Chapter I: Front Matter

MY MEMOIRS

BY

ALEXANDRE DUMAS

TRANSLATED BY

E. M. WALLER

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

ANDREW LANG

IN SIX VOLUMES

VOL. IV

1830 TO 1831

WITH A FRONTISPIECE

NEW YORK

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

1908

CONTENTS

BOOK I

CHAPTER I

Mademoiselle Georges' house--Harel and Jules Janin--Young
Tom and Popol--The latter's prayer against cholera--Georges'
Oriental style of living--Her cleanliness--Harel's fault to
the contrary--Twenty-four thousand francs flung out of the
window--Saint Anthony--Piaff-Piaff--His dissoluteness--His
death--His funeral oration

CHAPTER II

M. Briffaut, Censor and Academician--History of _Ninus
II._--M. de Lourdoueix--The idea of _Antony_--The piece
received by the Français is stopped by the Censorship--The
Duc de Chartres--Negotiations for his presence with
that of his two brothers at the first representation of
_Christine_--Louët--An autograph of the Prince Royal

CHAPTER III

The first representation of _Hernani_--The old ace of
spades--The old man has a quarrel--Parodies--Origin of
the story of Cabrion and of Pipelet--Eugène Sue and
Desmares--Soulié returns to me--He offers me fifty of his
workmen in the capacity of applauders--First representation
of _Christine_--A supper at my lodgings--Hugo and de Vigny
correct the objectionable lines

CHAPTER IV

A passing cab--Madame Dorval in the _Incendiaire_--Two
actresses--The Duc d'Orléans asks for the Cross of the
Legion of Honour on my behalf--His recommendation has no
effect--M. Empis--Madame Lafond's Salon--My costume as
Arnaute--Madame Malibran--Brothers and sisters in Art

CHAPTER V

Why the Duc d'Orléans' recommendation on the subject of my
croix d'honneur failed--The indemnity of a milliard--La
Fayette's journey to Auvergne--His reception at
Grenoble, Vizille and at Lyons--Charles X.'s journey to
Alsace--Varennes and Nancy--Opening of the Chambers--The
royal speech and the Address of the 221--Article 14--The
conquest of Algiers and the recapture of our Rhine frontiers

CHAPTER VI

The soirée on 31 May 1830 at the Palais-Royal--The King
of Naples--A question of etiquette--How the King of
France ought to be addressed--The real Charles X.--M. de
Salvandy--The first flames of the volcano--The Duc de
Chartres sends me to inquire into the commotion--Alphonse
Signol--I tear him from the clutches of a soldier of the
Garde royal--His irritation and threats--The volcano nothing
but a fire of straw

CHAPTER VII

A pressing affair--One witness lost, and two
found--Rochefort--Signol at the Théâtre des Italiens--He
insults Lieutenant Marulaz--The two swords--The duel--Signol
is killed--_Victorine_ and _le Chiffonnier_--Death steps in

BOOK II

CHAPTER I

Alphonse Karr--The cuirassier--The medal for life saving
and the Cross of the Légion d'honneur--Karr's home at
Montmartre--_Sous les tilleuls_ and the critics--The taking
of Algiers--M. Dupin senior--Why he did not write his
Memoirs--Signing of the Ordinances of July--Reasons that
prevented my going to Algiers

CHAPTER II

The third storey of No. 7 in the rue de l'Université--The
first results of the Ordinances--The café du Roi--Étienne
Arago--François Arago--The Academy--La Bourse--Le
Palais-Royal--Madame de Leuven--Journey in search of her
husband and son--Protest of the journalists--Names of the
signatories

CHAPTER III

The morning of July 27--Visit to my mother--Paul
Foucher--_Amy Robsart_--Armand Carrel--The office of
the _Temps_--Baude--The Commissary of Police--The
three locksmiths--The office of the _National_--Cadet
Gassicourt--Colonel Gourgaud--M. de Rémusat--Physiognomy of
the passers-by

CHAPTER IV

Doctor Thibaut--The Government of Gérard and
Mortemart--Étienne Arago and Mazue, the Superintendent of
Police--The café Gobillard--Fire at the guard-house in the
place de la Bourse--The first barricades--The night

CHAPTER V

The morning of the 27th--Joubert--Charles Teste--_La Petite
Jacobinière_--Chemist Robinet--The arms used in _Sergent
Mathieu_--Pillage of an armourer's stores--The three Royal
Guards--A tall and fair young man--Oudard's fears

CHAPTER VI

The aspect of the rue de Richelieu--Charras--L'École
polytechnique--The head with the wig--The café of the
Porte Saint-Honoré--The tricoloured flag--I become head
of a troop--My landlord gives me notice--A gentleman who
distributes powder--The captain of the 15th Light Infantry

CHAPTER VII

The attack on the Hôtel de Ville--Rout--I take refuge
at M. Lethière's--The news--My landlord becomes
generous--General La Fayette--Taschereau--Béranger--The
list of the Provisional Government--Honest mistake of the
_Constitutionnel_

CHAPTER VIII

Invasion of the Artillery Museum--Armour of François
I.--Charles IX.'s arquebuse--La place de l'Odéon--What
Charras had been doing--The uniform of the École
polytechnique--Millotte--The prison Montaigu--The barracks
of l'Estrapade--D'Hostel--A Bonapartist--Riding-master
Chopin--Lothon--The general in command

CHAPTER IX

Aspect of the Louvre--Fight on the Pont des Arts--The
dead and wounded--A cannon ball for myself--Madame
Guyet-Desfontaines--Return from the Babylone
barracks--Charras's cockade--The taking of the Tuileries--A
copy of _Christine_--Quadrille danced in the Tuileries
court--The men _who made the Revolution of 1830_

BOOK III

CHAPTER I

I go in search of Oudard--The house at the corner of the rue
de Rohan--Oudard is with Laffitte--Degousée--General Pajol
and M. Dupin--The officers of the 53rd Regiment--Interior
of Laffitte's salon--Panic--A deputation comes to offer La
Fayette the command of Paris--He accepts--Étienne Arago and
the tricoloured cockade--History of the Hôtel de Ville from
eight in the morning to half-past three in the afternoon

CHAPTER II

General La Fayette at the Hôtel de Ville--Charras and his
men--"The Prunes of Monsieur"--The Municipal Commission--Its
first Act--Casimir Périer's bank--General Gérard--The
Duc de Choiseul--What happened at Saint-Cloud--The three
negotiators--It is too late--M. d'Argout with Laffitte

CHAPTER III

Alexander de la Borde--Odilon Barrot--Colonel
Dumoulin--Hippolyte Bonnelier--My study--A note in
Oudard's handwriting--The Duc de Chartres is arrested at
Montrouge--The danger he incurred and how he was saved--I
propose to go to Soissons to fetch gunpowder--I procure
my commission from General Gérard--La Fayette draws up a
proclamation for me--The painter bard--M. Thiers to the fore
once more

CHAPTER IV

Gee up, Polignac!--André Marchais--Post-master at Bourget--I
display the Tricolour on my carriage--Bard joins me--M.
Cunin-Gridaine--Old Levasseur--Struggle with him--I blow
out his brains!--Two old acquaintances--The terror of
Jean-Louis--Our halt at Villers-Cotterets--Hutin--Supper
with Paillet

CHAPTER V

Arrival at Soissons--Strategic preparations--Reconnaissance
round the magazine--Hutin and Bard plant the
tricolour flag upon the cathedral--I climb the wall
of the powder magazine--Captain Mollard--Sergeant
Ragon--Lieutenant-Colonel d'Orcourt--Parleys with them--They
promise me neutrality

CHAPTER VI

How matters had proceeded with the sacristan--The four-inch
gun--Bard as gunner--The commander of the fort--Lieutenant
Tinga--M. de Lenferna--M. Bonvilliers--Madame de
Linières--The revolt of the negroes--The conditions upon
which the commander of the fort signed the order--M.
Moreau--M. Quinette--The Mayor of Soissons--Bard and the
green plums

CHAPTER VII

The Mayor of Soissons--The excise-office powder--M.
Jousselin-- The hatchet belonging to the
warehouse-keeper--M. Quinette--I break open the door of
the powder magazine--Triumphant exit from Soissons--M.
Mennesson attempts to have me arrested--The Guards of the
Duc d'Orléans--M. Boyer--Return to Paris--"Those devils of
Republicans!"

CHAPTER VIII

First Orléanist proclamation--MM. Thiers and Scheffer go to
Neuilly--The evening at Saint-Cloud--Charles X. revokes the
Ordinances--Republican deputation at the Hôtel de Ville--M.
de Sussy--Audry de Puyraveau--Republican proclamation--La
Fayette's reply to the Duc de Mortemart--Charras and Mauguin

CHAPTER IX

Philippe VII.--How Béranger justified himself for
having helped to make a King--The Duc d'Orléans during
the three days--His arrival in Paris on the evening of
the 30th--He sends for M. de Mortemart--Unpublished
letter by him to Charles X.--Benjamin Constant and
Laffitte--Deputation of the Chamber to the Palais-Royal--M.
Sébastiani--M. de Talleyrand--The Duc d'Orléans accepts the
Lieutenant-Generalship of the Kingdom--Curious papers found
at the Tuileries

CHAPTER X

The Duc d'Orléans goes to the Hôtel de Ville--M. Laffitte
in his sedan-chair--The king _sans culotte_--Tardy
manifestation of the Provisional Government--Odilon Barrot
sleeps on a milestone--Another Balthasar Gérard--The Duc
d'Orléans is received by La Fayette--A superb voice--Fresh
appearance of general Dubourg--The balcony of the Hôtel de
Ville--The road to Joigny

BOOK IV

CHAPTER I

M. Thiers' way of writing history--Republicans at the
Palais-Royal--Louis-Philippe's first ministry--Casimir
Périer's cunning--My finest drama--Lothon and Charras--A
sword-thrust--The posting-master of Bourget once more--La
Fère--Lieutenant-Colonel Duriveau--Lothon and General La
Fayette

CHAPTER II

Letter of Charles X. to the Duc d'Orléans--A
conjuring trick--Return of the Duc de Chartres to the
Palais-Royal--Bourbons and Valois--Abdication of Charles
X.--Preparations for the expedition of Rambouillet--An
idea of Harel--The scene-shifters of the Odéon--Nineteen
persons in one fiacre--Distribution of arms at the
Palais-Royal--Colonel Jacqueminot

CHAPTER III

Mission of four commissioners to Charles X.--General
Pajol--He is appointed commander of the Paris
Volunteers--Charras offers to be his aide-de-camp--The map
of Seine-et-Oise--The spies--The hirer of carriages--Rations
of bread--D'Arpentigny--The taking of the artillery of
Saint-Cyr--Halt at Cognières--M. Detours

CHAPTER IV

Boyer the Cruel--The ten thousand rations of bread--General
Exelmans and Charras--The concierge at the prefecture
of Versailles--M. Aubernon--Colonel Poque--Interview of
Charles X. with MM. de Schonen, Odilon Barrot and Marshal
Maison--The Royal Family leave Rambouillet--Panic--The crown
jewels--Return to Paris

CHAPTER V

Harel's idea--It is suggested I should compose _La
Parisienne_--Auguste Barbier--My state of morals after the
Three Days--I turn solicitor--Breakfast with General La
Fayette--My interview with him--An indiscreet question--The
Marquis de Favras--A letter from Monsieur--My commission

CHAPTER VI

Léon Pillet--His uniform--Soissonnais susceptibility--Hard
returns to the charge with his play--I set out for
la Vendée--The quarry--I obtain pardon for a coiner
condemned to the galleys--My stay at Meurs--Commandant
Bourgeois--Disastrous effect of the tricolours in le
Bocage--Fresh proofs that a kindness done is never lost

CHAPTER VII

A warning to Parisian sportsmen--Clisson--The château of
M. Lemot--My guide--The Vendean column--The battle of
Torfou--Two omitted names--Piffanges--Tibulle and the
Loire--Gilles de Laval--His edifying death--Means taken to
engrave a remembrance on the minds of children

CHAPTER VIII

Le Bocage--Its deep lanes and hedges--The Chouan
tactics--Vendean horses and riders--Vendean politics--The
Marquis de la Bretèche and his farmers--The means I
suggested to prevent a fresh Chouannerie--The tottering
stone--I leave la Jarrie--Adieux to my guide

CHAPTER IX

The Nantes Revolution--Régnier--Paimbœuf--Landlords and
travellers--Jacomety--The native of la Guadeloupe and his
wife--Gull shooting--Axiom for sea-bird shooting--The
captain of _la Pauline_--Woman and swallow--Lovers'
superstition--Getting under sail

CHAPTER X

Story of Bougainville and his friend the curé of Boulogne

CHAPTER XI

Breakfast on deck--Saint-Nazaire--A thing husbands
never think of--Noirmontiers --Belle-Ile--I leave the
two Paulines--The rope-ladder--The ship's boat--A total
immersion--The inn at Saint-Nazaire--I throw money through
the window--A batch of clothes--Return to Paris

BOOK V

CHAPTER I

Confidential letter from Louis-Philippe to the Emperor
Nicholas--The Czar's reply--What France could do after the
Revolution of July--Louis-Philippe and Ferdinand VII.--The
Spanish refugees--Reaction in the Home department--Scraping
of the public monuments--Protest

CHAPTER II

The drama of Saint-Leu--The bravery of the Duc d'Aumale--The
arrest of MM. Peyronnet, Chantelauze, Guernon-Ranville and
Polignac--Madame de Saint-Fargeau's servant--Thomas and M.
de Polignac--The ex-ministers at Vincennes--The abolition
of the death penalty in the Chamber--La Fayette--M. de
Kératry--Salverte--Death to the ministers--Vive Odilon
Barrot and Pétion!

CHAPTER III

Oudard tells me that Louis-Philippe wishes to see me--Visit
to M. Deviolaine--Hutin, supernumerary horse-guardsman--My
interview with the king about la Vendée and the policy of
_juste milieu_--Bixio an artilleryman--He undertakes to get
me enrolled in his battery--I send in my resignation to
Louis-Philippe

CHAPTER IV

First performance of _la Mère et la Fille_--I have supper
with Harel after the performance--Harel imprisons me after
supper--I am sentenced to eight days' enforced work at
_Napoléon_--On the ninth day the piece is read to the
actors and I am set at liberty--The rehearsals--The actor
Charles--His story about Nodier

CHAPTER V

I am officially received into the Artillery Corps of the
National Guard--_Antony_ is put under rehearsal at the
Théâtre-Français--Ill-will of the actors--Treaty between
Hugo and the manager of the Porte-Saint-Martin--Firmin's
proposition and confidence--Mademoiselle Mars' dresses
and the new gas lights--I withdraw _Antony_ from the
Théâtre-Français--I offer Dorval the part of Adèle

CHAPTER VI

My agreements with Dorval--I read _Antony_--Her
impressions-- She makes me alter the last act there
and then--Merle's room--Bocage as artist--Bocage as
negotiator--Reading to M. Crosnier--He falls into a profound
slumber--The play nevertheless is accepted

APPENDIX

THE MEMOIRS OF ALEXANDRE DUMAS