1. Poems, Narrative and Lyrical. By William Now 1831. 3. Fugitive Verses. By Joanna Baillie, Author 5. Tales, Essays, and Sketches. By the late 6. The Poetical Works of David Macbeth Moir. 7. The Poetical Works of Thomas Aird. Edin- 1852. : 9. Poems. By Alexander Smith. London: David Bogue. 1853. 382 VI.-MOORE'S JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE : Memoirs, Journals, and Correspondence of PAGE. 445 THE IRISH QUARTERLY REVIEW. No. X.-JUNE, 1853. ART. I.-AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ALEXANDER DUMAS. Memoires d'Alexandre Dumas. Tomes 1-13. Bruxelles : Meline, Cans, et Compagnie. 1852-1853. WHO has not heard of Alexander Dumas? Who has not laughed at his heroes; wondered at his Monte Christo; been charmed by his descriptions of French life, and who, above all, has not been astonished by his Briarean facility of penmanship? He has laid the historic annals of every nation under contribution, and the records of crime have, in his works, been familiarized to the general reader. But, amusing as he has ever been, no novel issuing from his scriptorium, which is only a manufactory wherein romantic fiction is forged, ever possessed so many strange, odd, and striking incidents as are presented in the work before us. In selecting this autobiography, thirteen volumes of which have appeared, for consideration in the present paper, our choice has not resulted from any intrinsic interest in either the matter or spirit of the work, but from the quantity of anecdotic gossip concerning Dumas' cotemporaries, who have made for themselves a name in literature, in diplomacy, or in warfare. Valuable pearls are sometimes strung on a very valueless cord, and a fine "take" of delicious trout, with emerald, ruby, and opal tinted scales, is frequently fastened on a common sallow twig, and borne home by a vulgar little boy. If we were safe in sketching a man's character from the tone of his writings, we would pronounce our author's to be a compound of self-esteem, ostentatious profusion, great perseverance and industry, varied with an occasional outbreak of prodigality and idleness VOL. III.-NO. X. 13 an indifference to Religion-no particular eagerness for forbidden subjects as materials for his stories, but an equal carelessness as to their avoidance. It scarcely tells well for his paternal care to find his son already remarkable for the very objectionable matter and treatment of most of his productions. When we assert that the self conceit of Dumas almost approaches the sublime, and can scarcely be paralleled, excepting by that of Sir Godfrey Kneller,* we hope our readers will take several passages and traits sketched of his father and himself with a very large pinch of salt indeed. The only thing to which we are disposed to give implicit credence, is his affection for his mother. There is a truthful and loving spirit in all his reminiscences connected with her, which hides, from our eyes, many of his sins against good taste. If in a sketch of his works, however slight, his deep rooted dislike to all of regal race were omitted, it would be an inexcusable omission. If we trace his various outlines of all the royal personages who have figured on his canvas, we can scarcely meet with any qualities better than intense selfishness, indifference to the weal or happiness of their subjects, selfindulgence carried to excess, and domestic as well as political despotism. If they are devout it is a sour uncharitable bigotry; and if the lives of any are known from history to be irreproachable, they are sure to be cold, ill-natured, and disagreeable to all round them. As poor Louis XVI. did not gratify him by many moral blots, he is content to exhibit him as a prototype of Jerry Sneak. The only noted men who seem to have obtained his regard are, first, the Regent Philip, his sensuality and thorough exemption from any kind of religious feeling notwithstanding; second, Louis XV. who never voluntarily did hurt to a human being, but was somewhat fonder of other men's wives than a philosopher should be, and rather subject to laziness. We can recall the name of only one ecclesiastic made *Dumas is always the hero of his own good stories; he forgets, however, the following. When Dujarrier was killed in a duel with Beauvallon in the year 1845, about a worthless woman, Alexander was the chief witness on the trial of Beauvallon at Rouen, the birth place of Corneille; the following bit of fun took place during Dumas' examination, and the quickness of the President was worthy of the late Chief Justice Doherty. President. Votre nom? Dumas. Alexandre Dumas. P. Votre profession? D. Je dirais, auteur dramatique, si je n'etais pas dans la patrie de Corneille. P. Monsieur, il y a des degrès a tous. prominent by our author for any good, moral, or pious qualities. There is a strong propensity in many French writers for the flamboyant or gorgeous style, and for what they suppose to be the sublime, but which to our more sober taste, appears both profane and ridiculous. Several passages in Dumas' Memoirs, as well as in his other works, show marks of this taint. And now, having written quite enough in disparagement of our hero, we will strive to get into good humour with him as we proceed. His enthusiastic reverence and love for the memory of his parents will interest our readers' sympathy as they glean it from his narrative. Alexander Dumas was born the 24th July, 1802, at Villers Côterèts, on the route from Paris to Laon, in a house which the present proprietor reserves for Alexander when about to die, in order that "he may enter into the night of the future, in the very apartment where he stepped into this sphere from the night of the past." Many ill-natured people, wishing to contest our author's legitimacy, he supplies the Baptismal Certificate in full, "to shew the rogues they lied;" and adds, that had he been born with a legal blemish, he would have labored like other illustrious bastards to win fame by mental or bodily exertions: "but what will you have, gentlemen: as I happen to be born in wedlock, the public may as well learn patience, and resign itself to my legitimacy." His grandfather, Marquis AntoineAlexander Davy de la Pailleterie, Colonel and Commissary General of Artillery, sold his property, and settled in the west of St. Domingo, about 1760. His father, Thomas Alexander Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, was there born the 25th March, 1762, and at ten years' old, was nearly caught and eaten by a cayman, but was saved by attending to the directions of a Negro, and flying in a zig-zag direction, as the cayman runs or jumps only in a straight line. Father and son returned to France in 1780, the latter being then eighteen years of age. He was, at that period, a handsome young man, dark of course as being a Mulatto, with hands and feet small as a lady's, skilled to perfection in the management of the sword, and meeting strange adventures, in one of which figures the Duke of Richelieu, the hero of so many of our author's true histories. |