Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1860-11-08
A Glance at n Great French Novclist-L Lif
and Character of BnIzac.

Mr.. Edward Howland has lengthy arti-
Gle in last weeks New York Saturday Press,
upon Balzac, from which we extract as fol-
lows:
With a rich and luxurious nature, with
an imagination aud delicacy of taste which
sought naturally for its qualification in the
re6nements of luxury and the charms of ar
tistic surroundings, Balzac had also a Spar
tan love OF simplicity, and a nobility of soul
that led him to undergo all kinds of priva-
tions to preserve his pride of selfrespect.
The gossip about the country-place called
Jardies, which he commenced near Paris
and the stories of the extravaganza he COM
mitted there, are only the canards of which
French society is so prolific, and which in
Paris cluster so thickly about the reputation
OF any man who has fame enough to be no.
torious.
This villa Balzac built, but could not af-
ford to furnish in accordance with the ideas
which he had of perfect elegance. There
fore, he wrote upon the walls, in charcoal,
the names of the articles his luxurious
tastes considered necessary, and the sug-
gestion served him as well as the reality
would have done.
Upon one wsll he wrote "This wall of
Parian marble, upon a ceiling, "This in
fresco by Eugene Delacroix," etc. One OF
his friends Leon Gozlan gave his imaginary
decoration to one of the rooms by writing
on the wall, Here a picture by Raphael,
above all price, and such as has never before
been seen."
1t was the ability to enjoy such imaginary
splendor, and the natural desire for luxury
which always accompanies the refinement of
taste, which gave rise to many of Bllzac's
tancies, considered by the prosaic mind as
foolish eXtravagances.
His sanguine temperament, his vivid i'm
agination, his thirst for wealth, and his wild
desire to be out of debt, led him also into
many speculations from which he gained no
benefit.
One noticeable fact, however, with regard
TO most of them, is that as with his early
commercial experiments, when they passed
from his hands, other parties made fortunes
out Of them.
Thus dreaming Of fortune, eager for fame,
longing to be loved, striving to get out of
debt, keeping up an appearance of luxury
often when be was really in want of few
francs, exhausting himself by prolonged and
excessive work, keeping up the excitement
necessary to literary composition by free
use of coffee, secluding himself for months,
living entirely alone and writing during
such times, day after day, sixteen and eight
cen hours out of the twenty-four until, his
work finished, he appeared again in the
world, lean, haggard, exhausted and eager
for pleasure and relaxation, he passed his life
alternately hoping and despairing
When, in 1885, Balzac published his story,
La Femme de Trente Ans, the Countess Eva de
Hanska, seized with an admiration for the
book, wrote to the author. This epistolary
correspondence ripened into love, when
Balzac visited Vienna for the purpose of see
ing her.
Unfortunately the Countess had a husband,
and with persistency seldom to be found
out Of the three-volumed novel, fate kept
him alive until 1850.
Then, when at last freed, the lovers met
again and married. when fortune and love.
the objects he had so long sought and hoped
for, were in his grasp, Balzac four months
after his marriage died in Paris of an aneur-
ism of the heart.