This etext was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net>
[NOTE: There is a short list of bookmarks, or pointers, at the end of thefile for those who may wish to sample the author's ideas before making anentire meal of them. D.W.]
By LUDOVIC HALEVY
With a Preface by E. LEGOUVE, of the French Academy
Ludovic Halevy was born in Paris, January 1, 1834. His father was LeonHalevy, the celebrated author; his grandfather, Fromenthal, the eminentcomposer. Ludovic was destined for the civil service, and, afterfinishing his studies, entered successively the Department of State(1852); the Algerian Department (1858), and later on became editorialsecretary of the Corps Legislatif (1860). When his patron, the Duc deMorny, died in 1865, Halevy resigned, giving up a lucrative position forthe uncertain profession of a playwright: At this period he devotedhimself exclusively to the theatre.
He had already written plays as early as 1856, and had also tried hishand at fiction, but did not meet with very great success. Toward 1860,however, he became acquainted with Henri Meilhac, and with him formed akind of literary union, lasting for almost twenty years, when Halevyrather abruptly abandoned the theatre and became a writer of fiction.
We have seen such kinds of co-partnerships, for instance, in Beaumont and
Fletcher; more recently in the beautiful French tales of Erckmann-
Chatrian, and still later in the English novels of Besant and Rice.
Some say it was a fortunate event for Meilhac; others assert that Halevyreaped a great profit by the union. Be this as it may, a great number ofplays-drama, comedy, farce, opera, operetta and ballet—were jointlyproduced, as is shown by the title-pages of two score or more of theirpieces. When Ludovic Halevy was a candidate for L'Academie—he enteredthat glorious body in 1884—the question was ventilated by Pailleron:"What was the author's literary relation in his union with Meilhac?" Itwas answered by M. Sarcey, who criticised the character and quality ofthe work achieved. Public opinion has a long time since brought in quiteanother verdict in the case.
Halevy's cooperation endowed the plays of Meilhac with a fuller ethicalrichness—tempered them, so to speak, and made them real, for it can notbe denied that Meilhac was inclined to extravagance.
Halevy's novels are remarkable for the elegance of literary style,tenderness of spirit and keenness of observation. He excels in ironicalsketches. He has often been compared to Eugene Sue, but his touch islighter than Sue's, and his humor less unctuous. Most of his littlesketches, originally written for La Vie Parisienne, were collected in his'Monsieur et Madame Cardinal' (1873); and 'Les Petites Cardinal', (1880).They are not intended 'virginibus puerisque', and the author's attitudeis that of a half-pitying, half-contemptuous moralist, yet the virilityof his criticism has brought him immortality.
Personal recollections of the great war are to be found in 'L'Invasion'(1872); and 'Notes et Souvenirs', 1871-1872 (1889). Most extraordinary,however, was the success of 'L'Abbe Constantin' (1882), crowned by theAcademy, which has gone through no less than one hundred and fiftyeditions up to 1904, and ranks as one of the greatest successes ofcontemporaneous literature. It is, indeed, his 'chef-d'oeuvre', verydelicate, earnest, and at the same time ironical, a most entrancingfamily story. It was then that the doors of the French Academy o