the greatness of his works, and rumours which veiled the features of
the man behind a haze of absurd legends. A star of his country he
certainly was, as Victor Hugo proclaimed him, one of those enduring
stars which time--so cruel to others--fails to change, except to purify
their light and augment their brilliance, to the greater pride of the
nation. His life was indeed short, but it was one which set a salutary
example, because, stripped of idle gossip, it teaches us the inner
discipline, the commanding will and the courage of this hero who, in
the midst of joy and sorrow alike, succeeded in creating an entire
world.

Honore de Balzac was born at Tours on the 20th of March, 1799, on the
ground floor of a building belonging to a tailor named Damourette, in
the Rue de l'Armee d'Italie, No. 25,--now No. 35, Rue Nationale. The
majority of his biographers have confused it with the dwelling which
his father bought later on, No. 29 in the same street according to the
old numbering, and the acacia which is there pointed out as having been
planted at the date of his birth really celebrated that of his brother
Henri, who was several years the younger.

Although born in Touraine, Balzac was not of Tourainian stock, for his
birthplace was due merely to chance. His father, Bernard Francois
Balssa or Balsa, came originally from the little village of Nougaire,
in the commune of Montirat and district of Albi. He descended from a
peasant family, small land-owners or often simple day labourers. It was
he who first added a "c" to his patronymic and who later prefixed the
particle for which the great novelist was afterwards so often
reproached. Bernard Balssa, born July 22, 1746, left his native village
at the age of fourteen years, never to return. What was his career, and
what functions did he fulfil? Honore de Balzac says that his father was