Page:The life and writings of Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) (IA lifewritingsofal00spurrich).pdf/277

 reading public his judgment would be generally confirmed.

When he wrote "Conscience" Dumas was waiting for a copy of Michelet's "French Revolution," in order to begin upon "La Comtesse de Charny" (1853-5). Professor G. C. Carpenter, a thoughtful critic of Dumas's genius and writings, gives an appreciation of this romance, touching also upon the secret sources of our author's success:

"He read memoirs avidly, for one thing; he had a marvellous heritage of race, that made other times akin to him; submerged in his under-consciousness, out of reach of will or reason, were wondrous stores of association; his own life was rich and varied; his sympathy was extraordinary. On all these sources he drew, in that madly rapid writing of his. And the result is that in his pages, as in an allegory, are all the elements essential to the nation's life. Among a score of others, three are not to be forgotten: the violated Comtesse de Charny, who was the wrecked aristocracy; the brutal peasant boy Gilbert, who represented the uprising of men long down-trodden; and their child, who was the new France."

"La Comtesse de Charny," which links "Ange Pitou" with the "Chevalier de Maison Rouge" and thus completes the Revolution cycle, is full of picturesque history, although it is perhaps too long; and the fictitious interest, apart from the character of the