eighty thousand francs, an
enormous price for a poor book. The more renown he acquired, the less
pains he took with his books, but he always made good any losses
incurred by publishers in publishing his works.

Finding himself in years, he bethought himself of marriage, and turned
his attention to a relative of Madam de Maintenon, who refused him
upon the pretext of the disparity in their ages. He had his revenge in
writing against marriage, and against all aristocracies in his romances.
His _Mysteries of Paris_ appeared in the _Debats_, and the _Wandering
Jew_ in the _Constitutionel_. He endeavored through his fiction to teach
Socialistic doctrines, and so far carried them into practice that he
appeared in the streets in a blouse. There can be no question that his
later novels were written with a far higher aim than the early ones,
which were reeking with a refined, yet none the less loathsome
sensuality. An enormous price was paid for the _Wandering Jew_ by the
editor of the _Constitutionel_, who was none other than his old
companion of the wine-closet--Dr. Veron. The latter made a bargain with
the author to write ten small volumes a year for fourteen consecutive
years, for which he agreed to pay one hundred thousand francs a year, or
nearly a million and a half for the whole engagement. He presented Dr.
Veron with the manuscript of the _Seven Capital Sins_, when the worthy
editor found himself drawn to the life, under the title of the Gourmand.
He protested against it, but Sue pleading the bargain, would not abate
one sentence. Dr. Veron would not, of course, publish it, and finally
the contract was annulled. The Gourmand--Dr. Veron--was published in the
_Seicle_, and the others of the _Capital Sins_, were published in the
_Presse_.

Sue had at this time a splendid chateau in the environs of Orleans--the
chateau des Bordes. Here he lived in great luxury and splendor. In the
days of the republic he was elected a member of the legislative
assembly, which office at first he was backward in assuming. In 1852
Sue sold his Orleans property, and removed to a beautiful place in
Savoy, where his life was described as follows: "He rises in the morning
and receives from a servant a long bamboo cane, and walks in the region
of his house until breakfast. A pretty house-keeper waits upon him while
he partakes of a sumptuous meal, and when it is finished, he enters his
study to write. The servant presents him with a spotless pair