annuity of twelve hundred francs to Pélagie, the master's old servant, the entire estate was left to the Academy. Little Edmée Daudet, the god-daughter of Edmond de Goncourt, was also to receive a sum of five thousand francs to buy herself a pearl, the last of those her godfather was in the habit of giving her every year.

The property consisted partly in government securities, partly in a house in the boulevard Montmorency, at Auteuil, and finally in a collection of paintings, drawings, prints, books, and curios. The testator was convinced that the proceeds of the sale of the collection alone would amply suffice to cover the annuities of six thousand francs each, bestowed upon the members of the Academy, and the prize of five thousand francs to be awarded every year to the author of some work of fiction.

Three competent men were appointed to make arrangements for the sale M. Alidor Delzant, the bibliophile, drew up the catalogue of the books; M. Roger Marx, of the paintings and Eighteenth Century curios, and M. Bing, the well-known authority on the art of Japan, organised the sale of the Japanese curios and drawings. But, whether the time was unpropitious, or whether Edmond de Goncourt had formed too high an estimate of his collection, the total proceeds barely amounted to sixty-six thousand pounds sterling. When to this were added the securities and the value of the house, there was still a prospect of approaching the necessary amount, but the Treasury had yet to be reckoned with, which, under different pretexts, mulcted the estate of nearly sixteen thousand pounds.

The executors, Alphonse Daudet and Léon Hennique, had begun constituting the Academy, when legal proceedings were taken against them, certain distant relations of the deceased opposing the will. The latter were non-suited by a judgment delivered April 5th, 1897, from which, however, they appealed. In 1898 Alphonse Daudet died, leaving to Léon Hennique the onerous task of defending the suit alone. At last, however, the Court of Appeal, under the presidency of M. Forichon, after hearing M. Raymond Poincaré, counsel for the defendant, confirmed the judgment of the lower Court, and refused to invalidate, on the ground of technical irregularity, a will that possessed every characteristic of an authentic document, clearly expressing the intentions of the deceased.

The surviving members of the Academy held a meeting on November 23rd, 1900, at the house of M. Léon Hennique, and filled the existing vacancies by electing MM. Elémir Bourges, Lucien Descaves, and Léon Daudet. The newly-formed society was only waiting to receive the necessary sanction from the

Council of State, when it found itself in the meshes of the recent law on Associations. It became necessary to procure the consent of the Municipal Council, the signature of the Prefect of the Seine, etc. In the course of these lengthy formalities, the young Academy met with widespread sympathy. Besides the learned opinion of Me. Devin, a shining light of the Parisian bar, it received the support of that eminent statesman, M. Waldeck Rousseau, and at last, by a Presidential decree, dated January 19th, 1903, the Goncourt Academy was definitely constituted as follows:-MM. J. K. Huysmans, president; Gustave Geffroy, vicepresident; the elder Rosny, treasurer; Léon Hennique, Octave Mirbeau, the younger Rosny, Paul Margueritte, Elémir Bourges, Lucien Descaves, Léon Daudet, members.

The early works of these writers were mostly social studies, yet their general tendencies do not necessarily lead them all to realism. M. J. K. Huysmans, after writing a few novels of the purest naturalism, Les Sœurs Vatard, A Vau l'Eau, En Rade, now favours a somewhat different manner. While still displaying his marvellous talent for word-painting and analysis, he has introduced into his philosophy a supernatural element, dominating life. The transition is marked by a curious work, A Rebours, of which the hero is a seeker after pleasures hitherto unknown, whose ultimate fate is despair. The book is something of an autobiography, in a philosophic sense, of course. Finding the times out of joint, Huysmans took refuge in religious mysticism. This new direction imparted to his life is clearly set forth in his novel, Là-Bas, and in its sequel, Là-Haut. Again restored to faith, the author retired to the Abbaye de Ligugé, belonging to the learned order of Benedictine monks. Here, at last, he had found peace, and he had just been made a lay member, when the law on Associations brought about the dissolution of the Order. He then returned to Paris, where he is now engaged in preparing for publication works of a liturgical and archæological character. M. Gustave Geffroy, the judicious critic of the realistic school of art, has written on the painters Manet, Monet, Renoir, Whistler, Lebourg, Carrière, etc., and on the sculptor Rodin, a number of masterly studies, distinguished for their subtle analysis, their enthusiasm, and the splendour of their style. These studies have been collected in five volumes and published by Charpentier, under the title of L'Art et la Vie. But M. Gustave Geffroy is not only a critic; he is, moreover, a delicate and scrupulous historian, a thinker of no mean order. His biography of Blanqui, the revolutionist, undoubtedly ranks among the finest productions of a style midway between history and fiction, combining, as it does, the faithfulness of the one with

the bright animation of the other. A friend and collaborator of Georges Clémenceau, the former great leader of the Extreme Left, M. Gustave Geffroy shares most of his political opinions, only with a stronger leaning towards socialism. He is a man of tender feeling and broad sympathies.

M. Léon Hennique is a Roman Catholic, like M. Huysmans. He, too, was a pure naturalist in early youth, but his complex temperament soon led him to write works of a spiritualistic tendency, tempered with keen observation. There is a wide gulf between L'Accident de M. Hébert and Un Caractère. M. Hennique is a mystic, a spiritualist, and a passionate believer in re-incarnation.

M. Octave Mirbeau is an incisive, satirical writer, full of verve and passion. His works point to a characteristic evolution, in which, however, the author appears to have travelled round a circle and returned to his starting point. Except for the more biting quality of its irony, Le Journal d'une Femme de Chambre bears a great resemblance to his early work, Le Calvaire. But M. Mirbeau's individuality is too strong not to assert itself in all his writings. His style is firm, full of imagery, and of surpassing clearness. He is a writer of the very first order. His political convictions tend to make of him a democrat, nay, even an anarchist. A fierce anti-clerical, a defender of the weak and lowly, his attacks upon society are so extraordinarily vehement that very few people can discern beneath the furious manner the workings of the noble heart that has prompted them. Nor is any light afforded them by his enigmatical Jardin des Supplices.

Paul Margueritte, who writes in conjunction with his brother, Victor, is an author of delicate refinement, who has attained to power by sheer strength of will. A realist and, from the beginning, a sagacious and patient observer, as witness his first work, Tous Quatre, his natural bent drew him towards psychology, and in a long series of novels which have made him famous, he has studied the secret springs of human action. Jours d'Epreuve, La Force des Choses, Le Tourment, are little masterpieces of subtle observation tinged with melancholy, yet full of loving kindness. In collaboration with his brother, he undertook to tell the story of the Franco-German War and of the Commune, and their tales are real epics. At the same time the two brothers became interested in the question of divorce, and their last novel, Deux Vies, deals exhaustively with this subject. These eminent writers profess no extreme political opinions or philosophical convictions; they hope for all things from Charity, in their eyes a sovereign power, capable of changing the face of the world.

Elémir Bourges has published three volumes: Sous la Hache,

Le Crépuscule des Dieux, Les Oiseaux s'envolent et les Fleurs tombent, distinguished for their breadth of style and somewhat scornful philosophy. His characters are princes and princesses who are a prey to pessimism and lead pompous, dramatic, and pitiable lives. The author is a scholar who lives in the country, away from Paris, with his books to keep him company. For a long time he occupied a sort of hermitage at Samois, near Fontainebleau; he has lately moved to Versailles, where he will be nearer to his colleagues of the Academy. He is not known to have any very definite political opinions, but lives for art and literature. On the occasions when he emerges from his retreat, this recluse is found to be a brilliant and witty causeur.

M. Lucien Descaves is, emphatically, the true realist. His books, La Teigne, Sous-Offs, Les Enmurés, display a passionate love for truth. The care he bestows on his work entitles him to a place in the very first rank of scholars, who are artists enamoured of the sensuous element in their craft. Attempts have been made to connect him with different masters, but, in reality, Descaves takes after none. He is perfectly original. His prose is highly polished, incisive, not to say caustic, but caustic only to serve the noblest ends. He loves the poor, the suffering, and for them he labours, heart and soul. He is a democrat and, above all, a defender of the oppressed, a man of tender sympathy. Even his political enemies do justice to his honesty, to his kindness.

M. Léon Daudet, the son of Alphonse Daudet, has a complex, disquieting mind. He has written books of the most different character. Dramatic and universal in Hoerès, scathing in Les Morticoles, veird and speculative in Le Voyage de Shakespeare, he is a man of great imaginative power, teeming with ideas on all manner of subjects, and excelling in satire, which he wields with great effect. His political and philosophical evolution is not easy to trace. Starting out as a republican and a free-thinker, he would appear to have reverted with a certain violence to monarchy and Catholicism. He is to-day an uncompromising anti-Semite.

Such are the members of this purely literary Academy. In spite of their wde divergences of opinion, they all take pleasure in meeting once a month at the same table. They have one subject of conversaton that is ever new, ever delightful-literature. The Goncourts, then, were justified in their belief that art can soar, like an incoruptible spirit, above chance and circumstance, and serve as a bod between man and man, between generation and generation.

(Translated by Heywood.)

J. H. ROSNY.

AUGUST BEBEL, THE LEADER OF THE STRONGEST

PARTY IN GERMANY.

THERE is always a touch of excitement in the Reichstag, when the President announces that Herr August Bebel "has the word." Members who are lounging in the lobby hurry back to their places; pens are thrown down; papers are cast aside; and all signs of drowsiness vanish. The most listless of the officials is on the alert for the time being, and the strongest of the Ministers waxes apprehensive. When Prince Bismarck was Chancellor, there was nothing he enjoyed more than crossing swords with the Socialist leader; but the men who rule Germany now are of a different mettle. Even in those bygone days, when he was a pariah in the land, and passed much of his time in prison, Herr Bebel was always sure of an attentive audience when he spoke. Although the Nationalists dubbed him a traitor for whom hanging on a high gibbet was much too good a fate, and the Junkers were wont to shake their fists in his face--in their part of the house manners are not a strong point-yet they paid more heed to his words than to those of any other member. They used to greet his statements with cries of "lies," it is true; they greet them sometimes in the same fashion to-day; but whereas then they did so boldly, without even a trace of doubt in their voices, now they do so but half-heartedly. For they have learnt by painful experience that this man whom they so hate is no vain babbler; that when he hurls accusations around-declares that in Germany soldiers are driven to suicide by the brutality with which they are treated; that in Africa men and women are done to death by German governors, in sheer wantonness-he has proof at hand for what he says.

Even Herr Bebel's enemies admit that as a Parliamentary orator he is without a rival in Germany. Some of his speeches, indeed, are perfect models of eloquence, original in matter, terse and vigorous in style. His language is singulary beautiful; and the Fates have given him one of the very sweetest voices in all Europe. He has not, it is true, that power of exciting wild enthusiasm which his colleague, Herr Liebknect, possessed. For that he is himself too many-sided, perhaps, to "sweetly reasonable," his friends would say. None the less he is by far the most convincing speaker in the Reichstag. There is a certain fatalistic ring about many of his utterances, which is in itself singularly impressive. As men listen to him a curius-and eminently