CONTENTS
EMILE SOUVESTRE
AN “ATTIC” PHILOSOPHER
BOOK 1.
CHAPTER I. NEW-YEAR’S GIFTS
CHAPTER II. THE CARNIVAL
CHAPTER III. WHAT WE MAY LEARN BY LOOKING OUT OF WINDOW
CHAPTER IV. LET US LOVE ONE ANOTHER
CHAPTER V. COMPENSATION
BOOK 2.
CHAPTER VI. UNCLE MAURICE
CHAPTER VII. THE PRICE OF POWER AND THE WORTH OF FAME
CHAPTER VIII. MISANTHROPY AND REPENTANCE
CHAPTER IX. THE FAMILY OF MICHAEL AROUT
BOOK 3.
CHAPTER X. OUR COUNTRY
CHAPTER XI. MORAL USE OF INVENTORIES
CHAPTER XII. THE END OF THE YEAR
No one succeeds in obtaining a prominent place in literature, or in surrounding himself with a faithful and steady circle of admirers drawn from the fickle masses of the public, unless he possesses originality, constant variety, and a distinct personality. It is quite possible to gain for a moment a few readers by imitating some original feature in another; but these soon vanish and the writer remains alone and forgotten. Others, again, without belonging to any distinct group of authors, having found their standard in themselves, moralists and educators at the same time, have obtained undying recognition.
Of the latter class, though little known outside of France, is Emile Souvestre, who was born in Morlaix, April 15, 1806, and died at Paris July 5, 1854. He was the son of a civil engineer, was educated at the college of Pontivy, and intended to follow his father’s career by entering the Polytechnic School. His father, however, died in 1823, and Souvestre matriculated as a law-student at Rennes. But the young student soon devoted himself entirely to literature. His first essay, a tragedy, ‘Le Siege de Missolonghi’ (1828), was a pronounced failure. Disheartened and disgusted he left Paris and established himself first as a lawyer in Morlaix. Then he became proprietor of a newspaper, and was afterward appointed a professor in Brest and in Mulhouse. In 1836 he contributed to the ‘Revue des Deux Mondes’ some sketches of life in Brittany, which obtained a brilliant success. Souvestre was soon made editor of La Revue de Paris, and in consequence early found a publisher for his first novel, ‘L’Echelle de Femmes’,