ALFRED DE MUSSET.* TWENTY years after the death of Alfred

de Musset, his brother— an author himself of some reputation—has given the world an

Biographic fl'Altrect de Massa is Vic et ses (Enures. Par Paul de Mussel. Paris ; G. Cliarpentier. 1871, account of his life. If it loses, after this interval of time, some of the interest which always attaches to the biography of a person who was prominent among the leading men of the day, it gains, on the other hand, for the chief figure of the work, a much calmer and maturer judgment than if published soon after his death, and we cannot but think that biographers in this country might very well follow M. Paul de Musset's example, and publish, with a little more deliberation, their friends' or relatives' lives.

Alfred de Musset was born in December, 1810, in the centre of .old Paris, in what was then the Rue de la Moyers, close to the Hotel Cluny, one of those streets which the improvements of the Second Empire have completely erased. His father, Victor de Musset, was a very capable military official, high in rank, who -during his life occupied several important posts in the adminis- trative departments of the Army. Ile was a man, too, of considerable literary cultivation, having at one time pub- lished an edition of Rousseau's works, as well .as a lengthy criticism on the life and writings of the philosopher. In fact, at one period of his life, in 1821, be so far put away the sword for the book as to become Librarian of the Chamber of Peers, Moreover, his family could be traced through a long line of ancestors to one Rodolphe de Musset, in the twelfth century, and boasted among the past of their race a poet and musician in the thirteenth century, Colin de Musset, the friend and con- temporary of Thibaut, Count of Champagne, one of the first and most celebrated of the Troubadours. His mother was one

• of the Desherbiers, an old family of Champagne, so that Alfred Musset was by birth, and certainly by his tastes, what would have been called an aristocrat, born of a family proud both of their birth and their personal qualities. De Musset's early years were passed partly in Paris and partly in the country, and he was early noticeable as an imaginative and sensitive boy, and for his alternating fits of vivacity and depression. Yet it is impossible to find in his short life any of those prominently-marked occurrences which often render it possible to give a general and comprehensive outline of a man's career. All the leading incidents of de

• Musset's career were essentially literary, though the tenor of his life was frequently interrupted by the course of his various loves, which certainly failed to run smoothly. He was never married ; it is true that he fell in love, but he was constantly eking this, sufficiently thoroughly too to produce a very con- siderable impression upon the tone of his literary work, accord- ing to the state, whether of success or disappointment, of his passion. From time to time he left Paris, but he always returned thither, and looked upon it, much as he certainly appreciated country life, as his true home. Great national events happened, but these, again, affected him no more than as giving a slightly different tone to his thoughts for the time, and a slightly sterner cast to his poetry. He never at any time, like Victor Hugo and other great literary Frenchmen, concerned him- self actively with politics. Decidedly his were of a liberal stamp, but both his birth and his education, as well as his intimacy with the family of Louis Phillippe, inclined him rather to the Orleanist than to the Republican side. The second main land- mark, therefore, of his life is the date of his death, April, 1857. De 'gusset's first attempt to put his thoughts into poetry was, if we except a boyish copy of verses to his mother, when he was only fourteen years old, a short narrative and descriptive poem of an antique character, written in the spring of 1828; and at the end of the following year appeared his first publication elf any importance, Conte s d'Espagne et d'Ita1le. At this time he formed the youngest of a group of able men who, under the lead of Victor Hugo, were setting themselves up as a kind of romantic school of writers. Among them were numbered Prosper Meriretie, Alfred de Vigny, and Sainte-Beuve. Often it was their habit to take long evening walks to watch the setting sun, or to ascend the towers of Notre Dame and gaze over Paris, and then return to the house of Hugo, and pass the night in literary 'discussions and in the recitation of poetry. It is noticeable that the leader of this band has survived his followers, and is still in the energetic use of his powers when they are no more. In Sainte- Wave, the ablest critic of his time, de Musset found a sympathetic critic, who quickly discovered his talents. After reading one of his very earliest pieces, he wrote to a friend, "Ii y a parmi nous un enfant plein de genie," and from that time he was in no slight measure the means of making Alfred de Musset known to the Parisian and consequently to the whole literary world. We

End, too, that Alfred de Musset had an early desire to dis- tinguish hi • melf as a dramatic writer, but his want of success at first for many years prevented him from making a second attempt. So far back as 1830 a piece called La

Nuit Ve'nitienne was played at the Odeon Theatre. It quite failed, however, to hit the popular taste, and de Musset was so dis- heartened by this failure that for seventeen years no piece of his appeared on the Parisian stage, though, from time to time, he wrote and published in the Revue des Dear Hondes some of his now best-known comedies, such as 11 ne nut Juror de Rien, and others. The story of a second appearance of a work of do Musset' s on the stage is not a little singular. In 1837 he wrote a short comedy, called Caprice, which appeared as usual in the Revue des Dear Monde& About 1845, M. Bocage, director of the Odeon Theatre, was desirous of putting Caprice on the stage, but for some reason it was decided at that time not to represent it. But an actress, Mademoiselle Allan-Despreaux, had become very popular with the theatre-goers of St. Petersburg. Being desirous of playing some new and small piece at the Royal Theatre, she saw a short Russian play acted, which was so suitable that she desired to have it translated into French. She was told that it was a French piece which had been translated into Russian, and was from the pen of Alfred de Musset. It was played before the Russian Court, and the actress, when engaged in 1817 to appear in Paris at the Comedie-Francaise, chose one of her first two roles, the character of Mademoiselle de Lery ; and Alfred de Musset was henceforth, after this successful and singular re- introduction of his works, one of the most popular of French dramatic writers.

For a brief period, de Musset, rather for the purpose of bread- winning than for the pleasure of composition, wrote a few novels, which, like most of his work, first made their appearance in the Revue des Deux Monde,s. Indeed this connection of his with this periodical reflects a good deal of credit on the steadfastness of De Musset to those who were the first to appreciate his gifts, and on the forbearance and good-nature of M. Buloz and his colleagues. In January, 1833, an article appeared by Sainte-Beuve, the most appreciative that had hitherto been published on his works, which, from the reputation of the writer, naturally drew a good deal of attention to the object of it. Accordingly, he was chosen by M. Buloz to write also for the Revue, and in April of the same year appeared de Musset's first contribution, the drama of Andrea del Sarto, and from that time forth not a year passed without the Revue containing a drama, a poem, a novel, or a critical essay from his pen. During the first part of his connection with the 1?tcne he contributed several novels, but after he left off writing prose he could never be prevailed on, however strongly pressed by M. Buloz, to take up this kind of writing again ; and in spite of the regard which existed between them, the editor would often have to wait for several months for a short poem,—the fruit at last of some sudden impulse or suggestion. This very Review was the cause of one of his most popular compositions, which well exemplifies, too, the suddenness of his work. One number contained a song of the German poet Becker, insulting to the patriotism of Frenchmen, with, as De Musset thought, an insufficient answer, the " Marseillaise de la Paix," The family were at breakfast, chatting together, when De Musset took up the new number ; his face suddenly brightened, his eyes sparkled, he struck his band on the table, and rushed off to his own room. Two hours after he returned, and recited "Le Rhin Allem/iv a song which became so popular that it was set to music by more than fifty composers, and caused do Musset to receive a challenge from scene Prussian officers. His heart, in fact, was never in his prose works, and in 1839 be abruptly declared that he would write no more romances. Having counted the pages of the Croisilles, he exclaimed, " Finis proem l" and henceforth never wrote more prose. "Everybody," said he, "could write, with more or less grace, a love-story, and therefore he should remain a poet only." The fact of a popular dramatic author being also a poet naturally did much to attract people's attention to his shorter pieces of poetry, hence the year 1847 is perhaps one of the most marked in de Musset's literary career. In 1850 another event occurred of some note in his life, his elec- tion to a chair in the Academy. Ile had long hesitated to offer himself as a candidate, fearing that the style of his work would scarcely be appreciated by the electors. At length, however, M. Merimee, whose classical studies and official position rendered him an admirable patron, prevailed upon him to offer himself as a successor to M. Dupaty. From his brother's account, he was chosen rather from a desire to avoid disappointing a man loved by all who knew him, than from any strong appreciation of his merits by those who had to choose a successor to the vacant

seat.

If we turn to a different point in his life, the various tem- porary attachments to which he succumbed, they seem to be

evidence of a want of truth and depth in his character. He was deep in love for the time ; he seems to have felt none of the kind of devotion which goes deeper than passion and means something infinitely better, and after being plunged into the depths of despair when the lady abandoned him, he always, after a period of depression, consoled himself afresh. The most serious of these love-affairs was that with the great novelist, George Sand. The Writer of this biography does not directly mention Madame Dudevant by name, but he devotes some space to the prelude and the consequences of this attachment,—one of more than ordinary interest, from the celebrity of the person who was the object of it. De Musset and this lady had determined to make a tour in Italy in 1833, a project greatly disapproved of by his mother. But one morning, the" dame inconnue," as M. Paul de Musset is pleased, with unnecessary mystery, to call her, alighted at de Musset's house, and persuaded his mother to trust her son to her "motherly care." All appeared to go well till the travellers reached Venice, when de Musset's letters to his friends ceased for six weeks; then news arrived of a severe illness, and of his approaching return, told in a most depressed tone,—" Jo vous apporterai un corps malade, une ame abattue, un crew en sang, mais qui vous aime encore." For a good many months de Musset remained weak both in body and mind. He gave no details of his rup- ture with the distinguished novelist, and five years after, in describing, not the facts of the case, but his later feelings, be simply says, with epigrammatic terseness, that she was dark, with large eyes, "I loved her, she left me," though in a short dramatic piece which he afterwards wrote—" On ne badine pas avec l'amour "—some traces of this affair are to be found in the char- acters of Camille and Perdicace. lied de Musset found some lady to whom he could have been bound by a nobler and more sacred tie, and one with a mind full of sympathy and power, in all likelihood many of the troubles of his life would not have overtaken him. There is one connection which he formed, however, -which in some respects compensated for his ignobler loves—with the lady whom be called his "mEtrraine." She was both a friend and, it may justly be said, a mother to him, and though his own mother long lived with him in Paris, this lady and his elder brother, the writer of this book, seem much more thoroughly to have occupied the place of a large-hearted mother and father. Except that this lady acted so completely the place of friend and guardian, the incident is not at all unlike the friendship of Prosper Merim6e for his " Inconnue," and shows that the latter attachment, very singular in English eyes, was by no means extraordinary in France, or entitled to be wondered at, as it was a few years ago, when his now well-known letters were first published. That de Musset's " marraine " did great service to him in his general life and in his literary work no one who reads these pages can doubt. For in many respects, de Musset was little more than a child, with its impulses and its weaknesses, anctits capability of being guided by soberer minds. His impulsive nature is well shown, indeed, by the way in which, after beginning to reflect on philosophical subjects and the wonders of Nature, he suddenly, with astonishing ardour, set to work to read through ancient and modern philosophical works, from Plato to Locke. The end of this attempt was eminently characteristic :—" Souvent rebute par Poutrecuidance dogma- tique des uns, l'indecision et l'obscurit6 des autres, ii fermait le volume, at reprenait on il avait laisse, Phistoire de la pauvre Bernerette, Mais le jour memo ou il concha son h6roine dans la tombe, coin= lea larmes lui venaient au x yeux, en 6crivant la derniere page, sa defaillanee avait cease. II me dit ce mot, que je n'ai jamais oublie,'J'ai eases la, asses cherch6, asses regarde.' Les larmes et la priere sent d'essence divine. C'est un Dieu qui nous a donn6 la faculte de pleurer, et puisque les larmes viennent de lui, la priere retourne i lui.' Des la nuit suivant il commence l'Espoir en Dieu" (p. 193). All Alfred de Musset's poems, and indeed all his work were essentially "sentimental" in the proper sense of the word. Some little incident touched his sensitive feelings, and instantly, if in the vein, he composed or began to write a poem. For instance, he imagines that a lady intends to make him become her lover, and the comedy of Chandelier is at once suggested. Thus in many respects his works contain the story of his life, all his sorrows and his joys bubbled out in verse ; so that whilst there is much that is attractive to all, there is much that is purely egotistical. For certainly the characteristic of de Musset's poetry is its frankness ; every feeling and thought were thrown into poetry, it became almost personified to him, to go back to it was to return to his dearest companion. As he wrote in "La Nuit d'Aotit ":—

Saint a ma fidele amie, Saint, ma glob.° at mon amour.

La meilleure ot in plus chdrie, Est cello qu'on tronve an retell'', L'opinion et l'avarice Viennent un temps de m'emporter. Saint, ma mere, ot ma noun ice, Salut, saint, consolatrice I Ouvro tea bras, je vions chanter."

Thus the nature of his poetry is very varied ; the gravest and the gayest subjects he touched with a charming simplicity, and a suggestive line of thought lies by the side of trifling descriptions. This same brightness and openness no doubt caused de Musset to be so popular with his contemporaries. He numbered among friends, as has already been seen, many well-known men—Sainte-Beuve, Prosper Merime6, M. Bales, were his most intimate associates—but the brightness, and even the sorrowfulness at times, of his nature led him rather to make boon companions of the light-hearted lovers of pleasure than of the severer intellects of France ; and when his health by degrees grew more and more delicate, he to some extent permitted pleasures to degenerate into excesses, in order to drown the melancholy which his physical weakness caused. In conse- quence, his " marraine" on one occasion wrote to upbraid him for it. Thereupon he wrote a sonnet, asking for her pity, instead of reproaches :— o Dans ce vorre oa je °heroin) noyer mon supplice,

Laissez plutfit tomber quelqnes pleura do pitid, Qu'a d'anciens souvenirs devrait votre amitid."

As will have been seen, de Musset's character wanted the higher qualities, and his poetry reflected his character. He was always a graceful, though never a consistently powerful writer ; he was essentially the poet of human nature, Parisian life, and intellect. He neither analysed life, like Mr. Browning, nor idealised it, like Hugo, but collecting its joys and its sorrows within his own large.hearted and sympathetic grasp, he poured them forth in stormy poems and sparkling verses

Those powers with which he was gifted he used to the uttermost,, and in later years under considerable physical disadvantages.

When he quietly died whispering, " Dormir enfin je vain dormir l" his dying moments were in singular contrast to the general mental tenor of his life. He had made a considerable name, to which it is doubtful if a longer life would have added more lustre, for his gifts were not such as improve greatly in maturer years ; they were fit for the spring-time of life, with its eager aspirations and its warm feelings,—they early reached their full strength. As we have said, de Musset's writings contain much of the story of his life, and to them this kindly and pleasant narrative of his elder brother will form an appropriate companion and guide.

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