acts and eight tableaux. It was first presented at the
Theatre-Historique, Paris, May 25, 1848. Its publication, by Michel
Levy in the same year, was in brochure form. The time is just a little
later than that of _Pamela Giraud_, and one similar motif is found in
the Napoleonic influence still at work for years after Waterloo.
Though this influence is apparently far beneath the surface, and does
not here manifest itself in open plottings, it is nevertheless vital
enough to destroy the happiness of a home--when mixed in the mortar of
a woman's jealousy. The action is confined to a single chateau in
Normandy. A considerable psychological element is introduced. The play
is a genuine tragedy, built upon tense, striking lines. It is strong
and modern enough to be suitable, with some changes, for our present
day stage. The day of the playwright's immaturity (noticed in the
three preceding plays) is past. With this, as with all of Balzac's
work, he improved by slow, laborious plodding, gaining experience from
repeated efforts until success was attained.

In his dramas he was not to succeed at the first trial, nor the
second, nor the third. But here at the fourth he has nearly grasped
the secret of a successful play. While at the fifth--_Mercadet_--we
are quite ready to cry "Bravo!" Who knows, if he had lived longer
(these plays were written in the last years of their author's life),
to what dramatic heights Balzac might have attained!

To _Mercadet_ then we turn for the most striking example of the
playwright's powers. This first appeared as _Le Faiseur_ (The
Speculator), being originally written in 1838-40. Justice compels us
to state, however, that another hand is present in the perfected play.
In the original it was a comedy in five acts; but this was revamped
and reduced to three acts by M. d'Ennery, before its presentation at
the Gymnase Theatre, August 24, 1851. It was then re-christened
_Mercadet_, and took its place as a 12mo brochure in the "Theatrical
Library" in the same year. The original five-act version was first
published as _Mercadet_, in _Le Pays_, August 28, 1851 (probably
called forth by the presentation of the play four days earlier), and
then appeared in book form, as _Le Faiseur_, from the press of Cadot,
in 1853. It is of interest to note that the play was not presented
till over a year subsequent to Balzac's death. The presented version
in three acts has generally been regarded as the more acceptable,