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The Mysteries of Paris: George

Observing this, Rudolph, whose aim is ever to give another chance to those in whom good is apparent, transplants her to a home in the country, where, under the care of Mrs. George, his old nurse, she may grow up in a wholesome atmosphere. At the same time he binds the Slasher to him for life by offering him his hand with the remark that the convict has honor and a heart. Here our story begins.

Rudolph, we soon learn, has two aims in venturing incognito into the filth of Paris. The first is to discover, if he can, the where-abouts of Mrs. George's son, Germain, who has been taken from her in his youth by a vicious husband. The second is to trace, if possible, his lost daughter, who is supposed to have died in infancy. It is around these two themes that the romance moves. In pursuing them M. Rudolph is beset by every imaginable adventure. He is locked up in a subterranean cellar, where the waters of the Seine slowly creep up to his neck, and from which predicament the faithful Slasher rescues him. Innumerable traps are laid for his feet; but from each successive snare he miraculously escapes. And throughout this series of entanglements he never abandons his premise that no matter how depraved the individual, there is potential good in all humanity, which, if nurtured, will blossom into virtue. In consequence he becomes a sort of "inferior Providence" to those whom he meets. He saves the blameless debtor from prison, and places an honest livelihood within his reach. He does a thousand kindnesses. On the other hand, he does not hesitate to bring the unworthy to justice. Relentlessly he causes the eyes of a wretch who has been pitiless to the weak to be put out that he may know what it means to be helpless and the prey of the strong. The story is a network of crimes and their eventual punishment, and everywhere triumphant we find the creed that in the breast of humankind burns a spark of the divine.

The portion of the tale dealing with the kidnapping of Fleur-de-Marie from her home with Mrs. George by Screech Owl, the blinded schoolmaster, and the imp Hoppy is a novel in itself. How these wretches wait for the innocent girl, convey her to Paris by coach, and thrust her into the arms of the police, who in turn deposit her in prison, is exciting reading. From prison she is released by a written order, only to fall a victim to a band of hired ruffians who try to drown her in the Seine. As she is floating down the river, one of her old comrades from Saint-Lazare leaps in and saves her life. Next we see her in a great Paris hospital, and it is at this juncture that the Grand Duke Rudolph of Gerolstein obtains traces of her, discovers that she is his own daughter, and bears her in triumph to his magnificent palace to be transformed from a fugitive of the streets to her Royal Highness Princess Amelia. Here, for a brief period, we behold our little Fleur-de-Marie the idol of the court and sought in marriage by a prince of the realm.

But the stigma of the past is ever fresh in the girl's mind. She cannot shake it off. Though she adores her lover, she refuses to wed him, saying that she "loves him too much to give him a hand that has been touched by the ruffians of the city." Poor, brave Fleur-de-Marie! She at last seeks peace in a convent; and when she dies there we have no regrets that her blameless but troubled life is ended.

In the mean time what of Germain?

We search for him through an equally ingenious train of happenings. With all M. Rudolph's wealth and astuteness it is no easy task to find this missing boy who is lost in the great city of Paris. But he is found. Like Goualeuse, the young hero has kept his soul unsullied by evil. Urged to rob his employer, he has not only refused, but has given information against those who plotted the crime, that they might be brought to justice. As a result of this good deed, however, he has been hounded from one end of Paris to the other. At last he falls a victim to a monster of crime, Jacques Ferrand, a corrupt notary, who casts him into prison on a fictitious charge. Here he is no favorite, for by scorning to mingle with the vicious creatures about him he incurs their wrath and suspicion, until at length they dub him a spy and resolve to murder him. From this fate he is saved by the Slasher, who appears in the prison just in time to fell his assailants and pilot him to liberty. Eventually he is restored to his mother's arms and to his pretty sweetheart, Rigolette, whom he now marries.

The skill with which Sue constructs his story, introducing character after character, and bringing these varied elements into a unified whole, is a marvel of artistry. It is also interesting to note throughout the novel the author's knowledge of medicine--his handling of drugs, his portrayal of hospital practices, and other technical touches relative to his profession. Wherever such data can be turned to use he does not hesitate to employ them, fearlessly setting forth in black and white specific evils of the day that should be righted. Nor does he shrink from proclaiming to France, as did Dickens to England, the defects of the legal and penal systems of his country. A voice so boldly upraised at a time when injustices were many must have won a hearing, and we honor Eugene Sue not alone as a pioneer in the novel-writing field, not alone as a prince of story-tellers, but as a reformer of the social and political evils of his generation.