New-York tribune., 1903-02-23
EUGENE SUE.
The Feuilleton and What He Did
7Cith 1t.
From The London Times.

7CuH III.
From The London Times.
His place in the history OF literature is that
Of the first who realized and adapted him
self to the conditions of the roman feuil1eton.
His discovery made his fortune. and also that of
scores Of imitators. They, rule, have grown
rich rather than famous by their labors, but
Eugene Sue grew famous well rich
Historians OF literature ignore, as rule, the
feuilleton the ground that 1t has visible
connection with their subject. Its history,
nevertheless, deserves to be written, if only as a
subsection Of the general history of civilization.
1t originated apparently under the Consulate,
when the severity of press censorship made it
difficult for editors to fill their columns with
fair and reasonable comment matters of pub
lie interest Causeries on such comparatively
safe subjects as literature, the drama, cookery
and the fashions thus began to find their way
into the papers. The Journal des Debats' led
the way, and certain Geffroy, sometimes called
the father of the feuilletOn, made reputation
by the skill with which he contrived TO introduce
subtle political allusions into a description of
new bonnet. review of a book or a recipe
for salad or an omelette. Such causeres, hav
ing become popular were retained after their
original raison d'etre had ceased. The expert
nent was tried of occasionally printing a short
story instead of a cauSerie. Readers appear
ing TO approve, the further experiment Of print
ing serial stories Vas warranted. This lnno-
walton also answered, and the serial story be-
came, and has since continued to be, the main
stay Of the popular press of France The circu-
lation of paper soon found to depend far
more upon its serial than upon its news service
or its policy. Hence there were large fortunes
to be made by the writers whose faithful ad-
mirers followed them from journal TO
other, causing subscription lists to swell vsibly.
Alexandra Dumas and Eugene Sue the
great popular favorites Of the period, but the
latter was the greater favorite of the two. For
the serial rights of Monte Cristo" Dumas only
/, got tl,33O- The Mysteries of Paris put
up to auction and fetched $4,000. The paper
which purchased 1t gained an immediate acCes-
sion of twenty thousand subscribers and a
further contingent came in when a member of
the Chamber of Deputies gave the author a free
| advertisement by accusing him in debate of
0r3 hiS +l,a p
| Partisan life" And The Mysteries of Paris
was only one of the many successful serials
which enabled Eugene Sue to astonsh even
the Jockey Club by the extravaganza of his life,
and to dip his pen into magnificent silver ink
pot in order TO write that mo is entitled to
superfuities so long as any one is in lack OF
neceSSarias.''
The roman feuilleton has travelled a long
way since the time when men Of letters of
worldwide celebrity invented it. Originally it
was an art, if not Of the fine arts. In the
course OF the years it gradually declined into
a craft Men Of letters did not practise it, and
the men who did practise it did not regard them
selves as men Of letters. They made huge for
tunes out Of 1t. Emile Richebourg, for example,
for a long time made 100000 a year. and Xavier
de Montepin noted for giving the best din
ners in Paris. But they had Illusions; they
never cherished the belief that they were greater
writer's than the men to whom the mob pre-
ferred them, but went about openly expressing
their contempt alike for their calling and their
clients The story of Ponson du Terrail keeping
drawers full of dressed dolls representing his
characters, in order that he might neither con-
tolerably well known The stories of Fortune
du Boisgobey calling one of his fiatterers fool
for protesting interest in one of his murder
mysteries and Of Emile RiChebOurg paying reg
uIar visits to the Halles Centrales in order to
discover whether his stories were giving salts
faction by watching the faces of the market
women who read the Petit Journal at their
dinner hour, equally typical of the mental
attitude Of the later feuilletonists. One feels
instinctively that Eugene Sue could not have
comported himself thus. and it needs but little
reflection to find the reason why he could not.
The explanation lies in the twofold character
Of the evolution of the roman feuilleton. On
the one hand the feuletonists have gradually
perfected their technique. On the other hand
they have gradually emancpated themselves
from ideas. They perceive-and in view of their
popularity must suppose that they rightly
perceiVe-that, for the great mass of the uned-
ucated, the romance of life resides in the ma
terial and the obvious. The unexpected lnher1t-
ance the recognition of the founding by the
wealthy countess the temptations OF the self
respecting factory girl, the discovery or the long
lost will, and the solution OF the murder mystery
that has baffied the police-these are the matters
in which they are profoundly and permanently
interested. They want such incidents presented,
not as they happen in real life, but as they
might conceivably happen if the long arm of
coincidence were always outstretched ana waY-
ing. That is TO say they want me Ine IaIIlliai IL
Illuminated by the limelight of melodrama- Eu-
gene Sue gave them all that' out ne gave Ineui
Pabind his best work there was always
idea-not a subtly lurking idea that had to be
looked for diligently, but highly colored idea
that filed the background gaudily In The
Mysteries Of Paris the idea is socialism; In the
Wandering Jew 1t is anu-clerlcalism. he
certainly did as much to popularize socialism,
if not to define it, as Karl Marx, and he was
probably more formidable enemy TO the Jesuits
than Pascal To what extent he was in earnest
in his advocacy of either cause 1t is hardly
our province to determine here; but, as he
professed himself a free thinker on his death
bed there must at all events have been basis
of sincerity in his attacks upon the Church of
Rome. Artistically, however, his ideas have a
value which must be admitted even by those
who are least disposed to adopt them. The
conception Of a worldwide Jesuit conspiracy,
however fragile the foundation OF the fact upon
which it rests, is conception of great artistic
possibilities, lifting 1.-The Wandering Jew" out
of the ignoble class of roman feuileton to which
it belongs, and giving it appeal TO class Of
readers who are left absolutely cold by 'Rocam-
bole" and the Mysteries of the Seine" That
is the real reason why the work of the founder
of the school is still remembered more than
fifty years after its first publication, while the
work of disciples who have in some respects
improved upon his methods. and who are read
by a far larger public is forgotten as soon
ii has served its harmless purpose in the half
penny press.