DUMAS' LITERARY CAREER
Just how far Dumas' literary ability was an inheritance, or growth of his
early environment, will ever be an open question. It is a manifest fact
that he had breathed something of the spirit of romance before he came to
Paris.
Although it was not acknowledged until 1856, "The Wolf-Leader" was a
development of a legend told to him in his childhood. Recalling then the
incident of his boyhood days, and calling into recognition his gift of
improvisation, he wove a tale which reflected not a little of the open-air
life of the great forest of Villers-Cotterets, near the place of his
birth.
Here, then, though it was fifty years after his birth, and thirty after he
had thrust himself on the great world of Paris, the scenes of his
childhood were reproduced in a wonderfully romantic and weird
tale--which, to the best of the writer's belief, has not yet appeared in
English.
To some extent it is possible that there is not a little of autobiography
therein, not so much, perhaps, as Dickens put into "David Copperfield,"
but the suggestion is thrown out for what it may be worth.
It is, furthermore, possible that the historic associations of the town of
Villers-Cotterets--which was but a little village set in the midst of the
surrounding forest--may have been the prime cause which influenced and
inspired the mind of Dumas toward the romance of history.
In point of chronology, among the earliest of the romances were those that
dealt with the fortunes of the house of Valois (fourteenth century), and
here, in the little forest town of Villers-Cotterets, was the magnificent
manor-house which belonged to the Ducs de Valois; so it may be presumed
that the sentiment of early associations had somewhat to do with these
literary efforts.
All his life Dumas devotedly admired the sentiment and fancies which
foregathered in this forest, whose very trees and stones he knew so well.
From his "Memoires" we learn of his indignation at the destruction of its
trees and much of its natural beauty. He says:
"This park, planted by Francois I., was cut down by Louis-Philippe. Trees,
under whose shade once reclined Francois I. and Madame d'Etampes, Henri
II. and Diane de Poitiers, Henri IV. and Gabrielle d'Estrees--you would
have believed that a Bourbon would have respected you. But over and above
your inestimable value of poetry and memories, you had, unhappily, a
material value. You beautiful beeches with your polished silvery cases!
you beautiful oaks with your sombre wrinkled bark!--you were worth a
hundred thousand crowns. The King of France, who, with his six millions of
private revenue, was too poor to keep you--the King of France sold you.
For my part, had you been my sole possession, I would have preserved you;
for, poet as I am, one thing that I would set before all the gold of the
earth: the murmur of the wind in your leaves; the shadow that you made to
flicker beneath my feet; the visions, the phantoms, which, at eventide,
betwixt the day and night, in the doubtful hour of twilight, would glide
between your age-long trunks as glide the shadows of the ancient
Abencerrages amid the thousand columns of Cordova's royal mosque."
What wonder, with these lines before one, that the impressionable Dumas
was so taken with the romance of life and so impracticable in other ways.
* * * * *
From the fact that no thorough biography of Dumas exists, it will be
difficult to trace the fluctuations of his literary career with
preciseness. It is not possible even with the twenty closely packed
volumes of the "Memoires"--themselves incomplete--before one. All that a
biographer can get from this treasure-house are facts,--rather radiantly
coloured in some respects, but facts nevertheless,--which are put together
in a not very coherent or compact form.
They do, to be sure, recount many of the incidents and circumstances
attendant upon the writing and publication of many of his works, and
because of this they immediately become the best of all sources of supply.
It is to be regretted that these "Memoires" have not been translated,
though it is doubtful if any publisher of English works could get his
money back from the transaction.
Other clues as to his emotions, and with no uncertain references to
incidents of Dumas' literary career, are found in "Mes Betes," "Ange
Pitou," the "Causeries," and the "Travels." These comprise many volumes
not yet translated.
[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF A MANUSCRIPT PAGE FROM ONE OF DUMAS' PLAYS]
Dumas was readily enough received into the folds of the great. Indeed,
as we know, he made his _entree_ under more than ordinary, if not
exceptional, circumstances, and his connection with the great names of
literature and statecraft extended from Hugo to Garibaldi.
As for his own predilections in literature, Dumas' own voice is
practically silent, though we know that he was a romanticist pure and
simple, and drew no inspiration or encouragement from Voltairian
sentiments. If not essentially religious, he at least believed in its
principles, though, as a warm admirer has said, "He had no liking for the
celibate and bookish life of the churchman."
Dumas does not enter deeply into the subject of ecclesiasticism in France.
His most elaborate references are to the Abbey of Ste. Genevieve--since
disappeared in favour of the hideous pagan Pantheon--and its relics and
associations, in "La Dame de Monsoreau." Other of the romances from time
to time deal with the subject of religion more or less, as was bound to
be, considering the times of which he wrote, of Mazarin, Richelieu, De
Rohan, and many other churchmen.
Throughout the thirties Dumas was mostly occupied with his plays, the
predominant, if not the most sonorous note, being sounded by "Antony."
As a novelist his star shone brightest in the decade following,
commencing with "Monte Cristo," in 1841, and continuing through "Le
Vicomte de Bragelonne" and "La Dame de Monsoreau," in 1847.
During these strenuous years Dumas produced the flower of his romantic
garland--omitting, of course, certain trivial and perhaps unworthy
trifles, among which are usually considered, rightly enough, "Le Capitaine
Paul" (Paul Jones) and "Jeanne d'Arc." At this period, however, he
produced the charming and exotic "Black Tulip," which has since come to be
a reality. The best of all, though, are admittedly the Mousquetaire cycle,
the volumes dealing with the fortunes of the Valois line, and, again,
"Monte Cristo."
By 1830, Dumas, eager, as it were, to experience something of the valiant
boisterous spirit of the characters of his romances, had thrown himself
heartily into an alliance with the opponents of Louis-Philippe. Orleanist
successes, however, left him to fall back upon his pen.
In 1844, having finished "Monte Cristo," he followed it by "Les Trois
Mousquetaires," and before the end of the same year had put out forty
volumes, by what means, those who will read the scurrilous "Fabrique des
Romans"--and properly discount it--may learn.
The publication of "Monte Cristo" and "Les Trois Mousquetaires" as
newspaper _feuilletons_, in 1844-45, met with amazing success, and were,
indeed, written from day to day, to keep pace with the demands of the
press.
Here is, perhaps, an opportune moment to digress into the ethics of the
profession of the "literary ghost," and but for the fact that the subject
has been pretty well thrashed out before,--not only with respect to Dumas,
but to others as well,--it might justifiably be included here at some
length, but shall not be, however.
The busy years from 1840-50 could indeed be "explained"--if one were sure
of his facts; but beyond the circumstances, frequently availed of, it is
admitted, of Dumas having made use of secretarial assistance in the
productions which were ultimately to be fathered by himself, there is
little but jealous and spiteful hearsay to lead one to suppose that he
made any secret of the fact that he had some very considerable assistance
in the production of the seven hundred volumes which, at a late period in
his life, he claimed to have produced.
The "_Maquet affaire_," of course, proclaims the whilom Augustus Mackeat
as a _collaborateur_; still the ingenuity of Dumas shines forth through
the warp and woof in an unmistakable manner, and he who would know more
of the pros and cons is referred to the "_Maison Dumas et Cie_."
Maquet was manifestly what we have come to know as a "hack," though the
species is not so very new--nor so very rare. The great libraries are full
of them the whole world over, and very useful, though irresponsible and
ungrateful persons, many of them have proved to be. Maquet, at any rate,
served some sort of a useful purpose, and he certainly was a confidant of
the great romancer during these very years, but that his was the mind and
hand that evolved or worked out the general plan and detail of the
romances is well-nigh impossible to believe, when one has digested both
sides of the question.
An English critic of no inconsiderable knowledge has thrown in his lot
recently with the claims of Maquet, and given the sole and entire
production of "Les Trois Mousquetaires," "Monte Cristo," "La Dame de
Monsoreau," and many other of Dumas' works of this period, to him, placing
him, indeed, with Shakespeare, whose plays certain gullible persons
believe to have been written by Bacon. The flaw in the theory is apparent
when one realizes that the said Maquet was no myth--he was, in fact, a
very real person, and a literary personage of a certain ability. It is
strange, then, that if he were the producer of, say "Les Trois
Mousquetaires," which was issued ostensibly as the work of Dumas, that he
wrote nothing under his own name that was at all comparable therewith; and
stranger still, that he was able to repeat this alleged success with
"Monte Cristo," or the rest of the Mousquetaire series, and yet not be
able to do the same sort of a feat when playing the game by himself. One
instance would not prove this contention, but several are likely to not
only give it additional strength, but to practically demonstrate the
correct conclusion.
The ethics of plagiarism are still greater and more involved than those
which make justification for the employment of one who makes a profession
of _library research_, but it is too involved and too vast to enter into
here, with respect to accusations of its nature which were also made
against Dumas.
As that new star which has so recently risen out of the East--Mr.
Kipling--has said, "They took things where they found them." This is
perhaps truthful with regard to most literary folk, who are continually
seeking a new line of thought. Scott did it, rather generously one might
think; even Stevenson admitted that he was greatly indebted to Washington
Irving and Poe for certain of the details of "Treasure Island"--though
there is absolutely no question but that it was a sort of unconscious
absorption, to put it rather unscientifically. The scientist himself calls
it the workings of the subconscious self.
As before said, the Maquet _affaire_ was a most complicated one, and it
shall have no lengthy consideration here. Suffice to say that, when a case
was made by Maquet in court, in 1856-58, Maquet lost. "It is not justice
that has won," said Maquet, "but Dumas."
Edmond About has said that Maquet lived to speak kindly of Dumas, "as did
his legion of other _collaborateurs_; and the proudest of them
congratulate themselves on having been trained in so good a school." This
being so, it is hard to see anything very outrageous or preposterous in
the procedure.
Blaze de Bury has described Dumas' method thus:
"The plot was worked over by Dumas and his colleague, when it was finally
drafted by the other and afterward _rewritten_ by Dumas."
M. About, too, corroborates Blaze de Bury's statement, so it thus appears
legitimately explained. Dumas at least supplied the ideas and the
_esprit_.
In Dumas' later years there is perhaps more justification for the thought
that as his indolence increased--though he was never actually inert, at
least not until sickness drew him down--the authorship of the novels
became more complex. Blaze de Bury put them down to the "Dumas-Legion,"
and perhaps with some truth. They certainly have not the vim and fire and
temperament of individuality of those put forth from 1840 to 1850.
Dumas wrote fire and impetuosity into the veins of his heroes, perhaps
some of his very own vivacious spirit. It has been said that his moral
code was that of the camp or the theatre; but that is an ambiguity, and it
were better not dissected.
Certainly he was no prude or Puritan, not more so, at any rate, than were
Burns, Byron, or Poe, but the virtues of courage, devotion, faithfulness,
loyalty, and friendship were his, to a degree hardly excelled by any of
whom the written record of _cameraderie_ exists.
Dumas has been jibed and jeered at by the supercilious critics ever since
his first successes appeared, but it has not leavened his reputation as
the first romancer of his time one single jot; and within the past few
years we have had a revival of the character of true romance--perhaps the
first _true_ revival since Dumas' time--in M. Rostand's "Cyrano de
Bergerac."
We have had, too, the works of Zola, who, indomitable, industrious, and
sincere as he undoubtedly was, will have been long forgotten when the
masterpieces of Dumas are being read and reread. The Mousquetaire cycle,
the Valois romances, and "Monte Cristo" stand out by themselves above all
others of his works, and have had the approbation of such discerning
fellow craftsmen as George Sand, Thackeray, and Stevenson, all of whom may
be presumed to have judged from entirely different points of view.
Thackeray, indeed, plainly indicated his greatest admiration for "La
Tulipe Noire," a work which in point of time came somewhat later. At this
time Dumas had built his own Chalet de Monte Cristo near St. Germain, a
sort of a Gallic rival to Abbotsford. It, and the "Theatre Historique,"
founded by Dumas, came to their disastrous end in the years immediately
following upon the Revolution of 1848, when Dumas fled to Brussels and
began his "Memoires." He also founded a newspaper called _Le
Mousquetaire_, which failed, else he might have retrenched and satisfied
his creditors--at least in part.
He travelled in Russia, and upon his return wrote of his journey to the
Caspian. In 1860 he obtained an archaeological berth in Italy, and edited a
Garibaldian newspaper.
By 1864, the "Director of Excavations at Naples," which was Dumas'
official title, fell out with the new government which had come in, and he
left his partisan journal and the lava-beds of Pompeii for Paris and the
literary arena again; but the virile power of his early years was gone,
and Dumas never again wielded the same pen which had limned the features
of Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan.
In 1844 Dumas participated in a sort of personally-conducted Bonapartist
tour to the Mediterranean, in company with the son of Jerome Napoleon. On
this journey Dumas first saw the island of Monte Cristo and the Chateau
d'If, which lived so fervently in his memory that he decided that their
personality should be incorporated in the famous tale which was already
formulating itself in his brain.
Again, this time in company with the Duc de Montpensier, he journeyed to
the Mediterranean, "did" Spain, and crossed over to Algiers. When he
returned he brought back the celebrated vulture, "Jugurtha," whose fame
was afterward perpetuated in "Mes Betes."
That there was a deal of reality in the characterization and the locale of
Dumas' romances will not be denied by any who have acquaintance
therewith. Dumas unquestionably took his material where he found it, and
his wonderfully retentive memory, his vast capacity for work, and his wide
experience and extensive acquaintance provided him material that many
another would have lacked.
M. de Chaffault tells of his having accompanied Dumas by road from Sens to
Joigny, Dumas being about to appeal to the republican constituency of that
place for their support of him as a candidate for the parliamentary
elections.
"In a short time we were on the road," said the narrator, "and the first
stage of three hours seemed to me only as many minutes. Whenever we passed
a country-seat, out came a lot of anecdotes and legends connected with its
owners, interlarded with quaint fancies and epigrams."
Aside from the descriptions of the country around about Crepy, Compiegne,
and Villers-Cotterets which he wove into the Valois tales, "The Taking of
the Bastille," and "The Wolf-Leader," there is a strong note of
personality in "Georges;" some have called it autobiography.
The tale opens in the far-distant Isle of France, called since the English
occupation Mauritius, and in the narrative of the half-caste Georges
Munier are supposed to be reflected many of the personal incidents of the
life of the author.
This story may or may not be a mere repetition of certain of the incidents
of the struggle of the mulatto against the barrier of the white
aristocracy, and may have been an echo in Dumas' own life. It is repeated
it may have been this, or it may have been much more. Certain it is, there
is an underlying motive which could only have been realized to the full
extent expressed therein by one who knew and felt the pangs of the
encounter with a world which only could come to one of genius who was by
reason of race or creed outclassed by his contemporaries; and therein is
given the most vivid expression of the rise of one who had everything
against him at the start.
This was not wholly true of Dumas himself, to be sure, as he was endowed
with certain influential friends. Still it was mainly through his own
efforts that he was able to prevail upon the old associates and friends of
the dashing General Dumas, his father, to give him his first lift along
the rough and stony literary pathway.
In this book there is a curious interweaving of the life and colour which
may have had not a little to do with the actual life which obtained with
respect to his ancestors, and as such, and the various descriptions of
negro and Creole life, the story becomes at once a document of prime
interest and importance.
Since Dumas himself has explained and justified the circumstance out of
which grew the conception of the D'Artagnan romances, it is perhaps
advisable that some account should be given of the original D'Artagnan.
Primarily, the interest in Dumas' romance of "Les Trois Mousquetaires" is
as great, if not greater, with respect to the characters as it is with the
scenes in which they lived and acted their strenuous parts. In addition,
there is the profound satisfaction of knowing that the rollicking and
gallant swashbuckler has come down to us from the pages of real life, as
Dumas himself recounts in the preface to the Colman Levy edition of the
book. The statement of Dumas is explicit enough; there is no mistaking his
words which open the preface:
"Dans laquelle
Il est etabli que, malgre leurs noms en _os_ et en _is_,
Les heros de l'histoire
Que nous allons avoir l'honneur de raconter a nos lecteurs
N'ont rien de mythologique."
The contemporary facts which connect the real Comte d'Artagnan with
romances are as follows:
Charles de Batz de Castlemore, Comte d'Artagnan, received his title
from the little village of Artagnan, near the Gascon town of Orthez in the
present department of the Hautes-Pyrenees. He was born in 1623. Dumas,
with an author's license, made his chief figure a dozen years older, for
the real D'Artagnan was but five years old at the time of the siege of La
Rochelle of which Dumas makes mention. On the whole, the romance is near
enough to reality to form an ample endorsement of the author's verity.
[Illustration: D'ARTAGNAN]
The real D'Artagnan made his way to Paris, as did he of the romance. Here
he met his fellow Bearnais, one M. de Treville, captain of the king's
musketeers, and the illustrious individuals, _Armand de Sillegue d'Athos_,
a Bearnais nobleman who died in 1645, and whose direct descendant, Colonel
de Sillegue, commanded, according to the French army lists of a recent
date, a regiment of French cavalry; _Henry d'Aramitz_, lay abbe of Oloron;
and _Jean de Portu_, all of them probably neighbours in D'Artagnan's old
home.
D'Artagnan could not then have been at the siege of La Rochelle, but from
the "Memoires de M. d'Artagnan," of which Dumas writes in his preface, we
learn of his feats at arms at Arras, Valenciennes, Douai, and Lille, all
places where once and again Dumas placed the action of the novels.
The real D'Artagnan died, sword in hand, "in the imminent deadly breach"
at Maestricht, in 1673. He served, too, under Prince Rupert in the Civil
War, and frequently visited England, where he had an _affaire_ with a
certain Milady, which is again reminiscent of the pages of Dumas.
This D'Artagnan in the flesh married Charlotte Anne de Chanlecy, and the
last of his direct descendants died in Paris in the latter years of the
eighteenth century, but collateral branches of the family appear still to
exist in Gascony, and there was a certain Baron de Batz, a Bearnais, who
made a daring attempt to save Marie Antoinette in 1793.
The inception of the whole work in Dumas' mind, as he says, came to him
while he was making research in the "Bibliotheque Royale" for his history
of Louis XIV.
Thus from these beginnings grew up that series of romances which gave
undying fame to Alexandre Dumas, and to the world of readers a series of
characters and scenes associated with the mediaeval history of France,
which, before or since, have not been equalled.
Alexandre Dumas has been described as something of the soldier, the cook,
and the traveller, more of the journalist, diplomatist, and poet, and,
more than all else, the dramatist, romancer, and _raconteur_. He himself
has said that he was a "veritable Wandering Jew of literature."
His versatility in no way comprised his abilities, and, while conceit and
egoism played a not unimportant share in his make-up, his affability--when
he so chose--caused him to be ranked highly in the estimation of his
equals and contemporaries. By the cur-dogs, which always snap at the heels
of a more splendid animal, he was not ranked so high.
Certain of these were for ever twitting him publicly of his creed, race,
and foibles. It is recorded by Theodore de Bauville, in his "Odes," that
one Jacquot hailed Dumas in the open street with a ribald jeer, when,
calmly turning to his detractor, Dumas said, simply: "Hast thou dined
to-day, Jacquot?" Then it was that this said Jacquot published the
slanderous brochure, "_La Maison Dumas et Cie_," which has gone down as
something considerable of a sensation in the annals of literary history;
so much so, indeed, that most writers who have had occasion to refer to
Dumas' literary career have apparently half-believed its accusations,
which, truth to tell, may have had some bearing on "things as they were,"
had they but been put forward as a bit of temperate criticism rather than
as a sweeping condemnation.
To give the reader an idea of the Dumas of 1840, one can scarcely do
better than present his portrait as sketched by De Villemessant, the
founder and brilliant editor of the _Figaro_, when Dumas was at the height
of his glory, and a grasp of his hand was better than a touch of genius to
those receiving it:
"At no time and among no people had it till then been granted to a writer
to achieve fame in every direction; in serious drama and in comedy, and
novels of adventure and of domestic interest, in humourous stories and in
pathetic tales, Alexandre Dumas had been alike successful. The frequenters
of the Theatre Francais owed him evenings of delight, but so did the
general public as well. Dumas alone had had the power to touch, interest,
or amuse, not only Paris or France, but the whole world. If all other
novelists had been swallowed up in an earthquake, this one would have been
able to supply the leading libraries of Europe. If all other dramatists
had died, Alexandre Dumas could have occupied every stage; his magic name
on a playbill or affixed to a newspaper _feuilleton_ ensured the sale of
that issue or a full house at the theatre. He was king of the stage,
prince of _feuilletonists_, _the_ literary man _par excellence_, in that
Paris then so full of intellect. When he opened his lips the most
eloquent held their breath to listen; when he entered a room the wit of
man, the beauty of woman, the pride of life, grew dim in the radiance of
his glory; he reigned over Paris in right of his sovereign intellect, the
only monarch who for an entire century had understood how to draw to
himself the adoration of all classes of society, from the Faubourg St.
Germain to the Batignolles.
"Just as he united in himself capabilities of many kinds, so he displayed
in his person the perfection of many races. From the negro he had derived
the frizzled hair and those thick lips on which Europe had laid a delicate
smile of ever-varying meaning; from the southern races he derived his
vivacity of gesture and speech, from the northern his solid frame and
broad shoulders and a figure which, while it showed no lack of French
elegance, was powerful enough to have made green with envy the gentlemen
of the Russian Life-Guards."
Dumas' energy and output were tremendous, as all know. It is recorded that
on one occasion,--in the later years of his life, when, as was but
natural, he had tired somewhat,--after a day at _la chasse_, he withdrew
to a cottage near by to rest until the others should rejoin him, after
having finished their sport. This they did within a reasonably short
time,--whether one hour or two is not stated with definiteness,--when
they found him sitting before the fire "twirling his thumbs." On being
interrogated, he replied that he had not been sitting there long; _in
fact, he had just written the first act of a new play_.
The French journal, _La Revue_, tells the following incident, which sounds
new. Some years before his death, Dumas had written a somewhat quaint
letter to Napoleon III., apropos of a play which had been condemned by the
French censor. In this epistle he commenced:
"SIRE:--In 1830, and, indeed, even to-day, there are three men at the head
of French literature. These three men are Victor Hugo, Lamartine, and
myself. Although I am the least of the three, the five continents have
made me the most popular, probably because the one was a thinker, the
other a dreamer, while I am merely a writer of commonplace tales."
This letter goes on to plead the cause of his play, and from this
circumstance the censorship was afterward removed.
A story is told of an incident which occurred at a rehearsal of "Les Trois
Mousquetaires" at the "Ambigu." This story is strangely reminiscent of
another incident which happened at a rehearsal of Halevy's "Guido et
Genevra," but it is still worth recounting here, if only to emphasize the
indomitable energy and perspicacity of Dumas.
It appears that a _pompier_--that gaudy, glistening fireman who is always
present at functions of all sorts on the continent of Europe--who was
watching the rehearsal, was observed by Dumas to suddenly leave his point
of vantage and retire. Dumas followed him and inquired his reason for
withdrawing. "What made you go away?" Dumas asked of him. "Because that
last act did not interest me so much as the others," was the answer.
Whereupon Dumas sent for the prompt-book and threw that portion relating
to that particular tableau into the fire, and forthwith set about to
rewrite it on the spot. "It does not amuse the _pompier_," said Dumas,
"but I know what it wants." An hour and a half later, at the finish of the
rehearsal, the actors were given their new words for the seventh tableau.
In spite of the varied success with which his plays met, Dumas was, we may
say, first of all a dramatist, if construction of plot and the moving
about of dashing and splendid figures counts for anything; and it most
assuredly does.
This very same qualification is what makes the romances so vivid and
thrilling; and they do not falter either in accessory or fact.
The cloaks of his swashbucklering heroes are always the correct shade of
scarlet; their rapiers, their swords, or their pistols are always rightly
tuned, and their entrances and their exits correctly and most
appropriately timed.
When his characters represent the poverty of a tatterdemalion, they do it
with a sincerity that is inimitable, and the lusty throatings of a
D'Artagnan are never a hollow mockery of something they are not.
Dumas drew his characters of the stage and his personages of the romances
with the brilliance and assurance of a Velasquez, rather than with the
finesse of a Praxiteles, and for that reason they live and introduce
themselves as cosmopolitans, and are to be appreciated only as one studies
or acquires something of the spirit from which they have been evolved.
Of Dumas' own uproarious good nature many have written. Albert Vandam
tells of a certain occasion when he went to call upon the novelist at St.
Germain,--and he reckoned Dumas the most lovable and genial among all of
his host of acquaintances in the great world of Paris,--that he overheard,
as he was entering the study, "a loud burst of laughter." "I had sooner
wait until monsieur's visitors are gone," said he. "Monsieur has no
visitors," said the servant. "Monsieur often laughs like that at his
work."
Dumas as a man of affairs or as a politician was not the success that he
was in the world of letters. His activities were great, and his enthusiasm
for any turn of affairs with which he allied himself remarkable; but,
whether he was _en voyage_ on a whilom political mission, at work as
"Director of Excavations" at Pompeii, or founding or conducting a new
journal or a new playhouse, his talents were manifestly at a discount. In
other words, he was singularly unfit for public life; he was not an
organizer, nor had he executive ability, though he had not a little of the
skill of prophecy and foresight as to many turns of fortune's wheel with
respect to world power and the comity of nations.
Commenting upon the political state of Europe, he said: "Geographically,
Prussia has the form of a serpent, and, like it, she appears to be asleep,
in order to gain strength to swallow everything around her." All of his
prophecy was not fulfilled, to be sure, but a huge slice was fed into her
maw from out of the body of France, and, looking at things at a time fifty
years ahead of that of which Dumas wrote,--that is, before the
Franco-Prussian War,--it would seem as though the serpent's appetite was
still unsatisfied.
In 1847, when Dumas took upon himself to wish for a seat in the
government, he besought the support of the constituency of the borough in
which he had lived--St. Germain. But St. Germain denied it him--"on moral
grounds." In the following year, when Louis-Philippe had abdicated, he
made the attempt once again.
The republican constituency of Joigny challenged him with respect to his
title of Marquis de la Pailleterie, and his having been a secretary in the
Orleans Bureau. The following is his reply--verbatim--as publicly
delivered at a meeting of electors, and is given here as illustrating well
the earnestness and devotion to a code which many Puritan and prudish
moralists have themselves often ignored:
"I was formerly called the Marquis de la Pailleterie, no doubt. It was my
father's name, and one of which I was very proud, being then unable to
claim a glorious one of my own make. But at present, when I am somebody, I
call myself Alexandre Dumas, and nothing more; and every one knows me,
yourselves among the rest--you, you absolute nobodies, who have come here
merely to boast, to-morrow, after having given me insult to-night, that
you have known the great Dumas. If such were your avowed ambition, you
could have satisfied it without having failed in the common courtesies of
gentlemen. There is no doubt, either, about my having been a secretary to
the Duc d'Orleans, and that I have received many favours from his family.
If you are ignorant of the meaning of the phrase, 'The memories of the
heart,' allow me, at least, to proclaim loudly that I am not, and that I
entertain toward this family of royal blood all the devotion of an
honourable man."
* * * * *
That Dumas was ever accused of making use of the work of others, of
borrowing ideas wherever he found them, and, indeed, of plagiarism
itself,--which is the worst of all,--has been mentioned before, and the
argument for or against is not intended to be continued here.
Dumas himself has said much upon the subject in defence of his position,
and the contemporary scribblers of the time have likewise had their
say--and it was not brief; but of all that has been written and said, the
following is pertinent and deliciously naive, and, coming from Dumas
himself, has value:
"One morning I had only just opened my eyes when my servant entered my
bedroom and brought me a letter upon which was written the word _urgent_.
He drew back the curtains; the weather--doubtless by some mistake--was
fine, and the brilliant sunshine entered the room like a conqueror. I
rubbed my eyes and looked at the letter to see who had sent it, astonished
at the same time that there should be only one. The handwriting was quite
unknown to me. Having turned it over and over for a minute or two, trying
to guess whose the writing was, I opened it and this is what I found:
"'SIR:--I have read your "Three Musketeers," being well to do, and
having plenty of spare time on my hands--'
"('Lucky fellow!' said I; and I continued reading.)
"'I admit that I found it fairly amusing; but, having plenty of time
before me, I was curious enough to wish to know if you really did
find them in the "Memoirs of M. de La Fere." As I was living in
Carcassonne, I wrote to one of my friends in Paris to go to the
Bibliotheque Royale, and ask for these memoirs, and to write and let
me know if you had really and truly borrowed your facts from them. My
friend, whom I can trust, replied that you had copied them word for
word, and that it is what you authors always do. So I give you fair
notice, sir, that I have told people all about it at Carcassonne,
and, if it occurs again, we shall cease subscribing to the _Siecle_.
"'Yours sincerely,
"'----.'
"I rang the bell.
"'If any more letters come for me to-day,' said I to the servant, 'you
will keep them back, and only give them to me sometime when I seem a bit
too happy.'
"'Manuscripts as well, sir?'
"'Why do you ask that question?'
"'Because some one has brought one this very moment.'
"'Good! that is the last straw! Put it somewhere where it won't be lost,
but don't tell me where.'
"He put it on the mantelpiece, which proved that my servant was decidedly
a man of intelligence.
"It was half-past ten; I went to the window. As I have said, it was a
beautiful day. It appeared as if the sun had won a permanent victory over
the clouds. The passers-by all looked happy, or, at least, contented.
"Like everybody else, I experienced a desire to take the air elsewhere
than at my window, so I dressed, and went out.
"As chance would have it--for when I go out for a walk I don't care
whether it is in one street or another--as chance would have it, I say, I
passed the Bibliotheque Royale.
"I went in, and, as usual, found Paris, who came up to me with a charming
smile.
"'Give me,' said I, 'the "Memoirs of La Fere."'
"He looked at me for a moment as if he thought I was crazy; then, with the
utmost gravity, he said, 'You know very well they don't exist, because you
said yourself they did!'
"His speech, though brief, was decidedly pithy.
"By way of thanks I made Paris a gift of the autograph I had received from
Carcassonne.
"When he had finished reading it, he said, 'If it is any consolation to
you to know it, you are not the first who has come to ask for the "Memoirs
of La Fere"; I have already seen at least thirty people who came solely
for that purpose, and no doubt they hate you for sending them on a fool's
errand.'
"As I was in search of material for a novel, and as there are people who
declare novels are to be found ready-made, I asked for the catalogue.
"Of course, I did not discover anything."
* * * * *
Every one knows of Dumas' great fame as a gastronome and epicure; some
recall, also, that he himself was a _cuisinier_ of no mean abilities. How
far his capacities went in this direction, and how wide was his knowledge
of the subject, can only be gleaned by a careful reading of his great
"Dictionnaire de Cuisine." Still further into the subject he may be
supposed to have gone from the fact that he also published an inquiry, or
an open letter, addressed to the _gourmands_ of all countries, on the
subject of mustard.
It is an interesting subject, to be sure, but a trifling one for one of
the world's greatest writers to spend his time upon; say you, dear reader?
Well! perhaps! But it is a most fascinating contribution to the literature
of epicurism, and quite worth looking up and into. The history of the
subtle spice is traced down through Biblical and Roman times to our own
day, chronologically, etymologically, botanically, and practically. It
will be, and doubtless has been, useful to other compilers of essays on
good cheer.
Whatever may be the subtle abilities which make the true romancer, or
rather those which make his romances things of life and blood, they were
possessed by Alexandre Dumas.
Perhaps it is the more easy to construct a romantic play than it is to
erect, from matter-of-fact components, a really engrossing romantic novel.
Dumas' abilities seem to fit in with both varieties alike, and if he did
build to order, the result was in most cases no less successful than if
evolved laboriously.
It is a curious fact that many serial contributions--if we are to believe
the literary gossip of the time--are only produced as the printer is
waiting for copy. The formula is manifestly not a good one upon which to
build, but it has been done, and successfully, by more writers than one,
and with scarce a gap unbridged.
Dickens did it,--if it is allowable to mention him here,--and Dumas
himself did it,--many times,--and with a wonderful and, one may say,
inspired facility, but then his facility, none the less than his vitality,
made possible much that was not granted to the laborious Zola.
Dumas was untiring to the very last. His was a case of being literally
worked out--not worked to death, which is quite a different thing.
It has been said by Dumas _fils_ that in the latter years of the elder's
life he would sit for length upon length of time, pen in hand, and not a
word would flow therefrom, ere the ink had dried.
An interesting article on Dumas' last days appeared in _La Revue_ in 1903.
It dealt with the sadness and disappointments of Dumas' later days, in
spite of which the impression conveyed of the great novelist's
personality is very vivid, and he emerges from it much as his books would
lead one to expect--a hearty, vigorous creature, surcharged with vitality,
with desire to live and let live, a man possessed of almost equally
prominent faults and virtues, and generous to a fault.
[Illustration: Alexandre Dumas, Fils]
Money he had never been able to keep. He had said himself, at a time when
he was earning a fortune, "I can keep everything but money. Money
unfortunately always slips through my fingers." The close of his life was
a horrible struggle to make ends meet. When matters came to a crisis Dumas
would pawn some of the valuable _objets d'art_ he had collected in the
opulent past, or ask his son for assistance. But, though the sum asked was
always given, there were probably few things which the old man would not
have preferred to this appeal to the younger author.
As he grew old, Dumas _pere_ became almost timid in his attitude toward
the son, whose disapproval had frequently found expression in advice and
warning. But Dumas could not settle down, and he could not become careful.
Neither of these things was in his nature, and there was consequently
always some little undercurrent of friction between them. To the end of
his days his money was anybody's who liked to come and ask for it, and
nothing but the final clouding of his intellectual capacity could reduce
his optimism. Then, it is true, he fell into a state of sustained
depression. The idea that his reputation would not last haunted him.
In 1870, when Dumas was already very ill, his son, anxious that he should
not be in Paris during its investment by the Germans, took him to a house
he had at Puys, near Dieppe. Here the great man rapidly sank, and, except
at meal-times, passed his time in a state of heavy sleep, until a sudden
attack of apoplexy finally seized him. He never rallied after it, and died
upon the day the Prussian soldiers took possession of Dieppe.
Many stories are rife of Dumas the prodigal. Some doubtless are true, many
are not. Those which he fathers himself, we might well accept as being
true. Surely he himself should know.
The following incident which happened in the last days of his life
certainly has the ring of truth about it.
When in his last illness he left Paris for his son's country house near
Dieppe, he had but twenty francs, the total fortune of the man who had
earned millions.
On arriving at Puys, Dumas placed the coin on his bedroom chimneypiece,
and there it remained all through his illness.
One day he was seated in his chair near the window, chatting with his son,
when his eye fell on the gold piece.
A recollection of the past crossed his mind.
"Fifty years ago, when I went to Paris," he said, "I had a louis. Why have
people accused me of prodigality? I have always kept that louis.
See--there it is."
And he showed his son the coin, smiling feebly as he did so.