The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-08-18

, corded TO Ii in real life, While he gives
hatred, vanity, ambition, avariee anu
all the passions their due Importance
II would be difficult again 10 praise too
highly his astonishingly exact and M
mute descriptions, or rather inventories,
his "resuscitations" of PERIODS anu
places. even his vivid sketches OF fash-
ions which, although they lasted put
wear or only few months, nave peeh
immortalized by the masters laoorlous
but powerful art. Whether better nov,
els have ever been written, or ever VIII
be written, than Eugene 1TaIue.,
..Iyrsule Mirouet." lie Cure de village
or lie Cousin Pons," l cannot say, put
there are no novels like them In exist
ence. But it is time 10 employ the only
word that meets the case, while us APP
plication to Ba:zac will determine us
true meaning and prevent ii from DelhS
falsely interpreted, as mas 100 OFTEN
been done. Balzac's attitude toward
his characters or the subject he is writ
ing about is that of the naturalist to-
ward the animal or the plant he Is
studying. 1t is a patient and attentive
attitude, an attitude "subServient TO It's
object and uninfluenced by any pre-
conceived personal notions. He does
not give US his impressions; II is real
ity. and reality in its entirety that ne
strives to grasp. as is indicated by the
signed, -Brunetiere.
Does good. then, find no place in Bal
zac's works? There are, indeed. honest
characters among the innumerable per-
sonages who play the Human Comedy,
but they are almost always represented
as unconsciously so. Balzac does not
believe in moral liberty. He makes man
an irresponsible agent, combination
of blind forces. In his eyes, virtue, as
well as vice. is quite instructive Since
our instincts fatally tend toward the
conservation and ACKNOWLEDGMENT Oh
our being he considers it but one va
riety of that egotiSm which is the very
essence of human nature. IN Blroteau
it shows itself in native stupidity; IN
Pere Goriot ii represents a morbid al
lection Balzac's true sphere, and that
in which he feels at ease. is the world
of business. intrigue and scandal, where
corrupt bankers, disreputable polltIc-
ians and dependent gentlemen triumph
the world whose king is a Bohemian,
whose queen a courtesan, with money
for its god. This conflict of cupidity
and ambition arouses the lowest in
stincts of human nature. Launched in
the quest of power and fortune, these
very instincts develop an energy OF
passion in which the vigorous nature
of the novelist shows itself. Solely
attracted by force. and with no moral
preoccupation whatever. Balzac makes
that force. which he admires IN itself,
serve to further the interests and sat
isfy the appetites of all his charac-
terS.
This lack of the ideal in his cOncep-
ton of life and society is united with
a certain native vulgarity. Massive
and awkward, with strongly marked
features and a heavy voice, there was
something powerful but rough-hcwn N
his whole person. He lacks tact and
bearing. He is represented singing,
gesticulating. tapping his stomach.
incapable of REFRESHING the Outbursts
of a fiery temperament, in fact. quite
the opposite Of that cold. correct gen.
tleman Merimee was and wished to
seem. He possesses a coarse. jOvial
breadth. a thoroughly candid. exorbi-
tant pride. He is a life-i)vlng, tXpan-
sive good fellow. He jests clumsily and
laughs loudly at his own pleasantries.
Everything is colored By his person
atty. His Rabelaisian vivacity vents
itself in broad Jokes. and his coffee
house philosophy finds expression in
coarse apothegms. There is something
of Gaudissart about him.-Pe.!issier.