The Ink-Stain | Page 4

making
an entire meal of them. D.W.]

THE INK STAIN BY RENE BAZIN (Tache d'Encre)
By RENE BAZIN
Preface by E. LAVISSE

BOOK 1.
RENE BAZIN
RENE-NICHOLAS-MARIE BAZIN was born at Angers, December 26,
1853. He studied for the bar, became a lawyer and professor of
jurisprudence at the Catholic University in his native city, and early
contributed to 'Le Correspondant, L'Illustration, Journal des Debats,
Revue du Deux Mondes,' etc. Although quietly writing fiction for the
last fifteen years or so, he was not well known until the dawn of the
twentieth century, when his moral studies of provincial life under the
form of novels and romances became appreciated. He is a profound
psychologist, a force in literature, and his style is very pure and
attractive. He advocates resignation and the domestic virtues, yet his
books are neither dull, nor tiresome, nor priggish; and as he has
advanced in years and experience M. Bazin has shown an increasing
ambition to deal with larger problems than are involved for instance, in
the innocent love-affairs of 'Ma Tante Giron' (1886), a book which
enraptured Ludovic Halevy. His novel, 'Une Tache d'Encre' (1888), a
romance of scholarly life, was crowned by the French Academy, to
which he was elected in 1903.
It is safe to say that Bazin will never develop into an author dangerous
to morals. His works may be put into the hands of cloistered virgins,
and there are not, to my knowledge, many other contemporary French
imaginative writers who could endure this stringent test. Some critics,
indeed, while praising him, scoff at his chaste and surprising optimism;
but it is refreshing to recommend to English readers, in these days of
Realism and Naturalism, the works of a recent French writer which do
not require maturity of years in the reader. 'Une Tache d'Encre', as I
have said, was crowned by the French Academy; and Bazin received
from the same exalted body the "Prix Vitet" for the ensemble of his
writings in 1896, being finally admitted a member of the Academy in
June, 1903. He occupies the chair of Ernest Legouve.
Bazin's first romance, 'Stephanette', was published under the
pseudonym "Bernard Seigny," in 1884; then followed 'Victor Pavie
(1887); Noellet (1890); A l'Aventure (1891) and Sicile (1892)', two
books on Italy, of which the last mentioned was likewise crowned by
the French Academy; 'La Legende de Sainte-Bega (1892); La Sarcelle
Bleue (1892); Madame Corentine (1893); Les Italiens d'aujousd'hui

(1894); Humble Amour (1894); En Province (1896); De toute son Ame
(1897)', a realistic but moderate romance of a workingman's life; 'Les
Contes de Perrette (1898); La Terre qui Meurt (1899); Le Guide de
l'Empereur (1901); Les Oberle (1902), a tale from Alsace of to-day,
sketching the political situation, approximately correct, and lately
adapted for the stage; 'Donatienne' (1903).
With Bazin literary life does not become a mirage obscuring the vision
of real life. Before being an author Rene Bazin is a man, with a family
attached to the country, rooted in the soil; a guaranty of the dignity of
his work as well as of the writer, and a safeguard against many
extravagances. He has remained faithful to his province. He lives in the
attractive city of Angers. When he leaves it, it is for a little tour through
France, or a rare journey-once to Sicily and once to Spain. He is seldom
to be met on the Parisian boulevards. Not that he has any prejudice
against Paris, or fails to appreciate the tone of its society, or the quality
of its diversions; but he is conscious that he has nothing to gain from a
residence in the capital, but, on the contrary, would run a risk of losing
his intense originality and the freshness of his genius.
E. LAVISSE de l'Academie Francaise.

THE INK-STAIN

CHAPTER I
THE ACCIDENT
All I have to record of the first twenty-three years of my life is the
enumeration of them. A simple bead-roll is enough; it represents their
family likeness and family monotony.
I lost my parents when I was very young. I can hardly recall their faces;
and I should keep no memories of La Chatre, our home, had I not been
brought up quite close to it. It was sold, however, and lost to me, like
all the rest. Yes, fate is hard, sometimes. I was born at La Chatre; the
college of La Chatre absorbed eighteen years of my life. Our head
master used to remark that college is a second home; whereby I have
always fancied he did some injustice to the first.

My school-days were hardly over when my uncle and guardian, M.
Brutus Mouillard, solicitor, of Bourges, packed me off to Paris to go
through my law course. I took three years over it: At the end of that