The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-18 00:00:00

ENTRAORDINARY LITERARY

SQUABBLE.

, (From Galignani's Messenger.)
Public interest has been much excited by a case be-
fore the Civil Tribunal of the Seine, in which the pro-
prietors of the Presse and Constitutionnel were plaintiffs,
and M. Alexandre Dumas, the celebrated romance
writer, defendant. The case itself, however, is nothing
more than an action brought against M. Dumas for the
breach of an engagement relative to the publication of
his romances. The hearing of the process commenced
on the 22d of January, when M. Lacon and M. Langlais,
advocates of M. Von gerant of the Constitutionnel, and
of M. de Girsriin, gerant of the Presse, exposed the case
of their clients. From their statements it appeared that
in March, 1845, M. V6ron and M. de Girardin con-
ceived the idea that it woul.l be most advantageous to
their journals to secure the exclusive services of M.
Alexandre Dumas, and thereby to prevent him from
enriching other newspapers with his productions. M.
Dumas having complied with their views, treaties were
drawn up between the respective parties. These treaties,
dated March 28 and 30, 1845, set forth that Alexandre
[Dumas bound himself not to write, during the ensuing
five years, more than 18 volumes of romance per annum,
of which nine were for the Presse and nine for
the Constitutionnel. M. Varon and M. de Girardin,
on their part, bound themselves to pay the price M.
Dumas thought fit to put upon his own works
which was, that each volume, forming about twenty-two
feuiletons, and consisting of lines (bits of lines being
counted as whole lines), should be paid 3,500 francs,
which made 63,000 francs per annum for the eighteen
volumes, or 315,000 francs for the five years. But as M.
Dumas, at the time of signing the treaties, was under
other engagements, it was stipulated that he should be
at liberty to fulfil them; and to prevent any misunder-
standing, they were stated to be as follow :—Five
volumes of the "Comte de Monte Christo," to be pub-
lished in the Debats ; "Le Fils de Milady, ou vingt ans
apres," in the course of publication in the Siecle ; six
volumes of " Le Vicomte de Bragelonne," to he deli-
vered in three months to the same newspaper ; the
" Chevalier de Msison-Rom:e," published in the Journal
La Democratie Pacifique, to be reprinted by M. Cedot,
publisher ; 6,000 lines of "La Fille du 114 rent," to be
supplied to the same person ; a volume of the "S.l,Ae
de Louis XV. ;" the " Histoire de la Peinture," for M.
Bethune, a publisher •, six volumes called "La Guerre
des Femmes," for M. Potter, publisher ; and tor M.
Bethune "Le Fils do Milady," and the remaining
volumes of Monte Christo," and "Le SiiHe de Louis
XV." In the treaties in question it was also provided
that half of the eighteen volumes, or at least four to the
Constitutionnel and four to the Presse, should be
delivered by the Ist of July following, and the re-
mainder at the beginning of the month of Decem-
ber, or, at the latest, on the 15th. M, Dumas, moreover,
bound himself to protest publicly against any advertise-
ments that might be made in any newspapers, contrary
to the stipulations of the treaties with the Presse and
the Constitutionnel. The two journals, immediately on
their treaties being signed, announced with great pomp
to their readers and the world the important news that
henceforth M. Dumas would write exclusively in their
columns. But their mortification was extreme to find
that in the month of August, 1845, the Siecle announced
the publication of a novel, called "Le Troia Mousque-
taires,' by the great romancer; that in September a
newspaper, called Le Soleil (now defunct), advertised
the " Batard de Manlier]," from his pen; that in the
same month, the Esprit Public advertised a work called
"Andrea del Sarto," of which he was the author; that
on the 29th September the Slick published a tale
called the " Amazone," and advertised a work in four
volumes, called "Fabian," both by him ; that the
Patric announced the publication of a romance in two
volumes, also by him; and that the Mode advertised
a work called " Elizabeth." of which he was to be the
parent. All this being in flagrant violation of the
treaties that bound him to the Presse and the Con-
siitutionnel, and being moreover most injurious to the
interests of those journals, M. Veron and M. de Girardin
called upon M. Dumas to disavow them. He
therefore wrote a letter to M. Veron, stating that the
publication of the " Amazone" by the Siecle was unau-
thorised by him, that he had sold it a year previously to
a publisher named Hetzel, who had resold it without
having any right so to do, and that he might prosecute
the Siecle in his name if he pleased ; but he took no
steps to stop the publication, neither did he adopt any
measures to prevent the advertising of works to be writ-
ten by him for other newspapers. Nor was that all; for,
though he had undertaken that four volumes should be
delivered to the Constitutionnel on the Ist of July, he
did not deliver a line on that day, and up to the month
of September following he had only delivered one volume
of a romance called the " Dame de Montsoreau."
Neither was that given all at once, as it ought to have
been, but bit by bit, day after day, so as to cause
great inconvenience to the journal. At the end of Sep•
tembcr M. Viron sent a legal summons to M. Dumas to
deliver the end of the manuscript of that romance, where •
upon M. Dumas set to work, and, when he thought
he had written enough, killed off all his personages.
In 1845 he wrotp nothing more, so that instead of nine
volumes be had only delivered five. In 1846 some
communication took place between him and M. Veron,
the result of which was that M. Dumas undertook
to deliver a romance, called the " Qurante Cinq," by
the beginning of December ; but, instead of doing so,
he occupied himself in building a theatre, rehearsing
plays, travelling in Spain, Algeria, and Tunis. Thus,
in no respect had he acted up to this treaty, and M.
Viron felt called upon to demand his condemnation for
the damages he had occasioned, as also for the expense
to which he had been put in registering the treaty, so
as to be enabled to plead upon it. With respect to the
Presse, that journal ought to have received nine volumes
previous to April, 1846 ; but it had not received a single
line. In May, however, M. Dumas gave it the first
pages of a romance, called the " Mimoires d'un
M 4 lecin," and subsequently delivered four volumes of
that work. But that was all—not another line had he
written. And yet the Presse have paid him as if he had
faithfully executed the treaty—it had advanced him
23,695 f. The Presse, said its advocate, had no alterna-
tive but to proceed against M Dumas, but it had faith
in his honour. It could, however, have wished that he
had shown a little regard for it, instead of scampering
over Spain and Africa, and showing his audacity in kill-
ing lions.
The proprietors of the Patrie and the Siècle were
cited to the tribunal in conjunction with M. Dumas, on
the ground that in publishing his romances after the
treaty had been entered into between him and the Presse
and the Constitutionnel, they had inflicted an injury upon
the two newspapers for which they owed reparation in
damages. The advocate of the Patrie, however, alleged
that the romance by M. Dumas, which it had published,
was in virtue of a treaty previous to that which bound
him to the Presse and the Constitutionnel, and therefore
it called upon the tribunal to award it damages against
those two journals for the injury they had caused it in
asserting the contrary. The advocate of the Siecle ex
plained that it had purchased the tale called the " Arne-
zone," from M. Hetzel, who had bought it from M.
Dumas, and paid him for it. The Siecle had also pur-
chased from M. Dumas the romance called " Fabian,"
and had paid him 12,000 francs, though it had not yet
published it. This romance had been offered to the
Presse, but declined. As to the complaint made against
the Slide, of having infringed the treaty between M.
Dumas and the Consiitutionnel and the Presse, the
Learned Gentleman contended that the Siecle was not
bound to know what treaties M. Dumas had made with
other journals; that when he offered his works it bought
them, as it had a right to do. Besides, the Siecle bad
treaties with M. Dumas, dating from 1842, by which it
had purchased of him 500,000 lines.
In the sitting of the Court on the 30th of January
the case was resumed. It having been announced that
M. Alexandre Dumas intended to plead his own cause.
an immerse multitude assembled in the Salle des Pas-
Perdus—such a multitude, it is said, as has rarely been
seen in the old hall since the middle ages, when it was
the custom to amuse the good people of Paris by the
representation of religious mysteries. As soon as the
court was opened it was crammed to excess, in spite of
the exertions of a strong body of the municipal guard.
The benches of the judges were even occupied by seve-
ral ladies.

M. Dumas commenced by saying, that he had desired
to
one. i
speakt
wasin his
notown
a discussion case,
a sort of
th
adtu
he
did betweenno not see
honour
th between
and
either
M.
vondoruonr.
or M.
re-
gretteddGirardin present for that obliged him to fire in the 'e
air,
and the ball, instead of traversing their bodies, would
fall at their feet. His treaty with- them depended on
annullation of a treaty with IL Dujarrier, but thedah
ye
after it was signed they announced in the Constitutionn el
and La Presse, that, as soon as the works then in
course of publication is other newspapers should be com-
pleted, he could only write in their journals. That,
however, was not true. He had still eighty volumes to
give to other newsppers and other permons ; namely,
30,000 lines of " Monte' Christo," 24.000 lines of
" Vingt ans Apres," 36,000 lines of the " Vicomte de
Bragelonne," 24,000 lines of the " Chevalier de la
Maison Rouge," 24,000 lines to the Commerce, and several
thousand lines to the Patric, and to M. Cadot. In all
he had to give 223,000 lines, or eighty volumes ; and,"
cried M. Dumas, " to give eighty volumes within the
time that was assigned me was a task that I alone could
execute. I contend, that if the members of the French
Academy had been called upon to supply these eighty
volumes in so short a time as was allowed me, they
could not have done it—and yet they are forty ! No;
they could not have done it—they would have become
bankrupt."—(Laughter.) AI. Dumas than went on to
contend that his treaty with AI. V6ron was only ob-
ligatory upon the treaty with M. Dularrier being for-
mally annulled, and that as such annullation only took
place at the end of January 1846, he was not bound to
deliver four volumes of romances to M. Vkon at the
beginning of July, 1845. He bad been accused, he said,
of occupying his time in other things instead of writing
for the ConstitutionneL That was true, for he had
written in order to liberate himself with respect to the
other journals with which ho had entered into engage-
ments. " Yes;" cried he, " I have done what no other
man has done, nor can do." I have written at the same
time five different romances for five different journals.
I alone did it hand.'
li m
ne was ine—every word was
written by mrhndy." II? then continued, " Up to the
moment at which the action was commenced my rela-
tions with M. Veron were always most friendly, lie

came to me one day and said, My dear Dumas, we
have the misfortune to be publishing at this moment a
romance so, bad that we lose our subscribers. If you will
not write something for us—something amusing, in-
teresting, witty, such as you always write—we are lost.
And you must do that in eight days.' Eight days,'
said I, is a long time when one has nothing to do, but
it is short when one has, as I have, five feuilletons to
write every day, and three horses, three servants, and
the railway continually waiting for copy.' Nevertheless,
as M. V6ron was in great distress, as it wai to him a
gestation of life and death, I said, I will take the en-
gagement to give you in eight days a volume of 6,000
lines, and that you may be sure that I will do so, take
136 pages of paper, number them, sign them, and I ►till
bring them to you in eittht days, filled with the matter
of a volume of 6,00(1 lines.' I did so, and the gratitude
of M. Veron was extreme." M. Dumas went on to
complain, that some delay having one day oceur4 ed in
the arrival of the copy of the romance that he wrote
for the Constitutionnel, M. Veron put a notice in the
paper, saying it was owing to the negligence of M
Dumas, a proceeding anything but friendly. Shortly
after M. V6ron began an action at law against M.
Dumas, and when the latter said to him that it would
be better to settle their disputes by arbitration, M.
Veron replied—" My dear Dumas, it will be better to
leave them to the Tribunal—it will be cheaper, and
will not derange you, for you need not appear unless
you like." As to the advertisements in the Con-
stiktionnel and the Presse of his being obliged
to write exclusively for them, M. Dumas said
it was not aPprising that the Siecle, the Com-
merce, the Journal des Debate, the Democratique
Pacifique, and the Pairie, to all which be was
under engagements, should be annoyed at such a false-
hood being told to the public; and as they issued counter
advertisements, M. Veron and M. de Girardin became
angry. On the annullit,g of his treaty with M. Dujarrier,
upon which he reminded the Tribunal his treaty with
Veron and Girardin only came into operation, he owed
24,000 lines to the Commerce. The romance calle4
" Fabien" had been given up to him by Dujarrier's trus-
tees, and he offered it to the Presse, which refused it as
not equal to his other works. He then offered it to the
Constitutionne4 but M. Veron also declined it, and re-
commended him to give it to the Commerce to enable him
to get rid by so much of his treaties with that journal.
The Com:nerceatthat period, however, was in a dying state,
and being without money had not the means to purchase
romances. It was then that " Fabien" was carried to

the Siecle, with which newspapers he had treaties secur-
ing him 190,000 francs in 10 years. The Siecle gave
him 12,000 f. for the work ; " but," continued M.
Dumas, " I felt tormented at its being described as
inferior to my other works. I read it, and I found
myself that it was really not equal to my other pro
ductions. I determined to burn it ; and I did hero
it in the fire of my conscience. Fabien ' has dis-
appeared—it will be never heard of again. Few met'
would have made such a sacrifice as that !" As to

the " Amazone," it was,said—it.M;;;;, " apoor
little thing of 11,000 lines " that he has given a
year previously to M. Hetzel for his " Diable a
Paris." He had forgotten it, and the Tribunal would
readily believe that a man who writes 100,000 lines
might easily forget 11,000. He now came to " An-
drea del Sarto," which appeared in the Esprit Pub-
lic. M. Castille, a gentleman connected with that
journal, paid him a visit and offered him three francs a
line to write something for it. "I replied," said M. Du
mas, "that the man who has charged you to offer me
three francs a line is either mad, or has no money, for in
my works there is a great deal of dialogue, and the mul-
titude of lines occupied by such words as oui, non,
vrainzent, &c., and to pay three francs for a oui or. a
non would be a folly." Then, said M. Castille, "we will
offer 12.000 f. to M. de Balsac for something of his." "M.
de Balsac," replied I, " is a man of great talent, and you
could not do better than apply to him if he will give you
something in the style of 'Le Pero Goriot, or Euglnie
Grandet.' It was after this conversation that the
Esprit Public published Andrea del Sarto,' which
is extracted from a great work called 'La Ga-
leria de Florence.' Gentlemen, I publish not only in
France but abroad.—(A laugh.) Here is a copy of the
Galerie de Florence ;' it is a magnificent work, but
being published abroad anybody could quote from it, and,
I repeat, the Esprit Public did so." With respect to the
romance called " Elizabeth " being advertised in the
Mode, M Dumas declared that he had given no authority
for it, and that the proceeding was perfectly unjustifiable.
" What!" he added, "it is supposed that I could write a
romance called Elizabeth,' when I bate the namel I
ask pardon of any lady here present who may be
named Elizabeth, but I am forced to avow that the
name is one of my antipathies. I have published 300
volumes, I have written 25 dramas, and I will defy
any person to discover in any one of my romances.
or in any one of my dramas, the word
" He had awa, arrived at the batato tie

Maul63n." The Commerce, he had chid, was dying, be,
one mortitti, wolio up with new life, and came to him.
and said, " You owe us four volumes ; we were dead,
is true, but we have come to life again, so pay us the four
volumes." In the treaty with M. de Girardin a reserve
had been made in favour of the Commerce ; he had sold
the " Bawd de Mau?e.)n" to M. Cadot, the publisher,
who, with M. de Girardin's consent, sold it to tin
Commerce, receiving for it a price much higher than he
had expected, that he had offered M. Dumas, 7,000£
in addition to what he bad paid him. M. Dania:
here entered into more lengthened details to prove what
he had asserted with respect to the romances entitled
" Fabien" and "Le Biltard de Mau 'n." Ile had
undertaken to write a work called " .11•6„noires d'un
decin," for the Presse, and had written to demand tha,
the division into feuillctons and volumes should be left to
him, so as not to injure the interest of the work ; and the
gentleman charged with the superintendence of the
jeuilleton department of the Presse had consented to his
application in a letter which terminate d by saying tc
him, " Who dare assign a limit to genius ?"—(T11,
reading of this phrase by M. Dumas himself drew forth
marks of astonishment from the auditory.) Ile went 011
to say that he received from the Presse a sum of 10,000 f..
once paid, on condition that his volumes should consist
of 6,700 lines, instead of 6,000, as originally agreed ;
and that this made an economy of 30,0001. to than
journal. The Presse had advanced him 6,0001., but hi
had reason to believe that it would not be demanded
from him if the success of the " /1146cnoires d'un IVdi-
cin," which were then being published, should carry its
circulation up to 30,000 copies. In the account pre.
sPnted to him by the Presse, a sum of 3,500 f. was put
down against him, but that was for the registration of
tne treaty. Excluding, then, the three sums of'lo,oool,
6,0001., and 3,5001., his account with the Presse stood :
Received from the Presse 16,772 f. 50c., deduct profits of
the " Memoires d'un Midecin," 11.8081., difference

4,964 f. 50c. against him. But as it had been arranged
that ha should receive 3,500 E, the value of a volume in
advance, and as he had actually remitted copy worth
I,ooof. to the Presse, it followed that the Presse was
really in advance to him to the amount of only 464 f. 50c.
That was his account with the Presse. It would really
appear that it had been believed that the cause would
be pleaded in his absence when he was hunting lions,
but instead of that he was there hunting other
things.—(Laughter.)
M. Llnglais, advocate to the Presse, here made sone
observations.

The President desired him not to interrupt, but to
eke notes.

M. Dumas, turning to the advocate, cried " Take I
your notes !—(Laughter.) Ah! it is M. Langlais who
interrupts me. I will just say a word to him. At the
last audience, Sir, you said that I had shown audacity
in hunting lions in Africa. I wish to tell you, Sir, that
you did not employ the proper word—you should have
said courage not audacity. I am not an academician, and
it is not a lesson of language that I give you; but I am
a man of the world, and I give you a lesson of polite-
ness."—(Sensation.) After this lesson to the Learned
Advocate, M. Dumas continued:—" In admitting that the
Preset had advanced me 6,000 r. and 10,000 f., it could
hardly be called an advance, for I (M. Dumas) did not owe
money to the Presse, but merchandise ! Besides it
would not have been surprising that, in a running ac-
count of 80,000 lines, the Presse should be in advance
to me (M. Dumas) to the amount of 6,000 f. Yet, after
the detail I have laid before you, I persist in saying that
the Presse was only in advance 464 f., notwithstanding
M. de Girardin had to pay me 157,000 f. in five years."
After complaining of certain calumnies that had been
made upon him, and, especially of that in which he
was represented as having given four volumes of
blank paper, under pretence that it was the manu-
script of a romance, in return for 12,000 f., M. Dumas
proceeded :—" Gentlemen, I will now explain to you
the circumstance which led to my departure for Spain.
I had delivered 158,000 lines, that is forty-eight volumes
in eighteen months. I was worn out after having
written so much. I write all my volumes myself. I have,
it is true, an assistant, who is very good, very intelligent,
very devoted; but my labour is still considerable. I am
reproached with going to hunt lions in Africa, instead of
continuing the adventures of Balsamo' in the 314,noires
d'un Yet 1 had asked permission to enjoy a
little repose, for I was unwell. M. de Girardin knew
that, for on the day on which he gave me permission to
absent myself he dined with me at my villa at St.
Germain—he passed the evening with me—he stopped
with me until 3 o'clock in the morning, so much
did he amuse himself, and he then left in his
carriage, in company with Mdlle. Brohan, the actress of
the Tlleatre Francais.—(lnterruption.) Gentlemen, I see
no harm in thals An actress may pass two or three
hours in a carriage with M. de Girardin, or with any
one else. I did not say that in order to cast the least
reflection in the world on the morality of M. de Girardin
or the honour of Mdlle. Brohan."—(Smiles.) M. Du-
mas here read the certificates of several eminent phy-
sicians, and among them that of his " physician in ordi-
nary ;" for, said he, " I, too, have a physician in
ordinary ;" and that of the King's physician ; in all of
which he was strongly recommended to take repose,
on account of a complaint with which he was
He then concluded as follows :—" I have spoken of
my labours to satisfy everybody, but I have
not spoken
of my sacrifices of money to keep on friendly terms with
my adversaries. The annullatiun of the Dujarrier
treaty cost me 12,0001. ; I have no cashier, but I know
I paid that sum. I burnt Fabien,' for which I had re-
ceived altogether 26,000 f., which I was obliged to repay.
I am not a good hand at arithmetic, but the cashier of
}I. de Girardin can tell how much that makes. I
, owed two volumes to M. Dumont, which I bought back

M. Damas—" Thank you, Sir—l never was able to
work a sum in addition. When I left these gentlemen
(M. V 6 on and M. de Girardin) nut Of 171,000 lines that
I owed to publEhers I had paid 164,000. I had, more-
over, furnished 27,000 lines to M. Won, and 27,233
lines to M. de Giiardiu, and they paid me 26,000 t. or
27,000 f. And now they demand 50,000 f. for damages.
If they get that sum, they will have had my volumes for
nothing, and will have obtained from me 31,500 f. be-
sides. It is easy to recognise in their manner of pro-
ceeding the lucky proprietor of the pate Reginault, and
the clever founder of the Mutee des Families.' That,
gentlemen, is all I have to say—l leave the decision of
the case to you."
M. Lacan, in reply, said, that if a process could be
gained by witty phrases, M. Dumas would certainly be
victorious; but a law case was not a romance, and M.
Dumas was mistaken in supposing that in treating it like
one he would succeed. M. Dumas -had violated engage-
ments into which he hal entered. Ile had not delivered
to the Constitutionnel all that he owed for 1846, and if
he Tribunal did not decide aainst him he -would not
fulfil his engagements for 1847,^1848, and 1849. He had
not protested against the advertisrtments of other jour-
nals, as he was hound to do. He had written for the
Sleek and the Pat,ie. What he had said about " Fabien"
being refused by the ConAtitutionnel and the Presse, was
not true; he hart never offered it to them, but bad taken
it at once to the Slick, and got pai-1 f;e• it. He had sold
his exclusive services to the Constitutionnel and the .Presse,
ut had not even yet given the nine volumes to each that
he was bound to deliver in 1845. Since the publication
of the "Dame de Montsoreau," in the Constitutionnel he
had written nothing. He had promised a romance, to be
called the " Quarante Cinq," and why had he not deli-
vered it? He pretends that he was ill, and obliged to
travel for the recovery of his health.
M. Dumas—l was intrusted with a mission by the
Minister of Public Instruction.
M. Lacan—That reason is no better than the other.
When a man is tied down by treaties, when he has en-
gagements to fulfil, he ought not to accept a mission.
The Minister, besides, would not have gives it if he had
known the sacred ties of honour that bound M. Dumas
to remain in France. But even that defence slipped
away from him, for it was in October that he left France,
whereas it was in June that he had undertaken to write
a new romance for the Constitutionnel. What had he
alone in the four months from June to October? Four
months for him was a long time, and in them he might
have written more than four volumes. But he preferred
to amuse himself in the delights of his villa at St. Ger-
main, of which marvellous tales are told, and in which he
has endeavoured to realise the dreams of his " Monte
Christo;" he occupied himself with his theatres—he
caused to be recited his own pieces and those of
Shakspeare; but he did nothing for his literary creditors.
And, in October, he accompanied the Princes to Spain,
apparently thinking that France would not be worthily
represented if he were not there.

M. Dumas—Such, at least, was the opinion of the
Minister of Public Instruction!

M. Lacan—From Spain he went to Africa, where, he
said, he had a mission to study a system of colonisation,
and to make it popular in France. But he occupied
nimself not with colonisation, but with fetes, with re-
ji,icings, with combats, with the release of prisoners,
with everything. From Algiers he went to Tunis,
where he pompously fraternised with the subjects of the
Bey, whilst the Bey was in France. He returned to France
n January, and wrote to M. Veron, "I arrive from
Spain and from Africa; I have seen everything, men and
things, beasts and people. I can, for my head is at
work, give you in a month (whilst waiting for the " Qua-
rante Cinq"), two of the most amusing volumes that
have ever been written. Giraud could illustrate them.
Veron, you may gain the sum of 20,000 f. with this trifle
—it is two-thirds of another Rachel.'" But it was
impossible to place any reliance upon this proposition,
because there was an immense difference between the
promises of M. Dumas and his performances. The
learned advocate concluded by calling upon the Tribunal
to con& mn M. Dumas, and even to insert the penalty of
Imprisonment in their verdict, in case he should not act
up to his engagements. Imprisonment would certainly
be pronounced against any other person acting as he had
done, and it would teach M. Dumas that if there be
merit in writing good romances, there is also merit in
showing oneself a slave to one's word. The glory of the
latter, it was true, was not great—it was a glory with-
out emotion, without noise, without prestige, but in the
eye of justice, and for a man of honour, it was the
greatest of all glory.
M. Dumas.—l will only say a few words in reply to
the Learned Gentleman. He talks of the treaty, but
forgets all its most important previsions. From June to
October I remained idle in my charming villa at St.
Germain ; but I wrote eight volumes of " Balsamo (Me-
moires d'un Melecin,") and the eighth volume was only
finished a few days before my departure. It is said that
I caused to be rehearsed the pieces of Dumas and Shaks-
peare. That is true, but it was in the idle moments of
Dumas, and, besides, the time was not so lost to art that
people who are half artists should reproach me with it.
It is said that I solicited the mission with which the
Minister of Public Instruction intrusted me, but that is
a mistake. It was the Duke de Montpensier, who has
shown me some kindnesses, who proposed to me to go
to Spain. " I desire," said he, "in a circumstance so
solemn for me and for France, to see you at my mar-
riage," (his brother had expressed q .;molar desire to see
me a. versai.ll-.): "for," he added," it is necessary tuns
you and Hugo shoulu q national fete." His
Royal Highness asked the 'Minister of Public Instruction

to be aliOwed to take me with him. The Minister then
-tent for me and said, "Can you go to Spain?" I said
hat I could, for being ill I had need of travel. " You
will go to Spain, then," said he, "and from Spain you
will go to Algeria, the finest country in the world; a
country perfectly unknown to our deputies, who speak
of Africa without having seen it, and of colonisation
vithout understanding it; and to enlighten them and
France with respect to the subject, it is necessary
that a popular man like you should write about it."
['hose were the very words of the Minister—no one
will deny it. I went. I accompanied the Duke de
Vlontpensier to Madrid. I was received there, not
merely as a simple author--as M. Alexandre Dumas!—
[ alone, of all the Frenchmen at Madrid, was invited to
he marriage of the Prince--I alone received the Grand
Cross of the Order of Charles 111. ! But all that respect
.vas shown to me, not, I repeat, as Alexandre Dumas,
nut as the friend of the Duke de Montpensier, as the
Marquis Davy de la Pailleterie. After quitting Madrid I
went to Tunis. There I was received still better. There
reigns a Prince, who though Tunisian, is not a savage, and
ho knows our worth. He gave meth° Grand Cross of the
Order of Nichan. I have been asked what I went to do
in Africa. I went to save from the Arabs 12 lives that
were about to be sacrificed by the Arab executioners. It
was I who was charged to "go and deliver Lieutenant-
Colonel Courly de Cognord, and his brave companions
in arms, the sublime heroes who escaped the massacre
of Sidi-Ibrahim. It was I who penetrated into the
interior of the country to save them. It was I who
rescued there 12 Frenchmen, the only remains of the
200 who were cruelly assassinated. It was I who had
under my orders the vessel destined to receive them. It
A-as I who conducted the vessel to Melilla, and it was I
who conveyed the prisoners to Djenima-Gazaouat,
where I was received by 3,000 person,, who offered me
a banquet, the remembrance of which consoles me for
the insults I have this day received. And if the voyage
that I have made in Spain and Africa had cost me
50,000 f., I should not regret it after having helped to
,ave our prisoners. I went to Tunis, fcr which a steam
frigate of 220 horse-power was placed at my disposal—a
vessel that had never been given but to me and to a Prince!
At Tunis I made notes for a work which I am ready to
deliver in four days if required. These notes were
destined for the Constitationnel, which has placed itself at
the disposal of Marshal Bugeaud. In acting as I did I
believe I did a thing grand and useful to my country. In
Spain and Africa I displayed the grandeur with which I
represented France. I had with me six persons, repre-
senting painting and the drama, as I represented litera-
ture. I had received for my mission 10,000 f. But how
was it possible for seven persons to live fur months upon.
Io,ooof. ? What did I do ? Before leaving Paris I
ceused to be sold railway shares of the value of 50,000 f.
and in so doing lost 7,000 f. But I was determined to
figure grandly at the marriage of the Duke de Mont-
pensier, as became a man accustomed to such so-
lemnities. I spent 26,000 f. in Africa, and 11,000 f. in
Spain, and on my return to France I compelled the
Minister of Public Instruction to receive I,ooof. that I
had drawn above the 10,000 f. allowed me. Such is the
only answer I have to make to the insults of these
gentlemen."
The case was then adjourned for a week. On quit-
ting the Court, M. Dumas was surrounded by an im-
mense crowd, which escorted him to his carriage. H.
frequently saluted the admiring multitude, and receive d
in return their enthusiastic plaudits.
The Court assembled again on Saturday to bear the

remainder of the pleadings.
M. Langlais, the counsel for the Presse, replied to M.
Dumas. That gentleman, he said, had thought, with-
out doubt, in the intoxication of his brilliant and legiti-
mate fame, that it would suffice for him to speak of his
literary triumphs, like the romance of his victories, to
impose silence upon his adversaries. He had, however,
deceived himself; and was already expiating his illusions.
M. Langlais then went through the statement of M.
Dumas point by point, bringingthfeorawmarodunfatctostin23r,e6f3usta:
trconcluded
whichb stating
he
ehthhda te
nAtle. rDe
du,
thatmaansdhad v it°
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for which nothing had been
m,„lt'iatotiespncledyt!!He
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andse
furnished.

M. Nogent-Saint-Laurent then addressed the Court
for M. Dumas, who, he said, having taken up too se-
riously the bitter attacks which had been made upon
him in that place, had resolved not to appear again per-
conally ; and had, therefore, charged him with his cause.
M. Nogent-Saint-Laurent denied that his client had
committed the infractions of the treaty charged upon
him, and in doing so repeat(d, but in a more consecu-
tive manner, the statements of M. Dumas, and observed
that the treaty itself had been signed under the express
reservation of the rights of the heirs of M. Dujarrier,
and was not, therefore conclusive. In terminating his
address, M, Nogent-Saint-Laurent alluded, in feel-
ing terms, to an incident which has excited some inte-
rest, and which has been made, he said, the subject of
comment unfavourable to M. Dumas. but which only
showed the goodness of heart of his client.
The Court then adjourned for a week, to hear the
requisitory of the Avocet du Roi.
The following is the
course
einuerisdeenoft alluded tobyl.Nhoe da
gent
e, day
after in the
afar M. Dumas had pleaded his cause, a placard ap-
peared, announcing that, " in consequence of a seizure
there would be publicly sold at Versailles, on the 25th,
a properproperty situ ited at Port Marley, sear St. Ger-
tnain-en-Laye, consisting of a plantation, a building
ornamented with turrets, and a pavillion surrounded
with water, called the Ile de Monte Christi)," such pro•