, 1876-02-13
EUROPEAN GOSSIP.
A Visit to Alexandra Dumas ::
incidents Of His Career.
An Ambassadors Life in Turkey
Horrors Of the Grand Rue
de Pera.
The Dogs of Constantinople-'-Nhat Nc"
Title Is Queen Victoria Going
to ASsume2

ALEXANDRA DUMAS. .....
4 Paris letter to the London Ddaly ReWs SAYS
"I recently called on II. Alexandra Dumas, at
his house in the Avenue de Viiiiers, and spent a
delightful morning. converting with him about
the incidents of his extraordinarily sucoassful
but laborious scareer. Will it be believed that
the i]lust1ious name ho bears WAS at first an al
most insups1able drawback to him7 He Was "a
when he wrote La Dame aux Oamellias, and the
now famous drama which he drew from the novel
was refused by all the managers in Psna who
declared with one yoce that such piece would
scandalsze the public and be hissed of the stage.
At last the manager OF the Vaudeville, who vas
on the verge Of bankruptcy, reasoned thus
This ia piece by Alerandre Dumas son; it
will cost me nothing to put on the stage; some-
body is sure to come and it on the first night
for the fathers sake. have nothing to lose and
so will risk it, But the coup d etat was needed
before the play could be performed. The
censors refused to license it, and II. Leon
Faucher the Home Minister, declared categorl-
cally that it should never be put upon the stage
80 long as he was in Office. Happily the young
author had powerful friend in tho Comic do
Morny, who had not been three DAYS in the
Ministry Of tue Interior before he removed al
difficulties. Thus in the early part OF 1852 the
piece winch the Government had taboocd as i'm
moral and in the SUCCESS Of which neither man
ager nor actors much believed-for Mlle. Far
geuil had refused to accept the part Of tue
heroine, and NJ. Fechter. who played armand
Durdl. had prophesied dead faitute-that piece
was represented with success 80 immense, so
startling, that no dramatic event before or Hlnce
has ever equaled it. Fame aud fortune came to
the young author in one evening; to this day the
,iece continues to yield him fine income, and
he computes that under any equitable interna:
tional copyright law the profits which he would
have drawn from the United States alone
would have amounted to o million francs.
After the SUCCESS Of the Dame aux
Camelliss,' II. Fould. then Minister OF the
Emperorfs Household, pressed H. Alexandra
Dumas to write something for the Theatre
Flancais. his object in this being less to be-
friend the young author than to play M evil
turn to allie. Rachel, who was at onco the pride
and the termagant tyrant Of the National Com
edy House. Mile. Rachel had brought matters
to such pass at the Francais, BY opposing the
engagement OF all actresses who would rival her
tha. on the nights when she did not perform
land she performed about seventy times tn q
year) the house was empty. It occurred to III.
Fould that, If the Fsancais could bring out come
sensational piece in which Nile. Rachel took no
part, her ascepdency would thenceforth decline !;
but, when II. Dumas brought him the sDemi-
the Emperor. who read it in manuscript and
SAID that it would dishonor the National Theatre,
though it might do for a smaller house; and, a
short time afterward, II. Fould, having proposed
the author for the Legion OF Honor, his Ma jesty,
with his own hand, etTneed his name from his
not prevent the 'Deni- Monde from being
PLAYED at the Gymnase with almost the same
SUCCESS as the : Dame aux Cameltias' nay,
more. jury Of distinguished play "rights aud
critics recommended it for the annual prize
which ii. Leon Faucher, the authors first PER
eecutor, had founded to encourage the piece
best calculated to improve the morals Of the
working classes N. Baroche, whose function
it was to award the price, refused to confer it on
IL Dumas: whereon the jury. declining to re-
should be abolished, which W2s done accord
ingEy;; ,,o..,a-. nnn,, snnn,h.n ,or,, ). il.
one Of those pleasant citizens' boxes out OF Lon
dou, With garden round it, bare at this season
OF the year, but in summer au ab!oom with flow
ers. Tho nuthor does al his work in a spac,ous
ground-hoor study, with large windows over
looking this garden. aud with walls covered by
artistic treasures. among which are two admir-
able pictures Of Manon Lsscaut and Marguer-
ite Gautier. He is tall, stalwaEt, very pale,
aud his first aspect is proud, cold, stern,
and shows himself the most fascinAting OF eau
se,:rs. He ia gay, cordial, vivacious and simple,
full Of anecdote, wit, and laughter. He seems
to wear hie heart upon his sleeve, and to hear
his conversation is like drinking champagne OF
fine vintage. He talks freely about ANYTHING
and everything When his pamphlet, 'L'Homme-
Femme was published, it sold the unprecedent-
ed number Of 7ooo0 copies right OF without
stopping. 4 few days afterward II. Dumas
went 10 an evening party aud WAS mobbed By
lstiies, who vshemently abused him, Saying that
be knew nothing OF women that it was always
tue-ls, tue-la,' aud 80 forth He left ear
" to escape from their soothing. and
met one of the youngest aud pretrtest Of
him to assist her in putting on her cloak. and as
he was doing 90 sha turned round and suddenly
said Ne les ecoutez pas c'est un chef TGuUre'
a1onBlgnor Du2anloup, Biehop OF Orieans ap-
proved this vigorous pamphlet, excopting Its
closing advice, 'Tue-a; aud when II. Dumas
met him. ghortly after it's publication, the Bishop
asked him incidentally whether he had read
Gustaye Flaubert's Madame Bovavy.' Yes,
MonsigDor, have you p 1ejolned the dramatist.
/ have read it, rejoined the prelate, mildly.
rural distric:s to understand how true it is.'
The cream OF this anecdote lies in the fact that
= Madame Boyary drew down On its author 8
criminal prosecution IS being an outrage on pub
Lie morals-
IN. Aiexaudre Dumas reekons that new play
ia always worth to him sum OF 4G000 down,
including. OF course, the sums received from
performances in the provinces but the majority
Of bis pieces also bring him in permanent in
como, SO that be has solved problem which to
an eighteenth century author would have seemed
fantastical-namely. how to earn an income Of
E3. 600 year out OF ones pen without writing
in twelvemonth more than would fill 30J oc-
tavo psges The labor to which II. Dumas SUBJ
iects himself in producing these 800 pages is.
however, enormous and inceHaant. Like N.
Sardou, he is an indefatigable ees-cher after
facts, but his mind, far larger and more power
fui than Sardou's, digoats facts better. Prepar-
atory to writing h1s 'Etrangere,' II. Dumas con-
suited the works Of all modern authors who have
treated OF the United States, from De Tocque-
vile to Mr. Hepworth Dixon; and he believes
that be has produced tolerablY accurate plct-
ure of American character aud manners. He
shows the chivalrous regard of Americans for
women, their adyenturousness, courage, free
deasy customs. The play contains some
startling incidents (the hero kills three men)
but all these incidents are based On proved
facts."
AN AMBASSADORS LIFE IN TURKEY.
The special correspondent OF the London
Times at Pera pre!aces an article On diplomacy
with the following fancy sketch: "For the
finest town mansion in Pera and the loveliest
paradise on the Bosphorua, even With 10000 Or
s12, 600 as salary into the bargain, would not
be an Ambassador in Turkey. We hare FIVE OF
these exalted personages in this place. and all Of