Page:The life and writings of Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) (IA lifewritingsofal00spurrich).pdf/34

 Bible and a little park, both of which the youthful Alexandre learnt almost by heart. For mythology, too, the boy had a childish passion; and "Robinson Crusoe" (!) gave him his geography. "And so," he writes, "when five or six years of age, I possessed these two accomplishments (reading and writing) in a superior degree, a fact which made me wondrously conceited. I can still see myself, about the height of a jack-boot, and in a little cotton jacket, taking part, with the utmost precocity, in the conversation of grown-up people, and contributing thereto my store of knowledge, profane and sacred."

The memory of these early days was always dear to our Dumas, and he loved to dwell upon them, and introduce them and reintroduce them into his books. He tell us that the places, surroundings, people and events of these days all had their influence on his writings and character, and those who care to pursue the subject will find traces of these times in "Ange Pitou," "Catherine Blum," "Conscience l'Enfant," and other books.

The descriptions of these early days, as given in the "Mémoires," are full of delicate humour and charm. Dumas tells us of the old chateau, and its park, in which he revelled, and draws a lifelike portrait of his august relative M. Deviolaine, a man who had indeed "a stern look but a gentle heart."