Anatole Cerfberr

“ The pleasures of a gourmand replaced those of the lover; he likewise found some consolation for his isolation in his friendship with Schmucke. Pons suffered from his taste for high living; he grew old, like a parasitic plant, outside the circle of his family, only tolerated by his distant cousins, the Camusot de Marvilles, and their connections, Cardot, Berthier and Popinot. ”

“ The single bright ray across her life was an absolutely platonic love for her cousin Charles Grandet. But, once away from her, this young man was forgetful of her; and, on his return from the Indies in 1827, a rich man, he married the young daughter of a nobleman. Upon this occurrence, Eugenie Grandet, now an orphan, settled in full with the creditors of Charles' father, and then bestowed her hand upon the President Cruchot de Bonfons, who had paid her court for nine years. At the age of thirty-six she was left a widow without having ceased to be a virgin, following her expressed wish. ”

“ SERIZY (Comtesse de) , wife of the preceding, born Leontine de Ronquerolles about 1784, sister of the Marquis du Ronquerolles; married, as her first husband, General Gaubert, one of the most illustrious soldiers of the Republic; married a second time, when quite young, but could never entertain any feeling stronger than respect for M. de Serizy, her second husband, by whom, however, she had a son, an officer, who was killed during the reign of Louis Philippe. ”

“ ESGRIGNON (Victurnien, Comte, then Marquis d') , only son of Marquis Carol d'Esgrignon; born about 1800 at Alencon. Handsome and intelligent, reared with extreme indulgence and kindness by his aunt, Mlle. Armande d'Esgrignon, he gave himself over without restraint to all the whims usual to the ingenuous egoism of his age. From eighteen to twenty-one he squandered eighty thousand francs without the knowledge of his father and his aunt; the devoted Chesnel footed all the bills. ”

“ Soon after marriage her ingenuous nature, romantic and refined, suffered in secret from the harsh tyranny of the man whose name she bore. Veronique, however, held aloof from the gallants who frequented her salon, especially the Vicomte de Granville. She had become the secret mistress of J.-F. Tascheron, a porcelain worker. She was on the point of eloping with him when a crime committed by him was discovered. Mme. Graslin suffered the most poignant anguish, giving birth to the child of the condemned man at the very moment when the father was led to execution. ”

“ Wishing to find a protector for her daughter, Caroline, Mme. Crochard favored the attentions of the Comte de Granville. He rewarded her with a life-annuity of three thousand francs. She died, in 1822, in a comfortable lodging on rue Saint-Louis at Marais. She constantly wore on her breast the cross of chevalier of the Legion of Honor conferred on her husband by the Emperor. The widow Crochard, watched by an eager circle, received, at her last moments, a visit from Abbe Fontanon, confessor of the Comtesse de Granville, and was greatly troubled by the prelate's proceedings. ”

“ In a conversation concerning love with the Marquise de Vandenesse, Lady Dudley, Mademoiselle des Touches, the Marquise of Rochefide, and Madame d'Espard, Moina laughingly remarked: "A lover is forbidden fruit, a statement that sums up the whole case with me." ”

“ The pressure, at Besancon, of Albert Savarus, who was secretly loved by Mademoiselle de Watteville, gave a political significance to the salon of Rosalie's parents during the reign of Louis Philippe. Tired of her daughter's obstinacy, Madame de Watteville, now a widow, herself married M. de Soulas; she lived in Paris, in the winter at least, and knew how to be mistress of her house there, as she always had been elsewhere. ”

“ BERENICE, chambermaid and cousin of Coralie the actress of the Panorama and Gymnase Dramatique. A large Norman woman, as ugly as her mistress was pretty, but tender and sympathetic in direct proportion to her corpulence. She had been Coralie's childhood playmate and was absolutely bound up in her. In October, 1822, she gave Lucien de Rubempre, then entirely penniless, four five-franc pieces which she undoubtedly owed to the generosity of chance lovers met on the boulevard Bonne-Nouvelle. ”

“ Crushed by misfortune he died under Louis XVIII., leaving some rare paintings which beautified the parlor of his children's home on rue Duphot. Madame Leprince, who died before the bankrupt auctioneer, a distinguished woman and a natural artist, worshiped and, consequently, spoiled her only child, Celestine, who became Madame Xavier Rabourdin. She communicated to her daughter some of her own tastes, and thoughtlessly, perhaps, developed in her a love of luxury, intelligent and refined. ”

“ It is important, first of all, to note that this power of the visionary could not be put directly into play. Balzac had not long enough to live. The list of his works, year by year, prepared by his sister, shows that from the moment he achieved his reputation till the day of his death he never took time for rest or observation or the study of mankind by daily and close contact, like Moliere or Saint-Simon. He cut his life in two, writing by night, sleeping by day, and after sparing not a single hour for calling, promenades or sentiment. ”

“ She gave the fullest proof of her genuinely maternal affection for Victurnien, when the latter committed the crime at Paris, which would have placed him on the prisoner's bench of the Court of Assizes, but for the clever work of Chesnel. She outlived her brother, given over "to her religion and her over-thrown beliefs." About the middle of Louis Philippe's reign Blondet, who had come to Alencon to obtain his marriage license, was again moved on the contemplation of that noble face. ”

“ TROUBERT (Abbe Hyacinthe) , favorite priest of M. de Bourbonne; rose rapidly during the Restoration and Louis Philippe's reign, canon and vicar-general, in turn, of Tours, he was afterwards bishop of Troyes. His early career in Touraine showed him to be a deep, ambitious, and dangerous man, knowing how to remove from his path those that impeded his advance, and knowing how to conceal the full power of his animosity. ”

“ In the service of this old philosopher she reaped enormous profits. Madame Lambert hypocritically took advantage of her apparent devotion to him. She sought Theodose de la Peyrade, and begged him to write a memorial to the Academy in her favor, for she longed to receive the reward offered by Montyon. At the same time she put into La Peyrade's keeping twenty-five thousand francs, which she had accumulated by her household thefts. On this occasion, Madame Lambert seems to have been the secret instrument of Corentin, the famous police-agent. ”

“ His younger brother, Guillaume, failed and killed himself, leaving in Felix's hands the settlement of his affairs, and sending to him his son Charles, who had hastened to Saumur, not knowing his father's ruin. Eugenie loved her cousin and combated her father's niggardliness, which looked after his own interests to the neglect of his brother. The struggle between Eugenie and her father broke Mme. Grandet's heart. The phases of the terrible duel were violent and numerous. Felix Grandet's passion resorted to stratagem and stubborn force. Death alone could settle with this domestic tyrant. ”

“ Clever, pretty, coquettish, correct, and a real Parisian, and protected by Madame Roguin's lover, Ferdinand du Tillet, Mathilde-Melanie Tiphaine reigned supreme in Provins, in the midst of the Guenee family, represented by Mesdames Galardon, Lessourd, Martener, and Auffray; took in, or, rather, defended Pierrette Lorrain; and overwhelmed the Rogron salon with her spirit of raillery. ”

“ After being made a slave by savages he escaped from their hands by a bold ruse and returned to Paris, where he lived on rue de Seine near the Chamber of Peers. Despite his poverty and lack of ambition and influential friends, he was soon promoted to a general's position. His association with The Thirteen, a powerful and secret band of men, who counted among their members Ronquerolles, Marsay and Bourignard, probably brought him this unsolicited favor. This same freemasonry aided Montriveau in his desire to have revenge on Antoinette de Langeais for her delicate flirtation ”

“ Beautiful, and occupying a brilliant position in society through her parents, but lacking dowry, she made choice of husband for herself. Endowed with enduring pride of spirit, Madame Steinbock could with difficulty excuse Wenceslas for being unfaithful, and pardoned his disloyalty only after a long while. Her trials ended with the last years of Louis Philippe's reign. ”

“ SAMANON, a squint-eyed speculator, followed the various professions of a money-handler during the reigns of Louis XVIII., Charles X., and Louis Philippe. In 1821, Lucien de Rubempre, still a novice, visited Samanon's establishment in the Faubourg Poissonniere, where he was then engaged in the numerous trades of dealing in old books and old clothes, of brokerage, and of discount. There he found a certain great man of unknown identity, a Bohemian and cynic, who had come to borrow his own clothes that he had left in pawn. ”

“ MERGI (Auguste de) , during the last half of Louis Philippe's reign was in turn a collegian, university student and humble clerk in the Palais at Paris; looked after the needs of his mother, Vanda de Mergi, with sincerest devotion. For her sake he stole four thousand francs from Moise Halpersohn, but remained unpunished, thanks to one of the Brothers of Consolation, who boarded with Madame de la Chanterie. ”

“ He passed three years at Bordeaux with his father, who had become overbearing and avaricious; when left an orphan, he inherited a large fortune, including Lanstrac in Gironde, and a house in Paris, rue de la Pepiniere. He spent six years in Europe as a diplomat, passing his vacations in Paris, where he was intimate with Henri de Marsay, and was a lover of Paquita Valdes. There he was subject to the trifling of Madame Charles de Vandenesse, then Emilie de Fontaine; also, perhaps, met Lucien de Rubempre. In the winter of 1821 he returned to Bordeaux, where he was a social leader. ”

“ In Servin's, the painter's studio, where with her talent she shone above the whole class, Ginevra knew Mesdames Tiphaine and Camusot de Marville, at that time Mesdemoiselles Roguin and Thirion. Defended by Laure alone, she endured the cruelly planned persecution of Amelie Thirion, a Royalist, and an envious woman, especially when the favorite drawing pupil discovered and aided Luigi Porta, whom she married shortly afterwards, against the will of Bartolomeo di Piombo. ”

“ Before a select audience of artists and noblemen, gathered during the first years of the reign of Louis Philippe at the home of Mademoiselle des Touches, he told how he had unwittingly been responsible for the vengeance taken by the husband of a certain Rosina, during the time of the Imperial wars. Montriveau, now admitted to the peerage, was in command of a department. At this time, having become unfaithful to the memory of Antoinette de Langeais, he became enamored of Madame Rogron, born Bathilde de Chargeboeuf, who hoped soon to bring about their marriage. ”

“ On her part she was smitten with Maxence Gilet, whom she entertained in the house of the old bachelor at the latter's expense. But everything was changed by the arrival of Philippe Bridau at Issoudun. Gilet was killed in a duel, and Rouget married La Rabouilleuse in 1823. Left a widow soon after, she married the soldier. She died in Paris in 1828, abandoned by her husband, in the greatest distress, a prey to innumerable terrible complaints, the products of the dissolute life into which Philippe Bridau had designedly thrown her. ”

“ SCHINNER (Mademoiselle) , mother of Hippolyte Schinner, the painter, and daughter of an Alsatian farmer; being seduced by a coarse but wealthy man, she refused the money offered as compensation for refusing to legitimize their liaison, and consoled herself in the joys of maternity, the duties whereof she fulfilled with the most perfect devotion. At the time of her son's marriage she was living in Paris, and shared with him an apartment situated near the artist's studio, and not far from the Madeleine, on the rue des Champs-Elysees. ”

“ I am fully convinced that these little details of Balzacian mania will cause the reader to smile. As for me, I have found them, and still find them, as natural as Balzac's own remark to Jules Sandeau, who was telling him about a sick sister: "Let us go back to reality. Who is going to marry Eugenie Grandet?"
Fascination! That is the only word that quite characterizes the sort of influence wielded by Balzac over those who really enjoy him; and it is not to-day that the phenomenon began. ”

“ Oratorian, member of the National Convention, councillor of state, minister of police under the Consulate and Empire, also chief of the department of the Interior and of the government of the Illyrian provinces, and president of the provisional government in 1815. In September, 1799, Colonel Hulot said: "Bernadotte, Carnot, even citizen Talleyrand—all have left us. In a word we have with us but a single good patriot, friend Fouche, who holds everything by means of the police. There's a man for you!" ”

“ The generative facts which created them are the same which are always in operation about us. If many young men have taken as a model a Rastignac, for instance, it is because the passions by which this ambitious pauper was consumed are the same which our age of unbridled greed multiplies around disinherited youth. Add to this that Balzac was not content merely to display the fruitful sources of a modern intellect, but that he cast upon them the glare of the most ardent imagination the world has ever known. ”