Page:The life and writings of Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) (IA lifewritingsofal00spurrich).pdf/15

 that author as merely "a clever arranger of the thoughts of others." When a new edition of the "Superchéries" was issued, the exposés of M. Quérard, which stopped at 1848, were not continued, and the editors formally expressed their regret that the great writer had received such treatment from the critic. They further hinted that only a determination to use the material of the first edition of the work in its entirety prevented them from dealing with M. Quérard's accusations.

We have referred to Mr Fitzgerald. His "Life and Adventures of Alexander Dumas" was written shortly after the novelist's death, is now forgotten, and is probably out of print. This relieves us from the necessity of saying more than that Mr Lang in his "Essays in Little," Mr Brander Matthews in his "French Novelists," Mr W. H. Pollock in the Nineteenth Century, Mr A. B. Walkley in "Playhouse Impressions," and others, have all condemned the book as being inaccurate and unworthy of the subject and the writer. A great change has taken place in the literary estimation of Dumas during the past thirty years; and it is our aim to convey this desirable revolution in opinion to the mind of the ordinary reader.

Consistent with the declaration made above, we have ignored the charges brought against Dumas with reference to his attitude toward Louis Philippe.