My Memoirs, Vol. V, 1831 to 1832

Mély-Janin's _mise-en-scène_ is quite improbable enough, is it not? Well--Casimir Delavigne's is more improbable still. In the first place, the landscape is the same. Here is th...

We said a few words of the apostle of Mapah and promised to follow him to his isle of Patmos and to give some idea of his apocalypse. We will keep our word. It was no easy matte...

A reading at Nodier's--The hearers and the readers--Début--_Les Marrons du feu_--La Camargo and the Abbé Desiderio--Genealogy of a dramatic idea--Orestes and Hermione--Chimène a...

_Le Masque de fer_--Georges' suppers--The garden of the Luxembourg by moonlight--M. Scribe and the _Clerc de la Basoche_--M. d'Épagny and _Le Clerc et le Théologien_--Classical...

M. Arnault's _Pertinax_--_Pizarre_, by M. Fulchiron--M. Fulchiron as a politician--M. Fulchiron as magic poet--A word about M. Viennet--My opposite neighbour at the performance...

Thermometer of Social Crises--Interview with M. Thiers--His intentions with regard to the Théâtre-Français--Our conventions--_Antony_ comes back to the rue de Richelieu--_The Co...

Death of Benjamin Constant--Concerning his life--Funeral honours that were conferred upon him--His funeral--Law respecting national rewards--The trial of the ministers--Grouvell...

The feudal edifice and the industrial--The workmen of Lyons--M. Bouvier-Dumolard--General Roguet--Discussion and signing of the tariff regulating the price of the workmanship of...

The founding of _l'Avenir_--L'Abbé Lacordaire--M. Charles de Montalembert--His article on the sacking of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois--_l'Avenir_ and the new literature--My first i...

Alphonse Rabbe was born at Riez, in the Basses-Alpes. As is the case with all deep and tender-hearted people, he was greatly attached to his own country; he talked of it on ever...

I had to let a few days go by before I had the courage to return to my own verses after having heard and re-read those of Hugo. I felt inclined to do to _Charles VII._ what Hare...

My discussion with M. Thiers--Why he had been compelled to suspend _Antony_--Letter of Madame Dorval to the _Constitutionnel_--M. Jay crowned with roses--My lawsuit with M. Jous...

Eugène Delacroix had exhibited in the Salon of 1831 his _Tigres_, his _Liberté_, his _Mort de l'Évêque de Liége._ Notice how well the grave and misanthropie face of Delaroche is...

First performance of _Robert le Diable_--Véron, manager of the Opéra--His opinion concerning Meyerbeer's music--My opinion concerning Véron's intellect--My relations with him--H...

A young girl, named Adèle, spent three years with him; but those three happy years only added fresh sorrows to Rabbe, for, soon, the beautiful fresh girl drooped like a flower a...

The Abbé de Lamennais--His prediction of the Revolution of 1830--Enters the Church--His views on the Empire--Casimir Delavigne, Royalist--His early days--Two pieces of poetry by...

The times were unfavourable for literature: all minds were turned upon politics, and disturbances were flying in the air as, on hot summer evenings, swifts fly overhead with the...

Poetry is the Spirit of God--The Conservatoire and l'École of Rome--Letter of counsel to my Son--Employment of my time at Trouville--Madame de la Garenne--The Vendéan Bonnechose...

The Préfet of Police at the Palais-Royal--The function of fire--Valérius, the truss-maker--Demolition of the archbishop's palace--The Chinese album--François Arago--The spectato...

The god and his sanctuary--He informs the Pope of his overthrow--His manifestoes--His portrait--Doctrine of escape--Symbols of that religion--Chaudesaigues takes me to the Mapah...

Alphonse Rabbe's most assiduous disciples were Thiers and Mignet;[1] they came to see him most days and treated him with the respect of pupils towards their master. But Rabbe wa...

We are surrounded in the Louvre courtyard--Our ammunition taken by surprise--Proclamation of the Écoles--Letter of Louis-Philippe to La Fayette--The Chamber vote of thanks to th...

Odilon Barrot, Préfet of the Seine--His soirées--His proclamation upon the subject of riots--Dupont (de l'Eure) and Louis-Philippe--Resignation of the ministry of Molé and Guizo...

Death of _Mirabeau_--The accessories of _Charles VII._--A shooting party--Montereau--A temptation I cannot resist--Critical position in which my shooting companions and I find o...

The incompatibility of literature with riotings--_La Maréchale L'Ancre_--My opinion concerning that piece--_Farruck le Maure_--The début of Henry Monnier at the Vaudeville--I le...

Republican banquet at the _Vendanges de Bourgogne_--The toasts--_To Louis-Philippe!_--Gathering of those who were decorated in July--Formation of the board--Protests--Fifty yard...

Why M. Beudin came to Trouville--How I knew him under another name--Prologue of a drama--What remained to be done--Division into three parts--I finish _Charles VII._--Departing...

A word on criticism--Molière estimated by Bossuet, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and by Bourdaloue--An anonymous libel--Critics of the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries--M. Franço...

Delaroche exhibited his three masterpieces at the Salon of 1831: the _Enfants d'Édouard_; _Cinq-mars et de Thou remontant le Rhône à la remorque du Cardinal de Richelieu_, and t...

This vulnerable spot was the Republican feeling, ever alert in France, whether it be disguised under the names of Liberalism, Progress or Democracy. Béranger discovered it, for,...

Who Mother Galop was--Why M. Dupont-Delporte was absent--How I quarrelled with Viardot--Rabelais's quarter of an hour--Providence No. 1.--The punishment of Tantalus--A waiter wh...

Let us frame M. de Lamennais, the great philosopher, poet and humanitarian, between a false priest and a false god. Christ was crucified after His bloody passion between two thi...

We have mentioned what a difficult matter it was for a solicitor-general to prosecute the men who were still black from the powder of July, such men as Trélat, Cavaignac, Guinar...

My dramatic faith wavers--Bocage and Dorval reconcile me with myself--A political trial wherein I deserved to figure--Downfall of the Laffitte Ministry--Austria and the Duc de M...

Let us bid a truce to politics of which, I daresay, I am quite as tired as is my reader. Let us put on one side those brave deputies of whom Barthélemy makes such a delightful p...

During the interval which had elapsed between the construction of _Richard Darlington_ its first performance, I had blocked out another play entitled _Teresa._ I have said what...

The artillerymen at the Louvre--Bonapartist plot to take our cannon from us--Distribution of cartridges by Godefroy Cavaignac--The concourse of people outside the Luxembourg whe...

Chateaubriand ceases to be a peer of France--He leaves the country--Béranger's song thereupon--Chateaubriand as versifier--First night of _Charles VII._--Delafosse's vizor--Yaqo...

Now--judging by myself at least--next to the appreciation of the work of great men, that which rouses the most curiosity is their method of working. There are museums where one...

The scapegoat of power--Legitimist hopes--The expiatory mass--The Abbé Olivier--The Curé of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois--Pachel--Where I begin to be wrong--General Jacqueminot--Pi...

Organisation of the Parisian Artillery--Metamorphosis of my uniform of a Mounted National Guardsman--Bastide--Godefroy Cavaignac--Guinard--Thomas--Names of the batteries and of...

It had begun with Chéron, the author of _Tartufe de Mœurs._ We learnt his death in a singular fashion. Harel thought of taking up the only comedy that the good fellow had writte...

Three days after _Térésa_ the _Louis XI._ of Casimir Delavigne was played. I have spoken of Mély-Janin's drama entitled _Louis XI._, which had deeply impressed Soulié and me in...

Appearance of Trouville--Mother Oseraie--How people are accommodated at Trouville when they are married--The price of painters and of the community of martyrs--Mother Oseraie's...

Suspension of _l'Avenir_--Its three principal editors present themselves at Rome--The Abbé de Lamennais as musician--The trouble it takes to obtain an audience of the Pope--The...

Attack of the barricade--A sequel to Malplaquet--The Grenadier--The Chartrian philanthropists--Sack of the bishop's palace--A fancy dress--How order was restored--The culprits b...

The inspiration under which I composed _Antony_--The Preface--Wherein lies the moral of the piece--Cuckoldom, Adultery and the Civil Code--_Quem nuptiœ demonstrant_--Why the Cri...

The Abbé Châtel--The programme of his church--The Curé of Lèves and M. Clausel de Montais--The Lévois embrace the religion of the primate of the Gauls--Mass in French--The Roman...

When Laffitte became minister, he wanted to bear with him up to the political heights he was himself compelled to ascend, a man who, as we have said, had perhaps contributed mor...

Vernet was then a man of forty-two. You are acquainted with Horace Vernet, are you not? I will not say as painter--pooh! who does not know, indeed, the artist of the _Bataille d...

I fell into meditation. What was the reason the public was not of my way of thinking about _Marion Delorme_? I had remarked to Taylor on the night of the reading at Devéria's--

The peregrinations of Casimir Delavigne--_Jeanne Vaubernier_--Rougemont--His translation of Cambronne's _mot_--First representation of _Teresa_--Long and short pieces--Cordelier...

Although the Lévois had liberated their prisoner, they realised, none the less, that war was declared; threats and coarse words had been hurled at the bishop's head, but they kn...

Meanwhile, the drama of _Pierre III._ by the unfortunate Escousse was played at the Théâtre-Français. I did not see _Pierre III._; I tried to get hold of it to read it, but it s...

Death of _Mirabeau_--The accessories of _Charles VII._--A shooting party--Montereau--A temptation I cannot resist--Critical position in which my shooting companions and I find o...

Suspension of l'_Avenir_--Its three principal editors present themselves at Rome--The Abbé de Lamennais as musician--The trouble it takes to obtain an audience of the Pope--The...

The founding of l'_Avenir_--L'Abbé Lacordaire--M. Charles de Montalembert--His article on the sacking of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois--l'_Avenir_ and the new literature--My first i...

We are surrounded in the Louvre courtyard--Our ammunition taken by surprise--Proclamation of the Écoles--Letter of Louis-Philippe to La Fayette--The Chamber vote of thanks to th...

The artillerymen at the Louvre--Bonapartist plot to take our cannon from us--Distribution of cartridges by Godefroy Cavaignac--The concourse of people outside the Luxembourg whe...

The Abbé de Lamennais--His prediction of the Revolution of 1830--Enters the Church--His views on the Empire--Casimir Delavigne, Royalist--His early days--Two pieces of poetry by...

Appearance of Trouville--Mother Oseraie--How people are accommodated at Trouville when they are married--The price of painters and of the community of martyrs--Mother Oseraie's...

My dramatic faith wavers--Bocage and Dorval reconcile me with myself--A political trial wherein I deserved to figure--Downfall of the Laffitte Ministry--Austria and the Duc de M...

Thermometer of Social Crises--Interview with M. Thiers--His intentions with regard to the Théâtre-Français--Our conventions--_Antony_ comes back to the rue de Richelieu--_The Co...

The feudal edifice and the industrial--The workmen of Lyons--M. Bouvier-Dumolard--General Roguet--Discussion and signing of the tariff regulating the price of the workmanship of...

Chateaubriand ceases to be a peer of France--He leaves the country--Béranger's song thereupon--Chateaubriand as versifier--First night of _Charles VII._--Delafosse's vizor--Yaqo...

The god and his sanctuary--He informs the Pope of his overthrow--His manifestoes--His portrait---Doctrine of escape--Symbols of that religion--Chaudesaigues takes me to the Mapa...

M. Arnault's _Pertinax_--_Pizarre_, by M. Fulchiron--M. Fulchiron as a politician--M. Fulchiron as magic poet--A word about M. Viennet--My opposite neighbour at the performance...

The inspiration under which I composed _Antony_--The Preface--Wherein lies the moral of the piece--Cuckoldom, Adultery and the Civil Code--_Quem nuptiæ demonstrant_--Why the Cri...

Odilon Barrot, Préfet of the Seine--His soirées--His proclamation upon the subject of riots--Dupont (de l'Eure) and Louis-Philippe--Resignation of the ministry of Mole and Guizo...

First performance of _Robert le Diable_--Véron, manager of the Opéra--His opinion concerning Meyerbeer's music--My opinion concerning Véron's intellect--My relations with him--H...

The incompatibility of literature with riotings--_La Maréchale d'Ancre_--My opinion concerning that piece--_Farruck le Maure_--The début of Henry Monnier at the Vaudeville--I le...

The Préfet of Police at the Palais-Royal--The function of fire--Valérius, the truss-maker--Demolition of the archbishop's palace--The Chinese album--François Arago--The spectato...

Attack of the barricade--A sequel to Malplaquet--The Grenadier--The Chartrian philanthropists--Sack of the bishop's palace--A fancy dress--How order was restored--The culprits b...

A word on criticism--Molière estimated by Bossuet, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau and by Bourdaloue--An anonymous libel--Critics of the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries--M. Franço...

A reading at Nodier's--The hearers and the readers--Début--_Les Marrons du feu_--La Camargo and the Abbé Desiderio--Genealogy of a dramatic idea--Orestes and Hermione--Chimène a...

Why M. Beudin came to Trouville--How I knew him under another name--Prologue of a drama--What remained to be done--Division into three parts--I finish _Charles VII._--Departing...

Organisation of the Parisian Artillery--Metamorphosis of my uniform of a Mounted National Guardsman--Bastide--Godefroy Cavaignac--Guinard--Thomas--Names of the batteries and of...

Poetry is the Spirit of God--The Conservatoire and l'École of Rome--Letter of counsel to my Son--Employment of my time at Trouville--Madame de la Garenne--The Vendéan Bonnechose...

Who Mother Galop was--Why M. Dupont-Delporte was absent-- How I quarrelled with Viardot--Rabelais's quarter of an hour--Providence No. I--The punishment of Tantalus--A waiter wh...

_Le Masque de fer_--Georges' suppers--The garden of the Luxembourg by moonlight--M. Scribe and the _Clerc de la Basoche_--M. d'Épagny and _Le Clerc et le Théologien_--Classical...

The Abbé Châtel--The programme of his church--The Curé of Lèves and M. Clausel de Montals--The Lévois embrace the religion of the primate of the Gauls--Mass in French--The Roman...

My discussion with M. Thiers--Why he had been compelled to suspend _Antony_--Letter of Madame Dorval to the _Constitutionnel_--M. Jay crowned with roses--My lawsuit with M. Jous...

The peregrinations of Casimir Delavigne--_Jeanne Vaubernier_--Rougemont--His translation of Cambronne's _mot_--First representation of _Teresa_--Long and short pieces--Cordelier...

Death of Benjamin Constant--Concerning his life--Funeral honours that were conferred upon him--His funeral--Law respecting national rewards--The trial of the ministers--Grouvell...

Republican banquet at the _Vendanges de Bourgogne_--The toasts--_To Louis-Philippe!_--Gathering of those who were decorated in July--Formation of the board--Protests--Fifty yard...

The scapegoat of power--Legitimist hopes--The expiatory mass--The Abbé Olivier--The Curé of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois--Pachel--Where I begin to be wrong--General Jacqueminot--Pi...