Meanwhile Cromwell did not wholly absorb him. Honore de Balzac was
already a fluent writer, full of clamorous ideas and schemes that each
day were born anew. Between two speeches of his play, he would sketch a
brief romance of the old-fashioned type, draft the rhymes of a comic
opera, which he would later decide to give up, because of the
difficulty of finding a composer, hampered as he was by his isolation.
In addition to his literary occupations, he took an anxious interest in
politics. "I am more than ever attached to my career," he wrote to his
sister Laure, "for a host of reasons, of which I will give you only
those that you would not be likely to guess of your own accord. Our
revolutions are very far from being ended; considering the way that
things are going, I foresee many a coming storm. Good or bad, the
representative system demands immense talent; big writers will
necessarily be sought after in political crises, for do they not
supplement their other knowledge with the spirit of observation and a
profound understanding of the human heart?

"If I should become a shining light (which, of course, is precisely the
thing that we do not yet know), I may some day achieve something
besides a literary reputation, and add to the title of 'great writer'
that of great citizen. That is an ambition which is also tempting!
Nothing, nothing but love and glory can ever fill the vast recesses of
my heart, within which you are cherished as you deserve to be."

In order to enlighten himself in regard to the legislative elections,
he appealed to one of his correspondents, M. Dablin, a rich hardware
merchant and friend of the family, who had often come to the aid of his
slender purse. He asked him for a list of the deputies, and inquired
what their political opinions were and how the parties would be divided