Chapter 17

[1]I have already spoken of her in connection with my literary beginnings with de Leuven. Castaing was accused of having poisoned her, but she really died from the effects of a fit of anger against Poirson, manager of the Gymnase, concerning the engagement by that theatre of Madame Théodore. The fit of anger brought on brain fever, which carried her off in forty-eight hours.

Eugène Sue is ambitious enough to have a groom, horse and trap—He does business with the maison Ermingot, Godefroi et Cie which permits him to gratify that fancy—Triumph at the Champs-Élysées—A vexing encounter—Desforges and Eugène Sue separate—Desforges startsLe Kaléidoscopeat Bordeaux—Ferdinand Langlé startsLa Nouveautéat Paris—César and the negro Zoyo—Dossion and his dog

Time rolled on and Eugène Sue grew up, and Dr. Sue kept his purse-strings drawn tighter and tighter. Eugène wanted to have a groom, horse and trap; it was necessary to have recourse to expediency. He was put into communication with two worthy capitalists who sold wine to young persons of good family who felt a vocation for trading; their names were MM. Ermingot and Godefroi. We do not know whether these gentlemen still pursue the trade; but we will risk quoting their names, hoping they will not take the following words for an advertisement.

MM. Ermingot and Godefroi made inquiries, and they found that Eugène Sue was to inherit 100,000 francs from his maternal grandfather, and about 300,000 or 400,000 from his father. They concluded that they might risk somewhat. Eugène Sue received an invitation to lunch at Bercy with one or two of his friends. He decided to take Desforges, who was regarded as a society man in whom Dr. Sue had the greatest confidence. They were expected at theGrandsorGros Marroniers,I forget which. It was a splendid lunch; they made the two young men taste the wines they had on hand, and Eugène Sue, to whom wine was particularly seductive,was so pleased with them, that he bought some there and then for a sum of 15,000 francs, which he settled for at once by bills of exchange. The wine was deposited at the house of a third party, with power to Eugène Sue to let them be tasted and to sell them, and so make what profit he could out of them. That profit, at the lowest estimate, must have been at least from 5000 to 6000 francs. A week later, Eugène Sue sold back to a confederate of Ermingot & Godefroi Company his lot of wine for the sum of 1500 francs ready money. He lost 13,500 francs upon the speculation; but, nevertheless, he had 1500 francs of money in hand at once with which to realise his wish to possess a groom, horse and trap, an ambition which, for over a year, had disturbed the sleep of the two friends.

"How could he get a groom and horse and trap," the reader asks, "for 1500 francs?"

It is incredible what credit 1500 francs ready money will give, especially when one is a son of good family, and when one can apply to one's father's tradespeople. They bought the trap from Sailer, the doctor's carriage-dealer, and gave him 500 francs on account; they bought the horse from Kunsmann, where they took riding lessons, and gave him about 500 francs. They remained in possession of 500 francs: they engaged a groom, whom they clothed completely from head to foot. That was not ruinous, for they had credit at the tailor's, the bootmaker's and the hatter's. They had attained this magnificent result at the beginning of the winter of 1824-25. The trap was kept through the winter. In the spring, they decided to ride on horseback, to greet the appearance of the first leaves. One morning they set out; Desforges and Eugène Sue were on horseback, followed by their groom, also on horseback. The groom made awful grimaces, which the passers-by were at a loss to account for. Desforges and Eugène Sue alone knew the cause of the working of poor John's facial muscles: they had bought him which morning boots which were tootight, and it had taken the combined efforts of both masters to get their servant into them. Half-way to the Champs-Élysées, as they were scattering greetings to men and smiles to ladies, a green conveyance drew up and a head appeared and examined the two elegants with stupefaction. The head belonged to Dr. Sue; the green vehicle was what the family called the three-lamped carriage: it was a low conveyance, invented by the doctor, from which one could descend without a step—the ancestor of all the small coupés in vogue nowadays. The head struck the two young people as did the head of Medusa; only, instead of turning them to stone, it gave them wings. They flew at a gallop, but, unluckily, they had to return. They did not do so until the day but one after, but they did return. Justice lay in wait at the gate in the person of Dr. Sue. They saw they must confess everything, and it was even a great relief, to them; for the house of Ermingot & Godefroi was beginning to show its teeth and to send stamped papers, as the six months' bills drew near their end.

Dr. Sue's business agent was charged to settle matters with Ermingot & Godefroi; the firm had just had a little dispute at the police correctionnelle, which made them entirely accommodating: they returned the bills of exchange, less 2000 francs, and gave a receipt in full settlement. Whereupon Eugène Sue engaged to go back to his post at the military hospital at Toulon. Desforges completely lost the doctor's confidence; it was found out that he had been involved up to the hilt in the Ermingot & Godefroi affair, and he was placed on the index; and this, as he had independent means of his own, decided him to follow Eugène Sue to Toulon. Damon never gave greater proof of his devotion to Pythias. They left after spending the night together; but, at the moment of departure, enthusiasm ran so high that Romieu and Mira (son of the celebrated Brunei), decided to escort them to the diligence. Eugène Sue and Desforges werein the coupé; Romieu and Mira galloped by the side of each door. Romieu galloped as far as Fontainebleau; there he was obliged to dismount. Mira was carried away three leagues farther, then he too was obliged to stop. The diligence continued imperially on its way, leaving the wounded on the road. They reached Toulon on the third day—now, one can go in twenty-four hours. The first care of the exiles was to write for news of their friends; Romieu had been taken back to the capital on a stretcher. Mira had preferred to await his convalescence where he was, and, a fortnight later, returned in a carriage to Paris. The exiles settled themselves at Toulon, and began to play ducks and drakes with the remains of their Parisian grandeur, which, somewhat faded in Paris, was looked upon as luxury in Toulon. The Toulonnais began to to look upon the new-comers with an evil eye. They called Eugène Suele beau Sue.It was much worse when they saw the dandies come nightly to the theatre, and when they perceived that they came especially to ogle Mademoiselle Florival,la première amoureuse! It was almost like attacking the authorities; the Sous-préfet had her specially under his care. Tho two Parisians were subscribers, and demanded entrance into the wings. Desforges made capital of his quality as author; he had already had two or three pieces played. Eugène Sue was innocent of all literature, and gave no signs of a vocation for the career of a man of letters—he was more of an artist; as a youngster he had gone through the studios, drawing, sketching, painting. Scarcely three or four years ago, I saw in an old street near the Madeleine, now vanished, a horse which he had drawn on the wall with black varnish and a shoe brush. The horse crumbled away with the street! The door of the wings remained pitilessly closed, which gave the Toulonnais the incontestable right of jeering at the Parisians. Luckily Louis XVIII. died on 16 September 1824, and Charles X. conceived the idea of getting himself crowned. The ceremony was to havetaken place in the Cathedral of Rheims on 26 May 1825. Now, how could the death of Louis XVIII. in Paris and the coronation of King Charles X. at Rheims open the doors of the Toulon theatre to Desforges and Eugène Sue? In this way.

Desforges suggested to Eugène Sue to write what was called at that period anà-proposupon the coronation. Eugène Sue agreed. Theà-proposwas written and played in the midst of universal enthusiasm. I still have the trifle, written entirely by the hand of Eugène Sue. The same evening the two authors gained entrance behind the wings in unassailable fashion. Mademoiselle Florival did not prove more strict than the administration, and gave the two authors the run of her house. They both took advantage of it without any jealous feeling. The friendship of Desforges and Eugène Sue was akin to that of Damon and Pythias. About June 1825 Pythias and Damon parted; Eugène Sue remained alone in possession of the entry to the theatre and to Mademoiselle Florival's. Desforges departed to Bordeaux. Why did he go to Bordeaux? He thought he was simply going to see a friend: he went to start a newspaper. Mysterious and deep are the ways of Providence! Desforges thought of spending one or two days with his friend. Tessier took him to a bookseller, where they not merely sold books but also produced literature. It was in his shop, situated, I believe, in the rue Esprit-des-Lois, that the Hôtel Rambouillet of Bordeaux was held. The traveller there found eight or ten young people eager to catch a whiff of the Parisian breezes which carry literary pollen all over the world.

"Ah! if we only had a newspaper," they said; "if only we had some one to start one!"

"Very well, here am I!" replied Desforges, and as the upshot of this meeting, thanks to Desforges,Le Kaléidoscopewas founded. Thus were scattered abroad the missionaries of the new faith, who prepared the great literary movement of 1827, 1828 and 1829.

Desforges, who only knew me by name at this period, not by my literary works—which were non-existent at that time—and by my childish name, which he had heard at M. Collard's, the good worthy tutor of whom I have had occasion to speak in these Memoirs, put some verses of mine inLe Kaléidoscope,a portion of my elegy on the death of General Foy, so far as I can recollect. Later, this formed the touchstone for our acquaintance in Paris.

One day, I went into the Café des Variétés, and Desforges was chatting with Théaulon, who nodded good-day to me. A minute later, Desforges came to me.

"Do you know," he said, "what Théaulon has just been saying about you?"

"Théaulon is very fond of me: you must not believe blindly all he says or even what he thinks of me."

"'Well,' he said, 'do you see that tall thin fellow, he will out-distance us all in literature.'"

I sent a dubious smile across to Théaulon and a sign of gratitude. From that day dated our acquaintance, or rather, let us say, our friendship with Desforges. Whilst Desforges was at Bordeaux startingLe Kaléidoscope,Ferdinand Langlé was startingLa Nouveauténewspaper in Paris; yet another open tribute to the new school, another finger-post marking a step forward.

Langlé had conceived a financial idea which was not so bad for an assistant-surgeon in the Guards, especially when one considers that the idea preceded by seven years the appearance of Émile de Girardin, the man who had the most ideas about printing concerns: the first thousand subscribers toLa Nouveautéat an outlay of 60 francs were to become proprietors of half the shares of the paper; the other half naturally belonged to the founder, Ferdinand Langlé. A fortnight after the prospectus had been sent out, they had 60,000 francs in the bank. I say in the bank, but, unluckily, there wasn't a bank: it was the want of a fixed place for depositing the money which led to there being only one cashier in a short time.Heaven knows that it was not the cashier who had eaten up the money, we can give unexceptionable proof of this. The banker ofLa Nouveautéhad a horse and carriage and a negro servant; he gaveZoyo(that was the servant's name) 7 francs per week for his board, and for that of his horse 28 francs per month! It was for him to make what profit he could out of it. He managed to feed himself out of the 7 francs, and to feed his horse with the outside rinds of melons, the leaves of salad and cabbage stalks which he found on rubbish heaps—he called it putting César out to grass. When that was insufficient, Zoyo begged from the passers-by.

"Why are you begging, you odd fish?" one of them asked him.

"Monsieur," replied Zoyo, "it is not for myself but for my poor César, who is dying of hunger."

Then he would point to the horse, whose noble and dignified bearing inspired sympathy. When the melon rinds, salad leaves and cabbage stalks were insufficient, and the appeals to public charity had yielded badly, Zoyo arrived at a great decision. He went to the boot-blacks who had an establishment at the entrance of the passage Feydeau, and blacked boots at half-price for the manager of the business. When he had earned 10 sous by cleaning ten pairs of boots, he converted his gain into a small quantity of oats or half a truss of hay, and César dined as well as possible.When the bank closedat five o'clock, César was harnessed and put into the trap; Zoyo clad himself in white breeches with top-boots, a yellow waistcoat, green coat and a broad-laced hat, decorated with a black cockade, and brought the trap round to the office door, No. 67 rue de Richelieu, opposite the bibliothèque Nationale. The banker jumped up into his trap, Zoyo flung back the hood and mounted up behind; they went to the boulevard, and drove as far as the place Louis XV., then along the Champs-Élysées and took a turn or two under the trees.

If people asked—

"Who is the gentleman with the chestnut horse, green trap and negro groom?"

The reply was—

"He is the banker ofla Nouveauténewspaper."

This did the newspaper good. But it was not enough to have a carriage only, it wanted a responsible editor too. It was much more difficult at that period to find a responsible editor, and yet they were compelled to have one: many lawsuits were brought against newspapers, many responsible editors were thrown into prison; responsible editors, therefore, were an absolute necessity.

Ferdinand Langlé cast his eye upon a kind of dwarf named Dossion. The police of the time did not demand that a responsible editor should have a special style of figure. This Dossion was a singular person, with a red nose and a curved back and he was always mounted on his high horse. I remember we called him the drum-major of the rats of the sewers of Montmartre. You may hunt up the origin of the name if you like! I have quite forgotten what it was; but, of course, it was connected with some legend of the time, now forgotten. He had been prompter at the Vaudeville, and had done so much for good Désaugiers that he had obtained a part for him in theArlequins,where he was Laporte's understudy; but as he was short-sighted, on the day of his first appearance he conceived the ingenious notion of putting short-sighted spectacles to his mask: only he had not thought of one thing—the heat of the theatre dimmed the glasses, with the result that, as Dossion was running after Colombine, he did not see where he was putting his foot and dis appeared down the prompter's trapdoor. Unlike roses, which only live a morning, Dossion had but lived on night. We invented a practical joke by means of which we made Dossion come on livid with anger. He had a dog of the same colour as d'Artagnan's horse, fluctuating between the shade of a jonquil and that of a buttercup.As Dossion was mortally offended, we pretended that his dog had presented a petition to the Chamber to be authorised to leave his master; but M. de Villèle's three hundred looked upon the matter as a political affair, and one of them even uttered the famous sentence—

"Anarchy is beginning to raise its head!"

Castor's petition had passed into the order of the day. The unlucky animal, compelled to remain attached to Dossion, died of ennui. I do not know whether Dossion is dead or alive: if alive, the lines I have just written are a homage rendered him; if dead, a flower which I throw on his grave.[1]

[1]See Appendix.

Eugène Sue's début in journalism—l'Homme-Mouche—The merino sheep—Eugène Sue in the Navy—He takes part in the battle of Navarino—He furnishes a house—The last foil of youth—AnotherFils de l'Homme—Bossange and Desforges

Towards the end of 1825, Eugène Sue returned from Toulon. He foundLa Nouveautéin a most prosperous state. As his friend Ferdinand Langlé was the manager; as Sue had just had anà-proposplayed at Toulon of which he was the author, he naturally became editor of the paper. They asked him for articles, and he did four, a series entitledL'Homme-Mouche.

These were the first items by the author ofMathildeand of theMystères de Paris,which had been printed; it seems strange we should give them here. Our Memoirs, as we have said, are the literary archives of the first half of the nineteenth century; besides, it is always interesting to artists to study the early start of men who have attained to the height of our illustrious confrère.

The four articles which he wrote appeared on Monday, 23 January 1826, Wednesday 25, Sunday 29, Tuesday 31.[1]We can see that the opposition of our friend Eugène Sue does not date from yesterday.

Meantime,La Nouveautédid not pay its contributors very well. On the other hand, Dr. Sue remained inflexible: he had taken to heart not only the wine drunk, but, still more, the wine they had spoiled! There remained one source, of which they only availed themselves on great occasions; this was a Louis XVI. enamel-backedwatch, given by his good godmother, the Empress Joséphine. In extreme cases, they took it to the pawnshop and got 150 francs on it. This defrayed the expenses of the Shrove Tuesday of 1826; but then, after holding out as long as possible, he had to take the step of going away into the country. Bouqueval offered the young men rural and frugal hospitality, so they went there.

Easter arrived, and with it some guests; each had promised to bring his share of food: one a lobster, another a meat pie, etc.; but, as ill luck would have it, each counted on his neighbour, and, all of them probably being short of money, none of them brought anything. They went straight to the stables and killed a sheep: it was a magnificent merino, which Dr. Sue was keeping for show purposes! It was skinned, roasted and eaten up to the very last cutlet. When the doctor learnt this fresh misdeed he got into an abominable temper! Happily, Eugène Sue confronted these paternal outbreaks with admirable serenity. The good lad had a charming nature, he was ever gay, joyous and laughing. Is he still the same, now that he is a man? Care has lined his face, and exile weighs heavily on his heart! Orders were given for Eugène Sue to leave Paris. He went into the navy, and made two voyages to the Antilles—hence, his novelAtar Gulland his magnificent landscape passages, which read like fairyland, seen through the fissures of a stage curtain. Then he returned to France. A decisive battle was to be fought against the Turks: Eugène Sue embarked in his official capacity as adjutant on board theBreslau,Captain la Bretonnière; he was present at the battle of Navarino, and brought back asspolia opimaa magnificent Turkish costume—which, on his return, was eaten up to the last bit of lace—a sabre and a Koran. Whilst living on the Turkish costume, Eugène Sue, who by degrees was picking up the taste for literature, had acted, with Desforges,Monsieur le Marquis.Finally, aboutthe same time,Flick et Flock, his first departure in the way of a novel, appeared inLa Mode.

Meanwhile, Eugène's maternal grandfather died, leaving him nearly 75,000 francs. Here was an inexhaustible fortune! So the young poet, who was then twenty-four, sent in his resignation to the ministre de la marine, and furnished his house. We say that he furnished his house, because Eugène Sue, artist by custom and instinct was the first to furnish a suite of rooms in the modern fashion; he was the first to have all those charming knick-knacks which no one then wanted, but which everybody snatches at nowadays: coloured glasses, china plates, Saxe china, renaissance chests, Turkish sabres Malayan daggers, etc. Then he went to Gudin's studio and began to paint. We have said that Eugène Sue drew or rather sketched, quite cleverly. He had, I remember, brought an album from Navarino of twofold curiosity, both from the illustrations, and from the artistic point of view. It was while with the famous sea painter that the last of Eugène Sue's escapades happened, and this closed the list of those youthful follies which had made the society of Rousseau, Romieu and Eugène Sue notorious. We have related in connection with the parody ofHenry IV., the famous attack made on the porter in the rue du Mont-Blanc, known by the nickname ofPortier je veux de tes cheveux, which found its way intoLes Mystères de Paris.

Gudin, who was then thirty, was already in the full tide of his talent and the splendour of his renown; amateurs snatched at his works, women quarrelled over the man Gudin, like all artists of a certain standing, received letters from unknown women from time to time, desiring to make his acquaintance, and making appointments with him for that purpose. One day, he received two such both letters fixing the same hour. Gudin could not break himself in two, and he spoke of his difficulty to Eugène Sue. So Eugène Sue offered to take his place. It is but a step from pupil to master; besides, there was a great physicalresemblance between the two men: they were the same height, both wore beards, had dark hair, fine eyes, and splendid teeth; one was twenty-seven, and the other thirty; the worst treated of the two unknown women could not have cried out against the thief. Furthermore, they put the two letters in a hat, and each took his out. From that moment, and during the rest of the day, there were two Gudins and no Eugène Sue. Each went to his appointed place that night; next day, both returned enchanted. The thing might have lasted for ever, but inquisitiveness always destroys women—witness Eve and Psyche. The lady who had obtained the false Gudin as her share had artistic tastes; when she had made the painter's acquaintance, she would insist upon visiting the studio to see Gudin work, palette and paint-brush in hand. Among the number of inquisitive women, we have forgotten Semele, who wanted to see her lover Jupiter in all his splendour, and who was burned alive by a flash of lightning. The false Gudin could not withstand the many pleadings, and consented to grant a rendezvous to the beauteouscurieuseon the morrow. She was to come at two o'clock in the afternoon, the most favourable time of day for light on painting. At a quarter to two, Eugène Sue, clad in magnificent livery, waited in Gudin's antechamber; at a few minutes to two, the bell was tremulously rung by the happy visitor. Eugène Sue went to open the door. The lady, eager to see everything, began by casting her glances on the servant, who looked a smart, strapping youth, and who bowed humbly before her. Her examination was followed by a terrible cry. "Horrors! A lackey!..." The lady hid her face in her handkerchief and ran precipitately down the stairs. At a masked ball soon after, Eugène Sue met her again, and tried to renew acquaintance with her; but she persisted in believing that he was still disguised, and Eugène Sue could not get anything from her but the words he had heard before—"Horrors! a lackey!..."

The campaign of Algiers arrived, and Gudin went with the expedition; the two friends became separated. Eugène Sue took to literature.Atar Gullwas begun at this period. Then came the July Revolution. Eugène Sue and Desforges together wrote a comedy entitledLe Fils de l'Homme.Barthélemy's poem will be recollected upon the same subject: the King of Rome, a poetic figure, lonely and imprisoned at Schönbrünn, as Napoleon had been at St. Helena. Youthful memories awoke in Eugène Sue; he remembered that Joséphine had been his godmother, and that he bore the name of Prince Eugène.

The comedy was written, but got no further. Not only had the Orleanist reaction been rapid, but Desforges, one of its authors, had become secretary to Maréchal Soult. But an author's conceit is a most venturesome passion, just as poor girls may be seen to betray their maternity through their maternal love. One day, when Desforges had been breakfasting with Volnys, he drew the incendiary play from his portfolio and read it to his host. Volnys is the son of a general of the Empire. Volny's heart was melted with the reading.

"Leave me the manuscript," he said; "I want to read it again."

So Desforges left it him. Six weeks went by. A rumour went abroad secretly in the literary world that a great excitement was being prepared at theNouveautés.People questioned what that event could be.

Bossange was then the manager of the theatre; he collaborated with Frédéric Soulié in two or three dramas, and was one of the cleverest men in Paris. Bossange we say, was manager, and included our dear Déjazet among the number of his staff. The two of them together were known to be capable of doing anything. The rumour of this literary event, which was to turn Paris upside down, reached the ears of Desforges, buried away though he was in the recesses of his office. He trembled, and a revelation came to him. Suppose the dramatic sensationwas to be the first performance of theFils de l'Homme!He decided to go that very night to the Nouveautés, and to find out about it from Bossange. Accordingly, by eight o'clock, Desforges was behind the wings.

"Oh! do not discuss your business with me to-night, my dear Desforges!" said the manager to him. "I am in a state of despair! Such and such a man (I forget who) has failed us with his play, and we are obliged at the very last moment to give a play that was under rehearsal and not properly learnt. Come, stage manager, is Déjazet ready?"

"Yes, Monsieur Bossange."

"Well, give the three raps and announce what we have arranged."

They did so; shouts went up of "Take your places on the stage!" and Desforges was obliged to sit down like the others behind a wing.

The stage manager in a white collar and black coat went on the stage, and after the usual three bows he said—

"Gentlemen, one of our actors having fallen ill at the last moment, we are obliged to give you, instead of the second piece, a new comedy which was to have been put on in three or four days' time. We beg you to accept the exchange."

The audience to whom a new play was being offered instead of an old drowned the manager's words with applause. The curtain fell, and rose almost immediately afterwards. At this moment, Déjazet came down out of his dressing-room in the uniform of an Austrian colonel.

"Ah! good heavens!" exclaimed Desforges, stopping him, "what are you going to play?"

"To play? Whyle Fils del'Homme... Come, let me pass, monsieur author!"

Desforges' arms fell and Déjazet passed on.

The great event of the Théâtre des Nouveautés was in fact the representation ofle Fils de l'Homme; only,Bossange, who feared some hindrance from the Government, had preserved the profoundest secrecy and, as we see, played the comedy suddenly.[2]

"But, you may say, was there a censorship in 1830?"

"D'Artagnan, my good friend, take your hat off to the person who has honoured us by putting that question to us, and salute profoundly, then reply:

"Ah! monsieur, worse luck, there is always a censorship."

[1]See Appendix.

[2]See the complete biography of Eugène Sue, inLes Morts vont vite,tome II. p. 1.

The political duels

At the beginning of the year 1833 which now opens before us, the eyes of all France were turned towards the Château de Blaye, in which Madame la duchesse de Berry had been incarcerated.

On 28 January a question was put to the Government by M. de Dreux-Brézé in connection with a petition addressed to the Chambre des Pairs, by several pensioners of the old Civil List, relative to the detention of the princess. It should be said that, for the most part, with but few exceptions, the moral feeling of France rose up against that detention as it has since risen against that of Abd-el-Kader. M. de Dreux-Brézé had asked leave to speak, and it had been granted. He mounted the tribune.

"As the Chamber has allowed me to speak," he said, "I will permit myself to point out to it that the right of petition laid down by the charter has, for some time past, become an illusory right in the Assembly. A great number of petitions relative to the law about the state of siege have been addressed to the Chamber, but as yet no report has been brought in upon it. Now I ask you, why has no such report been drawn up? If it is not done when the Chamber has decreed a law upon the subject, what becomes of the right of petition? But there areother petitions of a higher order which I am amazed not to see brought forward; I mean those relating to the captivity of an illustrious princess whose fate is attracting the notice of France and Europe. I cannot be ignorant of their existence, since they have nearly all been addressed to me to place before the Chamber; I will, therefore, seize the opportunity which is offered to me by the publicity of its debates to testify to the petitioners my deep gratitude for the confidence with which they have honoured me. I received a petition this morning relative to the same object, containing seventeen hundred signatures. How is it, gentlemen, that, in contempt of the right of petition, thousands of signatures are allowed to be buried in portfolios which demand the setting at liberty of Madame la duchesse de Berry? And under what circumstances? It is impossible not to feel the liveliest fear for her person and well-founded alarms in other directions; for, taking into account the unhealthiness of her place of detention, her captivity is not merely an arbitrary act, but becomes an attempt upon her life! I do not propose, gentlemen, to enter into a discussion here which, at this juncture, would be irrelevant; but I ask the Chamber to fix at once the day for a debate on the numerous petitions which plead for the liberty of Madame la duchesse de Berry."

The Keeper of the Seals next mounted the Tribune, and replied—

"The speaker complains of the place in which the Duchesse de Berry is detained. Would he allow perpetual civil war in la Vendée? That is doubtless not his idea, but one might reasonably interpret his views in that way, when he asks for the liberty of the Duchesse de Berry, seeing the use to which she put her liberty."

Next, the Ministre de l'Intérieur added a few words, saying that, even if the Château de Blaye were an unhealthy dwelling-place, it was a matter of public knowledge that the town had never been attacked by any sort of epidemic. He did not, therefore, understand the animosity of those persons who stated that the place of detention had been chosen with the intention of undermining the health of the august prisoner.

The incident led to nothing at all. The Chambre des Pairs, after the Duc de Fitz-James and M. de Chateaubriand's resignation, was nothing but a kind of record office where the laws of the Chambre des Députés were registered. Now, it came to pass, in spite of the Keeper of the Seal's statement and that made by the Ministre de l'Intérieur, that the health of the Duchesse de Berry soon caused enough uneasiness for the Government to dispatch MM. Orfila and Auvity to Blaye. Their departure was announced in a Government newspaper,Le Nouvelliste,I believe. It confined itself to saying that the two famous practitioners had to examine into an important question of forensic medicine. The vague curtness of the statement roused comments on all sides.Le Nouvelliste,being forced to give an explanation, inserted the following paragraph:—

"Many newspapers have printed a thousand conjectures as to the mission of MM. Orfila and Auvity at the Château de Blaye. That mission contains nothing to justify the multitude of comments to which it has given rise.The condition of Madame la duchesse de Berry presents nothing to cause disquiet; only, for some time, she has been sufficiently out of healthfor it to be deemed advisable to afford her the opportunity of consulting the two men who are the most deserving of confidence, M. Orfila, doyen of the medical faculty, and M. Auvity, one of whom is her ordinary doctor and the other her consulting physician. The situation of the prison in which Madame la duchesse de Berry is confined necessitates this natural proceeding, and it is in that sense we called the mission of the two doctorsforensic."

In consequence of this declaration,Le Corsairesurmised that the Duchesse de Berry's indisposition was that of pregnancy. The following day, a young Carlist, M. Barbot de la Trésorière, appeared at the offices of the paper to call the author of the article out in a duel or, failing the author, the responsible manager, M. Viennot. M. Viennot replied that he could only accept responsibility for the article in the event of the author not acceptingresponsibility. He asked to be allowed a day before he could return an answer to M. Barbot de la Trésorière. That gentleman thought the request quite fair, but manifested a desire that the reply should be very definite, the aim of the Carlist party being to prevent any shadow of suspicion falling upon the reputation of the illustrious prisoner. Hardly had the last words been uttered before one of the editors of theCorsairecame out of the editorial office. He had heard everything and came up to M. de la Trésorière.

"Monsieur," he said to him, "I am the author of the article which you claim to regard as insulting. My name is Eugène Briffault and I am entirely at your disposition."

The duel acceded to, the rest of the affair was for the seconds to settle. The seconds had an interview and arranged that the meeting should take place next day at eight in the morning in the bois de Boulogne. At the agreed hour, the two adversaries met upon the ground. Pistols had been the weapons selected. The two adversaries were placed at a distance of thirty yards from one another: at the third clapping of hands they were to fire simultaneously. Both fired at the same instant. M. Briffault's bullet missed; M. Barbot de la Trésorière's buried itself in M. Briffault's shoulder to such purpose that it could never be extracted. The wound was serious. M. Briffault was carried to Étienne Arago's, manager of the Vaudeville. It need hardly be said that there the injured man was nursed with brotherly devotion. And yet, on the very same day on which the duel had taken place,La Quotidiennecontained the following passage:—

"30 January—MM. Orfila and Auvity have just returned from Blaye, where they accomplished the mission with which they were entrusted. What that mission was, the Government does not say. But we will, because, with Madame, we think that it is a case where the sacrifice of the most sacred conventions is demanded by honour itself.

"For about a week past, infamous rumours have been spread abroad concerning Madame's condition. Respectable people of all parties have heard them with disgust, and we owe it to truth to declare that the Liberal opposition has loudly pronounced its indignation. One does not imagine that those in authority are generally in ignorance of such shameless insinuations; one presumes that some, at all events, of those in authority are a party to the calumny; but it would not occur to any one that they were the first to be themselves the dupes. Base words were repeated, it is true, and especially by M. Thiers, but one could not believe in a miracle of stupid malignancy.

"Well, they were deceived; less guilty, if you like, but more inept than could be imagined; what they said they believed; you understand? Let us, however, pass rapidly over these shameful matters. We will restrict ourselves to showing to what excess of blindness certain men can be led astray when possessed by base passions. Thus, then, the two learned doctors went to the citadel of Blaye. Behold them in the presence of Madame! They stammer and try to speak; they speak; but they had not uttered three words before Madame understood them. Then it was (we report it from evidence which certainly cannot be questioned) that, under this ordeal, cruel for any woman, offensive to a woman of the blood royal, then it was, we say, that Madame rose, armed with her character, to a sublime effort, above common charges and vulgar susceptibilities. Calm, without apparent emotion, less agitated, probably, than the men before her, the princess addressed them powerfully; she spoke to their conscience, she invoked their sense of honour, called upon them to fulfil their missionfully,she demanded that their professional opinion should be pronounced fully, entirely, unquestionably; she wished that before God and men they should testify what they knew of the widow of the Duc de Berry, the mother of Henri V.! The two learned men obeyed Madame's commands; formed their opinion, found out all that it was necessary they should know and then withdrew, blushing for shame.

"A first report was rapidly dispatched to the men who had believed.... Hence, a clumsy disavowal, which we have printed with all the mistrust it is bound to inspire.Authority dare not go further; it has not the courage to confess what it expected from the two professional men, or what it learnt from them."

The affair, as one can see, was begun by the Carlist party, both as an armed struggle and as written polemics, and it was entered into as boldly as possible. We shall see that it was upheld by the Republican party with equal ardour.

The report of MM. Auvity and Orfila, in fact, appeared inLe Moniteurof 5 February. It contained no particulars likely to establish opinion as to the supposed condition of the princess; so the newspapers continued to give rein to their conjectures.Le Corsaire,especially, stuck to its announcement of Madame's pregnancy. The upshot of it all was that a fresh challenge was made to her.Le Corsairegave its readers the following information:—

"People have called at our offices to ask the reason for an article we recently published about the Duchesse de Berry. We replied that we did not recognise the right of any individual to call us to account in the name of the Duchesse de Berry, and we refused all information on the subject. We added that we were prepared even to accept the ill-will of the Legitimist party on this head. The wordslanderousapplied to the rumours spread about the duchess does not concern us: it belongs to those in high quarters, from whence the rumours have issued; their origin is now a matter of public notoriety. The editor of the article has expressly declared that he maintains that what he has written istrue.Time alone can destroy or confirm his opinion. As for the political attitude of the Carlist party; which we have represented as thinking far more of conspiring than of fighting, we will call to mind the actual words of the prisoner of Blaye. When she saw the lists of those devoted to her, she exclaimed, 'They offer me their names, but not their arms!' That exclamation was reported only a month ago in a widely circulated paper and has not been denied."It is not the first but the second time thatLe Corsairehas been exposed to such attacks, and one of its editors,M. Briffault, has even had the misfortune of being wounded by a so-called Legitimist whose right he had recognised of taking up the cause on behalf of the prisoner of Blaye. It is rather singular that the susceptibility of the Carlist party concerning the princes of the fallen family has only shown itself since what they call the attempted defeat by the patriotic party in June. It is true that royalty boasts of having made the Republicans turn pale; but all royal personages were not, perhaps, vanquished on that day along with Louis-Philippe. True, again, many patriots were dispersed, banished, imprisoned, in consequence of those June days; but there are enough left outside prison for the champions of legitimacy to be certain of finding some one to deal with them at every opportunity; only, in disputing the honour of killing M. Briffault, they should have waited till his wound was first cured."It is, indeed, extraordinary, if one cannot write a single word about the Duchesse de Berry without having sword at hand when replying to everybody interested in making a heroine of her. Who amused themselves by breaking lances before the July Revolution, either for or against the virtue of the Duchesse de Berry? And yet, slanderous rumours, whether true or untrue, were not wanting then any more than now. But the duchess is a captive, she is under misfortune! This ought to make the hearts of her attendant cavaliers bleed; but, as for us, who remember only too vividly how she danced at the Tuileries whilst the heads of our friends were being cut off on the place de Grève, it must be acknowledged that consideration from our side can only proceed from motives of pure generosity."The Carlist party is taking a very bad way to procure the kindly feeling of the patriotic press for the prisoner of Blaye; it should suffice for them to wish to impose silence on us as to scandalous details, whether they exist or not; but, when they go on to talk so that we feel obliged to dwell on gossip, which it is our usual custom to ignore, certainly we will recognise these gentlemen's right to testify against us in their devotion to the person of the Duchesse de Berry in as large numbers as they please; they will find at our office a long enough list of people disposed to offer them every occasion for distinguishing themselveswhich they may desire. These gentlemen must be counting much on the approach of a third Restoration for their devotion to begin to count, to allow themselves to be flung in prison, to insult the July Revolution by pamphlets, novels, signed protests, street processions, challenges addressed to patriotic papers; it would seem that the moment has arrived for proving the famous Republican-Carlist alliance. All right, that need not matter! Let the devoted knights state their numbers; let them but show themselves and get the question settled. In any case, we shall not go in search of persons to help us who take half-way views."

"It is not the first but the second time thatLe Corsairehas been exposed to such attacks, and one of its editors,M. Briffault, has even had the misfortune of being wounded by a so-called Legitimist whose right he had recognised of taking up the cause on behalf of the prisoner of Blaye. It is rather singular that the susceptibility of the Carlist party concerning the princes of the fallen family has only shown itself since what they call the attempted defeat by the patriotic party in June. It is true that royalty boasts of having made the Republicans turn pale; but all royal personages were not, perhaps, vanquished on that day along with Louis-Philippe. True, again, many patriots were dispersed, banished, imprisoned, in consequence of those June days; but there are enough left outside prison for the champions of legitimacy to be certain of finding some one to deal with them at every opportunity; only, in disputing the honour of killing M. Briffault, they should have waited till his wound was first cured.

"It is, indeed, extraordinary, if one cannot write a single word about the Duchesse de Berry without having sword at hand when replying to everybody interested in making a heroine of her. Who amused themselves by breaking lances before the July Revolution, either for or against the virtue of the Duchesse de Berry? And yet, slanderous rumours, whether true or untrue, were not wanting then any more than now. But the duchess is a captive, she is under misfortune! This ought to make the hearts of her attendant cavaliers bleed; but, as for us, who remember only too vividly how she danced at the Tuileries whilst the heads of our friends were being cut off on the place de Grève, it must be acknowledged that consideration from our side can only proceed from motives of pure generosity.

"The Carlist party is taking a very bad way to procure the kindly feeling of the patriotic press for the prisoner of Blaye; it should suffice for them to wish to impose silence on us as to scandalous details, whether they exist or not; but, when they go on to talk so that we feel obliged to dwell on gossip, which it is our usual custom to ignore, certainly we will recognise these gentlemen's right to testify against us in their devotion to the person of the Duchesse de Berry in as large numbers as they please; they will find at our office a long enough list of people disposed to offer them every occasion for distinguishing themselveswhich they may desire. These gentlemen must be counting much on the approach of a third Restoration for their devotion to begin to count, to allow themselves to be flung in prison, to insult the July Revolution by pamphlets, novels, signed protests, street processions, challenges addressed to patriotic papers; it would seem that the moment has arrived for proving the famous Republican-Carlist alliance. All right, that need not matter! Let the devoted knights state their numbers; let them but show themselves and get the question settled. In any case, we shall not go in search of persons to help us who take half-way views."

Such articles as these were not calculated to pacify political hatreds.La Tribunetook up the cause ofLe Corsaireand an ardent polemic took place between it andLe Revenant.The editor of the latter paper was then M. Albert de Calvimont, now préfet de l'empire.Le National,in its turn, interfered, andLe Revenantfound itself confronted by three adversaries. M. Albert de Calvimont received a collective challenge for himself and his friends fromLa Tribune.He replied for himself personally, but declined to be implicated on the grounds they wished to impose upon him. At the same time, they replied to an aggressive article by Armand Carrel by sending him a list of a dozen persons from whom to select one name. The report soon went about amongst us that a challenging list asking for twelve opponents had been sent to Armand Carrel. I rushed off to Carrel; there was a crowd at his door to inscribe their names, and I wrote down mine as did the others. I had not seen Carrel for a long time; we were not personally on cool terms with one another; butLe Nationalattacked the romantic school bitterly, and our intercourse had become infrequent. I probably owed the favour of being asked in to see him to the rarity of my visits. He was breakfasting with the charming lady of whom I have had occasion to speak, whose life, in the midst of all these riotings and duellings, was a perpetual torture, disguised beneath a smile ofeasily detected sadness, but which was still a smile. As far as I can remember, Grégoire was at breakfast with them.

"Ah! so it is you!" Carrel said to me; "something very important must be on the way to bring you."

"What does it matter, dear friend, what circumstances cause my presence?"

"Have you come to fight?"

"I have come to do what I can ... they told me you had received a list of twelve Carlists. If you are hard put to find a dozen Republicans, make use of me; I shall make one, at all events."

"But suppose I am in no such difficulty?..."

"Then, dear friend, excuse me from taking part in this row."

"You are not keen about it."

"I think the cause ridiculous."

"What! ridiculous?"

"Yes, in my opinion, you should wait in silence for official news from Blaye. The Duchesse de Berry is, first and foremost, a woman; and by what right do you say of a princess, because she is a princess, what you would not say of the widow of your grocer?"

"What is one to do?" said Carrel, who felt at heart and from the chivalrous point of view that I was right in my view of the question.

"I must go through with it."

"Have you sufficient force?"

"Pistols, yes—swordsmen, no...."

"Then you will fight with pistols?"

"No, I shall employ swords."

"Why do you arrange that?"

"It is a matter of sentiment, you see. I have twice fought with swords: twice I have pinked my enemy: I have only once fought with pistols, and, although my adversary shot very badly, and the bullet struck theground six yards off me, yet it went through the calf of my leg."

"Will you have a few rounds with me?"

"If you do not mind."

"Come then."

We went into a kind of saloon which contained foils and masks, and we placed ourselves on guard. I shot badly, as I have said—although Grisier, out of friendliness towards me, had spread my reputation as a good shot, thus sparing me more than one duel—only, at that time, having had occasion to do a small service to a good fellow called Castelli, who was a first-rate swordsman and served as teacher to all the celebrated masters, he had found no other means of satisfying himself about me than to come from time to time to give me a lesson. The result was that without being aware of it (his lessons were so excellent), I found I was better than I thought myself to be. As Grisier's pupil, I put myself on the defensive rather than attacked. Carrel gave me several lunges, which I avoided either by leaping aside or by parrying them. Carrel was easily carried away by excitement, and I felt that his exercise showed signs of great excitement.

"Take care," I said to him, "by such action as that on the ground you run great risk of being stopped short or touched during parry and thrust."

"True," he said, flinging away his foil; "but I am as fatalistic as a Mussulman: what will happen has been decreed beforehand."

"Do you think I draw well enough to put down my name?"

"Yes; but I will not put you down."

"Why not?"

"Because, although I have received a list and it has a dozen names on it, yet, from among that dozen namesLe Nationalhas only to select one."

"Well?"

"I choose M. Roux-Laborie."

"Then you are going to fight?"

"Of course!" replied Carrel.

"When?"

"To-morrow."

"It is all settled?"

"Absolutely."

"I presume you have your seconds ready too?"

"Yes."

"Who are they?"

"Grégoire and d'Hervas."

"And you fight with?..."

"Swords. Like you, I am better with the pistol than the sword; but I confess I have a weakness for swords; with the sword, one defends one's life; with the pistol, one renounces it."

"So you do not need me?"

"No."

"Not for anything?"

"No thanks."

"Good luck, dear friend!"

Carrel shrugged his shoulders as much as to say: "That will be as God pleases!"

I went home, where I found two of my friends waiting in readiness to offer themselves to me in case I was on the list. I told them of Carrel's decision. He was so absolutely brave that it surprised no one that he made himself the champion of the Republic, although he was a strange sort of Republican, and took the duel upon himself.

Meanwhile, that is to say on 1 February 1833, the reply of M. Albert de Calvimont was taken toLa Tribuneby MM. Albert Berthier and Théodore Anne, commissioned to uphold the struggle on personal lines, the only grounds on which M. Albert de Calvimont would accept. There was a lengthy debate between the two seconds of M. Albert de Calvimont and M. Marrast, to whom M. de Calvimont's reply was addressed. M. Marrast, surrounded by all his friends, urged on by them, wanted a real battle, whereinthe strength of the two parties should be tested. M. de Calvimont's friends, on their side, could only offer the duel, all other agreements exposing them to a charge of recantation. In the middle of the debate, a communication arrived fromLe National: it announced the challenge received by Carrel. They conferred together and decided that no engagement ought to be made before knowing what Carrel would do. For the time being, therefore, they confined themselves to showing the communication to M. de Calvimont's two seconds and to adjourning the discussion until night. By then, Carrel's decision was known: he had chosen M. Roux-Laborie, junior, not only because he was a Royalist but, still more, because he was the son of a man who had an interest in theJournal des Débats,a paper devoted to the Royalist cause of July. The details of the duel were settled between MM. Grégoire and d'Hervas, Carrel's seconds, and Théodore Anne and Albert Berthier, M. Roux-Laborie's seconds. Carrel, as instigator, had the choice of arms, and chose swords. Next day, Saturday, 2 February (the day of the first performance ofLucrèce Borgia),M. Roux-Laborie, accompanied by MM. Berthier and Théodore Anne, presented themselves at the barrière de Clichy, where, almost immediately afterwards, Armand Carrel arrived, supported by M. d'Hervas, capitaine de chasseurs, and by Grégoire. The two adversaries each stayed in their carriages whilst the seconds got out and conferred together. Then arose an incident amongst the seconds, which, in the case of a man other than brave and loyal Carrel, would have been made the occasion for giving up the duel. M. Roux-Laborie's seconds, with instructions received from the leaders of the Carlist party, declared that their friend was ready to answer his challenge; but that he desired to fight with some other than Carrel, seeing that the feelings the Legitimists had for the chief editor ofLe Nationalwere much more those of gratitude than of hatred, Carrel having, before the Assises of Blois, by his open and loyal evidence,saved the life of one of their party, M. de Chièvres, accused of participation in the affairs of la Vendée. Carrel, on that occasion, had done for M. de Chièvres, in 1832, what M. de Chièvres did for Carrel when he was accused in 1823 of plotting against the State.

"If Carrel were wounded," said MM. Théodore Anne and Albert Berthier, "there would be mourning in both the camps, whilst if, on the contrary, M. Roux-Laborie were hit, there would only be grief in one camp, and the match would not be equal."

From every motive M. Roux-Laborie's seconds demand the substitution of Carrel for some other person, whomsoever they liked. M. Roux-Laborie was ready to accept that person whoever it might be.

These observations were transmitted to Carrel. He got down out of his carriage, came up to the seconds and thanked them for their complimentary remarks about himself, but he declared, at the same time, that he was not in the habit of being replaced; he had come to fight and meant to fight. Carrel's resolution was positive and they had to give in to him. They entered their carriages and went in search of a spot suitable for the encounter; they went far before they found it. At last they stopped behind a factory near the île Saint-Ouen. Until then they had found the ground too damp and slippery; there, alone, was the earth solid on account of the deposit of pit-coal. The two adversaries then dismounted from their carriages, bowed politely and put themselves on guard. The engagement was short and sharp. After two or three passes, they both lunged simultaneously. Carrel's sword merely penetrated M. Roux-Laborie's arm. The seconds stopped the duel crying, "There is a wound!"

They went up to M. Roux-Laborie.

"I, too, am wounded," Carrel quietly observed, putting his hand to his abdomen at the same time.

Whilst M. Roux-Laborie's doctor, M. Bouché-Dugua,was dressing his patient, Dumont, Carrel's doctor, discovered a serious injury to the groin. M. Roux-Laborie was able to be taken away in a carriage, but it was impossible to move Carrel. They ran to the factory and got a mattress which they stretched on the shafts of a cart they found ready at hand, then they placed Carrel on the mattress and his seconds, helped by M. Roux-Laborie's friends, who had remained with them, carried the wounded man to the factory, where they hastened to render him a hospitable reception. Dumont bled Carrel, but his condition was too grave to allow him to be driven to Paris; that would have risked a fatal accident, the movement of the carriage would have led to hæmorrhage. One of M. Roux-Laborie's seconds ran to Clichy and brought back a stretcher, upon which they could take Carrel to his house in the rue Blanche. They sent off quickly for M. Dupuytren, who rushed there. The injury was serious, the sword had gone in nearly three inches, and had penetrated the liver; they could not yet predict the upshot of the accident.

The same night the report of the event spread throughout Paris with the rapidity of bad news. You must have lived at that period of excitement and enthusiasm to have an idea of the magic which attached to the name of Carrel. On the morrow, the duel and its details filled the leading articles of every newspaper. We open the first to hand by chance—Le Corsaire—and we read—

"2February1833.—It is with inexpressible grief that all fair-minded persons learnt yesterday the news of the wound received by M. Armand Carrel, in a duel with M. Roux-Laborie, one of the Legitimists whose names were sent toLe National.But it is quite impossible to give any idea of the indignation and sorrow of patriots upon learning this deplorable event, of Carlists especially, who, by reason of our activity, need not have been driven to despair; what we should have done as a duty, we now fulfil as a sacred obligation. M. Armand Carrel is by virtue of his fine talent, his noble strength of character, by the renown and usefulness of the services he has rendered,and, above all, by the detestation which he has expressed against the enemies of our liberties, is one of those men whose youth has already been a credit to the country. The party which has struck him down has not as much wealth as M. Carrel. Obeying a generous impulse, whilst his reason, at the same time, was opposed to an unjust attack, he acceded to a duel on behalf of the sad cause in which we are now engaged. He was injured in the groin by a sword, but his condition is not past hope, and M. Dupuytren, who went to him, confirms the seriousness of the wound without giving up hope. There is such a splendid future before M. Carrel that we cannot harbour the distressing idea that it may soon terminate. He is one of those men who seem bound up with the destiny of his country. He showed touching sympathy when misfortune struck down one of our friends in the same cause, and we shall not cease to follow him with our gratitude and devotion and with the patriotism which he taught so well, of which he has given us such a fine example."

The whole of Paris called to inquire at Carrel's house. Amongst the twenty first names written in the visitors' book were La Fayette, Chateaubriand, Béranger, Thiers and Dupin. The societyAide-toi et le Ciel t'aidera,appointed a committee of three members to go, in the name of the whole society, to inscribe their names and express their sympathy for the loyal and courageous conduct he had displayed throughout the affair. The committee was composed of MM. Thiard, Lariboissière and Lemercier, of the Institut. On the night of the day when the duel took place, M. Albert Berthier, one of M. Roux-Laborie's seconds, received the following letter from M. d'Hervas:—

"MONSIEUR,—It is with profound regret that, in exchange for your good and generous action of this morning, I feel myself compelled to ask you to fix a duel for to-morrow. M. Carrel is the man I love and revere most in the world. He is seriously wounded, and honour demands that I avenge him. Your obliging conduct ofthis morning alone kept the request from my lips that I now make you. I know you to be a man of honour, and am certain you will understand me. I spend the night with M. Carrel, where I shall expect your reply to-morrow morning. Choose the arms, place of meeting and time; but I desire that our encounter should take place during the day, for I am obliged to return at night to my regiment.—Accept my respectful greetings,"D'HERVAS"

On Sunday morning M. d'Hervas received this reply—

"3February1833"SIR,—The police have seized me, and I have only time to reply that, for the moment, it is impossible for me to respond to your challenge. You will understand my situation.—Yours, etc.,ALBERT BERTHIER"

"3February1833

"SIR,—The police have seized me, and I have only time to reply that, for the moment, it is impossible for me to respond to your challenge. You will understand my situation.—Yours, etc.,ALBERT BERTHIER"

A letter pretty nearly in the same terms as that to M. Berthier was written by M. Grégoire to Théodore Anne. But, like M. Albert Berthier, Théodore Anne had also been arrested. He was therefore obliged to postpone the meeting. But, in order that it should be clearly known that onlyforce majeurecould hinder the proposed duels, the Republican party inserted the following paragraph in the newspapers, as a public answer to the letters of MM. Berthier and Théodore Anne:—

"We keenly regret, gentlemen, that arrest or a threatened arrest does not permit you to reply to the letter we wrote you yesterday; we hope, as much as you yourselves can do so, that a speedy liberation will allow you to respond to our challenge. However, we will gladly accept in the meantime any Legitimists you may be pleased to substitute until you are yourselves ready."D'HERVAS, GRÉGOIRE"

It will be seen that the tourney was fully begun and in good earnest. The arrest of MM. Berthier and Théodore Anne only, as one might imagine, exasperated the two parties all the more. The real enemy throughout, as both Carlists and patriots thoroughly realised, was theGovernment of Louis-Philippe. The following letter was addressed to the editors of theRevenant:—

"GENTLEMEN,—We look upon your remarks of yesterday in theNationalandTribuneas a direct challenge. You refused our challenge yesterday; to-day, after what has just happened between MM. Armand Carrel and Roux-Laborie, we adhere more closely than ever to upholding our views and to the pursuit of your party BY ALL METHODS to gain a just and public reparation. We send you a preliminary list of twelve persons, since yesterday you spoke of twelve on your side. We do not demand a dozen duels simultaneously, but successively, and in the time and places most convenient to you. No excuse, no pretext would save you from cowardice, nor from the subsequent consequences of such cowardice. Henceforth, the first duel will be the declaration of war between your side and ours. There shall be no truce until one of the two has succumbed to the other—"ARMAND MARRAST"GODEFROY CAVAIGNAC"GARDARIN"

"ARMAND MARRAST"GODEFROY CAVAIGNAC"GARDARIN"

Then came the names of twelve patriots. A similar letter was addressed to the offices ofLa Quotidienne.It was signed by Ambert, Guinard and by M. Thévenin. At the same time, Germain Sarrut, supported by MM. Delsart and Saint-Edme, went to M. de Genoude, who replied to the explanations demanded—

"MONSIEUR,—The editors ofLa Gazetteofficially disapprove of the conduct of the men of their party who have incited the contributors of the different newspapers, and they consequently refuse to take any partwhatsoeverin the quarrel raised between the two parties."La Quotidienne,in its turn, wrote the following letter in reply to that of Ambert, Guinard and Thévenin—"M. de Montfort, M. de Calvimont and others, being arrested, or under the pressure of a warrant, the business of the letter from the gentlemen of theNationalcannot be attended to for the moment—3 February."

La Quotidienne,in its turn, wrote the following letter in reply to that of Ambert, Guinard and Thévenin—

"M. de Montfort, M. de Calvimont and others, being arrested, or under the pressure of a warrant, the business of the letter from the gentlemen of theNationalcannot be attended to for the moment—3 February."

This letter was received on the 4th. On the 5th the patriotic papers contained the following paragraph:—

"The letters addressed yesterday by our friends to the champions of the legitimacy have been supported to-day by overtures made by several of them to those gentlemen to induce them to take definite action and not to prolong a situation which hitherto has been neither an acceptance nor a formal refusal. It now appears that equivocation is at an end. They do not accept the challenge."

Meantime, various duels took place. On 2 February, preoccupied by the first representation ofLucrèceBorgia,I had only put in but a brief appearance at theNational; they did not yet know the result of the meeting there. I found one of my friends there, M. de Beauterne, an impulsive and excitable character. He came to put his name down; but, learning that the list was closed, he decided to act on his own account. We returned together, and he came up to my rooms, asked me for a pen, paper and ink and wrote to Nettement, the editor ofLa Quotidienne,offering him a meeting. He urged me strongly to do the same; but it was a difficult enough matter for me; Republican though I was, I certainly had more friends amongst the Carlists than among the Republicans. He was so insistent that I had no way of getting out of it. So I took up my pen and wrote—

"MY DEAR BEAUCHENE,—If your party is as silly as mine, and compels you to fight, I ask you, in preference to another, delighted as I shall ever be to give you a proof of my esteem, in default of a proof of friendship.—Yours always,"ALEX. DUMAS"

Beauterne pushed his complacency to the point of himself undertaking to deliver the letter. Beauchene was in the country, and not expected to return for a week or ten days; but his concierge was deputed to forward him the letter. On 4 February, the meeting offered by Beauterne to Nettement took place, and the latterreceived a sword cut across the arm. The bulletins which came to us of Carrel's health were satisfactory. No one was allowed to enter his room except the devoted creature who never left him, and M. Dupuytren, who came to see him twice a day. On 5 February,Le Revenantappeared as blank paper: a note of half a line announced that all its contributors had been arrested. On the 9th, they arrested M. Sarrut. The same day I received a letter from Beauchene: he was detained for a few days longer in the country; but, as soon as he returned, he would put himself at my disposal. However, there was no means of fighting, for each of us had a police spy after us, who stuck to us like our shadows. On the 9th, Carrel was well enough for several of his friends to be allowed in his room. I went with two or three others: M. Dupuytren was there: it was the first time I had seen him. He held forth upon the speedy and easy cure of sword cuts, and promised Carrel he should be on his feet again in another week.

A month before, this is what had happened to the famous doctor: a paymaster had played and lost a considerable sum taken from the regimental exchequer; when he returned home he saw no other alternative but the galleys or death. He chose death. Then, with prodigioussang-froid,after writing down his reason for suicide, he drew his sword, leant the hilt against the wall, with the point to his breast, took a step forward and the sword penetrated six inches. He continued to push till the sword had gone in a foot ... still he went on pushing; the hilt of the sword, as they say in barrack-room parlance, had acted as a plaster. In spite of all he still remained upright. Then remorse seized upon him; the desire for life overtook him and he rang for his servant; only, as he felt weak, he seated himself astride a chair whilst he waited for the servant. In this position, the latter found his master when he entered; at first, he did not understand the situation and did not notice the hilt ofthe sword against his master's breast, and the eighteen inches of steel coming out from between his shoulders.

"Go and fetch M. Dupuytren," said the officer.

The servant began to ask what was the matter.

"Go! go!" the officer repeated. "Sacrebleu!Can't you see there is no time to lose!"

The officer grew deadly pale; there was a pool of blood at his feet.

The servant saw there was, indeed, no time to lose and he rushed off to M. Dupuytren. When M. Dupuytren arrived, the wounded man had slipped down in the chair and was laid in a faint over the side. M. Dupuytren drew out the sword with the greatest precaution, applied a twofold bandage and, seeing a written paper, took possession of it: the cause of the suicide was then explained to him. With the paper he found a banker, and the latter gave the officer the 150 louis he had lost. On the evening of the day upon which M. Dupuytren related this to us, the officer had got up and was able to go to his desk. When he opened the drawer, he found the 150 louis.

The man was saved twice over.

Whilst Carrel was advancing to recovery, as M. Dupuytren had predicted, preventative arrests were being continued; but, on 14 February, the Council Chamber found the seconds of M. Roux-Laborie and of MM. Albert Berthier and Théodore Anne not guilty, and they were set at liberty. The first use these gentlemen made of their liberty was to place themselves at the disposal of MM. d'Hervas and Achille Grégoire; only, not wanting to enter upon this succession of duels as a mere matter of principle, they chose their seconds from among the Republicans. Thus, MM. Mathieu and Alexis Dumesnil were M. Berthier's seconds, and Étienne Arago and Anténor Joly those of M. Théodore Anne. But, on the morning of the 15th, MM. Théodore Anne and Albert Berthier received this letter, written by Carrel in duplicate. We have the one addressed to Théodore Anne.

"PARIS, 15February1833"SIR,—I have learnt with keen satisfaction that to-day you have at last been allowed to return to your business affairs and to your friends. I cannot protest too energetically against the motive upon which they dared to found your arbitrary detention; but I particularly want to tell you, sir, how very sensible I have been to the attentions heaped upon me by your generous loyalty at a time when I might have feared to have no claim upon it except the sorrow and active solicitude of my seconds and friends. In this perilous moment, it has been difficult for me to distinguish between the devotion of friends who desired to uphold my cause and share my dangers, and the generous courtesy of the men of honour whom M. Roux-Laborie had selected for seconds. Be sure, sir, I have noticed everything even during the time when sharp suffering seemed to obliterate my light, and I shall never forget the assiduous attentions with which you have lavished upon me personally. I need hardly tell you, sir, how sorry I was that my seconds thought it their duty, yielding to the impulse of the moment, to seek out you and M. Berthier to be their opponents; for the future, I can only count you among the number of people who wish me well, and to whom I in return wish well. Accept this assurance, and believe me, Your most devoted Servant,"CARREL"

"PARIS, 15February1833

"SIR,—I have learnt with keen satisfaction that to-day you have at last been allowed to return to your business affairs and to your friends. I cannot protest too energetically against the motive upon which they dared to found your arbitrary detention; but I particularly want to tell you, sir, how very sensible I have been to the attentions heaped upon me by your generous loyalty at a time when I might have feared to have no claim upon it except the sorrow and active solicitude of my seconds and friends. In this perilous moment, it has been difficult for me to distinguish between the devotion of friends who desired to uphold my cause and share my dangers, and the generous courtesy of the men of honour whom M. Roux-Laborie had selected for seconds. Be sure, sir, I have noticed everything even during the time when sharp suffering seemed to obliterate my light, and I shall never forget the assiduous attentions with which you have lavished upon me personally. I need hardly tell you, sir, how sorry I was that my seconds thought it their duty, yielding to the impulse of the moment, to seek out you and M. Berthier to be their opponents; for the future, I can only count you among the number of people who wish me well, and to whom I in return wish well. Accept this assurance, and believe me, Your most devoted Servant,"CARREL"

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