The sun., 1899-07-30
Ill.

III.
Having determined to make his canvas
commensurate with the whole social organiza-
tion OF France. explored from tho top to the
bottom Bal2ac naturally proceeded to divide
and classify his ubject. He decided to dis
tribute his work into scenes OF private life. OF
provincial life, OF Parisan life. OF political life.
OF military life. OF country life. In these 81 <
groups were to be collected all the studies OF
manners and morals that were to make up the
general history OF society. Tho six groups cor
respond to general ideas that is to say. the
scenes OF private life represent childhood and
youth. with the failnRs peculiar to those two
| periods OF human existence: the scenes Of
| provincial life deneatc the age Of passion. cal
| cuation. self interest and ami mbitou, while the
scenes OF Partisan life give q picture of the
tastes. vices and all the unbridled tendencies
| called into being by the Gus, ,nms peculiar to a
| great capital in which the extremes OF good
and evil meet. Each OF these three groups has
its local color. Not only men and women. but
also the chief events Of life are expressed by
types. Bazac points out that there are stu
| ations and typical phases represented in every
individual existence. ana have tried to be
especially exact In this branch OF my sub
| ject." He has also endeavored. he says to give
an idea Of the different parts Of his beautiful
| country. MY work has its geography as well
as its genealogy and its families. it's places and
its things. its people and its facts: as it has it's
hcradry. its mobiles and it's bourgeois. its arti-
sans and it's peasants. its politicians. it's dam
| dies and its army-in fact. "a whole world Of
| its own"
| After having portrayed social life In the three
groups mentioned it still remained for Balzac
| to describe the exceptional existences that ex-
emplity the interests Of some or all OF ofthose who
arc. in any respect. outside OF the ordinary
| laws OF life. Hence the scenes OF political life
! Then again. having completed a vast photo
| graph OF society at peace. was not he called
upon to represent II also in a state OF warfare.
| bursting its bounds for defense or conquest
| Hence the scenes Of military life. Finally. the
| scenes Of country life represent the evening of
| the long day. II the social drama may be de-
scribed in terms OF time. In this last-named
group to be found the purest characters
limned by the author. and the application OF
| the great principles OF order wisdom. and
| morality.
Such isthe foundation Of tragedy and comedy
that underlies the "philosophic studies" which
constitute the second part Of the Human Com
edy. and In which the social means to every
! end were to be discussed and the ravages Of
| thought and sentiment investigated The first
| book OF this series. The Wild Ass's Skin"
| connects the studies OF manners and morals
| with the philosophic studies 10y the link OF an
| oriental fancy. in which life itself is repre-
sented IN a deadly struggle with desire the
| first principle OF every passion. Beyond the
| phosophic studies were to come the analyti-
! cal studies Of which but one was completed
to wit. The Psychology of Marriage" Still
later Ba2ac meant to add three other works of
the same general character. namely. THE
| Pathology of Social l.ifc.' next THE Anatomy
| Of tniversities. and then the Monograph OF
| Virtue After thus outlining his monumental
| purpose. Eazac says; "On seeing all that there
| remains for me 10 do. some one may say OF me
| what my publishers said. May God grant you
| a long life" He had. as we have said but
| eight years to live
| Having indicated what Balzac essayed to do
let us. before glancing at his achievements in
detail recall the main Incidents Of his rela-
| lively short life. He WAS the son OF lawyer
who. at the time of his birth. held Office under
the Directory in the Commissariat He was sent
| at an early age from his home in Tours to the
| college at NendImc. where he neglected the
| studies and the sports OF childhood to bury
| himself in mystic books and reveries He has
| rccounted the story Of his school days in
| Louis Lam bert" and told us how he com
| posed Theory OF the WILL" which was to
| complete the works OF Mesmer. Lavater Gall
| and Bichat. This treatise was burned by one
| OF his schoolmasters. and Balzac. whose
| consequent despondency impaired his health
| was sent home. Tho next stage in his educa-
tion was n course Of study at the Sorbonne.
| after which he attended lectures on law. and
| In the offices Of attorneys and notaries picked
! up the knowledge Of chicanery, which he was
| to exhibit so freely In his novels. He refused
| to become notary. and did not complain
| when he was placed upon short allowance to
| convince him that he could not succeed in
| literature. No one recognized more clearly
| than ha did that his first
| werO failures He disavowed all Of them later
| and forbade their republication. The ton
years Of toll and poverty which succeeded his
| receipt Of his law diploma are described in
| Facino Cane" in The Wild Ass Skin"
| and in series Of letters to his sister,
| Nine, d" Surve. which have been preserved.
| Among the many desperat" methods OF max ing
! n livelihood that he essaycl was the role of
| solicitor for subscriptions to books: his ex-
| poricnce in tins direction is described in THE
| Illustrou1 Gaudissart." Like Mark Twain. he
| became 4 publisher and like Marx Twain he
| fal!cd. Then he became Il typciounder and
| printer. but in this venture also. he was un-
| successful Durnga large part OF the third
| decade Of his life he found that three sous
| for bread. two for milk and three for nrewood"
| would suffice to keep him alive while he de-
| your"d looks in public library. copied out
| his notes at night. and wandered for hours
| among the scenes Of nocturnal Paris. Through
| his business undertakings h" accumulated
| load Of debts which weighed on him almost
| TO the end Of his life. To pay those debts he
| worked as hard as did Walter Scott after
| the failure OF the latter's publisher When
| Ba2ac finally made up his mind that II
| he wished 70 succeed he must concentrate
| his energies upon writing only. his industry
| nud pruductiNeness were extraordinary. His
| custom was to dine at =. NJ. 10 sleep until Ii
or - and then TO arise and work until about 81
| in the morning. II he did not work he would
| pace his room all night planning some future
| book and arranging the method OF Its execu-