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The Muse Of The Department - Preface
THE MUSE OF THE DEPARTMENTBY
HONORE DE BALZAC
Translated by James Waring
DEDICATION
To Monsieur le Comte Ferdinand de Gramont.
MY DEAR FERDINAND,--If the chances of the world of literature --_habent sua fata libelli_--should allow these lines to be an enduring record, that will still be but a trifle in return for the trouble you have taken--you, the Hozier, the Cherin, the King-at-Arms of these Studies of Life; you, to whom the Navarreins, Cadignans, Langeais, Blamont-Chauvrys, Chaulieus, Arthez, Esgrignons, Mortsaufs, Valois--the hundred great names that form the Aristocracy of the "Human Comedy" owe their lordly mottoes and ingenious armorial bearings. Indeed, "the Armorial of the Etudes, devised by Ferdinand de Gramont, gentleman," is a complete manual of French Heraldry, in which nothing is forgotten, not even the arms of the Empire, and I shall preserve it as a monument of friendship and of Benedictine patience. What profound knowledge of the old feudal spirit is to be seen in the motto of the Beauseants, _Pulchre sedens, melius agens_; in that of the Espards, _Des partem leonis_; in that of the Vandenesses, _Ne se vend_. And what elegance in the thousand details of the learned symbolism which will always show how far accuracy has been carried in my work, to which you, the poet, have contributed.
Your old friend,
DE BALZAC.
The Muse Of The Department - Part 1
On the skirts of Le Berry stands a town which, watered by the Loire, infallibly attracts the traveler's eye. Sancerre crowns the topmost height of a chain of hills, the last of the range that gives variety to the Nivernais. The Loire floods the flats at the foot of these slopes, leaving a yellow alluvium that is extremely fertile, excepting in those places where it has deluged them with sand and destroyed them forever, by one of those terrible risings which are also incidental to the Vistula--the Loire of the northern coast. The hill on which the houses of Sancerre are
Hurricane Hurry - Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX A CRUISE.--LEAVE THE CHESAPEAKE.--NEW YORK.--PRESS-GANGS AT WORK.--CRUEL SCENES.--EVIL TIDINGS FROM HOME.--BRITISH TAKE POSSESSION OF YORK TOWN.--PREPARATIONS FOR DEFENCE.--A DANGEROUS TRIP.--MORE LOSSES--A NARROW ESCAPE.--SLIGHT HOPES OF SUCCESS. At this period of the American war both parties seemed so equally balanced that it appeared doubtful which after all would come off successful in the contest. The superior discipline of the British, and the experience and talent of their generals, had frequently obtained for them the victory in the expeditions which had of late been undertaken. General Arnold's plans had hitherto never failed in Virginia. Lord Rawdon had obtained- The Muse Of The Department - Part 1
- The Muse Of The Department - Part 2
- The Muse Of The Department - Part 3
- The Muse Of The Department - Part 4
- Pierrette - Preface
- Pierrette - 1. The Lorrains
- Pierrette - 2. The Rogrons
- Pierrette - 3. Pathology Of Retired Mercers
- Pierrette - 4. Pierrette
- Pierrette - 5. History Of Poor Cousins In The Home Of Rich Ones