretty seamShe of the young playwright with

ALEXANDRE
Madame Dumas
born of
this

DUJSIAS
fell in

39

her cheerful society, and the pair

love.

When

followed her son to Paris, he found

her rooms elsewhere, and Alexandre

intimacy,
in

Dumas yfA was

1824.

When
little

worldly

temptations came upon the vain young genius he

separated from his mistress, and

sight of her.

by

little lost

Although the object of jealous

for possession

rivalry

and of a struggle

between father and

to love his

mother, and although alternately under the control

of each, the younger

Dumas grew up

two

parents, so strangely different in nature

and

position,

with almost equal affection.

As

long as the father

it,

possessed a franc the son was welcome to

this affection

and
sad

was repaid

to the full in the last

days of the elder man's

life.

true to his
it

What Dumas might have been, had he remained first love, we can only conjecture. That
for the

would have been

good of

his genius, his

happiness, and his success, those

story of this sweet and able

who have read the woman's life cannot

was a
bitterness

doubt.

Although

at

first

there

between them
through
lover,
life

after

the separation,

she remained

proud of the success of her famous

last

and during the

years was reconciled to

him.

Her death

in

1S68 was one of the sorrows

nearinof

of the old
his end.

Dumas, when he himself was

40

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
of

The Reign
The
successful

Dumas

(1830- 1848)

visit Algiers,

young dramatist was preparing to which had just been captured by the
instinct

French, and which, (with that

which he
anxious to

developed

in

later

years,

Dumas was

explore and exploit),

when

the Revolution of July

1830 broke
It
is

out.

not our intention to describe the political

crisis

which led to the downfall of Charles X., and the accession of the younger branch of the Bourbons in the person of Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans,
but sufficient must be told to explain the part which

our hero played

in the

strange tragic-farce.

Charles X. had done much, during his brief reign,

to rouse the old revolutionary spirit
cratic measures.

by

his auto-

On

the 25th July 1830, he caused

"

the famous " Ordonnances

to

be issued, "putting

an end to the freedom of the press, already largely curtailed, appointing a new mode of election, and
dissolving

the

recently-elected

chamber."

Once

more Paris saw the old

a single night
;

familiar barricades rise in

faded flags were brought forth, old

revived,

watch-words were
appeared
;

and old veterans

re-

the

roll

of the drums, and the thrilling

notes of the "Marseillaise" resounded once more

in the streets of the city.

The

revolutionaries, to


ALEXANDRE DUMAS
which party the son of the General
41
belonged,
of the

Dumas

hoped to see a second Republic

ruins of the discredited monarchy,

rise .out

of
"

"the

days

of

July"

is

told

and the story in Dumas's

Memoires," by himself as an eye-witness.

M.
his

Parigot,

commenting on
:

this

description,

in

study of our authior, says

**

If

you have any desire

to breathe a little of the

atmosphere which heated

all

brains at that

moment
are

you

need only read 'the three days of July' in

VI.
as

Volume
described,

There
well as

the

different

means

the concentration of senti-

make the throne of Charles Turn over the leaves of Louis Blanc X. totter. Dumas is a magician for demonand compare.
ments, which united to
strating

the

picturesque.

The

ever-growing

enthusiasm which cut the streets into barricades,

uprooted the trees on the boulevards and burnt
the guard-house of the
'

Exchange, to the cry of

Vive

la

Charte

! '

the indecision of journalists and

politicians, the discontent of the public,

who wished
' ;

to

'

avenge Waterloo
of

in the streets of Paris

the

excitement

the

young
Hall

collegians,

Lafayette
all

domiciled at the
this

Town

and

alonor with

the

opposition

the

Provisional

which was beginning against Government all is painted with

the exactitude of an eye-witness

who

has a fine

sense of spectacular

effect.

And, moreover, Dumas

42

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
to lash the

was one who had the courage

'combut

fortable middle-classes' for their politic opportunism.

They kept
movement,

securely indoors,
to take

during the

fray,

were quite ready

advantage of the popular

after the

danger.

He

denounced the

timorous and underhand conduct of these people,

and the work of reaction which they insidiously

accomplished, even at the

moment when

the people

were triumphing."
Alexandre's share in the Revolution was chiefly
confined to two exploits

the
of

saving of precious

military relics, during the sacking of the artillery-

museum, and the

Soissons.

fetching

This

latter

powder from episode, though it had no

the

very important bearing on the fate of the revolution,

was a

brilliant coitp in its

way, worthy of the

son of Napoleon's brave general, and of the creator

of D'Artagnan.

Charles X. had fled from Paris in the

of the
tumult,

first

days
at

but

remained outside the

city

Saint Cloud, with an imposing army, awaiting the

turn of events, and in particular the action of his
representatives in
Paris.

Dumas

heard Lafayette

insurgents) remark that

(who was informally the Minister of War of the if the King advanced on Paris the revolutionaries would have no powder
to defend themselves
;

wherewith

and he

at

once

offered to go to Soissons, a town

some

sixty miles

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
away,

43
where,
as

and
the

in

his

native

department,

he knew, a powder-magazine was located, and to

bring

ammunition back.
at
;

His wild proposal

was laughed
mendation
to

but by his persistence

Dumas

obtained an order for the powder, and a recom-

and with these credentials (which he boldly took upon himself to strengthen by interpolation) he prepared
the

people of Soissons

for his daring expedition.

The
Bard.

bold young "red" posted for Soissons on

the afternoon of July 30th, with a comrade

named

On

the way, as one of the postillions re-

fused to keep his horses up to the

pace of the

young
horse

adventurer's

blank cartridge at
in
affright.

Dumas fired a the man, who fell from the Young Alexandre promptly
impatience,

donned the posting-boots and took the coach forward himself. At his own beloved Villers-Cotterets

the hero halted and supped hastily, in the

;

midst of enthusiastic fellow-townsmen

recruited

and having

young
in

mother lived

named Hutin, whose Soissons and who was a native of

friend
in

the place, the party drove forward and entered the

gates of that town at one o'clock

All

the morning.

the rest of the night

Madame Hutin and

tricolour,

her household worked to

make a

which

was

to

float

from the

flagstaff of

the

cathedral

that morning.

Bard and Hutin

set out to

smuggle

44

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
for

the flag into the church, to overpower the sacristan

and exchange the Bourbon white

red-white-and-blue
;

repubhcan

and Dumas
until

himself Hngered

about a small pavilion at the Fort St Jean, which

was used as a magazine,

floating

he saw the tricolour

had waved.
pavilion,

where a minute before the Royalist flag Then he climbed the wall of the

with his

and dropping into the garden, confronted gun two soldiers who were peacefully
and announced
his errand.

hoeinpf the beds,

After

a parley the three guardians of the magazine agreed

to remain

indoors,

and behave as
to

neutrals, until

some
more

decisive order
off

Dumas went
difficult

came from headquarters, and accomplish the second and

in

part of his enterprise.

Liniers,

Commandant

charge

of

the depot

at Soissons, found himself that morning confronted by a swarthy and very earnest young man with a gun, who demanded the ammunition in his keeping.

He

scoffed

at

the youth

and denied that

in the

and his written order, was any quantity of powder there

magazine.

Dumas

retired to assure himself

and on was reinforced by his return found that three other officers, and therefore still more scornful
of the truth or untruth of this statement,

Liniers

and incredulous.

Dumas
must
act

did

not

hesitate,

for

he saw that he
"
I

prompdy, or he was

lost.

had gone

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
too far to

45

withdraw,"

he says

"

was almost

alone, in the midst of officials hostile to the

new

government.
for me."
pistols,

It

was a question of

life

or death

He

pulled out a pair of double-barrelled

and swore that unless he received an order

in

for

the powder

five

seconds, he would
!

blow

out the brains of the whole party

moment

the commandant's wife,

affair,

At this critical who had evidently

and flung herself
willing to give

got wind of the

rushed

in,

into the midst of the

company, imploring her hus-

band
way,

to yield.
if

Liniers

was now

his

"face" could be "saved."

the
court

Dumas

took

the hint, sent for two or three of his comrades to

assemble

in

outside,

threw open the

window, and bade them

signal.

Liniers sat

fire when he gave the down and wrote the order.

Then
f

followed denials and delays on the part

mayor and other authorities. At last Dumas in anger broke open the magazine himself, procured carts and loaded them with the powder, and at fi[ve o'clock the adventurous little band were on their way back to Paris. At nine next morning
the

Dumas
de
the

delivered his precious convoy, so daringly

"

procured, at the " rebel

Ville.

headquarters, the Hotel

Birt

even while the young

garrison
so

Dumas was
gloriously,

"bluffing"
the

Soissons

cause

of Republicanism

was being betrayed.

Between

"

46
the

LIFE
alternatives

AND WRITINGS OF
of

Charles

X.

and
;

an elected
the

President a compromise was

made and
entered
-

Duke
pro-

of Orleans, having abandoned his

King and
Paris,

mised

all

things

democratic,

and

was presently chosen lieutenant general of the kingdom, and then " monarch by the will of the
people."

"

moderate

"

party,

who

believed

in

constitutional

government,

acting

with

the very

best intentions, had given

their " extremist " allies

away

in reality all that

had fought and died for and Louis Philippe began to reign, the revolution
having made a distinction The new ruler, all affability,
without

difference.

congratulated his ems-

ployee on his return from Soissons,

ing, "

You

have just written your best drama

The
public

affair

of Soissons, and the excited state of

unsettled

affairs

our

susceptible
in

Dumas.

Charles X. had taken refuge

England, but there

provinces,

had been
to

for

moment
the

a fear that he might flee

La Vendee,

Royalist

and

let

upon France the horrors of civil war. Dumas, knowing that the late king had renounced the throne Henri V." (the Comte de in favour of his grandson Chambord) whose mother, the Duchesse de Berri, was a woman of much courage and determination, suggested that to prevent the possibility of any future rising, a national guard should be organised in the Royalist department, and that he should
loose
'*

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
responsible officials upon the subject.

47

be sent as a special commissioner to consult the

Lafayette

gave Dumas the required mandate, and on August

loth he set out.

Except that by
coiner

his intercession a

poor wretch of a

was saved from the galleys, Dumas did nothing and notable during his six weeks in La Vendee
;

when on

his return

Louis Philippe sent for him, the

envoy declared very frankly that it was useless to attempt to organise the national guard in La Vendee
;

but that

if

the

West were opened

up,

by means
between
this
all

of hieh-roads, so
parts of
it

that communication

might be rapid and easy,

prophesied
serious.

would
us
if

decrease the chances of a second outbreak of guerillawarfare.

The "poet"
though a
offered.

so

he

tells

another,
occasion

less

La Vendee,
Chouans
"

Indeed,

only

two years
rising

later,

the Duchesse

de Berri aroused the "

little

once

more and created a

of her son.

Vendean

on behalf

But the King did not

"

like the prophecy.

You

are a poet

write poetry, and leave politics

to kings

and ministers," he said with a frown.

"Sire," answered
their poets
"
'

Dumas, "the ancients

called

seers,'

The young The

author was dismissed from the Royal

presence, and sent in his resignation forthwith.

dramatist

in

Dumas was

still

subservient

48

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

when he wrote his next play "Napoleon," which, if we may believe the
to the would-be politician,
"

Memoires," was produced under novel and comic

cir-

cumstances.
the

For some time Harel, the manager of

had been pressing Dumas
;

Odeon

theatre,

to write

him a play on

this subject

but the young republican

could not give his mind to desk-work, and moreover,

the theme did not appeal to him.

One

night, after a

premiere at the Odeon,

Dumas and

several other

guests went to sup with Harel, and after the feast

Mademoiselle Georges led the unsuspecting playwright into another room, "to show him something."

On

their return

Dumas

found that the guests had

disappeared, and the smiling Harel informed his coy young author that he was a prisoner. Dumas was startled, but took his imprisonment in good part. He was fed sumptuously and treated like a lord all
;

the books which he required

to consult

were
it is

at his

elbow, and in eight days this enormous play was

ready.
Its

author confesses frankly that

;

a bad

piece of

work

but under the circumstances the

laid

blame can scarcely be

the quality of his
inspiration,
initiative.

upon him,

for with

him

work depended entirely upon his which in turn was a matter of his own
"

One
as a

of the causes of the failure of " Napoleon

stagecraft

work of

preoccupation, for his

was possibly the author's mind was full of the prospects

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
of his famous play, " Antony."
British admirers

49

To

the bulk of
title

of

Dumas

the very

will

be

strange

but in France our dramatist was better

known,

for generations, as the

author of " Antony,"

than as the writer of any romance or play whatever.

He
him
"

tells

us that the idea of the drama came to

at the time

when

" Christine "

was temporarily

forbidden.

was pacing the boulevards ... I stopped suddenly, and said to myself, A man who, when surprised by the husband of his mistress, should kill her, saying that she had resisted him, and who should die on the scaffold in consequence, would save the honour of that woman, and expiate
I
*

One day

his crime.'

The

idea of 'Antony'

was found:

six

weeks afterwards the play was written." " When I was writing Antony,' " says Dumas
'

elsewhere, "
I

was

in love
:

with a

woman

of

whom

was

terribly jealous

jealous because she was in

the play) in that she had

the position of Adele

(in

a husband, an officer
'
'

in

the

army.

Read

Antony he will tell you what I suffered then." M. Parigot, in his study " Le Drame dAlexandre Dumas," throws further lio^ht on this subject. A number of unpublished letters from the
:

lover to the lady were placed in the

critic's

hands,

and

he

has

quoted

from
to

them

exhaustively.

The "Adele" appears

have been one Melanie

50

LIFE
,

AND WRITINGS OF
presented (as he
")

W
in

to

whom Dumas was

tells

us in "

Le Testament de M. Chauvelin

at the

house of her father-in-law, the bibliophile Villenave,

1827.

The

conquest of a lady of position and

some pretentions to learning evidently flattered " there was something of the young man's vanity the air of Villers-Cotterets about him still " and the young lover vowed, cursed, adored, despaired, and rhapsodised for three years. Then " Antony " was written the intimacy had unconsciously fulfilled its purpose, and came to an end accordingly. Meanwhile this amorous heart, overflowing with passion, had found opportunity to fall in love with another
of

Melanie (the mother of Marie-Alexandre Dumas),

with Marie Dorval, and others.

The need

for love

had
It

for the

time possessed this ardent nature as

with a fever.

was of

this

experlment-in-love,

in

which he
these

took himself and his passion in such tragic earnest,

that

Dumas was

thinking

verses, with

which he prefaced

when he wrote " Antony "

:

Que de fois tu m'as dit, aux heures du delire, Quand mon front tout h. coup devenait souci eux
" Sur ta bouche pourquoi cet effrayant souriie? Pourquoi ces larmes dans tes yeux?"

Pourquoi

? Cast que mon coeur, au milieu des delices, D'un souvenir jaloux constamment oppresse, Froid au bonheur prdsent, va chercher ses supplices,

Dans

I'avenir et le passd.

51

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
Jusque dans
tes baiscrs je retrouve des pcines
:

m'accables d'amour I'amour, je m'en soiiviens, Pour la premiere fois s'est glisse dans tes veines, Sous d'autres baisers que les miens.

Tu

Du

feu des voluptes

vainement tu m'enivres

Combien pour un beau jour de tristes lendemains Ces chamies qu'ii mes mains en palpitant tu livres,
I'alpiteront sous d'autre mains.

Et

je

ne pourrai pas, dans

I'infidelite te

ma

fureur jalouse,
!

De

reserver le prix

Quelques mots a I'autel t'ont faite son dpouse, Et te sauvent de mon mepris.

Car ces mots pour toujours ont vendu tes caresses, L'amour ne les doit plus donner ni recevoir L'usages des ^poux a regie les tendresses Et leurs baisers sont un devoir
;
!

Malheur?

A jetc comme

Malheur h moi que le ciel en ce monde un hote h. ses lois etranger

A moi

qui ne sais pas dans

Souffrir

longtemps sans

ma douleur me venger.

profonde

Car une voix qui n'a rien de la terra " Pour ton bonheur c'est sa mort qu'il te faut ;" Et cette voix m'a fait comprendre le mystcre
!

Malheur

Ma dit

Et du meurtre
Viens, done,

et

de I'echafaud.
la voix

Ange du Mai, dont

si

me

convie
vie,

Car

il

est des instants ou,

je te voyais,

Je pourrais pour son sang t'abandonner

ma

Et mon ame ...

si j'y

croyais

Years
that

after, in his "

Memoires,"

Dumas

confessed

the

affected,

verses were poor, the sentiment was and the blasphemy w^as a wanton one

prompted, his son has shrewdly suggested, by the

rhyme.

52

LIFE
Once
set at

AND WRITINGS OF
liberty

by the tyrannical

Harel,

Dumas
"
hearsal.

hastened to the Com^die Franc^aise, where

"

Antony

had been accepted and placed

at

in

re-

But Mars and Firmin, the leading actor

that

and actress of the national theatre

were accustomed
weak,
to

time,

more orthodox roles than those Adele, and Antony, the masterful Ishmael-of-society and the Comedie Fran9aise itself, as our author confesses, was not The two artists, the frame for such a picture.
of the
fascinated
;

losing faith

in

their parts, hinted as

diffidence.

much

to the

author,
pretext.

Firmin with

Mars with a bold Dumas astonished them by demanding

the manuscript from the prompter, and walking out

of the theatre.
It

so happened that

M.

Crosnier, of the Porte

St Martin, had received Hugo's " Marion Delorme,"

when

that

poet had also abandoned the

stifling

atmosphere of the Fran^aise to breathe

elsewhere.

freer air

The young

dramatist,

although

pro-

foundly discouraged concerning the merits of his

latest

born,

went forthwith
naive,

to

Marie Dorval, the

of

leading lady of the Porte St Martin, a clever actress,

ready-witted,

and

full

nervous energy.

He

read the play to her, and her trained and recep-

tive intelligence at
piece.

once saw the possibilities of the

the

She shut

young author

into a room,

to

spend the night in rewriting the last act, which

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
53
;

did not appeal to her

in its original

form
St

and next

day negotiations began.

to

The

play was duly read

the

manager
;

of

the

Porte

Martin
to

and
the

accepted

but

it

was something of a blow

act, slept

author's vanity

when M. Crosnier

politely struggled

with slumber during the third

in

comfortably

the
fifth

fourth,

and snored unrestrainedly through

the

At length

the night of "Antony's" birth arrived,

infant,
its

and the miserable

ing two years for

which had now been wait-

delivery,

had given

its

parent
that

much

anxiety.

For

once

Dumas had

lost

maofnificent confidence in himself

which aided him

so powerfully in his career.

But

if

the

moment

for

producing the play was

it

inopportune

appearing
with
a

as

did in the midst of

social

distracting political ferment

the

atmosphere

was
die
itself.

charged
story

feverish

electricity,

which
to

of

"Antony"
is

attracted

irresistibly

How

social

outlaw like Antony to

win

for himself the lovely wife of a

man

in

high

society

how

is

he to break through, and persuade

all

her to break through,

the bars to self-abandon-

ment which society has erected ? By will-power by the strength of an unscrupulous individuality! For such a story of power and passion the Parisian of that day was fully ripe.

As

the

play progressed,

the

emotion

of

the

54

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
The
first
;

audience mounted to a painful height.

act

ended in applause and the second was as warmly received. In the midst of the play the
unconsciously copying

author,

Goldsmith,

rushed

out for a time and paced the boulevards, unable to

face his fate.

The
hung

startling climax to the third act

;

took away the breath

of the play
in

and

for a
:

moment

the fate

suspense

then the theatre

shook with a rushing storm of applause.

curtain
"
fell

The

on the fourth act amid frenzied "bravos."

francs,"

hundred

cried

the excited author to

curtain
!

the scene-shifters,

"if the

goes up again
the
fifth

before they stop applauding

actually

"

And

act

commenced

before the audience had finished

acclaiming the fourth.

We

have already indicated the ddnottement of

That "hero," surprised by the husband, stabs Adele, and throws the dagger at the wronged man's feet, saying, " She resisted me and I killed
;

" Antony."

her
*

"
tells

a story respecting this famous " tag " which we cannot some years later, the prompter, through ignorance, rang down the curtam immediately Antony had stabbed Adcle. The public, furious at being cheated of the famous line, clamoured " Le dt'no2ie//ie/:t ! le denouement I" Bocage sulked in his but Marie Dorval gooddressing-room, and would not return naturedly remained on the stage, and the curtain was rung up again, in the hope that Antony would feel obliged to return. Adcle was discovered, dead, in her chair. There was a silence. At last Dorval rose slowly, and coming down to the footlights, remarked pleasantly, "Gentlemen, I resisted him, and he killed me." Then she made her best bow, and retired, amidst frantic applause.

Dumas

omit.

At a

revival of the play,

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
The
recalls

55

curtain down, the audience in a fury of im-

patience

followed.

demanded a sight of the author. Calls and Dumas, in rushing behind the
he was recognised, and chased by a
his coat

scenes from his box, took a short cut through the

corridors
;

crowd of young enthusiasts, and

to ribbons.
"

was torn

Antony
It

"

excited

much enthusiasm and oppo-

sition.

stined to

was a daring, provocative play, deset the fashion in French society dramas

for the rest of the century.

When
later,

it

was about
time
at

to

be revived,

three

years

this

the

Comedie Fran^aise, one of the many journals hostile to Dumas attacked " Antony " for its immorality. The denunciation came from such a powerful quarter that Thiers, who had arranged not only for the revival, but for new plays from its author's pen, was forced to forbid the performance. Dumas went to law, and obtained ^400 damages, and an order that
the piece should be produced within a certain time.

But even "Antony"

fortune, so greatly

failed

to bring

its

author

things political

were the public preoccupied by and to avoid the unsettling atmofor a holiday to

sphere of Paris,
ville,
little

Dumas went
seaside

Trou-

which

in

those days was a quiet and charming

village.

Normandy
for

As

usual with

him, Dumas's holiday meant a different workingplace,

here

he was busy evolving

his

most


56

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
ac-

poetical play,

"Charles VII.," inspired, as he

knowledges, by

De
to

Mussel's

"

Marrons au

feu,"

and

Here also one him with the prologue of a play which afterwards became " Richard Darlington." It was on our author's return from Trouville, to witness the first night of Hugo's " Marion Delorme,"
by

"

The Cid

"

and " Andromaque."

M. Beudin came

that that

Dumas

encountered a kind friend

late,

who

told

him was

he was too

and informed him of the com-

parative failure of the play.

The

critic-friend

astounded to hear a detailed and eloquent eulogy of

" Marion
"

from the

lips of the

author of " Christine."

the
critic

When Dumas
"

had
an

finished,
air

shrug-pfed

his shoulders with

of profound amazement.

confrere !

"

he

said.

Further words

failed him.
"

"Charles
*'

VII.,"

like

"Henri

Trois

and
a

Antony," was,

in spite of its historical setting,

play of the times

a challenge

to the old social

;

regime
ful

a part of the romantic

for
in

movement

a power-

plea

individuality.

This

Dumas

himself
his
first

declared,
"

the

lines

which he prefixed to
dramatique
in " (the

Comme

je devins auteur

draft of his
"

"Memoires")

1833

Un jour

on connaitra quelle

lutte obstin^e
;

A fait sous mon genou plier la destince A quelle source amere en mon ame j'ai

pris

Tout ce qu'elle contient de haine et de mcpris : Quel orage peut faire, en passant sur la tcte, Qu'on prenne pour le jour I'eclair d'un tempete,

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
Et ce que I'homme souffre en ses convulsions, Quand au volcan du cceur grondent les passions. Je ne cacherai plus oil ma plume tidcle

57

trouve d'Antony le type et le modcle, Et je dirai tout haut ii quels foyers brulants Yaquoub et Saint Megrin puiserent leurs elans.
'

."

"Charles VII." was a

cTestime.
his father

failure,

or at best a

stcccds

Dumas fits

has told us

how

sadly he and
;

walked homeward
its

after the play

for the

tragedy had contained

author's

most conscious
all

and most
fact that

literary
life

attempt at poetry; and

his

many

successes in

never compensated
in

Dumas

for the

he was not

the strict sense of the word a

fact

poet,

and could not disguise the

result of

from himself.
"

" Charles VII."

was of the school of

but
the
"

Christine,"

and was the

Dumas's occasional yearnings

;

after a classical reputation

drama-proper

was

his

more

conq-enial mcHier.

Richard Darlinsf-

ton," a legitimate son

of "

Antony," was successfully

its

produced, and became one of

plays.

author's favourite
this occasion

In spite of this

Dumas, who on
his

had collaborators, refused to allow

announced,
"

name

to be

even

as
"

part-author.
will
all

Unfortunately

Richard

Darlington
is
;

be read

by English
England, and

people

if it

read at

with
is

more amusement
it

than respect

for the scene

life

laid in

the details of our social

which

offers

have

all

the piquancy of novelty, and discount the dramatic

strength of the play.

'

The "hero"

of "Charles VII."

"

58

LIFE
An

AND WRITINGS OF
we
find in the "

incident which

Memoires
skill

gives us an interesting insight into the author's

and knowledge of stage-craft. Whilst Dumas was busy writing " Richard Darlington " with Goubaud,
he stopped short at one
It

point, unable to advance.

was

at the crisis

when

the

ambitious Richard,

anxious to get rid of Jenny, his plebeian wife, so

that he

may marry
if

into higher society, determines to

make away
stairs
;

with her.

Someone

is

the existence of this wife

all

is

coming up the discovered by

is

the newcomer,

Darlington's plans will be overto

thrown.

The

only obvious resource

throw

below.

Jenny out of the window into the rushing torrent This is where the skilled dramatist diswould revolt the audience
for life

covers and resolves a problem of stage-management.

It

to

see

woman
to

struggling

every inch of the

if

way

that

window
in

it

would make them laugh,

the husband,

lifting

his victim to

hurl her to death, should

expose her ankles.

At length the Columbus with the

it

idea

came,

and

Dumas

like

egg, broke the end,

and made

stand, thus

Darlington threatens Jenny; she rushes towards

the balcony, crying for help.

He

follows her, closing

"

the foldinof doors of the recess behind them.

cry pierces the silence.

Richard strikes the doors

with his

fist,

they

fly

open and disclose him on the


ALEXANDRE DUMAS
alone.

59

balcony, pale, wiping the sweat from his brow, and

Jenny has disappeared It was at this period of

describes
as

Voi/d iout f"

his fortunes,

when he was

writing with Anicet Bourgeois " Teresa," which he

"one
his

of

my

worst,"

and "Angele,"
to

which he considered one of his best plays, that

Dumas gave
invite

famous

ball.

As he wished

three
in

hundred guests, and had only four

rooms
suite

which to receive them, he hired another

from his landlord.

Three days before the

eventful night,

Dumas

turned ten of the foremost

painters of France into these

rate them,

empty rooms
all

to deco-

and as the great men were

friends of

young author, this was at once an economy, an With the same object of attraction, and a novelty. saving expense, Dumas took some friends out of town, and they shot their own game for the feast. It was a brilliant affair, for it was a costume ball, and all Bohemia-in- Paris gathered in the little rooms, which by midnight were crowded with dazzling dresses, and filled with laughter and music. Here, among others, came Lafayette, Rossini, De Musset,
the

Sue, Lemaitre, Mars, Georges, Dejazet and Dela-

him in two or three hours M. Tissot, of the Academy, went "made up" as a sick man, whereupon Jadin followed him as a long-faced, funereal-looking undercroix
allotted to
!

who had painted the panel

"

60
taker,

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
other's footsteps, croaking out

and dogged the

lugubriously every other minute, " I'm waiting for

you

I'm waiting for you

"
!

The

party broke up at

nine in the morning, with a wild galop in the street.

And now
change
in

events conspired to work an important

Dumas's
under

life.

So

far,

the

author of

" Antony,"

the

influence

of

Goethe

and

Byron, had "posed" in his writings, as a Manfred

or a

Mephistopheles
laugh

and with folded arms and

to

cynic

had

affected

deny,

and

disdain,

the virtues and pleasures of the world.

But one
friend
its

day Dumas wrote a begging-letter

Lassailly,

for his

who, on reading the note, turned to

author with a stupefied air. " Well," he said, " this is comical! "
"

What

"
is ?

"

Why, you have

wit
I

"

Why

shouldn't

Envious fellow!
first
"
!

'*

" Well, you're probably the

man

of five feet

who has ever been witty Dumas has himself defined and own gaiety. " Some folk," he says,
nine

described
" are

his

gay be-

cause they're well, or have a good digestion, or

have nothing

to

worry about
is

that

is

the ordinary

gaiety.

But mine

invariable gaiety, which shines

influences,

through

disturbing

through

troubles,

through danger

itself"

The young

writer

had been unconscious of the


ALEXANDRE DUMAS
existence of this unfashionable quahty
;

61 but
first
it

was
his

destined

to

show

itself

henceforth

in

books of

travel,
;

and afterwards

in his

comedies and
everything

romances

and, in short,

more or

less in

he wrote or spoke.

Dumas's gaiety does

first

not, perhaps,
call
it

appear

in his

romance

if

we
of

can
his
little

so

of " Isabel de

Baviere."

Four

friends

had

previously

scraped together a

money, and started the

world - famous

Revue

des

Deux

Mondes,
"

and

Dumas agreed The " Histoire

to assist the

new-born with

his pen.

des Dues de Bourgoyne of Barante made a powerful impression upon him at this time, "finishing," he says, "the work begun by Scott."
Still,

to

young author did not feel strong enough write an entirely original romance and he therethe
;

fore put into a picturesque form,

and

into dialogue,
first

selected scenes from Barante, which he

" Scenes

called

Historiques," and which proved a great

success in the pages of the Revue.

This decided

the ambitious author to write forthwith the history

of France from the days of Charles V I. to his own.

It is
it

hardly credible

and

yet

Dumas
it

confesses to

his

ignorance of history at this period was so

profound that he was studying

poetic tags
"
!

by the aid of

En

I'an quatre-cent-vingt,

Pharamond, premier
la salique loi."
. .

ro3,

Est connu seulement par

62

LIFE
novelist

AND WRITINGS OF

was delivered from this school-book thraldom by a more learned friend, and introduced History to Thierry's " Conquete des Normands."

The

became a passion with him, and the days of that tremendous historic-romance-cycle grew nearer and
nearer.

In 1832 the cholera swept over Paris, emptying

the theatres,
terror
filling

the

cemeteries,

and carrying
it

everywhere.

Nevertheless

could

not

daunt our author's new-found gaiety

dialogue of one of his wittiest plays
la

he wrote the
"

Le Mari de

Veuve

"

for

an actress who was about to take

a benefit, and

who begged from Dumas some

bills.

Every night a group *'We of friends forgathered in Dumas's rooms. chatted sometimes Hugo decided to recite us some of his poetry Liszt thumped hard on a wretched piano, and the evening passed by without one of us thinking any more of the cholera than if it had been at Pekin." But one evening, immediately after Dumas had watched his joyous friends depart, he himself was seized with the cholera. For five or six days he was prostrate and in great danger, but his wondernovelty to put on the
;
;

ful

physique withstood the attack of the terrible

disease.

The
The

first

person to greet
Harel,

convalescence

was

Odeon.

cholera,

him in his manager of the he cheerfully declared, had

the

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
"gone away without even making
its

63
expenses,"

and he pressed the fever-ridden author to set about a new play. This was destined to be " La Tour de The plot of that drama was common proNesle."
perty
;

from Villon's day

of the vile

all

French readers had

of Burgundy,

known

Queen Marguerite
were found

of her foul, nightly revels in the terrible Tower, and

of the bodies which
in the

Seine next
is

morning.

It

may be added

that there

not a

horror, or an incredible incident in the play,

which

history has not only justified, but asserted.

The

authorship of the play led to a long and

is

acrimonious dispute, which

best described in the

:

words of Mr Walter Herries Pollock "It seems to me that no one who devotes a moderate attention to his dramatic works can
reasonably doubt that
in

the
'

celebrated

quarrel

about the play called the

Tour de

Nesle,' right

was on the side of Dumas. This quarrel is worth some attention. The story takes up some four chapters of Dumas's 'Memoires'; but briefly, the
main
facts

were these

" Harel, the great

theatrical

manager, had

re-

ceived a play in manuscript from a young author

named
stuff in

Gaillardet.
it
;

He

thought there was

caj|ital

was written it was quite unfitted for stage representation on account of the author's inexperience. Jules Janin had tried to do something
but as
it

64
with
it,

LIFE
and had

AND WRITINGS OF
failed.

Harel then came to Dumas,

who, according to
of the
stage.

his

own

account, which
it,

for
it

one one

beheve, entirely remodelled

and made of

most impressive melodramas ever put on the He had previously written a somewhat
letter to the

imprudently self-effacing

young

author,

was furious at having, as he said, a collaborator thrust upon him, and ended by writing to the papers to assert that he was the
who, instead of being
grateful,

sole author of the piece.

"

The

matter went throuo^h

all

kinds of intricacies
;

into which it would be tedious to go but the last word which ought to be said about it is found in a letter written by Gaillardet in 1861 to the manager of

the Porte St Martin theatre.

The

letter
in

runs thus

"*A

judgment of the courts

1832 decreed

that the "

Tour de Nesle " should be printed and announced under my name alone and this was
;

done up
"

to the date of
in

its

being forbidden by the

censorship
*

185

i.

Now
I

that

you are going

to put

it

on the stage
more,

again,

give you permission

you

nay,

to join to

my name
I

that of Alexandre

beg Dumas,
I I

my

collaborator.

wish to prove to him that

I

have, forgotten our old quarrel, and that

remember

only our later pleasant relations, and the great share

which
the

his incomparable talent

had

in

the success of

"Tourde

Nesle."'"

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
The
"

65

success of the drama, indeed, equalled that of

Yet, although

Antony."

Dumas was

determined

that Gaillardet should receive the sole credit of the

play,

a quarrel developed

for

which Harel's un-

scrupulous behaviour as the go

sponsible

between was

re-

and

a duel was

fought, fortunately with

no serious
scrape

results.

But no sooner was our ardent hero out of

than

this

he got into another.

riot

There was a
of

Republican

during

the

funeral

General

Lamarque, a devoted servant of France and of

Napoleon.

Dumas
in

took part

in the riot

and next

day he read,
taken
with
martialled,

a legitimist paper, that he had been

in

arms

his

hand,

summarily courtof so authentic a

and shot

"The
stantial,

news," says Dumas,

"was

nature, the details of

my

execution were so circuminfallible

I

the information
I

came from such an

source, that

experienced a moment's doubt.

!

felt

myself

all

over

"

Nodier wrote

to say that

he had

heard of Dumas's death, and expressed a hope that

would not prevent him from dining with a few friends on the morrow. The other replied that he
it

was not

at all sure

whether he was living or

not,

but

that either in

body or in spirit he would come to dinner. He added that, as he had eaten nothing for six weeks there would probably be more of his spirit than his body present.
r.

66

LIFE
But
if

AND WRITINGS OF
and him, Dumas was
shot,
if

he had not been

to kill

the cholera
in

had

failed

still

some

danger.

One

of the king's aides-de-camp gave the

literary politician

a hint that the question of his

arrest

was being considered, and advised a temporParis.

ary absence from

Accordingly

Dumas

set

out in July, 1832 for Switzerland.

This
public

tour,
its

the account of which delighted

freshness, gaiety

the

by

and picturesque

style,

possessed one or two notable features.

journalistic instinct

With

true

Dumas

called

on Chateaubriand,

the self-exiled Royalist poet, and chatted to him of

politics
;

he interviewed Jacques Balmat, and heard

lips of the

from the

guide his narrative of the

;

first

ascent of

Mont Blanc

fable of the " bear-beefsteak,"

and he wrote the famous which he pretended to

Thenceforth travellers

have eaten at a certain

inn.

by the score stopped at that inn and called for bearsteak, and the unhappy landlord, quite unable to
satisfy the guests either with

his explanations or

with the required dish, went nearly mad, and cursed

the very

name

of

Dumas.

The most

interesting portion of the " Impressions

de Voyage en Suisse," from a serious point of view, is tl;ie account of Dumas's interview at Arenenburg with Hortense Bonaparte, ex-Queen of Holland,

and mother of Louis Napoleon, afterwards Napoleon III. The young Republican philosopher did not hold

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
force, or

67

out any hopes to the royal exile of a restoration by

alone.

by the power of the Napoleonic tradition In reply to a request from the queen for

advice as to the means by which one of her family

might re-establish the dynasty,

"
I

Dumas
;

replied

would say
;

to him, obtain the revocation of

your exile
to

buy a home in France cause yourself be elected deputy and try by force of your talent
;

to secure a majority in the

chamber, and make use

Sixteen years later Louis

of

it

to overthrow Louis Philippe, and get yourself

in his stead."

chosen king

Napoleon followed
success
is

this

advice pretty closely, and his

a matter of history.

The Swiss holiday was followed by a brief visit to England in 1833, and a tour in the South of France, which was much more lengthy. The following year

Dumas
as a

started for Italy, with his friend Jadin,

and

"Mylord," the bull-dog.

He was
it

arrested at Naples

was only when he produced papers proving that he was entrusted with a private mission by the French Government that he was released. In November of the following year the traveller was privileged to have an interview with Pope Gregory XVI. after which he was arrested
dangerous

" red,"

and

a second time

The
ful

next year or two passed in the most delight way; Dumas enjoyed himself like a schoolboy
holiday-time,
sailing

In

round

Sicily,

exploiting

68

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

Naples and Florence, and ''earning his keep" by

writing most entertaining accounts of his adventures.

On
Juan
"

his

return
"
"

"

Catherine

Howard,"

"

Don

years.

Kean were produced in successive and " Kean," as played by Frederick Lemaitre,
others,
is

made a strong impression on Heine and

but in spite of
its

English milieu, the play

so

French
about
naive

in

spirit

as to appeal most to our sense

of humour.
this

Thackeray,
period,

who was
terribly

visiting

Paris

was

shocked by the
of

and earnest
In

irreverence
his " Paris

"Don Juan"
"

and

" Calieula."

Sketch-book

he

has denounced them, both, in that bluff " damneverything-that-isn't-English

"

style,

so cheap, yet

so dear to the public.

Dumas had been on familiar terms with the young Duke of Chartres, who succeeded to the " (which corresponded title of " Duke of Orleans to our " Prince of Wales "), when his father obtained the throne.

In 1836 our author had stayed

with the prince at Compiegne, and

when
were

the heir

was

married

in

1837,

and

fetes

held

at

honour of the occasion, four crosses of the Legion of Honour were placed at the disDumas received one posal of the young prince.
Versailles in

of

them
the

a
at

knight's

cross.

Seven years
Louis

before,

on

morrow
his

of

" Christine,"

Philippe
for

himself,

son's

request,

had asked

the

ALEXANDRE DU:MAS
cross for his

69

young employee from Charles X., but had been refused. Dumas's name was on this occasion removed from the list by the King's own order upon which Hugo, who was about to re;

ceive an officer's cross, declined the promotion

dignantly.

in-

The
on the

offending
list,

name was
it

accordingly

re-entered

and the two friends went

left

to the fete torether,

and
the
it

arm-in-arm.

But
late.

Alexandre

felt

that

honour came too

Instead of fastening
it

to his button-hole,

he put

in his fob.

By
that,

this

time

Dumas had become

so

famous

with his artless vanity, his outspoken ways,

his unbusiness-like

and

methods, he had earned a

host of enemies, mockers, detractors, denunciators

and the
most
of

like.

His
at

" Calio'ula " failed, although

it

was produced
costly
that the

the
;

fashion

Comedie Francaise in the and its author discovered

gang applauders) had been bribed by a number of

leader of the claque (or organised

actors,

who were
he could to
1838
life.

not performing in the play, to

do

all

damn

the piece

In
of his

Dumas

suffered
to

the great

misfortune

His mother,

whom

he had been
Friends

so passionately attached, died suddenly.

brought him the news that

been seized with a second

first

Madame Dumas had apoplectic stroke. The

had partly disabled

attack, eight years befure,


70

LIFE
fatal.

AND WRITINGS OF
this

the sufferer,
diately

and

one proved almost immeable

to

The dying woman was

open her eyes and look on her son once more and that was all. With a choking heart Dumas

young patron, and an hour later the kindly duke was at the street The mourner ran out, at door in his carriage. this sign of friendly sympathy, and kneeling at the prince's feet, burst into tears. There was resent

word of the event

to his

morse mingled with grief

for

in this

passion of regret

was passing away in the room above, for although Alexandre had usually visited his mother constantly, and shown her every loving mark of affection, there had also been periods of
the
life

that

absence and neglect, which

too keenly.

now he

regretted only

At

the foot of the sketch of his dead mother,

which Duval drew,

" Oh,
Oil
!

Dumas

wrote these lines

nie,

mon Dieu Dans ce monde ou toute bouche chacun foule aux pieds les Tables de la Loi, Vous m'avez entendu, pendant son agonie, Prier h. deux genoux, le coeur ardent de foi.
Vous m'avez
Oil la
vu,

mon Dieu, sur la funebre route, courbait devant un crucifix, Et vous avez comptc les pleurs qui, goutte h. goutte, Ruisselaient de mes yeux aux pieds de Votre Fils.
mort

me

Je demandais,

mon

Dieu, que moins vite ravie,

:

Vous retardiez I'instant de son dernier adieu Pour racheter ses jours je vous offrais ma vie Vous n'avez pas voulu soyez beni, mon Dieu
:

'."^

("

Oh,

my

God,

in this world,

feet of

men

spurn the Tables of

where all men deny Thee, where the Thy Laws, Thou hast heard me, as I

ALEXAINDRE DUMAS
It

71

was

in

the next few years that

Dumas,

in

the interval of travels and foreign residence, wrote

the three comedies which
live

seem destined
in

to out-

his

dramas, and to prove

of
"
his

the

future

the

sole

support

reputation

as

a playwright.

These were

Mademoiselle de

Belle-Isle," "
"

Un

Manage
selles

sous

Louis Ouinze," and

Les Demoiare
in

de

St Cyr."

These

plays,

which sparkle
still

with wit and are alive with

the repertoire of the

interest,

Comedie Francaise.

The

"Manage" was "commanded" by

Minister (fancy play from
in
Italy,

the responsible

the

Home
for the
in

Secretary ordering a

Mr Grundy
and sent

Lyceum

!),

was written

to

the

theatre.

On

the

author's return, his enemies in the

him

gleefully that the

company told comedy had been rejected.

Dumas

quietly produced the Minister's letter, and

informed the dismayed actors that they had no

option but
to

play

it,

whether they liked

it

or

they didn't.

Tableau
led a roving
life.
;

Dumas now
visited

In 1838 he had

Belgium and the Rhine

two years

later
full

knelt at her feet, throughout her agony, praying, with a heart

faith.

of

Thou hast seen me, oh God, go with her on that last sad journey, when Death's hand bowed my back and bent my gaze on the crucifix, and Thou didst count the tears that one by one streamed from my eyes on the feet of Thy Son. I asked, oh God, that Thou
wouldst delay for a while, however brief, the last parting of mother and son. To purchase life for her I would have sold my own. It was not Thy will be Thou blest, oh my God
''')
:
I

"

72

LIFE
1842.

AND WRITINGS OF
1841 and again

he went to
in

Italy, returning there in

In 1840 he married Mdlle. Ida Ferrier,

a fascinating

woman

but a second-rate actress,

who

appeared
gula,"

in

her husband's tragedy-drama " Cah-

and other subsequent plays. The marriage was a very ill-advised one, and finally extravagance and irreconcilable differences of character combined caused the lady to leave her husband and go to She never returned to France, live in Florence. and died in Italy in 1859. The " Comtesse Dash," an intimate friend of Dumas and his wife, has given us, if not the real
excuse for his "immorality," at least the true explanation of
"
it

loved him enough him as he wished to be loved (she writes in her " Memoires dAutres "), a woman who would have had the tact to close her eyes to his pranks, and make home comfortable, so that he could invite and above all, who zuoic/d not his friends there have disturbed him in his work that woman would have been perfectly and eternally happy with him."
to love
;

woman who would have

The
clearly

character

of us

Madame Dumas

has
"

been
Ida

drawn

for

by the same pen.

was a
with

beautiful

woman

of mediocre abilities

and

a jealous,
tolerated

narrow and contemptible nature.

Marie, Dumas's daughter, but

She

little

hated young Alexandre, because of the love his

ALEXANDRE
father bore him.

DU.AIAS

73

by

stealth,

for

the

The two were obh'g-ed to meet young- man was not allowed In
"

the house.

forced
talents

As Dumas
were

the actress
to

Mademoiselle Ferrier
parts
to

"

gi^e
equal
;

her
as

which

her

not

mistress

she was

furiously jealous of every other

practical

woman, and played

on the master.

jokes

of

doubtful

taste

Dumas
constant

bore patiently with her extravagance, her

interruption of his

work,

and the daily

;

seemed necessary to her existence but soon after the pair were married the connection came to Its inevitable end.
quarrel which

Whilst
at

Dumas was

staying at the Villa Palmierl

1842, old

Florence, early in

Jerome Bonaparte
returning

suggested that the author should take the youngPrince

Napoleon,

who was

just

from

Wurtemburg, for a cruise, with the object of "teaching him France." The nephew of the great

Emperor
Corsica
;

naturally desired to visit both

Elba and
that

and

it

was during
of

this

trip

the

travellers

espied from the mainland of Elba, the

islet

insignificant

IMonte
It,

Cristo.

Curiosity
so

prompted them

to

visit

and

Dumas was
Its

much
little

struck by the appearance of the picturesque

spot

that

he resolved to use

name

as

the
It

title

of his forthcominof romance.

was one of Dumas's laughing complaints that Scribe was considered a " moral " writer, whilst he


74

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
Therefore,

himself was looked upon as immoral.

when
tical

the opportunity

came

to

him
in

to play a pracresist.

joke on his confrh^e he could not

Whilst
this

Dumas was

staying-

Florence about

named Doligny, came to him and asked permission to play some of his best-known dramas. The author gfave his
time an actor-friend of
his,

consent willingly, but warned the actor that the

authorities

would refuse him permission

returned

to perform.

When
friend

Doligny

he

confessed

that

his

was

by

" that

the censor had rejected the plays immoral writer" but Dumas came
right
to

the rescue.
office of

He

took

Doligny with him to the

a friendly printer, and ordered

four

new covers
was very

for

the
:

plays

in

question.

It

simple

In place of " Richard Darlington, by A. Dumas,"

was printed "Ambition, or the Executioner's Son, by Eugene Scribe." In place of " Angele, by A. Dumas," was printed "A Ladder of Petticoats, by Eugene Scribe." Instead of "Antony, by A. Dumas," was printed " Love's Victim, by Eugene Scribe." "Instead of "La Tour de Nesle, by MM. Gaillardet and A. Dumas," was printed "Adultery
Punished, by

Eugene

Scribe."

The
believe

old plays with the

new

coats

Dumas

duly

if

we may

passed

the

censor without

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
comment
of
;

75

the public found the plays masterpieces

literature,

improving-

and

the

grand-duke

applauded them furiously

Dumas heard of the sudden and shocking death of the young Duke
In July of the same year
of Orleans,

through his
jured.
to

was thrown from his carriage, horses taking fright, and mortally in\vho
just in time
for

Full of grief, the author hurried post-haste

Paris,

and arrived

the funeral

ceremonies,

and

the

interment

at

Dreux.

His

sorrow for the promising young prince, of which

there
artless
is

no reason

for

doubting the

sincerity,

was

and unrestrained, and afforded

for

his

enemies

ample scope

mockery.

Dumas,
to

like

most French authors, had a desire

Immortal whilst he
lived,

be judged

and had

already more than once put himself forward for

election to the

Academy, and

in particular to the

seat vacant by the death of his old colleague and

rival

Casimir Delavigne, the author of " Louis XI."

in

was rewhose orthodoxy was shocked jected by the Forty, by the audacious methods of this wicked " Romantic." On one occasion Hugo would have nominated Dumas
But
1S43, as on previous occasions, he
for

a vacant

chair,

but there were

only thirteen

Academicians present and twenty-one votes were

necessary for election.

Dumas

consoled himself
the
"forty-first

with

the

fact

that he occupied

76
fauteuil "

LIFE
in

AND WRITINGS OF

good company, and recollecting the treatment which the Academy had meted out to great Frenchmen, from Corneille and Moliere, downward. Repulsed once more, he returned
to

Florence,

saying to himself,

" Je

demande a

etre le qnaranticme,
faire

mais
("
I

il

parait qu'on
to

me

faire

quarantaijie

"

ask

be

made

the
in

fortieth,

but
!

it

appears they wish to keep

me

quarantine

")

The
the
life

year 1844 was one of the great years in

of

Dumas.

"

Les Trois Mousquetaires"

and Monte Cristo " both appeared at that time, and were welcomed enthusiastically by the public.
During
their

"

progress

in feitilleton

form,

people

had discussed the sayings and doings of DArtagnan

or Dantes as
if

the

men were

alive,

and known

to

everybody
tells

as,

indeed,

they were.

Villemessant

us

how he woke

his wife in the night to tell

her of the escape in the sack from the Chateau

d'lf;

and Gautier has described amusingly enough

which the two books
of the

the grip

obtained on the

imagination

Parisian public.

Dumas had

achieved a second fame.

In
his

preface

to

Alexandre
written.

Dumas yf/^

Les Trois Mousquetaires," has left us a charming picture

"

of his father at the time these great

romances were Their author was then working in some

modest lodgings, overlooking the courtyard of the

"

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
house (No.
chairs,
22

77
plainly

Rue de

Rivoli), his

rooms

furnished with a big white-wood table, a sofa, two

a few books on

the

mantelpiece, and an

iron bedstead,

where he

slept for a

few hours when

into

the evening-'s

work was prolonged

the night.

"It was there," adds the son, addressing his father

in

apostrophe, " that you sought refuge, to be unall

disturbed by the importunate, and

the parasites

who

incessantly

besieged

that

door which
Clothed
in

you
your

did not close half often enough.

pantalons a pied and shirt sleeves, your arms bare

to

the

shoulder,
to

your

collar

unfastened,

you

sat

down

work
it

at seven in the

morning and you

I

kept at
"

until

seven at night, when

came

to

dine with you.

Sometimes
little
it.

the

table

placed
whilst

we

found your lunch untouched, on I by your side, where the servant had You had forgotten to eat it. Then, dined and dined well, on the dishes

which you yourself had prepared, you recounted

to me,

by way of

relaxation, all that your characters

had

done

during

the

day,

and

rejoiced

in

the

thought of what they were going to do, on the

morrow.
age
to

This lasted

for

some months.
!

" Ah, those

:

happy days
forty-two,

We

were both of an
!

you were
his

Fiorentino declares that

fill

and I was twenty Dumas, being accustomed

"

twenty sheets a day, finished

Monte

78
Cristo,"

LIFE
In

AND

AVRITINGS OF
on
the
fifteenth

his

presence,

page.

Not

wishing to depart from his rule, the romancer

took a fresh sheet, wrote at the top " Les Trols

Mousquetalres," and completed five sheets of the

new

story before finishing for the day

It will

be readily understood that with his

Villemessant,

bo7i-

hoviie

and contagious wit Dumas's

enormous.

social popularity

was

whose

stories

of

"the master" were always amusing and sometimes

trustworthy,
"
tells

us
the

When

he spoke,
In

most celebrated guests

;

were
of the

silent,

order to listen to him

when he
the beauty
life

entered a salon, the wit of the

men and
for the
this

women

all

that

makes

joy of

were eclipsed by the glory of

one man.
for

He

was

really

the King of

Paris, sovereign

by virtue
a whole
classes
all

of intelligence and wit

century,

the

only

man

who had made

himself adored by

of society."

Janin relates that on the occasion of the

Duke

of Montpensier's wedding with the Infanta of Spain

a grand fete was given at Madrid.

arriving
late,

An

old diplomat,

was astonished

to see there a

man

dressed simply in black, and a perfect stranger, to

whom
with

the greatest lords of Spain were listening

all

their ears,

forgetting the queen

their

and the
asked

royal bridal pair in

enjoyment.

He

who

the attraction was.

"

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
^'

79

Pardic2i,''

answered
else

his friend, "that's

it

Alexandre
"

Dumas

who

do you think

would be ?

A certain Parisian named M.

Pitre-Chevalier, being

a sort of Lyon-Hunter, was (so Villemessant declares)

anxious to obtain the presence of

brities at his salons,

all

the social celeefforts to

and made unheard-of

secure the lion of the hour for one of his evenings.

Dumas
known
night
it
!

chose his salons, as he chose his theatre, or

the newspaper for his fetiillctons, and

in
"

when

it

was

Paris "

Dumas

will

be

at So-and-so's toif

society attacked the lucky host's house as

theatre,

had been the doors of a

all

on

the nicjht of

premiere,

the

company stood up
his

as he entered,

and

his

journey towards

host was a sort of

triumphal procession.

Pitre-Chevalier had his way;

but the next day the gossips of the boulevards

talked of nothing but Dumas's latest mot.

Asked

by a
with
"

friend
]\I.

whether he had enjoyed the evening

Lyon-Hunter,
I

Dumas

replied,
if it

Well,
for

should have been very bored,

"

hadn't

been

myself!

At one

of these soirees

Dumas was

wearinof the

ribbon of a certain order, having recently been

made

a commandant, and an envious friend remarked

upon
"

it.

My

dear fellow," he said, " that cordon

!

is

wretched colour

One would
!

think

it

was your

woollen vest that was showine

"

"

"

80

LIFE
"Oh
no,

AND WRITINGS OF
dear d'E
,"
;

my

replied

Dumas

with
:

a
is

smile, " you're

mistaken

it's

not a bad colour

it

exactly the shade of the sour grapes in the fable."

Gozlan one day asked

Dumas why

a certain bete

noir of his had received the Legion of Honour.

"Don't you know?" answered the author, looking wise, and as

reveal.
if

he had some State secret to

" Certainly "

"

don't

know you
!

don't

know either

Ah, but

do,

though
!

Then, tell me

"

They've given him a cross

as severe as

becausehe hadn't
that

one!

This

is

Mark Twain's comment

his

"few escape

that distinction."
at

Writing furiously
for that

romances, our author

exiled himself from society as

much

as possible, and

purpose retired to some rented rooms in the

pavilion at

Henry IV." there he was

sites

"

St Germain

but even

constantly disturbed by friends, parain despair

and duns, and

found

it

necessary to

move

further afield.

Driven from St Germain, he

site

discovered between that town and Marly a

which

seemed

to

him

to be an ideal one

for a quiet, unpre-

tentious house, which should be his

tired of living in other peoples' houses.

own

he

was

He

arranged

with an architect for a two- or three-roomed cottage,

where he could work

in peace.

But as he discussed

"

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
the
plans,

81
his

the

love of splendour with which

African descent had cursed or blessed him, came

uppermost, and at the tempting suggestions of others

his ideas

expanded
francs,

at such a pace that

from a few

hundred

owing tens
his guests to

Dumas

found himself paying

In

or

of thousands.

July he gave a

breakfast on the site of the future palace, inviting

meet him

there, three years later, to

see his

new home.

As Mr

Fitzgerald says, "this

in

was like one of the dramatic appointments given Monte Cristo.'

'

From

this

period

in particular,

dated that system

of collaboration which lasted for

which so

some years, and of much too much has been made. The editors who urged this ardent, insoiiciant worker to undertake twice or three times as much as any
could produce, were the
"
first

ordinary mortal

to

attack him, either for non-fulfilment of contract, or

for his "

workshop

methods, as they were pleased

in the full blaze of success,
is

to call them.

Inevitably

Dumas,

the butt of the envious, for envy

the

was shadow

thrown by the sun of fame.

the

young gentleman of
a kitchen-rogue,
"),

name

of Jacquot (who, like

"

dubbed himself
to

Eugene de Mirecourt
Societe des

choosing

consider

himself offended
the "

by the great man,

brought before

Gens de

Lettres," a

resolution levelled at our author (during his absence),

82

LIFE
" setting

AND WRITINGS OF
for

condemning him
for

keeping

" a literary factory "

;

up as a C07yphde of shame " and hand on Reputation, that white-winged "laying his maiden, dragging her through the mire, and violating her before the public gaze," with
to the

for

much more
himself,

same

effect.

Unfortunately

Dumas

calling in unexpectedly, interrupted the back-biting

process

and when he

left,

after a fierce

encounter

with his circle of enemies, they passed a mild, emasculated resolution which,

coming from so unimportant

a body, had

little effect.

Theodore de Banville, in his " Odes Funambulesques," has some amusing but quite untranslatable
verse on this episode.

Dumas
foulest
its

is

passing by,

when

"

mirecourt

"

darts out of the crowd, and abuses

in the

the great

man

manner.

After the

thing
replies.

has exhausted

bag of

spleen,

Dumas

Docile au mirecourt, il lui laissa tout dire, puis, avec un sourire, Pencha son front reveur
. . .

Fit

'

As-tu dcjeune, Jacquot

?
'

Thwarted
"

thus, Jacquot published his

venomous

Maison Dumas et Cie," by which he pamphlet, There was a hall-truth got little credit or profit.
in this
lie,

and

if

it

had been

told with

moderation
it

and in a friendly and appreciative way,

1

might
a sunle,

Dumas

politely allowed the mireco'nt to say

its

say; then inclined

his thoughtful

brow towards the

crc;..are

and

aslvcd

wuh

"

Hast thou lunched to-day, Jacquot?"

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
have had a salutary
effect.
it

83

As

it

was, both the

squib and the motive for

were ahke contemptible.

attacked challenged the
of

One

of the

"workmen"
at

slanderer,

who,

the

instance

Dumas, was

sentenced to
fits

fifteen

days' imprisonment.

Dumas

took up his father's cause, and challenged Jac;

quot also

but that gentleman, with

the

characteristic

cowardice, shirked

encounter.

Yet

this

con-

tractor for the gutter press of Paris

in vain
;

had not written

for
in

most subsequent biographies of Dumas,

English or
in

whether

French, seem to have

to

been founded on Jacquot's statements, and

actuated by his
In
spirit.

be

1S46

the

Duke

of

Montpensier,

younger

brother of the

ill-fated

Orleans, was betrothed by

Louis Philippe to the Infanta of Spain, and set out

for

Madrid, for the wedding.

invited

The French Governon

this

ment
act

Dumas

to

accompany the prince and

important
instructed to go forward

as

official

histriographer

occasion.

Further, he

was

to Algiers, and, in his gay, informative

and

incisive

way,

to " teach "

France

all

about

its

new

colony.

had sprung up between the young Duke and Dumas, and the arrangement was a
friendship
all

pleasant one for

flattered

parties.

The

writer, his vanity

by the commission, accepted, although at the very shortest notice, and without for a moment
considering the consequences to himself.

84

LIFE
The Royal

AND WRITINGS OF
in

party arrived at Madrid

October
received

the wedding duly took place, and

Dumas

the cordon of Charles III. on the occasion of the

auspicious

ceremony.

In

due course he

visited

Tangiers, in the State vessel

Gibraltar,

Le

Vdloce,

called at

crossed again to Tetuan, and

in the delivery of

took an

honourable share

some French-

men, captured by the Moors.

make a long
Bugeaud
sailed

stay

at

Although he did not Algiers where Marshal

failed to

meet him as arranged

site

Dumas
series of

on to Tunis and the

of ancient Carthage,

and duly embodied

"Impressions"
Veloce."

his adventures in

two

"

De

Paris

Cadix,"

and

"

Le

was wormwood to Dumas's enemies In Paris, and they were numerous and Influential. On his return his travels were made the subject of a savage attack on the Government and their envoy, in the press, and in the Chamber of Deputies. Now, although M. Salvandy had expressly charged Dumas with the mission to Algiers, and although M. Guizot, the Foreign Minister, had given the
All' this

author special Instructions, as well as a passport,

placing him under national protection, the mInIsterL

made
called,

a discreditable attempt to explain away their

" ce

connection with

monsieur," as he was Insolently

their
It

and to pacify

enemies
Is

at the

expense

of Dumas's reputation.

pleasant,

by way of

ALEXANDRE DUiMAS
contrast, to read

85

Madame

de Girardin's warm and

generous defence of our author, and her scorn of the

"gentlemen" who had insuked the man of genius. For, when Dumas and Maquet sent challenges to
the depuiies sheltered

who had abused

them, those gentlemen

themselves behind their public position

fight."

and would not " come out and

The

following

)ear was a
for

busy one

for

the

returned "envoy,"

no

less

than seven news-

papers combined to sue him for arrears of work due.

One

in particular

had a genuine grievance

for the

impulsive writer, in
of the young
in

order to follow the fortunes

IVIontpensier,

had

left

what

is

known
was

English as

"The Memoirs
for the culprit

of a Physician" in

a state of startling incompleteness.

The

trial

an amusing one,

conducted his own

After three days'

defence, and proved himself as vivacious in dialogue

with his tongue as with his pen.

the "
for

hearinof the court ordered the defendant to

resume
a day

Memoirs

"

within a month, and pay

^4

any delay beyond that time.

if

He
fined

was threatened

with imprisonment
too great
;

the arrears of fines

became
for

and

in addition

was

^120

each

of the seven journals.

Needless to say, nothing

more was heard of the fines, and the whole affair was naturally a splendid testimony to the author's
popularity.

Dumas

the playwright had for

some time been

86

LIFE
Comedie

AND WRITINGS OF
in particular

embroiled with the theatres, and

the

with

Fran^aise

he
"

gives

an

amusing

account of his "

Odyssey
to

at the Fran9aise in the

"Souvenirs Dramatiques";
fortune

and now that fame and

him he determined, with his usual magnificence of ideas, to have not only his own chateau, but also his own theatre, where no jealousies should come between his genius and the
had come
success of his plays.

The young Duke

to

of Mont-

pensier secured for the dramatist a patent for the

new

theatre,

which was
"
;

be called the " Theatre

Boule-

Montpensier

the

Hotel Foulon, on the

vard du Temple, was bought and pulled down, and

in its place the

new
its

theatre rose

a splendid buildDuke
it is

ing costing over ;^30,ooo, decorated most artistically

and dedicated by
Europe.

founder to the dramatic art of

Unfortunately for Dumas, the

at

the instance of his father,

Louis Philippe,

said

withdrew

this

permission for the use of his name,

and accordingly the new playhouse was christened

the " Historique."

On

the 21st of February 1847

;

the

first

performance was given

present.
"

the duke and his

suite

being

dramatised version of

The play chosen was a La Reine Margot."

in this connection,

There
is

is

an anecdote told

which

truly illustrative of the characters of prince

and

author respectively.
'48,

When,

after the

Revolution of
religiously

the

Duke went

into exile, his

box was

THK

''L'HKAIKK H 1S1(

)Kl(.>ri;,"'

JSoUi.KVAKl)

DK TKMPI.K^

I'AIUS.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
had
long- since

87

kept vacant for him for a whole year, although he

ceased to pay for
it.

Dumas

learnt

later that the

Duke, when he received

burst

his tickets,

was wont

to

out
"
;

laughing at the quixotic

manager's " buffoonery

and the proprietor then

decided that the box should be devoted to public

use in future, remarking that the yearly rent of a

box was too high a

of

price to

pay

for the privilege

making a prince

laugh.

In July of this year

pledge,

Dumas, according

to

his

gave a magnificent reception to six hundred guests, as a house-warming for his new palace of " Monte Cristo." The scheme had rapidly out-

grown
ful

the

first

modest

plan,

and
"

had

been
beautiin in
Its

developed on the most lavish

building,
half-chateau,

scale.

half-villa,

had risen

the

meantime," says

Fitzgerald,

"

embowered
with

trees,

and

in

the centre of a
walls

wild garden.

white

stone

were covered

exquisite

traceries

and sculptures copied from those of Jean Goujon at the Louvre, and executed by Choistat, conspicuous in the centre being Dumas's arms,
with the motto 'Jaime qui in'aime.'
walls were decorated from designs
Inside,

the
;

by Klagmann
the

while

the

'

Arabian

chamber,'

after

pattern

was a marvel of Eastern gorgeThe gardens were charmousness and decoration. On the little island in ing, all leafy and shaded.
of the Alhambra,

88

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
little

the lake rose an exquisite

Norman

building,

intended as a sort of kiosk, covered with exquisite

by Mansson, a decoraBlended with the sound tor of great eminence. for an artificial torrent had been of falline waters contrived, that tumbled over rocks as artificially arranged was heard the chattering of monkeys, and the screaming of parrots, while huge barbaric
carvings, the designs being

dogs of strange shapes and colour ranged through Such was Monte Cristo,' which was the groves.
*

now

the talk of Paris."

hospitality

was princely, unlimited. "At his Abbotsford 'Monte Cristo,'" Mr Lang reminds us, "the gates were open to everybody His dog asked other dogs to come but bailiffs. and stay twelve came, making thirteen in all. The old butler wanted to turn them adrift, and Dumas

Here Dumas's

consented and repented.

"'Michel,' he
said,

'there are
position
ill-luck

some expenses
receive

which a man's

social

and the character

to

which he has had the

from

don't believe these I heaven force upon him. But, in the dogs ruin me. Let them bide.
interests

of their

own good

luck,

see that they

are not thirteen, an unfortunate number!*

"'Monsieur,

I'll

drive one of

them away.'
.
.

"'No, no, Michel; let a fourteenth come. These dogs cost me some ^3 a month,'

said

"

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
Dumas.
'

89

dinner to five or six friends would cost

thrice as much, and, when they went home, they

would say

my

wine was good, but certainly that

himself retired
to

my

books were bad.'

the
pavilion
to

The owner

work, whilst his parasites enjoyed the unbounded

hospitality of the establishment,

and roamed
It

at will

throughout the splendid mansion.

will

readily

be understood that under the

irresistible

influence

of this man, St Germain became a

new

place

it

was

filled

with

life

and

gaiety.

Dumas

rented

the local theatre, hired a

company

of actors, and

produced the
]\Ieurice

translation of " Hamlet," for

which
that

and himself were responsible.

Indeed,

so

transformed
Philippe,
;

was

this

suburb
told,

of

Paris,

Louis

we

are

wondered
to

at

the

change
to

and wished the same process

which

be applied

was certainly dull enough. However, when it was suggested to him by Montalivet that Dumas should be brought to Versailles, the king turned his back on the malaVersailles,

droit courtier

In

1847

the "reform agitation" broke out in

France, and ended the following February in the

downfall of the house of Orleans.^
*

Louis Philippe

concerning this Revolution, and Vandam tells us would discuss it. It is the opinion of the author of "An Englishman in Paris" that the romancer was a trifle ashamed of the Republican intriguers of that time.

Dumas

is

silent

that he never

90
fled

LIFE
to

AND
;

AVIUTINGS OF
Louis

England
in

and French
185
1,

Napoleon became

President of the
self

Republic,

making himonward,
the

Emperor,

by means of the infamous

this

coup dUtat.

And

from

epoch
star to

meteoric brilliance of

Dumas's

be^an

to fade.

Several causes contributed

this

sudden and
was,

overwhelming change of
as Ferry says, a

fortune.

Our author
manifested

man

of independence of character
this

and
in

opinion,

"

and

opinion
it

itself

an originality as rare as

was

disinterested.

had known a prince in private life, or in exile, he broke with him as soon as he became King or Emperor," as in the cases of

When Dumas

Louis

Philippe and

Napoleon

III.

"Misfortune
;

friendly and respectful him prudent, even antagonistic." triumph rendered

and

exile

found

Dumas

Thus, when he joined with his brother "liberals''

in

commencing the
a
in
;

agitation

of

1847,

he

acted
i^Le

with
Hlois)

difference.

He
give

founded

a journal

order

to

publicity to his

political

views

and he protested indignantly against the

destruction of the statue of the

Duke

of Orleans

(Louis Philippe's
ful

son) as a
further,

act.

He

went

wanton and disgraceand dedicated one of

;

his

books to the exiled young Montpensier

and

by the time that the elections came on, Dumas had achieved the reputation of being an Orleanist
Still,

he decided to

offer

himself as a

candi-

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
date
for

91
for

the

Chamber

of

Deputies

not

his

native department of the Aisnc, where, in conse-

quence of the Soissons

exploit,
for

he was considered

an extreme "red"; nor

in

St Germain, because

the revolutionary days of February he had lost

his

command
Paris,

of

the

national

guard
the

there,

by

suggesting that he should lead his 750 comrades

to

a
It

la

Marseillaise,

to

help of the

was suggested to him that the department of Yonne would be sure to acclaim him, and accordingly he went off to Lower Burgundy.
people.

When
chances

it

was too
in

late

Dumas
were

discovered that his

fatally

this

district
"

compromised
"
!

because of his

Royalist
at
in

sympathies
the street.

He was
thousand
sup-

mobbed, and
harangued
Yonnais,
porters
;

fired

In vain he

hostile

crowd

of

three
into

and
he

converted

them

ardent

was not
years
la

elected

perhaps
in

because

he had prophesied Prussia's conquest of France,

twenty-two
"

later

although
which
of
"

his

chant
in-

Mourir pour
into

Patrie,"

Dumas had
Chevalier

troduced

his

play

Le

de
its

Maison Rouge," he had given the Paris mob " Marseillaise." (He had previously refused
write a

to

"national

ment.)
place
desired
in

anthem" to suit the GovernDumas was destined never to achieve a French politics, however ardently he

it.

92
In
is

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
of our author there

M. Blaze de Bury's study

in full, of

a witty account, which

a
visit to

we wish we

could repro-

duce

Joigny paid by the writer,

a certain

M. du

Chaffault, with

Dumas, during the

was awakened
" horrible big

novelist's electoral

campaign.
lived at Sens,
us,

Du
devil
"

Chaffault,

who

one morning, he

tells

to

find a

standing by his

bedside.

The

apparition

laughingly introduced himself as Alexandre Dumas,

who had heard

fellow,"

young man was " a good and would be of use to him It Joigny.
that this
his

Whilst the host hurriedly and bewilderedly dressed

himself,

Dumas changed
young
left

worn boots

for a

new
show

pair of his
"

friend's,

and, adds the narrator,

in

those

he

are

now

my

library.

them
for

to visitors as the thousand-and-first

Alexandre Dumas."
Joigny the
pair

volume of By the time they had started

were
like

old

friends,

and

Dumas's chat
fully.

en route

made

the time fly wonder-

At

the second stage the candidate borrowed

for the

twenty francs from his new acquaintance,

postillion,

and the ingenuous young

in his

Du

Chaffault

duly entered

note-book, "Alexandre

Dumas,

twenty francs."

The same

thing occurred at Joigny,

where everyone came to the young man for money and as Dumas invited everyone who accosted him
to dine with

them

that evening, the six

hundred

francs

which

Du

Chaffault

had taken with him

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
were gone by the following morning-.
to Sens,"
"
I

93
returned

he

says, "

my

heart

full of
I

joy at having
still

seen and heard a

the accounts
I

man

of genius.
recall to

preserve

paid,

which
*

me my two
I

days

passed in fairyland with

only one thing
to put ten
I

Monte

Cristo.'

regret

that

had not had the good sense

thousand francs into

this

my

pocket, so that

might have prolonged

incomparable experi-

ence for a \veek or two."

Of course

this

political

failure

brought

social

consequences, but worse remained behind.

The

papers, being filled with public affairs, required no

more
which

fciiillctons,

and the

"

Theatre Historique,"
terribly

bad business, and eventually closed its doors. It was afterwards pulled down to make room for one of the boulevards of the Second Empire. Meanwhile
at first
"

had succeeded, did

Monte

Cristo
it,

"

required an enormous income to

it

maintain

and

will

easily

be understood that
store for

this literary " cigale,"

who had saved no

the winter of misfortune, soon

was obliged
finished
his

in

the end to

came to grief. He abandon the scarcelytheatre to

palace and the newly-opened

It

creditors.

was a
like

cruel
;

man's

hopes and vanities

reigned,

blow to the great but he bore it well.

old

He had
Philippe,

his

employer Louis

from revolution to revolution.

94

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

Wanderings, Decline and Death (1848-1870).

Dumas had

not given

his ill-fated had produced " theatre, and tried the extraordinary experiment of playing it, half one night and the other half the

He

way without Monte Cristo " at

struggle.

next
In

and he had mortgaged

^^^^

his " palace " heavily.

1849, ^t

Historique, he

brought out his

of

play of "
in

Comte Hermann,"
"
;

the tone

which

is

striking contrast with that of

"Antony" and
contains

"

Richard Darlington

and

its

preface

a sincere disavowal of the

" criminal-passionate "

themes of "twenty years before." In the same year Dumas attended the wedding of the Prince
of Oranofeat
to a council

Amsterdam and was also summoned of state, composed of playwrights and

;

others, seven in

all,

to consider the question of the

dis-

censorship.
cussion.
It

Unhappily, nothing came of the

was probably owing to his increasing embarrassments that when poor Marie Dorval died, during this year, her old friend was able to do
little

more than

struorgfle

to

collect

from others

the necessary funds to bury her decently.

In
fell,

to

we have already said, the Republic 1 85 1, as and buried Dumas's future in the ruins. He fled Brussels, whither Hugo had already gone, and
from December 1851 to January 1853, the

there,

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
novelist lived
at

95

and worked, quietly but pleasantly,

No.

'J2),

Rue de Waterloo.

Almost every even-

ing-

he was visited by a few old friends, of whom,

of course,

Hugo was

the chief, and

some

of

them

would stay until two or three in round the tea-table, chatting and laughing, w^hilst the host worked on above-stairs, now and then
the morning, sitting

descending to exchange a word or two with

his

company.
task
of

Here he turned out

fifty

volumes, for

which, as he remarks, his enemies would have a

to find

him the "anonymous collaborators"

whom
At
'

they

made

so much.
'

times, however, the ex-proprietor of

Monte

Cristo

would indulge
in his

in

an evening's gaiety.
is

One

such gorgeous supper-party

described by Emile

Deschanel

volume
eleven

of travels, "

Pied et en

Wasron." From
in

till

dawn the

ofuests revelled

a never-ceasing series of delights and surprises,

plays acted on a lilliputian stage by celebrated performers, Spanish singers and dancers, the gayest

and most

brilliant

conversation

all

in

beautifully

decorated salons, hung with

the

armorial escut-

cheons of Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Hugo, Nodier

and

Dumas

himself.

Such

experiences always

proved precious memories to those favoured ones who enjoyed them.

Misfortunes indeed, did not come singly to Dumas.

His

faithful

Maquet had

left

him

in

185

1.

Charles


9C

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
is

Reade's account of this rupture

probably the
:

most
"

truthful, as
if I

it is

the most charitable

rightly,

Dumas,

understand

used to treat

with the publishers and managers, and settle with

his collaborator.

Dumas

fell

into arrears with him,

arrears which,

if

his heart alone

had been to be
;

consulted,

would have been paid to the centime but unfortunately he had other creditors, who inIn short, the situation

terposed with legal powers.

was so desperate that Maquet had no course open to him but to withdraw from the connection he did so, leaving 130,000 francs behind him say ^5,200."
;

In 1856-8 Maquet brought an Dumas, but although his share of of several of the most famous declared, the court awarded him no a significant
In
Paris
fact.

action

against

the authorship

romances

was

further funds

1853 the exile wearied to see his beloved

again,

down, and as
issued
full

and as public affairs had quieted no doubt pressing invitations were

friends,

by
"

his

Dumas
At
the
in

returned to Paris
the establishment

of a

new enthusiasm.
Maison D'Or,"
to

of the

Rue
man,

Lafitte,

rooms

were

allotted

the great

and a paper

was issued under his editorship. This was the Moiisquetairc, which started with the most brilliant
prospects.

The circulation

throve exceedingly the

: ;

master slaved at his desk

and

his

name,

and

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
his kindly

97

treatment of the young and aspiring,

brought a group of clever young writers about

him.

But the paper was never managed on business

principles,

Dumas
;

himself being the chief sinner

in

was goodwill, confusion, gaiety and improvidence. The " staff " were innumerable and the noise of the many journalists crowded into the little rooms of the " Maison D'Or" was alarming. Audebrand tells us that the neighbour on one side would cry to his valet, " They must be strangling some one next door " and the neighbour on the other side would overhear the remark, and laughingly reply, " There must be a woman in labour in " the house In the same volume are some amusing stories of the great man's menage how he had a triple
this respect
all
;
! !

defence

in

the

shape of three

servants,

who

struggled to keep duns and beggars from their

master's presence.
called

certain

German, however,

one day, sat down on the step and would not leave and Dumas was eventually aroused
;

by the perpetual assaults on the door.

as
it

It

ended

always did; the

throv.'

would
fifty

himself into the Seine

did not take pity

francs
into

man was "starving" and if M. Dumas on him. The great man pushed
the beggar's hands

and

found

himself with only two francs with which to buy

eggs for the omelette for his dinner


98

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
four pieces were produced in
at the

Whilst the journahst worked, the dramatist was

not

1854,

idle.

No less than
"
"
;

Romulus," a one-act play,

Comedie
a comedy,

Fran^aise
full

La Jeunessede Louis XIV.,"

and Louis's
at
first

of Moliere

love

Marie de
a

Mancini (played
at the

Brussels)

"
;

Le Marbrier,"
"

powerful play (at the Vaudeville), and

Conscience,"
moral,

Odeon.
It

Of the two dramas, highly

in tone,

not to say didactic,

to

the latter was dedicated

act,

Hugo.

was a daring

but

Dumas was
others.

as imprudent in this friendship as in

all

To M.

Blaze de Bury

we

are indebted for a vivid

sketch of "

Dumas

chez hii" about this time, which

he compares with the mournful home of Heine

who was then

also living in Paris

"You

passed," he writes,

"from the shades

day
;

of

death to the

brilliant light of

to loud voices
!

The and all the stir and bustle of a manufactory with voices in debate you trampled air was filled upon bon mots, in the progress of your conversaThen, in the brief intervals of silence, 3^ou tion. heard a pen quietly, lightly, scratch the paper it was
; :

Without pausing Dumas, in his writing, he held out his left hand to you No tumult disturbed him and a with a smile. word thrown into the discourse here and there told you that he was taking part in it."
seated at his daily work.
;

"

Twenty times

interrupted in one morning," adds

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
Villemessant, " twenty times he took up his
just

99

work

where he had

left

it,

to chat with a journahst,

an actress or a director
of another

he set aside a romance, soon as the collaborator

his narrative, of
lost the thread."

to settle with a collaborator concerning- the scenario

book

but, as

had gone, Dumas went back to

which he had never for an instant

Abraham Hayward has quoted

of
;

for us an account

Dumas's day's work, with less rhetoric but more detail. " He rises at six before him are
paper of the largest
writes,
in a
till

laid thirty-five sheets of

size

he takes up

his pen,

and

hand that

M. de Saint Omer would envy,

eleven he breakfasts, always in
this

eleven.
;

At
re-

company and during

At twelve he
in

meal

his spirits
pe-n,

never

flag.
it

sumes the
evening.

not to quit

again until six

the

The

dinner-hour finds him as lively as

If

at breakfast.

by any chance he has not

of sheets a
:

filled

the allotted

number

passes over his face

he steals
later,

momentary shade away and returns

two or three hours

of the evening."

to enjoy the pleasures

Queen visited Paris, in 1855, the actors of the Comedie Fran^aise gave a performance of the " Demoiselles de St Cyr " at Her Majesty's request,
the
for she

When

had seen the piece

it

in

London, and had been

it

so pleased with
"

that she wished to see

again.

Two

or three days after the performance at St

'

100

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
I

Cloud," says Vandam, "

ran against

Dumas
I

in

the

Chaussee d'Antin.
"
*

Well, you

ought to be pleased,*

said

'
;

it

appears that not only has the Queen asked to see

your piece, which she has already seen

but that she enjoyed than the
"
'

in

London,

it

even better the second time

he replied
the

first,'
it is

Yes,

like its author,'

'
;

more
I

one knows him the more one loves him.

But

know what would have amused her

seeing

still

more than
it

my

play

to

see

me
!

also

Honestly,

would have amused me too " Then why did you not ask for an audience ? have been granted,' I reI am certain it would
'

marked, because

I felt

convinced that

Her Majesty

would have been only too pleased .to confer an honour upon such a man. "'Well, I did think of it,' came the reply; *a

woman

as remarkable as she
first

is,

who
!

will

probably

woman of the century, ought to It is a pity, have met the greatest man in France
remain the
for she

go away without having seen the Alexandre, King of the best sight in France
will

world of Romance

Dumas the Ignorant

was
called "

^
'

Then

he roared with laughter, and went away."

^
''

Dumas

the professor of chemistry

Dumas

le

savant."

Done," laughed

the novelist, " Je suis

Dumas

rignorant."

Note by

A. V.

ALEXAIVDRE DUMAS
The romancer was
mental.
of the
still full

101

of energy, physical

and

M. About,

in his oration at the unveilingillus:

Dumas

statue in 1883, told an anecdote

trative of this,

which we give

in

Mr

Lang's words

met the great man at Marseilles. Dumas picked up M. About, literally lifted him in his embrace, and carried him off to see a play which he
"

He

had written in three days. the supper was prolonged

The
till

play was a success

three in the morning.

M. About was almost asleep as he walked home, but Dumas was as fresh as if he had just got out of
bed.

"*Go
only

to sleep, old man,' he said.

'I,

who am

which must be posted to-morrow. If I have time I shall knock up a little piece for Montigny the idea is running in my head.' So next morning M. About saw the \\\xq.q. feuilletons made up for the post, and another packet addressed to M. Montigny it was
fifty-five,

have

\\\x^& feuilletons to write,

the play

'

L' Invitation a la Valse,' a chef-d'oeuvre

"^
!

The

Alousqueiaire di&d in 1857, but

the

Dumas
lines,

at

once

started another journal on

same

called

Mofite Crista.

This year he crossed the Channel

us, in his "

with his son, and he has given

Causeries,"

an account of

his brief visit chez nous.

The
1

pair crossed from Calais to

Dover one Mon-

Dumas

himself states that he wrote this play in London in 1S33

").

(see " Causeries

102

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
On
the Tuesvisited

day night towards the close of May.

day Dumas />ere

Madame

Tussaud''s (he was

curious to see the guillotine of Louis

XVI. about

which he had written so much), and spent an hour or

so in

Hyde

Park.

Then

the party took a trip

down

the river to Blackwall, dined there, and returned to

witness the illuminations in honour of the Queen's

birthday,
sight,

and

to see that fascinating but

at midnight.

saddening

the

Haymarket

Next day the

at-

party drove down to

Epsom

to witness Blinkbonny's

Derby.

During Thursday and Friday Dumas

in

tended Gordon-Cumming's panoramic lecture on his

hunting adventures

South Africa, and had a chat

with that explorer afterwards, visited the Crystal

Palace,
"

and witnessed that curious entertainment of

Chief
"

Lord

Justice

Nicholson,"
at the

the

'''poses

plastiques

and

mock-trial,

Coal-hole.

On

Saturday he hurried back across

the

Channel to

avoid the British Sunday, of which he had had a

most satisfying experience during

in 1833.

his previous visit

The

brief papers

on these topics are

full

of gaiety

and shrewd observation, and we can only regret that this prince of travellers did not " do " England on a larger scale, and make it the subject of " Impressions
de Voyage
" in

several volumes.

When
duce the

a writer of one nation atteuTpts to reproracial

character of the people of another

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
country,
it is

103

only just to be indulgent, and welcome

any signs of accuracy and appreciation. Dumas was not a Chauvinist his liberal principles and
,

the breadth of

mind which European

the

travel

gave

him, guarded him against any of those hysterical

outbursts
subject.

Frenchman is True, we do not recognise social England

to

which

ordinary

Kean" and " Richard ton;" and "Catherine Howard" is, as

of a century ago. in "

Darling-

Dumas
off-

frankly confesses, a violation of history, which he

only justifies on the plea that

spring

it

produced some

that

is,

that

it

was done with a purpose.

last

But
days

he has given us the most vivid account of the

of Charles
I.

romance has yet achieved he could see something to admire in each of the two great
that
;

antagonists of the Civil

his portrait of

War and
;

in "
it

San Felice
is

"

Nelson has much

In

that

judicious

and
he

true.

Dumas
to
;

certainly attributes the victory at

to Wellington, in

Waterloo
is

God, and not

which

foolish

he condemns the British treatment of

Napoleon
right

at St Helena, in

which he

is

undoubtedly

The conception of the Englishman which Dumas formed is largely that which Jules Verne
is

has rendered familiar to the British schoolboy, and

there
this to

be said

for

it

the
the

type has
"

many

of

the best qualities which

race.

we

claim for ourselves as a

Sir

John Tanlay

in

Compagnons de
reproduction of

Jehu" may or may not be a

faithful

104
the

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
who
travelled Europe,
first

" aristocrat "

following

in the track of

Byron, during the

is

half of the last

century

but certainly he

a gentleman, and could

never have been drawn by a hater of our people.

It

may

further be pointed

out,

that

Dumas

re-

ceived his inspiration as a dramatist from

speare,

Shake-

and as a romancer, from

Scott, both of whom

he

fully

and

gratefully admired.

"

Whenever he

met an Englishman," says Vandam,

it

" he considered

his particular

duty to make himself agreeable to

to

him as part of the debt he owed

Walter Scott."
If

Shakespeare and

made fun many may think legitimate fun of some of our English characteristics and customs, he has at least known how to admire our beautiful women. The sight of
has

Dumas

a bevy of

fair

girls

in
in

Rotten Row, he

tells

us,

caused him to realise

in the heroines

a flash that native quality

of Shakespeare,

which

until

that

moment he had never quite Some of the remarks in

least artistic

understood.
his "

chapters on

Eng-

land are worth quoting here.

The
(I

English, the
'

and most

industrial

say

industrial,'

not 'industrious') of peoples, have almost achieved

art

by

force of industry."

"In Hyde Park you

find

the finest horses and the prettiest

in the

women
But
is

in

London, and therefore

whole world.
glance

to for

do the Englishmen

justice, their first

the horse, and, one might almost add, their

first

ALEXANDRE DUxMAS
desire."
. . .

105

"The
title

Entjlish think that the biLrcrcr a

it

thing

is,

the greater

is."

"

England
if

fully de-

serves the
greatness."

of a great nation,
is

power implies

..." Everything
;

forbidden in England

on a Sunday

after

having worked six days one

07i

does not rest on the seventh, there,

sennuie

London on a Sunday gives one an idea of what the kingdom of the Sleeping Beauty was like before the Princess was awakened." ..." The Englishman generally has the spleen in November. You may
fancy that that
is

because of the

fog,

which com-

mences

May.

November and doesn't go away until They have the spleen because Not at all
in
!

they have been deprived of the fog for four months.

You may ask me what the English make their fogs Of coal, I suppose, but that is a detail. It was not the good God who made the fog, it was the
of."*

English."
" Posterity

commences
sadly.

at the frontier."

So

said

Dumas,

little

"The

old

order" had

changed, and fickle Paris, Paris of the Second Empire,

turned a contemptuous shoulder on
P" ranee

its

old favourite.

had cooled

down

after

the

Revolution
Partly

analytic fiction

had superseded the romantic.

to rest from desk-work, partly to

in

warm

his genius

the admiration of those strange lands where his

works were so well known and so welcome,

took to travel more and more readily.

Dumas
In the

106

LIFE

AND

AVRITINGS OF
abandonment of
friends,

winter of 1858 he started for a Russian tour; and

the

reason for this sudden

his

journal, his contracts

and

his

as given

by

M. Ferry, Home,
and with
and

is

very curious

and

characteristic.

the spirituahst,

who was
at

then in Paris,
that

whom Dumas was

time very

friendly, introduced the

author to a Russian count

was about to marry the lady's sister the wedding was to take place in St Petersburg and the count and his wife percountess.

Home

suaded the impulsive

Dumas

to leave

Paris with

them in five days, to be " best man." Such a tour had been one of the dreams of his life, and was to
prove one of
his pleasantest

memories.

He

hunted

wolves

he visited the prisons and prisoners of

;

the Russian government

he crossed Ladoga, and

forest,
;

explored Finland
in

he encountered a burning

which

his train ran a

winning race with death

fair

he saw the world-famous

of Nijni

Novgorod;
his journey;
in

he was uproariously feted by

officers at Kaliasine,

who broke
Caucasus,

their leave to see

him on

he became the guest of a Kalmuck prince

the

though
crossed

and was royally entertained in somewhat terrifying, Tartar fashion

in
Tiflis,

true,
;

he

savage south Russia

thoroughly
for

a tarantass, and

returned via

Trebizond and Constantinople,

enjoyed
himself.

having
wonder,

And

no

his

name was known, and

excited

"

107

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
flattery

and
ten

hospitality

everywhere.
spent

He
only

was
his

absent
francs,

months,

and yet

12,000

so generous had been the

welcome of
in

hosts throughout the Empire.

But the

social miseries

which he saw

the

life

of Russia profoundly saddened

Dumas.
is still

Although

the emancipation of the serfs has taken place since

his day,

much

of the following
it

too true,

and

was
"

written, be

remembered, before Russia was

:

exploited by the politicians

The Russian Empire

to care
still,

is

one gigantic surface,

lies

and no one seems

what
is,

below

it.

And

what

is

more curious

that in this land of

to the lowest

abuses, everyone, from the

serf,

Emperor
in

desires that they should cease.

But as soon
Russia,

as one lays hands

it

on an abuse

what

is

makes the loudest

threatened
is
.'*

is
it

protest ? The abuse which No, that would be too clumsy

!

the abuses which fear to be assailed in their

that

turn,

make
is

the great outcry

his

And
future
"
:

this

prophecy respecting Russia's

There

is

a taint of the old Tartar, or

Hun,
finds

in this race of
it

modern conquerors, and one

civilisation

hard to reconcile their appetite for territory, with

the

canons of
will

and

intelligence.
:

One
written

day Russia
in the

take Constantinople

it

is

book of

fate.

Fair races have always been

108

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
:

the conquering nations

the dark nationalities have

had only brief periods of reactionary success.

Russia
four.
will

Then

break,
It
is

not

into

two

parts,

but into

...

impossible that an empire which

to-day covers a seventh part of the globe should

remain under one hand.

If
if

it it

grips too hard, the

hand

itself
it

will

break

holds
its

its

prey too

loosely,

will

be forced to open

fingers

and

release

its

charge."

In 1859

Dumas made
woman,"
as

the acquaintance of "that

Glinel
calls

charming
partly

her,

Emilie

Cordier, better

known

in those

days as "L'Amiral,"

because she was

accustomed to dress en

gargon, and partly because she accompanied the

romancer during
following year.
1864.
If

his

maritime adventures of the

The intimacy, indeed, lasted until we may say so without being misunderwas something paternal
the
in the

stood, there

love of

affection for

young girl, something filial in her and yet a child was born of this The news of the liaison, at the close of i860. event drew from Dumas two charming letters, which
for

Dumas

him

are worth quoting, not only because they are so

characteristic
letters

of the

man, but because very few

from

this " living

pen

"

are extant.

In his

introduction

to

"

Un

Gil

Bias

en Californie" he

laughingly proclaims himself the literary

man who

writes the most books and the fewest letters.

On

ALEXANDRE DUMAS

FILS.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
lOO

the other hand

" Causeries,"
"

many of his books notably the and many of the "Impressions de

in the epistolary

Voyage

are

form and
:

spirit.

The
"

first letter is

to the

mother

Joy and happiness

sending

to thee,

my

dear love of a

child, for

me

the good news that

into the world,

my

little

Micaella has

come

and that her

preferred

mother
"

is

going on

well.

You know, my
I

dear

little

one, that
I

girl.

will

tell
;

you why.
I

love Alexandre

better than Marie

see Marie only once a year,

I

whilst
that

can see Alexandre whenever

the love
I

wish.

So
will

all
fall

might have had

for

Marie
I

now
I

to the share of

my

little

Micaella.
little

fancy

see her lying

by the

side of her

mother,
I

whom I forbid to get up and go out before come. I am arranging to be in Paris about the 12th it will be impossible for me to be there sooner, in spite of my eagerness. " If I tell thee one thing, my dear love, thou may St well believe it true. In an hour my heart

has grown
love

bigger,

to

make room

for

this

new

"If
to

for the

next few months thou dost not wish

child,

be separated from thy

Iscliia, in
all

we

will

take a

little

house at
island in

the best air

I

Naples, and

will

and on the prettiest come and spend two

all

or three days every

week with you

the spring


no
through
:

LIFE
child.

AND WRITINGS OF
rely

in short,

on

me

to cherish mother

and
^^

Att revoir,

ma

petite

cherie
is

embrace
will

for

me

the

Donna

Micaella,

who
toi et

no bigger than one's

I

thumb, so
hers by

Madame

de C. writes.

answer

the next mail, as well

as your mother's,

whom
"
(the

embrace.

A
I

a r enfant.

"Alex. Dumas."

To

think that

have only got thy

letter

to-day

1st),

and that thou

!

wilt not get this, perhaps,

before the i6th

^^

Je faime

"

The second
"

letter is to the

baby

MoN Cher Beb^, As thy good grandmother whom thou must love dearly, as well as thy little
mother
"

writes me
1

that you

have need of money,

gift.
little

send thee
I

50 francs for thy new year's

shall try to

send thee also a

hamper of

good things. " There will be nothing

to

pay to the messenger

who
"
I

brings

it.

embrace thee very tenderly.

*'

Thy father who

Alex. Dumas."
letters

loves thee,

We

make no apology
is

for

adding here three

which have no
subject
their

strict historical value,

so far as our

concerned, but are too characteristic of

author,

with

his

large-heartedness,

his

ir-

111
to

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
reverence (which
sSrieux),
it

would be
all,

foolisli

take

ati

and above
is

his

gaiety, to be omitted.

The
"

first

to

Charles

Nodier,

and

is

dated

September 2nd, 1836:

My Good

Charles,

My great
himself

idler,

my

illus-

trious

confrere,

you who know the Past and the

Present better than

the future lest
I

God

don't speak of

humiliate

Him

too

much
I

be good

enough

to tell

me who

originated this fatal mania of

are victims.

autograph-hunting of which you and

Someone has asked me

to say; or rather
I

this

and

didn't

know what
Charles,
to

replied that

I
I

had

my

who knew
him.

everything, and that

would write
will

"Ten
that
"

lines,

beg,
for

my good
me

Nodier;

come
see

and thank you

Adieu

them on Sunday
rid of

next.

You
I

you do not get

!

easily

reverence you as a master,

love you

as a brother,

and respect you as a

son.

"Alex. Dumas."

The second
and
"

letter,

dated 1849,

is
:

to the

critic

influential journalist, Jules Janin

Mv Dear
litde

Janin,

You
We
a

know
have

of the death of

poor

Maillet?

buried

her
a

this

morning.
child.

She leaves
Is Z"].

mother

and

young
your

"

The mother

Help us

to the best of


112

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
tlieatrical benefits, etc.

power

with subscriptions,
I

to get her into a hospital for the aged.

"As
forward

for the child, if the father

will

does not come

It is

take charge of

it

myself.

only

three years old, and it doesn't eat much yet. I will work an hour a day longer, and that will be all right. A V02CS, "Alex. Dumas."

The

third,

which

is in

our possession,
is

is

no more
It

than an invitation to supper, but

giving a
list

interesting as

of the novelist's intimate friends.

:

bears no date
**

My

dear M^ry,

Come to-night (Monday) and

Rutier, at 9.30 in the evening.

sup with me, 46

"
I will

Rue

take no excuse.

Yours,
" Al.

Dumas."

Hugo.^
Lacroix.
Janin.

Charles.

Brohan.

Toto.

De

Leuven.

Meurice.
Vaquerie.

Les Melingue. Les Guyons.

Person.

Moi.

On
^

his return

from Russia, the "wandering Jew of

literature," as

he called himself with sad significance,

The
;

and intimate friend of Dumas's

author
Jules Janin, the critic
;

guests include Mery, the invited, a Marseilles poet-author, Victor Hugo Paul Lacroix, the
;
;

Paul Meurice, Dumas's collaborator Auguste Vaquerie, the auliior and dramatist Charles Hugo Dumas Melingue, the comedian, and his wife ; (kiyons and his wife Ji/s
; ; ; ;
;

Augustine Brohan, the actress

of Dumas's youth.

and Adolphe De Leuven, the friend

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
Feelinof the desire to travel

113

soon wearied of Paris and his declining popularity.

come over him once

in

more,

Dumas

determined on a tour
all

the Mediter-

ranean which should surpass

plorations.
visit

his

previous ex-

In a

little

boat of his own, he would

site

Egypt, Sparta, Athens, Corinth, the

!

of

ancient Troy, Abydos, Constantinople

Such an
life.

experience had been one of the dreams of his

But
built,

no

sooner

was

the

little

schooner
left

Enwia

no sooner had the merry party

i860
for Nice, than the

Marseilles

in April

whole scheme was

abandoned.
his

Dumas's hopes of pleasure, his holiday, money, his safety even, were sacrificed without a
or a thought, to

murmur

vanity, his critics say.

The

reader shall judge for himself.

Garibaldi had just landed in Sicily, to give force

and vigour

to the revolt of the Italians against the

rule of Ferdinand.

The two men were no

strangers.

In January of that year the author had

soldier at Milan,

met the

and a warm friendship had sprung

up between them. But

energy and
^

Dumas

tells

us that ten years

abilit)-,

before that, he had recognised Garibaldi's

integrity.^

So loudly (says Blaze de Bury) had Dumas proclaimed the skill and valour of that other "force of nature" Garibaldi, that a certain
it wise to report the existence of this unknown person to headquarters. But when he confessed the source of his information, the consul was curtly forbidden to trouble his superiors with the idle talk of a romancer

consul in Italy thought


114

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
Dumas
set sail

Immediately he heard the news,

in his little craft for Sicily,

joined Garibaldi and his

band of " redshirts," marched across the island with them and shared their fortunes. After his conquering journey along the north of Sicily from west
to east, Garibaldi prepared to cross

Messina
at

Straits
;

and begin
join him.

his

campaign on the mainland

Reggio

but he needed arms for the recruits

who

flocked to

Dumas had
to

50,000 francs with him

the

money which was

after "

have bought him his year of

pleasure in classic lands.

He
his

sailed from Marseilles,

"

running the blockade

of a Royalist ship,
to

bought the guns with

Italy.

money, and returned

At Naples he acted
king
for his

as Garibaldi's envoy,

stimulating

the agitation there, and was expelled

bold,

by
"

the

'

seditious

conduct.

Everywhere" (says Maxime du Camp, who was with Garibaldi's staff as a volunteer), " he gave the

word of command, and worked

Italian unity."

to

prepare for

When
he made
arts^

Garibaldi was at length master of Naples,

Dumas

the only return the author asked

" director of beazixpost-,
;

gave him the appointment of

This was an honorary

involving the

spending of much time and trouble

but the French-

man

had set his heart upon carrying out well and

late

thoroughly the excavations at Pompeii, which had

been neglected by the

government.

He was

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
now
installed
in

115

little

plainly furnislied palazzo,

bent upon devoting"

all

his energ"ies to the service

of archaeology and the discovery of priceless arttreasures

;

but the

Neapolitans,

learning

that

stranger had been appointed to

waxed

some post or other

Mr
Fitzgerald

indignant.
it,

This "job," as

elegantly calls

excited the rabble, and

Dumas,

in

the midst of his gaiety and his unselfish labours,

was hooted and mobbed by the people for whom he had worked so hard. For a time, the ingratitude of
the populace stunned him, and he was undisguisedly

pained

but by degrees his spirits returned.

still

This

experience was probably

fresh in

Dumas's mind

when,

on
that

the

occasion

of

Victor

Emmanuel's

triumphal entry into Naples, he pointed out to

Du
the the

Camp

there

were

no

Garibaldians
fact

in

procession.

(As a matter of
''

we know how
le bicn

king had insulted the Garibaldians, and caused them

to absent themselves.)

II jmU faire

dtuie

fafon abstraite^ et ne jamais penser d la recompense" was our author's philosophic comment.
Nevertheless he stayed
in

Naples

for four years,

occasionally paying flying visits to Paris,

^"to have

a chat," as he laughingly

tells

us.

But the Indi-

pendant, the journal

which Garibaldi had named

faithfully fulfilled
in collision
in

and which Dumas conducted, so

its
title,

that the editor

was continually
officials,

with Victor Emmanuel's

and

1864 ^^

116

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

returned to Paris, where the usual flattering chorus

of welcome greeted him.
"

same as ever," says Ferry, " big, powerful, robust, and yet so well-proportioned that he could not be accused of stoutness. His head, so firmly set upon that massive neck, was crowned with a forest of crisp, grey hair the face,
just the
;

He

was

with with

its

vivacious eyes, and mobile

mouth, shone

almost perpetual gaiety.

cordiality,
affability
in

humour,
spirits

Never have good and contagious good

face with such

shown themselves

human

expressive fidelity."

The summer

of that year

was spent

at the Villa

Catinat, a charming country house on the borders

of lake Enghien, where our author had for neigh-

bour his old friend

Madame
were the

de Girardin.
talk of

Un-

fortunately his parasites found

him out once more,

Paris.

and

his "

Sundays

"

On

one occasion, when

the servants,
all

after a

quarrel

with Dumas's mistress, had

departed summarily,

leaving the larder bare, the host,

as
rice

who was almost

discovered some
for

famous a cook as a
unsuspecting
guests

writer,

and tomatoes, and prepared

a
regal
their

his

crowd
and

of
dish

and

gigantic

which

entirely

satisfied

appetites

palates.
" In 1864," the

Martins
of

tell

us in their interesting

book

"The

Stones

Paris,"

"the

American

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
Minister to France,

117

with

Dumas

at

John Bigelow, breakfasted Saint-Gratien, near Paris, where

It

Mr

the romancer was temporarily sojourning.

was

towards the close of the American Civil War, and

he had a notion of going to the United States as War Correspondent for French papers, and to make
another book, of course."
not go,
It

Unhappily Dumas did

lost to us.

and the book

this

is

was about

time that the famous quadroon,

naturally with the

whose sympathies were

North

in

the great struggle, sent to Lincoln a large

sum

of

money

When

widows of the slain abolitionists. acknowledging the gift, the President sugfor

the

gested that

Dumas

should send out some "mottoes'

attached.
slips

with his autograph

The

author duly

forwarded
graph.

a hundred

of paper, each with a

sententious line or two and the great man's auto-

These were
great
writer

sold in the

United States

at

600

francs each.

The
could

was now growing

twelve,

old.

He

no

longer
;

work

fourteen,

sixteen
to the

hours a day

and

his efforts

were unequal
his

task of paying his way.

instinct,

Yet neither
Porte
St

dramatic

nor his quixotic sense of honour failed him.

The

directorate of the

Martin became
left

bankrupt,

and

the

company was
in

stranded.

Dumas had
had
a
play

just

announced

the press that he

of
"

dramatisation

^ladame

de

118

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
for

Chamblay "

ready

production

but

not

managfer in Paris deioj^ned even to send for the

manuscript of the author of "Antony."

Some

of

the Porte St Martin company, however, being at

their wits'

end

for

employment, appealed to

Dumas

them the manuscript, as they had hired the Theatre Ventadour, and wished to open with a new play. No sooner had he lent the drama to
to give

the poverty-stricken actors, than a representative

of

the

Comedie Fran^aise
him.

itself,

came
:

to

open

negotiations with

Dumas

refused

he had
although
in spite

given his word.

The

play was produced, but the

it,

hot weather and the cold critics killed

when revived
of the press.

later on,

it

proved a success

Dumas's enemies were now gaining the upper hand of their old antagonist, and they did not spare
him.
his

He
old

had occasion

at this
trip

time to write to
to

companion of the
and
in

Monte
is

Cristo.

One
the

of our author's plays had been forbidden by

censor,

France there

or

was

no
He

limit to the

extent of the censor's

letter to the

power.

wrote a public
that this

Emperor, pointing out

his

was the seventh of

It

plays

or books

which had been thus prohibited

every occasion

and that on almost was a revival of the play which was condemned, and not a new play at all The
!

order was revoked.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
Still

119

another role was reserved for this Protean

lecturer.

man that of

Dumas was persuaded

These
lectures,

into

giving a chatty, vivid talk on the paintings of his

old friend Delacroix.

which were
this

given at the " Fantaisies-Parisiens," were packed,

as they

deserved to be.

It

was probably

success which aroused one of the lecturer's sleep-

ing ambitions, for early in the next year he eneaijed the " Grand-Theatre Parisiens
"

in

the

Rue

de Lyon, and produced

his version of " Catherine

failure
;

Blum

" there.

But the play was a

Dumas's
of

secretary,

who was

nominally the

lessee

the

building, turned out to

be a rogue and embezzled

the money, and the scheme

the following year,
still

came

to naught.^

In

clinging to his belief that

the sons of his old patrons would inherit the tastes

of

their

fathers,

the

dramatist

appealed to his

"unknown

friends" the public, to subscribe to a

species of co-operative play-house, a

new

"

Theatre

Historique," with an eminent banker for treasurer

and himself as the manager.

^

The very

slight

and

Dumas, owing

his

company

arrears of salary,

met the

situation in

a characteristic and ingenious way. He gave the members collectively the right to play the piece, and promised that whenever it was performed within reach of Paris, he would attend if duly notified. On one occasion the author missed his train, and did not reach the theatre till the second act. The audience, who before his arrival had been too uproarious and distracted to follow the play, insisted, as soon as their darling appeared and peace was restored, that the actors should begin all over again which they were obliged to do
!

120

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

quite inadequate response to this invitation gave

the dramatist another painful shock of self-revelation.

In

1866 the war between Austria and Prussia

out,

broke

and Dumas,
ursfinof

his love of history

and of

travel both

him, set out for Frankfort, to

study the

crisis

presented by the growing power of

-

Prussia in mid

Europe, and to traverse the yetof the

warm
was
"
filled

battlefields

campaign.

The

result

La Terreur

Prusslenne," In which the author,

in

with disquietude, sees

Prussian predomin-

ance a menace to other nations, and to France

above

all.

money as best he could, Dumas went down to the Havre Exhibition of 1868, and lectured there, and at Caen, Rouen and other towns, on his way back. Two or three of his plays were
Forced
to earn

revived about this time, but the old

spirit

of hostility
to

was again shown by the

critics,

who managed

wound
he was
lor

the

now

enfeebled playwright.

To
felt

the last

ridiculed,

abused and slandered.

Lamartine,
a 'warm

whom

the romancer had always

worn out with the struggle against his debts and his enemies and the news saddened Dumas, for it gave him a foreboding of
admiration, died In 1869,
;

his

own

end.

This
ing

brilliant

and
to

illustrious life

was

itself

draw-

very

near

close,

amidst

humiliating

ALEXANDRE
poverty,
oblivion

DUJNIAS
Spongers

121

and

suffering.

and
care,

duns wrested from the failing giant every penny

was not jealously guarded for him and which the gay heart had so long kept at bay,
that
;

stole

in

and shared the old man's

felt

fireside.

The

father
:

had always

a certain timidity towards his son

the careless, improvident dupe had dreaded the re-

proaches of the other's more worldly wisdom.

until the

Not
hint

very bread was lacking, not until the pawnvisited, did the older

shop had been

man send

of his needs to his beloved " Alexandre."

Again,
that fact

when

disease crept
also,

upon him, Dumas hid

it

from his son

that the time
position,

and
for

was not

until the old

man's

daughter, taking alarm, sent physicians to see him,

came

Alexandre
the cares of

fils to realise the

and assert
that

himself.

From
least,

moment

money matters

at

were over.

Dumas was
until

taken to FInisterre,

and

lastly, to

his son's

house at Puys near Dieppe,

the
last,

where he remained
lonof

watched over,

cared for and comforted, in a manner which had

been strange

to him.

But now another care haunted the great man and day and night his clouding mind brooded upon

Would his work when he could keep

it.

live
It

after

hlm.^

One day
his

to himself no longer,

anguish found voice.

"It seems to me," he said to his son,

"

that

am

122

LIFE
as

AND WRITINGS OF
of a

standing on the pedestal

trembles,

monument which
based

though

it

were

on

shifting

sands."
"

Be

at peace,"

answered

his son

" the pillar

is

well built,

and the base

father
in

will

stand firm."

The dying
the two

drew

his son

toward him, and

It

was the cry of the soul doubting its own genius the agony of doubt which seized Keats when he bade them write as his epitaph, " Here lies one whose name
a silent embrace.
;

met

was writ
In
his
taires,"

in water."

introduction

to

"

Les Trois Mousquethis

Dumas
1870
to
his

fils

tells

anecdote,

and
that

adds,

by way of supporting
1893
father's

his

prophecy,

from

no

less

than

2,840,000
in

volumes of
trated parts.

books had been sold

France alone, not counting 80,000,000 of

illus-

The dying man doubted

everything.
it

The

world,

he fancied, had not advanced as

cal

had promised

to do in the days of the glorious revolutions, politi-

Such an age of agitation, he prophesied, would end in an era And truly for France the outof disillusionment. look was dark, for the Prussians had overthrown In his Napoleon and were invading France. had seen the Prussians at the early days Dumas in his last days he would have gates of Paris
and
social,

of the mid-century.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
But
him.
"
all

123

witnessed a like spectacle had he stayed there.

such

news

was

mercifully

kept

from

One

day," wrote his son,

" the pen

dropped
Like his

from his hands, and he began to sleep."

own

Porthos, the child of his virile brain,

all

Dumas

was struggling with

a Titan's strength against

the forces of nature which weighed

upon him and

the
life

which were slowly crushing and

night,

stifling

from his giant frame and his great heart.

All
if,

and almost

all

the day, he slept

and

with his old desire for work, he took pen in hand,

no responsive thought nerved the

fingers

the

weapon with which he had once wrought such wonders fell from his nerveless finders. Excess of labour, far more than excess of pleasure, had made the brain mute at last. In his brief moments of ViQ-ht Dumas would play with his son's children, or would sit where his nurses placed him on the beach, gazing,
motionless,
thoucjhts.

at

the

sea,

thinking

long,

long

On

the morning of
for.

December

5th,

1870, a priest

was sent

He

found son and daughter on their

knees by the side of the dying m-an.

cure called his penitent by name, an'd

The good Dumas slowly

opened

his eyes.

He

could not speak.

He

died

that afternoon

124

LIFE
years

AND WRITINGS OF
when
the

Two
parted,
father

later,

Prussians
able
to

had detake his

Alexandre

Dumas was
host

home
to
lie.

to

Villers-Cotterets,

where he had
authors

wished

of distinguished

and actors came

to bid their old confrere farewell,

but the simple reverence and affection shown by

the dead man's old village friends was a far truer

token of the love that he had won.

train

When
it,

the

arrived

with
in

the the

coffin,

the
to

people were
greet

quietly

waiting
old
for

streets

and

young and
the

pressed

forward to contend with

There, with the father
proud,

bearers
lost,

the honour of carrying the body

of their of

dear friend.

whom whom he
of
life,

he

was

so

with
lies,

the
in

mother
the
little

so tenderly loved, he
set

town from which he

and
to

out on

the

pilgrimage

which he so often looked wistfully

back.

In the words of the

man whom he

reverenced

most,
" After
life's fitful

fever,

he sleeps well."

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
His Character.
"

125

the

The man

great
of

eater,

worker, earner and waster,

witty laughter, the

much and

man

of
is

great heart and, alas, of the doubtful honesty,

a figure not yet

clearly set before the world," wrote

R. L. Stevenson.

"

He

still

awaits a sober and

yet genial portrait, but with whatever art that

may
not

be touched, and whatever indulgence,

be the portrait of a precisian."

it

will

That

is

quite true,

but in trying to sketch Dumas's character according to the ideal Stevenson has given us,
to

we hope

show

the " ventripotent mulatto" (as that author

calls

wrongly
him,

him)

less black,

both outwardly and

inwardly, than even the admiring essayist

deemed

for

we seem

to see the slimy traces of that

ubiquitous snake-in-the-grass " M. de Mirecourt"

in this

passage from

"

Memories and

Portraits."

Happily we cannot mistake our starting-point, for it is obviously best to commence one's journey
round a character with that which
is

the subject's
first

most
those

characteristic

quality,

and which

strikes

who

read about him or come into his literary

presence.
left

score of

Dumas's contemporaries have

all

us their impressions of the great impressionist,

laid

and they have one and

gaiety

emphasis on

his

naive heartiness and healthiness of tem-

perament, springing from a semi-tropical nature, a

"

'

126

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
an
unclouded
self-con-

magnificent

constitution,

fidence, a kind,

generous heart, and

literary

brilliant social,
^^

dramatic,
enfant^'
"

and

successes.

Hercules bon
:

Maxime Du Camp called him, adding Like a giant who knows his strength and
advantage of
it,

fears

to take

he was gentle.
of impatience.
original

have

never seen in him

but not even a
a

will

not say a sign of anger

If ever

movement
the
to

man was

lovable, in
is
'

sense of the
that

word, that

made

be loved,'

Dumas was
it

man. ...

He
to

had so much wit himself that every

too."

one who

was with him believed they had

have created, as
it

He

seems

were, an atmoall

sphere of esprit which was breathed by

who

came within its influence. Roger de Beauvoir, the author of

in

" L'Ecolier

de Cluny," one day visited the great man's rooms

his

absence, and was

instead of the study.

shown Wishing to

into the kitchen " leave his card,"

he picked up his
this quatrain

friend's account-book,
:

and wrote

on one of the pages

Dumas
ecrit, qu'il

" Sur ce carnet,

II n'y

Jour par jour, tout ce

depense,
"
!

pourrait mettre, je pense

qu'il

Tout ce

depense

d'esprit

Many

of the best stories told of

^

Dumas
;

naturally

" In this book

Dumas

has writ
say,

All that he spends from day to day

'Twould never hold, I dare to His great expenditure of wit

!

'

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
relate
to

127

the

theatre,

of which

he was such an

habitue,

master.
(says

and the drama, of which he was such a " Before telHng one of the best of these," H. Pollock), "it
is

Mr W.

necessary to re-

member

that Pierre Corneille, the great dramatist,

had a younger brother named Thomas, who had

a considerable talent which was completely overshadowed by the greater genius of his brother. There was also in the heiofht of Dumas 's success

another playwright
the

no

relation of his

who

bore

name
is

of

Dumas.

This writer produced a play

which
of
its

forgotten now, but which on the night

production had enough success to intoxicate

After the curtain had
into the
fallen,

the author with joy.

the obscure

Dumas came
said

box of the oreat two

Dumas and
"
'

Ah

after to-night people will talk of the

Dumas as " H'm

'

they talk of the two Corneilles

!

'

head to foot

said the great man, looking at

'

him from
irre-

adieu,

Thomas

"
!
'

The
sistibly

phrase " the French Sheridan

to-

"

occurs

when one remembers the Master's wit and improvidence. There is somethe

mind,

thing very

like

the

author of the

" School

for

Scandal

"

about the hero of the following story.

One

eveninor at the Theatre Francais

in his stall

Dumas saw
during the

one of the audience asleep

representation of a play by Soumet.

128

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
"
!

" See," said the dramatist to his confrere, "that's

the effect that your plays produce

The next day a comedy of Dumas's was played, and the author was present. Suddenly Soumet
tapped his friend's shoulder, and
pointed out a

gentleman asleep
sweet accents
:

in the orchestra,

saying in bitter-

"You
just the

see,

my

dear friend, that one

falls

asleep

same when

listening to your prose."

is

"That?

Why

that

the gentleman

who went
!

to sleep yesterday,

and hasn't woke up yet

"

re-

torted the other.

In spite of his social rank

Dumas was

just as

much

at

home

in the boulevards,

with the gamins,

and the populace, who loved him and whom he He was walking loved, as with the wits and peers. one day with his secretary Pifteau, and looking for
a cab, when a post-office mail-omnibus rolled by.

"Stop!" he cried to the driver, "give us a " We're men of letters, too The postman grinned as he whipped up
!

lift.

his

horses.

The

mots uttered by

were numberless.
him.

Dumas or The saying

to

attributed to
''tout passe,

him
toict

lasse, tout casse^' is said

have been originated by

all

The

witty utterances in his books have

the flavour,
"

and unexpectedness of spoken

for

jests.

Heaven has made but one drama

man

the

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
years mankind

129

world," he wrote, " and durinc^ these three thousand

young man," he wrote to Beranger, "always makes his entry into public life with an old woman on his
has been
hissing it"
ari:i,

"

and

into the
in

world of literature with an old

thought

his

head.

One needs

to

have much

experience before young ideas will come."

There was human

prodigal

truth, too, in this

"When

the

son

returned to his father's house after

if

three years they killed a calf;

he had not
"

re-

turned for six

years they would have killed an ox."

as a

Again, take this passage from his " Memoires

sample of the style of their contents

"

have been

confessing the ridiculous weaknesses of

my

child-

hood

shall be equally frank about those of

I

my
:

)Outh.

shall

be more courageous than Rousseau

his vices."
for a

Rousseau confessed only

There

is

no room here

desprit^

spoken or written,

volume of jaix must be merciful, and we

too; in the

matter of the stories told by

Dumas

for

he was a famous raconteur, and his autobiographical

writings are enriched with capital anecdotes, neatly
told.

There are two, however, which we cannot

bring ourselves to omit.

" the fattest

One

is

of

j\I.

de Sesmaisons,
so stout that

man
in

in politics,"

who was

he found
occasion

it

necessary

when he

travelled to reserve

two places

the diligence fur himself.

this precaution,

On

one

when he took

he discovered

130
that his

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
for

man had booked

other story

him one

seat in the

coupe and the other inside

The

Colonel Bro's

may be entitled macaw. Dumas called

the episode of
at that officer's

house one day, went into the drawing-room to wait,

and seeing a yellow red and blue macaw on its perch, he went up to it familiarly and commenced
to scratch
its

head.

The

bird,

it

appeared, was in

vile

temper that morning, and gave the unwelcome

visitor a
finger,

murderous peck.

Dumas withdrew

his

staunched the blood, and then, returning to

the bird,

wrung

its

neck, and quiedy put the

furniture.

out of

sifjht

under some of the

afterwards

body Later on

he

left

without anything having been noticed.

Some weeks
Reference was

Dumas
the

dined with Colonel

Bro, and the conversation turned on natural history.

made

to

habits

of elephants,

who

kneel to say

their"

prayers,

and get out of

sight to die secretly.

"As
"it
to

for that last trait," said the Colonel's .wife,

all

must be common to
she added,

animals."
"

Then

turning

Dumas

"You remember my

beautiful

blue yellow and red

" Perfectly.
it.?"

macaw ? Has some misfortune happened

is

to

"Alas! the poor thing

believe
it,

dead,

and would
it

you

Monsieur Dumas, we found

}

in

a corner

of the drawing-room, under the couch

That proves

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
that this
to all

131

modesty before death

in
it,

is

an instinct

common

animals

creation,

and that our domestic

parrots

have

just as

strongly as the kings of

the forest."

Dumas
Here
"
is

was- duly impressed.

his gaiety

Take, with
I\Ir

and

wit,

Dumas's

vanity.

Lang's opinion of the worth of the

reproach

:
call

They

Dumas

vain

he had reason to be
will

vain,

and no candid or generous reader

his pleasant,

be

shocked by

frank, his

and

artless enjoy-

ment of himself and of

people
'

adventures.

Oddly
call

enough, they are small-minded and small-hearted

who
'

are

most shocked by what they

vanity

in

the great.
is

Dumas's delight
'

in

himself

and

his doings

only the flower of his vigorous

existence,

and

in his

Memoires,' at

least,

it

is

as

happy and encouraging as

of

his laugh, or the laugh

Porthos

it

is

a kind of

radiance,

in

which

others, too,

may bask and

enjoy themselves.

And

yet

it

is

resented by tiny scribblers, frozen in their

self-conceit."

own

chill

There is an amusing story told of how this vanity was very neatly snubbed on one occasion. Dumas was giving evidence in a trial, at Rouen, and was
asked his profession.
"
I

should say

'

dramatic author,'

if

were not

in the city of Corneille,"

he answered.

132
"

LIFE
Oh,

AND WRITINGS OF
replied

M'sieu,"

the

judge,

" there

are

degrees."

...
resist

We
his

cannot

quoting here

revenge on the

how Dumas took Rouen folk, who it appears

had also hissed

his plays.

"One
'

day," he says,

"a

Neapolitan boasted to

me

of having hissed Rossini

and Malibran, the

'

Barbiere

and

'

Desdemona.'

"'That must be true,' I answered, 'because Rossini and Malibran boast, on their part, of having been hissed by the Neapolitans. So I
boast of

being hissed

by the
'

Rouenese.

The

Rouen
to

people,'

he added,
"

hiss

me
?

because they

object to me.

Why
!
'

shouldn't they

They

objected

Joan of Arc
just

"Vanity," says Villemessant,

talent
filled
;

"was a
rise,

part of his
until
it

as a balloon
air."

cannot

is

with

"

The

public,"

adds
not to

Du Camp,
to

"are too exacting:

every talent
in

they expect a

man

have
it."

the world, and

know

Dumas's

artless self-admiration

was made the moral

It
is

of a hundred malicious stories.

said that his

son remarked of him

like

"he

is

so vain that he would

to

get

up behind
this

his

own coach
its

to

make

people think he owned a black footman."

We
we

have not traced

shall

speech to

source, but
said
it,

not believe that

Dumas
There

/i/s
is,

without

the strongest proof

told

however, a story
is

by

Mr W.

H.

Pollock, which

more

pro-

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
bably authentic, beini;
spirituel.
in

133

better

taste

and more

Dumas
son,

pcre

is

supposed to have written to his

should
his
in

as to a stranger, proposing that they

collaborate.

(He had more than once urged

this,

son

to

do

adding,

"

it

would bring you

40,000 or 50,000 francs a year,

you
me

would only

have
of

to

make
I

objections, to contradict

me
the

in

the

subjects

proposed,

and

to

give

germs
your
the

ideas

which

would

develop

without

help.")

On

this

occasion

Dumas

fils replied that

I

he

disliked

collaboration,
to

but added, "

am

more sorry

refuse

what you ask

me

because

my my
"

sympathies are naturally enlisted by the great

admiration which you

father's works."

have always expressed

true," writes for

for

He

believed in himself,
it

it

is

Du
do

Camp, "and
so
;

was quite legitimate

in others, too."

him

to

but he believed

"

People
"
'

complain of Dumas's vanity," adds

Mr

Lang,

who may
'

be requested

to

observe that he seems just as

delighted by them.

vain

of Hugo's successes, or of Scribe's, as of his own,

and

just as

much

Dumas had

no jealousy,"
Scott.

Mr Lang

goes on, " no more than

As he
crois

believed in no success without talent,

so he disbelieved in genius which wins no success.

'

Je ne

pas au talent ignor^, au genie

it,

inconitu,

moi'

Genius he saluted wherever he met

but was

134

LIFE
gall

AND WRITINGS OF

incredulous about invisible and inaudible genius."

had Dumas in his disposition that he found ability everywhere he praised heartily, gladly. His good-nature often led him to fancy

So

little

that there
"
I

was

talent in people

who possessed

none.

to

make out what Mallefille lacks, in be a man of talent," he said one day. " Perhaps he lacks the talent," some one
can't
"

order

sug"
I

gested.

By Jove
all

That's

it

never thought of that

answered

Dumas

ingenuously.

With

his failings

due time

Dumas

and

we

will

admit them

in

had one splendid quality which

his.

mieht well outweig^h a host of sins heavier than

He was

charity

itself.

His was indeed

"

"

a voice of
like

comfort and an open hand of help."

He was

a cornucopia, shedding bounty peipctually from his

outstretched hands," says

Du Camp.

"Half,

if

not more, of the

Another great

money he earned he gave away." writer has told us how Dumas would
sit

take his work and

them and help them

open
me."

in

by the dying, would tend their need. His heart was

his purse to the needy, his "
I

to the suffering,

house to the homeless.

was

sick

and ye

visited

We

can fancy the Preacher of Galilee would

in

have found something

till"

Alexandre

Dumas which
Chaffault were

world never saw.

day,

One

when Dumas and du

ALJiXANDllE
ging
for help.

DUMAS
was shown
in,

135
beg-

talking together, a poor Italian

The author

was, as usual, at the end

of his resources, but that did not check his charitable

desire.
"

My
;

friend,"

he

said, "

am no
I

richer than you

are

have nothing, but

can never send away

is

with empty hands a

man who

in

want.

Take
;

down one
and
sell
it,

of those pistols from the mantelpiece

go

and leave

devil that the

me the other good God may send

for the next to

poor
"

me

for relief."

Theodore de

Banville tells us in his "

Souvenirs

how
of

a poor starving devil, Montjoye by name, was

life

ready to take his

in despair,

when

the thought

Dumas came

to

him
the

like

an inspiration from

heaven.

He

found

great

man

deserted

all

the servants had gone a-holidaying

but

the host

hurried into the kitchen, and prepared with his

own
a

hands a

feast for the gods, for this stranger.

It is

pleasant picture that the poet sets before us

penniless beggar eating, and

the

on the dishes as
beaminor with
as he

making witty remarks he attacked them, and Dumas

roarino-

delioht and

with laufrhter,

heaped the strange guest's plate with good

not

things.

But the charity which gives money only

complete
in the great apostle's sense,

is

and happily

Dumas had
generosity.

his full share of that other

and greater
Maquet,

Of such was

his surprise for

136

LIFE
first

AND WRITINGS OF
Dumas
the artist of

on the
that

night of the " Trois Mousquetaires."

the artisan and

Maquet was

collaboration,

and

the

henchman

had

no

thought of any public acknowledgment of his share

of the work.

But

at the fall of the curtain

Melingue,

the famous
"

"D'Artagnan" came forward and named Messieurs Alexandre Dumas and August Maquet." Maquet gave a cry of joy and pride, and fell sobbing
his master's neck.

on

The young and

ambitious author always found

a kind, genial, helpful friend in

Dumas.

One day
a favour.

a novice came to ask the great

man

Would he
agreed.

listen

to

play

in

verse?

Dumas,

whose time was golden, nevertheless good-naturedly After the first act the great man remarked
thoughtlessly
:

"My
poetry."
"
in
^

boy,

your verses

are

not

very

rich

in

Not

rich

."

the

young

man exclaimed
fall

dismay,

letting

the

manuscript

from his

hands.

Dumas, regretting
to a beginner, picked

that he had given such pain

up the play and handed

by such a
little

it

back

to the youth, saying hurriedly

" Don't be discouraged

^

thing,

my
is

The word "riche" here

implies a certain form of line-endinf^ in

it

French

verse, but for the purposes of the story our use of

as

appropriate, and

more comprehensible.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
boy.

137
it

Your

lines are not ricJi in thought,

is

true

but but
time
that

they're fairly well off!"

Asseline, one of the staff of the ill-fated

quetaire, wrote
his
in

Mousthe

the

Indcpendance Beige, at

old

master was dying, a loving

Asseline

appreciation of him, in which he recalled a characteristic

incident in their journalistic relations.

was writing a feuilleton in the journal and was at

a loss to

know how
editor,

to tell the story of a duel

which
work,

was necessary
famous
motives,

to his plot.

He

took his cares to the

who, turning from his

own

cross-questioned the writer on his plot, characters,

and the

rest,

and
sat

then,

having rapidly
the
con-

grasped the

situation,

down and wrote

received general

chapter himself.

Asseline

gratulations on his masterly handling of the duel

scene, but

Dumas

never

made known
pupil.

the service

which he had rendered his

There was a

truly noble generosity, too, in

his

"confession," after he had written adverse critiques

on plays by three of

his confix res.

it

He

discovered,

by

was personal pique which had provoked his judgments on others, and not a lofty desire to defend his art. He cried shame on
self-analysis,

that

himself,

published

his

self-condemnation
criticisms.
"

to
I

the

world, and wTote no

more

What

had

done," he says,

"was perhaps good from

it

the point

of view of literature, but truly

was by no means

138

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
art."

good from the point of view of humanity, and the

brotherhood of

His dehcacy was equal

to

his

kindness.

One

day he found an old friend who was in needy circumstances, and bore him off to dinner. As they
parted the host said casually
:

"Thou
The

knowest,

old

comrade

expect thee

here again to-morrow."

came aofain years dined with Dumas.

friend

and
At

for
last,

ten or twelve

overcome with

remorse at eating the bread he did not earn, the

guest declared that he must
his dinners, or

he would not

make some return for come again. Dumas

said
at

moment. You can do me a great service," he " Go to the Pont Neuf every day length.
thouo^ht a
"

at noon, ther-

and note the temperature of the Chevalier

mometer
oblige

for

me.

That

is

very important,

in

con-

nection with the receipts at the theatre.

Will you

me } "

The

friend agreed delightedly,

and

the " situation

was saved."

Both men were happy

" the " master's

once more.

On another occasion a man entered

room,
bep-orinof.

Dumas, without waitino- to hear of his particular need, drew fifteen francs from a drawer. It appeared that the caller was collecting
to raise funds to

bury a huissier (or

sheriff's officer.)

"To

bury a huissier

cried

Dumas, who knew

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
those gentry

139
are

only too

well.

"Here

here
"
!

another fifteen francs

go and

bur)- another

The many
shifts to get

stories

which are told of Dumas's

his prodigality; are

money, and of

some

them amusing, but most of them untrustworthy. himself was conscious of his failing, but was " When my hand never able to cure himself of it.
of

He

closes
*'

on anything
through

it

can grip," he said laughing,

anything but money.

slips

Ah
"
!

money

is

so smooth,

't

my

fingers

One evening Dumas promised

pany a bal
"
niasqiid,

his theatrical

com"

followed by a supper.

Ah

"

cried
"

young and pert

actress,

and

who will pay } Parbleu, I

''

shall,"

answered Dumas, "shan't

the

be diso'uised
In
later

"
?

years,

when

struggle to keep his

revenue up to his expenditure became very keen,

Dumas was
giving,

almost as great at borrowing as at

careless-

and showed the same magnificent

as,

ness as to the sequel.

Frequently he brought his

for

wit to the service of his needs,

instance,

when

Porcher,

who had advanced Dumas money on

first

the prospects of his

play,

and always been of

This form of the
with the French,

service to the dramatist on similar occasions, bees^ed

the great

man

to " tutoyer

"

him.

second-person-singular

implies,

familiarity in friendliness.

140

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
Dumas,
amused
at
fifty

"Very good/' answered

Porcher's naive request.
louis,

" Wilt thou lend

me

Porcher?"
**

"

Nothing," says Villemessant,

avarice,

was more odious

one evening
in

to

him than

which was entirely repugnant

soiree

own nature." Leaving a Dumas found himself side by

to his

side

the cloakfor

room with an
his paletot

archi-millionaire who, in
fifty

exchange

gave

centimes (fivepence) to the

servant.

The
note.
"

writer, blushing with

shame

for the financier,

drew out

his purse

and threw down a hundred-franc

think
"
?

Pardon,

sir,

you have made a mistake,

said the lackey, offering to return the note.

"

No,

no, friend,"

answered Dumas, casting a

;

dis-

dainful glance at the millionaire

"

it

is

the other

cfentleman

who

has

made

the mistake."

Dumas's extravagance, so far as his own pleasure and glorification were concerned, has been
But
the palace of

much exaggerated. We have seen, " Monte Cristo " was

Again,

ourselves, that

neither so big,

so gaudy, nor so costly as has been represented.

Maxime du Camp
lived in

refutes the charge that

thz^t

Dumas

luxury at Naples, declaring

the great

man worked
"
is

there in modest rooms, poorly

furnished.

People," he adds, " spread false reports

the
first

because slander

need of

fools."


ALEXANDl^E DUMAS
" Thougli for forty years," says

"

141
"

Vandam,
less

Alex-

andre
per

Dumas
; ;

could not have earned

than ^S,ooo

annum

though he neither smoked, drank, nor

in spite of his

gambled
the

though
the

mania

for cooking,

he himself was the most frugal eater

soup of
dish

the beef from

previous
it

day,
writs

grilled,

favourite

rained

was his and summonses

around him, while he himself was frequently without

a penny."

No

wonder, when the veriest stranger could farm

himself upon the indulgent host, and then send the

cabman, who took him to the

house to ask
right
to say,
for

station,

back to the
a

the
I

fare

Truly

Dumas had
purse
!

"If
all

have been a spendthrift /

haven't

made

the holes in

my

This leads us to a delicate

Blaze de Bury,
in this fashion
"
:

topic,

with which

who knew Dumas

intimately, deals

There are no parasites worse than rapacious women, and to these Dumas gave way as long as
he
lived.

As one

left

another entered.
disgraced
locate

The

place

was never empty, and the leavinof one evenlnof, would

where

favourite,

herself some-

else the next day, carrying all sorts of things

her,
all,"

away with

even
cried

to furniture.
tlie
all,
! '

"Take

master, looking on at the

dismantling; "take

but for heaven's sake leave

"

me

at least

my

genius

142

LIFE
on

AND WRITINGS OF
it is

In the matter of morals

impossible to judge

Dumas

general

principles

and
to

by
let

ordinary
British

standards,

and
distort

still

more

unfair

prejudice

our judgment.

His lax code of

virtue in this respect

connection

with

his

must be considered simply in own nature and training.

Except

for

a brief period, love of

women
in

never

played the important and disastrous part

life

Dumas's
of his

which

it

did in the case of so

like

many
for

contemporaries,

De

Musset,
for

example.

He

was

too

sane-minded

that.
felt

But
the

his

ardent,

semi-tropical

temperament
feminine
fair

over-

whelming
gallantry,

need

of

society

and

the

sensuous charms which

women
type
of

possess.

His

good

nature,

and
siren

artless vanity

rendered

him

prey to

the

womanhood
he
could
other sex,
for

although

we

have
his

ample

proof

that

appreciate the higher qualities

as

of the

witness

honest,

friendly

admiration

Madame
chivalric

de Girardin and George Sand, and the

way

in

which

(as

we

see

in

"

Une

Aventure
charming

dAmour "), woman who

he could treat a young and

trusted

him completely and

for

put herself under the protection of his honour.

We
"

have spoken of the love of Dumas father

son.

each other "not

I

Dumas

They

were, indeed, the complement of

like in like, but like in difference."

know

of no two characters

more opposite than


AT.KXANDRK DUMAS
Alexandre's and
"
niinc," said

143

the

fatlicr

one day,

and

yet

they

go

together

excellently.

We

certainly
far

have some very good times when we are

away from each other, but I fancy we are never happier than when we are together." They loved each other madly, and yet lived such
different
lives

that
other.

sometimes they entirely

lost

sight of each

At

these periods,

if

the old

Uumas saw
and hold out
"

frier.d,

he would stop his carriage

asking for news of his son
?
:

his hand,

What
him?

has become of Alexandre

Do

you ever

see

For
say

my
'

part

never come across him,

'

except to
funerals."

good-day
"

when
I

meet him
added

at

On

another occasion

he

half-

bitterly, half-jestingly,

Perhaps

shan't

meet him

again until

my own The passionate love between Dumas pcre and Dumas yf/s- began with the birth of the one and did
!

"

not

end with
tells

the

death of the other.

Blaze de
deeply:

Bury
"

a pretty anecdote, showing

how

rooted was this feeling, even in early childhood

One day
:

the

young Alexandre

fell

from the top

to be very

of the staircase.
serious

The

accident

seemed

the child fainted, and the mother, thinking

him dead, was quite overcome. She sent at once for Dumas, who was out on guard, and also for the
doctor,

who

arrived

first.

The

child,

however, had

regained consciousness, but he was very pale and

144
faint,

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
in this state

and when the father saw him

he

fainted too
"

The

doctor ordered leeches, but the child re-

sisted strongly.

The

father implored

and besought
that
'

the boy to obey,

vowing before God

it

should

not hurt him, to which the child replied,

well then, put

Oh, very

them on yourself, and then I will let Dumas conthem put them on me afterwards.' sented, and put the leeches in the hollow of his left
hand."
After the
first

natural

pang of jealousy the elder

playwright not only recognised, but acclaimed his

son's dramatic powers.^

At the

" first night

Jils

"

of one

of the
father

successful

plays of

Dumas

the proud

wept with joy and happiness.

writes
!

"

He

took
is

hand,"
best

Villemessant, "saying,

'He

my my

was Dumas's reply, on a similar occasion, to a friend who remarked that the play was so good, it was surprising the father " Oh, but I had," said the had no share in it. " veteran dramatist, "the author is by me The light-hearted gaiety of the father and the
work
'

"

Even

wittier

sardonic gravity of the son, offered a contrast too

marked
^

to

be missed by the
has
left

wits.

" Alexandre

is

a very charming account of his father's attitude aux Caiiielias." He did not think it would dramatise, but catching the guilty youth with the MS. under his arm, he insisted on hearing it. The elder dramatist became interested, absorbed, moved, delighted, enraptured
latter

The

towards " La

Dame


ALEXANDRE DUMAS
Dumas yf/y,
never
will

"

145
/t'r^

but you

you are not Dumas

Lady of
is

)0u

be

"
!

said " the

the

Cam^Has

to the great

man.

"He
in

big child of mine,

said the son.

born when

was quite young,"

his son,

seemed

to

provoke wit
trees in the

the other.

Each The elder was

taken a house

one day dining with

who had
said

where the
light.

garden quite blocked up the

old
!

"
let

Open your windows,"

your garden have a
little

Dumas,
"

"

and

fresh air
Ji/s

By
this

kindness of

Madam Dumas
"

we

are en-

abled to add two " documents

love

in connection

with
is

between father and

prohibited
his

son.

The
most

first

Dumas pcres
the

formal, yet indignant, protest

son's

when

censor

famous

play
*'

:
I

declare,

on
'

experience, that

my honour, La Dame aux

and on
the

my
'

literary

Camelias forbidden
Censorship,
to

by
is

that

stupid

institution

called
I

an essentially moral play, and

have a right
I

an opinion on morality, seeing that

have written
in

700 volumes which might

girls.

safely

be included

school library, or be read in a convent, by the

young

Paris, 4th

October 1851.
"

A. Dumas.

The
on

other

is

little

gem, which we do not dare

to translate.

It is

written by the father to the son,

:

New

Year's day


146
*'

LIFE
MoN Cher
t'aime,

AND WRITINGS OF

que je
"

Enfant, Encore un an de plus encore un an de molns a t'aimer.

triste.

" Voila le cote

Mais en attendant, sans

calculer ce qui nous en

reste,

aimons nous tant que nous

pourrons.

i*""

Janvier.

toi,
'

''

A. Dumas."

We

have been led away by seductive paths into

a tardy recognition of one of the g-reat facts about

our author

his

energy.

Henley

tells

us that at

times he wrote for sixteen or eighteen hours a day

and

it is

quite credible in the case of a physique so

magnificently healthy, and

a brain

so

greedy of

work.

Yet, until his final decline, the great writer

never suffered from this abnormal devotion to the

desk, except in one way.

rest except

"Dumas," says Blaze de Bury, "would never when fatigued consequently a curious phenomenon came upon him. Almost every year
;

a fever seized

him

for

two or three days

he was
this,

not simply

ill,

he was vanquished.
;

Knowing

he went to bed, and dozed there

from time to time

he opened his eyes, and hastily taking up the glass

of lemonade which the occasion required, he drank
it,

and then

lay back with his face to the wall,

to his fever.
rest.

and

gave himself up

This was
crisis

his violent

manner of

takinof

The

lasted

about

three days, at the end of which

Dumas

arose and


ALEXANDRE DUMAS
returned
insisted
to

147

work.

The overtaxed organs had

gives an interesting account
"
I

upon a

halt."

M. Edmond About
can
still

which describes Dumas's method of working.

see on our hotel table," he says, "the
'

first

draft of the

Compagnons de
writin^j

Jehu.'

It

was a

thick
witli

pile of school-paper, cut in four,

and covered

a neat

little

an

excellent rou^^h

sketch
the
it

drawn up by a
his

skilled

assistant according to

master's original design.

Dumas worked
each
little

at

in

own manner

scattering wit broadcast

slip

through
of white

the pages as he wrote,

(?

pasted) on a great sheet of blue."

If
it

can be truly said of

Dumas
it is

that "panting

Time

toiled after

him

in vain,"

just as true that

he was ever
"

toilino- in

the arrears of his the

"

ever striving to keep pace with

copy.
slave's

own work demand for

To

be continued
at

in

our next
classic

it

was the
In
his

warning cry
confesses

the

feast.

amusing preface

to Grisier's

"Arms and

the Duel,"

Dumas
forcibly

that

there

were certain extrafulfil

ordinary pledges which he could not

unless

detached from

his

regular

work.

This

pressure
ridicule,

on

his

time,

coupled

with a dislike of

made

him, like Balzac, shun his days in

uniform, on duty as a National guard, and accordingly the hours of "

guard-room

"

imprisonment due

from him mounted up enormously.

Monpeou

the

148

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

composer, struggling vainly to get from the busy

writer an opera-comique libretto which our good-

natured author had undertaken to do, heard of the

facts of the case.

He

learnt,

moreover, that

Dumas

by sleeping in different houses, entering by side-doors, and departing by windows, " as if he wanted to be a fairy, and

was dodging

his

military pursuers

was rehearsing the

base
ends,

part."

Monpeou,
(It

for his

own
the

"gave information which

his offence

led

to

capture of the criminal."

appeared that

Dumas
trades-

had aggravated
gave

by an answer which he
of his

to a superior officer
!

men
that

who, with more feeling than

was very "painible and

one
;

own

culture, declared

it

terrible" for

him

to

be obliged to arrest

Dumas
"

to

which that gentleit

man promptly
be painful and

replied,
terriful

Do you think to me to go ? ")

wouldn't

Monpeou

begged that Dumas should have a private room to work in, and a piano, and when the prisoner arrived
to

undergo

his

punishment he found the traitorous

musician busy composing the overture to the comic

opera

The
last

result

was

" Piquillo."

One
of his

touch to complete the picture of

"Dumas

at work," not forgetting the invariable

labours

companion the tea of which he drank such

inordinate quantities.
"

Mr
Dumas.

Albert Vandam,

in

his

Englishman

in

Paris," describes a call

which he

made on

his friend

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
"
"
*
'

149

Is

Monsieur
is

at

home

'

said to the servant.

He

in his study,
in.'
I

Monsieur,' was the answer

Monsieur can go

"At
"
'

that

moment

heard a loud burst of laughter

I

from the inner apartment, so

I

said

would rather wait

no

until

Monsieur's visitors

are gone.'
"
'

Monsieur has

visitors

he

is
'

working,'

remarked the

servant

with

smile.

Monsieur

Dumas
" It

often laughs like that, at his work.'

;

was true enough the novelist was alone, or rather in company with one of his characters, at whose sallies he was simply roaring." That Dumas lived to work rather than worked to
live,
is

obvious to

all

who
to

read of his astonishinnf

his

fertility,

and devotion

desk.

M. de Bury
in

quotes a passage from our author,

which he

showed himself doubly indebted

memories they evoked,
"
'

to his

books

for

the pleasure they brought in the writing and the

in the re-reading.

am

never alone as long as one of

in

my

books

is

near me,' he says,

delightful emotion,

a passage

full

of a deep and

which was not always usual with

recalls
this

him.

'

Every

line

to
is

me

a day that has

passed away, and

filled

day

once more with me,

the old atmosphere

from dawn to dusk with

all

and all the same people who were there, in the days gone by. Alas already the best part of my life is
!

"

AND
;

WRITINIiS OF
like

150
in

LIFE

my

memories

am

one of those
at

trees,

crowned with bushy

silent birds, that

foliage,

which

noon

is full

of

wake up towards

the close of the

will
fill

day.

Then, when evening has come, they

old age with the beating of wings
;

my
they

and with

songs

with their joy, their loves, and their clamour

it

will enliven

until death, in its turn, lays its

hand upon
falling,

their hospitable

home

and the

tree, in

frightens
is

away

all

these merry singers, of

which each
It is this

simply an hour of

my

"
life.'

man whom most

of his critics denounced

as an idler!

In his boyhood, the peasants, with

less malice, said the

more reason and

same of him.
over
him,

He
the

tells

us as much, and overhears in imagination

neighbours
:

shaking

their

heads

muttering

"See the
anything
"
I
!

idler;

he prefers rambling along the

hio^h-roads to oroinor to colleofe.

He

will

never do

don't

know
but
!

that
I

have done much," comments

that
I

our

author, "

know

have worked deuced

brilliant result;

hard since then

"

"Truly,

this

work has had no

I
I

should have done better,

believe, instead of piling

up volume on volume,
land,

if

had bought a corner of

there.

and put pebble upon pebble,

I

At any

rate

should have had a house of

!

my

own, to-day."

"

Bah

Have

not the house of the

good God


ALEXANDRE DUMAS
the
fields,

151
nature

the

air,

the wide world and

which are denied

to those
I

who do
"

not possess the

? power of seeing what The most striking-, most

see

intuitive

intellectual
is

quality which

Dumas

possessed was what

known

as the
first

"dramatic

instinct."
life

He

seems from the

to

have seen

from the vivid, picturesque

ignorant of the stage, and
his

point of view.

As

lad,

collaborating with

much more experienced men,

"cockney sportsman" was the successful feature of

"
in

La Chasse

et T Amour," the first piece

performed
interesting

which he had any share.

His method of jDreparing

his plays

was
a

and

characteristic.
I

"When
occupies
all

am engaged upon my thoughts," he says,

it

work which
feel
I

"

the need
;

of narrating
at the

aloud

in reciting thus

invent

and
find

end of one or other of these narrations

fine

some
it

morning that the play

is

completed.

But

often happens that this

method of working
I

that
kept

is

to say, not beginning a piece until

have finished

the plot
'

is

a very slow one.

'

In this
in

way

Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle

my

head

for nearly

five years."

was not read, but described to the committee of the Comedie Francaise, and at the end of Dumas's vivid recital, was accepted by acclamation The fact was, it was
that finally the piece
!

We

may add

152

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
it

already composed;
paper.

only required to be set on

An

anecdote told

in "

connection with the drama"

tised version of the

Trois Mousquetaires
his public,

shows

how thoroughly Dumas knew

his natural critics. "

and trusted

Behind one of the scenes," says

seen the helmet of a fireman,
the play

"we had
to

Dumas fils, who listened

first

very attentively during the

six

tableaux.

In the middle of the seventh, however,

the helmet disappeared."

"
'

Do
No,

you see that fireman's helmet

not there now.'

?
'

asked

my

father.
*'
*

it's

" After the act the author

went

in

search of the
:

fireman (who did not

"
'

know him) and

no
longer

said

Why
'

are

you

listening

to

the

piece
"
'

Because that act didn't interest

me

as

much

as

the others.'
" This reply

was enough

for

my

father
;

he went
off

straieht to the office of Director Beraud

his frockcoat, his
tie,

he took

his waistcoat, his braces,

opened
sat

the collar of his

shirt, just

as he did

when he

down
tore
"
'

to

work

at

home, and asked for the copy of

It
it

the seventh tableau.

it

was given
'

to him,

and he

up and threw

into the fire."

?

What on

earth are you doing

cried Beraud.

"

ALEXANDRE
"
it.
'

DUJNIAS
:

153

It didn't
I

amuse

the fireman

have destroyed

But
"

see exactly

what

it

wants.'

And he

rewrote
before
at the

it,

there

and then."

The day
"

the

production of his comedy

Hahfax,"

dress-rehearsal,

Dumas

decided
told

that the piece

needed a prologue.

He
:

the

actors that

if

they would learn the parts straightway,

it.

he would write

They were

willing

the pro-

logue was written, learnt, and acted in twenty-four

hours.
!

*'

Read

it,"

says Blaze de Bury, "it

is

gem Dumas and

Rossini were present at the

first

night
piece

of a play called "

La Jeune

Vieillesse."
it

The

was a shocking
muttered

failure,

and as

proceeded dolorhisses,

ously, to the tune of laughter

and
is!

Dumas

"What
from

a fool the

man

He

has eone

right past a splendid subject!

it."

I'll

And

this

germ grew

"

make a note of Le Comte Herits

mann," one of the most notable of

plays.

author's later

Whenever he
he
tells

felt his

dramatic enerofles

flaarsrino-,

us,

he opened Schiller or Shakespeare at

random, to refresh

and revive

his

powers by reading.

But the

slightest opportunity or impulse

was

sufficient

to arouse the creative faculty

and

set

it

in action.

One day Dumas had been

in the
"I'll just

out shooting since six

morning, and had killed twenty-nine birds.

make

it

thirty,"

he

said,

"then

I'll

go

154

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
sleep
;

away and have a good

enough."

I'm

tired, I've

done

"He
towards
o'clock,

brought down his

the
farm.

thirtieth partridge," says

Blaze de Bury, " and

we saw him making When we returned

his
at

way
five

he was

sitting before the fire in the kitchen,

gazing at the flames and twirling his thumbs.

"
'

Whatever
'

are you doing there

?
'

asked his son.

"
"
"

'

As you see, I am resting,' Have you had any sleep ?

No, impossible
in
this
!

'

There

is

such an abominable

uproar
"
'

farm,

sheep,

cows, labourers, it's

impossible to close one's eyes.'

Then
'

all

this

time you've been twirling your

thumbs ?
"
"
'

have written a play in one act.* As a matter of fact he had just written Romulus,' which he amused himself by getting Regnier to
No,
I
'

read at the Comedie Frangaise as being by

'

a young,

unknown
brac
"

writer.'

It

was accepted with unanimity."

in " Bric-a-

(The version which Dumas himself gives

of the origin of this play differs only in un-

important details from his friend's account.)

The

father's

analysis
"

of

the
his

son's

play

"

La

Dame aux

Camelias

shows

knowledge of stageelder

craft in a striking^

liLrht.

The

Dumas added

to his criticism

his

opinion that the courtesan on

whose career the play and book were based, was

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
immoral by heredity.
the soundness of this deduction.

155

Subsequent research proved

to exertions

Dumas's
his
"

talent
"

was not confined

on

own

behalf.

How

often," says

Blaze dc Bury,

has he served as the anonymous collaborator of

^
!

his confreres

have seen him thus deny himself

any

credit

for

a score of plays which have been

signed with other names, but of which he had written

two-thirds."

In one case a friend broucrht

Dumas

play which had been sent back from a theatre to be

cut down, as they considered
it

too long.

The

great

man

read the piece, which was a short one, and told

his friend that far

from being too long,

it

was not long

enough.

He

pointed out

developed and extended,

play.

how the theme should be and made into a full-sized

re-

The
;

author followed the advice he had

ceived

and the piece thus remodelled was duly

"

accepted and performed.

But
"

the dramatic instinct

"

is

not without

its

disadvantages, as

Dumas
If

has amusingly shown.

"
I

At a
is

first

night,"

he mourns,
it is

am

the worst

spectator in the world.

that

an imaginative piece

being played, the characters have scarcely

appeared before they are no longer the author's, but

mine.
In the
first

entracte

take

them;

ap-

propriate them.

Instead of their
I

unknown

future

of the next four acts,

^

introduce them into four of

See the "Theatre Inconnu d'A. Dumas, /tvr," by Glinel.

156

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
;

my own
I utilise

composition

enter into their characters,

If the interval lasts

their originaHty.

only

it is more than I require to build for them the house of cards in which I instal them, and

ten minutes,

my own
is

particular paste-board house

is

scarcely ever
it

the same as the author's.

With

historical pieces

much

worse.
title,

bring
it is

my

play, of course, built

all

upon the
defects

and as
is

written with

my

natural
details,
triple,

that

to say, with

abundance of

absolute rigidity of characters, and double,

quadruple

intrigue

it

is

very seldom that

is

my

play resembles in the least the one which

played.

being

This
grreat

is

a real trouble to me, although to

other people

it is

a source of amusement."
has prompted his

The
lack

romancer's frank confession as to his

of education as a youth

him ignorant. They preAntony " wished to destroy the fame of Corneille and Racine because Dumas's sentiments towara^ the two national poets was a
detractors to pronounce

tend that the author of "

discriminating admiration rather than blind worship.

In

reality

he admired the highest

rule
instinctively
it.

in

literature;
it,

and
ing

as

recognised

and
his

judiciously proclaimed
to

We
;

know him

as yieldin

no

Frenchman, not even Hugo,

for

Andrew Lang, no Dumas's sound appreciation of the greatness of Homer; and this
veneration

Shakespeare
testifies

mean

authority,

to

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
passage
jeers
in

157

the "

Memoires

"

gives the He to
-

many
"

directed against the "great low

comedian

as his foes called

"

him

Bad Latin
;

scholar as
his

am,

have always
wandering

adored Virgil
exiles, his

compassion

for the

solemn pictures of death,

his intuition of

an unknown God, touched

;

my

heart supremely from

.

had an the melody of his verses the first especial charm for me, and I knew by heart whole
.
.

passages of the 'yEneid.'"

Unlike most scholars

Dumas
forgot.
"

studied

with

enthusiasm,

and

he

never

Partly

by

diligence, partly

by

divination,
"

Dumas
Having
gap by

had great knowledge," says M. de Bury.

received no early education, he set himself deliberately to repair the misfortune, filling in the

the thousand ideas which he gathered daily from

conversation,

from

travel

and

from

reading.

History, travels, natural history, foreign literature

he

read

all,

from the "Ramayana"

Schiller,

to

Shakeever

speare,

Goethe,
Scott,

Thackeray,
without

Dickens,

Cooper,

his

admiration of
delighted
little

literature

increasing.

Hugo

influencing
for

him, but Balzac had

attraction

Dumas,

who
As

didn't see

human

nature from that point of

view."
will readily

be understood, the great

realist

and the great romanticist were

at opposite poles of


158

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
On
one occasion these exBalzac had
in

the literary sphere.

tremes did meet, being invited by a well-meaning

friend,

but the result was not happy.

his
rival

spoken contemptuously of
as

popularity
to

"a

nigger,"
it.

and Dumas was not disposed

was a Quaker's meeting, for neither guest spoke until they were both leaving. Then
forget
It

alzac said

"When
dramas."

am

written out,

I'll

take to writing

And Dumas
"

replied

You'd better begin at once, then." Yet Balzac saw that Dumas, they parted. like George Sand, had none of the low jealousy and littlenesses which obscured so many contemporary

And

talents,

and Dumas, who always wrote with apBalzac's

talents,

preciation of
to the sfrave
in 1850.

followed his coffin

when

the author of "

Pere Goriot

"

died

still

greater bete-noire of Dumas's

was

Buloz,

the editor of the Revue des

periodical

Deux

Afondes, for which

"

the

" Isabel

de

Baviere

chroniques

were
^aise,

written.

The
"

pair
"

had quarrelled over the

at

production of
for

Caligula

the

Comedie Fran-

at

that time

Buloz was commissary of

the national theatre.

Dumas, who was

broidered
"

witty even in his dislikes, "

For some months afterward emvarying but

his

correspondence with


ALEXANDRE DUMAS
consistently uncomplimentary

159
to

references
letter

Buloz.

For

instance,

he would address a

"To
"

M
letter

"

Havre,
a Buloz."

"Sixty kilometres from that

idiot of

Or
"

again,

would begin a

My

dear Porcher,

You,
all

who

are in
. . .

every

respect superior to that idiot, Buloz."

There was a
" friendly

third exception to

Dumas's general
other

relations

with

the

powers."

This was M. Jules Lecomte, and the circumstances

of the

case are

worth recording, as beinof "siothings."

nificant of

many

Lecomte, when a young

man, was recommended to

friend,

Dumas by

a mutual
his

and the author of course opened

poor and friendless
host to pay the
in

house

to the

fugitive.

In return for

this kindness Lecomte ordered costly clothes, and

left his

author

sponged on the generous various ways, and finally disgusted him

bill,

altogether by masquerading as Alfred de Musset,

also
at
his

benefactor's

expense.

Further,

Le-

comte, under a pseudonym, sent to Paris by

of Brussels articles containing references to

way
of

Dumas
best

and Ida Ferrier which were not

taste.

in

the

When

the great

man was

staying in Florence,
to call once

Lecomte had the impudence

more on

160

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
required

some particulars concerning Lecomte, and he had given them Dumas's name as a reference. The novelist duly
his old host.

The authorities had

furnished the

officials

with
that

such

facts

about the
to

gentleman

in

question

he

was ordered

leave the city at once.

Then

the other, foreseeing

a public disturbance, armed himself with a stout

cane.

The
chatting

precaution was

a wise

one.

As

the rocarriage,

mancer was standing by the door of a

with a lady friend, in a public

avenue

one day,

Lecomte,

accompanied by a

" backer,"

strode up, and without a

at his

old patron.

word of warning struck Dumas parried the blow, and

Then,
Prince
" second,"

cut the rogue across the face with his cane.

turning

to

his

assailant's

one

Korsakoff, he

declared

that
like
if

he would not cross

Lecomte, but would he chose to take up

swords with a creature

willingly
his

meet the Prince,

companion's quarrel.

Korsakoff at once accepted, but before the duel

came about he wrote

to

Dumas

stating that

he had

heard certain truths about M. Lecomte, and

refused either to fight for

now

him or

to continue his

acquaintance.

There are several morals

have
their bearing

to this incident,

which
failure

on Dumas's success

and

in life.

AT.EXANDIIK
As
good
a
a
rule,

DUMAS

IGl

liowcvcr, the great writer

litde malice.

was not a

hater,

and bore

Meeting one day

have

critic

saying,

who had abused " Hein What

!

him, he stepped up to him,

a splendid article
"
!

provided you with!"

It is true that the persistent

!

shout of " Collaborators

him.

collaborators

annoyed

Once, after keeping a company of friends

roaring at his witty sayings,

find the jest a

Dumas
his
his
"
"
!

added, "

You

good one

Well, to-morrow one of

it's

my

collaborators will swear

Our author has expressed

laboration
tiques."
in

opinion

of col-

general,

in his
is

Souvenirs dramain

The passage
style.

written

his

most

vivacious

But

for

Fiorentino,

one of the

many young men he

best " 'prentices,"

befriended, and one of his

Dumas had a

very real
his

affection.

One day

the

master begged

secretary to

take a letter to Fiorentino and wait for a reply.

An

hour

after,

the secretary returned with a letter

from the ex-'prentice,

tutioiinel

then

critic

of

the

Constiit

and the Mofiiteur.

is

Dumas opened
I
I

"

Here

man whom

have rescued from have taught

it }

misery," he cried,
trade.

"and whom

his

Well
I

would anyone believe

me

when

at

odd times
It is

ask him to do

a service

... he

never refuses

me

"
!

a proof of the many-sided nature of

Dumas 's

genius that he was at once the rival

of Balzac,

162
Scribe,

LIFE
and

AND WRITINGS OF
Towards Scribe
his attitude

Hugo.

was one of admiration, mingled with a httle goodnatured tolerance the smile of the gay grasshopper,

as he watched the industrious ant toiling through a

hot summer's day to get

in his

winter stock.
;

The

one had talent and amassed a fortune

the other

had genius, made half a dozen

poor.

fortunes,

and died

With the bulk of

his fellow-writers

Dumas was
amongst
his

on excellent terms, and

Sand, Rossini, Hugo,

numbered
Musset,
Nodier,
a
^

friends Chateaubriand, Lamartine, Lafayette,

George
it

De
in

Heine, Soulie,

Beranger, Merimee, and

is

With

Janin,

true,

he engaged

wordy

duel over " Les,

Demoiselles de St Cyr."
that one of the

Mr
"

Swinburne thinks
la

poems

in

Toute

Lyre

"

was

addressed by
reconciliation.

Hugo

to his

two

friends, suggesting

We

have seen that

in

Dumas and
1849,
little

Janin were on good terms again

"

and

at

the former's death the latter wrote a

ciation

" appre-

of

him,

full

of

sincere

affection

and

admiration.

We

have mentioned Victor Hugo, and the

played an important part
in

friend-

ship between these two men, so strangely unlike

in character,
^

Dumas's

The
;

fight with

thrust

met on the "field of honour." Janin would not swords (so the story went) because he knew an infallible Dumas refused pistols because he could kill a fly at forty
pair even

paces.

So the

foes

embraced

ALEXANDRE
life,

DUINIAS

163
unhis

although

the

genius of each was quite

affected
confrere.

by

his

admiration

and

affection

for

It is

true that the plays of

one suggested

ideas to the other, but the influence

went no deeper.

met Hugo about the time of the production of "Henri Trois," in a show on the Boulevard du Temple, he tells us! and Hugo
first

Dumas

invited his

new acquaintance
"

to attend the private

reading of "
"

The two young became instant friends, and Dumas Romantics of singing the praises of the poet, who never wearied
Marion Delorme."
his part, although of a less demonstrative nature,

on

seems

to

We

have remained a loyal friend throughout. have referred to Dumas's eulogy of " Marion
the

Delorme," and Hugo's noble championship of his

comrade, on
drawn.
occasion

when

the

Legion of
then
with-

Honour was conferred on

him and

Unfortunately, a bitter attack on

Dumas,

written by Granier de Cassagnac, appeared in 1833,

Hueo's wishes, in a journal with which the An attempt poet was known to be connected. was made by ill-advised partisans to set the rival
ao-ainst

dramatists in

opposition

to

each other.

It

may

have been
year

this

which caused the coolness

in 1837-8,

to exist

between the two friends

but

in the latter

Madame Dumas

died,

and her sorrowing son

forgot the old enmity and invited

funeral.

Hugo

to

the

This was the poet's reply

164
"
I

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
You
will see

could have wished a less mournful reason for

clasping your hand once more.

me
exto

to-morrow, and with the

change, you will

first

glance which

we

know

that

you did wrong ever

It

doubt me.
"

You were

right in

counting on me.

is

return to a state of noble trust worthy of you, and

me.
It is

a matter of history that after the coup

exile.

dMat

Huofo went into

The

other soon followed his

friend to Brussels,

and we have already spoken of

this period.

their intimacy during

to Paris,

On

his return
for

Dumas

proclaimed
first

his

admiration

number of his MousqueHugo in the very tai7'e a bold thing to do, when one remembers that the author of " The History of a Crime " was anathema to the soul of " Napoleon the Little."

The
of

following year our author dedicated his play

"La
I

Conscience" to

Hugo

as

"a proof of a
and which
complipoet's
their
:

friendship
will,

which

has survived

exile,

hope, outlive even

death."

The

ment
"

is

acknowledged
in

in the fifth

book of the
recalls

Contemplations,"

which

Hugo

parting on the quay at Antwerp, and adds

"

Tu

rentras dans ton ceuvre, eclatante, innombrable, Multiple dblouissante, heureuse ou le jour luit, Et moi dans Funite sinistra de la nuit."

When

Mademoiselle Augustine Brohan attacked

ALEXANDRE DUJMAS
the exiled poet in the press,

165

Dumas

wrote to the

Comedie Franqaise to demand that the actress who had insulted his friend should not be allowed to
play in his comedies in the future.
to

Hugo

in writini;
I

comrade must write to tell you that

thank
his

for his loyalty, added, "

I

feel

love you more every

day, not only because you are one of the wonders of

the century, but because you are one of

solations."

its

conin-

The
visit

letter

ended with an urgent

(in

vitation

to

the

poet at Guernsey.

Dumas

duly journeyed to see the exile

1S57), an act

on which Charles Hugo comments admiringly. It was not only brave of him (he says), it was thoughto^reat men reful. The bond between the two o mained unbroken till the end, and Hugo wrote to
the younger

Dumas on

the occasion of his father's

death one of his characteristically noble and tender

letters.

With
music,
design,

all

his defects of training

and

his semiPictures,

plebeian birth,

Dumas was a man

ancient
art

of taste.
in

bric-a-brac,
all

sculpture

and

was best in the artistic sense, appealed to him. His admiration for architecture was real and ardent, and when during his travels in La Vendee he visited the cathedral at Angers, and
that

found an architect busy " restoring

scraping
wit.
it

"

the church
in spite

by
its

.'his
it

comment was severe

of

"Alas,

takes twenty-five years to

make a

"
'

166

LIFE
:

AND WRITINGS OF
It

man
*

a Swiss mercenary in the royalist pay shoots takes six or eight centuries to
:

him, and he dies.

colour
'

cathedral
scene,

an

architect

with
it!

'

taste

comes on the
tect scrape the If his

and scrapes
"

Oh, why

doesn't the Swiss shoot the architect, or the archi-

Swiss

enemies had not insisted on the contrary,

it

one would hardly have thought

courage
for

necessary to claim

man who was

who

in

the streets of Paris

to

during the days of July 1830,

with Garibaldi, and

who chose

be " out

fought two or three duels

and sent goodness knows how many challenges.

a
fact,

As
tells felt

Dumas's courage was of the best

quality.

"

In

manhood

his earliest impulse,"

Mr Lang

us, "

was

to rush at

danger

if

he had to wait he
of peril he

his

courage oozing out at the

Acres, but in the

tips of his fingers, like

Bob

moment

was him-

self again."

His bravery greatly resembled that of Henri Quatre in " Les Ouarante Cinq": it was a
which overmastered any fear of the
in the

fear of feai\

event that menaced him.

Once, when serving

National guard,

Dumas
of
the
at

was summoned
Deputies!
doors
:

to help

to arrest the

Chamber

He

and another comrade met

they waited, but no one joined them.

The

"false alarm" appears to have been in the nature of

test,

which the author passed successfully.

great man's disdain of danger was partly due

The

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
to his superb health and strength.

107
truly

He was

the son of the general

who choked a

horse with his

knees

it

was
"

veritably the father of Porthos

who
Chaftlie

tackled the leader of a crowd which threatened to

mob
fault,

him.

He

turned round," says M.

Du

"seized on the biggest, carried him to

if

parapet of the bridge as

straw,

he'd been a bundle of or

I'll

and

cried,
! '

'

Beg my pardon,
all

throw you

into the water

"

His confidence rested also on his

kinds of weapons.

perfect familiarity with

He

fenced admirably, and was an excellent shot, as became an ardent sportsman, for in all the pleasures of Dumas's life sport took a commanding place. As a boy we have seen him companion of keepers and

poachers

as a

man he

loved the chase from the

to

spearing of trout by midnight

wolves.
exploits
:

the hunting of

His travels contain the

his " Causeries
in
"

stories of his

own

tell

of the

triumphs of

others

everywhere

his

books you may read of

it

some form

of la chasse; in one
in

is

Charles IX.

chasing the boar,

another Ferdinand of Naples

call

breaking up a Council at the

of

h.\s

pig it e2i7's.

When
from

wearied of desk-work, or intent on thinking

or play,

out a new romance

Dumas would
Hi::

disappear
friends
at

Paris for a few days.

old

would be rejoicod to see their young friend (he was always " young " to them)
Villers-Cotterets

walk

in

unexpectedly one line day, looking gay and

168
hearty,

TFE

AND WRITINGS OF
his dinner

and ordering

even as he shouted
the
jolliest

a greeting!

Then would

follow

of

dinner-parties, everyone
to exchanofe banter
Paris,"

crowding round the table

content to be hail-fellow-

and chaff with the " Kingf of

poorest

who was happy and

with
the

well-met
Cotterets.
It

peasant

in

VillerS-

has been

made a
?

subject of reproach against

has not been made and which cook use of that way that he knew how

Dumas
"

of his qualities

in

to "

his
is

hare

after

he had caught
in

it.

This prejudice

especially

strong

England,

where

the

word

goicrmet

is

confused with gourmand, and popularly

translated to
lived simply,

mean
and
if

"glutton."

Ordinarily, the writer

he knew how food could best be

it

cooked,

if

he liked

cooked well instead of badly,

to

and

if

he had the

skill

cook

it

himself, there

is

surely no need to think

any the worse of him.

He
it

was not
is

i^pace

Stevenson) a "great eater"

in the

sense of eating
true,

much
is

he boasted of his appetite,

to believe that
it

but there

no reason

was

out of proportion to his giant frame and the enor-

mous amount
a "glutton,"

of

in short,

work he got through. So much of was our Dumas, that when

writing he refused to stop to take

engrossed
food
;

in his

whatever

his servant chose to prepare for

him

was placed at his elbow, and he ate mechanically as he wrote on and on

!

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
To
those

1G9

who have

so far followed the progress

life

of this sketch of Dumas's

and character

it

will

be a matter of no surprise to learn that he was a

humanitarian.
of "

His father had earned the nickname

"

Mr Humanity

from the

fierce sansculottes of

the Revolution, because he drew

his

down

the blinds of

room rather than witness the execution of some

poor wretches

whom

the fanaticism of the time had

doomed
kind
is

to the oruillotine.

And

as the love of one's

only a grander form of charity,

Dumas

the

charitable

was never found

wantinsf.

Sometimes he

used his influence to save a coiner from the gallows

sometimes he racked

his wits to
;

prevent a duel which

was

likely to

end

fatally

sometimes he would write

that

autographs and aphorisms by the hundred,

some wretch in poverty might benefit by the sale. When "Notre Dame des Arts" was founded,
Fitzgerald
tells

us,

Dumas

took the translation of

it,

little

German

play, shaped

disposed of

it

for

^Soo, and presented the money

poor

to the charity.
to

monk

journeying from

Palestine,

obtain

funds for the rebuilding of his monastery at Carmel,

appealed to the writer,

who
a

laid the

good man's

petition before the public through the

columns of a

friendly journal.

No

was

raised,

and the

sum than 300,000 francs monk went home joyfully, his

less

quest accomplished.

Brunswick,

who provided

the base-idea on which


170
"

; '

LIFE
share

AND

AVRITINGS OF
"

Mademoiselle de Belle- Isle

was founded, sold

his

third of the re-sold

it

profits

for

300

francs,

to

friend,

who

to

Dumas.

When

the

play

was

written

and

produced,

and proved a

success,

Brunswick hinted
not adequate.

to the author that the

sum was
"
I

The

other replied

heartily thank you,

my

dear friend, for wishing

to have your share in the

befallen me.
I

fancy

good fortune that has just am more skilful in putting

figures.
I

dialogue
*

together
in

than

left

out
'

an

ought

'

the

sum we agreed upon

for

your

piece.

It is

worth,

my

dear

Brunswick, not 300,

of the last days
is

but 3,000 francs."

The

description given by
last

Dumas

and the

moments

of Marie

Dorval

full

of

pathos, and most feelingly, unaffectedly told.

The

dying actress begged her old friend to see that she

was not laid in a pauper's grave, and he promised. He had only 200 francs of his own; Hugo and M. Falloux between them supplied another 300 and the "vain fcnxeur'' pawned a cherished
decoration to

make up
to

the necessary balance.

He
Marie

struggled

vainly

obtain

pardon

for

Capelle
Collard,

(Madame

Lafarge),

niece of his playmate

whose crime was one of the tragic mysteries of the day. He had better fortune in the case of a

named Bruyant, a native of Villers-Cotterets, who was condemned to death for killing a superior
hussar


ALEXxVNDRE DUMxVS
officer,

171

in

an attempt to desert.
first

By

energetically

attacking

Duke de young Chartres, and then M. Guizot, Dumas obtained a commutation of the sentence, for, as he had foreseen, the man proved to be mad, and was finally
his

patron

the

taken care
In
his

of.

epilogue

author pleaded,
sense,

Comte Hermann" the with much earnestness and good

to
"

that

executions

should not be held semifalse pride to the

publicly, a

way which summons

heart of the

condemned and hardens him

to die

unrepentant.

He
in

asked that the sentence should

cell itself,

be carried out

the prison
swiftl\-

and should be

accomplished, more
tricity.

and

painlessly,

by

elec-

Since the words were written the French

;

have advanced somewhat towards Dumas's ideal

the Americans have realised
it

to the

full.

As

in

private

life

our author was a friend of the poor,

the sorrowing and the suffering, so in the world's

history he invariably
fallen.

championed the cause of the

"In
up

his stories," says Ferry,

"he never

lost

an opportunity of re-crowning the vanquished, of

raising
fallen causes,

and of asking the pity of

sacrificed

posterity for those

men who had

them-

selves for

it."

Dumas
so

passed through that evolution of the soul

thinkers,

frequent with
faith,

dogmatism, doubt

and a new

based on reason, and the divine


172

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
man.

intuition within

As a boy he passed through

ecstacy
;

a period of reHgious

yet

in

his

youth

when he was

in the

depths of Byronic gloom, he

prefaced his play of "Antony," as

we have

seen,
in-

with what was intended to be a very wicked

vocation to the Spirit of Evil, in which he declared

he would give up to
" if

it
!

his
"

life,

and

his soul too,

later,

he believed
to

in

it

Twenty-four years
**

he wrote

Victor Hugo,
soul."

believe in the

im-

mortality of the

In the verses which

death,

he
a

composed
were

on

his

mother's

he

shows

passionate piety.
uttered

All these conflicting sentiments

perfect
sincerity

with

they

were

really felt at the time they

were expressed.
Memoires."

But
Here,

his true confession of faith, the conclusions of his

maturer years,

is

given

in the "

after protesting

"a

great respect for holy things, a

great faith in Providence and a great love for God,"

he continues
"

Never
I

in the in

course of a somewhat long

life

have
life,
I

most wretched hours of that one moment of doubt, one instant's despair.
fe'lt,

the

will not

dare to say that

am

sure of the imI

mortality of
for it."

my

soul

will

simply say,

hope

At a

certain dinner-party given

by an opulent

banker, the company discussed

the existence of

God, "over the walnuts and wine," and a certain

"

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
how people
**

173

general was very scornful on the subject, wonderi nocould trouble to discuss such
part,"
trifles.

For my
*

he added,

"

can't conceive of

the existence of this mysterious being

call

whom

they

the

good God.'

"General," replied Dumas, "I have two huntingdogs, two

monkeys and a parrot

Jils

at

home, who are

religious

of your opinion exactly."

Dumas

has examined his

father's

sentiments and analysed them. In the Introduction

to the " Mousquetalres " before quoted.

He
In

finds

that

his

father

was too sane, too busy

the hereafter
;

good

work, to dwell

much on

but believes

that the kind, charitable soul need not be

blamed

very severely for living for this

sidering
its

life,

without con-

own

precious self too closely

and most
mind
mot
of somelast

of us will agree with him.

Even

in

the last darkening; hours of his

capable,
at

Dumas was
thing like

brief

intervals,

his

old wit.

We

quote his

from M. Ferry's "Dernleres Annees d'A. Dumas":

"

When

they took him away from Paris he had

twenty francs on him.

fortune of this
"

That louls was the man, who had earned millions.

Puys,

total

On
his

arriving at

Dumas

placed the coin

it

on
"

bedroom chlmney-plece, and there

all

re-

mained

through his

illness.

One day he was

seated in his chair near the

/
174

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
his

window, chatting with

on the gold piece.

son,

when

his

eye

fell

"A
"
'

recollection of the past crossed his mind.

Fifty years ago,

*

when

went

to

Paris,'

he

said,

had a

louis.
I

Why

have people accused

louis.

me
See
"

of prodigality.'*

have always kept that

there

"
it

is

'

And he showed

his son the coin, smiling feebly

as he did so."

We

may

add,

by

way
will

of

appendices,

three

character-sketches which

supplement the im-

pression given by our own.

They

present by

way

of contrast, a view of Dumas's

is,

character,

which
given

as

it

were, focussed and compact.

The first is by Dr Castle, a

its

a phrenological

description

professor of that "pseudo-science,"

which purports to be a cold-blooded estimate of

subject's virtues
"

and vices
loath

Frank
thinks,

in

the

expression

of

all

that he feels
to

and

he

is

by nature
his

take
his
is

any
the

roundabout way of attaining

"

end:

very opposite of the intriguing

instinct.

He
;

is

expansive, affectionate, and caressing in

manner
extends

and
itself

his
in

affection
all

is

of that

kind which
in
fact,

directions,
for

being

the

confession

of

his

need

comradeship.
all

This

tendency to make friends of

whom

he meets

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
means
"

175
in

practically

an absence of exclusiveness

affection.

He

has a natural love for the weak, the sufferlogical antithesis, a

ing,

and the young, and by a

possesses

love, too, for the aged.

"He

confidence

in
;

himself,

and yet

needs the approbation of others

"

he has a desire

to please, coupled with a respect for others.

As one may

see,

such a character

is

subject

to a great

number
subtle

of opposing impulses.

These
on our
is

contradictory instincts will have

writer,

an

effect

inward
well they

effect,

which
him.

more
his

apparent to
friends,

Dumas

himself

than to any of

however
feels

know
in

"

He
:

the need of love, of lovinof and beine

loved

this

need

is

elemental

him, and

is

felt

perhaps the more strongly by the sensuous than

by the
"

spiritual side of his nature.

is

He

subject to irritable, rather than to iras-

cible

moments, and capable, on rare occasions, of

violent

and blind passion.

vindictive,
or,

Also he

is

liable

to

show himself
in

more

often, stubborn,
is

controversy or quarrel.

This obstinacy

prone

to
will

seem

like

vindictiveness,
infuriated

because our subject

probably be

by

resistance

to

his

desires,

although he feels no hatred towards the

anorer.

cause of his

"There

is

a tendency towards covetousness, ver}"

176
slightly

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
but
present.

indicated,

He

is

generally

inclined to

see the best side of everything,

and

view

all

things through couleur de rose spectacles.

He

is

pious by instinct and religious by intelligence,

resolute

more brave than courageous, and more

than brave."

The second

is

a portrait of

Dumas

in his thirties,

by a confrere and a contemporary, M. Hippolyte Romand, who looks upon the author from a more

human

point of view

" Passionate

by temperament, subtle by

instinct,

and courageous by vanity, he has a good heart and

bad judgment, and

is

is

a spendthrift by nature.
'

He
'

a veritable
'

'

Antony
:

for love,

almost a
will

DarSen-

lington
tinelli
'

for for

ambition

he never

be a

vengeance.

Superstitious^
writes, sceptical

thinks, religious

when he
in

when he when he
his

speaks,

light

even

his

most

fiery passions,

blood

is

a lava, his thought a spark.

is

His perhe
a

sonality

as illogical as

it

is

possible to conceive,
;

and the most unmusical that we know

liar in

is

his capacity as poet

generous, because he

1 The character in " Christine " who, impelled by private hate, kills Monaldeschi, by Queen Christine's order. 2 Pifteau tells us that Dumas had a belief in the "evil eye," and a rooted distrust of monks as harbingers of evil. Vandam tells us that "althoug^h far from being superstitious," the romancer prophesied that the notorious Lola Montes would bring ill-luck to all who joined their

destinies to hers,

and the

after career of that courtesan

proved him

to

be

riffht.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
is

177
friendship,

an

artist

and a poet; too

in

liberal

in

too despotic

love

vain as a

woman,

resolute

as a man, and egoistical as a God.

He

is

sincere

to imprudence, kind without discernment, forgetful

even

to thoughtlessness, a
taste,

wanderer body and

soul,

cosmopolitan by
illusions

patriotic in opinion, rich in

and
;

caprices,
in

poor

in

prudence and exwitty

perience

light

spirit,

cutting in speech,
night,

in season, a

Don Juan by

an Alcibiades by

day, a veritable Proteus, escaping from everybody

and from himself; as lovable

for his

for

his

defects as

good

qualities

than for his virtues

him, as he
"
is
!

more seductive for his vices that is M. Dumas as we love

;

We
man

make no apology
It
is

for adding, as

the third

" opinion," that of

one whose

partiality inspired

frank eulogy.

of critical
to

Dumas fits who is speaking, insight, who may at least be relied

praiseworthy qualities of his

upon
father,
in

praise

the

and not
:

to extol the

bad ones.

He

speaks

apostrophe
" In
this

century,
all

which seems created, above

all,

to
it

devour

things,

you were

in truth the

one

man

needed, for you in turn were born to pro-

duce perpetually.

What

precautions nature took,

in thee, for the

what provision she made

appetites,
It

formidable

for which she was forced to prepare was beneath the American sun, and with African

178
blood,

LIFE
that she

AND WRITINGS OF
moulded him of

whom

you were

born, and who, soldier and general of the Republic,

strangled a horse between his legs, broke a helmet

with his teeth, and, alone, defended the bridge of

Brixen against a vanguard of twenty

men

Rome

would have bestowed the honours of a triumph upon him and made him consul France, calmer
:

and more economical, shut the doors of the college upon his son. That son, growing to manhood in
the wide
forests

blue heavens

urged on by want and by

literature

in

the open air and under the

his genius,

flung himself, one fine day, into the great city, and

marched
"

into

by the breach he made,

as his father

marched

into the

camp

of the enemy.

Then commenced

that cyclopean

work which
history,

lasted for forty years.

Tragedy, dramas,
all

romance, comedy, travel, you cast

the furnace and the

of

mould of your
fiction

brain,

them in and you

creations.

peopled the world of

with

new

The newspaper,
France,

the book, the theatre, burst asunder,

too narrow for your puissant

shoulders

you fed

Europe, America, with your works; you

printers

made
arists
;

the wealth of publishers, translators, plagi-

and copyists

toiled after

you

in vain.

In the fever of production you did not always try to

prove the metal you employed, and sometimes you

tossed into the furnace whatever

came

to

your hand.
is

The

fire

made

the selection

what was your own

ALEXANDRE DUIMAS
bronze, what
;

179

was hot yours vanished in smoke. You have turned out some bad worl: thus but on the other hand, how many amongst those who would have remained obscure have been Hghtened and warmed at the forge of your genius and if the
;

hour of restoration sounded, how immensely would

you gain, simply by taking back what you have

given, and
''

what has been taken from you Sometimes you placed your heavy hammer upon
!

your great anvil, and rested on the threshold of

the glittering
grotto,

your sleeves

turned

back,

your chest open

to the air.
;

With smiling
at the

face,

you

wiped your forehead

you gazed

calm

stars,

breathing the freshness of the night, or perhaps

you rushed

off

upon the

first

path you met, hailing

;

your freedom as a prisoner would

you crossed

the ocean, you climbed the Caucasians, you scaled

Then, was always something colossal your lungs filled anew, you returned to your cave. Seeing your big shadow outlined in black against

Etna

it

the glowing hearth, the

for at
in

mob
in

clapped their hands

in

heart they love

simplicity

fertility

work, elegance

strength,

genius,

and you

have

fertility,
I

simplicity, elegance

and generosity, which

million-

had forgotten, but which has made you a aire for others and poor for yourself.
"

Then one day

there

came a change

indiffer-

ence, ingratitude, seized the crowd,

whom

till

now


180

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
;

you had swayed and dominated. They went elseyou had where, wishing to see something fresh
given them too much.
pered,
'

You

even heard
far

it

whis-

declare

the

son has

more

talent.'

You

well might laugh at that, but you did not

like

you were merely proud of me,

father,
right.

some ordinary

and perhaps you thought that they were

just as
I

You would have given me all your glory, you used to give me all your money when
idle

was an

boy.
:

Let others of
as they
;

my

time claim

to be your equals

do not bear your name,

I

that
after

is

their

own

affair

but

wish those
shall

who come
of this
I

me

to

know, when they

see our two

scroll

names one above the other on the

century,
that

whatever people may say,

have
friend,

never

felt

you other than

;

my

father,

my

and

my

teacher

and

that,

thanks to you,

have

never become conceited, always considering myself

a mere pigmy by the side of you."

Reading
for

this

filial

tribute,

in

which the regret

to

the

father's

lost

popularity seems
the writer's

be

sin-

cerely greater
his success,

than

own

pleasure in

one may well agree with Hugo, when

he wrote to the younger

his father
"
:

Dumas on
all

the death of

That

soul

was capable of
itself,

the miracles, even

itself.

that of bequeathing

even of surviving

Your

father lives in you."

PART

II

HIS WRITINGS

His Writings
Hugo, " that in place of the romance of narrative, and the romance epistolary, a creativ^e brain produced the romance
dramatic,
in

" Suppose," wrote Victor

wherein the action should unfold

occur

itself

a series of faithful and varied pictures, just as

life
;

the events of real

which should know

chansfinsf
short,
in

no other division than that which the

scenes

demanded
in

which
?

should be,
"

long drama,

which the description supplies the

destined to realise this ideal
closely than
first

scenery and the costumes

Dumas was

much

more extensively and

Hugo

himself.

He

possessed, in the
skill
;

place,

the constructive,

dramatic

he only needed the impetus.

;

He

found

it

in

the love of history

first

but

it

was needful

that he should

find the historians

who would

reconcile

him

to the task.
is

"What

France

looking

for,

is

the historical

novel," said Lassagne to

Dumas
France

once, in the early

days of the writer's career.

"

But
"
!

the

history

of

is

so

dull

and

tedious

answered the ignorant young dramatist

dogmatically.

"

184
"

LIFE
Indeed

AND WRITINGS OF
so."

how do you know that?"

!

" I've

been told

"

Poor boy

Read

it

yourself,

first,

and then

you'll

change your mind."

took his friend's advice, and read Thierry,

Dumas

and a high ambition possessed him. "One day," he tells us, " Lamartine asked me
to

what
"
'

attributed the success of his

'

Histoire

des Girondins.'

To

the

fact

that

you raised history

I

to

the

height of the romance,'

replied."

"In Dumas," says Swinburne,

told,

" the novelist

and
are

the dramatist were thoroughly at one."

We

and can well

believe, that

when

the
"

immense

success of "

Les Trois Mousquetaires

called for a

dramatised version of the book,

scissors

little

more than

and paste, some

skill in selection,

and a change
sa

of form, were needed to turn the romance into a

play.

On

the

other hand,

"

Henri Trois
like

et

Cour" and "La Tour de Nesle" read

and-sv/ord romances in stage dress.

cape-

We
fame.

know

that in

Dumas

a desire to write fiction

lust
first

had always lurked behind the

for

theatrical

About the time that his

first

vaudeville was

performed, the
stories,

book, a

little

collection of short
said,

appeared.

These, as

we have
"

were
after"

the

"

Nouvelles

Contemporaines
in

of

1826,

wards included

the

"

Souvenirs d'Antony

of

CONTEMPORAINES,
Alex.

DUMAS.
Fils d'un soIdaL, i'airae a cboisit

noes herosdanslesranfsderarmee.

PARIS.

SANSON, LIBRAIRE
DE
S.

A. R. MONSEICNEL'R LE DLC DE
Palais-Roval, galeric

MONTPENSIER,

de

bois, n 25o.

1826.
TITLE PAwE UF ItlMASS lUiST BUUK.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
1S35.

185

As

this

was Dumas's
rarity,

first

book,
it

and
a

is

now a
attention.

great

we may

give

little

"The
entitled
lieu,'
'

first

of these stories," he
'

tells

us,

"was
utterly

Laurette,' the second

Blanche de BeauI
'

and the name of the third

'

have
I

forgotten.

Blanche
'

de Beaulieu

afterwards
the third

utilised in writing

La Rose Rouge,' and

I
*

{the one of
I

which

cannot remember the name),

subsequently reconstructed into

Le Cocher de
third

Cabriolet.' "

We
"

may add

that

the

story

was named

Marie," and that the book was dedi-

cated to the author's mother in "

Homage

gratitude."
one
is

love
sold,

Of
in

the

four

(or

six)

copies

now

the possession of Robert Garnett,

title-page
is

Esq.,

and the

here reproduced with

"
It

his permission.

Of

the three (later the five) stories,

strikinof.

Blanche
is

de Beaulieu" was the most

notelittle

worthy that
story General

in

this

sombre but powerful

Dumas, the
"

author's father, appears,

though

in its first

form he was alluded to without

Cabriolet
"

being named,

Le Cocher de
"),

(after-

w^ards destined to form

the basis of the author's

drama of
differing
its

"

Angele
"
"

is

a pretty story, of a kind

the
terrible

strongly from

poignancy of
is

companion,
"

Un

bal masque," which

in the
is

true

Antony

vein.

This

last,

indeed,

the

"

186

LIFE
play, as

AND WRITINGS OF
it

sole excuse for connecting these stories with the

famous
"

is

supposed to be told by that

Byronic personage himself.

The remaining
appeared
in la

story,

Cherubino
of
"

et

Celestini,"

as

one

of

the
title

" Cent-et-un

Nouvelles"
de

1833,

under the
"

Les
").

Enfants

Madone

("The

Foundlings

The main
were told

incidents
to

contained in

this " nouvelle "

Sir Walter Scott as

local history,

when he

visited

Naples shortly before

"Journal" as
versified
it

he died, and are given

in his

"The
from

Death of

Bizarro."

Tennyson

that source in "

The

Bandit's Wife."

How
skill

cleverly
its

the theme has been elaborated,

terest

and how

in-

has been heightened,

by the

of the

Frenchman, may be seen by those who

pare the outline
in

will

com-

Scott's journal with "Cheru-

bino et Celestini."

The
years

novelist
his

in

Dumas

lay

dormant
triumphs.

for

nine

period of dramatic
Scott's

Then,
intro-

an acquaintance with
of Barante's

novels, and an

duction to history picturesquely told, in the shape

" Histoire

des Dues de Bourgoyne

combined
rection to

to excite his imagination,

and gave

di-

the ambitions called forth by Thierry.

In his fine preface to " Isabel de Baviere" he faces

the difficulties and exults over the glories of the
career which he foresees for himself:
"

One

of the most magnificent privileges of the

ALEXANDRE DUJMAS
historian, that

187

lord over the Past," he wrote, "is

the

power

to

rebuild

palaces and reanimate the

dust of dead heroes.

With the touch

of his pen, at

the sound of his voice, as at the

the scattered bones reunite
;

call

of a God,

again the living flesh

the

covers them

they are clothed once more in

their other
life,

gay robes of

and from out that

immense gulf of

oblivion whither the three thousand

centuries have flung their offspring, he has but to

choose the favoured elect of his caprice, and

call

them by name, to see them instantly raise with their brows the walls of their tombs, part with their hands
the
folds

of their

shrouds,
' :

Lazarus answered Christ

wilt
"

Lord, here

and answer him, as am I what

:

Thou

with

me ?

"
'

True, one needs a firm step to descend into the

abyss of history, a voice of power, to question the

phantoms who dwell

for often the

there, a

hand

that shall not

tremble, to write the words that they shall speak,

dead hold
ideal

terrible secrets
"

which have
romance,
his

been 'interred with

their bones.'

Dumas's early
although
genius,
career,
is
it

of the historical

changed with the development of

also interesting.

At

the beginning of his

he wrote
great difficulty
(it

"

The
;

seems to us)

is

to avoid

two errors
done

not to attenuate the

it,

past, as history has

not to disfigure

as the

romance

does.

The

188
only
will

LIFE
way
to
be, then,

AND WRITINGS OF
clear

steer

of both

these

mistakes

immediately one has chosen one's

to study

historical epoch,

thoroughly the interests

which moved the three classes of society

people, the nobility and royalty

the
;

at

that time

to

choose from

among

the

principal

personages of

those classes such as took an active part in the

events to be comprised in the narrative

and

to

enquire minutely concerning their appearance, character

live,

and temperament, so

that, whilst

making them

speak, and act in this triple unity, one

may

show the development

which are recorded
one's

in these historical types, of

the passions which brought about those catastrophes

in the

pages of the century by

dates and facts and in which one can only interest

public
in

by showing them the actual

living

manner
history."

which the same deeds were added to

Such was Dumas's view of the romance in the days of " Isabel de Baviere," and " La Comtesse de
Salisbury."

We
most

have already explained how the

former " chronique "

selected the
vivified

came

to

be written.

Dumas
and

effective portions of Barante,

them.

He

was destined

in

the future to
in

make a

brilliant success

by the way

which he
;

painted romance on a foundation of history

this occasion, as

but on
it,

Mr

Saintsbury pithily puts

"

the

canvas shows throucrh," O

There

is

a want of coher-

ALEXANDRE DU.MAS
ence
it

189

in the

book

it

is

absorbingly interesting, but

"

is

neither romance nor history.

La Comtesse
is

de SaHsbury," pubHshed four years

is

later, in 1839,

less readable.

An

admirable opening chapter

succeeded by long tracts of history, and only at

brief intervals

do the characters take

for his

life.

This

is

the

more

to

be regretted, as the episode of Edward

vassal's

III.'s

guilty passion

wife

was a
would
which

subject of which, in after-years, our

more experi-

enced author,

emancipated

from

history,

probably have made much.

The
is

preface,

treats of the influence of Scott

his fellow-romancers in

on the author and

France,

by

far the

most

valuable part of the book.

Absorbed
our
" Pauline,"

in

travel

and the drama, once again

the
historical

romancer

neglected

metier.
first

a powerful

little

novel,
in

some
"

in-

dications of which

appeared

his

Impressions
in

de Voyage en

Suisse,"
;

was published

183S,

and was much praised

and " Pascal Bruno," an

episode of the days of Murat, was also suggested

by the author's travels in Italy, and was coupled with " Pauline " in a volume entitled " La Salle

dArmes."

When Dumas
visit the

produced

his

drama of
went to

" Caligula,"
it is

he said to himself,
tomb."
"

" to study the corpse

best to

He therefore

Italy,

and also

" read

up

the epoch, and the result was a romance

"

190

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
" Acte,"

as well as a drama.

which was published

English, but in

in 1839, is not translated into

some

respects

it

is

a most notable book.

first

" Scott could

never have written the

says Parigot truly
"
;

two hundred pages,"

ashamed
city

of them.

Renan would not have been Every step that Dumas takes

his foot rests

on a document
its

Nero's
walls,

entry into the

over the ddbris of

which had been

levelled in his honour, the suppers, the

games

at

the circus, the letters from Gaul which interrupt the

spectacle

the

whole story

is

taken from authentic

sources, not forgetting Nero's flight,

at the

and

his death

house of Plancus.

And

with what grace,

prodigious epoch

with what imaginative

facility is this

conjured up, living and breathing, before our eyes!

To

these marvels of illusion, gathered together by

the artist in

Dumas

with great effort and

skill,

he

adds the vivid

It is

illusion of his

own

story."

work should in the end drag itself to death in plagiarism and prolixity " but the fact was that Dumas's mother died whilst the
a pity that such excellent
"
;

book was being

for
in

written,

and
novel

this

probably accounts
so

the

fact

that

the the

varies

markedly
in

merit.
left

Either

writer,

absorbed
it,

his

sorrow,

some other author

to finish

or he lost

interest in the romance,

for time,

and being as usual pressed

vanished inspiration.

made use

of Chateaubriand's " Martyrs

to

supply the place of his

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
Sienkiewicz,

101
to

who has
Vadis."
it

studied

Dumas's works

admirable purpose, probably found in

basis for "

"Acte"
of

the

Quo

The

"

Acte

"

Mr

Westin

bury,
plot,

although

does not resemble Dumas's

would seem to have been suggested by the

Paul," published in the previous

older romance.
"

Le Capitaine

year, relates to the celebrated privateersman

Paul

Jones,

and professes
"

to be a sequel

to

Fenimore
in

"Les makes fun of the sea-terms employed in the story, the comparative non-success of the book is due rather to the fact that Dumas, in his admiration for the American novelist, was working with unfamiliar and uncongenial material. The plot seems to have been suo-o-ested to him. " Dauzats invenit, Dumas sculpsit," he wrote. He was more successful, two years later, with the " Aventures de John Davys," a book somewhat after the manner of Defoe. Thackeray in the Revtie Britainiiqiic for
Cooper's "Pilot."

Although Alphonse Karr

Guepes

1847 accused
buliez, a

Dumas

of having stolen half of

it

from another book, which he did not specify.

Cher-

contemporary

critic,

who was

usually severe

on our author, admitted that the book could be numbered amonost the best and most amusinir of
his early works.

Three other books published

attention, although not

in
is

1840 deserve
accessible in

one of them

192
English.
" Maitre

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

Of these perhaps the most noteworthy is Adam, le Calabrais," which is unknown to

of the romancer,

many
those

of the admirers

even to

who pursue him

According to

in the

huge

list

of Calmann-

Levy.
first

his

witty epilogue,
lips of

Dumas

heard the story from the

;

a peasant at

Mugnano
life,

but the intimate knowledge of Calabrian

customs, and superstitions displayed suggests the

assistance of Fiorentino,

Dumas's

Italian assistant.

The

result

is

an admirable

story,

told

in

most

humorous

fashion.

The
trio,

" Maitre

d'Armes," the second book of this

Mr

Saintsbury has pronounced "very poor

Yet it was translated by a peer of the realm, and has been issued also for the use of schools. We
stuff"

fancy that on this occasion our author

is

to

be taken

more

literally

than usual

in his

explanation of the
introductory

story's

origin.

Dumas

supplied an

page to

his friend Grisier's journal of a visit to St

Petersburg, and possibly selected passages and re-

wrote them.
of

"

The
is
is

what follows
title."

warned that nothing mine," writes Dumas, "not even

public are

the

That

plain enough,

and the

internal evi-

dence proves

it.

The

story of the exiling

in the plot of

of a
1825,^

Russian noble for complicity

and of the devotion of the mistress who followed

him
^

to far Siberia, forms only a minor portion of

plot forms the subject of Jokai's

The

romance, " The Green Book.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
the book, and
is

193

not developed, as

Dumas would

have found himself forced to develop anything of

his own.
in
It

may be

added, that during his travels

Russia

in 1858,

our author was introduced to the

hero and heroine of the adventure.

The book had

was
"

the honour of being forbidden in Russia.

The remaining work

sort of nautical

of this year

Le CapiIt
it

taine Pamphile," which narrates the adventures of a

Crusoe

in

northern America.

should appeal particularly to children, for

whom

was

written,

and

if

the

entertaining

digres-

sions respecting the author's pets be forgiven or

skipped, the rest of the

reading.

The note
first in this

appears

book will be found capital humour in Dumas, which book and in " Maitre Adam," is
of

not too frequently present in his later works.

Yet

it

is

rather gaiety than

any other quality

It

which pervades the only attempt at story-telling

made by Dumas during

remembered
that he

1841 and 1842.

may be

was busy writing

his three

comedies for the Theatre Frangais at this time, and also his " Impressions de Voyage "in the south of France and Mediterranean. At Marseilles, Dumas and his friend Mery enjoyed an experience which

own way. Hayward, in his essay on our author, says, " One of the most amuseach utilised
in his

ing stories composed by

Dumas

is

'

La Chasse au
and
perils

Chastre,' in which he depicts the trials

194

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
is

into which a wortliy professor of music

hurried,
in

the reckless pursuit of a field-fare."

of his

Gautier

by one

books

refers to " that c/iasire,

whose advenlips of

tures

Dumas

has told so vivaciously and wittily."

"

The two

authors heard the story from the

the unfortunate musician himself, and

court's " assertion that

de Mire-

Dumas

stole the tale

from

Mery is disproved by that writer in the preface to his own version. " Le Chateau d'Eppstein " or " Albine " was the
outcome of a social gathering at Florence in 1841, and was told to Dumas and the company by one That is our author's explanation of the guests. " commentators " declare " Albine " to be a story his of the Rhineland (title and author not given). " Jacquot sans Oreilles " not, one is disappointed

to find, a pillorying of

M.

"

de Mirecourt"
an
officer

similarly "supplied

"

to

Dumas by
his

was whose
which

acquaintance he
in

made during
"
is

Russian travels
"

1858.

The
in

Aventures de Lyderic

appeared

1842,

the story of Siegfried,

made

familiar to the public

We

by Wagner. now enter upon the most important period of

our author's career as a writer of romance.

but has failed to devote

Up

to

this time he has possessed some very praiseworthy

ideals,

much

care

perhaps, in the case of "

of them.

Acte

"

except,

to the realisation

We

have seen him displaying wit and

ALEXANDRE DUiMAS
humour,
skill

195

in

picturesque

narrative,
all

and

his

native sense of the dramatic, but

without any
tells us, to

very definite aim.

He had

vowed, he
progress.

write the history of France in fiction, but, as

we
the

have seen, he had made

little

At

this

juncture

the

great

man made

acquaintance of an unknown, unappreciated writer,

named Auguste Maquet.

story, in

The

latter
faith,

wrote a short

which he had great

it

and had the

Let
in his
:

mortification of seeing

refused by an editor.

Charles Reade (who supplies these details,

"

Eighth

Commandment

")

take up the story

"As Maquet paced the boulevards, met Dumas, who asked him if he had
him.'

smarting, he

nothing

'

by

"'I have only the

"

Bonhomme
'

Buvat,"

'

said

Maquet, sorrowfully.

That is a good Come, tell me something about your " Bonhomme." " Maquet glowed, and poured out a part of his
pricked up his ears.
'
'

"

Dumas
he

title,'

said.

story.

That Dumas.
"'
"

will
'

do: send me the manuscript,' said

off to Italy to-night.'
'

am

Dumas
in

took the
as the

Buvat
it

him, and
all

a few weeks
*

with him, worked on came out and charmed

'

Europe

Chevalier d'Harmental.'
"

"

"And

then," adds Readc,

began that

intellcc-

196

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
which the world owes the most
bril-

tual alliance to
liant

romances of the century."

episode of "

The
as

The good-man Buvat"

of this
It
is

will

be

remembered by readers

romance (known

also

"The

Conspirators").

a clever piece of

character-drawing, but has only a slight-connection

with the main plot.

The Cellemare

conspiracy has

provided the principal theme.

This
is

is

one of the best of Dumas's

in his "

stories,

and

Thackeray refers to it Roundabout Papers " and Mr. Saintsbury commends it as the most perfect of its author's novels in form for unhappily Dumas was not always particular about unity and completeness.
not yet fully appreciated.

admiringly

The
of

contrast between the witty, voluptuous society

the

Regency and the

is

fresh,

innocent
effect.

life

of

Bathilde,

admirable
is

in taste

and

Captain

Roquefinette
venturers

the

first

(off

the stage) of the ada large place in

who occupy such

Du-

mas's gallery of portraits.

He

dies finely, too, as

do

his

comrades who come after him

rest.

Porthos,

D'Artagnan, Maison-Rouge, La Mole,

Banniere, and the
"

" Morgan,''

Une

Fille

du Regent," a sequel to the "Cheva-

lier,"

was published two or three yearslater by the collaborators. It contains one entertaining episode (treating of the Cellamare conspirators, and

same

their life in the Bastille);

but

it

is

the

plot

of


ALEXANDRE DUMAS
**

197

D'Harmenthal
still,

"

again, with judicious variations.

is

Worse
Fille

there

a gloomy note of fatalism

Nevertheless, "
if

throughout the whole story.

Une

du Regent

" is

well worth reading,

only for

the study of Dubois, the Regent's minister, which

shows Dumas's talent

story of Mauritius,

for intrigue at

its

best.

"Georges," which also dates from

or the

1843,

is

a
is

"He de France," and

probably the work of our author In combination This with some " 'prentice " who knew the colony.

may

or

may

not have been Mallefille, to

whom

the

credit of the

whole work has charitably been given.

suffers social ostracism for the
;

But the hero, \vho

black blood
"
in

his veins

the hero,

who
his

allows

nothing to stand between himself and his desires

in

short,

Dumas-Antony,"

betrays

origin

unmistakably.

With the

struggle between the

tropical paradise the

French and English for that

novelist has interwoven a revolt of the slaves, told

with great dramatic force and truth, and a love story.

" Cecile,"

or" La Robe de Noce,"

first

is

chiefly inter-

esting as affording a

glimpse, in the author's

writings, of the days of Revolution, afterwards to

be

turned to such
popular was
editions

full

and
in

effective

account.

So

this pathetic

story that two pirated

were Issued

few months.

" Cecile " dates

Belgium in the course of a from " the great year,"

1844, ^s does " Fernande," which has been claimed

198

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
at least half his

by M. Hippolyte Auger as
It
is

own.

impossible to test the truth of that author's

assertions at this remote date, so that the degree of

blame

if

any

which can attach to Dumas cannot

we believe Amaury " was and Dumas gives
that
"

now be measured, but we may add

the story
is

not the great writer's.

also published about this time,

an account of
authorship
;

its
it

orio^in in

which he disavows the

but

may

or

may

not be genuine, for

he always delighted
It is

in this

form of mystification.
not our author's.

probably true that M. Paul Meurice wrote the

story with

Dumas,

for the style

is

was suggested by He the case of his friend Felix Deviolaine, who was consumptive, and who, happily, recovered but
has told us, however, that
it
;

in

the

story Madeleine D'Avrigny

is

not cured,

and so

faithful and poignant was the descrip-

one M. Noailles, whose daughter was also suffering from the disease,
tion of the malady's progress that

appealed to the author to suspend the serial publica-

"Amaury," if Madeleine was meant to die. Th.Qfciu'ilctou was therefore suspended until after the poor girl's death, and the kind-hearted Dumas went
tion of

so far as to improvise in manuscript a miraculous

recovery and happy fate for the poor heroine, for the
especial benefit of the

doomed

girl

and her husband.

One

of the best of

that of " Sylvandire," at one time

Dumas's minor romances is known in England

"

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
as
"

100
interest
is

Beau Tancrede."
but
it

Its

historical

slight,

affords a glimpse of the court of Louis

XIV.
dire
"

in his latter days,

under the domination of

Chronologically " Sylvan-

Madame de Maintenon.
possesses
h^is
little

precedes the " Chevalier d'Harmenthal," and

many

of the merits of that romance.

It

or nothing of the pretty sentiment

is

of

Bathilde's love story, but instead,

ironic

told with

much
statue
in the

humour.
at the unveiling of the

M. About,
in Paris, told

a story of M. Sarcey,

Dumas who was

same
child

class at school with a little

;

Spanish boy.

The

sleep
"

was homesick he could not eat, he could not he was almost in a decline. You want to see your mother ? " said young
;

Sarcey.
" "

No No
I

she

is

dead."
"
?

Your
:

father, then

"
"

he used to beat me."

sisters ?"

Your brothers and

have none."

" "

Then why
"
?

are you so eager

to be

back

in

Spain

"To finish a book I began in " And what was its name ? "
"
* !

the holidays."

Los Tres Mosqueteros He was homesick for The Three Musketeers' (says Mr. Lang), "and they cured him easily."
"
'

200

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

That boy would almost seem to have been the young Castelar, the great Spanish orator, statesman, and author, for he has written of the famous story in manner quite as fervent " I can never forget the impression left upon my mind by the reading of that book. The characters are life-like, and stand out in such high relief, that see them, to speak to them, to disI seemed to tinguish their features and manners, and even to compare them with real persons among my acquaintances. So absorbing was my interest in the story, that I watched for each new number with feverish impatience, to read the end of these adventures, as if they were intimately connected with some one
beloved, with
relations,

my former friends, with my own soul.

. .

with
.

my

nearest

That exciting

narrative

that

flashing
;

style

those characters,

so boldly described

those scenes, so marvellously

woven together
story

that ever-increasing interest in the

all

this

worked upon

my

imagination, and

by the magic of art the

into the

fictitious

world was changed

world of truth and poetry, and became as

real as society or as nature."

any man who has not read " The Three Musketeers"? It has become one of the world's
Is there

books.

As Mery, Dumas's

fast

friend, jestingly

put

it,

" If there exists a

second Robinson Crusoe

in

any

part of the world at this

moment, be sure

that the

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
exile
is

201
'

vvhiling

away

his

solitude

reading

Les

Trois Mousquetaires,' under the shade of his parrotfeathered umbrella."

In his preface to the romance,

Dumas

has con-

fessed the chief source of his inspiration

Courtils
in

de Sandraz's " Memoires de D'Artagnan," which

turn

was probably more than

a
soldier
in

half-fiction,

although,
fought,
I

of course,
sinned,

of that

name
"

lived,
I

and died
in

those times.

think
best,"

like

DArtagnan
Thackeray.
nor,
if

his

own 'Memoires'

wrote

Mr Lang

does not agree with him,

testimony, do we.

we may add our

To

read

"Memoires" and then the romance is to undergo a revelation. Mingled with this sordid story of closet- intrigue and kitchen-amours, Dumas, with
the
his

keen scent

for the picturesque,

;

found excellent
his

material for a splendid story

taste
is

and

admirable
utilised,

shown not only

in

what has been

Only one questionable incident has been employed, and that because it has an important bearing on the plot of the
but in what has been omitted.

romance and
a medium, as
delicacy and

its

sequel.

"It has passed through

Dumas
good

himself declared, of natural

These chapters about Kitty and Miladi, Sir Merbert Maxwell reminds us, in his article on " The Real DArtagnan," did
taste."

not escape their author's criticism.

"It

is

told

that

Dumas

in

after-life

expressed

202

LIFE

AND

AVRITINGS OF
said episode

bitter regret

that the

had not been

;

omitted, with the rest of Hke nature

and there

is

evidence
greatly

given by

M.

E.
in

de
taste

Goncourt of how
on these matters

Dumas

differed

from
tells

less scrupulous

French

writers.

M. de Goncourt
from other

us that he once

heard Victor Huc:o declare

filching

that,

had he not been above

authors,

he must have yielded to the temptation

'

to appropriate the story of

Ketty,'

'

ct

de

hd douncr
'of

une forme ddi'L'

the marvellously

'Think,'

exclaimed Hugo,
far finer
!

human
to

ddiioiluicnt,

than
not

any

dthioil^ment of the

utmost realism

'

It is

difficult

to

imagine

what

luxuriance

these

materials might have blossomed, under the florid

touch of Victor Hugo."

M. make
the
"

Parigot recommends students of

the comparison

Dumas

to

between the romance and

for

Memoires," and judge

"

themselves

how

the

man

of imacrination has o-lorified the material

he worked on.
selected,"

Dumas

borrowed, but

Dumas

he adds.
this

We

may supplement
of

opinion with a short

Briefly,

comparison
so

our
first,

own.
the

Dumas owes
hero's
life,

"D'Artagnan,"
far

facts

of
'

the
All

as

they concern

history.

these

are

retained,
^

and the famous character goes through the

is

This incident

not to be found, as the reader will infer, in

Dumas's romance.

ALEXANDRE DUJMAS
and
" "

-03

very necessary process of renovation, elaboration,

elevation.

The names
brothers
-

and
war
"

little

else

of
and

the
in

three
the

in

are

to

be
that

found

Memoires."

Athos,

Porthos,
little

Aramis

are

but shadows, and the

we do

learn of

them there
are

is

not exactly to their credit.

;

They

actually brothers whereas the romancer by making them brothers -in -heart gains enormously

in effect.

Roughly speaking, Dumas has expanded,

first six chapters of the " INIousquetaires," the

in

the

opening

chapters of " DArtagnan."

"The man

of Meung,"

the hero's evil genius, was evidently suggested by

an aristocrat named Rosnay, with

whom

the real

DArtagnan had an encounter early in his career, and who figures throughout as a coward, who endeavours to get DArtagnan assassinated. In a later
part of the "

Memoires" a

hint

is

given that Louis

XIII.'s

Chancellor,

Seguier,

once

attempted

to

take from the

person.

In "

Queen a letter concealed upon her DArtagnan " the letter was suspected
and
political
;

to be from Spain,

in

Dumas

it

was
the

thought to be from
lover.

Buckingham, Anne's
important
extract
" Miladi,"

secret

The

most

from

"Memoires" concerns
has borrowed freely
with

and our author from the young cadet's amour

the beautiful Englishwoman.

The

chapters

204

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
and "affair" with the
;

describing the intrigue, D'Artagnan's rivalry with

De Wardes,
say,
this,

his subterfuges,

chambermaid, are mostly

" fact "

but strange to

Dumas

entirely ignored the real beginning of

DArtagnan's greatest "passion." The story is interesting. The musketeer had just

returned from England (where he had fought with

Charles at the battle of Newbury),

sent for by the exiled Queen,

when he was

and questioned conhe would as

"
;

cerning his

visit.

The

too-candid youth declared,

in the course of the interview, that "

soon live with bears as with the English

and

this

so deeply provoked one of the Queen's maids-of-

honour, that she sent DArtagnan, after the forward

fashion of the time, an invitation to pay court to her.

The

soldier readily responded,

and

fell

straightway

in love.

When, however, he at length avowed his

him that she had
for his

passion, " Miladi" coolly informed

acted thus in order to punish him

of her countrymen, and
pitilessly.

abuse

proceeded to mock him

his

The
to

story

of

revenge

is

told

by

Dumas,
sequel.

the incident

whose imagination, however, is due of the fieui'-de-lis, and all the tragic

These detailed comparisons may, perhaps, be more interestingly summed up in a few words.

From

the loose, casual jottings of a soldier, telling

of his aniours, his campaigns, and the politics of his

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
day,

205

Dumas

extracted,

by some wonderful mental

story, full of incident

process, a stirring

and dramatic
spiteful

and character.

Of the

wanton
;

" Miladi "

he

made a powerful and tragic figure and the three names

Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, in his hands, assumed
individualities

and became immortal.

The whole

plot concerning the Queen's studs, the sad story of

Constance Bonacieux, the tragedy of Fenton and

Buckingham
French

all

these were either devised in the

novelist's fertile brain, or skilfully introduced

by him
"

into the

framework provided
After the
first

for

him by the
which

Memoires."

six chapters (of

the dialogue, wit, and character-drawing were wholly

his own),

Dumas

launched out for himself, and the

plot begins.

Our

author, too,

makes use
de

in this

and subsequent
" Histoire

romances, of

Madame

la

Fayette's

d'Henriette d'Angleterre," and also of the court

chroniques of the time, omitting to avail himself of

their

most scandalous passages. He borrows from La Porte's memoirs the incident of Bonacieux's
;

abduction

he finds the

faint outline of his episode

of the Bastion St Gervais, in an account of a scene

at the siege of Casal in 1630.

To Maquet
glory

probably

belongs the credit of discovering these picturesque

incidents
;

to

Dumas
and
life

the

of giving

them

colour, shape,

on

his great canvas.

Of the other source of information the "Memoires

206
de M.
for
le

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
la

Comte de

Fere," nothing can be said here,

a very excellent reason.

When Dumas
"You know
yourself have

had the
that

audacity to ask at the Bibliotheque Royale for that

book, the librarian

doesn't
exist,

retorted,

it

because you
the

said

it

does!"
natural
taires "
;

Indeed,
since

good man's sharpness was the publication of tlie " Mousquefor the

he had been appealed to perpetually

readers eager for "

book, by

more

"
!

Mr

Saintsbury complains that there

is

no central

idea in " Les Trois Mousquetaires,"

and indeed there

are at least two main plots.

Professor Carpenter

even analyses the story into

"

A series of smaller tales (they are more like plays),

in length.

each a hundred pages or so

Trois

In
is

'

Les
this,

Mousquetaires

"

the

main problem
his powers,

How

can four adventurers, by their combined force,

all

outwit The Cardinal and

temporal

and spiritual?

Viz.

(i)

How

can a friendless and

in

awkward but dashing young Gascon become

three days the talk of Paris

and a sworn companion

city
}

of the best

three
is

blades in the
at stake
;

(2)

The
time.'*

Queens honour

how

can this band of

in
:

brothers fetch her jewels from

(3)

England

U Artagnan

is

fascinated

by Milady
is

how can
fear-f*

his
(4)

reckless passion be turned to hate

and

Milady, with good reason,

Richelieu-

determined on
s as-

D' Artagnan s death,

on BtLckinghani

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
sassination
(5)
:

207

how can bolh

is

catastrophes be averted?
:

Milady
'

a prisoner in England
?

how
(6)

can she can

escape and murder Buckingham

the

How

brothers
tlie

'

avenge

their

wrongs on Milady, and

avoid

punishment of the Cardinal, whose agent

obviously wrong to treat a book of
if it

she

is

?"
it

But

is

adventure as

were an ordinary novel.

We do

not expect a central plot in

"Don

Quixote," "Robin-

son Crusoe," or "Gil Bias."

Every lover of the

"

Mousquetaires

"

has his
four.

own
"

particular

hero, in

one of the famous

:

Thackeray, for instance, writes

Of your
I

heroic

heroes,

think
la

our

friend
is

Monseigneur Athos,
favourite.

Count

de

Fere,

my
to

have read about him from sunrise

sunset with the utmost contentment of mind.

He
"^

has passed through

Fifty.'*
I

how many volumes

.^

Forty

wish, for

my

part, there

more, and would never punishing

ruffians,

tire

of

were a hundred him rescuing prisoners,

rapier.

and running scoundrels through

his

the midriff with

most graceful

Ah

Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, you are a magnificent

trio."

Stevenson had a weakness

for

Porthos.

"

If,"

he

wrote to a friend, "

by any

sacrifice of

my own

literary

baggage
'

could

clear

the

'

Vicomte de

Bragelonne

of Porthos, Jckyll might go, and the

"

208

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
may be
sure,

Master, and the Black Arrow, you

and
in."

should think

half a

dozen more of

my life not lost for mankind if my volumes must be thrown

The own
great,
heart.

Dumas
One
"

himself shared this feeling.

strong, vain hero

was a

child after his

afternoon his son, seeing him" looking careworn,

wretched, overwhelmed, asked him,

What

has happened to you

Are you

ill

.'*

"No."
" Well,

what

is it

then

am miserable." "Why?"
"
I

" This morning,

I
I

killed Porthos

poor Porthos!
my mind

Oh
to

what trouble
!

have had, to make up

do it But there must be an end to all things. Yet when I saw him sink beneath the ruins, crying ]t is too heavy, too heavy for me I swear to you
*
!

'

that

cried."

And

he wiped away a tear with the sleeve of his

dressing-gown.

have glided Insensibly into "Vingt Ans Apres" and the " Vicomte de Bragelonne," for it is
the

We

DArtagnan
his

of this

last

of the series

whom
"

Steven'^on has so eloquently proclaimed as his hero.

In "

essay

"On

Romance

of

Dumas's

in
:

Memories and
"It
is

Portraits,"

he writes of him thus

in

the character of DArtas^nan, that

we

_^

,.4^mmmMmtlmHltmtm

fc^'.:>.-x.^--^'

1)

akta(tNax.

fkom thk uu jrAs monument.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
must look
of the
for that spirit of morality,

209
is

which

one

chief merits
its

of

the

book,

makes one of
it

the main joys of

perusal,

and

sets

high above

more popular

rivals.

Athos, with the coming of

years, has declined too

much

into the preacher,

;

and

the preacher of a sapless creed

but

DArtagnan
There
is

has mellowed into a

upright, that

man

so witty, rough, kind and

he takes the heart by storm.

nothing of the copybook about his virtues, nothing

of the drawing-room in his
will sail
fine,
is

natural civility
district visitor
is

he

near the wind

he
;

no

no
all

Wesley or Robespierre

his conscience
;

void of

refinement whether for good or evil

but the whole

I

man
there

rings true like a

is

good sovereign.
in

do not say

no character as well-drawn

Shakespeare

do say there is none that I love so wholly. I There are many spiritual eyes that seem to spy upon our actions eyes of the dead and the absent, whom we imagine to behold us in our most private hours, and whom we fear and scruple to offend our witnesses and judges. And among these, even if you should think me childish, I must count my

DArtagnan
I

not

the

DArtagnan

of the memoirs,

whom Thackeray pretended

alone

to prefer

a preference,
Nature's
but

take the freedom of saying, in which he stands

not the
)

DArtagnan

of tiesh and blood, but

;

him of the ink and paper umas s.

D>

not

210

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
charm of the four musketeers
in the fact that
Is

One

secret of the

perhaps to be found

they stand for

types of the great national characteristics.

Parlgrot

Says

"

D'Artagnan, the adroit Gascon, caressing his

moustache; Porthos, the muscular and fooHsh; Athos,

the

somewhat romantic 'grand

pinches his ear to

seigneur,' Aramis,
red,

who

make
hides

it

Aramis,
and

the
his

discreet

Aramis,

who

his

reHglon

amours, able pupil of the good fathers

friends,

these

four

and not four brothers as Courtils imagined,

. . .

typify the four cardinal qualities of our country.

If

Danton and Napoleon were the prototypes of French energy, Dumas, in Les Trois Mousquetaires Is its national historian. His romance is quite as dramatic as theirs, but more pleasant, and with a more continuous charm."
'

'

The
partly

origin of the
Indicated.

two sequels has already been

It
Is

said

that

Dumas

fils,

frightened at

the thought of the prodigious

task

which the rash author set himself, asked

*'

his father

In spite of the help of

who

furnishes you with the

Athos's son,
interest
*'

how

will

de La Fayette, name and first-love of you manage to keep up the

"
?

Madame

through these innumerable volumes

well,"

Oh,

answered
will

his

father,

"all

that
his

happened
son.

to

Athos

happen over again to

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
But (not
injustice.

211

for the first time)

Dumas

did himself an

One

has no feehng- of repetition about

If
it is,

" Bragelonne."

as
is

some
yet
"

critics assert, "full

of improbabilities,"

it

very

faithful

to

the

chronicles of the court.

the far-fetched incidents,"

Those who rai^e about writes M. Parigot, "with

of

Dumas are simply Have they never read crammed, make us smile. the history written by Madame de La Fayette.^ And Gulche in the chimney.'^ And the women spies ? And the caskets of Malicorne ? And the
which
these

romances

plots of

de Wardes

"
?

The

Trilogy of the Four

is,

after

all,

one great
for

prose epic on friendship

Professor

the

love of
this

man

man.

Carpenter
it

has

seen

clearly,

and

expressed
"

well

So

far

as

am
in

concerned there
than

is

no more
in

poignant scene

literature

that

which,

after twenty years of separation, the four

who once

were but a single

dauntless and
battle their

will

and a single force

hence,

invincible

found

in

the

gloom of

swords clash on those of

beside
is

their peers,

and realised that they were arrayed against each

other.

How
!

paltry

this

seem

lovers'

quarrels

And

yet there

nothing of the mockfriend-

heroic in
ship.
error,

Dumas's treatment of the famous

These were men

redeemed only by

of clay, prone to vice

and

their sense of the sacred-

212
ness

LIFE
of the

AND WRITINGS OF
human
tie,

strongest

save

that

of

family."

The same
conscious
are developed
"

writer also

notices

with what

un-

skill

the characters of the

musketeers
author's

These
in

men grow,

not

of

the

set

purpose,

the ordinary

fashion,

according to a

rule of logic, but as

He

men grow in life, naturally. (Dumas) could not have planned it; at the
knew
"
it.

proper time he simply

PortJios, the

Aramis, and the

or

The Atkos, the DArtagnan of Le

'

Vicomte de Braqfelonne
Trois
Apres.'

are not

those
of
'

of

Les

Mousquetaires,'

even

Vingt

Ans
it,

But the author does not inform us of

in

except

a single case, and then he

is

evidently as

we are. They grow, and if they are men they grow better, on stepping-stones of These novels show their own baser selves. more than the growth of man. They represent the
surprised as

honest

slow

development of a race
or
Michelet,

and

nation.

Like
for

Gibbon
history.
III.,

Dumas had

genius

France

under Charles

IX. and Henry

France
felt

France under Louis XIV.,

in

the

Revolution
core.'
faulty,

he

knew them, and

them

to the

His chronology may be weak and

the
in

his facts
find

young doctor of philosophy may

every chapter, but the great
I

flaws

laws he

follows, so far as

can see

the types are sound."

ALEXANDRE
Let us
limit ourselves to

JJUJMAS

213

the quotation of two

passages from

Stevenson, endorsing this opinion.

He
*'

is still

writing of "
:

my

dear

'

Vicomte,' " as he

called

him

What

other novel has such

Often,
if

epic
will,
;

variety

and
all

nobility of incident?

you

impossible;

often of the order of an Arabian story

and yet
with

based

in

human
but

nature

Not

studied
in

the

microscope,

seen
?

largely,

plain

daylight,

with the natural eye

sense,

What
wit,

novel has more good

and gaiety, and

skill ?

and unflagging, admirnovel

inspired

able literary

And

once more, to make an

is

end
with

of

commendations, what

more unstrained or a more wholesome There is no quite good book without a morality ? good morality but the world is wide, and so are
a
;

morals.
I

And above

all,

in

this last
It

volume,

find

a singular charm of

spirit.

breathes a

pleasant and a tonic sadness, always brave, never

hysterical.

Upon

the crowded,
falls,

noisy

life

of this

long

tale,

evening gradually

and the

lights are

extinguished, and the heroes pass

away one by
in

one.

One by one
places,

they go, and not a regret embitters

;

their departure

the

young succeed them

is

their

Louis

Ouatorze

swelling

larger

and

shining

broader,

another generation and another

;

France dawn on the horizon

old

but for us and these

men whom we have

loved so long, the inevitable


214

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
is

end draws near and

is

welcome.

To
if

read this well

to anticipate experience.

Ah,
fall

only,

when

these

hours of the long shadows

not in figure,

for us in reality

and

we may hope

to face

them with a
death,

mind as

quiet."

One day, about two years before his Dumas 's son found him with a book. * " What are you reading ? " he asked.
"
*

Les Trois Mousquetaires.'

I

I
I

always promised

myself that
so that
**

would read

it

when

was an old man,

its

might be able to judge of

it ?

merit."

Well, what do you think of

is

"

" It

good."

Some

days later the same thing occurred again,

only this time it was another of his " Monte Cristo."

"

own books

What do you
!

think of

it ?

"

asked the son once

more. " Pah

It isn't

as good as the 'Mousquetaires!'"^

Nevertheless

"

Monte

Cristo," published in the

still

same year
^

as the " Mousquetaires," rivalled, and

that
chere

It

is

interesting to note

was announced,

in

the

"Mousquetaire" (1853), a romance, " Le Marechal Ferrant," in 4 We know that in those vols., "a sequel to the D'Artagnan Cycle."

was a frequent practice to announce books before they were What would not such an MS. be worth now, if it could be discovered? The so-called "Stories by Dumas" "Monte (Jristo
days
it

written.

and and

his Wife,"
find

and " The Son of Porthos

in

"

are, of course, forgeries

edition.

no place

Calmann-Ldvy's authorised

"

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
rivals the other in popularity.

215

The two romances

is

were
"

in

point of fact written with great rapidity.

Charles Reade's comment on the fact

amusinof

This phenomenon
set

astounded costive writers,

and

them

uttering,

by way of

solution,

old

wives' fables that turned the

possibility.

wonder

into

an im-

The account

the authors themselves the only credible

(Dumas and Maquet) gave was

one.

These works were flung off by even collaboration of two most inventive and rapid writers. Some of the work was written In almost less time I than a single hand could have transcribed it.

show at Trouville, in a fisherman's cottage, the chamber and table where the pair wrote the first four volumes of Monte Cristo in sixteen
believe they
still
'
'

days.'

According

to the
"

amiable Ouerard (inspired by

") "

the equally kindly

de Mirecourt

Monte

Cristo

"

was written, the first half by Fiorentino, the second by Maquet. "It was so simple to believe I was
the author, that they never even thought of
it,"

says

Dumas
account

banteringly.

He
know
is

has given
of

us

his
in

own
his

of

the

genesis

the

book,

" Causeries."

We

got

its

"local habitation

already how the story and its name"; and the

less interesting.

evolution of the plot

no

publishers to supply

Towards 1843 Dumas had agreed with a firm them with eight volumes

of of

216

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
Paris, the idea

"Impressions de Voyage" through

to
barrier,
all,

being a perambulatory tour of the city from barrier

anecdotic,
historic,

archaeological

and

above

picturesque.

But Sue had just written

his " Mysteries of Paris,"

and the publishers, anxious

to imitate the success of that book, modified their

idea and

demanded a

story in which Paris should

be the background merely.

Dumas bethought him

La Diamant
et

of an anecdote, twenty pages long, from the " Police

devoilee" of Peuchet, entitled, "

La

Vengeance," of which he had made a mental note.

The
idiot,

story itself he declares

was tout shnplement

of an idea.

but

it

contained the

germ

The
this

first

outline of the

that
called

a very rich
the

book was no more than nobleman, living in Rome,

and

Monte Cristo, should render a great service to a young French traveller, and should beg him, when that gentleman desires
Count of
to repay the kindness, to act as the Count's guide

when

he, in his turn,

should

visit Paris.

Vengeance
to

had inspired
" did "

this thought,

and when Monte Cristo

he

the

French

capital

was

discover

enemies who were hidden there

his enemies,

who

had condemned him in his youth to ten years of captivity. His fortune was to furnish the Count with the means of revenge.

At this point Dumas acquainted Maquet (who, as we know, was his literary partner at the time)

'

ALEXANDRE
that
"

DUJNIAS

217

with the plot, and the assistant at once pointed out

the master
"

was passing by the most

story
^the

inter-

esting part of the

prologue, in which

should be told not only how those enemies betrayed

the Count in his youth, but also the story of his

years

in

prison.
:

From

that

moment
Paris

the

story
his

developed
text three

Dumas

seized the idea, took

for

cities

Marseilles, Rome,
"

and

the

romance was made.

"

Monte
to

Cristo
its

owed

part

of

its

enormous

success

The details were and had, indeed, been studied on most convincing,
verisimilitude.

the spot.

"There
us,
in his

is

one thing

cannot do,"
"

Dumas

tells

preface to the

Compagnons de
'

Jehu,"

"
I

cannot write a book or a drama about

seen.
;

localities
I

have never
write
'

To
'

write

Christine
III.'
I

'

went went

to
;

Fontainebleau
to

to write

Henri
to

went
'

to Blois

Les Trois

Mousquetaires
;

to

Bethune and Boulogne

I

write

'

Monte
to

Cristo
d'If.
I

returned to the Catalans and the Chateau

This gives such a character of truth

write that the personages
I

what

plant in certain places

seem

to

grow

there,

and some people have been led

;

to think they

have actually existed

say they have

in fact, there

are persons

who

not wish to injure

little

known them. I do worthy family-men who live by the

if

industry, but

you go

to Marseilles they will

218

LIFE

AND WHITINGS OF

show you Morel's house on the Cours, Mercedes' house at the Catalans, and the dungeons of Dantes
and Faria
'

at the

Chateau

D'If.

When

brought out
I

Monte

Cristo' at the Theatre Historique

wrote

to

Marseilles for a drawing of the Chateau D'If,

I

which they sent me.

painter.

wanted

it

for the

scene-

The

artist

to

whom
him
I
;

had written not

only sent

me

the sketch, but he did

to ask of

more than

had ventured
it:

he wrote underneath

'View

of the

Chateau
flung.'

D'If,

on the side from

which Dantes was

D'If,

have heard since that

a worthy fellow, a guide attached to the Chateau

sells

pens of fish-bones made by the Abbe

the

Faria himself."

One anecdote among many,

fascination

will

illustrate

which

this

book possesses

for its readers.

The Academy not so long ago quoted an amusing passage from a speech made by Lord Salisbury The Prime Minister at a literary gathering. humorously told how once at Sandringham, he was
surprised by his host, at half-past four one morning,
readino- his favourite

book "Monte
the

Cristo."

The
book
bed

prince

wished

to

know
the

name

of

the
his

which had dragged

at such an hour.

Premier

from

Three weeks after he confessed to his guest that the same romance had lured him from his bed that morning half-an-hour earlier still "'Monte Cristo,'" says Mr Lang, "has the best


ALEXANDRE DUMAS
bcL-inninois

219

and

loses

itself

In
:

the sands."

There

a ofood deal of truth

in this

some of us believe

that Dumas's reputation suffers rather than gains by being so prominently associated with a romance,
I)arts

of which are undeniably dull.

Mr

Saintsbury

declares the second part to be

too " Balzac-like."

But even admitting

omnipresent
count
his
is

this,

admitting also that the

altogether
to

not

the

perfect

gentleman

creator
his

seems

have

thought

him

and that

appearances and disappearances

;

are ultra-theatrical at times

yet, there is

a grandeur

of conception about

"Monte
these

Cristo" which more

than

redeems

it

from

drawbacks.
it

It

is

Dumas's
"

" Miserables,"
is

and the lesson

"

teaches
is

Vengeance
the

mine, saith the Lord

taught

so effectively, so honestly, and on so great a scale,

that

book
it

has a moral value which

for generations to

should

preserve
"

from oblivion
"
is

come.
this

Ascanio
or

variously said to date from

one.
It

year

the

previous
Cellini's

was

suggested

by

Benvenuto two
of

autobiography,

wherein
incidents

one or

the

most

improbable

of the story are to be found, notably the employ-

ment of the head of the

as

sculptor's gigantic statue

a hiding-place.
I.,

The

reader
of

is

introduced to

Francois

the

monarch

Pavia,

and

the

intrigues of his court,

which as usual with

Dumas

are cleverly manipulated to attract and absorb the

220
reader.

LIFE
It

AND WRITINGS OF
of a
It

should be added that our author in his

tells

"Causeries"

flattering

and unexpected

sequel to this book.

so inspired a poor potter

of Bourg-en-bresse with an
its

ambition to emulate
until

hero,

that

he studied and worked

artist.

from
is

artisan

he developed into an

Meurice

said to have been the collaborator in this instance.

"

Gabriel Lambert

"

is

the last chief product of

this extraordinary year.

Dumas

professes that this

story

is

true,

and that he has met and spoken

"Gabriel
with a

with

the
"

chief personages.

Lambert"
difference,

recalls

Richard

Darlington,"

for this novel is less a story of unscrupulous ambition,

than a study of cowardice,

made with a touch

of

that poignant realism which has since become so

popular.

The
the

**

forties "

proved the most

brilliant

and most
In 1845,

productive period of

Dumas

the novelist.

year following his great double triumph, the

author

produced
"

(in

addition

to

"

Une

Fille

de

Ans Apres," already La Reine Margot," " La Guerre des mentioned) Femmes " (or Nanon "), and " Les Freres Corses." First of the Valois romances as was " La Reine Margot," we must not forget that the success of "Henri Trois et sa Cour" many years before, had
Regent

and

"

Vingt

"

**

given the author a love for this historical period.

The

fatal

passion of St Megrin

is

repeated in the

ALEXANDRE
ill-fated

DUJNIAS

221

devotion of

La Mole.
drawn

The great personages

and with seeming

of history here are

carelessness,

boldly,

of character

but how human they are and life! The Charles IX.
is

how

full

of history,

as Parigot testifies,

not

*'

betrayed

"

by the Charles
Medici,

of romance
if

the portrait of Catherine de

is full

somewhat overdrawn,

of that Italian guile

in-

with which the records credit her, and the frank,

genuous, supple-minded Bearnais, Henri of Navarre,

is

one of the triumphs of Dumas's vivifying genius.

intricrue
:

The

of the romance

is

full

of absorbinof

interest

Will Henri of Navarre become King of Will Catherine be able to prevent him

France
threads

from reaching the throne?

are

And
the

with

this,

other

interwoven

Huguenot-Catholic

plots, the brotherly love of

La Mole and Coconnas,

these

in

turn being interspersed with those terrible

episodes, the massacre of St Bartholomew, and the

reading of the poisoned book

Yet, throughout

^
:

"La

Reine Margot" our "hapcritics)

hazard

"

author (the words belongs to his

:

has exercised a double restraint

he neither harrows

the reader unbearably nor does he take advantage

of the scandalous facts which informal history affords,

relating to the court of the Valois.

Mr

Lang,

in

1 We would advise our readers to compare the romance with "The House of the Wolf" or "Count Hannibal" by Weyman, and the "Chronique du Regne de Charles IX." by Merimee.

222

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
Dead Authors "
notes this judicious

his " Letters to

"In these romances," he says, apostrophising Dumas, " how easy it would have been for you to burn incense to that great goddess,
quality in our author.
Lubricity,

whom

our

critic

says your people worship.

You had Brantome, you had

Retif,

Tallemant, you had

and a dozen others,

to furnish materials for

scenes of voluptuousness and of blood that would

have outdone
torture

even present
'

naturalistes.

From

these alcoves of

Les Dames Galantes,' from the

of brave

chambers (M. Zola would not have spared

us one startlnof sinew

rack)

La Mole on
have

the

you turned, as Scott would

other

turned,

without a thought of their profitable literary uses.

You had

metal to work on

you gave us

that superstitious that devotion

for the

and

tragical true love of

!

La

Mole's,

how tender and how pure of Bussy

:

de Montsoreau. You gave us the DArtagnan, the strength of Porthos, the Honour, Chivalry, melancholy nobility of Athos
valour of

Dame

and Friendship."
"

La Guerre
Apres,"
in
is

des

Femmes,"

story

of

the

Fronde,

and therefore contemporary with "Vingt

easily recognised as another of the

Ans

romances
bably
it

which
its

Maquet had
But
:

his share.

Proits

owes

position in the second class to

"

sad, its fatalistic atmosphere.

La Guerre des

Femmes "

has

many

merits

it

develops rapidly.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
neatly, to its end,

223
like

and Cavagnac and Canollcs,

La Mole and Coconnas,

far

are worthy of a place not

below those

famous friends-to-the-death, the

for

Musketeers.

Dumas's admiration

the historical plays of

to

Shakespeare was chiefly owing

the

skill

with

which the dramatist fused history into

could

fiction

and

fiction into history, so that only the most expert eye

tell

where the one ended and the other began.

novel,
It
is

The

little

"

Les Freres Corses," possesses

its
;

this virtue.

obviously, as

author asserts,
but
is
it is

the result of his travels in Corsica

equally

certain that the supernatural element

beyond the

credible

and

actual.

Although the story forms a

it

strikingly dramatic episode

hardly possesses the

merits to which

Its
It.

popularity In

England would
though much

seem

to

entitle

Dumas
^

himself,

given to staging his novels, never made a play of

the " Freres Corses,"

but two or three different

versions were played simultaneously in London, and

the craze gave rise to various burlesques on the

theme.
In the following year, 1846, Dumas's publishers
issued a remarkable advertisement respecting our
author, w4ilch

Mr

Fitzgerald asserts (without advanc"

ing proof) to
It offers

be written by the novelist himself.

the public Dumas's works " in a

^

new shape

See Appendix C.

224

LIFE
at

AND WRITINGS OF
It

and

uniformly low price.

still

proclaims the

author as
health
"
;

young and

in

" wonderfully

good
forty

and declares that

his
all

unceasing flow of

invention and esprit will in

probability

add

volumes a year

to his already large library.

There seemed, indeed, every prospect that this The next extraordinary pledge would be fulfilled. few years brought their quota of lengthy and more or less famous romances, and " Le Chevalier de Maison Rouge " dates from 846.
1

This epilogue to the

appear.
full

series of novels dealing with

first

the French Revolution was in reality the

to
is

The

raisoii

d'etre of the book,

spirit,
is

which

of revolutionary
instance,
for

easily explained

in
feel

this

France was beginning to

political

the throes of that

upheaval, which

was

destined two years later to result In the Second

Republic.

M. Blaze de Bury
this story,

tells

an anecdote respecting

which explains the rapidity with which

:

our author worked

"

Dumas

asserted that the actual writing of a

book or a play was nothing to him the conception, form, arrangement, and development of the theme, comprised all the difficulties. These once settled, the hand could go forward by itself.' One day some one avowed the very opposite. The romanclst, who was preparing Maison Rouge at this
'

'

'

AT.EXANDRK DUMAS
time,

225

wagered with
first

his

opponent that he would

book in seventy-two hours, inclusive of time for sleep and meals. A bet of a hundred louis was made and recorded to complete the ^ seventy-five great sheets were to volume contain
write the
:

forty-five

lines

of

fifty

letters

each.
his

In

sixty-six

hours

Dumas

filled

them

in

beautiful

hand-

writing, without

an erasure, thus gaining six hours

on the

specified time."

The
was
that

incidents of the story, strange as they seem,

history.

were amply justified by

" speaking
" unbelievers "

by the book."
erudite

Once again Dumas M. Parigot suggests

should compare the romance

with

M.
"
;

hero

work on the original Vrai Chevalier de Maison Rouge A. D. J.

Lenotre's

Gonze de Rougeville, 1761-1814." "If I am not mistaken," he adds, " you will admire the discretion
of our author, no less than his modesty."

M. de

Bury, in an appreciation of this romance, especially

praises
its

creator for respecting and doing justice

to the characters of

Marie Antoinette and

Madame

Elizabeth, and adds that in spite of his republican

sentiments, which he never loses an opportunity of

expressing,

Dumas

gives those personages exactly

their true sympathetic

Even more
^

and historical value. famous than the "Chevalier

de

In the original editions of Dumas's works, there were at least twice as many volumes as in the present one-franc series hence

occasional discrepancies on this point.

226

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

Maison Rouge " is the second Valois which appeared the same year " La

romance,

Dame

de
as

Monsoreau,"

commonly

known

in

England
already

"Chicot the Jester."

of the

Dumas had
in the

made
in-

acquaintance with Bussy D'Amboise, the mignon

Due dAlen9on

old chroniclers,

troduced him into " Henri Trois," and utilised the

story of his assassination, as given in Anquetil, for

the ddnoument of his tragedy.

But

in history
;

the

lady was on the side of the husband

our story-

weaver turned her affections in the other direction, and the romance became at once sympathetic and moving. (A writer has taken the trouble to compile a

book on the

"historical inaccuracies" of this

romance.

Dumas knew
Critics

quite

well

when

it

was

wise to reconvey the

the form.)
finer

spirit

of the age, and ignore

have agreed that there are few

in

historical

portraits

fiction

than

that

of

Henri HI., the effeminate, superstitious king, devoted to luxury and the most
trivial

pleasures.

The
flot,

sardonic Chicot, the Rabelaisian

the chivalrous and devoted

monk GorenFor
it

Bussy, are three

splendid additions to Dumas's picture-gallery.

the truth or untruth of detail in these stories

is

probably only
learn that

fair to

praise or blame Maquet.

We

a descendant of St Luc (one of the

minor characters of the book) took umbrage at the description of that courtier, and brought an

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
action, to

227

prove that his ancestor was not one of

Henri's viignoiis.
rators to be right,

The
even

trial

showed the

collabo-

in this trifling respect

The closing scene of the book the death of Bussy draws this warm tribute from Mr Lang " I know four crood fifrhts of one arainst a
multitude.

These are the Death of Gretir the Stronof, the Death of Gunnar of Lithend, the Death of Herew^ard the Wake, and the Death of
Bussy D'Amboise."
"

Le
"

Batard

de

Mauleon,"

or

"

The

Half-

Brothers,"'
in

was

written, as

we know by
in

a passage

the

Histoire

de mes Betes,"

the chateau
;

of

Monte Cristo, by Dumas and Maquet and the dog Mouton, a new recruit for the menagerie of the "palace," was woven into the story by his
master.

The
;

scene on

this

occasion

is

laid

in

Spain, in the days of

Du

Guesclin and the Black

in

Prince

and those interested

of

comparing the

methods
"

romancists

should read

Dr

Doyle's

White Company," which is of the same period, and into which many of the same characters are
introduced.
for

Froissart's chronicles
story,

formed the base

Dumas's
is

and even Agenor de Mauleon

of

himself

to

be found in the pages of the old

spite

chronicler.

In

some "purple passages,"

however^

Mr

Saintsbury instances
the

Du

Guesclin's
the

negotiations

with

Free Companies, and

228
battle

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

of Najara

this

story of the clays of

Don
the

Pedro the Cruel has not the best

author,
for

qualities of its

which,

perhaps,

we may blame
Querard

uncongenial time and place.

the end
is

states that

wholly Maquet's.
for

There remains
which,
forgery,
It
is

1846 " Les

Deux

Diane,"

if

a certain letter from

entirely the

Dumas
the
plot

be not a

was

work of M. Paul Meurice.

that
is

probable,

however,
style
is

"the
said

master's."

The

certainly

not

Dumas's,
is

being entirely sentimental, and the romance

to have been suggested

by

"

Une

Fille Naturelle,"

by one Felix Davin.

Our

readers will

remember

that in the

autumn

of this year

Dumas
it

departed hurriedly for Madrid,

accompanied,

is

true,

by Maquet, but bent upon

pursuit
of material
for

pleasure-seeking and
further

the

"Joseph Balsamo " ("The Memoirs of a Physician"), which was appearing serially, suddenly suspended publication,

"Impressions de Voyage."

leaving

young

Gilbert,

the

hero,

lying

senseless in the road whilst his thouo-htless creator

" did " Spain

and Algeria.
to life

The

unfortunate youth

remained
restored

in this

inconvenient position until

Dumas

him

on

his

return.

This suspenin

sion of consciousness suggests the magnetic trances

of which
this

our author so frequently makes use

story.

He

has

told

us

(in

" Bric-a-Brac ")

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
that

229

he experimented

in

mesmerism
"

at the time

that

he was preparing to write

in

Balsamo," and
"

that he succeeded
his servants,

" putting

to sleep

one of

who

then became clau^voyatit.

Howis

ever

much

truth there
"

may be

in

this,

there

no
is

doubt that

magnetic influence," or telepathy,

very ingeniously employed to give the charlatan

Balsamo
powers.

(or Cagllostro) his

supposed supernatural

For the
less,
is

rest

the

romance,

if

somewhat formvaried
king's
in

full

of

number of
meet
the

intrigues
mistress,

and

interests.

We

Madame

Dubarry, and learn how,

spite of all

opposition, she

We
we The
the

managed to get presented at Court. enjoy once more the witty society of Dumas's
libertine,
in

favourite

the

Due de
in

Richelieu,

whom

met,

earlier

years,

"

Mademoiselle de
\\\xriS^{

Bellisle,"
first

and view Louis Ouinze

faint

en faniille.

rumblings of the coming thunder

;

of the

Revolution are heard

;

Marat appears on
from
it.

scene

Rousseau
is

is

disappearing

Then
for

there

the weird story of Balsamo's love

Lorenza, and that of Gilbert for Andree de

Tavernay
because

all

are interwoven in this gigantic rois

mance, which

itself

only a beginning.

Either

Dumas
it

wearied of his interminable sub-

ject, or le^t

to Maqiiet to finish

possibly the law-

suit with tlie

seven journals distracted the author's

230
attention

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
closing chapters are dull
"
;

the

but,

on

the whole, " Balsamo

contains

some

of his best

work.
In 1847
to
"

came " Les Quarante-Cinq," the sequel

It
tells

La Dame de Monsoreau."
lady's

chiefly

of

that

revenge

upon

the

treacherous

D'Alen^on (now D'Anjou), who has caused the

death
of her beloved

Bussy.

The

part

of the

book in which Chicot goes on an embassy to Henri Ouatre is excellent, but the last volume This year, be it remembered, is unsatisfactory. was a stormy one in public affairs, and disastrous
to

Dumas

personally.

He

dictated
ill

the
in bed.

last

chapters to his son, being probably

Notwithstanding

this

blemish,

the

"

Ouarante-

was a favourite with one of our author's firmest admirers George Sand. M. Victor Borie has told us that he chanced to visit the famous
Cinq
"

novelist

just

before

her her

death,
table.

and

found

the

romance
his

lying

on

He
it

expressed
the
first

wonder
For the
fifth

that she

was reading

for

time.
"
is

first

time," she exclaimed, " why, this

I

the

or sixth time

have read

'

Les Quaranteill,

Cinq,'

and the others.

tired,

When

am

anxious,

melancholy,

discouraged,

nothing helps

me

against moral or physical troubles like a book of

Dumas's."

ALEXANDRE DUJMAS
During the next two years
our
novelist

231

troublous
"

ones for

the

rate

of

production

slackened.

With

the very notable exception of

historical studies,
in

Bragelonne,"

and some
portance

the chief

1849 was " Le Collier

work of imde la Reine"

period.

("The Queen's Necklace"),

much has been
written

a continuation of the

history-in-romance of the Louis

XVL

So
in

by Carlyle, by Funckthis

Brentano and others, about

famous episode
that there
(still

the career of Marie Antoinette,

is

no

need to describe
valuable

it

here.

Dumas
own

with the

assistance of

Maquet)
so,

tells

the story of
fashion, carry-

that extraordinary scandal in his

ing forward, as

he does

the

other

"motifs"

mentioned already.
of this book
left
Is

The comparative
"

non-success

probably due to the

fact that history

so

little

to the Imagination.

Les Mllle-et-un
" Bibliophile

Fantomes," said
with

by some

to

have been written

with
Is

Paul

Bocage, by

others
It

Jacob," appeared this year.

In

great part a

gruesome debate as to whether a severed head can speak, or retains knowledge of Itself after parting
from the body, and dwells on other similar matters,

being,
Of
a

In short,

a book calculated to "

"

make your

flesh creep."

very different

nature was

La Tulipe

Noire," which appeared In 1850.

This book

"as

modest as a story by Miss Edgeworth," Thackeray

232

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

declared enthusiastically

has

recently been issued

as Dumas's contribution to the series of translations

known
subject
said to

as a " Century of

French Romance."
historical

The
it

or

at

least

the

part

of

is

have been suggested

to

Dumas by

of Holland.

(The

novelist visited

the King Amsterdam in

1849 to be present at the wedding of the Prince

;of

Orange,

who had
tale,

recently ascended the throne,

and with
ance.)

whom

he had a corresponding acquaintas

The

Flotow used

to

relate

it,

is

as follows.

When
said
"

the author of "

presented to the king at

Monte Cristo Amsterdam, the

written

"

was

first

royal host

M. Dumas, you have

many

brilliant
;

stories dealing with distinguished

Frenchmen

have

you not found any Dutchmen worthy of your consideration

"
?

"Your
"

Majesty,

have not had time to make

that," replied

the necessary researches."

Oh

you need not trouble about

the king, whose

own

life

and courtship had tinges

story."

of romance, "I will

tell

you a

And

so the

the murder of the

king related the incidents of 1672 and 1673, of De Witts, and the imprisonment
Cornelius

of

Van

Baerle

all

upon wicked and

the end of the de-

shamefully wrong charges.

scription,

At

Dumas

exclaimed,

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
"

233

What

fine subject for a

novel

"
!

"Write
answered
"
I

it,"

said the king-,

and Dumas promptly

will."

The
the

dramatised version of the story produced at

Haymarket, and the consequent popularity of

the book itself will have

familiar.

made

the plot generally

in

This

is

another case

which EnMish

managers,

who have

so generally disdained Dumas's

dramatic work, have adapted for the stage a book

which even the

"

skilled instinct of

its

author failed

to find suitable for dramatic use.

Les Manages de Pere

as
"
is

Olifus," rather

loosely

described

"a

sequel

to

the

'Mille-et-un
trip to

Pantomes,'

said to have been written with Paul

Bocage, and was one of the results of the

Amsterdam
attention
critics.

mentioned
has

above.

It

is

an

extra

ordinary work, and decidedly deserves

much more
hands of

than

it

received

at

the

From
was

letter

with

which
us,
it

Mr W. M.
appears that

Rossetti

has kindly favoured

specially

the

story

liked

by Dante Gabriel
to particular novels

Rossetti, a great admirer of our author. " If a question

were raised as

(by

Dumas)
"
I

specially

admired by
*

my
'

brother," he
'

writes,

could mention
'

Monte
I

Cristo,'

Trois

Mousquetaires,'
'

Bragelonne,'

Pere

Olifus,'
'

Ingenue,'

'

Les Ouarante-Cinq,'

think also

La

234

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
He
was
"

Tulipe Noire.'

also vastly

amused with

Dumas's
to

'

Memoires.'

The tale, which purports to have been confided Dumas by Olifus himself, is too strange not to have had some such oricrin. As we read it, it is told with as much reticence as the exiijencies of the
story and the promptings of humour allow but the adventures of the seaman with his " sea-wife " too
;

closely resemble the style of the narratives of "

The

Arabian

Nights" or "Boccaccio,"
next
story

to

recommend
to

themselves to a prudish translator.

For
history,

his

Dumas went

German
patriotic

and chose the time when

the

secret society of the "

to

Tugendbund" was

conspiring

assassinate Napoleon and to throw

off the

French

yoke.
"

Probably with the help of a 'prentice

his

who

knew

Germany," Dumas wrote

d
la

"

I'Enfer," a powerful, poignant story, of

Le Trou de how a young

life

Antony
sufficient

living,

Schiller's

"

Robber," a

unto himself, strove successfully to possess

his

a young goatherdess, and the wife of

friend,

best

for
"

whom
to

he had conceived a self-willed

passion.

Dieu dispose,"
possess great
It tells

which
merit,

Mr

Swinburne
in

considers

was written

Brussels in 1852.

of the retribution which

seducer,

gradually overtakes

the

and the reader

follows the sure though tortuous course of

Nemesis
fails

with the interest which

Dumas

himself rarely

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
to arouse

235
of
1830,

and reward.
"

The Revolution
"
;

and the secret

therewith,
effect

freemasonry

agitations connected

are

touched
is

of the story

upon but the dramatic borrowed from the author's

three

own

play

of

"

Comte Hermann," produced

its

years before.

We
;

have indicated the sources of the

weakness
lies

story's strength

in

a husband's

non-recognition of his wife, after years of separation.

"

La Femme au

Collier de Velours,"

which also
patron,

dates from 1S51, contains by

interesting

way

of introduction an
literary

account

of

Dumas's
to

Charles

Nodier,
itself,

and the society

which purports

at

the Arsenal.

The

tale

have been told

to the narrator

by the dying Nodier, and of which

is

Hoffmann, the author of "Contes Fantastiques,"

the hero,
is

as weird as any story

it

by the German

Poe.

Incidentally

introduces the guillotining of

Madame Dubarry
This story
is

the mistress of Louis XV., and

life in

presents a realistic picture of

associated

Paris in '93.

by Calmann-Levy with

another essay into

the

supernatural

" Le

Testa-

ment de M. Chauvelin."
historically for the protection of his wife

That
and

noble,

who was
will

one of Louis XV. 's roues, makes a

children,
sign.

which he
is

neglects

to

He

dies suddenly,

but

seen
duly

to return to his chateau,

and the

will is found,
is,

completed.
lies

Powerful as the story

its

chief value

in

the introduction, which gives us a glimpse

236
of the

LIFE
writer's

AND WRITINGS OF
youth,

and

in

the

full

and vivid
destined to

description of the last days of Louis Quinze.

One
been
dates
tired

of the books of

Dumas which
Olympe de

is

become more appreciated

in

in the future

than

it

has

the past,

is

"
It

Cleves," which

from 1852.
to

Brussels,

was written before he reand Maquet is credited with a

share in the work.

We,
all

for

our part, believe that

the extent of that writer's connection with this story

begins

if it

begins at

and

ends with the

dis-

covery of Lemazurier's biographies of the French

actors,

from which the career of Banniere

is

taken,

and with the preparation of the

Quinze.

historical material

repecting the debauching of the young king, Louis

The charm

of the story

lies

for

once

in

the characters of the lovable hero and heroine,

and

the unhistorical parts of the book, describing the

life

of a strolling

company

of French actors, in the

early eighteenth century.

We

should like to echo

the sentiments of
"

Mr W.

E. Henley,

who

proclaims

Olympe de Cleves" a
as
"

masterpiece.

Probably most readers of "

Ange
"),

Pitou

"

(also
in

known

Taking

the

Bastille

published

1853, will have noticed that the story ends

-that, in

abrupdy
all.

fact, it

cannot be said to end at

An

anecdote told by M. Parigot offers an explanation of

this.

One

day,

it

appears, Maquet, reader and ex-

plorer of the obscure, burst in

upon Dumas with an

ALEXANDRE
idea for a
historical

DUJNIAS
be founded on a
Pitou,

237
real

new romance,
character,
rest,

to

Ange

ballad

monger,

Royalist,

and the

(M. Maurice Engerrand has

recently given us a brochure on this historical per-

sonage similar to the one written by M. Lenotre on

Rougeville, or " Maison Rouge.")

The master bade

is

his assistant prepare the usual material, that

say,

to
his

make

researches,
historical

and reconstitute the man in

atmosphere.

moral and

On

the strength

of this project the romancer entered into a contract

with publishers

to

write

and

supply

the

story.

Luckily or unluckily,

Dumas and Maquet

quarrelled;
;

the book had to be written by a certain date

the

romancer, pressed for time, ignored research, and

created his hero from his

own

imao^ination, locating

him

at Villers-Cotterets, giving

him

his

own

personal
in

boyhood, and sending him to Paris to take part

the capture of the Bastille.

Then, when the novel

had reached the

work.

requisite length, he

abandoned the

Dumas's own explanation, given in an introduction to " La Comtesse de Charny," is that just
at that time the

Chamber imposed a

tax on every
ftiiil-

copy of those journals which contained a

leton
\

and
"

that

De

Girardin, editor of the paper in

"

which

Ange

Pitou

appeared, wrote to

Dumas

bidding him cut the story short.

ii?7ibre

Presumably the

was taken

off

soon

after.

Those readers who

238

LIFE
first

AND WRITINGS OF

care to compare the early chapters of "

with the

Ange Pitou" " Memoires" will find volumes of the

his

that the hero

and

author possess

many

interesting

points of resemblance

and

dissimilarity.
trace,

Here, so
tion

far as

we can

ended the connecIt

between

Dumas and
is

his best collaborator.

has been said that without Maquet our author was

helpless.
It

true that he
;

was
it is

at his best

with

that admirable 'prentice

but

none the

less true

that both before

and

after him,

Dumas

wrote books

which none but he could have produced, whilst

Maquet never achieved anything

During
he
tells

like

the

same

degree of merit or success under his

his exile in

own name.

Brussels (185 1-3)

to "

us in the preface

Dumas, as Pere Gigogne," was far

1'

from
(or

idle.

He

instances "Conscience

Innocent"

"L'Enfant"),

"La Comtesse
''

de Charny," " Le
as the

Pasteur dAshbourn," "Isaac Laquedem," "Catherine

Blum," and a portion of his

result of

Memoires
"
it

"

two years' work, and adds

will

one day

be a source of trouble for

cover
the
'

my

biographers to dis'

anonymous
"
!

collaborators

who have

written those books

It

was about this time that the novelist turned from the romance of cap-and-sword, and devoted
himself chiefly to semi-pastoral stories, to tales of

contemporary, and often humble,

ing passages of " Conscience
"

life.

In the openthis.

he dwells on


ALEXANDRE
"

DUiMxVS

239

As one
if

gets on In

life,"

he

writes, " and, losing-

sight of the cradle,

draws nigh
ties

to the tomb,

it

seems

as

the

invisible

which bind one to one's

. . .

grow stronger and more irresistible. A man's life is divided into two distinct parts the the second years are for hope first thirty-five That is why, instead thirty-five, for memory. of always breaking fresh ground in literary work,
birthplace
: ; . . .

consulting solely the caprices of

my

fancy, the re-

sources

of

my

imagination,

ever

seeking
-

new

characters and conceiving new, unheard

tions,
I

of situa-

return at times, at least in thought, to that

beaten track,

my

childhood, retracing those days to

their earliest hours,

I

looking back along the path

until
I

have trodden, back

see

my

little

feet as

they kept pace with

my
life

dearly loved mother's

side
first

which have traversed

from the day when

by

side with

mine

my

eyes

opened, to the day

when

hers closed for ever."

We

have seen how Dumas made

use, in "

Pitou," of his recollections of childhood. paration of the " Memoires " probably further stimu-

Ange The pre-

lated

him

to utilise his recollections of

life

at Villers-

Cotterets, as a "milieu" for these semi-pastoral stories.

Therefore,

when he read

little

story

by Hendrik
"

Le Conscrit," in which a young peasant Is "drawn" for the war, is blinded in action, Is brought home by his
Conscience, the Flemish novelist, called

240

LIFE
this

AND WRITINGS OF
Is

sweetheart, and

finally restored to
tells

sight,

Dumas
heart.

saw
brac

in
")

novelette (as he

us in

" Bric-a-

the outline of a story after his

own

He

wrote to Conscience, asking permission to use

a basis, and
this the flattered author,

this story as

readily granted.

In order to acknowledge his in-

debtedness

publicly
to

Dumas gave
hero
of
his

the

Conscience

the

name of own story,

on
locale

which
original.

is

considerable

elaboration

the
to

Our

author

chancjed

the

Villers-Cotterets, introduced his boyish recollections

of Napoleon's flying visits to that village, indulged

in

little

contemporary

history,

made

the love of the

peasant for the land a powerful factor in the story,

created Bastien, one of the leading characters, and

gave

to the

new "Consent" many

original.

times the length

and strength of the

"Catherine
similar origin.

Blum," published
It is

in

1854,

had a
lies

said to

have been
its

suQfo-ested

by
in

Iffland's

"Gardes

Forestiers," but

charm

the description of the people and atmosphere of

Villers-Cotterets,

and in the simple art with which it is told. There is a pleasant portrait of Abbe Gregoire, one of the boy Alexandre's preceptors. Mr Swinburne tells us that amongst Dumas's minor works he admires chiefly this pair of pastoral pictures, "Conscience" and "Catherine Blum," and we believe that if they were known to the English-

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
confirmed.

241

reading public his judgment would be generally

When
in

he wrote " Conscience

"

Dumas was

wait"

ing for a copy of Michelet's " French Revolution,"

order to begin upon "

La Comtesse de Charny

(1853-5).
critic

Professor G. C. Carpenter, a thoughtful

of Dumas's genius and writings,

gives an
also
:

appreciation of this romance, touching

upon

the secret sources of our author's success

"He

read memoirs avidly, for one thing

race, that
in his

he had

a marvellous heritage of
akin to him
;

made other times

submerged
his

under-consclousness,

out of reach of will or reason, were wondrous stores

of association
;

own

life

was

rich

and varied

his

sympathy was extraordinary.

he drew,
the result
all

On

all

these sources
his.

in that
is

madly rapid writing of

And

that in his pages, as in an allegory, are

life.

the elements essential to the nation's

Among
:

a score of others, three are not to be forgotten

violated Comtesse de Charny,
aristocracy
;

the

who was

the wrecked
Gilbert,

the brutal peasant boy

who
;

represented the uprising of

men

long down-trodden
links "

and
"

their child,

who was

the

new France."

La Comtesse de Charny," which

"

Ange
"

Pitou

with

the "

Chevalier de Maison

Rouge
is

and and

thus completes the Revolution cycle,

full

of pic;

turesque history, although

it is

perhaps too long

the fictitious interest, apart from the character of the

242

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
who develops
is

countess* herself,

into

one of Dumas's
transla-

most

life-like

heroines,

not

very engrossing.

We
in

regret

to find
"

that in
to "

some English

tions the "epilogue

La Comtesse de Charny,"

which
In

Ange

Pitou and Catherine are satisfactorily

is

brought together,
this cycle
"

omitted.

of revolutionary

romance, which

begins with the

Memoires du Medecin," and ends

with "

Le Chevalier de Maison Rouge," there are several unsatisfactory gaps. The reader will find a
consecutive and vivid panorama of the

events of

1792, 1793, ^^d 1794' fron^ the battles of Valmy and Jemappes to the fall of Robespierre, in " Le Docteur Mysterieux and "La Fille du Marquis." These volumes bear evident traces of Dumas's
''

hand, touching as they do upon the restoration of

reason to the imbecile, the use of " magnetic power,"

and the sense of

guillotined

life

after death, in the case of a

head
an
of

(see "

Le

Mille-et-une

Fantomes

").

There

is

interestincr

thread of

fiction,

and a
Juliet"

translation

scenes

from

"Romeo and
tells

may attract the when he visited

curious.

Chincholle

us that

the author in

1869, he

was com-

pleting the dictation of these volumes, which were

not published in book-form until after his death.

"Ever
frequent

since 1832,"

Dumas
'

tells
I

us in one of his

bursts of confidence, "

outline of a

have had
which

in
I

my

mind the

Juif errant,' to

shall

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
devote myself at the
first

243
I

leisure

moment

get,
I

and
have

which

will

be one of

my best
may

books.

Indeed,

only one fear

it."

that
''

die without having written

In this case,
Parieot
"
is

Tauteur propose,

le censeiir dispose."

facetious, but misleadingf,

in
'

when he

writes

commencing Isaac Laquedem,' thought to wTite the romance of the world's history. He soon stopped, as there did not seem sufficient material," The story was interdicted by the censor of the Second Empire, probably as profane. It promised,
says Henley, to
of his
fulfil its

Dumas,

author's pledge,

and be one

best romances.
it

siderable space to
in

in

M. de Bury devotes conIt was, his study of Dumas.

to

truth,

orlcrantic

task

undertake

" Isaac

Laquedem " was

telling

us the story of the early

all

days of the world and of the Bible with

sincerity

and reverence, and

thralling manner.

Dumas's most vivid and enThe trial of Jesus His encounter

in
;

with the Jew

and the terrible curse

it

him

all

was as powerful as
and

the idea of the Passion told

upon was audacious. But en fetulldoii was too

laid

He

much

for the authorities,

all

that

we

possess of

" Isaac

Laquedem

" is

a fragment

few scattered

columns of one of the most daring

ever mortal
in

literary edifices

man desiorned to erect. The J\IS. Dumas's own handwriting was presented by

all

his

son to the

town of

Villers-Cotterets.

244

LIFE
last

AND WRITINGS OF
said to

The

of the " romances of exile," the " Pasteur

is

d'Ashbourn,"

have been drawn from an

English source.

On

the other hand, Parran,

into

who
and
gen-

made

considerable researches

the

dates
in its

origins of

Dumas's works, believed both

its

uineness and
his
talent,"

merit.

" It reveals

new
are

side to
regret-

he declares.
"

To
it

this

we

fully

unable to subscribe.

Apart from the story of

contains,

" la

Dame

Grise

which

and which may

child, the

have been suggested by Marie Dorval's passionate

and unconquerable grief

for her

dead

novel
at-

would seem
something

to

have originally been a German

tempt to copy Goldsmith or Richardson.

in this story attracted

Probably

Dumas and caused

it.

him

to

translate

and transform
it

obviously incomplete as

stands,

The novel is but we can find

lack of success
"

no trace of a sequel, which perhaps

de Neige
tion
" (or "

its

did not encourage the author to supply.

La Boule

Moullah-Nour ") is also a translaor adaptation of a story by Marlinsky, but the

it

humour with which

own,
if

is

told

makes

it

our author's

not by right of ownership, then by right of

"conquest."

The
"

year 1854 saw

"

Dumas back
"),

in Paris

and

in-

stalled in the editorial

chair of the Moiisquetah'e.

Salteador (or

The Brigand

which appeared

in

was announced in master's introductory note as by another hand

the great

man's journal,

the
but,

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
according to a
the
"

245
is

member

of the family,

it

certainly

work of our author

probably

in

collaboration.

La Princesse de Monaco" was simply recueillihy Dumas; " Une Vie d'Artiste " consists of the story
original

of the early struggles of Mellngue, the witty actor

and

stage

DArtagnan, most
and patron.
"

interestingly

retold

by

his friend

In this year began

still

Les

Mohicans de
for

Paris,"

another

new
a
the

departure

the

inexhaus-

tible

romancer.

Frequently with

Dumas
we
at

a
;

new
on

assistant
this

meant

new
the

field

of enterprise was,

occasion

'prentice

believe,

Paul

Bocage,
of

and
the

story

was

once
a

the

pioneer
"

detective-story,
'*

and

remin-

iscence of the second part of

The

Mysteries of Paris."
in
it,

Monte Cristo," and Our author himself

a
night
restaurant.

appeared

"athlete and poet," in the opening

chapters, which take place in

The

leading character, the

;

detective,

was a

fore-

runner of Sherlock Holmes

type of story

but in this particular

Dumas was
"

not at his best, and the

same remark applies

too lengthy sequel,
to

to the better constructed but

Salvator," which

commenced
is

appear the following year.

" Ingenue,"
^

also of this year's date,

of

much

Maquet had a share in this work, but unless it was before the rupture between the two men we doubt this. Certainly they would scarcely come together for the purpose of writing this small romance.
^

It is

stated that

commenced

246

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

better quality,

and we are surprised that the EngHsh translations of it have been allowed to [jo out of
print.

We

find ourselves

once more

In the

midst of

the Revolution, the leading character of the story

being Marat, to

whom
la

a love romance of his youth

brings a strange sequel.

ter of Retif

The

heroine

is

the daugh-

de

Bretonne, a literary character of

the time

but his descendants resented the freedom

with which their ancestors were treated, and warned

the public not to accept the story as true.
sincere apology,

Dumas's

and declaration that he was unaware

of the existence of any survivors of the family were

accepted.

1855
We

sequel to " Les

"

Deux Diane " also belongs to Le Page du Due de Savoie," and is obvi-

ously from the same pens

his master.

Meurice, instructed
Jehu."

by

romances
story,

now come
"

to another of our author's very best

Les

Compagnons de
in

This
(as

which appeared

1857,

was suggested
in
in

we

learn from the preface)

by a page

Nodier's
accord-

" Souvenirs de la Revolution."

Dumas,

ance with his practice, visited Bourg-en-Bresse to

study the
locality,

and gives an instructive and

his visit, in the introduction to

amusing account of
the book.

At the time when he set off on the track of the young Royalist highwaymen he was preparing to write a serial to be called " Rene

ALEXANDRE DUJMAS

247

d'Aroonnc," and was studying- Varcnncs for that

purpose, along with Paul Bocage, so that the " neat
draft" of the "

Compagnons

"

which About saw on

that

Dumas's
toire

table

was probably by

young

'prentice.

In our judgment this story of the days of the Direcis

one of the most dramatic and

all

skilfully con-

Dumas's romances, and excels most of its more famous rivals in unity and form. Dumas Jils took an interest in the story, and is said to have
structed of

suggested to his father the characters of Roland de

Montrevel, the young
Republican, and
In "
Sir

John

Tanlay, the English aristocrat.

Once more,
is

Villers-Cotterets

Le Meneur

de Loups," which dates from

to General

this year, the narrator

Mocquet, the friend of the boy Alexandre, keeper

Dumas, and hero of a wonderful

trip to

the

moon.

Dumas
;

recalls

how

in

his

childhood

Mocquet told him the tale of Thibaut, the man who became a wolf and the weird adventures of the
loup-garoiL are told engrossingly enough, not to say
enthrallingly.

But their chronicler- in -after- years

credit.

modestly disclaims the

story as his,
it

He

speaks of the
"

is

true,

adding very sensibly,

when
!

one has
finishes
"

on an ^^^ for thirty- two years one by thinking one has laid it one's-self "
sat

Le

Capitaine
of
is

Richard,"

known
as

to
*'

the

last

generation
Captains,"

English

readers
spoilt

The Twin
For

good story

bv

histor)\

248
once
the

LIFE
Dumas

AND WRITINGS OF
attention to

did not give sufficient

fusing process,

and story and history could

almost be disentangled without damage to either.

The plot, as we learn in the epilogue, was given to Dumas by Schlegel, the great critic, whom the former met when he was " doins^ the Rhine " in The period of the story is that of the " Trou 1838. de I'Enfer " Napoleon is in Germany and the
; ;

account

of

the

attempted

assassination

of

the

Emperor by

Staps, and of the

author's best.

are both of the

Moscow campaign, The tale finishes

is

with such a dramatic situation that one

to regret the evident haste with

tempted

which

"

Le

Capitaine

Richard

"

was

written,

a haste which compressed

last

matter for a full-sized drama into the

of a novel.

few pages

We

pass by " L' Horoscope," a fragment of the

II.,

history of the short-lived Frangois

husband of Mary Queen of Scots, a piece of work of which the

little

we

possess makes us ask vainly for more

" Black,"

a pretty story, based on the idea of the

(or " Sultanetta

transmigration of souls into the bodies of animals

and

"

Ammalat Beg"

"),

rewritten

by Dumas from a translation of a story in Russian by Marlinsky.i This was published in 1859, being, of course, the result of Dumas's visit to the Caucasus
^

An

literature,

English version of this story, one of the best known appeared in Blackwood's, 1 843.

in

Russian


ALEXANDRE DUMAS
just previously.

249

We
and

may

also briefly dismiss "

Le
the

Chasseur de Sauvagine," a

charming
the

story,

whole credit of which

to
his

Dumas

frankly gives entirely

friend

collaborator,

Comte de
in

Cherville.

In spite of this avowal the authorship

has been claimed by experts for Dumas, and

case the story
is

any

well worth reading.

It

follows

the fortunes of a
tells

Normandy
sin,

wildfowl-hunter, and
his repentance.

of his love, his contains

and

The

story

qualities

not

generally

acknowbeing in

ledged to be possessed by our author,

marked contrast with his better-known style. " Le Fils du Forcat" (or "Monsieur Coumbes "), published
to

the following year, has also been ascribed

collaborator as
in in

Dumas, and suggests the same

the tale
It
is

the previous work.

Marseilles,

Although the scene is laid resembles the "Chasseur"

to wit,

manner.
that of

really a study of a "little" nature

Monsieur Coumbes,

and

is

simply

yet powerfully told.

splendid edition of "

Le

Fils

du Format" was published in France not long ago. " Les Louves de Machecoul," a product of 1859,
deserves fuller notice.

This

tale gives the

in

reader
in

a graphic account of the rising

La Vendee

1832, caused by the Duchesse de Berri

tion all the

descrip-

more trustworthy because, as we know, the author had not only foreseen the occurrence, but had visited the Royalist West a year or two

250

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
Mr
Saintsbury remarks that
*'

before the outbreak.

the episode of
is

Ewan

of Brigglands in

Rob Roy"
romance.

"calmly translated verbatim" into

is

this
;

This
is

somewhat of an exaggeration
it

the incident

undoubtedly " conveyed,"

is

true,

but

is

retold

in

more graphic

style.

The

character
life
:

of

Jean
is

Oullier alone should give this book

fine

he

study of the Breton peasant

devoted, pious

one

cunning, dogged,
to

of the best portraits from the

hands of the master.

"

La Maison de

Glace,"

known

us

in

the

sixties as

"The

Russian Gipsy," published

in 1859,

was another outcome of the visit to Russia two years before. It is a romance of the court of the

Empress Anna,
century,
full

in the early half of the

eighteenth
incline to

of intrigue and passion.

is

We

believe, with Maurel, that the story

a translation.

Another excursion
" L'lle

into

unfamiliar regions
to

was
in

de

Feu,"

known

a past generation

England
is

as "

Doctor

Basilius."

This was probably

well, for

written with an assistant

it

who knew Java

that
island,

a weird story

of

the

interest

by the people and customs of that semibarbarous spot being heightened by a suggestion "Truly one of the gems of of the supernatural. the collection," writes a deep student of Dumas,
afforded

"the concluding volume being perhaps among his

finest

work."

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
"

251

Le Pcre

la

Ruine," which dates from this period,

"

resembles "

Le Chasseur de Sauvagine,"

du Forcat," and "Parisiens et Provinciaux," so

as to suggest
ville

Le Fils much

Dumas
It

in
is

collaboration with de Cher-

once more.
in
"

a pretty but sad story, in

which, as

Conscience," the love of the French

soil is

peasant for the

powerfully shown.

"Adventures of a Younger Son," made under Dumas's orders, and known as " Un Cadet de Famille," and one of
translation of Trelawney's

Gordon-Cumming's 'Adventures of a Lion Hunter,"

known

La Vie au Desert," were also issued in i860, when Dumas set out on that tour which ended in the camp of Garibaldi. For some time
the romancer

as "

was busy following the fortunes of

the " red-shirts," editing a paper at Naples, writing

Memoires de Garibaldi," his own diary as amateur war correspondent, and the rest and it was not until 1863 that he published another romance of any importance " Madame de Chamthe
"
;

blay."

According
in

to

the

circumstantial

account

given
story

the introduction, the manuscript of this

was sent to Dumas by a friend, whom he had met at Compiegne In 1836, when on a visit The novel tells of to the young Due D'Orleans.
a

young

wife,

an unworthy husband, a lover, a

for lover

potion a la Juliet, by which the lady escapes from

bondage, and promises a happy

life

and


252

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
In spite of this
testi-

mistress in a distant land.

mony, however,
blay."

Mr
as

Saintsbury beHeves

Octave

Feuillet to be the author of "

Be

that

it

may,

Madame we have

de Chamseen that

Dumas does not " Une Nuit a

a favourite
question
is

claim the authorship for himself. Florence," published in 1861,

is

a story based on the life-history of the Medicis

topic

with

Dumas.

The

night

in

the

concerns the adventure of the

Medici,

2nd or 3rd January 1537/ and Duke Alexander de

killed

who

is finally

by
It

his cousin Lorenzino,

the " Brutus " of his day.

to

would be interesting
de
Musset's
play,

compare

this

story
it

with

" Lorenzaccio,"

which

closely resembles.

About

this time

(1862) appeared "

Une Aventure
to

dArnour," which
than

is

more an autobiographical sketch

visit
it

and a record of the author's

1856,
fiction.

Austria in

Incidentally

shows Dumas

as the chivalrous friend of a beautiful

woman

in

a risky and equivocal position.

Une Amazone," which is bound volume, is of earlier date about

"

"Herminie" or with the same

1845.
It
is

short

story
"

of a

bal niasqud intrigue,

is

a sort of

belated

Souvenir dAntony," and

its

considered

a model short story in

In the following year
^

way.
last

1864 came Dumas's

This

is

the date given by Dumas.

Authorities disagree as to the

day, and even as to the year.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
long romance
terieux," "
(if

253

and

its

we except " Le Docteur Myssequel), " La San Felice."

"
is

La San

Felice

a word

panorama of the

strange series of events which occurred in Naples

in 1798 and 1799, when the Bourbon Ferdinand was overthrown by the Frencli, in the former year, and was restored to the throne by Cardinal Ruffo in the next. We know, by passages in " Le Corricolo," that the events of this time had

already aroused

Dumas's

interest.

Pifteau,

who

was the author's secretary at the time the romance was written (and who vouches for its authenticity),
tells

us that

Dumas

whilst at Naples wrote a history

of Ferdinand's overthrow and return

" Histoire

known

as the

des Bourbons," or

"

Borboni Napoli,"

for the

paper which he was then editing, and found

of events
far

the series

too

exciting
"

and extraFelice
"

ordinary to neglect.

Accordingly

La San

was
out,
"

written.

The

characters are historical throuo-h-

and the hapless Luisa San Felice, Ferdinand,

^

King of the Lazzarone," Nelson, Lady Hamilton,

and a score more,
This story
in their

Fra Diavolo, Admiral Caracciolo

appear "

habits as they lived."

shows strikingly the change which has come over

^ Incidentally, the story of Nelson's hanging of Caracciolo is introduced, and treated from the French and humanitarian point of view. The "case for Nelson" is presented in Mr Sladen's book "The

Admiral," which contains exhaustive quotations from original documents.

254
the

LIFE
now

AND WRITINGS OF
The
one no longer ; with the " Mousquetaires."
is

author during the past twenty years.

is

"pace,"

comparatively slow

swept

off one's feet, as

The author unfolds his tale deliberately, but with much of his old charm, stepping carefully from
document
to

document, and weaving half a score

"

of threads together with a patience and dignity of

style akin to Scott.

La San
in

Felice
is

"

was followed

by

"

Emma

Lyonna,"

which

told the story of

Lady Hamilton's
it

career, being a p'cturesque version,

is

said, of that fascinating

"

supplementary sequel,
appeared
in

woman's " Memoirs." Les Souvenirs d'une

Favorite,"

1865.

Lady

Hamilton

played a prominent part in the events described

in

"

La San
by

Felice,"

and Dumas was evidently

led on
ality to

his interest in that picturesque person-

make

her the central figure in succeeding

volumes.

Readers who are inclined to disparage Dumas's

later work, particularly the products of the " sixties,"

are advised to try " Parisiens et Provinciaux," issued

this

year,

written

with

the

Comte de

Chervil le.

The
fact

scene shifts from Paris to the neighbourhood

is

of the author's beloved Villers-Cotterets, and a humorous comparison of the

in

in

city

cockney

(typified

the delightful person of

M. Peluche)
play "

and the

" rustic " Madeleine.

title

The

story might have

little

taken the

of the author's

first

La

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
Chasse
et

255

rAmour,"

for

the humours of the chase

and a sHght but pretty love-story are the chief attractions of this book, which is one of the best of
that class of novels written

by Dumas and yet so

neglected by his admirers,

story of
It
is

the

slight,

humorous

modern humble
not generally
life

life.

known

that in the closing

years of his
at a

Dumas

tried his

hand once more

" romance of cape-and-sword."

The

reader

will search the

comprehensive

list

of
it.

MM.

CalmannLes

Levy

in
1

vain for any record of

In the early
editor of

part of

866

so
his

Ferry asserts

the
for

Nouvelles appealed to

Dumas
style,

an

historical

romance
subject
that

in

famous

and Dumas agreed

found an excellent

to think the matter over.

in

He

the career of "

illegitimate

son

of

Le Comte de Moret," Henri Quatre who disthe

battle

appeared

so

mysteriously during

of

Castelnaudary, and whose body was never found.

He
th.e

had already treated

feinlht 0)1, Ferry
;

this subject in that

charm-

ing story, "

La Colombe."
tells us,

The

first

number of

promised an engrossing
romance,

story

but

unhappily other preoccupations, other

work, took Dumas's attention from the

which flagged.
tive,

He

lost

the thread of the narrafull

which became merely a chronique,

historical

of long

extracts from the memoirs of Pontis, Delaporte, and

from other

documents of the seventeenth

256
century.

LIFE
It

AND WRITINGS OF
But although the romance a wretched American transla-

suddenly ceased to appear, and was

never heard of more.

is

not

now

accessible,

tion published at the time,

and happily preserved,

is

shows that the story has been underrated by M.

Ferry.

Some

of

it,

indeed,

excellent,

notably

the chapter in which Corneille

pr^cieuses
intrigues,

is
;

introduced to the

ridicules

of the

day

and Richelieu's

and the incident of the "day of dupes,"

as

are

Dumas

we know him

best.

The

period of

"

Le Comte de Moret"

just precedes that of the

" Mousquetaires."

Two
period.^

of the last volumes of fiction from the pen

of the fast-ageing writer were of the revolutionary

"

Les Blancs
la

et les

Bleus" (1S67)

like

the
"

"

Compagnons," was suggested

Revolution," and
his old

by Nodier's

Souvenirs de

Dumas

in ac-

knowledgment introduces
story.
It
is

friend into the

interesting chiefly for the

" red,"

dramatic

episode of Euloge Schneider the

"
is

who
et

bar-

gained for the hand of a Royalist maiden, as the

price

of her

father's

life.

Les Blancs

les
in

Bleus," the scene of which

laid in

Strasbourg

December

1793,

was dedicated, with a gleam of

the author's old wit, to the

^

memory

of Nodier, his

"

La Terreur Prussienne," although

and value from
its

technically a novel, derives

its

chief interest

historical matter,

and

is

therefore

dealt with in that capacity.

ALEXANDRE DUIMAS
illustrious friend

257
I

and

" collaborator."

"

have said
another

'collaborator,'"

he adds, "because people would

lot of trouble in finding

give themselves a
one,

and

their

time

would

be

wasted."
facts,

The
his

veteran

still

held his grip of his

the sequel, "

and of

reader; but

Le Huitieme
"

Croisade,"
et

which now forms the

les Bleus," is chiefly

latter part of

Les Blancs
in 1869,

a spirited chronique of the siege

of Acre.

year before Dumas's death, the curtain

At

*****
And on
that last effort,

made

the

falls.

occasional intervals
children,
")

Dumas

issued books of

tales for

Pamphile
others, "

Le Capitaine we have already mentioned. Of the

one of which
de
("
la

La

Bouillie
:

Comtesse Berthe

" is

the

most notable

it

is

a pretty story, in which the

"Castle of Otranto" seems turned into a haunt for

dwarfs and a delight for
little

readers.
("

"

Le Pere

Gigogne

"

opens with a story

La Lievre de mon
Cherville and

grandpere") told to
recounted by him
;

Dumas by de

but the rest of the two volumes

tians

contains fairy-tales, chiefly translations from

Christian

Andersen and the German.

In reply to an enquiry from us

to

Mr Lang

writes

say that although he has not these stories by

it

him, he thinks
spite of this

unlikely that any are original.

In

weighty opinion we are reluctant to

part with two or three tales, notably "

La Jeunesse

258

LIFE
"

AND WRITINGS OF
tales

de Pierrot."
in

This verdict also disposes of the

L'Homme
-

aux
is,

Contes

"

" L'Histoire

d'un of

casse

noisette,"

we

know, an

adaptation

Hoffmann's story of the same name.

Next

to the plays, with

which we have not dealt

for reasons already given, and to the romances,

come the
originality.

travels

if

not in importance, at least in

in

These volumes abound

adventure

gaiety,

in

brief sketches of dialogue, of history, of archaeology,

of

personal

in

short,

they

make
for

'ntdlange,

a savoury stew, with

Dumas

cook

Parigot suggests that they should be called

pressions

"Im-

produites par
is

Dumas
"

en Voyage," and
;

declares " he

charming thus

though with a

touch of satire he adds, " one scarcely exaggerates

when one

says that the beauty of a country was to

Dumas
we

in

proportion to the native admiration for

his books."

Suisse" (1833), have already given some account then followed

the
first trip,
;

Of

"

En

those on

"La Midi de la

France

"

and

" "

Les Bords du

Rhin "(1841), the former containing La Chasse au Chastre " and other excellent reading the latter, probably written with the help of Gerard de Nerval, other matter, of Waterloo and tellinof, amonorst
;

Marceau, of Rubens, and the clevil-tempted architect

of Cologne

cathedral.

Italy

and the Medi-

terranean yielded the finest crop of "impressions,"

and there appeared

in

rapid succession "

Une Ann^e

^ '

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
a Florence" (in 1841), and
followed by
in the
"

259

" "

Lc

Capitaine Arena,"
"

Le Corricolo
the
'

and " Le Speronare

next two years.

" that

" It

must be

said," admits

Fitzgerald,

Corricolo,'

an account of

Naples, and the 'Speronare,' an account of Florence

both

written by

Dumas's
spirited
"

friend Fiorentin

under
" is

his direction
travc'ls as

are as

and amusing books of

can be found."

La

Villa Palmieri

another volume of souvenirs of Florence.

In 1846, as will be remembered,
for

Dumas

set out

Madrid, to be present
following

at the royal

wedding, and
of Spain

the

year his

description
" Spain

was

issued, in " Paris

a Cadix."
it is

had had

little in-

fluence on his genius,

true," says Parigot, " but

what impressions he has

house
trious
officers

left

us

The very customillus'

respected the baggage of the

;

Frenchman

the author of
;

Monte

Cristo

was received with open arms the French schoolmasters left their work to escort him hither and thither, and the great hidalgos paid him homage of
courtesy."
full

As

a consequence, " Paris a Cadix"

is

of verve and gaiety, bull-fights, dances,

"

and the
is

rest.

Le

V^loce," issued two

of

years
in

later,

description
vessel
^

Dumas's adventures

that

state-

along the coast of North Africa.

lells

Of

the

"

Le Capitaine Arena"
by the

commanded by
vessel used

that seaman.

of a tour round Sicily in a vessel "speronare" is a light coasting-

Neapohtans

Italians ; a "corricolo," a carriage used sort of " tilbury."

by the

2G0
travels

LIFE
"En
we have

AND WRITINGS OF
"

Russie

(1865) and "

Le Cancase
in 1839,

"

(1859)

already spoken,

and there only

a

remains " Ouinze jours a Sinai," written

book remarkable

for the fact that althouo^h

Dumas

was never

in

Palestine (he wrote the

volume from

the drawings of Dauzats and Baron Taylor's notes),

was declared by a Caliph to be the most faithful description of the Holy Land that he had ever read
it

Its author,

we can

believe,

was delighted

to find he

had revealed the East

to the Orientals.

We

must not omit

visit

account of a

Pays Inconnu," 1865 (an to the land of the Aztecs in South

"

Un

America, and written from the notes of a certain

Middleton- Payne of
the incidental

Mr

New

York),

if

only because of

assertion,

unmistakably made, that

States.
It

Dumas had
as
it

visited the

United

seems

in-

credible that a

man who

travelled in the public eye,

were, and whose journeys abroad were invari-

ably turned to delightful account, could have gone

to

America unnoticed, and returned

unrecorded.

to leave his

visit

We

know

that

Dumas

wished to

cross the Atlantic, but

fear that
to his

was restrained by a natural negro descent might lay him open

rebuffs.

humiliating

Probably,

either

Dumas

" bluffed "

his readers

more hardily than

usual, or

else

the introduction and notes were written by a

'prentice

who had had the desired experience. Not yet have we exhausted the catalogue of

this

"

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
universal writer
!

2G1

Here

are historical studies by the

facts

teens of volumes

presentment of old
point
of view.
"

from
et

refreshingly

new

Gaule

France," a concise sketch of French history, began

the series, being written,
it is

said, to divert
Its

Dumas's
is

mind from the cholera epidemic.

and others and
this
is

author

accused of having borrowed passages from Thierry

;

quite possible.

On

the

other hand, the

forrii,

design, and aim of the work

were Dumas's own, and the closing passages which

Second Republic of fifteen years later with a president, elected by the people for five years, and so forth is quoted by Blaze de
so faithfully prophesy the

Bury

in

full,

as proof of the romancer's

"

political
"

foresight.

Then came

Napoleon" (1839);

Les

Stuarts" {1840)
(1842), which

in

w'hich
"
;

Dumas
"

largely availed
la Pucelle,"

himself of Scott's
is

"Abbot
half a
his

Jehanne

romance; "Louis XIV.

most
"
;

et

son
"

Siecle

"

(1844),
"

important history;

Les
la

Medicis

(1845)
sa Cour

La

Regence

"

and

"Louis XV.
et

et (1849); "Louis XVI. Revolution" (1850); "'93" {1851); and a

"

" Histoire

de Louis-Philippe" (1852).
"

series of

portraits in undress,

Grands
(1866),

Hommes
but only

en Robe"

de-Chambre,"
(1857),
et

was
'

sketched,

Cesar

"Henri IV."
" if

and "Louis XIII.

" Perhaps,"
sue-

Richelieu

(1866)
these

appeared.
studies

added Dumas,

meet with

"

262
cess,

LIFE
we

AND WRITINGS OF
go backward as
far as

shall try to

Alex-

ander, and forward as far as Napoleon."

Evidently

the series did not appeal to Dumas's public.

Of one
anecdote.

of these books

its

author

He was

chatting with a

tells an amusing somewhat super-

cilious savant,

and incidentally mentioned that he

Caesar.
? "

had written a history of

"

You have

written a history of Caesar

repeated

the incredulous listener with a smile.

"Yes."
"

You ? "
not?"
!

"Why
"

Pardon

But

it

has not been spoken of amongst

scholars
"

..."

Oh, the scholars never speak of me."

"

But a history of Caesar should have caused some

?

sensation
*'

."
.

Mine caused none

people read

it,

that's

all.

It

is
;

the unreadable histories which

make

sensa-

tions

they are like the dinners which one doesn't

;

digest

the dinners which one does digest, one has

forgotten by next day."

Of

these excursions into history "

"

La Route de

Varennes

(i860) and

"La

Terreur Prussienne

(1867) are two of the most valuable.

was an attempt
flight

to write the story of

The former Louis XVI. 's

followed the

from Paris, of which historical accounts seemed

confusing and contradictory.

Dumas

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
course
of
the
royal
fugitive

2G3
step,

step

by

and

Maxime Du Camp, who had

epoch
skill in

himself studied the

carefully,

testified to

the revision

Dumas's accuracy and of the work of trusted historians.

The "Terreur,"
the spot, and

in spite of its fiction-form, is practi-

cally a stud)' of the Prusso- Austrian war,

full

made on
dis-

of

shrewd observation and

forebodings, soon to be justifiied. should add here " Les Garibaldiens," Dumas's diary

quieting

We

as

amateur and

volunteer war

correspondent

in

i860

crisp, intelligent, restrained

account of the

Sicilian

campaign.
not
the
in

Certainly
writings are

least

attractive

of

Dumas's

those

which he writes frankly of

himself, his friends, his pets,

his life

and

all

that concerns

and

w^ork.
is

Of

these, the first in order

in

and
the

importance
forties,

" ^Nles

Memoires," commenced
"in exile"
in

but written

1S52-54,

when

leisure allowed the

adventurous author to look back

upon

his early

life.

Dr Garnett speaks

of

them as
incon-

"those wondrous 'Memoires' which, as

it is

ceivable that anyone but himself should have written

them, alone suffice to establish his genius."

ten volumes cover the period
of"

The

childhood, the early

struggles and triumphs, the Revolution of 1830, and

end abruptly
But the
"

at the time of the

"
;

Swiss

tour, 1S32-33.

Memoires

contain

much more than

political

Dumas's own history

he chronicles the

Translatiott."]

MY FATHER
My father, who has already been mentioned twice in the foregoing chapter, firstly, a propos of my certificate of birth, and again, in connection with his own marriage-contract, was General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie. He was, as we have shown in the documents cited by us son of the Marquis Antoine-Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie, Colonel and Commissary-General of Artillery, who owned by inheritance the estate of La Pailleterie, raised to a Marquisate by Louis XIV. in 1707. The arms of the family were " d''aziir a trois aigles cTor, aux vols ^ployes pour deux, et un avec un anneau d'argent place en ca^ur, embrasses par les griffes dextres et senestres des angles du chef, et reposant sur la tete de Vaigle de pointed
:

My father, when enlisting as a simple soldier, or rather, when renouncing both title and coat-of-arms, adopted instead Deus dabit " a device which the simple device " Deus dcdit would have sounded ambitious, if God himself had not counter;

signed
I

it.

do not know what secret discontent or speculative plan determined my grandfather to quit France, about 1760, sell his estate and go off to take up his abode in San Domingo. As a result of this resolution he bought an immense stretch of land situated on the western side of the island near Cape Rose and known as La Guinodce, or the Trou de Jcrcmie. It was there that my father was born, of Louise-Cessette Dumas and the Marquis de la Pailleterie, on March 25th, 1762. The Marquis was then fifty-two years of age, having been born
in 1710.

My father first saw the light in the most beautiful spot in that magnificent island, queen of the gulf in which it is situated, and of which the air is so pure that no venomous reptile can
exist there.

264

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
his

265

events of the time, and sketches the characters of

It is evident that even Alexandre himself shirked the task of bringing such a record up to date. Needless

famous contemporaries.
stout-hearted

the

to

add, these volumes

" Causeries "
in

are

full

of entertainment.
the

The
travel

{i860) contain
chatty

sketches

of

England,

fragments of autobio-

graphy, and two jeux

of
" Bric-a-brac,"

d' esprit.

The two volumes

following
year,
"

similar in

nature
"

issued
"

the

are

Propos

d'art,

de cuisine
"

et

de Dumas.

Les Morts vont

vite

contains appre-

ciations of the author's friends,

de Musset, Chateau-

briand, Beranger,

and recollections of Marie Dorval,

and others.

shows us
at

The " Histoire de mes Betes" (1S68) Dumas as he was in the forties, en faniille
Cristo,

Monte

amongst

his dogs,
"

monkeys,

ser-

vants,

and hangers-on.

The

Souvenirs drama-

tiques" (1868) are written with an unusual degree of

dignity for
stage-craft.

Dumas, and with a

genial masterhood of

The

studies in criticism, the apprecia-

tion of Shakespeare,

the
of

art

and the views expressed on of the playwright, and the management

are
all

the

theatre,

excellent

in

matter and

manner.

Two volumes of " Memoires" with which

name has been

Dumas's
in

associated are not easy to classify.

One
i860.

is

the
It

"

Memoires

d' Horace,"

published

was supposed

to

be taken from an

MS.

266

LIFE
orrande

AND WRITINGS OF
and
is,

in the library of the Vatican,

Ghnel

tells us,

"une
is

fantaisie

sur

Rome
The

ancienne."
"

It

not

now
on

accessible.

Memoires
written

de

Talma,"

the

other

hand,
left

were

by

Dumas
dian,

from memoranda

by the great trage-

and have been and

recognised
to

by Fournel,

J.

Cherbuliez,

others,

be practically a

bio-

graphy of the
in after years.

actor, written

by

his

young admirer,
by
"
itself.

One
This
is

other
"

work

also stands in a class

Crimes

Celebres,"

which

appeared

in

1839-40.

The
"

series

was founded on the

;

Causes

the excellent Gayot de Pithaval material afforded by that industrious person was divested of formality and tediousness, and rewritten with all the animation and dramatic effect for which

Celebres

of

the novelist was noted.

The

records were

com-

pared by
subject,

Dumas

with the best authorities on the

real life written with

and the romances of

scrupulous attention to accuracy.

Fiorentino,

Arnould, Fournier,
for
:

and

Mallefille

were responsible

some
"

chapters, which consisted of the following

Les

Borgia," "

La Comtesse de St Geran," "Jeanne de

Naples," " Nisida,"

"

"La

Marquise de

Brinvilliers,"

Les Cenci,"

"

La Marquise de Ganges,"
Grandier."

" Karl

Ludwig Sand"

(the murderer of Kotzebue), "

Vanof

inka" and " Urbain

(This last was

dramatised by the author.)

The whole scheme

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
the

267

book

is

of course

Dumas's, and some of the

chapters appeared in his different " Impressions de

Voyage."

Dumas

the poet
et

is

perhaps best represented by

"Charles VII.
"Christine";
siderable

ses

grands Vassaux," and by

collected a con-

but

M. GHnel has
" Psyche."
^

number
in

of fugitive poems, most of which

appeared
indeed,
le

the

They prove

what,

Dumas's tragedy-dramas show,

that he

had

mouverneiit, la couleur et

r image, and expressed

passion with a rare vigour and warmth.

"Although

lacking a sure knowledge of syntax," says Parigot, " and deficient in mastery of form, he sparkled with
gaiety and youth, even in verse.

The man who

'

wrote the lion chase, the dream of the desert, and

the
in
'

fifth

act of

'

Charles VII.'; the

spirituel

'

couplets
to

L'Alchimiste,' and,
is

above

all,

the prologue

'Caligula'

not a poet to be despised."

What,

indeed, did this marvellous

man

attempt, that he

did not in
forty

some degree achieve ? Of the thirty or poems thus preserved, the elegy on the death

of General Foy, the dithyrambe " Canaris," in praise

of that heroic Greek, and the verses to

Hugo and

Sainte-Beuve, deserve mention.

In selecting one of

Dumas's poems

for quotation,

we have chosen what

we
^

believe to be one of the best and most typical.

Dumas

translated a

number

of

poems from German and Russian

writers, but these are not

now

accessible.

268
It is

LIFE
"La
in the "

AND WRITINGS OF
we
:

Sylphe," one of the fairy race which

meet

Rape of the Lock "

Je suis un sylphe, une ombre, un rien, un reve, Hote de I'air, esprit mystdrieux, Lcger parfum, que le zifphir enleve,

Anneau

vivant, qui joint

rhomme

et les

dieux

De mon

corps pur les rayons diaphanes

;

du soir Mais je me cache aux regards des profanes, Et Tame seule en songe peut me voir.
Flottent meles k la vapeur

Rasant du lac la nappe dtincelante D'un vol leger j'effleure les roseaux
Et, balance sur

mon

aile brillante,

J'aime

h.

me

voir dans le cristal des eaux.

fois je voltige

Dans vos jardins quelque

Et, m'enivrant

de suaves odeurs,
tige,

Sans que mon pied fasse incliner leur e me suspends au calice des fleurs.

Dans vos

foyers j'entre avec confiance,

ceil clos a demi, J'aime k verser des songes d'innocence Sur le front pur d'un enfant endormi.

Et, recreant son

Lorsque sur vous la nuit jette son voile Je glisse aux cieux comme un long filet d'or, Et les mortals disent " C'est une ctoile Qui d'un ami vous presage la mort."

We

are far from pretending that the foregoing

its

is

a complete review of

subject.

The

task

is

an

almost endless one, and there are limits to time and

space and the patience of readers.

We

submit,
is

however,

that

this

analytical

description
in

in

advance

of

public

knowledge

England

and

ALEXANDRE
America
purpose.
at least,
It has,

DUINIAS

269

and that

it

has served a two-fold

we

hope, told the reader something

new about
an
has
idea,
ticity

the books he knows, and has given

him

however slight, of the nature and authenof other works by our author of which he
never
heard.

probably

We
is

trust

we

shall

have led him

undoubtedly

to marvel, as

we have

marvelled, at
is

the fact that so

"

much which
genuine

good, and which

should

Dumas,"

remain

untranslated and almost forgotten. A good dozen of the minor romances have been translated into

English and allowed to go out of

print.
is

Yet we
plenty

have

shown,

we

think,

that

there

of

excellent fish in this

wide, wide sea which has not

as yet been landed on our shores in the net of the

translator.

One

other point cannot have escaped attention.

serious

Our most
integrity

admissions respecting
in

Dumas's

have been made

the

course of this

examination of the authenticity of the various books

attributed to him.

In the case of collaboration,

we

declare that

Dumas was
partner,"
in

ever the greater brain, the

"predominant
credit.

and

deserves
his

the
is

most

But

cases

where

name

attached,

obviously or confessedly to books untouched by his

pen, his responsibility
is

grave.

Yet even here

it is

well to discriminate between the

man who

issued

the book with a frank disavowal of authorship, and

270

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
who
sent
it

the publishers of his day

master's."^

forth as " the

Like

Goldsmith,

Dumas became a

bondman
them.

to his publishers,

and yielded weakly to

His reputation has suffered accordingly, as

right
;

was only
of his

but

we
is

believe that
sifted

when

the wheat

own growing
will

from the

chaff, as

one

day

it

be,

and when the truth has prevailed

over slander, Dumas, as a

man and

as a writer, will

stand hiorher than he has ever done. o

^

We

publishers of

need hardly say that this in no way Dumas, MM. Calmann-Ldvy.

reflects

on the present

PART
A Defence A

III

HIS GENIUS
Counterclaim

His Genius:

Defence.

Dumas was once asked for a subscription towards a monument to a man whom everyone had reviled in
the beginning of his career.

"You had
the

better be content," he repHed, "with

stones

that

people threw at him during his

lifetime.

No monument

you can
in this

raise will

be so

eloquent of their imbecility, and his genius."

was a savour of bitterness

only too natural.
"

There speech which was

writer,"

There never was a popular

thirty years ago, "

declared

Hayward
than

who had
protest

better reason

Alexandre

Dumas

to

against

the

contemporary judgment of his countrymen, or to

appeal, like Bacon, to the foreign nations and the

next ages."

Charles Reade, writing in the French

novelist's lifetime, implies the existence of the

same

attitude towards our author's genius in this forcible

comment

"

Poor Dumas
stories

He
who

has not only proplays, each

duced immortal

and immortal

by

the dozen, but also a son

has shown himselr

master of the story and the drama.

that treble
fertility.'*

But what avails

If five

generations of Dumas,

novelist

and dramatist, were now on earth together,

273

274

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
moonto look at

instead of two, our puppy-dogs, drunk with

shine,

would manage
"
!

them

all

and not see

any of them
It

was the fashion

to treat our author as the chief

of a school of second-rate writers of popular stories,

which were "turned out"

fore possessed

hastily,

and which there"

no claim to

criticism.

Dumas,"

adds

Dr

Garnett, " exceptionally passed for long as

this inferior

an example of
one time
parallel
it

grade of authorship.

At
to

would have been thought absurd

him with deep thinkers like Balzac, or exquisite artists like George Sand. Monte Cristo' and the Three Musketeers were ranged alon<7 with The Mysteries of Paris and The Wandering Jew,' and the circumstances of their reproduction in England showed that they were expected to appeal to readers of the same class. Yet as time passed, and mere clever melodrama gave place to other clever melodrama but Dumas retained his power and popularity, it became clear that his work really belonged to the domain of literature. In adjusting the relations between Dumas and his critics, it must be remembered that he did not, like some of the literary heroes of his age, take the world by storm But Dumas had with his earliest writings. acquired a good sound reputation as a second-rate romancer before writing Monte Cristo,' and criticism was naturally slow to accept him as a genius."
*
' '

'

'

'

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
Wc
"

275

come down

to

1880,

and

find

Mr

\V.

H,

Pollock asserting in the " Nineteenth Century" that

Dumas

has perhaps been more persistently under-

rated, in

of his calibre
in his

England at " and

;

least,

than any modern writer

Blaze de Bury,

five years later

study of our subject, refers to public opinion

in

France,
is

when he
kiiown.

writes

"

Dumas

is

popular

he

not

His method of

life

and

his
his

occasional
literary

worthless

books

greatly
usually
yet,

damaged
looked

position.

He

is

upon
and

simply as an

'amuser,'

and

like others,

more than many others, he had philosophy," lofty thought and

moments of " Even to be 'amusing,'" as Parigot drily remarks, "is not, when one looks round the world of literature, so commonhis
all."

place and contemptible a merit, after

Nevertheless, in one province of literary opinion

there has been a striking change during the past

twenty
critics

or

thirty

years.

The

English

literary

and
see,

essayists of the romantic school, as

we
at
Its

shall

have more and more loudly proclaimed

their
larsfe

admiration

remains

Dumas. ignorant and

of

Still

the

public

unconverted.
is

attitude towards the romance-writer

thirty )ears

behind the times, and dates from the days when

"

Chambers's Encyclopaedia
**

"

treated our author in

this

summary fashion It may be said that

:

the appearance in literature

276

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
Dumas
Is

of a writer like

a portentous phenomenon,
his invariably

and the avidity with which

and generally

immoral
is

licentious fictions are

devoured

the

most severe condemnation of modern, and especially

of French society, that could well be pronounced."

That

is

pretty well, and one

sake,
to
find

is

rather relieved, for

Dumas's
his

that

the

biographer has

previously declared that the novelist did not write

own books
"

at

all.

We

read further of " the

savage voluptuousness
voluptuousness

"

of his books (the " savage

" is

of the " Tulipe Noire

good), of

his " astounding quackery,"

and of
"

his

"

sweating
that

system

"

of production.

Need we add

the
"
."^

"brief biography" refers us to

De

Mirecourt
has

Happily
Itself,

the
its

"Encyclopaedia"
latest

retrieved

and

edition

contains a sketch of

Dumas's
"

life,

from the pen of

Mr W.

E. Henley,

which, In the old-fashioned language of our fathers,

does equal honour to that writer's head and heart."

learn from R. L. Stevenson's " Letters
"

We
his

that

Beau Austin " was contemThere plating a book on Dumas some years ago. is, Indeed, a passage in "Memories and Portraits" which was written at Henley " something about
collaborator
In

"

Dumas
a pity

still

waiting his biographer."

It

Is

truly

that the

author of "Views and Reviews"

book, and did
not obviate
the

never wrote

this

necessity for the present

work by giving the public

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
an estimation of the
say what should be
Qrreat

277

said,

Frenchman which would with all the literary power

and

critical

authority which that writer can

command
and

Unfortunately the other ordinary books of refer-

ence
spite.
is

still

repeat

the

old

story

of prejudice

We
one

have

already

mentioned that there

book in English dealing w^ith Dumas's life and WTitings, a work which the We need only critics have heartily condemned.
only
add,

by way of summing up
fitly

their

views, that

it

ought
his

to

be entitled

"

Dumas According

to

Enemies: by One'of Them." In France no adequate biography exists on the one hand there are the "studies" of MM. B. de Bury and Parigot
:

on the other we
biographical
Glinel
;

have
of

the

bibliographical

and

Dumas's fellow-provincial, but as yet the book which shall combine

notes
is

the two points of view

wanting.

The
sixties
;

lover of

Dumas

could afford to laugh at the

of a
cyclopaedia
third-rate
in

old-fashioned

utterances

the

he could forget

biography

already forgotten

by the

public.

But these are not

of a reconsideration
It
is

the only obstacles in the

of

way

Dumas's
of

literary

merits.

only a few

years since a "Quarterly Reviewer" dismissed the

claims

our

author
words.

as

novelist

in

few
the
the

contemptuous

True,

nobody

reads

Ouarta^ly Review, but even straws show

how

278

LIFE
is

AND WRITINGS OF
in certain quarters.

wind

blowing

In a recent

work^ M. G.

Pellissier

complacently remarks that

literary conscience

Dumas

"sacrificed

his

to

the

vulgar taste of the public, and the necessities of the

purse prevailed more and more over his work.

he was only the most popular of amusers."

We

are

not surprised that this book was " crowned by the

Academie."

G.

Brandes has repeated the same

statement, which Parigot,

who

certainly possesses
:

some knowledge of the

" G.
firstly

subject, flatly denies

Brandes has declared that

en
roinantjqtie,

Dumas
e7i

wrote

and
*

then

indiistriel

a doubly false estimate.

Industriel'
'

Dumas
if

never

ceased to be

'
;

romantic

he was
;

also,

by the
he
of

word we imply revolutionary

remained
conquest."

but

dramatic

always,

con

ainoi^e,

and

by

right

M. Lanson,
history of
to

in his

voluminous and comprehensive

French

literature,

acknowledges

Dumas
;

be a skilled stage craftsman, but no more

he

ignores

Dumas

the novelist altogether

These
tant

criticisms could only exercise a very dis-

influence

on

the

ordinary

English

reader,

and we need not concern ourselves with them But unhappily they seem to have furfurther.
nished the sole sources of reference for Professor

Dowden
1

in
"

his

book on P"rench
Littcraire

literature.

This

La Mouvement

au XIX*^ Si^cle."

"

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
famous scholar confesses
only by collaboration.
in

279

his

preface that " an

adequate history of a great Hterature can be written

In this small
.

volume

too

have had
which
critics

my

collaborators

who have
list

written

each a part of
the

my

book."

The

of authorities
the

professor

quotes

includes

three

we have mentioned, and contains no record

study of
to

of any direct

Dumas
find

himself.

Hence
"

we

are

not

surprised

that he

admits

our author's history to be untrue, his characters

superficial,

his

action

incredible.

Dumas's work
'

" ceased

to

be literature and became mere

his

com-

merce

"...
.

money was
charlatanry

'

recklessly

squan-

dered.'

Half genius, half charlatan, his genius

his
^

decayed and
proportions."

grew
at

to

enormous

Half-knowledge,

second hand,

gives currency to those half-truths concerning which

Tennyson held strong

opinions.

It

is

to

be

re-

gretted that a great scholar meaning to deal fairly

and even kindly with a personality should be misled

into

a flagrant under-estimate which

is

certain to

be accepted by the public at large,

natural
^

who have a
ability

confidence

in

the

professor's

and

We

regret to find that

latest edition of the

Dr Gamett (in the introduction to the "Black Tulip"), repeats this charge in almost

the

same words. The epithet "charlatan," as applied to a writer, can surely only be taken to imply that he wrote without conscience and lowered his standard of literary production to catch the public This implied charge we believe an impartial reading of taste.
Dumas's works
at

any period

will disprove.

280

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
It
is

honesty of
Professor
Literature
"

purpose.

a relief

to

turn

to

Saintsbury's "

Short History of French

justly

and find our author dealt with more and sympathetically by one who has a fuller and more direct knowledge of his subject. The attitude of -the orthodox French critic towards Dumas is even more severe and contemptuous,

and

this

is

easily

explained.

A man

of

such irregular origin,

life,

who

led such an
in

irregular

who produced

his

works

such an irregular
the nation

way, was bound to shock the

critics of

which takes pride

vention
If

in that

triumph of literary conFran9aise.

and snobbery, the Academic

"
life,

Dumas had been

to

content to live a quiet, " reto

spectable

stick

one

class

of writing,
litera-

and conform
ture
;

to tradition in that

branch of

if

in

addition

he had refrained from

respecting
the
Institut,

dis-

respectful

witticisms

and

maintained a non-aggressive attitude towards the

world,
?i

fauteuil

mx^t have

been

his.

He

would

have gained the praise of the conventional and won, if not Immortality, at least an Academic fame.
But he remained^Dumas
tric

himself,
find

and an eccenSainte-Beuve
is

individuality

and so we

writing of

him

" All that

he has written

fairly

and amusing, d 77ioiti4, but by incompleteness, negligence and vulgarity."

bright, engrossing

spoilt
Still,

elsewhere

the

same writer condescends

to

say

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
"

281

Quant a M. Dumas,
son

tout le

monJe
son
spirituel,

sait sa

verve

prodigieuse,

entrain

facile,

bonheur de
et

mise-en-scene,

son

dialogue

toujours

en mouvement, ce recit leger qui court sans cesse

et qui sait cnlever I'obstacle et I'espace sans
faiblir.
II

jamais

couvre d'immense
son pinceau
ni

toiles

sans

fatiguer

jamais

ni

son lecteur."

Similarly, Desire Nisard sneered at

Dumas,

in his
It

attack on what he called the

is

"easy"
critic,

literature.

characteristic of the

French

this inability

to see that for certain kinds of composition rapidity

of thouo-ht and writinof are In

short,

essential
to

to

success.

" style "

in

"form" and which his countrymen profess and demand others have always prevented Dumas, who cared
the
austere

devotion

little

for

either quality, from achieving

honour
from

in

his

own

country -except,

of

course,

the

ignorant public,

who read him and enjoyed him.

official

The
us,
it

weight of

authority being cast against

is

obvious that our

own attempt

to estimate
firstly

the extent and value of

Dumas's genius must

take more or less the form of a defence, in

which

we must
our
It is

pass in review the charges brought against

client,

and produce evidence in support. not at all our desire to deny all the accusa-

tions

brought against

Dumas

we

hope, however,

that w^e shall be allowed to extenuate

some

things,

and be pardoned

for setting

down naught

in malice.

282

LIFE
Dumas

AND WRITINGS OF
faults
;

We
in

have admitted the many

as a

to

be found
re-

man and

a writer

we have
critics.

corded, and shall continue to record, hard things

said of

him by expert and impartial

that the

We
are
is

do

this

not only for honesty's sake, but because

we

believe

shoulders of his

talent

broad enough to bear the burden.

Mr Henley

by no means a mealy-mouthed witness, and

is

this

how he

faces the point

Envy The and scandal have done their worst now. make the detectives who libeller has said his say
is

"He

one of the heroes of modern

art.

a speciality of literary forgeries have proved their

cases

one and

all

the judges
critics
'

of

matter
;

have

spoken, and so have the

tinguished author of
his confidence
'

of style

the dis-

Nana

has

taken

us

into

on the subject

we have heard from

the lamented Granier (de Cassagnac) and others

as

much

as

was

to

be heard on the question of

plagiarism in general and the plagiarisms of

in

Dumas

particular
is

and

Mr
'

Percy Fitzgerald has done

designate
the
' '

what he

pleased to

nightman's

work
their

'

of

analysing

Antony

'

and

Kean,' and

of collecting everything that spite has said about

author's
life,

their

author's

habits,

their
:

manners and customs and character of whose vanity, mendacity, immorality, and a score of improper qualities besides, enough has been
author's

ALEXANDRE
written
result

DUJNIAS

283

to

furnish a good-sized library.

all
is

And

the

of
in

it

that
art

Dumas
for

is

recoofnised for a

force

modern

and

one of the greatest

our defence

inventors and amusers the century has produced."

Before proceeding to the counts

il

in

may be
the

as well to "put into court"

his

Dumas 's own

to
literature,

(ipinion

of
''

place

in

and value

hrom

vsXxv fargettr''

something pompous and

ridiculously big will be anticipated.

" Lamartine/'
is

he writes, "is a dreamer;

I

Hugo
I

a thinker

as for myself,
:

am

a populariser.

take possession of both

give substance to the

dream of one,
the other,

I I

throw light upon the thought of

serve up to the public this ex-

and

cellent dish, which,

from the hand of the

first

would
being
Intro-

have- lacked nourishment, being too light, and from

the second, would have caused indigestion, too heavy

;

but which
will

when seasoned and

duced by me,
This

agree with almost any stomach,

the weakest as well as the strongest."

passage,

of

course,

refers

to

Dumas's
it

position in the ranks of the Romantics, but

may

fairly be taken as representing his general opinion

of his

own
for

worth.

judge
is

himself as

The reader will be able to we proceed, whether our author

falls
it.

correct in this self-estimation, or whether he

it

below

or rises above
first

The

attack which

was made upon Dumas,


284

LIFE
first

AND WRITINGS OF
we have
"

and the

therefore which
"

to meet,

is

that his plays were

chief plays
to

horrible,"

and immoral.

The

be pilloried were

Henri Trois,"

"Antony,"

"Don

Juan de Marana," "Caligula,"

Nesle."

and
its

"

La Tour de
the

Each

of these received
rival

due share of

ridicule

from the wits of the

school,

classicists.

The

first,

in

which the
fun of the

intrigues of the

Valois court

were exposed, was

the subject of an epigram which

made
no

"handkerchief"

incident,

(which

doubt

was

borrowed from "Othello"):

" Messieurs et mesdames, cette piece est morale
;

Elle prouve aujourd'hui, sans faire de scandale. Que chez un amant, lorsqu'on va le soir

On

peut oublier tout

exceptd son mouchoir "

!

Similarly,
set

"Antony," the society drama which

in
" foundlinof "

the

fashion

or

illeo^itimate

heroes,

and heroines

fair

and
voit

frail,

inspired

the

couplet

croire ces
les

MM.

on ne

dans nos rues

Que

enfants trouves, et les

femmes perdues." ^

The
the
1

author's classic tragedy-drama

" caligulate,"

slangy word

gave rise to meaning to bore;

:

" Ladies and gentlemen, this play is moral it proves that nowwhen meeting one's lover by night one may without scandal forget one's self, but not one's handkerchief!" (Alluding to the fact that the Duchesse de Guise's handkerchief, left in Ruggieri's rooms where she has met St Megrin, her lover, is found by the Due, and, by arousing his jealousy, leads on to the tragedy.) 2 "If we can believe these gentlemen (Dumas and others of the Romantics) one meets everywhere only women who are "lost "and
a-days,
.
.

children

who

are " found."

"

ALEXANDRE
la

DUiNIAS

2S5

and Dumas was represented as being haunted, a

Richard III., by the ghosts of the authors from whose "Don Juans" he had borrowed. "Henri Trois " is now by general consent
this

beyond the reach of

injurious criticism.
in

Of

"Antony"
of posterity.

Dumas

himself

his

''

has submitted his

own defence

to the

Memoires judgment

makes two palpable hits, firstly, in pointing out that the sinners Antony and Adele do not prosper by their sin, for they live in stress and anofuish and die violent and miserable deaths; and secondly, that in "exploitcertainly

He

ing

"

adultery as a subject for the stage he treats

it in a far more worthy fashion than did Moliere, and we may add, than the Restoration and eight-

With them cuckoldry was a suitable theme for comedy as the fashionable and amusing pastime of le monde ou fon
eenth
century dramatists.
;

senmde.
speare
in

In fact,

Dumas

faithfully follows
"

Shakeabout

" Othello,"

and

Much Ado

Nothing."
It

should never be forgotten, especially by Engthat

lishmen,

many

of the "horrors" with which

filled,

Dumas's early plays are

but
indiscriminate
Schiller

are due to an ardent

for

admiration
is

Shakespeare.

no doubt

also

to

blame, but
the

we

are

obviously
playwright.

more

concerned with
those

Elizabethan
the murder

Do

who condemn

286

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
the

of Monaldeschi,

unholy love of Queen MarNesle," and the profanity

guerite In "

La Tour de

of

"Don Juan"

forget not only the "horrors" of

the old classic tragedies, which

Dumas

duly studied,

but also the passages In

"

Titus Andronlcus," In

"Macbeth,"

In

"Richard
In

III.,"

and other

plays,

which no stage-manager would dare to present to

For the Romantic movement

the public to-day
?

more than one respect

France, In the early part

In

of last century, corresponds with the Elizabethan era

in

our

literature.

We

have neither the desire nor

:

the ability to present an elaborate comparison here

it is

sufficient to note that political

and

social con-

ditions

favoured a reaction towards passion and

action in poetry, drama,

and romance, and

this

has

been well shown by

to "

Dumas
in

himself In his preface

Comte Hermann,"

which our author explains

his
first

and defends the outcomes of

period.
*'

dramatic

He

had taken
the

part, as Castelar truly says,

In that

war of

giants, the struggle for the poetry

of nature

against

poetry of the
literary codes,

Academic,

breaking the chains of

proclaiming liberty
like
;

all

and loudly
folly,

ardent and daring even to

of his age

a hero

In

the war

against past

ages."

Why, we may

fairly ask,

should

critics

take eager

note of the excesses of the young dramatist and

ignore his second and last periods,

when experience

ALEXANDRE
had taught a nature
that Byronic

DUJNIAS

287

instinctively sane the folly of

mood,

in

which

it

had copied perhaps

?

not

the best qualities of Shakespeare

Dumas's
side

three

famous comedies are

"

all

"on

the

of

the

angels"; and

"Conscience," " Le
are

Marbrier,"

and

Comte Hermann"

almost

sermons

in

their didactic

presentment of moral truths.

this

We

may

leave

point

in

our case, then,

quoting in support the words of Brander Matthews,

the American
"

critic
is

The

horrible
is

not necessarily immoral

morality

an

affair,

not of subject but of treatis

ment, and Dumas's ...

not insidious or vicious."

classicists

No
set

sooner had the orthodox French

found Dumas's plays startlingly successful than they

themselves to discover the sources of his
to their great delight, ascertained that
plots,

and

he had

" stolen " right

and
In

left,

from English, German and

to
this

other writers.

reply

cry

of "Thief!

thief!" the author, in boldly characteristic fashion,

stated his theory of defence in respect of plagiarism

"It

is

men who
his

invent,

and not the

his

individual.

Each
use of

in

turn

and

in

time lays hands on

something accomplished by
it

his fore-runners,
dies, after

makes
having

in

new way, and then

to

added some small share

knowledge.

the

sum

of

human
for

This he bequeaths
star
in

to his successors,

new

the

Milky Way.

As

the

288

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
I

creative completion of a thing,

believe that to

be impossible."
After having quoted Shakespeare and Moliere
in

support of his practice,

Dumas

adds

"The man
of his

of genius does not

steal,

he conquers;

he makes the province which he annexes a part

own

empire, peoples
his

it

w^'th his
it

own

subjects,

and imposes
as

own laws upon

it,

He
'

extends
to say,

his golden sceptre over

and no one dares

kingdom,
the
"

they look upon his

fair

That piece

of ground was not part of his patrimony.'

One
spirit

delightful

sample of

knowledge and
"

with which
is

Dumas was
we know,

attacked by his deIsabel

tractors

recorded in the " Memoires."

"

de Baviere
the
first

was, as

published serially in

numbers of Revue des deux Mondes, which was at that time little known and read by few. Bourgeois and Lockroy joined some of the most striking scenes of the chronupLe together and made

them into a play called " Perrinet Leclerc," which At that time Dumas had was very successful. collaborated with Bourgeois in a drama " Le Fils
Emi^rre," which our author confesses to have been

an

"

execrable

"

play.

of the day reviled

One of the leading critics Dumas as if he were the sole

author of the latter drama, but praised the other

to the skies;

and not content with this, the journalist emphasised his own fatuity by calling attention to

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
of " Pcrrinet
Leclerc,"

289

the rare literary and historical merits of the story

to its advantage, with "

and comparing It, greatly Le FIls Emigre," for which

!

Dumas was
was yet
to

only partly responsible

;

But the best

of him

come
"

for

when Dumas

re-issued " Isabel

de Baviere
for stealing
It
Is

In

book-form the

critics fell foul

from

MM.

Bourgeois and Lockroy

that

best

to

recognise

the

charge

of

"plagiarism"

has

been

brought

against

almost

every dramatist of weight since plays

written
;

first

were

and one of Dumas's defenders has made

list

a
to

full

and Instructive
writers

of the "thefts" attributed

Shakespeare.- Moliere,

Sheridan, and even the

It
is

classical

themselves.

In

our view

simply a question

whether the "borrower" does

his

or does not add to the value of the material he

uses

whether he Imprints the personality of

own

talent

upon

it.

Surely

Dumas

did that.

"All

his plagiarisms,

and they were not a few," says

trifles

Brander Matthews, "are the veriest

when

compared with his Indisputable and extraordinary

powers
as

...

It

Irks

one to see

Dumas

pilloried

a mere vulgar approprlator of

the works

of

other men."

was not raised so loudly or generally against Dumas's romances, and such charges as were brought we have already dealt
cry "plagiarist!"
with.
It

The

was now

that the cry of " collaborators

"
1

290

LIFE
In

AND WRITINGS OF
;

was heard

the land

and
"

this

time the plays,

Nesle,"

with the exception of

La Tour de

of

which we have spoken, were

because
his

let off lightly,

partly

Dumas 's

earliest

plays were incontestibly

own, partly because he did not dispute the

Bourgeois and the
rest,

share of Maquet,
later

in

the

productions.

new

charge, therefore,

was
in-

levelled at the furiated

rich,
flies

romancer, whose second fame

his

enemies.
(!)

He

was represented

as a

prosperous

spider

who

lured the starving

their brains, "swell-

into his web,

and sucked

ing wisibly" thus, whilst

they dwelt in darkness,

indictment was a

enduring an obscure, not to say empty, existence.

Dumas's reply
challenge,

to this terrible

which we need hardly say was never

accepted.

He

informed these unknown but talented

authors that he was supplying the feuilleton to one

Paris journal only,

the

press

was
:

and that therefore the rest of This was their open to them.
they could vindicate themselves,

opportunity

now

and win a reputation that was their own undis" Write a Monte Cristo or a Trois putedly.
'

'

'

Mousquetaires,'
I

"

he

pleaded
in

" don't

wait

until

am

dead

let

me
!

turn have the pleasure of

reading your books

"

Dumas was
his co-worker

always the

The answer was silence. man of genius, whoever

been, and this
"
Is

may have

asserted

by

all

critics

of any standing.

That he was the

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
moving
is

201

spirit

still,

and the
INIr

actual author of

best and most peculiar in

his

what the works which go

is

by

name," says

Saintsbury, "

sufficiently

proved

by the fact that none of his assistants, whose names are in many cases known, and who in
not a few instances subsequently attained eminence

on their own account, has equalled or even

re-

sembled

his

peculiar

could turn out books that

were," adds

Mr

Whereas Dumas whoever his assistants Lang, "could any of his assistants
style."
live,

"

write books that live without

as well call any barrister in

Dumas ?

One mieht
thief

good practice a and an impostor because he has juniors to

for

devil

him,

as

make charges
his
"

of

this

kind

ao^ainst

Dumas."
argument,

Theophile
in

Gautier

employs the same

Dramatique."

Histoire de I'Art

"He

has been reproached wuth having had collawrites

Castelar.
"
I

borators,"

declare

that

all

these collaborators lost their brilliancy

when they

separated from
of

Dumas
do

and

them

united

not

must add, that all weigh in the literary

I

balances of Europe half as

alone."

much

as

Dumas weighed
injured and
spoilt

The

implied accusation that

his "assistants" has

Dumas

debauched

been ruthlessly

By M. Edmond About. "The master," he declared, " took from them neither their money, for they
are rich, nor their
reputation,
for

they are

cele-

292

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
it

brated, nor their merit, for they have

plenty.

still,

and

in

selves

For the rest, they have never pitied themon the contrary, the proudest of them have
and
it is

congratulated themselves on having been to such a

good

*school,

with a true veneration that the

his

greatest of them,
friend."

M. Maquet, speaks of

old

The

great romancer frequently protested against

it

the word "collaborators," and he was right, for

implies an equality in quantity and quality of the

work done which was not

method," says

justified.

"

Dumas's
first

Mr

Lang, "apparently was

to
is

talk the subject over with his aide-de-ca7np.

This

an excellent practice, as ideas are knocked

sparks (an
minds.
elderly illustration),

out, like

by the contact of

Then
it

the

searches, put a rough sketch

young man probably made reon paper, and supplied

'brief.'

Dumas, as
took the
life
'

were, with his

Then Dumas

brief and wrote the novel.

it

He

gave

it

he gave

the spark {Tdtincelle), and the story

lived

and moved."
testimony of one of the great man's best
is

The

collaborators

valuable

evidence on
et

this point.
:

Fiorentino, in his "

"

Comedies

Comediens," writes

How many
all,

believed themselves his collaborators

who were
above

only his confidants! ... In his books, but

in his plays, his collaborators

had only

the smallest share.

He

remodelled the scenarios,


ALEXANDRE DUMAS
293

changed the characters, added or cut down entire acts, and wrote all in his own hand." Thackeray, with 3. i:a;;ia7'adcric a.nd candour, both
of which
this

do him infinite system in one of

support
"
it

credit,

has stoutly defended

his "

Roundabout Papers."
is

The

gives to our author

none the

less

valuable for having been written

in

a half-jesting

manner.

They

say,"

adds the English novelist,

" that all the

after a eulogy of
his

Dumas,

works bearing

name

are not written by him.

not the chief

Well ? Does cook have an/cs under him ? Did not

Rubens's pupils paint on his canvasses?

Had

not

Lawrence
like to

myself, being also

For ? would often have a competent, respectable, and rapid

assistants

for

his

backgrounds
I

dii^

metier,

confess

clerk

for

the

business
is

part

of

my

novels.

Sir Christopher

the architect of St Paul's.

He

has not laid the stones or carried up the mortar.

There
in

is

a great deal of carpenter's and joiner's work

novels which surely a smart professional hand

might supply."

We

may venture

to

add to these "testimonials

"

from writers more or

less expert or learned in fiction,

our own strong belief that the ideal romance of fact

or history in particular requires two workers at
it

the one to prepare the material, and the other to

make use

of

it.

The

case of Scott, of course, will

;

be brought forward as evidence to the contrary but

294

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
recognise the existence of such a
will

surely those

who

study as the Art of Narrative

admit that Scott

the poetic novelist was often terribly hampered by

Scott the antiquarian and archaeologist. In searching

out details, in verifying references, and the other

work

of

preparation the imagination

the

is

naturally

restrained,

fancy

is

deadened,

the

mental
the pre-

energies turn in the direction of the

cise,

trivial,

the formal.

Charles Reade, a master of narra-

tive,

too frequently gives us a glimpse of

Reade the

compiler of cuttings-books.
still

Dumas
for

himself offers a

more glaring example

"

when preparing " La

and

San Felice

he made his own researches into the

original documents, and, seeing the historical

picturesque Importance of each, he wrote a story

full

of detail and long parentheses, which only his

skill

ereat

saved from beinof dull and drawn-out.

If

the facts
out,

had been brought to him already ferreted

he would have seen and seized on the salient

and have written a romance half the length, but with ten times the brilliance and engrossing
points,

charm.
It

frequently proclaimed,

by people Imperfectly
It

acquainted with Dumas's novels, that they are Im-

moral

In

nature and tendency.

Is

must be condefiled.

fessed that this

true

if

books dealing with pitch

must

of

necessity

be

themselves

He

attempted to teach his fellow-Frenchmen the history

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
political, is full of

295

of their nation, and the history of France, social and

improperly-behaved personages.

We

can quite understand the attitude of those people

to ignore great facts, such as the sensual

who wish

as well as the ethereal side of love between the

sexes, the passionate love which laughs at priests and lawyers, and other objectionable traits of human

nature.

We

advise these readers to avoid

Dumas,

and

all

the other great writers.

" his writing is
is

" If," says Mr.

W.

M. Pollock,

and maidens, that

not intended for boys one quality which he has in

common

with

such playwriters as for instance,

Racine,

Shakespeare,

and
*

Moliere,

and

such

novelists as Goethe, Fieldinor

and Le Saee.
' ;

His
he
of

method was

at

any rate
as the

an honest method

did not palter,

modern French school

playwriting does, with vice and virtue, keeping one

foot in the

domain of each, and casting a glamour of splendour around corruption." But hear the defendant in his own cause.
"
I

false

had,

thank

God,

a natural

sentiment
six

of

delicacy (as a boy), and thus, out of

my

hundred

volumes^ there are not four which the most scrupulous mother

may

not give to her daughter."

in

Dumas
am
as

repeated this assertion

in

a letter to Napoleon III adding,

"
I

1864,

twelve years

later,

fatherly as Sir Walter Scott."

1

We

are afraid that

See note,

p.

225

296

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
credit for too

Dumas gave mothers

much breadth
Stevenson,
in
is

and independence of mind.

When

defence of our romancer, wrote

that " the

world

wide and so are morals," he did not hope to win

Mrs. Grundy's approval of the sentiment. Mr. Lang,

more directly with Dumas's reply,adds " his enormous popularity, the widest in the world of letters, owes absolutely nothing to prurience or
dealing
:

curiosity.
air, is

The

air
air,

which he breathes

is

a healthy

the open

and that by

his

own

choice, for

he had every temptation to seek another kind of

vogiie,

Hayward, again, notices the difference between Dumas and so many other of the French writers with whom he is icrnor" His best antly and indiscriminately classed.
romances,"
Essays," says

and every opportunity."

the

author

of

"

Biographical

" rarely

trangress

propriety,

and

are

entirely free
list,

from that hard,

cold, sceptical, materiais

illusion-destroying tone which

so repelling

in

Balzac and

many

others of the most popular

French

novelists."
lifts

Professor Carpenter

the subject to a higher

plane of thought.
"
I

find

it

impossible," he writes,

"to admit that

ideals were low, unfit for common use. honour that he tells most willingly of It is man's honour and the constancy of men to men

Dumas's
of

of man's striving against the

powders of the world

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
;

297

by force and guile of man's love of woman and the curb it puts on cowardice and sloth and selfishness of man's strength and weakness of a nation's slow progress onward and upward toward order and
; ;

justice.

Dumas was
was prodigal
;

not an austere moralist, and

his life

but the reader will find on

reflection that

the ethical system revealed by his

books

is

one which, the more we consider, the more

we

shall approve."

that we made one or two experiDumas's books from this point of view. We have asked repeatedly at shops where French novels of the pornographic type have been displayed in large quantities, and have failed to obtain a copy of one of the master's novels. We have found that at free libraries (and at the com-

We

may add
test

ments to

mittee meetings connected with such institutions

Mrs.

Grundy

is

always

present
fully

in

spirit)

that

Dumas's works are admitted

Fielding,

and

freely,

where

Defoe,

Zola,

Boccaccio and others are

followed
Ruskin's

forbidden.

Lastly,

we have

advice and left our bookshelves open to the use of

the

Young

Person,

who
stories,

has frequently

chosen
it

one of our author's

course with

due warm and inofenuous acknowledgment of the pleasure the book has given her. We have already dealt to some extent with the
in

and returned

charge that Dumas,

in

writing amusing stories of

298
^,-

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
In sup-

the past, has distorted or Ignored history.

port of this indictment the critics have quoted the

passages
Civil

in

"

Vingt Ans Apres

"

relating to our

War

and the execution

of Charles

together
"

with

the "General

Monk"

episode,

In

Brage-

lonne,"

and the plot " and " Kean." Howard

of the

plays

"Catherine
it

As he has expressed
set

in

a well-known sentence,
history,

Dumas

deliberately violated

when he had some

it

purpose to achieve

which rendered
the writer

necessary.

The word

" fiction "

implies something, even in historical romance,

and
little

who

has not the nerve to

make

history for his

own

purposes, and to take liberties

with great personages,

history, but

may

contrive very accurate

we

are afraid he will write a very dull the other hand,

romance.

On

when Dumas
and

set

himself to reproduce a certain period in the past

centuries,
fact.

he was

full

of precise detail

historic
all,

And

he was supreme
:

what, after

was

the

essential

he caught and

revivified the atmosfidelity,

skill

phere of those by-gone days with a

of conviction, a charm,

a power

and a subtle

which no

one before or since has excelled.

The
tics in

warfare between the classicists and roman-

French

literature

was waged fiercely

Nisard, of

througli-

out

Dumas's prime.
fastened on

whom we

have

spoken,

Dumas

the stigma of "easy

composition."

To

this

our author replied with his

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
lurked a good deal of sense and power
"
:

299

customary good-humoured banter, behind which

When

one

is

a real romancer, you know,

it

is

as easy to produce a to produce apples.

"

romance
is

as for an apple-tree
it is

This

how

done.
;

One

gets one's paper, pen and ink

one

sits

down, as comfortably as possible,

high, not to low
;

at a table not too

one

reflects for half

title,

writes a

little.

After the

an hour, one comes Chapter I

;

then one writes thirty-five lines to a page,

letters to a line

fifty
is

for two hundred

pages,

if

it

to

be a romance
pages
if if

in

in two volumes for four hundred four volumes for eight hundred pages,

in eight

volumes, and so on.

And

after ten or

twenty or forty days, supposing that one writes twenty pages between morning and evening, which

means seven hundred lines, or 38,500 letters daily, the romance is finished. " That is the way I work, say most of the

who are o^ood enousrh to concern themselves about me and these gentlemen only forget one
critics
;

thing.

"It

is

this

that before preparing the ink, the

pens and the paper which must serve for the

material
in

the development of a

new romance,

before drawing
writing the

my

arm-chair up to the table, before

title
I

and those two very simple words

have sometimes thought for
six

'Chapter

I.,'


300
months,

LIFE
a
I

AND WRITINGS OF
ten
years,

year,

about
I

the

subject
to
this

on which

am

going to write.

owe

way

of

working the clearness of

my

intrigue, the

simpHcity of
effects.
is

my

methods, the naturalness of

I

my
it

As a

rule

do not begin a book

until

finished."

A women
friend even
"

of talent,

Madame
:

de Girardin,

who

knew and admired Dumas, put

more
forcibly

the case for her

This rapidity of composition,

:

is

like the swift-

ness of a railway train

principles,
facility

both work on the same

causes
'

from

the

same

an
it is

extreme

obtained by

difficulties

overcome.
:

You

cover sixty leagues in three hours

nothing

you laugh at the swiftness of your travelling. But to what do you owe this marvel of transportation ?

To
of

years of daunting
all

toil,

to

money

spent like

water,

along your way, and to thousands of pairs

for you,

arms which have prepared the way

day

after

weary day.

You

flash
;

past so swiftly that

one can scarcely see you

of speed for you,
old,

but to gain that freedom

slaved,

how men have

and grown
!

bending over the pick and shovel

;

What

plans have been made, and baulked what cares, what struggles has it not cost, to whirl you from this spot to that, so smoothly and easefully, and

without a care or a fear

"
!

Blaze de Bury further explains Dumas's

facility

ALEXANDRE

DUINIAS

301

of working, doing justice to his friend's marvellous

memory, and that power of intuition and divination which was ahnost second-sight.
"

When

other authors write," he says, " they are

stopped every other minute

cover, or a reference to

there a verify a lapse of memory,

is
;

detail to dis-

Dumas was never stopped or some other obstacle, by anything. The practice of writing for the stage gave him great fluency in composition add to these gifts sparkling wit, and inexhaustible gaiety, and you
will

understand how, with such resources, a

achieve an incredible
skill

man

may

rapidity of production

without sacrificing

in

construction or injuring

the quality or solidity of his work."

The same

writer adds shrewdly " the public were

*

very ready to despise as

shop-made goods

'

books

written in such quantity, being unwilling to believe

that there are certain favoured individualities like

those

blest

places

of the

earth where

the grain
It is

shoots into green and ripens in a few weeks.

no

sin to

own

these precious 'gifts

it is

only wrong

to abuse them."
It is difficult for

most people

to

comprehend
;

that

a book quickly written can be well written

obvious course of trying the work on
not seem to occur to them.
its

and the

merits does

As

the old prejudices

of

fifty

years ago are

still

held to-day,

we

shall

do

well to quote

Maxime Du Camp's

protest on behalf

302

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
Mr
Lang.

of his old friend, which has been excellently para-

phrased and elaborated by

"

writer so

fertile,

so rapid, so masterly in the

ease with which he worked, could not escape the

reproaches of barren envy.

with wit, you could not be

Because you overflowed

'

serious

'

because you

created with a word, you were said to

scamp your

work

because you were never

of greed,

dull,

never pedantic,

incapable

you were

to

be censured as

desultory, inaccurate,

and prodigal."
that

Having assured themselves

quite confidently to
literary vice.

Dumas wrote

rapidly and therefore badly, the critics proceeded

dower that author with another

is

In theology there

a sin so terrible as to be a sin so awful

unmentionable

in literature there is

as to be indefinable.

Therefore,

it

order to dispose once and for

all

was decided, in of the French

romancer's claims on the tender-hearted public, that

he should be declared to have no "style."

is

There
cannot

only one

thing certain

about

this

mysterious
it

quality

that
it

those
elect.

who do

not possess

belong to the

Far be

from us to dare to attempt to indicate

the nature and habits of this mythical creation

can only attempt to win a place for

the " stylists
in
"

we Dumas among
:

(for

we must

"

conform

"

to this creed

the

literary

religion)

by putting

forward

the

ALEXANDRE
sufficient

DUISIAS

303
If a

testimony of such as arc "within the pale."

number of

these haloed great can be perit

suaded to gather round our sinner, perhaps

may

never be noticed that he himself wears no such

symbol of

intellectual sanctity.

Our first witness (we grieve to betray his identity, but we must give chapter and verse), is R. L.
Stevenson, whose manner of composition was the

very

opposite
"style,"
it

of

Dumas's.
truly

He
itself,

is

allowed

to

possess

and

he laboured hard and

not the acknow-

nobly to win

the

quality

ledgment of
"

it.

There

is

no

style so untranslatable

"

(as Dumas's),

he wrote;
silk
;

"light as a whipped
like a village tale
fault,
;

trifle;

strong as

wordy
;

pat like a general's

despatch

with every

yet never tedious, with

no

merit, yet inimitably right."

Next we have Mr
fame as scholar and

Lang-,
critic,

In addition to his

was he not the prize That is "stylist" of an "Academy" competition.^ as good as a degree at a University, it is an unofficial election to a fauteuil and Immortality
(with a capital
I).

Then

note with

respect

this

evidence
"

When

read the maunderings, the stilted and

staggering, sentences, the hesitating phrases, the far-

sought and dear-bought and worthless word-juggles

the

sham

scientific verbiage, the native pedantries

304
of

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
'

many modern so-called stylists,' I rejoice Dumas was not one of these. He told a plain
language suited to a plain
. . .

that
tale,

In the

tale,

with abun-

dance of wit and gaiety.

but he did not

gnaw
that

the end of his pen in search of

some word

nobody had ever used in this or that connection before. The right word came to him, the simple
straightforward phrase.
pretty sport, and the

Epithet-himting

bag of the

may be a epithet-hunter may

rare specimens

contain

some agreeable epigrams and

;

of st)le war,

but a plain tale of adventure, of love and

this

needs none of

industry,

and

is

even

spoiled

by inopportune
misguided
still.

diligence."

This
deeply

critic

involves

himself

more
for its

He

praises

Dumas's dialogue

unsurpassed excellence, and dares to claim for some

of Dumas's
!

phrases that they are unconsciously

Homeric "In your works we hear the Homeric Muse and even, at again, rejoicing In the clash of steel
;

times, your very phrases are unconsciously Homeric.

Look

men of murder, on the Eve of St Bartholomew, who flee in terror from the Queen's
at these

chamber, and 'find the door too narrow for their

flight': the

very words were anticipated

'

in

a line

of the

'

Odyssey

concerning the massacre of the

Wooers.

And

the picture of Catherine dc Medicis,

prowling Mike a wolf

among

the bodies and the

ALEXANDllE
blood,' in a passage of the

DLJJNIAS

305
is

Louvre

the picture

taken unwittingly from the 'Iliad.'"

We
Balzac
critics

are not,
is

we

confess,

aware whether or no
but at least two

admitted to be a

" stylist,"

prefer Dumas's language to that of his great

for

rival

Brander Matthews favourably compares the

the

running sentences of the romancer with the tortured

"style" of
realist;

and Nisard,

in

spite

of

his prejudices, acknowledges that

Dumas

"tells his

story with

more vivacity (than Balzac), in dialogue more witty and natural, and clothed in better words."
Parieot admits that

Dumas
and

takes no heed of the

literary merit of his writing, but claims that never-

theless he
clear

shows
sane

taste

care,

and a choice of
pro-

and

language.

Edmond About
a

phesied
"

that

Dumas would become

classic,

thanks
!

to the limpidity of his style."

Dumas
shall

classic

Yet the

history of literature tells us that

more unlikely things have happened.

laughed at when
the romancer's

We

be

we

point out that passages from

and edited
the fact
is

for

books are constantly being chosen use in schools and colleges, and yet
its

not so puerile as

connection would
for

seem

to

imply.

Those who are responsible

such productions are

fessional

men

of culture, with a proliterature

in

knowledge of French
to maintain.
If

and with

reputations

they find
fit

Dumas's
be put

books

qualities

which make them

to

306

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
Is

before scholars as models of French composition,

we may

rest assured that there

some

suspicion of
all.

" style " about our author's writing, after

We
Mr
its

may

return to the point touched

upon by
author's

Lang, that Dumas's style

uncanonlcal sense
"

was

we
fitted

use the word in

to
its

purpose.

Of

art,

of careful choice, of laborious

adaptation of words and phrases and paragraphs

there
is

none," says Professor Saintsbury.

" It Is

even capable of being argued whether, consistently

with his peculiar plan and object, there could, or

ought to be, any.

the

novel of Incident,

if It

be

good, must be read as rapidly the seventh time as

was to tell you a story In a way that would enthral you from beginning to end if you stopped to admire
it Is

first."

Quite so

the romancer's desire

the exquislteness of a phrase, or to ponder over the

possibilities

which a thought suggested, you would

that
its

lose

the

thread of the story, the charm

narrator had

woven about you would be broken,

there
Is,

and

his

aim would be defeated.

as
clearly,

Even when Dumas seems wordy

another great story-teller saw
reason
friends,

an

artistic

for

It.

Stevenson,
this

writing to

one of

his

touched on

point,

and declared
In

"

if

there

Is

anywhere a thing said

said in on(% then

two sentences
amateur work."

that could have been as clearly and as engagingly

and as forcibly

It's

ALEXANDRE DUMAS

307

But he added: "Then you will bring me up with Nay, the object of a story is to be old Dumas.
long, to
fill

up

hours

the

story-teller's

art

of

by continual invention, historical and technical, and yet not seem to water seem, on the other hand, to practise that same wit of conspicuous and declaratory condensation which
writing
is

to

water out

is

the proper art of writing."

One

last

word on
not
to

this point.

We

have taken a
to to

solemn vow

blaspheme by attempting
if

define the occult word, but

style can
in

be said
claim

imply distinction and individuality

that in a praiseworthy sense, then

a writer, and
it

we

for

Dumas.
style
(in
if
it

Once the reader

the
is

is

acquainted with his

it.

French)
justified

he can hardly mistake

in

And

narrative by
it

its

artistic

subservience to the story,

lighter writings of
its

justifies

itself in

the

author.

Unfortunately these

unknown to the general British "In the slightest and loosest work reading public. of his vainest mood or his idlest moment Dumas is
are
practically
at
least unaffected
;

and unpretentious," says Swinin

burne

and we may add that

the

best of his

"occasional writings" he exhibits qualities of wit,

humour, and neatness of expression

degree.

in

high

The

last

count

in

this

lengthy indictment
It
is

is

perhaps the

most

serious.

asserted

that

; ;

308

LIFE
at
for
is

AND WRITINGS OF
in

Dumas,
"wrote This
tinguish.

least

the

latter

part

of

his

Hfe,

money."
a
loose
phrase,

and
in

we must
'*

disIntiall

Most authors write for money.

mate

"

biographies
not

show
to
in

that

private

life

writers

born

affluence
filthy

have valued
lucre
;

the

work of their brains have demanded and

that they

quite

rightly

the
}

market
which

price
really

for

their

work.

The
of the

questions
subject

touch

the quick

are

Dumas
money?
labours?

pander to the public for gain

lower

Did Did he
:

consciously

and

debase
the

his

abilities

for
his

Was money

prime

object

of

deny all these possible charges. Dumas, like many another artist, Granted, that turned out bad work at times that he spoke
;

We

of his
that

books on occasion

in

commercial
for

terms

he

was generally pressed

to turn to his desk to

money,

and
or

obliged
fulfil

satisfy a dun,

a contract, and that in the last few years he

resorted to shifts unbecoming in a

man

of genius.

He

never parted company with his literary con-

science.

score

of examples

of this could be
;

given
or

how he destroyed bad work how he delayed refused to commence work for which he had not
:

found

in his brain

the plan of adequate treatment

stuff

and how he deplored the bad

been coerced or persuaded

which he had

into doing.

He

never

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
wrote unworthily, or below his own
level.

309

The

greed of money,

for

money's sake,

for

anything that

money could give

him, was foreign to the man's

generous, insoitciant nature.

writing of a story, the
alive in

Before and after the

of business was keenly

man
all

Dumas,

as in

shrewd authors

once
artist

plunged into the story the man became the

he had no thought but for the story and the best

way

of telling

it.

If

he had been miserly,

if

his

work had not been the great enjoyment of his life, the whole story of Dumas's career would have left him open to base suspicion but the more one learns of the man's nature and life-story, the more
;

clearly

one sees

in

him the

artist,

not the artisan.

Counterclaim.
In the hope that

we have extenuated

or disproved
guilty

the charges against

Dumas, and shown him

of literary faults rather than vices,

we

shall

modify
lightl)-.

our

metaphor and
it

treat

the

case

more

Believing

only just to look upon the matter rather

as a question for the civil courts of literature,

close our defence

we

and proceed

to put in a counter-

claim of as

modest a nature as our convictions

respecting the true worth of our client's cause will

allow.
It is

noteworthy that whereas we

in

England look

310

LIFE AN13 AVlllTlNGS OF

upon Dumas simply as a writer of fiction, and are ignorant of his plays, the French regard him almost " This," says Blaze de exclusively as a dramatist. Bury shrewdly, " is because the imperturbable entomological public loves classification, and will only judge a man from one point of view." Unable as we are to prove Dumas's merits as a
playwright by instance and reminder, to readers

unacquainted with

his

stage

triumphs,

we must
high

again have recourse to "expert opinion," and show

indirectly,

and as concisely as

possible, the
in

position which

Dumas
the

occupies

the ranks of the

world's dramatists.

He
full.

possessed

"dramatic

instinct"

to
is

the

"He
us,

is

not a dramatic author;

!

he

the

drama incarnate
told
all

"

cried

Fiorentino.

Dumas

has
that

with

pride

which

is

justifiable,

he needed was the bare apparatus of a stage,

actors,

"two
and

and a passion."

In this he

is

held to

have been superior

rival,

as

a craftsman

to

his friend

Victor Hugo.
critic,

Whatever Heine was

as a

dramatic

he was a

man

of piercing insight

where

his prejudices did not obscure his view,

and

further, a

keen student of the

literature of his time

and
'*

what he says of the two authors, in his letters on the French staee The best tragic poets in France are still I put the Alexandre Dumas and Victor Hugo.
this is

ALEXANDRE
latter in the

DUiAIAS

311

second place because his efficiency as

is

regards the theatre

of result. as
ofo
. .
.

not so great or productive

is

Dumas
it

not so great a poet

Hugo

far

from

but

he has qualities which

at

much further, as resfards the theatre. He has command that prompt, straightforward expression
is

of

passion which the French call verve, and therein he

more French than Hugo

vices

he sympathises with

all

and

virtues, daily
;

needs and restless fancies

of his fellow-countrymen

he

is

by turns

enthusiastic,

comedian-like, noble, frivolous, swaggering, a real

son of

France,

that

Gascony of Europe.
is

He

speaks to heart with heart, and

applauded.

understood and

"No
Dumas.

one has such a talent

for the dramatic as

The

theatre

is

his true callino:

he
in

is

born stage poet, and

all

rnaterials

for

the

drama
nature

belong to him wherever he finds them,

or in Schiller, Shakespeare or Calderon.
unjust
criticism

very

on art which appeared long ago

in the

under most deplorable circumstances

ignorant multitude.

Journal

des Debats greatly injured our poor poet

In

it

among the was shown that many

But there
is
;

scenes in his plays had the most striking resemblance

to others in former dramas.

nothing
the poet

so foolish as this reproach of plagiarism

may

grasp

and

grab
;

boldly

wherever he finds
appropriate

material for his works

he

may even


312

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

whole columns, carved capitals and all, so that the temple which they support be magnificent. Goethe
understood this very well, as did Shakespeare long
before him."
Professor Brander Matthews in his consideration
of

our

author

as

playwright

cannot
"

avoid
is

the

coupling of the two great names.

There
will

but

one dramatist of Dumas's generation who

stand

comparison with him," he says; "and even Victor

Hugo, master as he

is

of

many

things,

is

less

master of the theatre than Dumas."

Dumas yf/iand
is

wrote of his father as one

"who was
whose
the

the

master of the modern

stage,

prodigious
points

imagination touched the four cardinal

art,

of our

tragedy,

historic

drama,

dramas of manners, and the comedy of anecdote, whose only fault was to lack solemnity, and to have genius without pride, and fecundity without effort, as he had youth and health and who (to conclude),
;

Shakespeare being taken as the culminating point,

by

invention,

power and

variety,

approached among

us most closely to Shakespeare."

And
*'
:

Professor
allow-

Matthews adds, of the

ance made, he
'*

son's opinion

Due

is

not so very far out."

Dumas broke

ground," writes

Mr

Henley, "with

the ease, the assurance, the insight into essentials,

and a

technical accomplishment of a master, and he

last.

retained these qualities to the

... He was

the

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
soundest innuencc
in

313

drama of the century."

Sardou
" le

has similarly declared

Dumas Dumas

to

have been

premier
has

Jionivie

de tht'dtre du siecle passd."

Castelar

this

passage

on

as
:

a revolutionary

leader, a pioneer of stage liberty

"

lover of the drama, he proved himself able to

reanimate the theatre.

To

accomplish this purpose

interest,

he chose pieces of lively

strongly

characters of a

marked

individuality,

descriptions of unartificial

bridled passions, which, though without the

rules of poetic conventionality, followed the inspirations of fancy in

its

native purity, and were powerful

enough

to awaken Did Dumas in

artistic attention."

his

ardour go too far?

Goethe

uttered a warning note when, two years before his

death, he addressed the

young poet

after the success

of " Christine "

"Friend," he wrote, "don't go further than your

masters,
Scott.

Delavigne

and
in

Beranger, Schiller
activity
;

and

Beware of forcing your

frees

production
talent.
it

without respite ends

bankruptcy of one's
without
is

Whatever
must be
to
terrible

the

fancy,

retaining

within the control of reason,

at the

pernicious.

Art
if it is

command

of the imagination,

have an outcome

in poetry.

Nothing
taste."

is

more

than imagination deprived of

or no Goethe's advice
to

Whether

was

necessar)-,

and applicable, we leave

be discussed by others.

314

LIFE
;

AND WRITINGS OF
but

and elsewhere

we

are inclined to suspect, by

the choice of masters here prescribed for

that the sage neither

Dumas,

comprehended the nature of

its

our

author's talent,

nor foresaw

tendencies.

Certainly the

drama
for

of passion

and

Intrigue, of

which Dumas's own plays are the

developed extremes
fairly

first

great examples,

which the originator cannot

George Sand saw this, when, in dedicating her play on Moliere to her friend and
be blamed.
confrere,

she pleaded for psychology as well as

as an element in the drama.

movement and action, She protested against

trating
this

the Idea that her play.

in

Illus-

theory,

was

any way a challenge

levelled against the school of which

chief.

Dumas was

the

"

love your works too well," she continued, "

I

read them,

listen to

them with too much emotion

on
lifted

and appreciation
your triumphs.
.

to wish to cast the slightest slur

.
.

You have
it,

dramatic action
to sacrifice

to the highest power, without

any desire
for

psychological interest to

but your Imitators have

abandoned
fore."

this

second essential,

one must be of

strong calibre to keep both ideals equally to the

In his expositions of the hidden motives of his

plays, in his skilful analysis of his son's great play
("

La

Dame aux

Camelias

"),

and

in

various

chapters of his " Souvenirs Dramatiques," Dunuis

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
showed
that he

315
teller

was something: more than the

incident

of a stage story,

something better than a clever

manipulator
passion.

of

and
cried

intrigue,

plot

and
an
a
or

"A man?"
like

Michelet,

"no,

element,
greiit

an

inextinguishable

volcano

American

river.

... He

remains the most

powerful craftsman, the most living dramatist since

Shakespeare."

modern French drama, M. Parigot has written fully and learnedly in his " Drame dAlexandre Dumas," showing the effect produced in varying ways and degrees by
influence

Of Dumas's

on the

the pla)'wright on the later nineteenth century,

his

on
He

son,

on Augier, Sandeau,
Halevy,
Sardou,

Daudet,

Lemaitre,

Meilhac and
" exercised

and

others.

a continuous and profound influence on

of the

the

drama

nineteenth

century,"

adds the

writer,

and we need only supplement

literature,

his verdict

by

" calling attention to the case of the " latest discovery

in

French dramatic
"

Edmond
"

Rostand,
so closely

whose success with

recalls

Cyrano de Bergerac
"

the triumphs of the author of " Les Trois

"

Mousquetaires

and

Henri Trois."

On

our English drama the plays of

effect.

Dumas have
the founder
;

had only a subtly indirect

of the " society

As

drama " he has much to answer for but for our sterile " West-End " fashion plays, and the modern French school which has been evolved

316

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
be held responsible.

from "Antony" and his successors, the old playwright cannot

the
first

fairly

He was

to vivify the

melodrama

in its

higher form,

and the history-drama,

us,

at present so popular with

owes

its

true birth to the author of "

La Tour
recent

de Nesle."
" adapted
years,
predict,
"

His three comedies have each been

and produced

in

London within
;

but without

much

success

and we may

without going into the grounds for our

belief, that his

books may be dramatised from time

his plays

to time, but that

themselves

will

never

take root with

It is

us.

with a very judicious fear of our "entomo-

logical public " that

we

claim for

Dumas

a supreme

place as a master of the art of narrative.

True,
" the

Swinburne goes

further,
"
;

and acclaims him

poet-critic
in

king of story-tellers

and a

many

respects akin in taste to the author of " Atalanta

in

Calydon

"

held a similar opinion.

Oliver

Madox
:

Brown once wrote

cussions with
.
. .

to his father in great perturbation

. . .

" (D. G.) Rossetti

nas had several long dis-

me on

the subject of novel-writing.

Thackeray he will hardly hear the name of; George Eliot is vulgarity personified Balzac is
;

melodramatic
dull.

in
is

plot,

conceited, wishy-washy,

and

Dumas

the one great and supreme man,

the sole descendant of Shakespeare." In reply to a letter from ourselves,

Mr W. M.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
own
testimony.

317

Rossetti has kindly confirmed this record with his

" It is perfectly true,"

he writes, " that

my brother
I

took the greatest delight in reading Dumas, and

think
'

it

may be

said that,

if

he had been asked

whom

do you regard as the greatest novelist that

ever existed

in

those qualities
?
'

which are

most

essential for novel-writing

'

he would have replied

Dumas.'

Of

course he would at the same time

have been conscious that Walter Scott, as a precursor of

Dumas, had
^

to

some extent served him

of praise.
"

as a pattern."

Henley
is

strikes the

same note

Dumas

assuredly one of the greatest masters of the art

all

of narrative in
his

literature,"
:

he says, and amplifies an

artist

assertion

thus

"

He was

at

once
in-

original

and exemplary, with an incomparable

the
is

stinct of selection, a constructive faculty not equalled

among

men
right

of this century, an understanding

of what

and what

is

wrong

in art,

and a
are not

mastery of his materials which

to

in their

way

be paralleled

in the

work

of Sir Walter himself,"

The
'

frequent references to Scott force us without

Another passage in this letter is interesting, in connection with " In my very early years that has been written above. say 1846-7," adds Mr Rossetti, " my brother and I knew more of Dumas as a dramatist than novelist. 'Don Juan de Marana' was our favourite; next might come 'Antony' and 'Caligula.' 'Kean' we used to laugh over, for its amusing travestie of English manners and

much

customs."

318

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
the novelist, as

further delay to face a comparison as inevitable In

the case of

Dumas
in

was that with

Hugo

In the case of

Dumas
field

the playwright.

The
linked

two names
stance
critic

the

of romance

are

together inseparably by talents, time, and circum;

but until recent years the ordinary English

would not admit of any degree of equality between the two. It is no doubt an act of daring
on our part to presume to discuss
merits of the two men, as
seriously
if

the

relative

Frenchman could challenge the Scotsman's supremacy. Yet

the
that,

we
two
Is

venture to submit
writers, as

generally speaking, the

masters of the historical romance,

stand on a level, and that Sir Walter, superior as he

In

some

respects, has

been excelled by
our client

his pupil

in the art of story-telling.

In
that

claiming this point

for

we own

we should have none of that client's sympathy, Scott, as we have said, was Dumas's teacher, and
eratitude,

the junior never wearied of expressing his praise,

his

and reverence
in his " in

for

the older writer.

"Scott," he wrote
influence on
life."

Memoires," "had a great

me

the early days of

my

literary

In another book he analysed the causes of

:

his master's success, thus

"

To

the natural qualities

of his predecessors Scott added

knowledge
popular

specially

acquired

to

his

study of the hearts of men,

the

he

added

that

of

science

of

history

ALEXANDRE DUMAS

319

dowered with archaeological zeal, a quick discerning eye, and the power to reanimate, his genius
conjured into a
all
its

new

existence a past epoch, with

manners, interests

and emotions."

Dumas saw one

with
it

of Scott's

weak

points, but dealt

very pleasantly and tenderly.

(he

"Scott,"
Betes"),
in

says
his

in

his

" HIstoire

de

mes

''had

own way

of creating

interest

his

characters, which,

though with a few exfirst

ceptions
little

always the same, and though at

disconcerting, succeeded none the less.

to

This

method was,
often
for

be wearisome, mortally wearisome,

volume,
this

half a

sometimes

for

a whole
his

volume.
characters,
their
traits

But during
of

volume he placed
mental status, of
;

and gave such a minute description of

their

appearance,
of
their

the
well

individuality

one

knew

so

how they walked,

at the beofinninor

and spoke, that when of the second volume one of these

dressed,

characters found himself in

some danger, you

poor limping
is

exin

claimed

'

Ah, here's

this

chap
to

Lincoln ofreen
out of this
"
?
'

how

on earth

he

""oino-

eet

And
course

then our author goes on to set his

own
of

method of narrative
to

by the

side

of
latter,

Scott's,

the

advantage of the

declaring

that Sir Walter gives you the best dishes last and the worst ones first, so that one rises from

320

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
;

the table delighted

but that he himself reverses

the process, leaving the guests to go out on the

house-tops and revile the stupid chefs

bill

of fare.

But

it

was another thing

entirely,

when Dumas

thought of Scott as a possible pattern for himself,

in the self-imposed

task of writing the history of In

two important respects the genius of the younger man broke away from
France
in

romance.

his teacher's style.

"

The
t)f

qualities of

Walter Scott are not dramatic

qualities,"

he declared.

"Admirable

in

the por-

trayal

manners, costumes and characters, he was unable to paint passions.

'

completely
'

The
is
'

only

romance of passion
. .
.

amongst

his novels

Kenil-

worth.'

My

analysis of Scott's books taught

me

to see the

to that familiar to us
fidelity to

romance from another point of view The same in those days.

manners, costumes, and characters, with

a brighter, more natural dialogue, and with passions

that
to

were more

life-like

these

appeared to

me

be what

we

needed."

In course of time of
his,

Dumas
years

applied these beliefs

enormously aided by the experience and

of
fifteen

discipline

of play-writing.

The

result

we know.
of Sir Walter's most fervent admirers,

One
implied,

Mr

Lang, has underlined much that we have already

and though he probably ranks Scott higher

"

ALKXANDT^E
than the Frenchman, botli as a

DTTISTAS

321
as a writer,
all

man and

he certainly seems to us to endorse

that

we

have claimed
he touches
" Speed,
teristics

for our author.

In " Essays in Little"

this point

again and again

lucidity,

directness,

are

the

charac-

of

Dumas's
failed,

style,

and they are exactly

his

the

characteristics

which
his

novels

required.

Scott
admit,

often
in

most
;

loyal

admirers
is

may
that
his

these essentials

but

it

rarely

Dumas
best."
qualities

fails,

when he
to

is

himself
that

and

at

We

venture
the

add

these

are

the

which

ideal
*'

story

should

possess.

Further on

we

read:

It is

admitted that Dumas's

life

good

tales

are told with a vigour and

;

which
dull,

rejoice the heart

that his narrative

is

never

never stands

still,

but

moves with a freedom of

parallel.

adventure which perhaps has no

...

If

Dumas

has not, as he certainly has not, the noble

philosophy

and
Scott's,

kindly

which are

he

is

knowledge of the heart far more swift, more witty,

not prolix, his style
as rapid
is

more

diverting.

He

is
is

not

involved, his dialogue

assault-at-arms.

and keen as an

The
in

qualities

which have made Scott so great

his technical skill

and so beloved are not part of

narrative,

and

it

is

only with

that

particular

quality that

we

are concerned here.

Mr

Saints-

bury, in the "Short History of French Literature,"

322

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
Dumas
in
critically,

although treating
sitting

as

becomes one
talent,

on the judge's bench, does not hesitate to

set the

Frenchman,
all

his

peculiar

above

Scott and

others.

"His
is

best work," the professor declares,

"has
style

remarkable and almost unique merits.

The

not more remarkable as such than that of the

;

dramas
plot,

there

is

not often or always a well-defined

in

and the characters are drawn only

the

broadest outline.

But the peculiar admixture of incident and dialogue by which Dumas carries on
ing the reader

the interest of his gigantic narrations without wearyis

a secret of his own, and has never

else."

been thoroughly mastered by anyone

An American
stitious feeling
in

critic,

emancipated from any super-

concerning Scott, has put his opinion

blunt and

unmistakable form.

asks Professor Carpenter, " that

us
?

"What is it," endears Dumas to

his plots

The

conventional answer would be, the ex-

citing character of his plots.

And

may

well be called exciting.

No

other author

Sienkiewicz,

who

learned the art from

except him can

match him
for

there.

He
no

is

better reading than Scott

there are,
dialogues,

as a rule,

no elaborate essays, no
characters,
satisfactory

dull

stupid

only to
talk
;

the

antiquary.

The

characters

act act

and

but they talk only to

make
quietly,

the

more
but

telling.

The whole moves

rapidly,


ALEXANDRE DUMAS
without unnecessary haste enjoyed as
it
;

323
is

every scene
is

to

be

passes

and one

impressed throughin

out by the power that the author keeps

for eacli of his

reserve

cHmaxes."

In short, although
in

Dumas

found his inspiration

Scott,

the style of the Frenchman's romances

was

essentially different.

He

wrote with a
all

lighter,

bolder touch.

He
or

got rid of

the impedimenta

which baulked the Scotsman's speed.

contain
little

His books
is

no background
;

he

not con-

cerned with scenery

himof

still-life

has no attraction for

English

Nor do

his heroes indulge in the torments

assail

mind which
:

the

old-fashioned
act.

hero

they simply speak and

Nothing, however, can be so instructive as a

test-comparison of novels by the two romancers

say "Waverley" and " Les Trois Mousquetaires."

Take
should

it

as

granted
readable,
seized

that

it

is

story's

first

duty to

be be

and

that

one's

attention
;

as

quickly
in

as

possible

and
into

with this common-sense fact

mind, dip

first

the Scottish and then into the French romance. " Waverley's" first nine chapters are devoted successively to an introduction, the hero's birth, his

education, his day-dreams, his appointment to the

army, and his departure

scription of a

from
"

home, with a de-

Scottish

horse-quarter," a manor-

house,

and again, the manor-house.

You have


324

LIFE
the

AND WRITINGS OF
40,

now reached page

begun
story.

and
a
to

you
to

have not yet

the
of
"

Turn
go
with

then

Mousof

quetaires."

You have
which
;

couple
paint

pages

introduction,

the

character
story

of

the

hero

and on the third

the

-the
Your

plot

begins,
;

and
at

it

the

interest.

sympathies

are

once enlisted on the side of

D'Artagnan by the
toward him

Unknown's
is

cruel

behaviour

your curiosity

aroused by the ap-

parent mystery surrounding this same

Unknown,
also

by the
Miladi,

theft

of the letter,
political

and by the vision of

The

intrigue has begun,

and

all

in the first chapter.

Dumas saw
the vitality

clearly that dialogue

style

was the

life,

of this

of story

the

dramatic

romance.

It

seems a truism now

to say that the

is

best insiofht into the characters of a book

qrained

by hearing them speak relied upon description

to the reader's

but the old-fashioned novel

to

convey these impressions

live in

mind.

Now we
is

an era of

" suoro-estion
tion,

"
;

somethino-

left to

one's imagfinastyle
is

and the old "steel-plate-engraving"

in fiction

dying out
It

as in

art.

would be

foolish to carry the

comparison any

further.

Scott possessed powers beyond the reach

of Dumas, and each writer must be judged according to his aims and nature, and the materials at
his

command.

Few

can appreciate both writers.

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
their styles are so opposite.

325

To
and

those
outre'
\

who

love

the Scot

Dumas

is

frivolous

to those

who
is

are in sympathy with the French spirit, Scott

dull

and

sluf^g"ish.

But there can surely be no

is

reasonable

doubt as to which

the master and

pioneer of the story of adventure as

to-day.

we know

it

The changes which have come

novel within
striking

over the historical

the last twenty or thirty years are

indeed.

The

old

school

was

perhaps

founded by Scott, and certainly imitated by Lytton,

G. P. R. James, Ainsworth, and a host of others.

marked features. Its pages abounded in description it was not enough we were to be with our hero in his adventures
This
style possessed several very
;

obliged to listen to the story of his birth, parentage

and upbringing, with many other dreary

details

by

way

of introduction.

We were

regaled with lengthy

accounts of scenery and buildings, costumes and

customs.

We

found the heroine a very sensitive

lady,

and sedate young

with

supreme

sensibility

and a wonderful capacity

as he raved at fortune,
love.

for tears.

We

followed

the course of the hero's thoughts, page after page,

or rhapsodised upon his

As
;

a consequence

we

cultivated a habit of

"skipping," and no one to-day would blame us for

so doing
for in truth there

was a laborious heavihistorical

ness about

the

old-fashioned,

romance.

326

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

Scott succeeded in spite of his style

it

or

lack of

but his successors, one and

There
is

all,

died of theirs.

no need, we think,

to labour the point

as to

the
if

Frenchman's influence on present-day

our readers will apply a simple
in
test,

romance,

and

keep one or two dates

Scott's imitators
forties,

mind.

Read

firstly

one of

some
it.

romance of the
of

thirties or

and note the rare and

fire,

stilted dialogue, the

padding, the lack of

human
the

interest

the

tawdry dreariness of
at the

Then,
let

after half

an hour

" Mousquetaires,"

reader take up

some modern romance, say one of Mr Weyman's, " The Refugees," by Dr Doyle, or Anthony Hope's " Simon Dale." This subject, we are aware, deserves a whole essay, but for
all

practical purposes
will

the object lesson

we have suggested
it.

be

suffi-

cient to carry conviction with

We

are told that the influence of

far as "

Dumas

can be

Esmond," the scene of "the breaking of the sword " being suggested by more ihan one like incident in the Frenchman's romances. Of the many authors who have benefited by a study of the great conteur, one has acknowledged his indebtedness. This is Bret Harte, whom one would
traced back as
scarcely have
fluence.

expected to experience such an

testifies

in-

He

to

having

received

"the
burial

sacred spark "

whilst

reading

Dumas

the

of Dantes in the sack, in particular, having power-


ALEX^VNDRE DUJNIAS
fully affected

327
the
ap-

him.

"

The grandeur

of effect,
all

simplicity

of the

means, the absence of

parent

effort,

caused

me

an

unspeakable

jo)'."

In after years of proclaiming

he gratefully took the opportunity

how much he owed

our

to
this

Dumas.
day,
if

The

spirit

of

author lives

to

Mr
"

A.

E.

W. Mason's

recently published
;

story,

Clementina," be any criterion

and a more recent

that

and more striking

example

is

of

Maxime

Gorki, who, though a sombre realist in tempera-

ment, was led on to read Gogol and

all

Dumas when
Forth-

other literature was distasteful to him.

with the Russian was seized with an ambition to

write.

The
strong

fact that the optimistic

in

romancer could

awaken emulation
is

a nature so widely different of

the
vital

proof

power

of

his

talents.

But

the

modern

writer

whom Dumas
in

most

strongly impressed

was Robert Louis Stevenson.

his preface

This Sidney Colvin acknowledges,

to his friend's " Letters."

"The
settled,

debate, before

his

place in literature

is

must rather turn on other points, as whether and egoist or the romantic inventor and narrator was the strong^er in him whether the Montaigne and Pepys elements prethe genial essayist
vailed in his literary composition, or the Scott and

Dumas

elements

a question, indeed,

which among


328
those
issue."

LIFE
who
his

AND WRITINGS OF
him most has always been
fail

care for

at

Althoupfh Stevenson could not

great knowledge
of

to

make
his

use of

Dumas

for

own
seem

ends, being a

man

of originality in talent,

we

to find traces of the great

Frenchman

here,

there,

and everywhere
chivalric

in

his

admirer's

stories

subtle effects, twists of the plot, picturesque situations,

touches, gusts of breezy freshness

all

Stevenson, and yet instinctively familiar to

the lover of

Dumas.

To

our master of narrative, those literary adorn-

ments of which nowadays we are so disproportionately

proud were not entirely lacking.

He

possessed in supreme degree a third quality

It

wit.

was
"

this

which rendered his dialogue "brilliant"

"

and
its

unapproachable

dialogue

" of

which the
point,
if

quantity would be the

quality

most remarkable

were not equally remarkable."

such as none but

Echo-

"dialogue
This
the
gift,

ing Professor Saintsbury, Brander Matthews adds,

Dumas
made

could write.

... He was
as of
kino^

witty without effort and without end."

we have
Paris

seen,

the quadroon

and the most

deliofhtful
it

com-

panion, the causeui"

par

excellence in print;

made
of

comedy- writing easy

to

him,

and the

telling

short stories a delicrht to reader

But the companion quality of

rarely found
in

and writer. wit, which is yet so conjunction with it, was Dumas's

ALEXANDRE
also, in

13U.MAS
ignore
it,

329

although most

critics
it.

and

one

particular denies

"

He

had

little

humour,

as

we understand
"

the word,"

Professor Matthews

and what he had was on the surface." declares, To say the least of it, humour is not a quality which
should be hidden very deeply from
observation.

Hay ward, whose

essay shows a close knowledge

of our author's writings, remarks " he had an exquisite perception of the

humorous

"

and we regret

we have no means
be.

of showing our readers

how
to

truly discerning the essayist's

words proved him

The
is

distinction

between the two forms of

mirth
aware.
to

a subtle one and difficult to define,

we

are

Dumas's wit
in

is

at least quotable,
:

and mostly

be found

dialogue

his

humour
is

is

more

airy

and tangible, and frequently

telling of

at

its

best in the

a story.

Unluckily
to the

many

of these

tales are

not
is

known
apt to

English reader, and a sly style

in the

evaporate
less

process of translation.

Neverthe-

we

are

convinced that when

Dumas's own
edited,

genuine

and

complete writings

are

and

Englished
quality in
still

left

by translators of literary taste, this them will be recognised with delight as another vein of riches in the mine of wealth us by this versatile genius.
remains to be seen whether Dumas's works
last.

It

will

His plays, with one or two exceptions,

330

LIFE

AND

AVKITINGS OF
His
travels,

are almost forgotten, even in France.

which "discovered Europe" to the

million,

have

been imitated so often that they have paid the

penalty of their success and become common-place.

pendulum swings from romance to at realism and back from realism to romance present Zola and his school prevail in France, and to a great extent throughout Europe and America. Dumas heartily disliked "naturalism." The Gonliterary
;

The

courts

tell
"

us

that
cried,

when
is

he

read
is

"

Madame
all

de Bovary
"

he

"If that

good,

that

we've written since 1830

novel
"

worthless!"

But the
adven-

to-day

is,

on the whole, better written

in fiction of

than the "romance," and even

ture
part.

psychology plays an

increasingly

important

But with the mass of readers these changes, these

fashions of the

moment, have

little

weight.

In the
are as

higher strata of society Dickens and

Dumas

dead as

last

year's novels

amongst the people,

qualms, those de-

untroubled by ultra-intellectual

spised authors flourish shamelessly.

of daily
instincts
life

As

the stress

grows more

acute, as the great primitive

of our natures
in the

become more and more

civilised societ)-,

obscured
the

complex duties of

more

likely shall

we be

to turn with relief

and

gratitude to the
simplicity,

welcome optimism, the refreshing the engrossing charm of the two great

ALEXANDRE DUiMAS
writers,

331
for

and the books which they devised

acknowledged that

our

delight.
It
is

Dumas
b)' his
is

is

one of the

amusers of the world, even

detractors,

who

appear to think that to amuse

nor praise.
(If the

easy work, requiring

neither skill nor effort, deserving neither recognition

amuser
is

is

born, not made, the

for.)

rarity of the species

this

perhaps accounted

Is

power so small a thing? Dumas has amused three or

"
;

"They
four

say

that

generations,"
:

said Jules Claretie

he has done better

he has

consoled them.

If
it
it

he has shown us humanity more

generous than

is,

do not reproach him

his

for that

he has painted

in

own

image."

blessed him," wrote Jules Janin, "for

the path to the grave
to aid
;

"Old folk he made easy

upon him

the

women

called

them against their sadness, and the young men swore by the romances of their poet." "All
our
hospital

patients

recover

or
their

die

with

one
said

of your

father's

books under

pillow,"

surgeon
to

to

Alexandre
the

Dumas

Jils.

"When
of con-

we wish

make them
operation,

forget the

terror of an

approaching
valescence,

tediousness

or the

dread of death,
novels,

we

prescribe
to

one of your
forget."

father's

and they are able

left

One

great poet and great sufferer has

:

his

appreciative gratitude on record

332
"

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF

For six years," wrote Heine to his confrere, " I have been bed-ridden. During the worst part of the time, when I was suffering the greatest torment, my wife read your romances to me, and that was the only way in which I was enabled to forget my pains. Thus I have devoured them all, and
sometimes during the reading
'
!

have exclaimed
a grand fellow

What an ingenious poet What this Dumas is Certainly after Madame Schariaz, better known
! '

Cervantes and
as

the

sultana

Scheherazade,
teller
I

you are the most amusing story-

know.

What
:

fluency
!

what ease
I

and

what a good chap you are

one
fault

Truly,

can find but

in

you

that

is
!

modesty.
those

You

are too

modest.

Good

gracious

who

accuse you

of boastinor and swao-o-erino: have no notion of the

greatness of your talent

Nor
their

are these
;

"amusing" books ephemeral

is,

in

charm

there

in

despite of
hour's

critics,

some-

thing
in

more than merely an

entertainment

Dumas's romances.
"

Their particular qualities

have been thus defined by Dr Garnett

Dumas

stands out as the

first

among

the truly

eminent novelists of the world

production.

for

exuberance of

To
.

class
. .

a high
fertility

place.

him thus is to assign him Exuberance implies a vast

great
facility

of invention

animated, impassioned style;

in

and more

particularly

dialogue.

AT.EXANDRE DUMAS
All these merits

333

Dumas

possesses in the hig-hest

limits

decree

his

invention

moves within the

of

humanity,
" If

his

characters

are credible personages,

neither monsters nor puppets."

his

imagination

was not

of

the

highest

quality," says

Professor Bryce, "it

was of almost

unsurpassed

fertility-"

Mr

Saintsbury, reflecting upon the charm which

for him,
is

the romancer's books possess

vaguely

conscious of an abiding quality in what seems so

slight,
*'

so fleeting in

its

nati^re

Dumas

has the faculty, as no other novelist

has, of presenting rapid

and

brilliant

dioramas of

the picturesque aspects of history, animating

them

with really
passion,
less

human
kind.
this,

if

not very intricately analysed

and connecting them with dialogue matchits

of

He

cannot, as a rule, do

much

and to ask him for anything more is unreasonable, though in rare passages he rises to But he will absorb your a much greater height.

more than

attention

you from care and worry as hardly any other novelist will, and, unlike most

and

rest

novelists of his class, his pictures, at least the best

of them, do not lose their virtue by rebeholding.

at least find
'

The Three Musketeers

its

'

not less but

it

more

effectual for

purpose than

found
I

thirty,

twenty, ten, even five years ago, and

think there
virtue than

must be something

in

work of such a

334

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
for

mere scene - painting

lay-figures for actors."

a background and mere

Professor Carpenter sees evidence of the " stay-

ing power
s?.y so.

" in

these books, and does not hesitate to

"

find

one explanation of the deeper

effect these

volumes make on me," he

writes, " in the fact that

Dumas,

recklessly as he apparently wrote,

and

in

headlong haste, has somehow managed to build his

characters out of genuinely

human
;

material.

He
they

seems to

treat

them
on

like the veriest

puppets

wear

their hearts

their sleeves

and yet neither

the creations of Scott nor of Shakespeare are

truly alive.

more

With women he was

less successful

though Margtierite, the queen of

folly,

the gracious

Diane de Monsoreau, and the proud Comtesse de But CJiarny, are wonderful types of womanhood.
Aidagnan, Athos, Po7d/ios, men are men. and Aramis Heni'i IV., La Mole, Chicot,
his
;

Coconnas, Bussy

d Aniboise
and

Balsaino, Philippe de
to

Tavernay, and Gilbert

these are as
in

not

mention others
imagined as any
the author could

solidly

finely

characters

literature.

How

have produced them we may never cease to wonder but they do exist. He lived a foolish life; and he wrote in haste; but he wrote from his heart, and his heart was by nature clairvoyant.''
;

And

he adds

in

conclusion

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
"

335

Such are the considerations, in my judgment, which raise Dumas above the horde of vulgar
romancers.

His

fame,
critics

hke

his

genius,

is

not

academic, and the

may

praise

him with only

none the

half a heart, but his great public will be

worse.

One who
;

reads him will pass the word to

will

another

and each who knows him

be a better

man."

beyond the mere power of amusement possessed by Dumas, a philosophy and an ethical influence.
Finally,
sees,

Mr Lang

"In
and
the
the

all

he does, at his

best, as in the

'

Chevalier

d'Harmenthal,' he has movement, kindness, courage,

gaiety.

His philosophy of

life is

that old philo-

sophy of the sagas and of Homer.

Let us enjoy

movement of the fray, the faces of fair women, let us welcome life like a taste of good wine
;

mistress,

let

us welcome death like a friend, and

if

with

a jest

death

comes with honour.

That his works (his best works) should be even that the still more widely circulated than they are young should read them, and learn frankness, kind;

ness,

generosity

should

esteem the tender heart,

;

and the gay, invincible wit

that the old should

read them again, and find forgetfulness of trouble,

and

taste the

anodyne of dreams, that

oncf^

is

what we
" qreat,"

desire."
.

A^^^

have more than

dubbed Dumas

336

LIFE AND WRITINGS OF

to himself, or

and possibly the reader has smiled

registered an inward protest at the time.

And

yet

a threefold proof can be presented in support of

the tremendous adjective.

To
many
claim.

our thinking, the very reason advanced by

critics for

refusing greatness to
in

Dumas

offers

one of the strongest presumptions

"

favour of that

There
says

is

perhaps hardly such another

Garnett,

instance,"
little

Dr

"of a man with so upon

moral or intellectual claim to rank among

^lite

the

of letters, taking so high a place

the literary Olympus."

(We have
"

neither time nor

space to do more than register a strong protest

respecting the " immorality
literary rank,
tual

of Dumas's claim to
" Inferior in intellec-

and pass
to
his

on.)

power

principal

contemporaries,

his

instinct is often truer than their reason."

Roughly speaking, great writers may be divided ^those whose work is based on into two classes process of thought, and those whose reason and utterances are prompted by instinct and inspira-

tion.

We

refrain

from suggesting instances of what

" intellectual "

we may
be higher men,
like

call

the

writers

and the

"spiritual" writers;
in itself

neither quality can claim to

than the other, and some great

Shakespeare, possess both.

The one
political

type of mind tends to produce logicians,

economists, problem-novelists and playwrights, poll-

ALEXANDRE DUMAS
ticians, theologians,

337

and so forth

the other gives

in all

birth to the poets, seers

and prophets

forms

of

art.

To
it

this latter class

Dumas

belonged.
in its

He

lacked the power of poetic expression

form,
barrier
is

highest

true

but there existed

akin
in

behind that
to

a nature

essentials

a poet's.

Not only do his writings show this, but those who knew him or have studied him have testified He was clairto this fact a^iain and aorain.
''

voya7it "

he divined
;

in

a flash what reason must

intuitive instinct,

laboriously discover

his

guided

by

his intelligence, served

him

in place of experi-

ence,

memory and

logical

thought.

We
if
;

have

given numerous instances of his

political foresight.

Such
is

qualities are of the highest,

ther'x

even

Dumas
the soul

did not possess

to the uttermost

at least the equal of the brain.

This

power,

mysterious

and

inexplicable,
It

too

often produces the visionary, the fanatic.

had

a very earthly abode in Dumas, and in one sense

was an enormous advantage. On a subject which appealed to him he could reason well and Blaze clearly, and grasp both principle and detail. de Bury tells us that the novelist once casually
this

ventured to dispute with Geoffroy St Hilaire on a

point
of
natural

history

relating

to

the

whale's
his

anatomy.
hypothesis

Dumas
;

imperturbably

maintained

the great

savant smiled Y

with good-

338

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
Will
it

natured scorn.

be believed

When

the

standard authorities were consulted on the question,

It

they confirmed the romancer's view

would seem

that,

according to

Dr

Garnett,

Dumas was "great"

of
is

in some respect, and by virtue some high power. We presume that if Dumas "high on Olympus" he has some right to be
:

there

and

if

his

is

not the greatness of

It

intellect,

what form does

power,
matter.

his genius take?

must surely
of
brain-

be a quality equal in calibre to that

and

there

we

are

content to leave

the

Another
great"
"
is

Dumas's claims to the pithily put by Hay ward.

of
to
It

rank

of

title

fame, like a chain of proofs,

may
.
.

be cumulative.

may

rest

on the multiplicity
.

and universality of production and capacity.

Dumas

will

thus

take

rank as one of the three

or four most popular and gifted writers that the

France of the nineteenth century produced." Brander Matthews takes the same view. " Even more remarkable than the range of Dumas's work is its general level of merit. He had at least one element
of greatness
regretfully
:

an inexhaustible fecundity."
"With
his great

He

adds

powers one

feels that

he

ouorht
:

to

have

done somethincr

higher

and

nobler
cavil."

that he had great powers,

admits of no
appreciate his

All

who

love

Dumas and

"

DUJNIAS
339

ALEXANDRE

work will echo this sentiment. Dr Garnett makes the same point when attributing to the Frenchman "a fecundity rivalled by very few novelists, and a standard of merit equalled by none who have approached Dumas's productiveness."

We

find a third " reason for the faith that

is

in us

"

in the fact that so

Dumas
who
is

great,

many great writers have proclaimed if not in so many words, still, unnot simply the ordinary reader

mistakably.

It is

astounded at the
wit

romancer's
" the

charm and

resource,
stalls "

his

day

applauded

front row of the and women writers of the principal men

and

skill

him

just

as

heartily.

We
For

could wish

nothing better than that the reader

should compare the respective calibre, and worth,

of our author's eulosfists and detractors.
addition to the great
in

names we have already quoted

"
I

there were others as "loyal" in their acclamation

as Charles

Reade

himself.

have an opinion of
;

human
"
I

things," wrote Lamartine, poet and historian

:

have none on miracles

opinion

you are superhuman.

!

My

of you
:
!

it

is

a note of exclamation

People have tried to discover perpetual motion

you have done better

astonishment

you have created perpetual

"He
he
it

was not France's, he was not Europe's, and he was the world's " cried Hugo
! ;

was

who wrote

'*

Ce

qtiil

seme,

cest

lidde

340

LIFE
the

AND WRITINGS OF
has
to

Fra'jifaise"

He
of
"
;

indeed

taught
world.

French
Swin-

and

French
genius

the

whole
"

burne writes
brilliant

Dumas's
for

" excellent

heart

and

Stevenson

would not give a

critic,

chapter of old
Zolas."

Dumas

the whole boiling of

well
ac-

Blaze de

Bury, a sober

quainted with the literature of his nation and the

great writers of his time, declared that "
if

there

can be said to have been a French Shakespeare,

was Dumas. Hugo, who imagined that he was descended from the Elizabethan poet in a direct
it

line,

had

far

less

claim

to

such parentage than

tribute to

Dumas."

The most

illuminating

our

author's genius

was without doubt that of Michelet

" Monsieur," he wrote, ''Je vous aime
qtie votis eies ttne

the historian.
et

je

V021S

admire, pare e

des forces

de la nature."

This

is

strikingly true

there was

something

great,

something primitive, elemental,

'*

about Dumas, which explains at once his strength

and
says

his weaknesses.

His virtues were

colossal,"

Dr

Garnett, " and he had the defects of his

qualities."

The
in

mixture of "white" and "black"

blood produced a phenomenon of physical strength

and energy
pere

General
" strain
"

Dumas

a combination of

physical and mental energy and strength in

;

Dumas
re-

and the

survived to give us a

markable instance of
fils.

intellectual capacity in

Dumas


ALEXANDRE DUMAS
Briefly,

341

our author was great because, being a

natural force, with the great instincts of primitive

man, without subtlety, or

he strove greatly and
failed as thoroughly.

fear,

or a doubt of

self,

achieved great things,

Ridicule

or

never soured him

;

nor baulked him of his

valour and confidence he was a giant.

are rare in

and Such men these days, and "to encourage" any

in heart

end and aim

possible "others,"
his failures
;

we have laughed

at this

one

for

and measuring

his stature with our eye,

through

the

wrong end of the

if

telescope,

have

decided that he was,

anything, rather below the

middle height. In saying this we feel that we have added another inch or two to our own tall selves. We have reserved for final quotation three very
different estimates of our hero,

which cannot, on the

eulogistic

whole, be said
platitude.

to

err

on the side of

author,

The first is from Castelar's essay on our and we present it with only one comment
Dumas's
orenius direct

that whereas the eloquent Spanish scholar obtained

his knowledfre of

from the

writer's books,

he received his impression of the

Frenchman's life and conduct throuo^h the medium o of" De Mirecourt" and others, as his article plainly
indicates.

" Probably but

few men have been born with so

brilliant

many and
Dumas.

such

qualities

as

Alexandre
deficient
in

His dramas are somewhat

342
finish,

LIFE

AND WRITINGS OF
interesting-.

but they are highly

His novels
enchanting.

contain nothing ideal, but

much

that

is

Had

he taken time

for

reflection,

he would have

produced some
rapidity this

With such great perfect work. His creations are was impossible. meteors when they might have been stars. Here
find a poet of a wonderful imagination, of
fallen
in

we

an
the

extraordinary power,
Parisian
streets
;

the

mire

of

punished for not

having

con-

sidered

life

as a reality, art as a religion, genius as

a ministry, the world as a tribunal, and history, that

conscience of humanity, as a judge."
In an oration
full

of feeling

and eloquence, M.
statue
in

Edmond About pronounced Dumas at the unveiling of

Malesherbes
"
in

a formal eulogy on
the

Place

Paris,

in

1883.^

M. About, " is that of a great madman, who, into all his good humour and astonishing gaiety, put more true wisdom than there
This statue," said
is

to

be found

in

the hearts of

all

of us here.

It is

the likeness of a prodigal who, after having

^ This monument owed its origin and completion to the loving admiration which the great romancer has so generally inspired. A. M. Villard, a traveller, had cheered so many of his hours of enforced idleness with the company of d'Artagnan and his innumerable comrades, that he set on foot a scheme to recognise publicly and perpetually the author's fame and worth. When the committee representative one, full of illustrious names was still lacking the money for the sculptor's labour, Gustavo Dore, the artist, offered to do the work, literally " for love,"

THE Dl'MAS MONUMENT BV DOKE, PLACE MALESHEKBES, PAKIS

ALEXANDKE
squandered millions
left,

DIJJMAS

343

in

a thousand generous ways,

it,

without knowintr

a kino^'s treasure behind

'

him

to

it

is

the

portrait of a

man

of pleasure,'
for
all

whose
life

life

might well serve as a model

;

men who work

his his country."

of an
his

egoist
children,

who devoted
his
friends,

his

mother,

and

As

summary

of Dumas's character, an epitome

of his greatness, and his failings of charity,

in all

human
Mr

and

full

we have
:

not bettered this of

Henley's,

our reading, and our

own

searchings of heart

and brain

"In
were
be,

life

he was very much of a scapegrace and

a madcap, and even more of a prodigal.

loose,

His morals

he was vain as only a

man

of colour can

his

literary

conscience was (to say the least)

imperfect, his veracity

in o-eneral,

offences in

was that of the roniantiques he could and did commit astonishin"taste but his humanity was boundless in

degree and incorruptible

to a fault,
foul

in quality,

he was generous

he
. .
.

is

not

known
is,

to

have dealt a single

was a prodigy of gaiety, kindliness, and charm, and a prodigy of temperament and power, and capacity of life and invention and achievement. He talked still better
blow
the fact
that he

than he wrote
tions of style,

and he wrote without any

affecta-

and with an

ease, a gusto, a sincerity

of mind, a completeness of

method

that are irresist-

344
ible.

LIFE
And

AND WRITINGS OF
is

the lesson of his greater books

profited.

one

by which the world may well have

virtues

Love,

honour, friendship, loyalty, valour, the old chivalric

these

were

his

darling themes

and he

them with a combination of energy and good sense and good feeling, of manliness of mind and beauty of heart, that has ranked him
treated
insight, of

with the greatest benefactors of the race."

Well may we add, with Villemessant, that

during
cidents

" if
in-

Dumas's long career there are some

which
one

ought to

judge, severely

we
to

should pass them by in

respect
for the great
literature,

silence,,

not only out of

left

name which he has

^ilso
little

French

but

out of sympathy with

the excellent heart which did so

harm, and

wrought such an enormous amount of good."

It

has been our aim throughout, to leave the

praise

we

fain

would

speak

to

come from the

the pleasant task

mouths of

others,

who would do

more
which
piler,"

skilfully,

and be listened
result critics

to with the respect

their

reputations

can command.

We
''

are

aware that as a
or

"book-maker."

may dub us comHad we "stolen the

thunder" of our authorities, omitting acknowledg-

ment and quotation-marks, we might have passed

for

being very clever, very conceited

or

very dis-

honest.

.We

preferred to speak by the mouths of

others, the better to establish

Dumas's reputation.

"

ALEXANDRE DUiMAS
and to
be done
let

345
choose.

the

captious
it

say what they

artist,

*'\Vhat matters
"
?

to the

so that the

work
great

Yet we,
grave-side,
late we,

too,

have a word
their

to say.

The
it

men have spoken

who have

glowing periods by the

Before
is

and turned away.

too

lingered behind, crave the right

last

to

come forward, take a

and
*'

leave

of our

old

friend,

cast at his feet one flower that fades away."

Stevenson has
that

said,

half-stoically,

half-bitterly,

an author must look to his pleasure

the

in writing
this

as

only

reward

for

his

work.

If

be

true,

we have

already received

our best pay for

to this

our labours.

Nothing that may happen

book can give the author the pleasure which he

has found in the preparation of
it.

day's research his wonder, respect

With every and love grew

!

and deepened.

"What
this

and

then, "

How

man to man was

a

love!" he thought

loved
secret

That,

we

believe,

was the

of

Dumas's
his great-

success, of his lasting popularity,

ness.

and of
**

He

was, like Fielding and Goldsmith, a

affection

who won
that
is,

without

effort.

If

man any man

could be lovcable, in the true sense of the word,

made to be loved, he was that rnan," so wrote one who knew him well end intimately and
;

346
indeed
with

LIFE
all

AND WRITINGS OF
to

who knew him seem

is

speak of him

full

hearts, almost with tears in their eyes, so

their

fond and affectionate

remembrance of the

man.

From

the famous great ones

him

as their equal, to the servants

who treated who strove to

by giving
return.
it,

save him from his generosity, to the very dogs he

rescued,

Dumas

earned love from

all,

generously
heart
brain.
''

and without thought of

will

such as his

outlive

many

a cleverer

Je

suis tout en dehors,''

he once declared,

in

laughing self- disparagement.

vices,

True, most of his

and some of

his virtues,

were on the

surface,

easy to be* seen.

But

it

would be truer

to say of

him

that his
life

sun of
stone,

was so transparent a nature that the shone through it, and that like a precious
kindliness
;

its

rays were reflected in myriad sparkling

flashes

of joy, gaiety,

and generosity.
is

The
'^

flaws were there

but there

no doubt

this

was a

o^enuine diamond.
in

J' aime qui

aimey
:

It

was

his motto, that line

from the Proverbs

brightening

"I love them that love me."

it

Loving the world, cheering

its

in its

wretchedness,
it

hours of

leisure,

giving to

fully

of his wealth of gaiety and wit, he failed at times

to

keep the respect of the more prosaic, and was

delivered over to the mercy of the envious.

But

those

who have

loved the people, the people never

ALEXANDRE DUJMAS
forget.
in vain.,

347

The dying Dumas

human

feared he had written

but he wroui^ht better than he

knew

and
the

the rock of

nature on which he built will

endure throuijh

asfes of carkinfj

Time, and

all

storms of chancre.

TO MY FATHER
Oh,

my

father,

thou the thinker, thou the poet

can

it

be

That naught

will
?

snap the chain of bondage round thy heart, and set

thee free

Must thou ever give thy best To the others who grow wealthy with the riches from thy store, Leaving you not e'en as solace, when the long week's work is o'er.

One

brief seventh

day of rest?

Bow

thy head, then to thy labours

flow'rs,

Not

for thee the fields, the

Laughing song of birds, that echo

in the leafy

mountain bow'rs,
sun.

Peaceful sleep of liberty,

Smiling valleys, in the glory of the setting

summer

And

the sweet, faint breath of nature

Heaven's

gift

to ev'ry

one-

Free to

all

men, but

to thee.

From

thy study-window gleaming, one

the twilight
falls at

may watch and

dawn
toil,
is

see,

alway

When

even,

when

the

dim and gray.

toil in

Light of lamps that shine for thee.

Galley-slave of thine

own
all

talent,

thou must

and

vain

Thou

canst not, with

thy weary years of labour and of pain.

of liberty
!

Buy a month

348
Be
it

LIFE
so,

AND

AVRITINGS
in the season
;

then

thou, the cornfield rich in flowing golden grain

come
again,

Still

must see the gladdened reapers

Reap

the harvest thou hast

Be thou

still,

the bright,

grown the wondrous star, whose

light all

men may

share,

Shining on, supreme, majestic in the studded heavens there,

Distant

splendid and unknown

Work,
Strive,

then, for the

and

testify,

coming ages, that shall hold thy days so dear and suffer, like some ancient prophet-seer Thou thy onward course shalt keep
!

Calm and
Let
all

peaceful, like the Rhine, that grand old river.

To

thy brink

nations come, and, grateful, of thy flowing current drink,

'Twill

be

still

as clear

and deep

Work,

then, freely

work unceasing.

will
I

watch beside the gate

What care I what

But to-day

others think
late,
is

me ?
will
I

For

know

that, 'spite their hate.

Soon or

fame
;

be mine.
father's glory
!

my

place

here

for

the pious duty claim

Here

to stand, to

guard from wrong a

and

fair

name,

As

it

were a sacred shrine

{From

the

French of Alexandre

Dumas Jils.)

APPENDICES

APPENDIX

A.

Comparative List showing the: Events in French History covered by the romances of dumas
was Dumas's ambition to write the history of As even he quailed before the task of telhng the story from the days of Ccesar, or of Charlemagne downward, he contented himself with biographies of those heroes, and began his task in the fourteenth century, when literature had so far developed as to afford the novelist some material for his
said,
it

As we have
his

country in romance.

background.
fired the

It was Barante's work deahng with this era which author to attemj)t " Isabel de Baviere," and he saw no

reason for going backwards

forth,

down

history for his subjects.

is
it

Hencehistories
fulfilled

although there are gaps, there

scarcely a reign which he

best to

does not touch.

We

have thought

add the

and

historical plays to the romances, to

show

that

Dumas

one form or another. The task was practically completed with the Napoleonic romances, although one or two intermittent attempts to bring the record up to his own time were made by Dumas. The reign of Louis XI. was probably abandoned by the author because of "Quentin Durward," and the episode of the death of Charles the Bold, Louis's enemy,
his intentions in

because of

"Anne

of Geierstein."

1328 The House of Valois

VI. ascends

Philip Edward of
III.

"La Comtesse de
bury."

Salis-

England claims the French

crown Anglo-French
1350 John
II.

Wars.

Poitiers

Regency
351

of Charles

"The Dauphin."


APPENDIX A
War
V. Spanish French interposition
Civil

352
1364 Charles

"

Le Batard de Mauleon."

under du Guesclin. His insanity 1389 Charles VI. The feuds of the Burgundians

" Isabel de Baviere."

and Armagnacs. 1415 Agincourt. 1422 Charles VII. and Agnes Sorel,
etc.

"Charles
grands
gedy).

VII.

chez
"

ses
(tra-

Vassaux
la

1429-31 Joan of Arc.

1461 Louis XI. 1477 Charles the Bold of Burgundy slain by the Swiss.

"Jehanne

Pucelle"

(chronique).

" Charles

le

Temeraire

"

(biography).

1483 Charles VIII.

Louis XII.
15 Francis
I.

"Field
"The
etc.

of the
Refor-

Cloth of Gold

mation (15 1 7),

1540 Charles V. and Francis Calais 1547 59 Henri II.

I.

" Ascanio."

from the English

the

War

taken
in

"Les Deux Diane" and " Le Page du Due de

Savoie" (1555-57). " L'Horoscope."

Low

Countries.
II.

1559- 60 Francois

and

Mary

(Queen of

Scots).

1560 Charles IX. 1572 Massacre of St Bartholomew's

Eve.

"

La Reine Margot."

1574 Death of Charles. 1574 89 Henri III. Assassination Death of of Due D'Anjou HuguenotSt Megrin, etc. Catholic Wars. 1589 1610 Henri IV. The wars of Edict of the Holy League

" La

Dame de Monsoreau "

;

"Les Quaranteand " Henri Trois Cinq " et Sa Cour " (drama). "Henri IV." (biography).

Nantes,

etc.


APPEXDIX A
1610-2S Louis

" ;

353
Comte
de Moret," Colombe," "Les

RichelieuXIII. Capture of La Rochelle, etc.

Lc

"La

Trois Mousquetaires." (See also " Les Grands

1643-60

Mazarin The war of the Fronde Coland Fouquet The and de loves (De Montespan) The Man
Louis XIV.
bert
king's
la Valliere

'

Hommes en Robe-dcChambre.") La Guerre des Femmes "

(1650) and "Vingt ans Apres " (the Fronde) " Le Vicomte de Brage-

in

lonne"

the Iron Mask, etc.

(1660); "La Jeunesse de Louis XIV."

(comedy); "Louis XIV. son Siecle" (hiset

tory).

1708 Old age of Louis Marriage with Madame de Maintenon Death of Louis XIV.

'

Sylvandire."

17 1 7

The Regency of
D'Orleans.

the

Due

" Chevalier d'Harmenthal (Cellamare conspiracy)

and

''

Une

Fille

du

Regent."
(history).

"LaRegence"
Cleves."
et

1727-29

The youth of Louis XV. 1756 The Seven Years' War Canada won from France by
the English (1760).

Olympe de "Louis XV.

(history).

"

Sa Cour"

1770-74 Last years of Louis Court intrigues, etc.

XV.

"Les Memoires d'un Medecin."

1774 Death of Louis XV. 1774 Louis XVI.

"Le
of the

Testament

de

M.

The

Chauvelin."
affair

"Le

Collier de la Reine."

queen's necklace (1784). 1789 The Revolution.

" Ingenue," " Louis XVI. et

la

Revolution

" (history).

1789 Taking of the

Bastille.

"Ange

Pitou"

("The

Taking of the

Bastille").


APPENDIX A
The Royal
flight

354
]

79

Family's attempted
etc.

"

La Comtesse de Charny,"

from France,

"La
rennes
"

Route
"

de

Va-

(history).

1793 Execution of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette Reign of Terror The Revolution,

Le Chevalier de MaisonRouge"; "Les Blancs

et
les

Bleus

"

and

from Valmy and Jemappes

to the fall of Robespierre.

" Blanche de Beaulieu " " Le Docteur Mysteri-

eux " and " La Fille du " NinetyMarquis "

;

three " (history).

1798-9 French in Italy Conquest and loss of Naples.

"

La San

Felice."

1799-1S00 The

Directoire

Royalist
1

Vendee

Rise

La

" Les

Compagnons
"

de

of Napoleon

Jehu

and

"

Les Blancs
Bleus"

conspiracies.

et les Bleus."

801 Napoleon in Egypt

Acre,
etc.

Siege

of

"Les Blancs
(second
"

et les

series).

1805 Napoleon's Continental

paigns.

Cam-

Le Trou de

I'Enfer."

and

181

" Le Capitaine Richard." 2 The Russian Expedition. 1814 Louis XVIIL The "Hundred " Black," " Monte Cristo." Days " Return of Napoleon

from Elba.
1

8 15 Waterloo.

" Napoleon " (history) " Napoldon " (drama).

1824 Death of Louis XVIIL and Accession of Charles X. 1S30 The Revolution of July Charles X. flies to England, Louis Philippe, king. Duchesse de Berri's 1832 The " Second Vendee."

" Dieu dispose."

"Les Louves de Machecoul."

APPENDIX
The Chief Events
in

B.

Dumas's Life, with their Dates.

Birth at Villers-Cotterets

Death of

his Father,

General

Dumas

.... ....
.

July 24, 1802

1806
181

Becomes a Clerk with M. Mennesson, the Notary Becomes a Clerk with M. Lefevre, Crepy Runaway trip to Paris
. . . . .
.

1822

1822

Return to Paris Clerkship in the Orleans Bureau Birth of Alexandre Dumas _/?/$ Production of " La Chasse et 1' Amour " September 22, Publication of " Nouvelles Contemporaines " Kean and the English Shakespeare Company in Paris Production of " Henri Trois," Theatre Frangais Feb. 10 Production of " Christine " at the Odeon March 29 "The Revolution of July"; the Soisson Expedition July 30 and 31, " The Revolution in La Vendee ; as Special Com" missioner August " Production of " Antony Attacked by the Cholera Gaillardet and " La Tour de Nesle" Publication of " Isabel de Baviere"
.
.
.

.....

1823 1824 1825 1826

1827

1829 1830
1830

....

Swiss Travels
Visit to

England
in

Travels

Sicily

.....
the
.

.... ....

South of France,
etc.

Corsica

Travels in H)eres, Etna, Naples,

Death of Durnas's Mother Travels in Belgium and on the Rhine Production of " Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle"
355

356

APPENDIX B
.
.

Marriage with Mdlle. Ida Ferrier.

March 1840
1

Residence in Italy Production of " Una Mariage sous Louis XV." Voyage with Louis Napoleon Production of " Les Demoiselles de St Cyr"
Finally rejected by the

840-1-2

1841

1842
.
.

Academie

Publication of " Les Trois Mousquetaires " and "

Cristo"

........
.

....
Monte
.
.

1843
1843

1844
1846-7

Travels in Spain and along the N. coast of Africa

Opening of Dumas's Theatre, the " Historique " February 1847 Opening of the "Palace" of Monte Cristo July 1847 Second Republic Dumas a Candidate for the Chamber
:

of Deputies

1848
leaves Paris for Brussels
. .

Coup

d'etat

Dumas
:

185

Return
Visit to

to Paris

the " Mousquetaire " founded,

with

Dumas

as Editor

and Chief Contributor

England

Nov. 12, 1853 May-June, 1857

.

Travels in Russia and the Caucasus

Joins Garibaldi's Sicilian Expedition
Stay in Naples

1858-9

Return to Paris
Travels in
Austrian

.... ....
by

May
.

i860 1864

1860-64

Germany

(Frankfort), etc.

after the Prusso-

War

Lectures at the Havre Exhibition

Seized with illness

1S66 1868

Taken

to Puys, near Dieppe,

Death there Body removed

Unveiling of

.....
his

Son

1869 1S70

December
Son
in
.

5,

1870
187,?

to Villers-Cotterets

by

his

May
4,

the

Statue

Malesherbes, Paris

....
to

Dumas,

the

Place

November

1883

APPENDIX C
List of Books by

Dumas or Attributed to him, with their Approximate Dates of Publication and Remarks on their Authenticity.
almost impossible for any student of

It

is

Dumas

to compile a

and accurate bibliographical list of his works. They were published, some in Paris, some in Brussels, in varying forms and with different titles, and the works of reference available
perfectly exhaustive
for our

purpose are incomplete.

Even

the Bibliotheque Nationale,

Paris, has not a

complete
of

set of his works.

But

for the use of the

It is

ordinary reader the following table will be found adequate.

Dumas's works as given by Calmann-Levy, the authorised publishers, with one or two additions,^ and is prepared from the notes afforded by Glinel, Parran and Querard, supplemented by the information supplied in Dumas's various autobiographical writings and in the biographical sketches on Dumas, etc., and by our own researches and information privately supplied For the comments respecting the genuineness or otherto us. wise of the books the writer is, of course, solely responsible, although in most cases his opinion is that of the majority of the impartial critics who have dealt with the subject. For the convenience of readers those books not ordinarily accessible in English are printed in italics, and to facilitate reference the
based on the
list

works
order.

are

given
of the

in

alphabetical

rather

than

chronological

Several

dates

have been kindly supplied by M.M.

Calmann-Levy.
^ Those books starred thus Calmann-Levy series.

are

the only ones

not

included

in

the

357

358

APPENDIX C
Romances and Autobiographical Works.
Name OF Book.
Pi.nfi^lTi'!iM

Remarks

re

Authenticity, etc.

Acte

1839

Amaury

1844

Mainly Dumas's, but probably finished by an assistant. Q) Writteti by P. Meurice, probably under Dumas's
supervision.

Ange Pitou

(or

"Talc

1853

ing the Bastille ")

For explanation of the abrupt end see Part III. We believe

that
this

book

is

solely

Dumas's.

Ascanio

1843
1862

Dumas,

in

collaboration with

Meurice.

Une Avenlure cT Amour

Dumas.
tains

This volume also con"Herminie" or "Une Amazone."

original, half derived

Les Aventures de Johi

1840

Stated by Thackeray to be half

Davys
Aventures de Lyderic

from an

anonymous work.
1842

The

story

of Siegfried.

See

"La
Le Batard de Mauleon
Black Les Blancs Bleus

Bouillie," etc.

1846
1858

In collaboration with Maquet,

who
et
les

finished the romance.

1867-8-9?

Dumas's

"The
de
la

last work. Contains Eighth Crusade."

-

La

Bouillie

1844

fairy

tale

for

children.

Com.'esse Berthe

Followed, in Cahnann-Levy,

La Boule de Neige ("The Snowball")

Bric-a-Brac

1853
1

Written by
linsky.

by "Aventures de Lyderic." Dumas from Marpapers and autobio-

86

Fugitive

graphical

"mems."

Un

Cadet de Famille

i860

A translation, at tlie direction of

Dumas, of Trelawney's " Adventures of a Younger Son."

APPENDIX C
Name
of Book.

359
re Autiienticitv, etc.

Year of
Publication.
1

Remarks

Le Le

Cajn'faine

Pamphile
Paul

840

Written

by

Dumas
to

for

children's journal.

Capitaine

1832 1858

Dumas's

sequel

Fenimore

(Jones)

Cooper's " Pilot."

Lc Capitaine Richard
Catherine Bliuii

1854

Undoubtedly Dumas. Said to have been suggested by Iffland's "Gardes Forestiers." Dymas. Translation out of
print.

Causeries

i860

collection of autobiographia,

jeux

d'esprit

and

sporting

Contains also D.'s impressions of England.

sketches.
Ceci/e,

or Lc Robe de

1S43
1841

Probably mainly by a collaborator.

Noce

La

Chasse au Chastre

Dumas.

Licluded in the " Im-

pressions de

Voyage "("Le

Le Chasseur de Sauvagiiie

1859

L.e

Chateau D'JEppsteift

844

Midi de la France"). Probably written by Dumas from a story supplied by the Comte de Cherville. According to Dumas, narrated
to

him
his.

in

1841.

Probably

not

Le Chevalier D'Harmenthal (or

1843

Dumas, with the

Maquet.

assistance of

"The
1846
1849-50
185

Consi)irators ")

Le

Chevalier de Maison-Rouge Le Collier de la Reine

Ditto.

See "Memoires d'un Medecin."

Ditto.

La

Co'ombe

Dumas.

Bound with
le

" Maitre

Adam
Les Compagnons de Jehu Le Comte de Monte
Cristo

Calabrais" (C.L.).

1857

Dumas.

Probably with

Paul

Bocage's assistance.

1844

Dumas, with the assistance of

Maquet.

360
Name
of Book.

APPENDIX C
Year of Publication.

Remarks

re Authenticity,

etc

*Le Comte de Moret

1866 de
1853-5

Dumas.

Not

available either

La

Conitesse

Dumas

in French or English. alone. See " Memories

Charny

d'un Medecin."

La

Conitesse de Sails-

1839
1857

First chapter fiction

the rest a

Iniry

mere

chrojiiqtie

of history.

Les Confessiojis de ia

Marquise
Consciejice

Part of a version of the " Memoires de Madame du

Deffand."

Not by Dumas.
the basis

P Innocent

1853

Written by

Dumas on

''orTEnfafit"

of some chapters in Hendrik Conscience's "Conscrit."

*Crimes Celebres

1839-40

Under the
and

editorship of Dumas, most of the articles written by him. (See Part

III.).

La Dame de Monsoreau (" Chicot the

Jester ")

1846

Dumas, with the

Cinq."

assistance of

Maquet. See " Les Quarante-

Not a

sequel to "

La

Reine Margot."

La Dame

de Volupte

1863

From

the "

Memoires de Mdlle.
Unlikely to be

de Luynes." by Dumas.

Les Deux Diane

1846-7

It

is

said

that

Dumas,

in

a
in

letter written to

Meurice

1865, gives that ex-collaborator the entire " honours "

'

of

this

historical

romance.
the

He
plot,

probably

dictated

Les Deux Remes

1864
1852

The same no doubt applies to " Le Page Ju Due de Savoie." " La Sequel to Dame de
however.
Volupte."

Dieu

dispose

Dumas. Sequel de I'Enfer."

to

"Le Trou

APPENDIX
Name
of Book.

C
re

361
Authenticity, etc.

Year ok
Publication.

Remarks

Le Docteur MystMeux

1872

Dumas.
form

Published
Fille

in

pos.thumously.

book See

"La
Ejnma Lyonna
1865

du Marquis."

Sequel to "La San Felice. " Emma" is Lady Hamilton,

on whose reputed Memoirs

Dumas
La Femme au
de Velours
Fcriiande
Collier

is

said to have based

the work.

1851

Dumas.

" After "

Hoffmann.

1844

Not Dumas.
Auger.

Claimed by H.

La

Fille dti

Marquis

1872

Sequel to " Le Docteur Mysterieux."

Une

Fille

du Regent

1845

Dumas
ance.

with

Maquet's

assist-

Le Fils du Forcat
Les Freres Corses

i860
1845

Dumas

in

collaboration

with

Gabriel Lamberi

1844

Georges

an anonymous assistant. With Undoubtedly Dumas. bound this (in C.-L.) is " Otho I'Archer." Either based on fact as alleged, or on a story supplied to Dumas. Attributed by some to Mallefille. Much more probably
by

Dumas
with

with

Mallefille's

assistance.

La Guerre des mes (Nanon)

Fern-

1845-6
1

Dumas
ance.

Maquet's

assist-

Histoire de mes Bites

868

Dumas

chatting on
:

pets,

ser-

vants, etc.

with

some

auto-

biographical episodes.
Histoire
Noisette

d'un

Casse-

1844

Translated and adapted from

Hoffmann's name.

book

of

that

362
Name of
Book.

APPENDIX C
Year of
Publication.

L'Homme

aux Contes

1858

L'Horoscope

"

APPENDIX C
XT Name of
T5 Book.

363
re

Year of
Publication.

r F.MARKS

Authenticity, etc.

Ma'ttre
brais

Adam
^

ie

Cala-

1840

Unquestionably Dumas. Bound

with

"La Colombe."
From

Colla-

borator: Fiorentino.

Les Mariages de Fere

Olifus

1850

Dumas.
land.

materials
visit to

ob-

tained during a

Hol-

Le Marquis d' Escoman (Drames Galantes)

Memoires
d'lin

1861
1856-7

Not by Dumas,

Aveugle

Memoires de Madame da Deffand." See "Les Confessions de la

version

of the "

Les

Memoires d'un Medecin ( " The Memoirs of a Physician ")

1847

Marquise." Not by Dumas. Dumas, with Maquet's assistance. (Sequels " Le Collier de la Reine," " Ange Pitou," " La Comtesse de Charny and "Chevalier de Maison:

Rouge."

Le Meneur de Loups

1857
1852-4

Dumas.
terets.

tale of Villers-Cot-

Mes Memoires
* Memoires d'Horace

i860
1849

The s*ory of his life, 1802-32. Not now accessible.

Said to have been in collaboration with Paul
treatise

Les Milles-ct-un Fantonics

Bocage.

A
with

on

the

horrible,

rather than a story.

Les Mohicans de Farts

1854-5

Dumas

in

collaboration

Bocage.

Translation

now

out of print.
"Salvator."

Followed by
ChateauDuchesse
Sue,

Les Marts vont vite

1861

"Appreciations" of
briand, le

Due
etc.,

et

D'Orleans,

Beranger,

De
Une Nuit h
1

Musset,

by Dumas.

Florence

186 1
by the writer

Dumas.
will shortly

translation

be published.

364
Name
of Book.

APPENDIX C
Year of Publication.

Olympe de Clbves

1852

Le Page du Due de

APPENDIX C
Name of
Book.
-

365
re

Year of Publication.

Remarks

Authenticity,

tc
assist-

Cinq ("The Forty -Five Guardsmen") La Reine Margot

Les

Quarante

1848

Dumas, with Maquet's

ance.

The concluding

por-

tion aictated to his son.

1845

" Marguerite

of

Dumas, with Maquet. book has no sequel.

In a
prefatory
in

This

Valois ")

El Salteador
(In

1854
edition

note

to

this

Dent's

romance
taire,"

the " Mousque-

"The

Brigand").

Dumas disavows

the
it

authorship.
is

Nevertheless

probably by him and one

with

of his 'prentices.
Salvaior

1855-9
1864-5

Dumas,
Proved
only
*'

Bocage.

See

''Les Mohicans de Paris."

La

Safi Felice

to

be by Dumas.
long

His by and
Fa-

untranslated

romance.

Followed

Emma

Lyonna "
d'un

" Souvenirs
vorite."

Smivenirs d'Antony

1835

collection of short stories

by Dumas, previously published

called
after

the hero
play,

of

the

famous
in

Antony
them,

figuring

one
''

of

"Z^ Bal Masquer

others
are
Cabriolet^''

The
de

Le Cocker de
Blanche
"

"

Bcaulieu"

(or

Le
'^

Rose
et

Rouge

"),
*^

" Cherub 1710

Dojn Martyns de Freytas," and " Le Curi Cha7nbard:' Of the

Ceiestint,'^

Bernard,"

untranslated

ones
is

" Chertithe most

bino et Cetestini"

important.

866
Name of
Book.

APPENDIX C
Year
publicatic

Remarks

re Authenticity,

etc

Souvenirs Dra matiques

1868

Colle ction of articles by Dumas:

dramatic
etc.,

criticisms, essays

on

the theatre and

including Shakespeare," "
see a la

the State,
"

William

Mon

Odys-

and commission"
ber)

Frangaise," a report of the " special

Comedie

of 1849 (of which Dumas was a mem-

on the question of the

censorship.

Souvenirs d^un Favorite

Sultanetta

1865

See
"

1859 1844 1867

Sylvandire

San Fehce" and Lyonna." Dum~^'s version of a Russian story by Marlinsky. Dumas with Maquet's assistance.

"La

Emma

La

Terreur Prussienne

The
of

thread of fiction

is

only
the

slight.

Dumas

treats chiefly

Frankfort

during

Prusso- Austrian

War of 1866.
autobio"

Le Testament de M.
Chauvelin

1861

Dumas,
C.-L.

and
also

partly

graphical.

This volume in
contains

Don

Les Trois
taires

Mousque-

1844

Le Trou

de

TEnfer

1 850-1

Bernardo de Zuniga." Dumas, with Maquet's assistance. Founded on Courtils de Sandraz's " Memoires de D'Artagnan." Sequels "Vingt Ans Apres" and " Le Vicomte de Bragelonne." Dumas, possibly with Gerard de Nerval or some other
'prentice

acquainted
Sequel,

Germany.
alone.

with " Dieu

dispose," probably Dumas's

APPENDIX C
Name of
Book.

367
re

Year of
publicai
ion.

Remarks

Authenticity, etc.
assist-

La Tulipe Noire
Le Vicomte de Bragelonne

1850
1848-50

Dumas, with Maquet's

ance.

Dumas, with Maquet. Based taken from on n:atcrial

Madame
"Histoire

de

la

Fayette's

d'Henriette d'Angleterre." See " Les Trois

Mousquetaires."
Utie Vie d' Artiste

1854

Vingt

Ans ("Twenty

Aprt^s

1845

Dumas's account of the early struggles of the comedian, Melingue, the creator of the stage "D'Artagnan." See Dumas, with Maquet.
" Les Trois Mousquetaires."

Years

After")

History Biography,
Charles
le

etc.

Tcmeraire

1859
1851-2

Historical

sketch

of

Charles

the Bold of Burgundy.

Les JDranie de '93

Les Drames de la

See

"Louis

XIV.

et

Son
"

Siecle."

Mer

1852

Includes

" Boutikoe,"

Capitaine

Marion,"

"

Le La

Junon"
Stories

and
of

" Le Kent." shipwreck and

other sea-adventures.
Filles,

Lorettes

et

1873
1861

"Les Serpents"
this

is

included in

Courtisanes

voUune.

Les Garibaldie7is

Dumas's "despatches from the

seat of
baldi's

war" during

Gari-

progress from Sicily to Naples, i860.

Oaule

et

France

1853

rapid survey of French history from the earliest time, ending with a remarkable

prophecy

as to the future.

368
Name OP
BOOK.

APPENDIX C
pZlZrIcu.
Remarks
re

Authenticity, etc.

Les Grands Hommes efi

Robe-de-chambre :

Part of a scheme

for

a series

biographies

of

great

men
new

Cesar

1857-S

from the

earliest to the latest

Henri IV.
Louis
XIII.,
et

1866 1866
1863
1852

period, written from a

point of view.
Originally

Richelieu

* Histoire des Bourbons

Histoire
de

written

in

Italian,
"

Louis

Borboni di Napoli." or " Histoire de Dix-Huit Ans

I

"

Philippe

(1830-48), published in 1853, and again, "Le Dernier Roi."

Les

Hommes

de Fer

1867

republished collection of " studies " of Pepin, Charle-

magne,
Italiens et

etc.

Flamands

1846

Appreciative
painters
Botticelli,
etc., etc.

Andrea

sketches

of

del Sarto,
Diirer,

Holbein,

Jehanne
Louis
Siecle

la Pucelle
et

1842

XIV.

Son

1844-5

The

" chronique " of Joan of Arc. first of a series of" histori-

cal eras"

which ended with

historical

the

"Drame de '93." Dumas's

important

most
work.

Louis Louis

XV.

et sa

Cour
et

1849
1

The
Ditto
:

series

continued

("

La

Regence

" intervening).

XVI.

la

850-1

Revolution

the

series,

followed by the last of "'93."

Les Medicis

1845

Should be read in connection

with " Trois Maitres " and " Italiens et Flamands."

Mimoires de Garibaldi

i860

An

ploits in S.

account of Garibaldi's exAmerica, written

materials

by Dumas from
^ Mimoires de Talma
1850
Written

afforded by Garibaldi himself.

by
left

Dumas
by Talma.

from

materials

APrEXDIX c
Name op
Book.

369

370
Name
OP Book.

APPENDIX C
pJ^rc^TToN.

Remarks

re

Authenticity, etc.

Un

Gil Bias en Call-

1852

Published by Dumas, with an

introduction by him.

fornie

Impressions de Voyage
en Russie

i860

Followed by " Le Caucase."

and

'65

Impressions de Voyage
en Suisse

1833

Dumas's
best.

first

book of

travel,

thought by

many

to

be his

Mhnoires d'un Maitre d'Armes

840

Classified

by

Calmann-Levy

as " travels."
his

Dumas

edited

friend

Grisier's

impres-

sions of St Petersburg, etc.

There

is

a slight element of

narrative.

Le Midi de

la France

1841

Followed by " Une Annee a Florence" and "La Villa Palmieri." This book concludes with " La Chasse au
Chastre."

Un Pays

Inconnu

1865 1839

Not Dumas. Notes on

travel

Brazilian

by another hand.

Quinze Jours au Sinai

Written by

Dumas from notes by Baron Taylor, and drawings by Dauzats.

Sicily.

Le Speronare

1842

Impressions of

Written

with the help of Fiorentino. " Capitaine Followed by

Arena" and " Le Corricolo."

Le

Veloce

Account of Dumas's visit to Tangiers, Algiers and Tunis,

etc.

Sequel to "

De

Paris a

Cadix."

La Vie au Desert

i860

Simply a translation of R. G. Gordon-Cumming's book on

the

adventures

of

lion

hunter in Africa.


APPENDIX C
Namk
of Book.

371
re

PuuficATioN

Remarks

Authenticity, etc.

La

Villa

Pabnieri

1843

Souvenirs
"

of
"

Florence.

See

Une Annee

Florence."

Contains

Un

Alchimiste
Sicclc."

du Dix-Neuvieme

The
follows

sixty-six plays are issued in twenty-five one-franc

volumes,

or fifteen volumes
:

at

f.

50

c, by

MM.

Calmann-Levy, as

La Chasse Henri IIL sa Cour. Tome IL Napoleon Bonaparte. Antony. Charles VIL chez grands vassaux. Tome IIL Richard Darlington. Teresa. Le Mari de Veuve. Tome IV. La Tour de Nesle. Angele. Catherine Howard. Tome V. Don Juan de Marana. Kean. Tome VI. Paul Jones. Alchimiste. Tome VII. Mademoiselle de Un Mariage sous Louis XV.^Lorenzino. Tome VIII. Halifax. Les Demoiselles de Saint-Cyr. Louise Bernard. Tome IX. Le Laird de Dumbiki. Une du Regent. Tome X. La Reine Margot. Intrigue Amour. Tome XL Le Chevalier de Maison-Rouge. Hamlet. Le Cachemire Monte-Cristo Tome XII. Monte-Cristo Tome XIII. Le Comte de Morcerf de Monte-Cristo). de Monte-Cristo). Tome XIV. La Jeunesse des Mousquetaires. Les MousTome XV. Le Chevalier d'Harmental. Tome XVI. La Guerre des Femmes. Le Comte Hermann. Trois Entr'actes pour r Amour medecin. Tome XVII. Urbain Grandier. Le Vingt-Quatre
Tome Y\ Comment
et je devins auteur dramatique. et I'Enterrement.

I'Amour.

La

Noce

et

Christine.

ses

la

Piquillo.

Caligula.

L'

Belle-Isle.

Fille

et

vert.

(i'^ partie).

(a^partie).

(3^ partie

Villefort (4" partie

quetaires.

Catilina.

Fevrier.

La Chasse au

chastre.


372

APPENDIX C
Clichy.

Le Vampire. La Barribre de Romulus. La Jeunesse de Louis XIV. Le Marbrier. La Tour Tome XX. La Conscience. Jacques. Tome XXL Le Verrou de Reine. LTnvitation k Les Tome XXII. L'Honneur Le Roman L'Envers d'une conspiration. Tome XXIII. Le Gentilhomme de Montagne. La Dame de Monsoreau. Tome XXIV. Les Mohicans de Gabriel Lambert. Bleus. Tome XXV. Madame de Chamblay. Les Blancs Simples dramatique.
Tome XVIII. Tome XIX.
L'Orestie.
la

Saint-

la valse.

Forestiers.

est satisfait.

d'EIvire.

la

Paris.

et les

lettres sur I'Art

(Maurel adds

" Les Freres Corses," and " Pauline," but there

their public production.)

is

no record of

APPENDIX

D.

List of Books Consulted in the Preparation OF THIS Work

The following list whom information

About,

gives only the

names

of those authorities from

i.e.

has been obtained,

:

represents about half

the books actually consulted

Edmond

(see

"Monument

^ A.

Dumas").
Nov.

Asseline, A., "Courrier d'a-u^xeioxs" {L'Independance Beige,

20, 1870).

Audebrand, P., "A. Dumas k la Maison D'Or." Banville, Theodore de, " Mes Souvenirs." " Odes Funambulesques." Beauvoir, Roger de, " Soupeurs de Mon Temps," with preface by A. Dumas.
Blackwood's Magazine, 1835-72 inclusive. " Brown, Oliver Madox," by J. H. Ingram.
Bury,

Henry Blaze

de, " A.

Dumas,

sa vie, son temps, son ceuvre."

Carpenter, G.
last?"

C, Forum, June

1899, on "Will Dumas's novels

Byron and other Essays " ("Alexandre Dumas." "Chambers's Encyclopaedia," edition of 1868. New edition (article on Dumas /eV^ by W. E, Henley). Chasles, Philarete, Portrait d'A. Dumas. Cherbuliez, Joel, Revue Critique des Livres Nouvelles, 1830-50.
Chincholle,
Claretie,
J.

Castelar, Emilio, "

C,

"

(see "

Dumas aujourd'hui." Monument \ A. Dumas ").

Conscience, H., " Le Conscrit." " D'Artagnan, Memoirs of," Courtils de Sandraz. " D'Artagnan " E. D'Auriac. Comparison of the romance with
:

the Memoires.
878

374

APPENDIX D
Sir

"D'Artagnan, The Real,"

Magazitie, June 1897).

H. Maxwell,

Bart.

{Blackwood s

Dash, Comtesse, " Memoires d'autres." Deschanel, E., " A pied et en Wagon."

Dowden, Prof. E., " French Literature." Du Camp, Maxime, " Souvenirs Litteraires." Dumas fils, " Le Fils Naturel " (preface) Introductory
;

letter to

" Les Trois Mousquetaires," edition de luxe,

1894; (see also

" Monument a A. Dumas "). Dumas pere^ Autobiographical works

venirs

" Mes

Dramatiques,"

" Causeries,"

" Bric-k-Brac,"
etc.

Memoires," " Sou'* Les

Morts vont vite," " Les Garibaldiens," Romances.

Travels.
Historical Studies.
Plays.

Ferry, Gabriel, " Les Dernieres

Annees d'Alexandre Dumas."

Fiorentino, P. A., " Comedies et Comediens." Fitzgerald, P., " Life and Adventures of Alexander

Dumas."
;

Garnett,

Dr Richard, Introduction
;

to

"The

Black Tulip."

Gautier, Theophile, " Histoire de

Dramatique " " Histoire du Romantisme " "Belles Femmes de Paris." Glinel, C-, "A. Dumas Notes biographique et bibHographique." Goncourt, Edmund and Jules, "Journal." Gordon-Cumming, R. C, "The Adventures of a Lion Hunter in South Africa." Gozlan L., "Almanach Comique," 1848: article on the Chateau
I'art
:

"

Grisier,

le Duel." (Preface by A. Dumas.) Hayward, Abraham, " Biographical Essays." (" A. Dumas.") Heine, H., " Letters on the French Stage." Henley, W. E., "Views and Reviews." Hugo, C, " Les hommes de I'Exil." " Hugo V. au Temoins." Hugo, v., " Les Contemplations."

Monte Cristo." "Les Armes et

L'Illustration, 1846-7.
Janin,
J.,

"Alexandre Dumas."

APPENDIX D
Karr, Alphonse, " Les Guepes " (periodical).

;375

Lang, Andrew, "Essays

in

Little"; "Letters to

Dead Authors."

Communication
Larousse, P.,

to the writer.
la Litteraire

Lanson, G., " Histoire de

Frangaise."

"Grand Dictionnaire

Frangais."

Matthews, Prof., Brander " Frencli Dramatists." Maurel, A., " Les Trois Dumas."
"

Monument

h.

Alexandre Dumas."
:

Speeches by

MM.

About,

Claretie, etc.

Introduction by Duma.s Ji/s.

Mousqjietaire, Le, Journal edited by Dumas. Nisard, D., " Histoire de I'Ecole Romantique."

Nodier, Marie Mennessier, " Charles Nodier."

Parigot, H.,

"Dumas Pere" ("Les Grands

Ecrivains");

"Le

Drame d'Alexandre Dumas."

Parran, A., " Les
Pellissier, G., "

Pifteau, B.,

Romantiques" (Bibliographical notes). Le Mouvement Litteraire au XIX" Siecle." "Dumas en manches de Chemises."
Tixxmsis" {Nineteenth Century, Oct. iSSo).

Pollock,

W. H., "Alex.

Quarterly Review, 1890.

Querard, J. M., Reade, Charles,

1834)-

" Supercheries Litteraires."

"The Eighth Commandment." Romand, H., "A. Dumas" {Revue des Deux Mondes,
W. M. Communication to the writer. Sainte-Beuve, C. A., " Causeries du Lundi."
Rossetti,

Jan. 15,

Saintsbury, Geo., Prof.,

ture."

"Essays"; "History of French

Litera-

Sand, George
Spectator,

Correspondence.

Sechan, "Souvenirs d'un

Homme

de Theatre."
Portraits"; "Letters to his

December 17th, 1870. Stevenson, R. L., "Memories and

family
1

and

friends."

" Stones of Paris," B. E. and C. M. Martir..

^ This book gives interesting details respecting Dumas's various residences in Paris, and the localities mentioned in connection wih the leading romances the scene of the quadruple duel in " Les Trois

Mousquetaires,"

etc.

376

APPEISDIX D
Communication
to the writer.

Swinburne, A. C, Essays ("Charles Reade").

Thackeray,

W.

M., " Paris Sketch-Book"

")
;

"Roundabout Papers"

("A
1847.

Peal of Bells

Letters to the Revue Britannique,

Trelawney, " Adventures of a Younger Son."

Vandam,

A., "

An Englishman

in Paris."

Villemessant, " Memoires d'un Journaliste.

Walkley, A.
Weiss,
J.

B.,

"Playhouse Impressions."
et les

"

Le Theatre

Mceurs."

INDEX
{For Dumas's dramatic iVorks
see
see " Plays ; "for his other Writings " Works.")

Chateaubriand, 66, 162, 190, 265

About,

E., ioi, 147, 199, 247, 291,

,35; 342 L'Amiral (Emilie Cordier), 108-10

Cherbuliez, J., 191, 266 Cherville, ConUe de, 249, 251, 254 Chincholle, C, 242 Cholera, visitation, 62
Claretie, J., 331

Asseline, A., 137

Audebrand, P., 97 Auger, H., 198

Comedie

P'rani^aise, 28-9, 3' 37> S^j 55. 69, 71, 86, 98-9, 118, 127, 151, 154, 158, 165

B
Balzac, 147, 157-8, 161, 219, 274, 296, 305, 316 Banville, T. de, 82, 135 Barante, 61, 186, 188 Belgium, Dumas's tour in, 71 Beranger, 17, 129, 162, 265,313 Berri, Duchesse de, 46-7
Bocage, P., 231, 233, 245, 247 Brandes, G. 278 Bret Harte, 326 Brohan (Mdlle. A.), 112, 164 Brussels (Dumas's stay in), 94-5 Bryce, Prof., 333
,

Conscience, H. ("Le Conscrit "), 239 Cooper, Fenimore, 24, 157, 191 Corneille, 19, 27-8, 76, 127, 131, 156

D
DameauxCamelias, La,
144-5,154,

314 D'Artagnan, Maxwell on, 201 " D'Artagnan, Memoires de," 201-5 Dash, Comtesse, 72 Davy de la Pailleterie, Marquis A.,
4, 6 Delacroix, 23, 59, 1 19 Delavigne, C, 17, 23, 25, 36, 75, 313 De Leuven, A., 16-7, 19, 24, 112 De Musset, A., 35, 56, 59, 142, 159, 162, 252, 265 Deschanel, E. 95 Dickens, C, 157, 330 Dorval, Marie, 50, 52, 54, 94, 170, 244, 265
,

Buloz, 25, 1589 Bury, B. de, 92, 98, 141, 143, 146, 149. 153-5, 157, 224-5, 243, 261, 275-6, 300, 310, 337, 340

Byron, 23, 26, 60, 104

Dowden,
C., 206, 211, 241, 296, 322, 334 Cassagnac, G. de, 163, 282, vii Castelar, E., 200, 2S6, 291, 313, 341 Chaffault, du, 92-3, 134, 167 Chambers's Encyclopaedia, 275-6, viii Charles X., 26, 34, 40, 42, 46, 69

Prof. E,, 278 Doyle, Sir A. C-, 227, 326

Carpenter, G.

Du Camp, M.,
263, 301

114-5, 126, 132-4, 140,

Dumas
^'ils,

39, 57, 72, 76, S3, 109, 121-3, 132-3, 142-6, 152-4, 165, 173. 177-S0, 208, 210, 247,
35,

112,

312, 315, 331, 340, 347-8

377

378
Dumas

INDEX
Grisier, 147, 192

continued General, 4, 6-9, 20, 169, 178, 185, 247. 340 Louise-Cessette, 4, 6 Madame {n^e Labouret), 4, 13, 21, 32, 39, 69-70, 163, 185 Madame {uc'e Ferrier), 72-3, 159

Guizot, 84, 171

H
Harel, 48, 62-s Hay ward. A., 99,
273, 296, 329, 338 Heine, H., 68, 162, 310, 332 Henley, W. E., 146, 236, 243, 276,

Madame

(/iVj),

145,

and

ded.

Marie-Alexandre, 50, 72, 109, 121,

Pere, his parentage, 4 ; birth, 4, 8 ; boyhood, 9-15 ; youth, 15-21 ; goes to Paris, 21 ; early dramatic successes, 32-8; first love-affair,

2S2, 312, 317, 343,

viii

Homer, 156, 335 Hugo, C., 112, 165 Hugo, v., 23, 35, 38,
172, 180,

52, 62, 69, 75,

94-5,98, 112, 135,156, 162-5, 170,

183,

38-9; marriage, 73-3; " Trois "Monte Mousquetaires " and his theatre, 86, Cristo, " 76-8 93-4 his chateau, 80, 87, 93-4 exile in Brussels, 94-5 ; " Le visit to Mousquetaire," 96, 97 England, 101-5 ; with Garibaldi, death, 113-15 ; illness, 120-3 I23 ; burial at Villiers-Cotterets, Statue to, 342 123.
; ;
;

202,

267,

2S3,

310-12, 318, 339-40

" Indipendant"

(Journal), 115

Italy, travels in, 67

Jacquot ("E. de
Ferry, G.,
255-6
Feuillet, O., 252 Fiorentino, P. A.,
77,

Mirecourt"), 81-3,

125, 194, 215, 276, 341, vii, viii Janin, J., 63, 78, III-2, 162, 331 90, 106, 116,

171, 173,

K
161,
192,

215, 259, 266, 292, 310 Fitzgerald, P., 6, 81, 87, 115, 223, 259, 282, viii, ix

Karr, A. (" Les Guepes"),

169,

191

Kean, E., 26

Florence (visit to), 73, 76 Foy, General, 22, 267 France, travels in the south Frankfort (visit to), 120

of,

67

Lafayette, Gen., 41-2, 47, 59, 162 La Fayette (Madame de), 205, 2 10- 11
Lamartine, 23, 120, 162, 1S4, 283, 339 Lang, A., 88, loi, 131, 133, 156, 166,

Gaillardet, 63-4
Garibaldi, II3-15, 251 Garnett, Dr, 263, 274, 279, 332, 336, 338-9. 340 Gautier, T., 76, 194, 291 Girardin, Madame de, 85, 1 16, 142, 300 Glinel, C., 108, 155W, 266-7, 277, x Goethe, 27, 60, 157, 295, 312-13 Goncourts, The, 202, 330
"

199, 201, 215, 221, 227, 296, 302-3, 320, 335, ix

291-2,

Lanson, G.

278

Lassagne, 25, 183 Lebay, Madame, 38-9 Lecomte, J., 159-60 Lectures (Dumas's), 119-20 Legion of Htmour, Dumas's, 68

Lemaitre 59, 68
Letters (from Dumas), 109-12, 145-6

Gorki, M., 327

Louis

XVIIL,

14,

26

INDEX
Louis Philippe
(at first

379

Due d'Orleans),

o
Ori.kans, Duke of
(at first Duke of Chartres), 68, 70, 75, 90, 171, 251

22, 31, 33, 36, 40, 46-7, 68, 83, 86, 89. 90, 93, ix

M
Maison D'Or (Dumas
Mallefille, 134, 197,
at),

97

266

Maquet, A., 85, 95-6,

135-6, 195, 205, 215-7, 222, 226-9, 231, 236-8, 245, 290, 292, viii
52, 56, 163

" Marion Delornie,"

6, 41,49, 190, 202, 210, 211, 221, 225, 236, 243, 258, 259, 267,275-6, 27S, 305.315. X Parran, A., 244 Pellisbier, G., 278 Pifteau, B., 128, I76, 253

Parigot, IL,

Mariinsky, 244, 248 Mars, Mdlle., 16, 32, 52, 59 Matthews, Brander, 287, 289, 305,
312, 32S-9, 33S, ix Maurel, A., 250

Plays : L'Alchimiste, 267 Antony,. 23, 32, 49-57,

94,
172,

60,

176,

185,

284-S,

74, 316,

3I7
Angele, 59, 74, 185 Caligula, 68-9, 72, 158, 189, 267, 284, 3i7 Catherine Howard, 68, 103, 298
Charles ^'II. et ses Grands Vassaux, 56-7, 267

Melingue, 112, 136, 245 Merimee, P., 162, 22 Im Mery, L., 112, 193, 200 Meurice, P., 89, 112, 198, 220, 228, 246
Michelet, J., 241, 315, 340 "^Jirecourt, E. de " (j^(S Jacquot) " Mois, le " (Journal), 90 Moliere, 27, 76, 2S8-9, 295 " Monte Cristo and his wife," 214;/
Cristo, Chateau of, 80-1, 87-9, 93, 94, 140, 265 " Monte Cristo " (Journal), loi Monte Cristo (Visit to Isle of), 73

La Chasse

et

1'

Amour,

24, 151

Chevalier de Maison-Rouge, 91 Christine, 28-30, 37-8, 49, 68, 176M, 313

Monte

Le Comte Hermann,
235, 2S6-7

94,

153, 171

La Conscience, 98, 164, 287 Les Demoiselles de St Cyr, 71, 99,

162

Montpensier,

Duke

of, 78, 83,

85-6-7,

Don Juan
3i7

de Marana, 68, 284, 286,

9 " Mourir pour la patrie" (song), 91 " Mousquetaire, Le," 96, loi, 137, 164, 2I4

Halifax, 153, 226

Hamlet
Henri

(translation of), 89
III.

et sa Cour, 30-34, 36, 163, 184, 217, 220, 284-5 L'Invitation a la Vake, lOl

N
Naples (Dumas
Napoleon,
14-16, 140 240, 248, 262 III., 66, 73, 90, 118, 122,
at),
1

Kean, 68, 103, 298, 3I7 Mademoiselle de Belle-Isle, 71, 151, 170, 229 Une Mariage sous Louis Quinze,
71

7, 9, 14, 103,

Napoleon
295

Le Marbrier, 98, 287 Le Mari de la Veuve, 62

Monte-Cristo, 94, 218 La Noce et L'Enterrement, 25 Napi^leon, 48 Richard Darlington, 56-9, 74, 94,
103, 176,

Nisard, D., 281, 298, 305 Nodier, C, 23, 34-5, 65,

2,-5. 24''', 256 Nodier, Marie, 34-5 Norval, G. de, 258

HI,

162,

220

380
riays

INDEX
W., 23, 26, 28, 61, 104, 133. 157. 186, 189, 190, 222, 254, 261, 293-4-5, 3^2,, 317-26, 327, 334 Scribe, E., 73-5, 133, 162 Shakespeare, 16, 19, 26, 27-8, 104, 153, 156-7, 209, 223, 265, 285, 287Scott, Sir
.8-9, 295,

continued Romulus, 98, 154 Teresa, 59 La Tour de Nesle, 63-4, 74, 184, 284, 286, 290, 316 Les Trois Mousquetaires, 136, 152 For- full list ofplays see Appendix C. ( Pollock, W. H., 63-4, 127, 132, 275,
295, ix

Sicily

3", 3 12, 315, (Dumas in), 114

334, 336, 340

Poetry by Dumas, 267-8 Porchcr, 139, 159

Puys, 121-3

50-1,

56-7,

70,

"Psyche, Le," 25, 267

Sienkiewicz, H., 191, 322 Soissons (Dumas's exploit at), 42-6 "Son of Porthos, The," 214;? Soulie, F., 28, 37, 162 Spain, Dumas's visit to, 83-4 Stevenson, R. L. 125, 168, 207-8, 213, 276, 296, 303, 306, 327, 340,
,

" Stones of Paris,"

Sue, E., 59, 216

345

16 and app.

" Quarterly Review," 277

Querard, 228,
viii,

ix

Swinburne, A. C, 162, 184, 234, 307, 316, 340 Switzerland, Dumas's travels in, 66

"Sylphe,

La"

(poem), 268

R
Racine,
Reade,

C,
288

28, 36, 156, 295 96, 195, 215,

273, 294,

339

Talma,
des deux Mondes," 25, 61,

"Revue
158,

16, 19, 32 Taylor, Baron, 29, 260

Rhine, Dumas's travels on, 71 Romand, H. (on Dumas), 176 Rossetti, D. G., 233, 316-17 Rossetti, W. M., 233, 317 Rossini, 59, 153, 162 Rostand, 315 Rousseau, 129 Russia (Dumas's tour in), 106-8

Tennyson, 186 Thackeray, W.

M., 68, 157, 196, 201, 207, 293, 316, 326 Theatre (Dumas's), 86-7, 93-4, 218
Thierry, A., 62, 184, 186

191,
1

19,

U
United States,

Dumas

and, 116-7

C. a., 35, 267, St Germain, 89 Saintsbury, Prof., 188, 192, 196, 219, 227, 250, 252, 280, 291, 321, 328, 333 Sale of Dumas's work, 122 Sand, George, 142, 158, 162,

Sainte-Beuve,

280
206, 306,

Vandam, A.,
1

89;;,

loo,

141,

14S,

76M Vendee, La, 46-7

A'ictoria (Queen),

99

230,

274. 314 Sardou, V., 313, 315

Schiller, 17, 19, 27, 28, 153, 157, 285, 311, 313

Victor Emmanuel, 115 Villemessant, 76-8, 99, 132, 140, 144,

344
Villers-Ccttercts, 123, 167, 170, 237, 239, 240, 243, 247, 254 Virgil, 157

Schlegel, A.

W., 248

INDEX
w
W
" Waverley," 323-4 Melanie, 49 Works by Dumas, or him
,
:

381

Works continued La Femme au collier de

attributed

to

Acte, 190, 194

Amaury, 198 Ange Pitou, 10, 236-8

Ascanio, 219
I42, 252 Aventures de Lyderic, 194 Aventures de John Davys, 191 Le Batard de Mauleon, 227 Black, 248 Les Blancs et les Bleus, 256 La Bouillie de la Comtesse Berthe, 257 La Boule de Neige, 244 Bric-a-Brac, 154, 228, 265 Un Cadet de famille, 251 Le Capitaine Pamphile, 193

Une Amazone, 252 Une Aventure d'amour,

velours, 235 Fernande, 197 Une Y\\\q du Regent, 196 Le Fils du For9at, 249 Les Freres Corses, 220, 223 Gabriel Lambert, 220 Les Garibaldiens, 263 Gaule et France, 261 Georges, 197 Un Gil- Bias en Californie, 108 Les Grands Hommes en robe de

Chambre

Cesar, 261 Henri IV., 261

Louis

Xin.

et Richelieu,

261

La Guerre des Femmes,

220, 222

Ilistoire des Bourbons, 253 Ilistoire de Louis I'hilippe, 261 Histoire d'un casse-noisette, 258 Histoire de mes Betes, 227, 265, 319

Le (^apitaine Paul, 191 Le Capitaine Richard, 247

Catherine Blum, 238, 240
Causeries, loi, 109, 167, 215, 220,

L'Homme aux contes, 258 L'Horoscope, 248 L'lle de Feu, 250 Impressions de Voyage En Suisse, 189, 258
:

265
Cecile, 197

La Le Le Le Le Le La

Chasse au Chastre, 193, 258 Chasseur de Sauvagine, 249 Chateau d'Eppstein, 194 Chevalier d'Harmental, 195, 335 Chevalier de Maison-Rouge, 224 Collier de la Reine, 231 Colombe, 255 Les Compagnonsde Jehu, 103, 147, 217, 246 Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, 76-8,
2i4-9> 233, 245,274

Le Comte de IMoret, 255 La Comtesse de Charny, 237-8, 241 La Comtesse de Salisbury, 188
Conscience I'Innocent, 10, 238-40 Creation et Redemption (Le Docteur mysterieux et La Fille du Marquis), 242

a Plorence, 259 Les Bords du Rhin, 258 Le Capitaine Arena, 259 Le Caucase, 260 Le Corricolo, 253, 259 Le Midi de la France, 193, 258 De Paris a Cadix, 84, 259 Quinze jours au Sinai', 260 En Russie, 260 Le Speronare, 259 Le Veloce, 84, 259 La Villa Palmieri, 259 Ingenue, 233, 245 Isaac Laquedem, 238, 243 Isabel de Baviere, 61, 158, 186, 188, 288, 2S9 Jacquot sans Oreilles, 194 Jehanne la Pucelie, 261 Louis XIV. et son Siecle, 261 Louis XV. et sa Cour, 261

Une Annee

Crimes Cclebres, 266 La Dame de Monsoreau, 226 Les Deux Diane, 228 Dieu dispose, 234 Le Drame de '93, 261 Emma Lyonna, 254

Louis XVI. et la Revolution, 261 Les Louves de Machecoul, 249 Madame de Chaniblay, 251 La Maison de Glace, 250 Maitre Aclam, le Calabrais, 192-3 Le Maitre d'armes, 192 Les Mariages du Pere Olifus, 233

382
Works contimted
Les Medicis, 261 Mes Memoiics, 10, 41, 48,

INDEX
Works
continued Souvenirs d' Antony, 184-5 Souvenirs d'une Favorite, 254 Souvenirs dramatiques, 86, 161,
265, 314 Les Stuarts, 261 Sultanetta, 248 Sylvandire, 198

51, 58, 63, 85, 129, 131, 157, 172, 234, 288, 318 238, 263, 285, Memoires de Garibaldi, 251

Menioires de Talma, 266 Memoires d'Horace, 265 Memoires d'un Medecin, 85, 228 Le Meneur de loups, 247 Les Mille-et-un P'antomes, 231, 242 I^es Moliicans de Paris, 245 Monte-Cribto {see Comte de) Les Morts vont vite, 265 Napoleon, 261 Nouvelles Contemporaines, 24, 184 Une Nuit a Florence, 252 Olympe de Cleves, 236 Le Page du Due de Savoie, 246 Parisiens et Provinciaux, 254 Le Pasteur d'Ashbourne, 238, 244 Pauline, 189 Pascal Bruno, 189 Un Pays inconnu, 260 Le Pere Gigoone, 238, 257 Le Pere La Ruine, 251 La Princesse de Monaco, 245 Les Quarante-Cinq, 166, 230, 233 La Regence, 261 La Reine Margot, 220-2, 304 La Route de Varennes, 262

La Terreur

Prussienne, .20, 2^6n, 262 Le Testament de M. Chauvelin, 50

Les Trois Mousquetaires, 76-8, 122,

173, 184, 199-208, 212, 214, 217, 233, 274, 323-4, 326, 333 Le Trou de I'Enfer, 234, 248 La Tulipe Noire, 231, 234, 276 Le Vicomte de Bragelonne, 207-8,

211-13,233, 298

La Vie au Desert, 251 Une Vie d'Artiste, 245

(/i^r other works, see

Weyman,

Vingt Ans Apres, 208, 212, 298 Appendix C) 221, 326

Yonne (Dumas's candidature

91-3

in the),

Le

Salteador, 244 Salvator, 245 La San Felice, 103, 253,

294

Zola, 297, 330, 340

A-

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