New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-07-15
DAUDET'S NEW BOOK.
TIE FORTY UNDER FIRE.
LIAIMORTEL. Par Alphonso Daudct. Paris; NJ
Al.nl.. l. IcnAna

LIAIMORTEL Par Alphon'o Daldet. Pafls NJ
uhonse IemcTrc Ncw-York ". H. jenkins
The leading motive in VI. Daudct's new novel
is strong and bitter attack upon the French
Academy Doubtless the friends and cham
MONS of that venerable institution will retalia;c
mon the author by accusing him OF personal
feeling. That is inevitable in the circumstances,
but no such insnuation is is at all likely to
weaken the effect of his savage assault, or to
obscure the issue he has raised which Is Oh
viously not Of a kind TO be settled by any sug-
gestion of individual likes or dslikes. NJ Daudet
makes his hero an AcaGcmcian, but assurcdly
not an ideal member of the Forty OF peasant
ancestry, not gifted in any way, but dogsed
and plodding. Leonard Astier marries the daugh-
ter of John Rchu, an Academician, and through
the s.illul intriguing and clectloneernS OIL
his wife. finally attains the object of his am
bition. and as usual in such cases. ascrbcs his
election to his own merits. He proceeds an MS
torian Of the Dryasdust ORDER writes suppl
unrgldblc, quasi-cruditc works, loses COM
Portable government position through an indis-
Greet reference TO dcmagogism in one OF ms
books, remains for some time in stmitcned
circumstances, but promptly steps into the SHOES
of dead colleague as Perpetual Secretary OF the
Academy, and tries to believe himself at tine
summit OF earthly felicity.
standing almost entirely TO his wife, and when
left TO himself pcrpctratcs follcs Bitten with
the mania of autograph collecting he falls easily
into the snare laid for him by hunch-back
jew, who FORCES autographs by the ream and
sells them at enormous prices to the crcdulous
Astier It Will naturally be thought that In TINS
episode reference is intended to the Shapiro Tor
gcres and that the portrait of the pcriumed
and bc-cSscnced Facc is a study from HE. VI.
Daudct is by this time used to such assertions
concerning his characters. The career OF ASticr
is but one incident of the attack on the Academy.
The CCmte ne FreyGet, having published some
poems. and being fattercd, conccivcs the desire
to be an Immortal and this longing having
once taken hold upon him, by degrees absorbs
all his thoughts and energies, and converts him
into chronic candidate. lie has an invalid
sister They live together in pleasant country
house and have been happy for years. But when
the Academy fever sczes on Frcydet everything
has to give way TO what he thinks his Interests
lie believes it necessary that he should have a
salon il Paris through which to push his
candidature He calls his sister ~
TO the capital despite her fecblcncss and makes
her undertake this heavy task. She is loyal and
devoted. and the worl, kills her. When. few
months after her death friend asks FIcydct about
his loss, the chronic candidate thinks the other is
speaking OF his recent failure to receive the requi-
site number of votes and answers accordingly
All this affords ample opportunity for disllusion-
zing representations as to the Forty. Merit, ac-
cordng to NJ. Daudct, has little or nothing tc do
with election TO the Academy. A great leader OF
society, a Duchess of the buest blood, has lover
whose stupidity worries her. She converts him
into successful diplomat by teaching him the art
of keeping silence significantly and smiling sardon-
ically. She secures for him the reputation OF
learning by getting him elected TO the Academy.
The elections are controlled by the most iSnoblc
means. Ward politics in one OF our great cities
is on level with the Academy electiOneerng. If
NJ Daudet speaks soOth the choice of candidates IS
determined by favor by downright bribery, by per-
sona interest, by any and every consideration but
that of the actual capacity and desert Of the APP
plicants Women play important roles in the COM
edy, and what is most odious and reprehensible
perhaps the Acadcmicians deliberately lay them
selves open to the advances Of the canvass'rs and
conduct themselves generally after the fashion of
rich old bachelors who avail themselves of the
anxiety Of their relatives as to their tcstamcntary
dispositions to live on the fat of the land at no cX
pensc to themselves. They are represented as ac-
ceptng all manner of social invitations Of keeping
alive the hopes of the candidates by ambiguous re-
MARKS, IN SnOfb OF HIdhlnS nay Niilc tIic sun
shines with an almost ingenious greed and
venality.
As to the candidates. it seems that those who
are once thoroughly impressed with the desire to
be Immortals undergo rsychical deterioration
not unlike that which is known sometimes 10
befal such as acquire the habit of chronic liti-
CATION NJ. Daudct compares them to fish which.
after being hooked towed by the trollcr I'M
I I IL lu..,r 4
fishes following at the end of the line in the wake
Of the Academy. Frcydct undcrgOcs this de-
tcrioraton before the eyes of the reader. When
he enters upon his candidaturc he is not welded
to the pursuit. but with solicitation interest
grows, and with speculation comes fresh access
Of egotsm Gradually the unhappy candidate
surrenders one trait Of manhood and independence
after another lie begins to regulate all his ac-
tons in accordance with their possible bearing
upon his candidature. lie attends only those cir
cles in which he will meet persons who possess
influence upon members Of the Academy. lie be
comes hatterera sycOphanta parasite. lie follows
ord fawns upon those who can help him. One Of the
drowned fish" swallows brutal assault upon
his own daughter for the sake Of the vote he
secures by it, and after all that is the only vote
he obtains When member dies the first thought
of hundreds is that seat is vacant, and before the
body is cold intrigue is IN progress.
The life of the Immortals is mercilcssly dis
sccted. NJ. Daudct presents them as a set of
useless fossils, who even when they possess talent
are paralyzed by election, and rarely thence
forth produce any good work. Moreover, they
are jealous of another and Of all men of letters
outside Of the Academy When the latter gibc
at them, they affect TO explain it as the result
of envy, but in truth nothing can be more hollow,
dreary and farccal than their close corporation.
When the unfortunate Leonard Asticr is forced
10 confess that the whole Of his wonderful collcc-
ton Of autographs, comprising from ten to fifteen
thousand pieces, turns out TO he forged, some of
his colleagues are for cxpclling tie Perpetual
Secretary But one Of their number recalls them
TO themselves by reading minutes Of past sessions
at which the Academy has made itself responsible
for the hstier-Rchu collection by solcmnly affirm
ing the commences Of some Of the worst fabrca-