Daudet may lack the poignant intensity of Balzac, the lyric sweep of Hugo, the immense architectural strength of M. Zola, the implacable disinterestedness of Flaubert, the marvellous concentration of Maupassant, but he has more humor than any of them and more charm,—more sympathy than any but Hugo, and more sincerity than any but Flaubert. His is perhaps a rarer combination than any of theirs,—the gift of story-telling, the power of character-drawing, the grasp of emotional situation, the faculty of analysis, the feeling for form, the sense of style, an unfailing and humane interest in his fellow-men, and an irresistible desire to tell the truth about life as he saw it with his own eyes.

BRANDER MATTHEWS.

Columbia University,
in the City of New York.

CONTENTS

Page

  1. Dr. Jenkins' Patients[7 ]
  2. A Breakfast on Place Vendôme[37 ]
  3. Memoirs of a Clerk.—A Casual Glance at
    the "Caisse Territoriale"[63 ]
  4. A Début in Society[77 ]
  5. The Joyeuse Family[103 ]
  6. Felicia Ruys[128 ]
  7. Jansoulet at Home[156 ]
  8. The Work of Bethlehem[172 ]
  9. Grandmamma[193 ]
  10. Memoirs of a Clerk.—The Servants[216 ]
  11. The Fêtes in Honor of the Bey[238 ]
  12. A Corsican Election[272 ]

ILLUSTRATIONS

  1. "'Take away your flowers, my dear'"[Frontispiece ]
  2. In Felicia's Studio[26 ]
  3. "'His Excellency, the Duc de Mora!'"[88 ]

From drawings by Lucius Rossi.