tificate of birth, as that of the Duke of Fitz-James
is on his,"[*] should on the title-page of "Les Chouans" have called
himself simply M. H. Balzac, and on that of the "Scenes de la Vie
Privee," which appeared in April, 1830, M. Balzac, still without the
"de." In 1826 he gives his designation and title as "H. Balzac,
imprimeur, Rue des Marais, St.-Germain, 31," and we have already seen
that he was entered on the school register as Honore Balzac, and that
his parents at that time called themselves M. and Mme. Balzac.
Occasionally, however, as early as 1822, in letters to his sister
Honore insists on the particle "de," and all his life he claimed to be
a member of a very old Gaulish family--a pretension which gave his
enemies a famous opportunity for deriding him.

[*] First Preface to the "Lys dans la Vallee," p 482, vol. xxii. of
"Oeuvres Completes de H. de Balzac," Edition definitive.

In 1836, during his lawsuit with the _Revue de Paris_, he certainly
spoke on the subject with no doubtful voice:

"Even if my name sounds too well in certain ears, even if it is envied
by those who are not pleased with their own, I cannot give it up. My
father was quite within his rights on this subject, having consulted
the records in the Archive Office. He was proud of being one of the
conquered race, of a family which in Auvergne had resisted the
invasion, and from which the D'Entragues took their origin. He
discovered in the Archive Office the notice of a grant of land made by
the Balzacs to establish a monastery in the environs of the little
town of Balzac, and a copy of this was, he told me, registered by his
care at the Parliament of Paris."[*]

[*] See First Preface to the "Lys dans la Vallee."

Balzac continues for some time in this strain, giving his enemies a
fresh handle for ridicule. After the loss of the lawsuit, the _Revue
de Paris_, raging with indignation, answered him with "Un dernier mot
a M. de Balzac," an article which the writer, after a reflection full
of venom, must have dashed off with set teeth and a sardonic smile,
and in which there is a most scathing paragraph on the vexed question
of the "de":

"He [Balzac] tells us that he _is of an old Gaulish family_ (You
understand, 'Gaulish'--one of Charlemagne's peers! A French family,
what is that? Gaulish!) It is not his own fault, poor man! Further, M.
de Balzac will prove to you that the Bourbons and the Montmorencies
and other French gentlemen must lo