CHAPTER II

RELATIVES AND FAMILY FRIENDS

BALZAC'S MOTHER

"Farewell, my dearly beloved mother! I embrace you with all my

heart. Oh! if you knew how I need just now to cast myself upon

your breast as a refuge of complete affection, you would insert a

little word of tenderness in your letters, and this one which I am

answering has not even a poor kiss. There is nothing but . . . Ah!

Mother, Mother, this is very bad! . . . You have misconstrued what

I said to you, and you do not understand my heart and affection.

This grieves me most of all! . . ."

The above extract is sadly typical of a relationship of thirty years,

1820-1850, between a mother, on the one hand, who never understood or

appreciated her son--and a son, on the other, whose longings for

maternal affection were never fully gratified. To his mother Balzac

dedicated /Le Medicin de Campagne/, one of his finest sociological

studies.

Madame Surville has described Balzac's mother, and her own, as being

rich, beautiful, and much younger than her husband, and as having a

rare vivacity of mind and of imagination, an untiring activity, a

great firmness of decision, and an unbounded devotion to her family;

but as expressing herself in actions rather than in words. She devoted

herself exclusively to the education of her children, and felt it

necessary to use severity towards them in order to offset the effects

of indulgence on the part of their father and their grandmother.

Balzac inherited from his mother imagination and activity, and from

both of his parents energy and kindness.

Madame de Balzac has been charged with not having been a tender mother

towards her children in their infancy. She had lost her first child

through her inability to nurse it properly. An excellent nurse,

however, was found for Honore, and he became so healthy that later his

sister Laure was placed with the same nurse. But she never seemed

fully to understand her son nor even to suspect his promise. She

attributed the sagacious remarks and reflections of his youth to

accident, and on such occasions she would tell him that he did not

understand what he was saying. His only reply would be a sweet,

submissive smile which irritated her, and which she called arrogant

and presumptuous. With her cold, calculating temperament, she had no

patience with his staking his life and fortune on uncertain financial

undertakings, and blamed him for his business failures. She suffered

on account of his love of luxury and his belief in his own greatness,

no evidence of which seemed sufficient to her matter-of-fact mind. She

continued to misjudge him, unaware of his genius, but in spite of her

grumbling and harassing disposition, she often came to his aid in his

financial troubles.

Contrary to the wishes of his parents, who had destined him to become

a notary, Balzac was ever dreaming of literary fame. His mother not

unnaturally thought that a little poverty and difficulty would bring

him to submission; so, before leaving Paris for Villeparisis in 1819

she installed him in a poorly furnished /mansard/, No. 9, rue

Lesdiguieres, leaving an old woman, Madame Comin, who had been in the

service of the family for more than twenty years, to watch over him.

Balzac has doubtless depicted this woman in /Facino Cane/ as Madame

Vaillant, who in 1819-1820 was charged with the care of a young

writer, lodged in a /mansard/, rue Lesdiguieres.

After fifteen months of this life, his health became so much impaired

that his mother insisted on keeping him at home, where she cared for

him faithfully. On a former occasion Madame de Balzac had had her son

brought home to recuperate, for when he was sent away to /college/ at

an early age, his health became so impaired that he was hurriedly

returned to his home. Balzac probably refers to this event in his life

when he writes, in /Louis Lambert/, that the mother, alarmed by the

continuous fever of her son and his symptoms of /coma/, took him from

school at four or five hours' notice.

During the five years (1820-1825) that Balzac remained at home in

Villeparisis, he longed for the quiet freedom of his garret; he could

not adapt himself to the bustling family circle, nor reconcile himself

to the noise of the domestic machinery kept in motion by his vigilant

and indefatigable mother. She was of a nervous, excitable nature,

which she probably inherited from her mother, Madame Sallambier. She

imagined that he was ill, and of course there was no one to convince

her to the contrary. Had she known that while she thought she was

contributing everything to the happiness of those around her, she was

only doing the opposite, we may be sure that she of all women would

have been the most wretched.

Balzac having failed in his speculations as publisher and printer, was

aided by his mother financially, and she figured as one of his

principal creditors during the remainder of his life. (E. Faguet in

/Balzac/, is exaggerating in stating that Madame de Balzac sacrificed

her whole fortune for Honore, for much of her means was spent on her

favorite son, Henri.)

M. Auguste Fessart was a contemporary of the family, an observer of a

great part of the life of Honore, and his confidant on more than one

occasion. In his /Commentaires/ on the work entitled /Balzac, sa Vie

et ses Oeuvres/, by Madame Surville, he states that the portrait of

Madame de Balzac is flattering--a daughter's portrait of a mother--and

declares that Madame de Balzac was very severe with her children,

especially with Honore, adding that Balzac used to say that he never

heard his mother speak without experiencing a certain trembling which

deprived him of his faculties. Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, in reviewing

the /Commentaires/ of M. Fessart, notes the recurring instances in

which pity is expressed for the moral and material sufferings almost

constantly endured by Balzac in his family circle. These sufferings

seem to have impressed him more than anything else in the career of

the novelist. In speaking of Balzac's financial appeal to his family,

M. Fessart notes: "And his mother did not respond to him. She let him

die of hunger! . . . I repeat that they let him die of hunger; he told

me so several times!" When Madame Surville speaks of their keeping

Balzac's presence in Paris a secret, saying that it was moreover a

means of keeping him from all worldly temptations, M. Fessart replies:

"And of giving him nothing, and of allowing him to be in need of

everything!" Finally, when Madame Surville speaks of her parents' not

giving Balzac the fifteen hundred francs he desired, M. Fessart

confirms this, saying that his family always refused him money.

A letter from Balzac to Madame Hanska testifies to this attitude of

his family towards him: "In 1828 I was cast into this poor rue

Cassini, in consequence of a liquidation to which I had been

compelled, owing one hundred thousand francs and being without a

penny, when my family would not even give me bread."

MM. Hanotaux et Vicaire, to whose admirable work we shall have

occasion to refer often, state that Madame de Balzac advanced thirty-

seven thousand six hundred francs for Balzac on August 16, 1822, and

that his parents paid a total of forty-five thousand francs for him.

Having read M. Fessart's description of Madame de Balzac, one can

agree with Madame Ruxton in saying that Balzac has portrayed his own

youth in his account of the early life of Raphael in /La Peau de

Chagrin/, Balzac's mother, instead of Raphael's father, being

recognized in the following passage:

"Seen from afar, my life appears to contract by some mental

process. That long, slow agony of ten years' duration can be

brought to memory to-day in some few phrases, in which pain is

resolved into a mere idea, and pleasure becomes a philosophical

reflection . . . When I left school, my father submitted me to a

strict discipline; he installed me in a room near his own study,

and I had to rise at five in the morning and retire at nine at

night. He intended me to take my law studies seriously. I attended

school, and read with an advocate as well; but my lectures and

work were so narrowly circumscribed by the laws of time and space,

and my father required of me such a strict account, at dinner,

that . . . In this manner I cowered under as strict a despotism as

a monarch's until I became of age."

In confirmation of this idea, Madame Ruxton[*] quotes Madame Barnier,

granddaughter of the Duchesse d'Abrantes, who knew both Balzac and his

mother, and who describes her as a cold, severe, superior, but hard-

hearted woman, just the opposite of her son. Balzac himself states:

"Never shall I cease to resemble Raphael in his garret."

[*] In /La Dilecta de Balzac/, Balzac states that he has described his

own life in /La Peau de Chagrin/. For a picture of Balzac's

unhappy childhood drawn by himself, see /Revue des deux Mondes/,

March 15, 1920.

After the death (June 1829) of her husband, Madame de Balzac lived

with her son at different intervals, and during his extended tour of

six months in 1832 she attended to the details of his business. With

her usual energy and extreme activity, she displayed her ability in

various lines, for she had to have dealings with his publisher, do

copying, consult the library,--sending him some books and buying

others,--have the servant exercise the horses, sell the horses and

carriage and dismiss the servant, arrange to have certain payments

deferred, send him money and consult the physician for him, not to

mention various other duties.

While Madame de Balzac was certainly requested to do far more than a

son usually expects of his mother, her tantalizing letters were a

source of great annoyance to him, as is seen in the following:

"What you say about my silence is one of those things which, to use

your expression, makes me grasp my heart with both hands; for it

is incredible I should be able to produce all I do. (I am obeying

the most rigorous necessity); so if I am to write, I ought to have

more time, and when I rest, I wish to lay down and not take up my

pen again. Really, my poor dear mother, this ought to be

understood between us once for all; otherwise, I shall have to

renounce all epistolary intercourse. . . . And this morning I was

about to make the first dash at my work, when your letter came and

completely upset me. Do you think it possible to have artistic

inspirations after being brought suddenly face to face with such a

picture of my miseries as you have traced? Do you think that if I

did not feel them, I should work as I do? . . . Farewell, my good

mother. Try and achieve impossibilities, which is what I am doing

on my side. My life is one perpetual miracle. . . . You ask me to

write you in full detail; but, my dear mother, have you yet to be

told what my existence is? When I am able to write, I work at my

manuscripts; when I am not working at my manuscripts, I am

thinking of them; I never have any rest. How is it my friends are

not aware of this? . . . I beg of you, my dear mother, in the name

of my heavy work, never to write me that such a work is good, and

such another bad: you upset me for a fortnight."

Balzac appreciated what his mother did for him, and while he never

fully repaid her the money she had so often requested of him, she

might have felt herself partially compensated by these kind words of

affection:

"My kind and excellent mother,--After writing to you in such haste,

I felt my inmost heart melt as I read your letter again, and I

worshipped you. How shall I return to you, when shall I return to

you, and can I ever return to you, by my love and endeavors for

your happiness, all that you have done for me? I can at present

only express my deep thankfulness. . . . How deep is my gratitude

towards the kind hearts who pluck some of the thorns from my life

and smooth my path by their affection. But constrained to an

unceasing warfare against destiny, I have not always leisure to

give utterance to what I feel. I would not, however, allow a day

to pass without letting you know the tenderness your late proofs

of devotion excite in me. A mother suffers the pangs of labor more

than once with her children, does she not, my mother? Poor

mothers, are you ever enough beloved! . . . I hope, my much

beloved mother, you will not let yourself grow dejected. I work as

hard as it is possible for a man to work; a day is only twelve

hours long, I can do no more. . . . Farewell, my darling mother; I

am very tired! Coffee burns my stomach. For the last twenty days I

have taken no rest; and yet I must still work on, that I may

remove your anxieties. . . . Keep your house; I had already sent

an answer to Laura, I will not let either you or Surville bear the

burden of my affairs. However, until the arrival of my proxy, it

is understood that Laura, who is my cash keeper, will remit you a

hundred and fifty francs a month. You may reckon on this as a

regular payment; nothing in the world will take precedence of it.

Then, at the end of November to December 10, you will have the

surplus of thirty-six thousand francs to reimburse you for the

excess of the expenditure over the receipts during the time of

your stewardship; during which, thanks to your devotion, you gave

me all the tranquility that was possible. . . . I entreat you to

take care of yourself! Nothing is so dear to me as your health! I

would give half of myself to keep you well, and I would keep the

other half, to do you service. My mother, the day when we shall be

happy through me is coming quickly; I am beginning to gather the

fruits of the sacrifices I have made this year for a more certain

future. Still, a few months more and I shall be able to give you

that happy life--that life without cares or anxiety--which you so

much need. You will have all you desire; our little vanities will

be satisfied no less than the great ambitions of our hearts. Oh

do, I pray you, nurse yourself! . . . Your comfort in material

things and your happiness are my riches. Oh! my dear mother, do

live to see my bright future realized!"[*]

[*] In speaking of Balzac's relations to his mother, Mr. F. Lawton

(/Balzac/) states: "Madame Balzac was sacrificed to his

improvidence and stupendous egotism; nor can the tenderness of the

language--more frequently than not called forth by some fresh

immolation of her comfort to his interests--disguise this

unpleasing side of his character and action. . . . And his

epistolary good-byes were odd mixtures of business with

sentiment."

Thus did the poor mother alternately receive letters full of scoldings

and of terms of endearment from her son whose genius she never

understood. She was faithful in her duties, and her ambitious son

probably did not realize how much he was asking of her. But she may

have had a motive in keeping him on the prolonged visit during which

this last letter was written, for she was interested in his

prospective marriage. Although her full name is never mentioned, the

women in question, Madame D----, was evidently a widow with a fortune,

and in view of this prospect was most pleasing to Madame de Balzac.

However, this matrimonial plan fell through, and Balzac himself was

never enthusiastic over it. He felt that his attentions to Madame

D---- would consume his very precious time, and that the affair could

not come off in time to serve his interests. Could it be that Balzac

was alluding to this same Madame D---- when he wrote some time later:

"My beloved mother,--the affair has come to nothing, the bird was

frightened away, and I am very glad of it. I had no time to run after

it, and it was imperative it should be either yes or no."

This marriage project, like many others planned either for or by

Balzac, came to naught, and his mother evidently became displeased

with him, for she left him on his return, when he was in great need of

consolation and sympathy. As frequently happened under such

circumstances, Balzac expressed his deep regrets at his mother's

conduct to one of his best friends, Madame Carraud, and confided to

her his loneliness and longings.

Madame de Balzac was much occupied with religious ideas, and had made

a collection of the writings of the mystics. Balzac plunged into the

study of clairvoyance and mesmerism, and his mother, interested in the

marvelous, helped him in his studies, as she knew many of the

celebrated clairvoyants and mesmerists of the time.

At various times, Balzac's relations with his mother were much

estranged; at one time he did not even know where she was. When she

was disappointed in her favorite child, Henri, she seemed to recognize

the great wrong involved in her lack of affection for Honore and his

sister Laure. But she never gave him the attentions that he longed

for. In May, 1840, he wrote to Madame Hanska that he was especially

sad on the day of his /fete catholique/ (May 16) as, since the death

of Madame de Berny, there was no one to observe this occasion, though

during her life every day was a /fete/ day; he was too busy to join

with his sister Laure in the mutual observance of their birthdays, and

his mother cared little for him; once the Duchesse de Castries had

sent him a most beautiful bouquet,--but now there was no one.

The same year (1840) he took his mother to live with him /Aux

jardies/. This he regarded as an additional burden. Her continual

harassing him for the money he still owed her, her nervous and

discordant disposition, her constant intrigues to force him to marry,

and her numerous little acts that placed him in positions beneath the

dignity of an author's standing were an incessant source of annoyance

to him.

She did not remain with him long, but he tried to perform his filial

duties and make her comfortable, as various letters show. One of these

reads as follows:

"My dear Mother,--It is very difficult for me to enter into the

engagement you ask of me, and to do so without reflection would

entail consequences most serious both for you and for myself. The

money necessary for my existence is, as it were, wrung from what

should go to pay my debts, and hard work it is to get it. The sort

of life I lead is suitable for no one; it wears out relations and

friends; all fly from my dreary house. My affairs will become more

and more difficult to manage, not to say impossible. The failure

of my play, as regards money, still further complicates my

situation. I find it impossible to work in the midst of all the

little storms raised up in a household where the members do not

live in harmony. My work has become feeble during the last year,

as any one can see. I am in doubt what to do. But I must come to

some determination within a few days. When my furniture has been

sold, and when I have disposed of 'Les Jardies,' I shall not have

much left. And I shall find myself alone in the world with nothing

but my pen, and an attic. In such a situation shall I be able to

do more for you than I am doing at this moment? I shall have to

live from hand to mouth by writing articles which I can no longer

write with the agility of youth which is no more. The world, and

even relations, mistake me; I am engrossed by my work, and they

think I am absorbed in myself. I am not blind to the fact, that up

to the present moment, working as I work, I have not succeeded in

paying my debts, nor in supporting myself. No future will save me.

I must do something else, look out for some other position. And it

is at a time like this that you ask me to enter into an

engagement! Two years ago I should have done so, and have deceived

myself. Now all I can say is, come to me and share my crust. You

were in a tolerable position; I had a domestic whose devotion

spared you all the worry of housekeeping; you were not called on

to enter into every detail, you were quiet and peaceful. You

wished me to count for something in your life, when it was

imperative for you to forget my existence and allow me the entire

liberty without which I can do nothing. It is not a fault in you,

it is the nature of women. Now everything is changed. If you wish

to come back, you will have to bear a little of the burden which

is about to weigh me down, and which hitherto has only pressed

upon you because you chose to take it to yourself. All this is

business, and in no way involves my affection for you, which is

always the same; so believe in the tenderness of your devoted

son."

Later, when Balzac purchased his home in the rue Fortunee, his mother

had the care of it while he was in Russia. He asked her to visit the

house weekly and to keep the servants on the alert by enquiring as

though she expected him; yet Balzac wrote his nieces to have their

grandmother visit them often, lest she carry too far the duties she

imposed on herself in looking after his little home. He cautioned her

to allow no one to enter the house, to insist that his old servant

Francois be discreet, and especially that she be prudent in not

talking about his plans; and that by all means she should take a

carriage while attending to his affairs; this request was not only

from him but also from Madame Hanska.

She was most faithful in looking after his home and watching the

workmen to see that his instructions were carried out. In fact, she

never left the house except when, on one occasion, owing to the

excessive odors of the paint, she spent two nights in Laure's home.

Balzac's stay at Wierzchownia, however, was far from tranquil, for his

mother was discontented with the general aspect of his affairs and

increased his vexations by writing a letter in which she addressed him

as /vous/, declaring that her affection was conditional on his

behavior, a thing he naturally resented. "To think," he writes, "of a

mother reserving the right to love a son like me, seventy-two years on

the one side, and fifty on the other!"

This letter caused a serious complication in his affairs in Russia,

but the mother evidently became reconciled for a few months later she

wrote to him expressing her joy at the news of his recovery, and

asking him to extend to his friends her most sincere thanks for their

care of him in his serious illness. Aside from knowing of his illness

and her inability to see him, she was most happy in feeling that he

was with such good friends.

She complained of his not writing oftener, but he replied that he had

written to her seven times during his absence, that the letters were

posted by his hostess and that he did not wish to abuse the

hospitality with which he was so royally and magnificently

entertained. He resented his mother's dictating to him, a man of fifty

years of age, as to how often he should write to his nieces, for while

he enjoyed receiving their letters, he thought they should feel

honored in receiving letters from him whenever he had time to write to

them.

When the poor mother attempted to be gracious to her son by sending

him a box of bonbons, she only brought him trouble, for she packed it

in newspapers, and in passing the custom-house, it was taken out and

the candy crushed. Instead of thanking her for her good intentions, he

rebuked her for her stupidity in regard to sending printed matter into

Russia, as it endangered his stay there.

Balzac was always striving to pay his mother his long-standing

indebtedness, but the Revolution of 1848, in connection with his

continued illness, made this impossible. This burden of debt was also,

at this time, preventing his obtaining a successful termination of his

mission to Russia, for, as he explained to his mother, the lady

concerned did not care to marry him while he was still encumbered with

debt. Being a woman past forty, she desired that nothing should

disturb the tranquillity in which she wished to live.

Owing to this critical situation and to his poor health, Balzac had

repeatedly requested his mother never to write depressing news to him,

but she paid little attention to this request and sent him a letter

hinting at trouble in so vague a manner and with such disquieting

expressions that, in his extremely nervous condition, it might have

proved fatal to him. Yet it did not affect him so seriously as it did

Madame Hanska, who read the letter to him, for owing to his terrible

illness and the method of treatment, his eyes had become so weak that

he could no longer see in the evening. Madame Hanska was so deeply

interested in everything that concerned Balzac that this news made her

very ill. For them to live in suspense for forty days without knowing

anything definite was far worse than it would have been had his mother

enumerated in detail the various misfortunes. From the preceding

revelations of the disposition of Madame de Balzac, one can easily

understand how it happened that her son has immortalized some of her

traits in the character of /Cousine Bette/.

During the remainder of Balzac's stay in the Ukraine, he was

preoccupied with the thought of his mother having every possible

comfort, with his becoming acclimatized in Russia,--impossible though

it was for him in his condition,--and above all with the realization

of his long-cherished hope. But he cautioned his mother to observe the

greatest discretion in regard to this hope, "for such things are never

certain until one leaves the church after the ceremony."

What must have been his feeling of triumph when he was able to write:

"My very dear Mother,--Yesterday, at seven in the morning, thanks

be to God, my marriage was blessed and celebrated in the church of

Saint Barbara, at Berditchef, by the deputy of the Bishop of

Jitomir. Monseigneur wished to have married me himself, but being

unable, he sent a holy priest, the Count Abbe Czarouski, the

eldest of the glories of the Polish Roman Catholic Church, as his

representative. Madame Eve de Balzac, your daughter-in-law, in

order to make an end of all obstacles, has taken an heroic and

sublimely maternal resolution, viz., to give up all her fortune to

her children, only reserving an annuity to herself. . . . There

are now two of us to thank you for all the good care you have

taken of our house, as well as to testify to you our respectful

/tendresses/."

Balzac was not only anxious that his bride should be properly

received, but also that his mother should preserve her dignity. On

their way home he writes her from Dresden to have the house ready for

their arrival (May 19, 20, 21), urging that she go either to her own

home or to Laure's, for it would not be proper for her to receive her

daughter-in-law in the rue Fortunee, and that she should not call

until his wife had called on her. After reminding her again not to

forget to procure flowers, he suggests that owing to his extremely

feeble health he meet her at Laure's, for there he would have one less

flight of stairs to climb. These suggestions, however, were

unnecessary, as his mother had been ill in bed for several weeks in

Laure's house.

After the novelist's return to Paris with his bride, his physical

condition was such that in spite of the efforts of his beloved

physician, Dr. Nacquart, little could be done for him, and he was

destined to pass away within a short time. Balzac's mother, she with

whom he had had so many misunderstandings, she who had doubtless never

fully appreciated his greatness but who had sacrificed her physical

strength and worldly goods for his sake, an old woman of almost

seventy-two years, showed her true maternal love by remaining with her

glorious and immortal son in his last moments.

MADAME SURVILLE--MADAME MALLET--MADAME DUHAMEL

"To the Casket containing all things delightful; to the Elixir of

Virtue, of Grace, and of Beauty; to the Gem, to the Prodigy of all

Normandy; to the Pearl of the Bayeux; to the Fairy of St.

Laurence; to the Madonna of the Rue Teinture; to the Guardian

Angel of Caen, to the Goddess of Enchanting Spells; to the

Treasury of all Friendship--to Laura!"

Two years younger than Balzac, his sister Laure, not only played an

important part in his life, but after his death rendered valuable

service by writing his life and publishing a part of his

correspondence.[*] Being reared by the same nurse as he, and having

had the same home environment, she was the first of his intimate

companions, and throughout a large part of his life remained one of

the most sympathetic of all his confidantes. As children they loved

each other tenderly, and his chivalrous protection of her led to his

being punished more than once without betraying her childish guilt.

Once when she arrived in time to confess, he asked her to avow nothing

the next time, as he liked to be scolded for her.

[*] MM. Hanotaux et Vicaire, /Le Jeunesse de Balzac/, have correctly

observed that Balzac's sister, Madame Surville, has written a most

delicate and interesting book, but that she had not correctly

portrayed her brother because she was blinded by her devotion to

him.

He it was who accompanied her to dances, but having had the misfortune

to slip and fall on one such occasion he was so sensitive to the

amused smiles of the ladies that he gave up dancing, and decided to

dominate society otherwise than by the graces and talents of the

drawing-room. Thus it was that he became merely a spectator of these

festivities, the memory of which he utilized later.

It was to Laure that, in the strictest confidence, he sent the plan of

his first work, the tragedy /Cromwell/, writing it to be a surprise to

the rest of the family when finished. To her he looked for moral

support, asking her to have faith in him, for he needed some one to

believe in him. To her also he confided his ambitions early in his

career, saying that his two greatest desires were to be famous and to

be loved.

Laure was married in May, 1820, to M. Midi de la Greneraye Surville,

and moved from her home in Villeparisis to Bayeux. When she became

homesick Balzac wrote her cheerful letters, suggesting various means

of employing her time. His admiration of her was such that he even

asked her to select for him a wife of her own type. He explained to

her that his affection was not diminished an atom by distance or by

silence, for there are torrents which make a terrible to-do and yet

their beds are dry in a few days, and there are waters which flow

quietly, but flow forever.

Madame Surville seems to have been the impersonation of discretion and

appreciation; she was intimately acquainted with all the characters in

his work and made valuable suggestions; he was most happy when

discussing plans with her. He longed to have his glory reflect on his

family and make the name of Balzac illustrious. When carried away with

some beautiful idea, he seemed to hear her tender voice encouraging

him. he felt that were it not for her devotion to the duties of her

home, their intimacy might have become even more precious and that

stimulated by a literary atmosphere she might herself have become a

writer.

He consulted her frequently with regard to literary help, once asking

her to use all her cleverness in writing out fully her ideas on the

subject of the /Deux Rencontres/, about which she had told him, for he

wished to insert them in the /Femme de trente Ans/. As early as 1822

she received a similar request asking her to prepare for him a

manuscript of the /Vicaire des Ardennes/; she was to prepare the first

volume and he would finish it. And many years later (1842), Balzac

asked his sister to furnish him with ideas for a story for young

people. After the name of this story had been changed a few times, it

was published under the title of /Un Debut dans la Vie/. This explains

why Balzac used the following words in dedicating it to her: "To

Laure. May the brilliant and modest intellect that gave me the subject

of this scene have the honor of it!" This, however, was not the first

time he had honored her by dedicating one of his works to her, for in

1835 he inscribed to "Almae Sorori" a short story, /Les Proscrits/.

Balzac was often depressed, and felt that even his own family was not

in sympathy with his efforts; he told his sister that the universe

would be startled at his works before his relations or friends would

believe in their existence. Yet he knew that they did appreciate him

to a certain extent, for his sister wrote him that in reading the

/Recherche de l'Absolu/, and thinking that her own brother was the

author of it, she wept for joy.

In his youth, at all events, Balzac seems to have had no secrets from

his sister, and it is to her that the much disputed letter of

Saturday, October 12, 1833, was addressed. Their friendship was

sincere and devoted; and yet there were coolnesses, caused largely by

the influence of their mother,--and of M. Surville, whose jealous and

tyrannical disposition prevented their seeing each other as frequently

as they would have liked. She once celebrated her birthday by visiting

her brother, but she held her watch in her hand as she had only twenty

minutes for the meeting. For awhile, he could not visit her; later,

this estrangement was overcome, and after the first presentation of

his play /Vautrin/ (1840), his sister cared for him in her home during

his illness.

Madame Surville performed many duties for her brother but was not

always skilful in allaying the demands of his creditors. On Balzac's

return from a visit to Madame Hanska in Vienna, he found that his

affairs were in great disorder, and that his sister, frightened at the

conditions, had pawned his silverware. In planning at a later date to

leave France, however, he did not hesitate to entrust his treasures to

his sister, saying that she would be a most faithful "dragon." He was

also wisely thoughtful of her; on one occasion when she had gone to a

masked ball contrary to her husband's wishes, Balzac went after her

and took her home without giving her time to go round the room.

She evidently had more influence over their mother than had he, for he

asked her when on the verge of taking Madame de Balzac into his home

again, to assist him in making her reasonable:

"If she likes, she can be very happy, but tell her that she must

encourage happiness and not frighten it away. She will have near

her a confidential attendant and a servant, and that she will be

taken care of in the way she likes. Her room is as elegant as I

can make it. . . . Make her promise not to object to what I wish

her to do as regards her dress: I do not wish her to be dressed

otherwise than as she /ought to be/, it would give me great

pain . . ."

During his prolonged stay in Russia, he requested his sister to

conceal from their mother the true condition of his illness and the

uncertainty of his marriage, and to entreat her to avoid anything in

her letters which might cause him pain. Feeling that she would never

have allowed such a thing had she known of it, he informed her in

detail concerning their mother's letter which had caused him endless

trouble.

While Madame Surville was a great stimulus to Balzac early in his

literary career, she in turn received the deepest sympathy from him in

her financial struggle, and, while he was so happy and was living in

such luxury in Russia, he only regretted that he could not assist her,

for he had enjoyed hospitality in her home.

Madame Surville had at least one of her mother's traits--that of

continually harassing Balzac by trying to marry him to some rich

woman; once she had even chosen for him the goddaughter of Louis-

Philippe. But the most serious breach of relations between the two

resulted from her failure to approve of Balzac's adoration of Madame

Hanska. While admitting the extreme beauty of the celebrated Daffinger

portrait, she was jealous of his /Predilecta/. When she saw the bound

proofs of /La Femme superieure/ which he had intended for Madame

Hanska, she felt that she was being neglected. In the end, he robbed

his /Chatelaine/ to the profit of his /cara sorella/. But when she

became impatient at Balzac's prolonged stay at Wierzchownia, he

resented it, explaining that marriage is like cream--a change of

atmosphere would spoil it,--that bad marriages could be made with the

utmost ease, but good ones required infinite precautions and

scrupulous attention. He tried to make her see the advantage of this

marriage, writing her:

"Consider, dear Laura, none of us are as yet, so to speak,

/arrived/; if, instead of being obliged to work in order to live,

I had become the husband of one of the cleverest, the best-born,

and best-connected of women, who is also possessed of a solid

though circumscribed fortune, in spite of the wish of the lady to

live retired, to have no intercourse even with the family, I

should still be in a position to be much better able to be of use

to you all. I have the certainty of the warm kindness and lively

interest which Madame Hanska takes in the dear children. Thus it

is more than a duty in my mother, and all belonging to me, to do

nothing to hinder me from the happy accomplishment of a union

which /before all is my happiness/. Again, it must not be

forgotten that this lady is illustrious, not only on account of

her high descent, but for her great reputation for wit, beauty,

and fortune (for she is credited with all the millions of her

daughter); she is constantly receiving proposals of marriage from

men of the highest rank and position. But she is something far

better than rich and noble; she is exquisitely good, with the

sweetness of an angel, and of an easy compatibility in daily life

which every day surprises me more and more; she is, moreover,

thoroughly pious. Seeing all these great advantages, the world

treats my hopes with something of mocking incredulity, and my

prospects of success are denied and derided on all sides. If we

were all to live . . . under the same roof, I could conceive the

difficulties raised by my mother about her dignity; but to keep on

the terms which are due to a lady who brings with her (fortune

apart) most precious social advantages, I think you need only

confine yourself to giving her the impression that my relations

are kind and affectionate amongst themselves, and kindly

affectionate towards the man she loves. It is the only way to

excite her interest and to preserve her influence, which will be

enormous. You may all of you, in a great fit of independence, say

you have no need of any one, that you intend to succeed by your

own exertions. But, between ourselves, the events of the last few

years must have proved to you that nothing can be done without the

help of others; and the social forces that we can least afford to

dispense with are those of our own family. Come, Laura, it is

something to be able, in Paris, to open one's /salon/ and to

assemble all the /elite/ of society, presided over by a woman who

is refined, polished, imposing as a queen, of illustrious descent,

allied to the noblest families, witty, well-informed, and

beautiful; there is a power of social domination. To enter into

any struggle whatever with a woman in whom so much influence

centers is--I tell you this in confidence--an act of insanity. Let

there be neither servility, nor sullen pride, nor susceptibility,

nor too much compliance; nothing but good natural affection. This

is the line of conduct prescribed by good sense towards such a

woman."

One can see how Madame Surville would resent such a letter, especially

when she might have arranged another marriage, advantageous and

sensible, for him. But poor Balzac, knowing her interest in his

happiness, writes to her a joyful letter the day after his marriage:

"As to Madame de Balzac, what more can I say about her? I may be

envied for having won her: with the exception of her daughter, there

is no woman in this land who can compare with her. She is indeed the

diamond of Poland, the gem of this illustrious house of Rzewuski."

After explaining to her that this was a marriage of pure affection, as

his wife had given her fortune to her children and wished to live only

for them and for him, Balzac tells his sister that he hoped to present

Madame Honore de Balzac to her soon, signing the letter, "Your brother

Honore at the summit of happiness."

A great attraction for Balzac in the home of Madame Surville were his

two nieces, Sophie and Valentine, to whom he was devoted, and with

whom he frequently spent his evenings. The story is told that one

evening on entering his sister's home, he asked for paper and pencil,

which were given him. After spending about an hour, not in making

notes, as one might imagine, but in writing columns of figures and

adding them, he discovered that he owed fifty-nine thousand francs,

and exclaimed that his only recourse was to blow his brains out, or

throw himself into the Seine! When questioned by his niece Sophie in

tears as to whether he would not finish the novel he had begun for

her, he declared that he was wrong in becoming so discouraged, to work

for her would be a pleasure; he would no longer be depressed, but

would finish her book, which would be a masterpiece, sell it for three

thousand /ecus/, pay all his creditors within two years, amass a dowry

for her and become a peer of France!

Balzac had forbidden his nieces to read his books, promising to write

one especially for them. The book referred to here is /Ursule Mirouet/

which he dedicated to Sophie as follows:

"To Mademoiselle Sophie Surville.

"It is a real pleasure, my dear niece, to dedicate to you a book of

which the subject and the details have gained the approbation--so

difficult to secure--of a young girl to whom the world is yet

unknown, and who will make no compromise with the high principles

derived from a pious education. You young girls are a public to be

dreaded; you ought never to be permitted to read any books less

pure than your own pure souls, and you are forbidden certain

books, just as you are not allowed to see society as it really is.

Is it not enough, then, to make a writer proud, to know that he

has satisfied you? Heaven grant that affection may not have misled

you! Who can say? The future only, which you, I hope, will see,

though he may not, who is your uncle

"BALZAC."

To Valentine Surville he dedicated /La Paix du Menage/.

The novelist was interested in helping his sister find suitable

husbands for her daughters. He and Sophie had a wager as to which--she

or he--would marry first; so when Balzac finally reached his own long-

sought goal, he did not forget to remind his niece that she owed him a

wedding gift.

Sophie became an accomplished musician, having for her master Ambroise

Thomas. Balzac spoke very lovingly of Valentine during her early

childhood; but she was so attractive that he feared she would be

spoiled. And spoiled she was, or perhaps naturally inclined to

indolence, for he wrote her a few years later:

"I should be very glad to learn that Valentine studies as much as

the young Countess, who, besides all her other studies, practices

daily at her piano. The success of this education is owing to hard

work, which Miss Valentine shuns a little too much. Now, I say to

my dear niece that to do nothing except what we feel inclined to

do is the origin of all deterioration, especially in women. Rules

obeyed and duties fulfilled have been the law of the young

Countess from childhood, although she is an only child and a rich

heiress. . . . Thus I beg Valentine not to exhibit a Creole

/nonchalance/; but to listen to the advice of her sister, to

impose tasks on herself, and to do work of various sorts, without

neglecting the ordinary and daily cares of the household, and,

above all, constantly to withstand the inclination we all have,

more or less, to give ourselves up to what we find pleasant; it is

by this yielding to inclination that we deteriorate and fall into

misfortune."

While Balzac was living in Wierzchownia, he urged his nieces to write

to him oftener, as the young Countess Anna took the greatest interest

in their chatter; they were like two nightingales coming by post to

enchant the Ukrainian solitude. He had portrayed them so well that all

took an interest in them, and their letters were called for first

whenever he received a package from Paris. He requested them to send

him certain favorite recipes, and planned to have Sophie play with the

young countess.

Sophie seemed to have some of the traits of her grandmother; for the

novelist wrote his sister:

"Sophie has traced out a catechism of what she considers /my

duties/ towards you, just as last year my mother wrote me a

catechism of my duties towards my nieces; it is a sort of cholera

peculiar to our family, to lecture uncles both at home and abroad.

I make fun if it, but all these little things are remarked upon,

which I do not like; then these blank pages make me furious. I

forgive Sophie on account of the /motif/, which is you, and for

all she and Valentine have done for your /fete/. Ah! if my wishes

are ever realized, how I shall enjoy introducing my dear nieces,

both so unspoiled by the devil! I have sung their praises here. I

have said Sophie is a great musician: I add, Valentine is a /man

of letters/, and she is tired with writing three pages."

If certain letters received by Balzac from his family irritated him,

he perhaps unconsciously was making his sister jealous by continually

extolling the young Countess Mniszech:

"She has a genius, as well as a love, for music; if she had not

been an heiress, she would have been a great artiste. If she comes

to Paris in eighteen months or two years, she will take lessons in

thorough bass and composition. It is all she needs as regards

music. She has (without exaggeration) hands the size of a child of

eight years old. These minute, supple, white hands, three of which

I could hold in mine, have an iron power of finger, in the

proportion, like that of Liszt. The keys, not the fingers, bend;

she can compass ten keys by the span and elasticity of her

fingers; this phenomenon must be seen to be believed. Music, her

mother, and her husband: these three words sum up her character.

She is the Fenella of the fireside; the will-o'-wisp of our souls;

our gaiety; the life of the house. When she is not here, the very

walls are conscious of her absence--so much does she brighten them

by her presence. She had never known misfortune; she knows nothing

of annoyance; she is the idol of all who surround her, and she had

the sensibility and goodness of an angel: in one word, she unites

qualities which moralists consider incompatible; it is, however,

only a self-evident fact to all who know her. She is evidently

well informed, without pedantry; she has a delightful /naivete/;

and though long since married, she has still the gaiety of a

child, loving laughter like a little girl, which does not prevent

her from possessing a religious enthusiasm for great objects.

Physically, she has a grace even more beautiful than beauty, which

triumphs over a complexion still somewhat brown (she is hardly

sixteen);[*] a nose well formed, but not striking, except in the

profile; a charming figure, supple and /svelte/; feet and hands

exquisitely formed, and wonderfully small, as I have just

mentioned. All these advantages are, moreover, thrown into relief

by a proud bearing, full of race, by an air of distinction and

ease which all queens have not, and which is now quite lost in

France, where everybody wishes to be equal. This exterior--this

air of distinction--this look of a /grande dame/, is one of the

most precious gifts which God--the God of women can bestow. The

Countess Georges speaks four languages as if she were a native of

each of the countries whose tongue she knows so thoroughly. She

has a keenness of observation which astonishes me; nothing escapes

her. She is besides extremely prudent; and entirely to be relied

on in daily intercourse. There are no words to describe her, but

/perle fine/. Her husband adores her; I adore her; two cousins on

the point of /old-maidism/ adore her--she will always be adored,

as fresh reasons for loving her continually arise."

[*] For the incorrectness of this statement, see the chapter on the

Countess Mniszech.

Such adoration of Madame Hanska's daughter was enough to make Madame

Surville jealous, especially when she was so despondent over her

financial situation, but Balzac tried to cheer her thus: "You should

be proud of your two children, they have written two charming letters,

which have been much admired here. Two such daughters are the reward

of your life; you can afford to accept many misfortunes."[*]

[*] Sophie Surville, the older daughter, whose matrimonial

possibilities were so much discussed, was finally unhappily

married to M. Mallet. She was a good harpist, and taught the harp.

She died without issue. Valentine was married, 1859, to M. Louis

Duhamel, a lawyer. She had a good voice for singing and literary

talent; she took charge of having Balzac's correspondence

published. She had two children; a daughter who became Mme. Pierre

Carrier-Belleuse, wife of an artist, and a son, /publiciste

distingue/. Laurence de Balzac had two sons; the older Alfred de

Montzaigle, dissipated, a friend of Musset, died in 1852 without

issue. The younger son, Alfonse, married Mlle. Caroline Jung; he

died in 1868 at Strasbourg. Of their three children, only one,

Paul de Montzaigle, lived. M. Surville-Duhamel, Mme. Pierre

Carrier-Belleuse, and M. de Montzaigle are the only living

relatives of Balzac. Mme. Belleuse and M. de Montzaigle have each

a little daughter.

MADAME SALLAMBIER--MADAME DE MONTZAIGLE--MADAME DE BRUGNOLLE--

MADAME DELANNOY--MADAME DE POMMEREUL--MADAME DE MARGONNE

"Ah we are fine specimens in this blessed family of ours! What a

pity we can't put ourselves into novels."

Another member of Balzac's family circle was his affectionate and

amiable grandmother, whom he loved from childhood. After her husband's

death, Madame Sallambier lived with her daughter, Madame de Balzac.

She seems to have had a kind disposition, and having the requisite

means, she could indulge Honore in various ways. When he was brought

back from /college/ in wretched health, she condemned the schools for

their neglect.

While studying at home, Balzac frequently spent his evenings playing

whist or Boston with her. Through voluntary inattention or foolish

plays, she allowed him to win money which he used to buy books.

Throughout his life he loved these games in memory of her. she

encouraged him in his writings, and when /L'Heritiere de Birague/ was

sold for eight hundred francs, he was sure of the sale of the /first/

copy, for she had promised to buy it. He was devoted to her, and when

he had neglected writing to her for some time, he atoned by sending to

her a most affectionate letter.

After the marriage of his sister Laure, Balzac kept her informed in

detail concerning the family life. Of his grandmother, we find the

following:

"Grandmamma begs me to say all the pretty things she would write if

that unfortunate malady did not rob her of all her facilities!

Nevertheless she begins to think her head is better, and if the

spring comes there is every reason to hope she will recover her

wonted gaiety. . . . Grandmamma is suffering from a nervous

attack; . . . Papa says that grandmamma is a clever actress who

knows the value of a walk, of a glance, and how to fall gracefully

into an easy chair."

If Madame Sallambier with her nervous attacks annoyed Balzac in his

youth, he spoke beautifully of her after her death, and referred to

her as his "grandmother who loved him," or his "most excellent

grandmother." In speaking of his grief over the death of Madame de

Berny, he said that never, since the death of his grandmother, had he

so deeply sounded the gulf of separation. One of his characteristics

he inherited from his grandmother, that of keeping trivial things

which had belonged to those he loved.

Not a great deal is said of Balzac's younger sister, Laurentia, but he

has left this pen picture of her:

"On the whole you know that Laurentia is as beautiful as a picture

--that she has the prettiest of arms and hands, that her

complexion is pale and lovely. In conversation people give her

credit for plenty of sense, and find that it is all a natural

sense, which is not yet developed. She has beautiful eyes, and

though pale many men admire that. . . . You are not aware that

Laurentia has taken a violent fancy to Augustus de L----- . Say

nothing that might lead her to suspect I have betrayed the secret,

but I have all the trouble in the world to get it into her head

that authors are the most villainous of matches (in respect of

fortune, be it understood). Really Laurentia is quite romantic.

How she would hate me if she knew with what irreverence I allude

to her tender attachment."

This attachment was evidently not very serious, for not long afterward

Laurentia was married to Monsieur de Montzaigle. His family had a

title and stood well in the town, so Laurentia's parents were pleased

with the marriage. This was a great event in the family, and Balzac

describes to his married sister, Laure, the accompanying excitement in

the home:

"Grandmamma is in a great state of delight; papa is quite

satisfied,--so am I,--so are you. As to mamma, recall the last

days of your own /demoisellerie/, and you will have some idea of

what Laurentia and I have to endure. Nature surrounds all roses

with thorns: mamma follows nature."[*]

[*] It was from the father of Laurentia's husband that M. and Madame

de Berny bought their home in Villeparisis.

The happiness of poor Laurentia was of short duration. She died five

years after her marriage, having two children. Her husband did not

prove to be what the Balzac family had expected, and her children were

left destitute for Madame de Balzac to care for. Balzac always spoke

tenderly of her, and once in despair he exclaimed that at times he

envied his poor sister Laurentia, who had been lying for many years in

her coffin.

After Balzac's return from St. Petersburg, his letters were filled

with allusions to Madame de Brugnolle, his housekeeper and financial

counselor. He brought presents to various friends, and her he

presented with a muff. Besides being very practical, economical and

kind, she was a good manager for Balzac financially and strict with

him regarding his diet; the /bonne montagnarde/ did almost everything

possible, from running his errands to making his home happy. He sent

business letters under her name, and her fidelity and devotion are

seen in her denying herself clothes in order to buy household

necessities for him.

She served the novelist as a spy when he and Gavault disagreed. When

Lirette visited Paris, she treated her very kindly and gave up her own

room in order to arrange comfortable quarters for her. She had some

relatives who had entered a convent, and she talked of ending her days

in one, but Balzac begged her to keep house for him. He felt that she

was born for that! Madame de Brugnolle was of much help to him in

looking after Lirette's financial affairs, visiting her in the

convent, and carrying messages to her from him. Many times she

comforted him by promising to look out for his family, even consenting

to go to Wierzchownia, if necessary, as Lirette's visit had helped her

to realize as never before the angelic sweetness of his /Loup/.

In return for this devotion, he took her with him to Frankfort and to

Bury to visit Madame de Bocarme. He celebrated the birthday of the

/montagnarde/ in 1844, giving her some very attractive presents. Her

economy and devotion seemed to increase with time, and enabled him to

travel without any worry about his home. What must not have been the

trial to him when this happy household came to be broken up later by

her marriage!

Madame Delannoy was an old family friend of the Balzacs. She aided

Balzac in his financial troubles as early in his career as 1826, and

though he remained indebted to her for more than twenty years, he

tried to repay her and was ever grateful to her, calling her his

second mother. The following, written late in his career, reveals his

general attitude towards her:

"I have just written a long letter to Madame Delannoy, with whom I

have settled my business; but this still leaves me with

obligations of conscientiousness towards her, which my first book

will acquit. No one could have behaved more like a mother, or been

more adorable than she has been throughout all this business. She

has been a mother, I will be a son."

But if she remained one of his principal creditors, she received many

literary proofs of his appreciation. As early as 1831 he dedicated to

her a volume of his /Romans et Contes philosophiques/, but later

changed the title to /Etudes philosophiques/, and dedicated to her /La

Recherche de L'Absolu/:

"To Madame Josephine Delannoy, nee Doumerg.

"Madame, may God grant that this book have a longer life than mine!

The gratitude which I have vowed to you, and which I hope will

equal your almost maternal affection for me, would last beyond the

limits prescribed for human feeling. This sublime privilege of

prolonging the life in our hearts by the life of our works would

be, if there were ever a certainty in this respect, a recompense

for all the labor it costs those whose ambition is such. Yet again

I say: May God grant it!

"DE BALZAC."

Balzac once thought of buying from Madame Delannoy a house that was

left her by her friend, M. Ferraud, but which she could not keep. He

felt that this would be advantageous to them both, but the plan was

never carried out. Besides their financial and literary relations,

their social relations were most cordial. He speaks of accompanying

her and her daughter to the Italian opera twice during the absence of

Madame Visconti.

In 1842, Balzac dedicated /La Maison-du-Chat-qui-pelote/ to

Mademoiselle Marie de Montbeau, the daughter of Camille Delannoy, a

friend of his sister, and the granddaughter of Madame Delannoy.

Another friend of Balzac's family was Madame de Pommereul. In the fall

of 1828 after his serious financial loss, Balzac went to visit Baron

and Madame de Pommereul in Brittany, where he obtained the material

for /Les Chouans/, and became familiar with the chateau de Fougere. To

please Madame de Pommereul, Balzac changed the name of his book from

/Le Gars/ to /Les Chouans/, after temporarily calling it /Le Dernier

Chouan/.

She has given a beautiful pen portrait of the youthful Balzac in which

she describes minutely his appearance, noting his beautiful hands, his

intelligent forehead and his expressive golden brown eyes. There was

something in his manner of speaking, in his gestures, in his general

appearance, so much goodness, confidence, naivete and frankness that

it was impossible to know him without loving him, and his exuberant

good nature was infectious. In spite of his misfortunes, he had not

been in their company a quarter of an hour, and they had not even

shown him to his room, before he had brought the general and herself

to tears with laughter.

"On some evenings he remained in the drawing-room in company with

his hosts, and entered into controversies with Madame de

Pommereul, who, being very pious herself, tried to persuade him to

make a practice of religion; while Balzac, in return, when the

discussion was exhausted, endeavored to teach her the rules of

backgammon. But the one remained unconverted and the other never

mastered the course of the noble game. Occasionally he helped to

pass the time by inventing stories, which he told with all the

vividness of which he was master."

A few months after this prolonged visit, Balzac wrote to General de

Pommereul, expressing his deep appreciation of their hospitality, and

in speaking of the book which he had just written, hoped that Madame

de Pommereul would laugh at some details about the butter, the

weddings, the stiles, and the difficulties of going to the ball, etc.,

which he had inserted in his work,--if she could read it without

falling asleep.

Balzac made perhaps his most prolonged visits in the home of another

old family friend, M. de Margonne, who was living with his wife at

Sache. He describes his life there thus:

"Sache is the remains of a castle on the Indre, in one of the most

delicious valleys of Touraine. The proprietor, a man of fifty-

five, used to dandle me on his knee. He has a pious and intolerant

wife, rather deformed and not clever. I go there for him; and

besides, I am free there. They accept me throughout the region as

a child; I have no value whatever, and I am happy to be there,

like a monk in a monastery. I always go there to meditate serious

works. The sky there is so blue, the oaks so beautiful, the calm

so vast! . . . Sache is six leagues from Tours. But not a woman,

not a conversation possible!"

Not only did Balzac visit them when he wished to compose a serious

work, but he often went there to recuperate from overwork. He probably

did not enjoy their company, as he spoke of "having" to dine with them

and he is perhaps even chargeable with ingratitude when he speaks of

their parsimony.

Like his own family, these old people were interested in seeing him

married to a rich lady, but to no avail. In spite of his unkind

remarks about them, Balzac appreciated their hospitality, and

expressed it by dedicating to M. de Margonne /Une Tenebreuse Affaire/.

MADAME CARRAUD--MADAME NIVET

"You are my public, you and a few other chosen souls, whom I wish

to please; but yourself especially, whom I am proud to know, you

whom I have never seen or listened to without gaining some

benefit, you who have the courage to aid me in tearing up the evil

weeds from my field, you who encourage me to perfect myself, you

who resemble so much that angel to whom I owe everything; in

short, you who are so good towards my ill-doings. I alone know how

quickly I turn to you. I have recourse to your encouragements,

when some arrow has wounded me; it is the wood-pigeon regaining

its nest. I bear you an affection which resembles no other, and

which can have no rival, because it is alone of its kind. It is so

bright and pleasant near you! From afar, I can tell you, without

fear of being put to silence, all I think about your mind, about

your life. No one can wish more earnestly that the road be smooth

for you. I should like to send you all the flowers you love, as I

often send above your head the most ardent prayers for your

happiness."

Balzac's friendship with Madame Zulma Carraud was not only of the

purest and most beautiful nature, but it lasted longer than his

friendship with any other woman, terminating only with his death. It

was even more constant than that with his sister Laure, which was

broken at times. Though Madame Surville states that it began in 1826,

the following passage shows an earlier date: "I embrace you, and press

you to a heart devoted to you. A friendship as true and tender now in

1838 as in 1819. Nineteen years!" The first letter to her in either

edition of his correspondence, however, is dated 1826.

Madame Carraud, as Zulma Tourangin, attended the same convent as

Balzac's sister Laure. Her husband was a distinguished officer in the

artillery and a man of learning, but absolutely lacking in ambition,

preferring to direct the instruction of Saint-Cyr rather than to risk

the chances of advancement presented in active service. He became

inspector of the gunpowder manufactory at Angouleme, and later retired

to his home at Frapesle, near Issoudun. Though an excellent husband,

his inactivity was a great annoyance to his wife. According to several

Balzacian writers, Madame Carraud became the type of the /femme

incomprise/ for Balzac, but the present writer is inclined to agree

with M. Serval when he calls this judgment astonishing, since she was

a woman who adored her husband and sons, was an author of some moral

books for children, and nothing in her suggested either vagueness of

soul or melancholy. Madame Carraud herself gives a glimpse of her

married life in saying to Balzac that she and her husband are not

sympathetic in everything, that being of different temperaments things

appear differently to them, but that she knows happiness, and her life

is not empty.

Often when sick, discouraged, overworked or pursued by his creditors,

Balzac sought refuge in her home, and with a pure and disinterested

maternal affection, she calmed him and inspired him with courage to

continue the battle of life. It was indeed the maternal element that

he needed and longed for, and Madame Carraud seems to have been a rare

mother who really understood her child. He confided in her not only

his financial worries, but also his love affairs, his aspirations in

life, and his ideas of woman:

"I care more for the esteem of a few persons, amongst whom you are

one of the first, both in friendship and in high intellect--one of

the noblest souls I have ever known,--than I care for the esteem

of the masses, for whom I have, in truth, a profound contempt.

There are some vocations that must be obeyed, and something drags

me irresistibly towards glory and power. It is not a happy life.

There is in me a worship of woman, and a need of loving, which has

never been completely satisfied. Despairing of ever being loved

and understood as I desire, by the woman I have dreamt of (never

having met her, except under one form--that of the heart), I have

thrown myself into the tempestuous region of political passions

and into the stormy and parching atmosphere of literary glory.

. . . If ever I should find a wife and a fortune, I could resign

myself very easily to domestic happiness; but where are these

things to be found? Where is the family which would have faith in

a literary fortune? It would drive me mad to owe my fortune to a

woman, unless I loved her, or to owe it to flatteries; I am

obliged, therefore, to remain isolated. In the midst of this

desert, be assured that friendships such as yours, and the

assurance of finding a shelter in a loving heart, are the best

consolations I can have. . . . To dedicate myself to the happiness

of a woman is my constant dream, but I do not believe marriage and

love can exist in poverty. . . . I work too hard and I am too much

worried with other things to be able to pay attention to those

sorrows which sleep and make their nest in the heart. It may be

that I shall come to the end of my life, without having realized

the hopes I entertained from them. . . . As regards my soul, I am

profoundly sad. My work alone keeps me alive. Will there never be

a woman for me in this world? My fits of despondency and bodily

weariness come upon me more frequently, and weigh upon me more

heavily; to sink under this crushing load of fruitless labor,

without having near me the gentle caressing presence of woman, for

whom I have worked so much!"

Though Balzac and his mother were never congenial, he became very

lonely after she left him in 1832. In the autumn of that year he had a

break with the Duchesse de Castries, so he began the new year by

summing up his trials and pouring forth his longings to Madame Carraud

as he could do to no other woman, not even to his /Dilecta/. In

response to this despondent epistle, she showed her broad sympathetic

friendship by writing him a beautiful and comforting letter, in which

she regretted not being able to live in Paris with him, so as to see

him daily and give him the desired affection.

Not only through the hospitality of her home, but by sending various

gifts, she ministered to Balzac's needs or caprices. To make his study

more attractive, she indulged his craving for elegance and grace by

surprising him with the present of a carpet and a lovely tea service.

In thanking her for her thoughtfulness, he informed her that she had

inspired some of the pages in the /Medicin de Campagne/.

Besides being so intimate a friend of Madame Carraud, the novelist was

also a friend of M. Carraud, whom he called "Commandant Piston," and

discussed his business plans with him before going to Corsica and

Sardinia to investigate the silver mines. M. Carraud had a fine

scientific mind; he approved of Balzac's scheme, and thought of going

with him; his wife was astonished on hearing this, since he never left

the house even to look after his own estate. However, his natural

habit asserted itself and he gave up the project.

Madame Carraud was much interested in politics, and many of Balzac's

political ideas are set forth in his letters to her when he was a

candidate for the post of deputy. She reproached him for a mobility of

ideas, an inconstancy of resolution, and feared that the influence of

the Duchesse de Castries had not been good for him. To this last

accusation, he replied that she was unjust, and that he would never be

sold to a party for a woman.

Another tie which united Balzac to Madame Carraud was her sympathy for

his devotion to Madame de Berny, of whom she was not jealous. Both

women were devoted to him, and were friendly towards each other, so

much so that in December, 1833, she invited Balzac to bring Madame de

Berny with him to spend several days in her home at Frapesle. This he

especially appreciated, since neither his mother nor his sister

approved of his relations with his /Dilecta/.

Madame Carraud occupied in Balzac's life a position rather between

that of Madame de Berny and that of a sister. Indeed, he often

referred to her as a sister, and she was generous minded enough to ask

him not to write to her when she learned how unpleasant his mother and

sister were in regard to his writing to his friends.

Seeing his devotion to her, one can understand why he begged her to

spare him neither counsels, scoldings nor reproaches, for all were

received kindly from her. One can perceive also the sincerity of the

following expressions of friendship:

"You are right, friendship is not found ready made. Thus every day

mine for you increases; it has its root both in the past and in

the present. . . . Though I do not write often, believe that my

friendship does not sleep; the farther we advance in life,

precious ties like our friendship only grow the closer. . . . I

shall never let a year pass without coming to inhabit my room at

Frapesle. I am sorry for all your annoyances; I should like to

know you are already at home, and believe me, I am not averse to

an agricultural life, and even if you were in any sort of hell, I

would go there to join you. . . . Dear friend, let me at least

tell you now, in the fulness of my heart, that during this long

and painful road four noble beings have faithfully held out their

hands to me, encouraged me, loved me, and had compassion on me;

and you are one of them, who have in my heart an inalienable

privilege and priority over all other affections; every hour of my

life upon which I look back is filled with precious memories of

you. . . . You will always have the right to command me, and all

that is in me is yours. When I have dreams of happiness, you

always take part in them; and to be considered worthy of your

esteem is to me a far higher prize than all the vanities the world

can bestow. No, you can give me no amount of affection which I do

not desire to return to you a thousand-fold. . . . There are a few

persons whose approval I desire, and yours is one of those I hold

most dear."

Among those to whom Balzac could look for criticism, Madame Carraud

had the high intelligence necessary for such a role; he felt that

never was so wonderful an intellect as hers so entirely stifled, and

that she would die in her corner unknown. (Perhaps this estimate of

her caused various writers to think that Madame Carraud was Balzac's

model for the /femme incomprise/.) Balzac not only had her serve him

as a critic, but in 1836 he requested her to send him at once the

names of various streets in Angouleme, and wished the "Commandant" to

make him a rough plan of the place. This data he wanted for /Les deux

Poetes/, the first part of /Les Illusions perdues/.

Like his family and some of his most intimate friends, she too

interested herself in his future happiness, but when she wrote to him

about marriage, he was furious for a long time. Concerning this

question, Balzac informs her that a woman of thirty, possessing three

or four hundred thousand francs, who would take a fancy to him, would

find him willing to marry her, provided she were gentle, sweet-

tempered and good-looking, although enormous sacrifices would be

imposed on him by this course. Several months later, he writes her

that if she can find a young girl twenty-two years of age, worth two

hundred thousand francs or even one hundred thousand, she must think

of him, provided the dowry can be applied to his business.

If the Vicomte de Spoelberch de Lovenjoul is correct in his statement,

Balzac showed Madame Carraud the first letter from /l'Etrangere/, in

spite of his usual extreme prudence and absolute silence in such

matters. She answered it, so another explanation of Balzac's various

handwritings might be given. At least, Madame Carraud's seal was used.

In later years, Madame Carraud met with financial reverses. The

following letter, which is the last to her on record, shows not only

what she had been to Balzac in his life struggle, but his deep

appreciation and gratitude:

"We are such old friends, you must not hear from any one else the

news of the happy ending of this grand and beautiful soul-drama

which has been going on for sixteen years. Three days ago I

married the only woman I have ever loved, whom I love more than

ever, and whom I shall love to my life's end. I believe this is

the reward God has kept in store for me through so many years of

neither a happy youth nor a blooming spring; I shall have the most

brilliant summer and the sweetest of all autumns. Perhaps, from

this point of view, my most happy marriage will seem to you like a

personal consolation, showing as it does that Providence keeps

treasures in store to bestow on those who endure to the end. . . .

Your letter has gained for you the sincerest of friends in the

person of my wife, from whom I have had no secrets for a long time

past, and she has known you by all the instances of your greatness

of soul, which I have told her, also by my gratitude for your

treasures of hospitality toward me. I have described you so well,

and your letter has so completed your portrait, that now you are

felt to be a very old friend. Also, with the same impulse, with

one voice, and with one and the same feeling in our hearts, we

offer you a pleasant little room in our house in Paris, in order

that you may come there absolutely as if it were your own house.

And what shall I say to you? You are the only creature to whom we

could make this offer, and you must accept it or you would deserve

to be unfortunate, for you must remember that I used to go to your

house, with the sacred unscrupulousness of friendship, when you

were in prosperity, and when I was struggling against all the

winds of heaven, and overtaken by the high tides of the equinox,

drowned in debts. I have it now in my power to make the sweet and

tender reprisals of gratitude . . . You will have some days'

happiness every three months: come more frequently if you will;

but you are to come, that is settled. I did this in the old times.

At St. Cyr, at Angouleme, at Frapesle, I renewed my life for the

struggle; there I drew fresh strength, there I learned to see all

that was wanting in myself; there I obtained that for which I was

thirsty. You will learn for yourself all that you have

unconsciously been to me, to me a toiler who was misunderstood,

overwhelmed for so long under misery, both physical and moral. Ah!

I do not forget your motherly goodness, your divine sympathy for

those who suffer. . . . Well, then as soon as you wish to come to

Paris, you will come without even letting us know. You will come

to the Rue Fortunee exactly as to your own house, absolutely as I

used to go to Frapesle. I claim this as my right. I recall to your

mind what you said to me at Angouleme, when broken down after

writing /Louis Lambert/, ill, and as you know, fearing lest I

should go mad. I spoke of the neglect to which these unhappy ones

are abandoned. 'If you were to go mad, I would take care of you.'

Those words, your look, and your expression have never been

forgotten. All this is still living in me now, as in the month of

July 1832. It is in virtue of that word that I claim your promise

to-day, for I have almost gone mad with happiness. . . . When I

have been questioned here about my friendships you have been

named the first. I have described that fireside always burning,

which is called Zulma, and you have two sincere woman-friends

(which is an achievement), the Countess Mniszech and my wife."[*]

[*] Balzac is not exaggerating about the free use he made of her home,

for besides going there for rest, he worked there, and two of his

works, /La Grenadiere/ and /La Femme abandonnee/, were signed at

Angouleme.

His devotion is again seen in the beautiful words with which he

dedicates to her in 1838 /La Maison Nucingen/:

"To Madame Zulma Carraud.

"To whom, madame, but to you should I inscribe this work, to you

whose lofty and candid intellect is a treasury to your friends, to

you who are to me not only an entire public, but the most

indulgent of sisters? Will you deign to accept it as a token of a

friendship of which I am proud? You, and some few souls as noble

as your own, will grasp my thought in reading /la Maison Nucingen/

appended to /Cesar Birotteau/. Is there not a whole social

contrast between the two stories?

"DE BALZAC."

While hiding from his creditors, Balzac took refuge with Madame

Carraud at Issoudun, where he assumed the name of Madame Dubois to

receive his mail. Here he met some people whose names he made immortal

by describing them in his /Menage de Garcon/, called later /La

Rabouilleuse/. The priest Badinot introduced him to /La Cognette/, the

landlady to whom the vineyard peasant sold his wine. La Cognette, some

of whose relatives are still living, plays a minor role in the

/Comedie humaine/. Her real name was Madame Houssard; her husband,

whom Balzac incorrectly called "Pere Cognet," kept a little cabaret in

the rue du Bouriau. "Mere Cognette," who lost her husband about 1835,

opened a little café at Issoudun during the first years of her

widowhood. Balzac was an intermittent and impecunious client of hers;

he would enter her shop, quaff a cup of coffee, execrable to the

palate of a connoisseur like him, and "chat a bit" with the good old

woman who probably unconsciously furnished him with curious material.

The coffee drunk, the chat over, Balzac would strike his pockets, and

declaring they were empty, would exclaim: "Upon my word, Mere

Cognette, I have forgotten my purse, but the next time I'll pay for

this with the rest!" This habit gave "Mere Cognette" an extremely

mediocre estimate of the novelist, and she retained a very bad

impression of him. Upon learning that he had, as she expressed it,

"put me in one of his books," she conceived a violent resentment which

ended only with her death (1855). "The brigand," she exclaimed, "he

would have done better to pay me what he owes me!"

Another poor old woman, playing a far more important role in Balzac's

work, lived at Issoudun and was called "La Rabouilleuse." For a long

time, she had been the servant and mistress of a physician in the

town. This wretched creature had an end different to the one Balzac

gave his Rabouilleuse, but just as miserable, for having grown old,

sick, despoiled and without means, she did not have the patience to

wait until death sought her, but ended her miserable existence by

throwing herself into a well.

The doctor, it seems, at his death had left her a little home and some

money, but his heirs had succeeded in robbing her of it entirely.--

Perhaps this story is the origin of the contest of Dr. Rouget's heirs

with his mistress.

This Rabouilleuse had a daughter who inherited her name, there being

nothing else to inherit; she was a dish washer at the Hotel de la

Cloche, where Balzac often dined while at Issoudun. Can it be that he

saw her there and learned from her the story of her mother?

Balzac was acquainted also with Madame Carraud's sister, Madame

Philippe Nivet. M. Nivet was an important merchant of Limoges, living

in a pretty, historical home there. It was in this home that Balzac

visited early in his literary career, going there partly in order to

visit these friends, partly to see Limoges, and partly to examine the

scene in which he was going to place one of his most beautiful novels,

/Le Cure de Village/. While crossing a square under the conduct of the

young M. Nivet, Balzac perceived at the corner of the rue de la

Vieille-Poste and the rue de la Cite an old house, on the ground-floor

of which was the shop of a dealer in old iron. With the clearness of

vision peculiar to him, he decided that this would be a suitable

setting for the work of fiction he had already outlined in his mind.

It is here that are unfolded the first scenes of /Le Cure de Village/,

while on one of the banks of the Vienne is committed the crime which

forms the basis of the story.