The San Francisco call., 1906-10-21
By Alexander Jessup, Lit. D.


CEditor OF the French Men Of Letters"
Series.)
q TRANCE sinilarities between
those phenomenauy popular
works OF fiction. General Lew
wauace's Ben -Hur'' and sien-
I1iewicz's QUO Tadis." have Just been
discovered in a forgotten book by the
great French romancer, Alexandra Du-
mas. himself the author Of two Of the
worlds most popular works of fiction,
THE Three Musketeers" and The
Count of Monte Cristo." One will look
in vain for any mention of this book in
the encyclopedias or libraries of lit
erature, even in those of the most eX-
tensive character Millions of persons
have read The Three 1Iusketeers'' and
Monte Cristo," but who has even heard
OF "Acte, Story Of the Days of Nero?'
Yet this forgotten book really contains
the gist OF both Wallace's and Sienkie-
Wicz's celebrated novels.
] have not been able to discover that
Lew Wallace's favorite diversion con-
sisted in the reading of French fiction
nevertheless. the similarities that exist
are almost unexplainab1e, so close are
they Most authors read up" in the
books OF a period so remote from our
Doyle. in writing OF such compara-
lively up to date period as that of the
Cavaliers and Roundheads, which he de-
picted IN his Micah Clarke is said TO
have "devoured" several hundred books
treating Of that time. ~Ben-Hur" re-
veals careful preparation, so the strong
est sort of circumstantial evidence
would incline one TO the belief that
Lew Wallace had made considerable use
Of "Acte."
Let me not be misunderstood. I do
not accuse" Lew Wallace Of plagiar-
ism. No one should definitely accuse
an author OF plagiarism unless proof
positive exists IN support Of such ac-
cusation. especially when he is no
longer with Us 10 answer such a charge.
But while I do not accuse him OF
plagiarism for fear OF traducing the
memory of an innocent man. Ben IIur"
and Acte" exist side by side, and
every one is al liberty to draw his own
conclusions. I have already drawn
mine "Acte." which has never been
translated into English and which has
been almost lost sight Of even in
France. is, understand, soon to appear
10 English with the imprint OF lead
Ing American publisher. Il presume it
viii, now that il has finally been
brought into the light OF publicity,
limitations. Ben Hur" and Quo
Vadis-" It is in several respects su-
perior 70 either In the sheer art OF
telling q story in a way to interest
p large number Of readers Dumas is
surely the best man OF the three. Just
as the plays the thing. so in a work
OF fiction sthe story's the thing" OF
chief moment. Some recent writer's OF
hction--I might name Emile Zola-
Dumas researches for his play Ca
lieula," which was produced at the
Theater Frsncais on December 26, 1887,
had led him TO study Nero. whose re-
marlSable career greatly interested him.
Finding a heroine in Nero's freedvom-
an and mistress, Acte, he decided to
write a historical romance in which
Nero and Actc were to be. naturally,
the principal characters. "Acte'' was
the first piece OF historical fiction OF
any value produced by that Dumas
whom his admirers delight in styling
Alexandra the Great It appeared in
book form in 1899 But there e,vists a
copy that was published in Brussels
which bears the date 1888. The first
Paris edition appears TO be dated 1888
rs TO some copies and 1870 as to others.
But IL is not sufficient to say that
'Ben-IIurH is very like "Acte." and
>.
Such q statement. in order to have
value, must be supported by concrete
examples Very well. then: let US take
the chapter describing the chariot race
in "Ben-Hur' and a chapter describing
the same thing in rActev and let us
compare the two. had at first thought
10 work the deadly parallel" by put
ting the two side by side in parallel
columns But Wallace's scene is so
much longer than Dumas that the sim
iisr portions would hardly come oppo-
site each other, and this article must
have q space limit So I give parts Of
The chariot race from "Acte'' only.
Next day all corinth decked itself
In festal array from earliest dawn. The
chariot races, though not the most an
cient Of sports, were the most solemn.
being celebrated in the presence of the
images OF the gods. The sacred stat
nes. brought together during the night
into the Temple OF Jupiter. which rose
near the gate Of the harbor of Lech-
aeUm, that is TO say, on the east side
OF the town, had to traverse the entire
length OF the city in order to reach the
circus, which was built in the opposite
quarter. within sight Of the harbor Of