THE FRENCH CONVULSIVES.* 



THK most common and approved object which the novelist as 

 well as the dramatist proposes to himself in the composition of works 

 of fiction, is by means of a certain judicious combination of events, 

 bearing a close analogy to those of ordinary life, "to hold the mirror 

 up to nature, and to correct folly by exhibiting it." By a wise dis- 

 tribution of rewards and punishments, he in general seeks to engage 

 the sentiments and feelings of the heart in favour of the virtues 

 which form the binding principles of society, and to make the pur- 

 poses of present amusement subservient to the inculcation of a sound 

 morality and a virtuous resignation to the decrees of an over-ruling 

 Providence. This disposition to find good in every thing is the 

 great characteristic of our most esteemed writers of works of imagi- 

 nation. But the generality of modern French literature displays no 

 claim to this character of utility, and is seldom ennobled or invigo- 

 rated by this animating principle. The spirit of analysis, which is 

 alike destructive of the brilliant illusions of the imagination and of 

 the amiable sympathies and feelings of our own nature, has there in- 

 vaded every department of literature, and has extended its blighting 

 influence over all that was most captivating and seducing. " This/' 

 exclaims Mr. Balzac in his preface, " is the most analytic period of 

 modern times ; societies, governments, sciences all is founded upon 

 analysis." But while he thus bears testimony to, and deplores the 

 existence of, this wide-spread malady, his own writings afford a still 

 more forcible illustration of it. With no higher aim than that of 

 producing present effect, he has turned the observation of a penetra- 

 ting mind upon society, and has selected the moral evils and anoma- 

 lies inseparable from its existence for the subject of his fictions. He 

 is a metaphysical novelist one who delights in speculations upon all 

 dark and forbidden things, and in the agitation of those moral pro-, 

 blems from which others shrink back with aversion. He applies 

 himself to the defects and weaknesses of humanity, the interests and 

 selfish calculations of the crowd of society, and he exhibits the play 

 of the human passions with an energy and clearness which needs no 

 ornament. In the selection and treatment of his subjects, he dis- 

 covers great perspicuity of judgment, and a powerful talent of mind 

 in abstracting and generalizing ideas. He possesses the art of 

 uniting 4epth of reflection with the eloquence and vivacity of lighter 

 writing. In his hands the simplest subject is invested with an ab- 

 sorbing interest, by the vigour of conception, the brilliancy of expres- 

 sion, and the skill and power of narration possessed by the artist in 

 so eminent a degree. The strong truth of colouring, the exquisite 

 choice of circumstances calculated to produce the deepest impression, 

 and the infinite skill with which they are fused and brought to bear 

 upon the dramatic situations, joined to the deep earnestness which 



* Philosophical Tales of Balzac. Paris, 1832. 

 M.M. No. 97. H 



