Page images
PDF
EPUB

mysterious struggles with splendor as yet
but dimly seen." The play was procured
and studied; the "Sicilian Vespers" of
Casimir Delavigne-which, in 1819, threw
Paris into a ferment-and at a later date,
"Louis XI." were also subjected to a
careful perusal, and not without effect.
They at least disclosed the possession of
certain qualities of the heart that have
ever since been his boast; and it is, he
assures us, with profound satisfaction that
he dates from so early a period his well
known impartial appreciation of contem-
poraneous works.
Terence wrote one
of the most beautiful verses ever penned
when he said-

Homo sum, nil humanum a me alienum puto;

66

of his mother were failing them, and it became more than ever incumbent to labor diligently for his daily bread. Deviolane, one of his old masters, was at this time also called away to the capital to become Conservateur" of the forests of the Duke of Orleans; and Dumas sighed to follow him, not as a subordinate at the desk, but that he might force a passage for himself into the charmed circle of literature and poetry. Striving for the present to content himself with his hopes, he accepted an advantageous situation that offered at a notary's at Crespy. But here a novel temptation presented itself; his new master being occasionally absent for several days together, it occurred to him to seize the opportunity, and with an old fellow clerk steal a march on Paris. The and M. Dumas is proud to sympathize in plan was no sooner projected than it was the sentiment, and to look complacently settled between them; and the first chance down from the altitudes of his own ego- found them on the road. They carried a tism upon the poets and the penmen of common purse, and their guns, with which, his age. To this first glimpse of the to make up for deficiencies, they shot as mighty spirit of poesy brooding over the much game as they could take with them chaos of his mind succeeded the incite- to sell in the city. Once there, the first ments of a first love, kindling new hopes thing was to seek out Adolphe, and turn and joys, coloring the dream of life with his patronage to some account. The rich golden hues, and disclosing in the vaudeville speculation had come to nodepths of his nature a lower deep still thing; but the theatre was open to them opening wide. To the aspirations that as auditors, if not as authors. Adolphe began to glow in his bosom, a practical welcomed him heartily, conducted him tendency was given by the return from forthwith to Talma, and obtained a free Paris of a young friend, Adolphe de Leu- admission for him to the evening's enterwen, and the relation of his experiences tainment to see the great tragedian as there. Adolphe had actually been living Sylla. An hour in that curious literary with a dramatist, had even framed an laboratory, the cafe, where sat Théaulon acquaintance with Scribe-then on the busily composing with a crowd of young threshold of success, and with the stage playwrights writing or chattering about before him "where to choose"-and had him, pleasantly shortened the interval to himself written a piece that, though re- the performance; but all pleasures paled fused, had been honored with a "reading" before those which it brought with it. at the Gymnase. Dumas commenced Let us leave M. Dumas to expatiate in scheming; but relatives and neighbors the recollection. The curtain down, shook their heads and universally de- Adolphe led him behind the scenes that nounced him as an idle fellow who would he might thank Talma for the enjoyment never make any thing out. Alexandre, afforded. Alexandre, afforded. The celebrated actor, surhowever, was bent on disappointing his rounded by many of the celebrities of the friends; give him a fair field and he will day, again kindly received him. "What break a lance with any cavalier, and make are you doing?" he asked; and when his the false prophets themselves do him hon- youthful admirer, blushing with false or. In a short time he composed a vaude- shame, whispered that he was a clerk,— ville in one act, after which it was agreed "You need not despair for all that,” he that he should work in unison with added, "Corneille was a lawyer's clerk. Adolphe; and the latter being soon sum- Gentlemen, I present to you a future Cormoned again with his father to Paris, it neille." Not satisfied with the compli was determined that he should use his ment, Dumas relates that he begged him influence to get their joint productions to lay his hand on his head, and that he played. Meantime, the scanty resources did so, saying, "Alexandre Dumas, I bap

tize thee poet in the name of Shakspeare, | ling the brush after handling the sabre so Corneille, and Schiller." And the interview concluded by his advising him to go home, and study, and await his "call."" This benediction was ample satisfaction for all the fatigue and dangers of the journey; it more than compensated for the anger of his employer, whose threats, in the exhilaration of the moment, Dumas chose to interpret into a positive dismissal. How to live in Paris became now the problem. He sold his dog, scraped together what money he could by all sorts of devices, and besought his mother to let him go, and make at least one campaign in the capital. He would find out his father's friends, introduce himself, and crave their help to place him in a position where he might work worthily of his name. Despite household exigencies, her consent was with difficulty extorted; but once gained, he quickly completed his preparations, and, obtaining a letter of recommendation to General Foy from one of the provincial magnates, away he went into the great world, believing it a garden of flowers, all the gates of which were open to him, and that, like Ali Baba, he had only to pronounce the word Sesame to cleave rocks asunder.

well? What would you have? Mine is a restless hand-I must employ it on something. Now let's hear what you want." The mention of the name of Dumas brought vividly back the remembrance of olden times; but the poor General could only invite him to dinner the next day, and meanwhile counsel him how to act—to expect nothing from the Minister of War, but to go at once to General Foy. Accordingly, the following morning Dumas selected his letter of introduction, and presented himself at the house of General Foy. The General received him in the midst of his papers, writing his "Histoire de la Péninsule." His piercing eyes glancing from the table made the intruder tremble; but when, at the mention of his name, the old man began to talk of his father's services, and after reading the letter he brought with him, spoke familiarly and kindly, his confidence returned. "Come, then ; what shall we do for you?" "Whatever you please, General." "But I should know first what you are fit for." "Oh! not for anything great." "Let's see what do you know-a little mathematics ?" "No, General." "At least you have some notion of algebra, geometry, and natural phiThe evening of his arrival in Paris, Du-losophy ?"-and he stopped between each mas wrote to the Duke de Bellune, the word, till answered by the blushes of his Minister of War, requesting an audience, would-be protégé, who, for the first time, and appealing to the friendship he once stood confronted with his own ignorance. entertained for his father, the republican "No, General," he answered stammerGeneral. The next morning he procured a ing. "You understand Latin and Greek ?" directory to look for the address of those "A little." "You speak some modern other "friends" whose influence warranted language?" "Italian pretty well; Gerany hope for the future. Then he set out man very badly." "I will get you placed to make his calls. The first visit was to with Lafitte, then. You understand acMarshal Jourdain, who thought he remem- counts ?" "Not at all," answered Alexanbered a General Alexandre Dumas, but dre, writhing under the examination; "my had never heard that he had a son. The education, General, was altogether neglectnext was to General Sebastiani, who re-ed, and I am ashamed to say so. I only now ceived him with equal coolness, and contin- perceive it; but I will begin again, I give ued busily dictating to his amanuensis, snuff- you my word of honor." But, meanbox in hand. The bright dreams of the while, mon ami, have you any means of morning began to fade, as the young aspi-living ?" "None at all," sighed Dumas, rant turned sorrowfully away; but there overwhelmed by a sense of his own helpwas yet another name-that of General lessness. The General reflected a minute. Verdier, who had served under his father" Give me your address; I will consider in Egypt; and he threw himself into a cab- what I can do for you"-and he pushed riolet, and drove off to find him. The pen and paper towards him. modest quarters of the old republican surprised him; and when he saw him with "I took the pen (says Dumas, describing the palette and brush bending over an unfin- I looked at it, still wet with use, and laid it down scene) with which this man had just been writing. ished battle-scene, he drew back, as if on the desk. 'What?' 'I will not write with mistaken in the man. "So you are astonyour pen, General; it would be a profanation.' ished," said the General, "to see me hand-What a boy you are. Stop, here is a new one.'

66

544

ALEXANDRE DUMAS.

General Foy continued, without appearing to perceive what passed in his mind: "I dine to-day with the Duke of Orleans; I will speak to him about you. Sit there. Draw up a petition, and write as well as you can." Dumas silently obeyed, and, the petition finished, he was invited to come back to breakfast the next morning, and learn the particulars of its reception.

"Thank you.' I wrote; the General looked at me." make the magnitude of his labors inI had written but a few words when he clapped his comprehensible, event o friends who canhands, exclaiming, 'We are safe!' How so? You not divine at what hour or in what time write a beautiful hand.' I let my head fall on my he accomplishes them." His beautiful bosom; I had no power to hold it up. A beautiful hand! that was all I could boast. A brevet d'in- handwriting, in other respects, stood him capacité, oh! il était bien à moi. A beautiful in good stead. For two years the Duke hand! I might then one day hope to be a clerk. of Orleans never sent a dispatch to a What a future opened before me f I could willing- crowned head that was not transcribed by his pen; soon the mechanical task of copyly have cut off my right hand.” ing became so easy, that while his fingers rapidly ran to and fro, he could give the reins to his imagination, and wander in the favorite regions of thought; and in due time, his salary was raised to 1500 francs, with a possible "gratification" of 250 at the year's end. There was yet one thing that seriously impeded his progress; it was necessary to study society as well as literature, but the engagements of the evening effectually prevented his doing both. A representation of his wishes to M. Oudard, the chef de bureau, ultimately succeeded in removing even this impediment, and he was transferred to another department where he might leave his desk at an earlier hour. The friendly voice of his fellow clerks had warned him against the mention of literature in the presence of his superiors, who deemed its cultivation as a profession incompatible with the discharge of the duties due to themselves. They were prudent counsellors; for Dumas found his rash avowals exposed him to suspicion, and stood not unfrequently in the way of his advancement. A third change-into the Direction des Forêtsthrew him again under the authority of Deviolane, one of his oldest masters in the country, and one who had never scrupled to denounce his unfortunate subordinate as a worthless dreamer. A series of squabbles was the inevitable result. But Dumas, in the interim, had gained immeasurably upon his former self. He had grown familiar with the illustrious names that adorned the age; had watched the glittering constellation, and already fancied he saw the star of his own fortune beaming out in brilliance among them; Chateaubriand, and Nodier, and Delavigne, and Scribe, and Lamartine, and Hugo, and de Vigny-a long and miscellaneous scroll, the champions of a buried past, the herald of a glorious future-men who had fought and won and faded in their strength-ath letes beating the air in the energy of youth; and he longed to write himself beside them. The circle of his acquaintance, ever extending, included some of the most

With the morrow Dumas did not fail to return, and the first word of the General, as he opened the door, reassured his hopes. The affair had been arranged-he was at once to enter the sécrétariat of the Duke as a supernumerary, at a salary of 1200 francs. "It was not much," added the General; "but he must work, and remember his promise to study." Breakfast was joyously dispatched over this good news, and a letter as gladly written to announce it to his mother. This done, he bounded to the Palais Royal, and the same day was installed in his office. There was no reason to despair-"Béranger could not command more money when he entered the university." His hours of work-business, from half-past ten to five o'clock, and from seven to ten during the evening, left him little time for systematic study; but he set himself vigorously to carry out his resolutions, and the advice of two congenial companions whom he found in the office contributed greatly to his encouragement. He knew sufficient Latin to go on without help, and he bought with what remained of his little store of francs, a "Juvenal," a "Tacitus," and a "Suetonius." Geography he made his recreation, and under the guidance of a young physician, he sought an acquaintance with chemistry and physiology. His iron constitution enabled him to supplement the limited leisure of the day by long hours at night. Then, he informs us, began that protracted struggle of his will with circumstances, which, haying at first no settled object, ended by leaving him the victor; and in those feverish watches of the midnight, he contracted habits, which, having never been lost,

[merged small][ocr errors]

popular, if not the greatest, dramatists of the day; so that he was well fortified within and without against the complaints of his obstinate superior. The range of his studies gradually widened; and new elements of power were continually disclosed. He read Scott, and Cooper, and Byron-his "brother in poverty, at least ;" he followed with intense eagerness the fluctuating conflict between the classic and romantic schools of art that reaction against the accepted laws of criticism which was the necessary supplement of political revolution. Translations from the English and German dramatists-though too frequently verifying the Italian proverb, traduttere traditore-evinced the progress of the movement on the stage; nor were there wanting men in each department to represent the various shades of opinion that passed across the public mind.

This inner life of the student endured for three years, without leading to any positive result-without his producing anything, or even, as he assures us, feeling the impulse to compose. The construction of the ordinary drama, and even the spirit of its dialogues, was alien to his tastes; and the contemplation of such works only deepened the conviction of his inability to rival them. Not yet had he divined a more excellent way. About this time some English actors arrived in Paris. Hamlet, the favorite of his boyhood, was announced for representation, and Dumas, of course, took his place in the pit. Let the effect be described in his own words:

"Imagine a man born blind, whose sight is re

stored, who discovers an entire world of which he had no idea; imagine Adam awaking after his creation, and finding the enamelled earth under his feet, over his head the glowing sky, around him trees of golden fruit, in the distance a river, a broad and beautiful silver stream, by his side a young and lovely woman; and you will have an idea of the enchanted Eden, the door of which this representation opened to me. Oh, this then was what I sought, what I wanted, and what was to come; it was these men of the theatre, forgetting that they are in a theatre; it was this factitious life by force of art approaching actual life; it was this reality in word and gesture which made the actors the creatures of God with their virtues, passions, weaknesses, instead of affected, spiritless, ranting, and sententious heroes. Oh, Shakspeare, merci! Oh, Kemble et Smithson, merci! Merci à mon Dieu! merci à mes anges de poésie.

"I thus saw Romeo, Virginius, Shylock, William Tell, Othello; I saw Macready, Kean, Young. I

VOL. XXXVII.—2 O. IV.

read, I devoured the foreign repertoire, and I perceived that in the dramatic world everything ema nated from Shakspeare as in the natural world everything emanated from the sun; that no one could be compared to him, for he was as dramatic as Corneille, as concise as Molière, as original as Calderon, as thoughtful as Goethe, as impassioned as Schiller. I perceived that his works by themselves embraced more types of character than the works of all others united. I perceived, in fine, that he was the one who, after God, had created most. Thenceforward my vocation was decided; called, was opened to me; I had a confidence in I felt that that speciality to which every man is myself that till then had failed me, and I launched out boldly towards the future against which I had always feared I should dash myself to pieces."

"It is men, and not man, who create," and Dumas, therefore, conscious of the difficulties that beset the career he now embraced, began by a still more diligent culture to prepare to overcome them. He read Shakspeare, Corneille, Molière, Calderon, Goethe, and Schiller-analyzed, and produced, and experimented, till he believed himself possessed of the secret of their power. But what are we to think of this direct inspiration? Was the mantle of the great bard caught by his admiring follower, or is the whole story as much an exaggeration of fact as it is of language -a ruse to cover the disciple with the glory of his master? Granted the impulse given, it is still impossible to reconcile this praise of the English actors with his praise of Talma; nor can we forget that if then the "call" of destiny spoke trumpet-tongued to ear and heart, the ambition of his youth, as testified by many a fruitless effort, had pointed throughout in the same direction. Indeed, these earlier endeavors were at length about to appear in tangible form. The pressure of poverty continued to be felt-a " spur that pricked the sides of his intent." His collaboration with De Leuwen availing nothing, he induced Rosseau, a writer of with them; and the first fruits of this new more skill and experience, to co-operate association was a vaudeville, "La Chasse et L'Amour," that was played with great success at the Ambigu theatre, and, for the first time in the life of Dumas, raised the question of the rights of authors. These he found to consist in twelve francs a night and six places in the theatreequivalent, when shared among the three, to six francs a day. Overjoyed with his good fortune, he was nevertheless not slow to avail himself of a suggestion of his

35

wary comrade, and to sell his interest in the performance to one of those speculators peculiar to the French theatre for fifty francs. Another vaudeville followed with similar success; but an attempt to combine with Soulié, who had just translated "Romeo and Juliet," in some more serious work, failed altogether.

Not long after the appearance of the English actors in Paris, Dumas chanced to visit the Exposition of Sculpture. A group, representing Christine ordering the assassination of Monaldeschi, struck his attention, and suggested the idea of a tragedy. A plan was quickly sketched, and in four months "Christine" was finished. Every moment that could be snatched from the mechanical duties of the office -and the rapidity with which he wielded his pen made him master of many-was devoted to its composition, and three days rebellious absence in consequence of a collision with his superior, that nearly ended in his expulsion, were pressed into the service, and materially contributed towards its completion.

"Whilst I was at the secretariat (says Dumas), where I went to the office at ten o'clock in the morning, I did not go away till the evening, then returning at eight not to leave again till tenwhen I traversed eight times a day the road from 55 in the Faubourg St. Denis to 216 in the Rue St. Honoré-I was so wearied that I could seldom work in an upright posture. I laid down and went to sleep, having arranged my work on the table near my bed. I slept for two hours, and at midnight my mother awoke me that she might rest in her turn. Then I used to work as I lay; and to this lying-down work I became so accustomed, that for a long time after I obtained my liberty I continued it whenever I composed for the theatre. . . . . I also contracted the habit of writing my dramas in an inverted hand. This habit I have not lost like the other, and even now I have one sort of writing for my dra

mas and another for my romances."

"Christine" finished, the great question was how to get it played? It so happened that at one of his first visits to the theatre, Dumas had sat beside Charles Nodier, and been honored with his conversation. He resolved to turn the interview to good account, and remembering Nodier's intimacy with Baron Taylor, the royal commissaire of the Théâtre Français, wrote requesting him to solicit a "reading" for his drama. The answer came from Taylor himself, appointing an hour to meet him at his house. Prompt to the time, Dumas was there. He read the first

act with trembling voice; the second and each succeeding one with greater confidence. The piece was approved, and he went away with a lightsome step. Three days later he was seated in the green room with all the grandees of the Théâtre Français listening round him: the drama was received with acclamation. "I went out of the theatre," writes Dumas, "elated and proud as when my first mistress said to me, I love thee. I made my way along the street, measuring every one who passed from head to foot, as much as to say, 'You!-you have not written "Christine!"

you are not going from the Théâtre Français-you are not received by acclamation!'-and in my joyous absence of mind, I made an attempt to jump over some water, and fell in the midst; I did not see the carriages, and ran into the horses. On reaching home, I had lost my manuscript; but it was all the same to me I knew it by heart."

The next morning the newspapers announced the reception of the drama, and for the first time the name of Dumas made a noise in the world. The news spread to the Palais Royal, and was whispered from room to room, so that when the author appeared, his chef de bureau alone was silent. He could not forget the hours stolen from the desk. From that time it was an open war; the strictest surveillance was exercised over the reckless truant, and if at any time found away from his post, his absence was immediately reported to the Directeur-General. The "gratifications," then due, but in their nature dependent upon the good behavior and diligence of the subordinate, were in his case withheld. No martyr ever endured a more vigilant persecution; "but," says Dumas, with customory profanity, “God gave me strength to support all this, and God only knows what I suffered." Still, why this ready blame of so natural a procedure? His neglect of duty is punished; his intellectual efforts are rewarded. Were it not that all things and men were bound to perceive his genius, and smooth the way for its regal progress, who could dispute the justice of his fate?

Some months passed, and the petty intrigues of the green room intervened to prevent "Christine" being brought on the stage. Dumas, therefore, resolved to commence another work, and happening to read a passage relating to the assassination of St. Megrim, the subject so com

« ՆախորդըՇարունակել »