New-York tribune., 1902-10-04
DUMAS.
A BIOGRAPHY AS INTERESTING As A
NOVEL.

The elder Dumas has been written about in
scores OF volumes by his countrymen, but Eng
lish literature has hitherto lacked biography
Of the great romancer better than Mr- Percy
FitzGerald's decidedly inadequate book More
than one project for the repairing Of this omis-
sion has been announced ot late. Mr. David
sons volume Is the first in the field, and no
matter how excellent The work of any rival may
turn out 10 be- Dee is certain TO he read. for a
long time 20 come. lie writes with know ledge
and with tact "None but a simpleton or am
impostor." ne says, would think 20 measure the
length and breadth Of AleNandre Dumas within
the compass of one moderate volume The
subject is immense In these four hundred and
odd pages Mr Davidson wisely aims al giving
only tho salient points in his hero's career.
But he states them with such SKIN, filling cut
his narrative with criticism 50 sympathetic and
anecdotes $50 weu chosen, that ne gives as, when
an is said. portrait which ought TO prove as
useful a is attractive. Appended 10 the
Life" is "A valuable photography this is fol-
lowed by a long list of French authorities on
Dumas. and there is good index. Twelve por-
traits illustrate the volume, which, We may add.
is handsomely printed, and is bound in good
taste
II Is impossible 20 touch be IL ever 50 briefly,
upon the life Of Dumas without quoting from
his own pages Nothing. for example. could
better show the kind OF man he was than his
allusion 10 his transition from the city 10 the
country. in what Mr.. Davidson calls 'the Monte
Cristo epoch" lie says:
] carry with me wherever I go-I don't know
how IL is, but il is s"-au atmosphere oi life ana
stir which has become proverbial 7 lived three
years at Saint German, and the people I'm that
respectable Sleepy Hollow no longer knew thcrn-
selves j impaired 10 me place so ana a
lveliness which the inhabitants al FIRST took
Tor a sort of endemic and contagious fever j
bought the little theatre and the hest actors
and actresses from Paris. coming down 20 sup
per with me, used often To perform one OF my
plays for the benefit of the poor. The hotel
keeper had no rooms left; the livery stables ran
out Of horses; the railway company confessed
20 me one day an Increase in ATS receipts "t
10000 francs year since had come 10 live az
Saint Germain!
There is pendant 10 this passage IN the
shape Of an anecdote OF Louis Philippe. He
had noticed the situation az Saint GermaJn and
he had also noticed that Versailles Was Gull
He was annoyed when, having asked one of lis
ministers how 10 stir up the stagnant suburb,
his listener replied Well Sire, Dumas has
fortnight's confinement 10 do for National Guard
duty; make him do IL at Versailles What
Dumas was as "a man-"one Of the forces Of
nature" as Michelet called him-he
boy. and Mr.. Davidsou's biography is one Un-
broken record Of tumultuous activity. Of an
energy causing every environment IN which he
found himself 10 vibrate though with cleo
trio force The hot blood in his veins began 10
boil early and IT never really cooled. before
his birth, when the Herculean soldier. his father,
was on good terms with Bonsparte, the two
made a compact in the presence OF Josephine.
They agreed that whichever of the two Should
first be blessed with son. the other should
stand godfather" The Egyptian campaign
aHenated the friends. but il is good that the
anecdote has survived linking pcturesquely the
names Of Alexandra the Great and Napoleon the
Great. The writer, like the soldier, was des-
tined for an epiCal career. At six his imag gina
tion was inhamed by the Bible and Buhon,
Robinson Crusoe" and The Arabian Nights
When in due course his widowed mother no
poses 20 have him educated for the priesth hood,
he refuses with violence, and runs away 10 hide
in the forest His hoyhood is marked by dosul-
tory study, hut ne lives much out Of doors and
Is enthusiastic sportsman. He has two i'm
pIessiNe glimpses Of Napoleon, reads Hamlet"
IN the translation OF Ducts untn ''the demon of
poetry" as he says, is awakened IN him and
will give him rest. and presently goes up 10
Paris a visit which increases the turmoil in
his soul and decides his vocation He viii take
the capital by storm with his pen. Who but
Dumas could have received the initiation ne
describes I'm his account Of the episode IN Tai
mas dressing room when the great actor told
him he must come again? Here is the dialogue:
Dumss-Unhappny must go back tomorrow
70 the country 10 my Office, for am a lawyers
Talma-No need 10 be ashamed OF that young
man, Corneille was a lawyers clerk. Turning
70 the company Gentlemen, let me present
10 you a future Corneile
Dumas-Touch my forehead. sir: il will bring
me luck.
Talma quitting his hand on Dumas's head.
and with his best histri0nc airl. So be IL /
haptze thee Poet IN the name of Shakespeare
Corneille ana schiller. Return now 20 Your
Office and be sure your proper vocation viii
mo you wherever you are.
When ne commenced as q dramatist il was
under circumstances not altogether favorable TO
success Money Was essential. and ne had 10 earn
H. His penmanship was unusually good and SO
he obtained "a clerkship at the Palais Royal but
II the work was not hurdensome the atmosphere
was scarcely congenial. The vaudeville stage
was the only one TO which ne had. an the out
set, any chance 10 contribute. and the kind OF
composition acceptable thereon was hardly the
kind TO consort with the dignity Of the bureau
In which he was employed. Some of his ad- !
ventures with his official superlors and COM
rades make very funny reading. There was an
uproar when he sought, for the sake of quiet To
establish himself in a corner partitioned OF for
the storing of ink bottles The Office bov rro-
tested, and the clamor spread from him. ac-
cording 10 Dumas, up 10 the director general
But nothing discouraged him. lie rubbed along
as well he could, and in the mean time
worked like a giant. when Baron TavIor arreed
70 listen 10 his Christine with view 10 its
possible acceptance for the Theatre Francais.
he sat up all night so as to make sure OF no,
being late for his appointment with the grea,
man al 4 o'clock IN the morning. He found Tav.
Tor in his bath. listening against his VIII 10 a
tragedy on Hecubs, and when the author of
that wearisome production had at last been ex-
PEELED he hesitated 10 bring out his own manu-
script But Taylor good natured and