The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-25


his bior-aphers those who could write
knowingly and symrathetigally Of his life
and works such a man was the author OF
"Sapho" and OF the immortal Tartariu
series. II is hardly just to place the TWO
works in close relation. They are as dis
similar as Algiers and Paris. They are as
FAR removed one from the other as the
east is from the west. The lewd Paris
ienne appeals 10 the s1laci0us tastes Of
a superficial public and becomes al once
famous and infamous. The Tartarin stories.
with all the soft tints OF the South aad
the grotesquerie which was. II possible,
an improvement on the model which Ger
Nsntes created. gives us an insight Of the
real heart and soul Of the sunny South
crner who infused into the best OF his
works the fervor and color Of his native
Provence.
Il was Lord Byron who said that II
certain incompetent should write his life
Il would take his" Those who have writ
ten the life Of Daudet were very different.
He would have given his life for them.
They we're his brother and his son. and
they have performed their respective tasks
not only con amore. but with a rare power
OF analysis which reveals 70 the reader
the heart and soul, as well as the details OF
the daily life Of the subject OF heir
sketches.
The public has long been familiar With
the more or less enthusiastic monograph
OF Daudct. written nineteen years ago by
his brother Ernest. II was published when
the celebrated realist was. TO use the
words Of his biographer lat the height of
his renown." The tender partially with
which his characteristics were presented
r1r hs, understood in he 10 1f
full knowledge Of the self-sacrifce and
devotion with which the elder brother
made himself the guide, philosopher, and
friend OF the fraternal rival who was des-
tined to excel him in the struggle for
fame and fortune in the literary world.
From the day when lie Petit Chose the
young Alphonse, arrived in the French
capital with forty sous 10 his pocket. a
masterful ambition in his heart. and an
unappeasable hunger in his gastronomic
regions, to the day when Sapho' Melted
him a million francs. his warmest ad-
mirer and most substantial assistant was
the man who afterward gave us Mon
Frere ct Moi" This well-known work has
been translated and appended TO a new
and timely study Of Daudet. written by
his son. whose chief claim to the atten-
ton OF the public has hitherto consisted
In the infelicities Of his married life with
AMt EIGlNudHEuLEI OF \ lEltT ErUED- i ne
two works have recently been brought
out 10 a single volume, entitled "Alphonse
Daudet Memoir by Leon and Ernest
Daudet.' The translation has been made
with a fidelity unmarried by a rendition
too idiomatic for the average reader, by
Charles de Kay
The chief defect with the volume under
discussion is. as has previously been indi-
Gated. the fact that ID is the work OF two
men who coIiid not in the very nature Of
things, be impartial. We have a liveliCr /
hreezieT. more satisfactory account OF
Daudet from his own hand in Thirty
Years Of Paris" while Robert Sherard has
given US the story OF his friends career
with the low lights as well as the high.
For instance we read in the Memoirs
the somewhat startling statement that
there was nothing which Daudet so much /
detested as he did q lie. il was hardly {
Necessary thus TO call attention TO the fact
which n. Sherard has recorded. that /
Daudet. even in the ordinary intercourse Of I
his daily life was guilty OF a degree and .
frequency OF mendacity which was not only f.
painful 10 his friends but even disturbed I
his own conscience when he realized the
onoumity Of his offences. However much /
the mendacious romanucist may be cN- 4
Cused on the grounds Of his imaginative 4
and meridional eNuberance. I
the whole matter is a delicate affair which 1
had better be passed by in silence.
But II the present volume has been
written by partial hands. it cannot be de-
MED that IL gives us a wealth Of informa
ton concerning the cUterie Of men who !
constituted the school OF realisls flourish
ing az the time and now represented 10y The
one survivor lola. The De Gou1ourts
have gone. Tourguenef has passed away,
Flaubert has long since entered into rest.
The author Of "L'Aasommoir' alone re
mains
Il was TO this school that Daudet he
lonEed but he was. after all a rush light
compared 10 the master. He was born tea
years after Balzac had died. and grew up
with the "Comedie Humane" as a beacon
before him With all his ambition and en-
ergy. however. he could never attain 20
the perfection in analysing and classifying
the types Of society encountered on the
boulevards that had been achieved by the
Touranian saul. Dau1et was happy 20
make pastels Bslzac WAS not content with
anything less than life-size portraits
Daudet has given as studies. Balzac has
given us a cyclorama Of life. j. was the
great aspiration Of The pupil 10 reproduce
with Photographic accuracy the manners
and customs Of the times. and We find in
Mon Frere ct Moi many illusions 10 the !
success which Is alleged 10 have crowned
these efforts. but that success exists only
in the mind OF a biographer whose discern {
ment is warped by brotherly affection.
II is 30 the credit OF Daudet. however,
that he held in contempt the spawn Of the
symbolistic school who have insisted on
painting life with the features Of gar
gcyle and have daubed the emotions with
the oolors Of the rainbow. He had no sym
pathy with purple loves and b5ryl hopes
and pea green envies. The disciples Of this
school were to him, as they are 10 every
other sane mind. merely children suck
ing their thumbs" He was always on the
side Of what he called concise laCdiy'
and he Illustrated his views by the per-
fpicuity which characterized ali his work.
style" he said. lis a state Of intensity.
The greatest number OF things iu The few
est number OF words"
We may catch here and there in The
pages OF his romances certain touches Of
character which indicate that Oaudet must
have been one Of those who know how 10
suffer and be strong" But g. Is only
Y hen we become more intimately familiar
with him through the detailed annals Of
his struggling youth e Is only when We
see him as q martyr TO the mala1ias which
kept him constantly on the race oven dur
ing he periods Of his greatest productivity
that W can realize how much Of real man
hood and strength there was In his nature
and how uniustly be is judged by those who
regard lim merely as the author Of debGs-
ing tales. tBoston: Little Brown & CO.
$500
The Author of the EIeGy.
There IS a breath OF the learned and
loisurely days Of correspondence 81 the
Letters Of Thomas Gray" and
We are given porraiture bf