l supplement to the daily papers, which was to be
entitled "Le feuilleton des journaux politiques." This was a failure,
but Balzac was associated with Emile de Girardin in several other
literary enterprises; and it was through the agency of this energetic
editor that he wrote his letters on Paris in the _Voleur_, which,
extending from September 26th, 1830, to March 29th, 1831, would form a
volume in themselves. After the Revolution of 1830 stories went out of
fashion, the reviews and magazines being completely occupied with the
task of discussing the political situation; and Balzac wrote
numberless articles in the _Silhouette_, which was edited by Victor
Ratier, and in the _Caricature_, edited by M. Philippon. A few years
later, the latter journal became violently political; but at this time
it consisted merely of witty and amusing articles, ridiculing all
parties impartially.

[*] "La Genese d'un Roman de Balzac," p. 105, by the Vicomte de
Spoelberch de Lovenjoul.

With Victor Ratier, Balzac contemplated a partnership in writing for
the theatre, though he thought Ratier hardly sufficiently industrious
to make a satisfactory collaborator. However, he threatened him in
case of laziness with a poor and honest young man as a rival, and, to
rouse Ratier to energy, remarked that the unnamed prodigy was, like
himself, full of courage, whereas Ratier resembled "an Indian on his
mat."[*] Balzac's imaginative brain was to supply the plot and
characters of each drama; but he was careful, as in the case of his
early novels, that his name should not appear, as the plays were to be
mere vaudevilles written to gain money, and would certainly not
increase their author's reputation. Ratier was therefore to pose as
their sole author, and was to undertake the actual writing of the
play, unless he were too lazy for the effort, when the honest and
unfortunate young man would take his place. The pecuniary part of the
bargain was not mentioned, except the fact that both partners would
become enormously rich; and that result is so invariable a
characteristic of Balzac's schemes that it need hardly be noticed.
However, this brilliant plan came to nothing, not, as we may suppose,
from any failure on the part of the indolent Ratier--as there was in
this case his unnamed rival to fall back upon--but most probably
because its promoter had not a moment's leisure in which to think of
it again.

[*] "Correspondance," vol. i. p. 115.

Toward