ugo meant) the yoked coursers
of Balzac's car.

The fact is that _exceptis excipiendis_, of which _Eugenie Grandet_ is
the chief solid example, it is not by the ordinary means, or in the
ordinary ways, that Balzac makes any considerable part of his appeal. He
is very much more _der Einzige_ in novel-writing than Jean Paul was in
novel-writing or anything else; for a good deal of Richter's uniqueness
depended[172] upon eccentricities of style, etc., from which Balzac is
entirely free. And the same may be said, with the proper mutations, of
George Meredith. No one ever made less use--despite his "details" and
"interiors"--of what may be called intellectual or artistic costume and
properties than the author of the _Comedie Humaine_. The most
egotistical of men in certain ways, he never thrusts his _ego_ upon you.
The most personal in his letters, he is almost as impersonal in most of
his writings (_Louis Lambert_, etc., being avowedly exceptional) as
Shakespeare. Now, though the personal interest may be not illegitimate
and sometimes great, the impersonal is certainly greater. Thanks to
industrious prying, not always deserving the adjective impertinent, we
know a great deal about Balzac; and it is by no means difficult to apply
some of the knowledge to aid the study of his creation. But in reading
the creation itself you never need this knowledge; it never forces
itself on you. The hundreds, and almost thousands, of persons who form
the company of the _Comedie_--their frequently recurring parts adjusted
with extraordinary, though by no means obtrusive or offensive,
consistency to the enormous world of detail and scenery and general
"surroundings" in which their parts are played--are never interfered
with by the pointing-stick or the prompter. They are _there_; they can't
help being there, and you have to make the best or the worst of them as
you can. Considering the general complexion of this universe, its
inevitableness and apparent [Greek: autarkeia] may seem, in some moods
and to some persons, a little oppressive; it is always, perhaps, as has
been admitted, productive rather of admiration than of pleasure. Faults
of various kinds may be found with it. But it is almost always
wonderful; it is often great, and it is sometimes of the greatest.[173]

FOOTNOTES:

[124] Of course there are exceptions, _Le Rouge et le Noir_ and _La Peau
de Chagrin_ being perhaps the chief among long novels; while some of
Balzac's short sto