whether he
consented or not, the author of this immense and strange work is one of
the strong race of Revolutionist writers. Balzac goes straight to the
goal.

Body to body he seizes modern society; from all he wrests something,
from these an illusion, from those a hope; from one a catch-word, from
another a mask. He ransacked vice, he dissected passion. He searched out
and sounded man, soul, heart, entrails, brain,--the abyss that each one
has within himself. And by grace of his free and vigorous nature; by a
privilege of the intellect of our time, which, having seen revolutions
face to face, can see more clearly the destiny of humanity and
comprehend Providence better,--Balzac redeemed himself smiling and
severe from those formidable studies which produced melancholy in
Moliere and misanthropy in Rousseau.

This is what he has accomplished among us, this is the work which he has
left us,--a work lofty and solid,--a monument robustly piled in layers
of granite, from the height of which hereafter his renown shall shine in
splendor. Great men make their own pedestal, the future will be
answerable for the statue.

His death stupefied Paris! Only a few months ago he had come back to
France. Feeling that he was dying, he wished to see his country again,
as one who would embrace his mother on the eve of a distant voyage. His
life was short, but full, more filled with deeds than days.

Alas! this powerful worker, never fatigued, this philosopher, this
thinker, this poet, this genius, has lived among us that life of storm,
of strife, of quarrels and combats, common in all times to all great
men. To-day he is at peace. He escapes contention and hatred. On the
same day he enters into glory and the tomb. Thereafter beyond the
clouds, which are above our heads, he will shine among the stars of his
country. All you who are here, are you not tempted to envy him?

Whatever may be our grief in presence of such a loss, let us accept
these catastrophes with resignation! Let us accept in it whatever is
distressing and severe; it is good perhaps, it is necessary perhaps, in
an epoch like ours, that from time to time the great dead shall
communicate to spirits devoured with skepticism and doubt, a religious
fervor. Providence knows what it does when it puts the people face to
face with the supreme mystery and when it gives them death to reflect
on,--death which is supreme equality, as it is also supreme liberty.
Providence knows what