The Red and the Black: A Chronicle of the Nineteenth Century

by Stendhal

  190 Sixtus V: Felice Peretti, 1520-90, religious reformer, elected pope in 1585. He had spent the previous 15 years in semidisgrace, pretending to be dumb and lame, and was chosen as a compromise candidate who appeared to offer little threat. On election, however, he immediately resumed full possession of his faculties.

  191Abbé Delille: 1738-1813, French poet and translator of Virgil. Stendhal met him in his youth, and may have heard this anecdote at first hand.

  191 Guercino: 1591-1666, Italian fresco painter.

  195 Diderot: 1713-84, French Enlightenment philosopher.

  200the use of arms: Stendhal commented in a letter to Strich in 1825 on the fact that since 1817 young peasants in seminaries throughout France had been instructed in the use of arms to prepare them for the eventuality of a civil war if the Jesuits were driven from France.

  200Incedo per ignes: 'I go forward through the flames' ( Horace).

  203 Barême's genius: the reference is to B. F. Barrême ( 1640-1702), French mathematician.

  203altars of repose: small altar on which the priest puts the consecrated sacrament, particularly during a procession.

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  206 The Precursor: newspaper published in Lyon, and widely read in Paris, particularly in liberal circles.

  209 The only king remembered by the crowd: ('Le seul roi dont le peuple ait gardé la mémoire') this line of verse from the Eulogie of Voltaire by Gudin de la Brenellerie ( 1738- 1812) had been inscribed on the base of the statue of Henri IV ( 1553-1610) by the Pont-Neuf in Paris.

  212 Blue Sash: the cordon bleu of the Ordre du Saint-Esprit (Order of the Holy Spirit), an order of knighthood founded by Henri III in 1578, abolished in 1791, and re-established between 1815 and 1830. The cross was fastened to a wide, azure-blue ribbon worn as a sash across the right shoulder.

  215 Emigration: adversaries of the Revolution took refuge abroad after 1789.

  216 Mary Magdalene: reference to the poet Delphine Gay 1804-55, who recited her poetry in the salons of the period.

  219 Sacred Heart of Jesus: devotion founded by a visitation nun, St Marguerite-Marie Alacoque ( 1647-90). It was much favoured by the Congregation in the 1820s. Stendhal commented in 1825 on the unscrupulous way in which the Jesuits used the gory image of the Sacred Heart to manipulate the emotions of women in the provinces.

  220 Marie Alacoque: see preceding n.

  221 particular Cabinet: at the beginning of 1828 an Ultra right-wing faction had tried to take over the Cabinet, against the wishes of the country as expressed in recent elections.

  222 in pace: (Latin: 'in peace') reference to underground cells used to lock up dissident monks.

  239 Sainte-Beuve: 1804-69, French writer and critic.

  239 Virgil: 'O countryside, when shall I gaze on you?' The quotation is in fact from Horace ( Satires, II. vi. 60).

  240 Mirabeau: the Comte de Mirabeau, 1749-91 (son of the economist and physiocrat Marquis de Mirabeau), was a leading figure of the Third Estate. An advocate of constitutional monarchy, he used his oratorical powers to steer a dangerous course between the revolutionaries and the Court. One of his triumphs was to get the Constituent Assembly to vote for a patriotic levy.

  240 last election: the liberal opposition gained ground at the expense of the Ultras in the general election of 1827.

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  240 pious associations: see n. to p. 25.

  242 Saint-Philippe du Roule: fashionable church situated (in presentday Paris) between the Boulevard Haussmann and the Avenue des Champs-Elysées.

  243 Concordat: agreement between Napoleon and Pope Pius VII ( 1801) setting out the terms under which the Catholic Church would be given recognition by the French State. The alienation of Church lands was made permanent, but the State assumed responsibility for the payment of clerical salaries.

  244 Malmaison: château situated to the west of Paris; residence of Napoleon, and then of the Empress Josephine after their divorce (1809).

  244 walls . . . which break up the park: the Swedish banker Haguermann, who had purchased Malmaison, undertook building work in 1830 to separate the original layout of the chateau from the extensions built in the grounds by the Empress Josephine.

  245 Spanish War: France invaded Spain in 1823 to restore the Bourbon king.

  246 Place de Grève: square in Paris where public executions took place. Renamed Place de l'Hôtel de Ville in 1806.

  246 Moreri: 1643-80, author of a Grand Dictionnaire historique ( 1674).

  246 Adsum qui feci: Virgil, Aeneid, IX. 427: 'I am here who was the cause of it.'

  247 Philip II: King of Spain, 1556-98. Henry VIII: King of England, 1509-47.

  248 Cardinal Dubois: 1656-1723, cardinal and politician. Tutor to the Duke of Orleans; prime minister in 1722.

  249 Robespierre and his cart: see n. to p. 60. The cart was that used to convey victims to the guillotine.

  249 Faubourg Saint-Germain: neighbourhood of Paris surrounding the church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés on the south bank of the Seine.

  249 Voltaire's death: 1778.

  250 Kant: German philosopher, 1724-1804.

  250 nil mirari: nil admirari ('do not marvel at anything'), Horace, Epistles, 1.6.

  251 Henry III's friend: Boniface de la Mole, 1530-74.

  252 Père-Lchaise: cemetery where many of the famous are buried:

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  opened in 1804 at Ménilmontant (on the eastern outskirts of Paris) on land that had formerly belonged to Louis XIV's confessor, the Père de La Chaise.

  252 Marshal Ney: 1769-1815, renowned for his exploits in the revolutionary wars and those of the Empire. Created a peer of France by Louis XVIII, he deserted to Napoleon during the Hundred Days and was court-martialled for treason at the Second Restoration.

  253 posible: in the original French, Julien writes cela ('that') with a double ll: cella--a common mistake among French native speakers unsure of their spelling. Stendhal remembered committing it himself when first employed at the ministry of war on his arrival in Paris at the age of 16.

  254 St Charles's day: 4 Nov.

  256 Académie des Inscriptions: founded by Colbert in 1663 for the pursuit of historical and archeological learning.

  257 Chapelle: 1626-86, French poet. Molière: 1622-73, French dramatist.

  258 Reina: Francesco Reina, 1772-1826: Italian lawyer, scholar and patriot much admired by Stendhal.

  258 Voltaire's Princess of Babylon: 1768; an oriental extravaganza depicting the tumultuous adventures of a dazzlingly beautiful princess and her bold suitor.

  259 Bois de Boulogne: wood on the western edge of Paris where it was fashionable to go riding.

  259 Rue du Bac: long narrow street running from the Seine through the Faubourg Saint-Germain to the Rue de Sèvres.

  260 Place Louis XVI: now Place de la Concorde. In 1828 a monument was erected on the spot where Louis XVI had been guillotined.

  262 Ronsard: 1524-85, French poet.

  262 You can only lean. . .: maxim attributed to Talleyrand (see n. to p. 267).

  263 new colleagues: 77 new peers were created in Nov. 1827--a move which displeased the extreme Ultras.

  263 Béranger: 1780-1857, writer of patriotic political songs. He had been condemned in 1828 to 9 months' imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 francs for three seditious songs. The liberal paper Le Constitutionnel tried to raise a public subscription to pay the fine.

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  263 . . . freely on any subject: this long sentence is an echo of Figaro's monologue in Beaumarchais Marriage of Figaro ( V.3).

  264 La Quotidienne . . . La Gazette de France: the latter was an Ultraroyalist newspaper, engaged in 1830 in a major campaign against La Quotidienne, the other extreme right-wing paper, which supported Charles X's current minister Polignac. La Gazette de France advocated the inclusion of the ex-minister Villèle in the Cabinet.

  264 rode in the king's carriages: this was a highly exclusive privilege granted to certain members of the nobility under the Ancien Ré
gime, but it had lost some of its distinction by 1830.

  267 Abbé de Pradt: 1759-1837, churchman, diplomat and political writer. He opposed the Revolution and emigrated, but later rallied to Napoleon, becoming his chaplain and his ambassador to Warsaw. He returned to the royalist fold with the Restoration of Louis XVIII. Talleyrand: 1754-1838, prelate and diplomat; minister of foreign affairs under Napoleon. He was responsible for forming a provisional government in 1814 and summoning Louis XVIII to the throne; he played a major part in negotiating the treaty of Vienna in 1815. Pozzo di Borgo: 1764-1842, Corsican diplomat who became privy councillor to Alexander I of Russia, and worked for the defeat of Napoleon.

  267 great poet: the name Sainclair echoes the Saint-Clair who is the hero of a tale published by Mérimée ( 1803-70) in January 1830. Commentators have noted characteristics of both Mérimée and Lamartine ( 1790-1869) in Stendhal's 'great poet'. Lamartine had abandoned his earlier Ultra stance in favour of more liberal views by 1829; he was officially admitted to the Académie Françraise in April 1830.

  268 Baron Bâton: bâton is the French word for 'stick, rod'.

  268 Duc de Bouillon: 1555-1623, Protestant supporter of Henri IV. Bouillon is the French word for 'broth'.

  268 most subtle man of this century: Talleyrand (see n. to p. 267) has been suggested as the model for this portrait.

  269 Tartuffe: the main character of Molière play Tartuffe ( 1669) is a consummate hypocrite who attempts to marry his protector's daughter and seduce his wife by pretending to be deeply devout. The play was immensely popular between 1815 and 1830, and was used by liberals as an anticlerical weapon.

  269 like Bazilio: it is in fact Bartholo (in Beaumarchais Marriage ofFigaro

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  Figaro, 1784) who comments that a certain lodging place must be a thieves' den if Basilio lives there.

  270 electoral colleges: see n. to p. 100 above.

  270 decisive manœuvre: reference to the 1827 elections, in which a number of instances of high-level fraud had come to light.

  270 Comte: famous conjurer of the period.

  271 greatest poet of the age: reference to Béranger (see n. to p. 263 above).

  271 M. de Nerval: see n. to p. 398.

  271 Lord Holland: 1773-1840. Whig peer associated with a number of political reforms. He sympathized with the French Revolution and protested at the Allies' imprisonment of Napoleon.

  272 new king of England: William IV acceded to the throne in June 1830.

  272 Duc de Castries: 1727-1800, minister for the navy from 1780 to 1787. d'Alembert: 1717-83, French Enlightenment philosopher, mathematician and writer.

  272 Maréchale: the title designates the wife of a marshal.

  272 lending money to kings: Baron James de Rothschild, nicknamed 'kings' moneylender', raised large sums in 1823 to support the Spanish War, in which the rebel general Riego was hanged by Ferdinand VII.

  275 Faublas: The Amorous Adventures of the Chevalier de Faublas is a novel by the politician and writer Louvet de Coudray, 1760-97.

  280 Staub's: the most fashionable Parisian tailor of the time.

  282 son of an archbishop: Catholic clergy are celibate.

  283 Count Ory: opera by Rossini, first performed in 1828 and put on again with great splendour at the Tuileries in the spring of 1830.

  284 Opera days: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

  285 Bertolotti: editor of the Piedmontese literary journal Lo Spettatore to which Stendhal had contributed in 1816.

  285 Hyères: port on the Mediterranean coast.

  285 new paper: plausibly Le National, founded in 1829, and hostile to the Ultra-right.

  286 Rivarol: 1753-1801, literary figure with a reputation for wit. He is remembered chiefly for his Discourse on the Universality of theFrench Language

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  French Language, awarded a prize by the Berlin Academy in 1786.

  286 Emigration: see n. to p. 215.

  288 M. Poisson's accounts: reference to a scene in L'Ecole des bourgeois by d'Allainval ( 1700-53). First performed in 1728, this comedy of manners, depicting nobles and parvenus at loggerheads, was given 162 performances between 1801 and 1837.

  289 Lowe . . . Bathurst: Bathurst was minister for the colonies from 1815 to 1825, and was responsible for appointing Lowe to the governorship of St Helena in April 1816.

  289 Vane: fictitious. Critics have suggested that Stendhal modelled this character on Richard Carlile, a follower of Jeremy Bentham. Carlile was in prison in 1817 when Stendhal first visited London.

  291 standing for the liberals: in the 1827 elections a royalist faction joined forces with the liberal opposition, and became known as the right-wing defection.

  293 Pellico: Silvio Pellico, 1788-1854, Italian writer imprisoned in the Spielberg in Brünn for Carbonarism. Stendhal had made his acquaintance in Milan in 1816.

  297 Coulon's: the Coulons were a family of ballroom dancers famous at the time.

  298 accompanying a M. Coindet: reference to a passage in Rousseau Confessions (Book X).

  298 King Feretrius: the liberal press in the 1820s was merciless in its mockery of M. Laurentie, editor of the Ultra newspaper La Quotidienne, for a howler he had committed in a scholarly treatise on the Roman historians: ignorant of the expression Jupiter Feretrius ( Feretrius is a conventional epithet of disputed meaning), he had conjured a King Feretrius out of the Latin sentence he was attempting to translate.

  301 Mirabeau: see n. to p. 240.

  301 Conradin: Conrad V ( 1252-68), last of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Sicily from 1254, and was beheaded on the orders of the King of Naples.

  301 galope: this dance was all the rage in the late 1820s.

  301 25 July 1830: it was on this day that Charles X and his minister Polignac published a set of repressive measures which triggered off the July Revolution, bringing France a greater measure of liberty under Louis-Philippe.

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  Mme de Staël: 1766-1817, French writer. She had an influential salon in Paris at the beginning of the Revolution, but was later forced into exile by Napoleon. She held progressive views on politics and on the position of women in society.

  Danton: see n. to p. 3.

  extradition: plausibly an allusion to the Galotti affair, which received widespread coverage in the press in 1830. The Prince of Castelcicala, Neapolitan chargé d'affaires in Paris, had requested the extradition of a conspirator named Galotti who had sought political asylum in Corsica

  grab me: the slang term empoigner was the cause of a topical scandal in 1823: it was used in public by the chief gendarme when he expelled a deputy from the Chamber.

  Ney: see n. to p. 252.

  Henri IV: 1553-1610, King of Navarre ( Henri III) from 1562, and of France ( Henri IV from 1589. Married Marguerite de Valois, daughter of Henri II.

  Girondin: member of a political group formed in 1791 around the deputies from the Gironde. The Girondins represented moderation in the Convention, and opposed the massacres of the Terror.

  Courier: Paul-Louis Courier, 1772-1825, author of pamphlets against the Restoration. He was sentenced to two months' imprisonment in 1821, and accused of 'cynicism' by the crown prosecutor at his trial.

  Béranger: see n. to p. 263.

  Murat: 1767-1815, marshal in Napoleon's armies; married Napoleon's sister Caroline; King of Naples from 1808.

  Delavigne: 1793-1843, French poet and dramatist. Marino Faliero was first performed in May 1829 and widely discussed in the press for its political overtones. The plot centres on the character of Israel Bertuccio, a 'man of the people' who hatches a plot against the Venetian nobility in 1335.

  Pichegru: 1761-1804, commander of the Rhine army under Napoleon. He later betrayed the Revolution by establishing contact with the émigré forces. La Fayette: 1757-1834, French general and politician. He took part in the American War of Independence, and supported the French revolutions of 1789 and 1830 as a liberal royalist.

  liberal Spaniards: referenc
e to an uprising in 1829 by a group of

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  liberals in Catalonia against Ferdinand VII. It was severely repressed.

  Carnot: 1753-1823, mathematician and leading figure of the Revolution. He organized the Republican armies and planned military strategy. He was exiled by the Restoration.

  Vély's History of France: publication of this history began in 1755 and was completed after Vély's death in 1759.

  Piedmontese . . . revolutionaries: reference to the 1821 uprising.

  Letters from a Portuguese nun: a collection of passionate love letters which appeared in 1669 purporting to be a translation of the correspondence of Mariana Alcoforado, a Portuguese nun.

  Hernani: drama by Victor Hugo ( 1802-85) which caused a wellprepared uproar at its first performance in 1830 because it deliberately violated the conventions of French classical theatre. It became a focal point for the hostility between traditionalists and the emerging Romantic movement.

  lettres de cachet: letters bearing the king's seal and containing a peremptory order of imprisonment or exile.

  Talma: 1763-1826, French tragic actor much admired by Napoleon.

  Place de Grève: see n. to p. 246.

  Boniface de la Mole: see n. to p. 251.

  Marguerite of Navarre: Marguerite de Valois, 1553-1615 (known as la Reine Margot), daughter of Henri II of France and Catherine de Medici, and sister of Charles IX, Henri III and the Duc d'Alençon. She married Henri III of Navarre (later Henri IV of France, grandson of the earlier Marguerite de Navarre who was sister to François I). Renowned for her wit, beauty and amorous adventures, she wrote poetry and a volume of memoirs.

  Duc d'Alençon: 1554-84, son of Henri II and Catherine de Medici, and brother of Marguerite de Navarre.

  Catherine de Medici: 1519-89, wife of Henri II and mother of François II, Charles IX, Henri III (Duc d'Anjou), Marguerite de Valois and the Duc d'Alençon. She acted as regent during Charles IX's minority, and was a ruthless politician. Her motive for imprisoning her son the Duc d'Alençon and her son-in-law Henri de Navarre was to thwart a plot to substitute the Duc d'Alençon for the Duc d'Anjou (who had become King of Poland) as heir to the ailing Charles IX.