The sun., 1899-07-30

and Racquet" with some other short stories: /:
The Memoirs Of Two Young wives;" Mo-
deste Mignon;" The Start In Life" with
which are bound Mime Firmiani" and Tho
Atheists Mass" Albert Savarus" and "A
Daughter Of Eve I" THE Marriage Contract"
and "Gobseck:" :" "A Woman OF Thirty" and
The Deserted Mistress;'I "Honorire" and
Col. Chnbert;" "Beatrix: :" "A Double Fam
iy;" The Peace Of the Household" and "A
study OF Woman" and. finally. Pere Goriot.'
" The Cat and Racquet" although ostensibly
short story. has all the machinery. all the
interest and all tho detail OF novel. The dif-
Terence Is that 1t Ia compressed as only Balzac
could compress: that here and there i'm portant
events and changes are indicated in n few pow
erful lines instead OF being ella bornted. and
that the vital points are thrown into strong
relief In The Memoirs of Two Young
Wives Balzac e1emplnes a theory that the
marriage Of convenience. properly regarded.
IL preferable to n marriage contracted simply
from love He undertakes To make good the
paradox by contrasting the careers of two
young girls who have been fellow students at
convent. One OF them. an ardent and passion
atc Young woman. Kills her frat husband. as she
confesses. by hor perpetual jealousy and eXac-
tions. mourns his loss. then marries again for
love second husband. lives with him for
brief period In dream Of ecstasy. and then
kills herself from the mistaken belief that his
heart had straycd from her Her friend on
the other hand. dutifully weds to please her
parents. calculates beforehand how many chill
dren she shall have and how they shall be
trained. insists that the marriage shall he
merely nominal contract till she and her hus-
band md themselves united in heart. and
finally sees all her brightest visions realized.
The effect OF the attempt to justify
the French theory Of marriage Is s)me-
what impaired. however. bv the fact that
the exempar OF nlial duty and OF the
conventional wife reappears in another
story, and falls desperately in love with a
man not her husband. In the literary work
manshir OF this novel Balzar is seen at his
best The other long novels in this group
are Modesto Mignon." Bcatrix." IA Woman
OF Thirty" and lie Pare GuriOt" Tho pur-
pose OF " Modesto Mignon is TO explore and
deineate the delicate mysteries OF young
girls mind. In the heroine OF this book. as in
"EuRnie Grandct." the tremuous vibrations
OF first love in the heart OF a young and pure
minded woman form the subject OF the authors
studies. The growth Of scarcely acknowl-
edged sentiment which gradually expands into
a passion. and which Is absolutely free from
any taint Of sensuality. is analyzed with con-
summatc skill. The scenes and incidents are
homey but out Of them Balzac has woven a
bright and sparkling story. full OF vitalang
power aud showing an elasticity in creative
processes which may be well viewed with envy
by other writer's OF domestic fiction. The
scene OF " BoatrS." like that Of several OF Bal
Zac's novels Ia laid in Brittany, where the
moral Archaeological who studies men instead
Of rocks may find a reflection Of the age Of
Louis XIV. or OF still more ancient periods
Most OF the Breton towns have fallen from
some pinnacle Of splendor wher historians
ii. L., l..
facts rather than manners but whereof the
memory still lives in the heart OF their inhab-
itants whose national character precIudes for
getfulness OF matters concerning their native
province. typical young Breton noble who
has never loft his native town is brought
into intimate association with two Partisan
women. and the novel records the outcome Of
his intellectual and spiritual education. One
OF the feminine portraits is that OF Mile des
Touches. who by some persons has been mis-
takenly supposed to have hccn intended by the
author for George Sand. IL is in A Woman OF
Thirty" that BalHac propounds his celebrated
thesis that a woman is AT her best between
80 and A. He maintained that n woman's real
face does not begin 70 show until she il 80
Up to that age the painter finds in a woman's
cOuntcnanr" only the same shades OF pink and
white. smiles and express SiOns that repeat tho
same thought. an unNarying thought that has
no depth: whereas AT Il ripper period everything
about a woman speaks the pa ssions are craven
upon her features. Then again an unmarried
girl has too many Illusions is too inexperi-
enced. and her sox is too much OF an accom-
plice in her love for young man to he fiattered
thereby. On the other hand. an older woman
knows the whole story Of the sac rifices to be
made. Where the former is mpelled by curl
osity. by Vaccinations uucOnnected with those
"A al
ment. The former yields. the latter chooses
IL not. asks BalZar to be the object OF eX-
pert choice a most iinttering thing? Armed
with knowledge that has almost always
been bought by unhappiness. the woman Of ex-
perienc" seems. when she gives herself to give
more than herself; while the young girl igno-
rant and prejudiccd knowing nothing AT all.
IL unable 10 make any comparisons or to ap-
preciatc anything at it, true value: sh" Hccepts
love and studies II. The one teaches us, adj
vIs"s us at an age when men love to submit
to guidance. when obedience is a nleas-
ure; the other wants to learn everything
herself. and is art"ss where the other
is arectiunate. In n word the woman
OF thirty satisfies every craving while
the young girl should satisfy none or she is not
young girl at all. As for the "P1re Goriot"
the last volume IN tho group entitled Private
Life" We suppose that a majority OF Balzacs
readers would rate II at the head OF all his
works. "Pere Gorot " is a modern Lear. and
his two daughters are nineteenth century
countsrparts Of Reagan and Goncril. There
are Frenchmen who do not hesitate to say that
they would rather have written the novel than
tn" play. As regards rapid and consecutive
action. chainlik" development Of pot. dis
tinctness OF Characterization and consum-
mate command OF the emotions. the novel
is undoubtedly n marvel. The keynote
Of tho raternnl affection to which his life
Ia sacrificed is struck when PGre Gorot
soys to young friend: MY whole life lies
with those two girls. II they enjoy them
selves and aro happy. IL they are prcttily
dressed and walk on soft carpets. what does il
matter to mo how am dressed or how 7 seen
am never cold II they are warm. nor in bad
spirits il they arc CAV. have no gricfs but
theirs. hear their voices everywhere and n
single sad look OF theirs chiIs my blood Ono
day you will know what it IL to care moro for
YOUR childrcn's happiness than vour own |
cannot explain how it is: 1t Is an inward
in StiDCt TINT sprrHlS loy hrDurh ypur ~ yh,l.