Omaha daily bee., 1909-02-07

T square,, with an exit on Rue Berton, a
narrow cutthroat alley, with high walls
on either side. which wound along the
lower side of the cottage and garden, en-
abling the occupant to reach unperceived
the main road along the bank of the Seine,
where a passing coach would take him in
a few minutes into the city or out to the
woods Of st. Cloud and Meudon, as the
case might be.
House Has Interesting History.
But the pavilion and the house already
had their history before Balzac came
there. They had been built in 1853 by the
famous financier, de Julienne, who sold
the property four years later to M. Dupin
(of Jean-Jacques Rousseau fame). Dupin
I thought 1t would be an ideal retreat for
his protegee, the beautiful Mile. Huss, OF
the Coincide Franchise. The next tenant
was Mile. Contat, the famous actress who
created the role of Suzanne in the Mar
iage de Figaro" and many a "fete gal
ante was held in this little pavilion out
side the city gate. while noble and bour-
geois heads were falling by the hundreds
within under the guillotine's sharp steel.
Such was the house In which Balzac
spent six years OF incessant,. prodigious,
gigantic toll. Lamartine calls him THE
Walter Scott of France, not the Walter
Scott of landscapes and adventures, but
of characters and truly there was much
that was similar also in the destiny OF the
two men. Scott spent the latter years OF
his life in the tremendous task of clearing
off liabilities amounting to over $4,000,
which he regarded in the ligt of a debt of
honor; Balzac, ruined by his disastrous
ventures as publisher, printer and type
founder, retired TO Rue R~aynouard in the
hope OF escaping his dunning creditors
whilst engaged in the hopeless effort to
retrive his fortunes by his pen.
Toll of Later Years.
In the silence of his little study overlook
ing the garden, with the river at his feet
and the wooded heights Of Meudon and
St. Cloud in the distance; wearing the in
separable dressing gown of white cash
mere. lined with white silk. and the equally
inseparable black velvet skull cap which
none but his mother knew how to make
for him. Balzac toiled eighteen hours a
day. feverishly flinglng the sheets OF
paper one after the other on the ground
as he covered them with his fine small
writing, and sustaining himself will
countless cups OF coffee. He never slep
during the night. Half-a-dozen hours TO
rest and sleep during the day was all HI
could spare for nature. Masterpieces such
as Poor Relations" Cousin Pons,
Cousin Bette Mercadet," "Vautrin.
and half a dozen others-4OO,OOO lines il
six years-were written in that little stud!
while relentless duns were hammering a
the door outside. No human being, no
even Balzac with his massive frame, coulC
stand such a strain. In lSiS he quilted
Rue Raynouard for Russia to marry Nine
Hanske. On his return TO Paris two year
later he died, worn out at fifty-one.
Romance Spoiled by Poverty.
it was during Balzac's residence a
Passy that an incident occurred which, i
il had been rightly directed, might hav
had a lasting influence on the great novel
lists career. 1t was a very romantic ad
venture and is not, l think, general.
known. At that time the MARQUIS OF Hert
ford, an eccentric and immensely wealth.
English nobleman, had already taken "a
his residence in Paris and had just pur
chased the charming property Of BagitellC
in the Bots de Boulogne. which at hi
death passed to Sir Richard Wallace. whC
as is well known, bequeathed 1t to the cit
OF Paris. The marquis had read Balzac'
la File aux Yeux dor" CThe Girl wit
the Eyes OF Gold. which had just appeared
and II had made an immense impression
on him, not only because II showed tina
the author was a literary genius. but eve