his gun, but with money which his mother gave him
Alexander soon came to Paris again, not this time supporting himself by
his gun, but with money which his mother gave him. He had letters of
recommendation to some of the old generals of the empire, and installed
himself comfortably in the _Place des Italiens_. Some of the men to whom
he had letters received him coldly, but in General Foy he found a warm
friend and protector. He introduced him to the notice of the duke of
Orleans, who finding that the young man possessed a good hand-writing,
which, by the way, he preserves to this day, he made him one of his
secretaries, and gave him a salary of twelve hundred francs. Alexander
now considered himself on the high road to fortune. He was in Paris--and
with a salary! It was small, to be sure, but he was where he could
frequent the theaters, and his patron was a man of eminence. He had
little to do, and read Shakspeare, Scott, Goethe, and Schiller. He said
to General Foy, 'I live now by my hand-writing, but I assure you that
one day I will live by my pen.' This shows that he looked forward to a
literary life--that he foresaw, in a measure, his after success in
literature. He soon began to write, and some of his plays were so well
liked by the managers of different theaters, that they bought them and
brought them out. He had already, while a secretary, begun to receive
money for his writings. He wrote for his mother who came up to Paris,
and the couple took up their residence in a humble apartment in the
faubourg St. Denis. For a time after this, his efforts were attended
with poor success, but he had the good fortune to please the
director-general of the theaters by a tragedy, and he promised him that
it should be brought out. Before this was done the director left for the
east, and in his absence the man who took his place refused to bring out
the play. Dumas made loud complaint. The censor asked him if he had
money, and he replied that he had not a _sou_. He demanded of him what
he depended upon for his support, Dumas referred to his salary of twelve
hundred francs, as secretary to the duke of Orleans. The censor advised
him to stick to his writing-desk. This was not only cruel, but very
unjust treatment of an author of great promise. In this play, it is but
right to state, Dumas exhibited the weakness which has almost uniformly
characterized his career--that of plagiarism. His situations, and
sometimes his language, were stolen from Goethe, Scott, etc., etc. His
next play was entitled _Henry III._, and was brought out under the
protection of the duke of Orleans. It was very successful, and he
received for it the sum of fifty thousand francs. It was, like the play
which preceded it, filled with stolen passages and scenes, but this did
not detract from its success. He now left his humble lodgings and took
up his residence in the Rue de l"University, where he lived in splendid
style. He was not a man to hoard his money, but to enjoy it as it was
earned.
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