New-York tribune., 1880-10-24
4 CUlT MN JTIIS SIyDrlr.

CHANGES N TIE Profession OF LhrGFEs.
Fr0n Ibo Eh,thaH Hc~i7r.
julie. Sandtiu is the last OF tie orIouS school o.
narf of tins century ana be- Is the ono and only
living repreScn aIvc IN Franco OF tia I9cc OF mea
who worked more for tho sake OF at than Tor
urcuniarV remuneration (; race nos ala! extinct
both IL France aud iu Otner countries. Many, many
wears ago two young workers ID the field OF .on0ht
lived together at the very top OF an od house on
tie QuaI in Pans, not Tar from tie lout Ntlu-a
young man and q young woman, Inc TWO trcnG5
who were writing Tor immortality III az at.lc were
Jules Sandeau and Georges Sand /.
George. Sand (Who to0, as her nOu-dc- plume the
first halt of her friends uanc, Saudeaul has
acbIeged immortality and passed away. Only
Ju'ps SanGcau rcmIiHS-h0 WHO, With victor hugo,
j. the Last ot The -Pirndd group oi literary men VINO
she'd such lIetre on France durmg tic earlier part
of this century. There must surely be s0nrt diug
sad IN having Ou lived ones fellow; ana hnoW
that this tcciug T. the cause OF the gentle aud un-
conscious sadness which ciauctcrzeS the beaiinG
of the author of " Les M>er3bcs' and ihat OF the
author of Ndile. d. a ScIglcTc" lu fact, Sandrau
almost confessed much when he said 90 ne with
q weary Sigh, 81 | an suffering from most PAINFUL
Uaiadv Of the liver; unfortunately. ~ mas NOT even
the merit Of being fatal" In person Jules Sandeau
is "a stout. happy -cokin- old gentleman. more ike
Il cavalry officer tuau literary man, hut with
peculiar charm Of maHncr Whlch soldier can bat
rarely attain. and which comes especially from
great mental culture and rein ment.
All the times have changed since began 10
write" said NJ. Saudrau, IN reply 10 nv question;
"aud doubtless, have changed Tor the better.
When was young men wrote merely FOR the sake OF
giving 10 the world proof or their talent or
genius. Money, tEen, was q secondary coDsldcra-
ton We cared nothing Tor 10, noIe's the plty aud
can assure you some If the greatest cktia ddUrrc
have been sold Tor next 70 nothing. ii j. not so
now Nowadays the author.is man Cf business.
and very properly insists upon having ms BRAIN
work adequately paid for. II We had oecGn WseI IN
nv time We should al have been richer"
But novels even now 90 not pay 80 well In
France ~ pIavSI>
NO, Of course not; not half so wei. Look az
me. for irsta.ce. Ny play Of Mdiie. de H. Seie-
lcIe' which took, OF courS". from my no, el of the
same ramc has brought ne IN more mOuoy than
~ il not The case IN England | remarked
'Ficuioual writing III England brings IN much more
than dramatic"
tell YOU an amusing arccdotc illuslrat'Fe OF IT,
MANY years ago WAS invited 10 meet Charles Dick
ems at Emile de Gr3rdlu's. ! bad just published
'Ndllc de 10 SciglicTc' ami Dickens asked me casu
do vou suppose ! asked. we'll SAID Dickens !
know they don't paw well for novels ~ France, so l
shall put a very low figure For work OF that I'M
uort9uce suppose you Uust have got 100000 francs
m Inc very least laughed and replied, You have
made slight mistake III The figure got 1000 ana
:" Bnr =" said. surely the publishers must have
sorn the folly Of paying such low prices, for by so
doing they killed the goose that laid the golden egg;
man must live aud ii he is paid bat little he must
pro luce the more. and thus ran the risk Of weaken
ing his talent bv becoming too prolific"
"You are quite right" replied Saudeau; but,
1vc r0Vlcs-r0tsY we did not ask for more. We took
what was offered us only too happy II we knew the
work We had done was iIrst-rate. The great works
were done for glory; the daily articles 1of out
daily bread. Look at GautleT, Tor instance. HIS
criticisms and nc ewspaper articles were written 10
keen the pot boiling. Look at Alphouse karr be
has written much and his works have been most
successful vet he has made hardly anything by his
pep No continued SHndeau with II sad smile, ''in
nv day men did not make fortune by writing.
We wrote for the pleasure OF giving 10 the world
our IDEAS and with the hope OF making n name anG
becoming famous. 1t is changed now, and changed
"Wbat delightful man 1heophile Gautier must
have been W remarked.
DelivhtfuI indeed. IIe never knew, | think,
how fond was of hIm. lie the kindest and
most generous-heaIted of men, and completely de-
yoid of any atfcctatIOn"
(which of his own works did be like the best
himself = | inquired, moro tnan suspectng what
the answer would he.
"Oh. Mademoiselle de Maupin was his fayorite.
It was the work Of mis- youth and his darling"
"DId he write with facility y
"WIth extraordinary facility but my experience
of great authors would tend 20 prove that they
generally do. Look at Georges SAND, Tor instance.
Ill her greatest works written without any
effort | doubt if there Is even an crasuro IN inc
manuscript OF 'Mauprat. "
And contemporary fiction what do you think
of III What, Tor instance Is your opinion oi LQla =
"Ah Zolai Well there IL great power IN LAS
sommoiT' but think II unnecessary to choose such
disagreeabe subjects. To my mind, however, there
can be no mstakIng the power shown IN l. Assom-
moir' AND here would venture 10 remark how
extraordinary II u thai almost all French authors
rank RAssOmmor as the greatest ,ahd perhaps
even onlyl evidence of Zolas talent. have reason
to believe that the high priest of th' Realistic
echool does not consider LAssommois bv any
manner OF means hls master piece, ana, ~ TACT.
devoted less time Ia it than W La uico or La
Faute de PAbOe MOnret.' "