But, on the other hand, although Balzac had already acquired a massive
aspect, he did not have that vulgar outline which Jacob, the
book-fancier, suggests. And when he was speaking enthusiastically in a
drawing-room his face irradiated, one might almost say, a sort of
spirituality, his eyes glowed with a splendid fire, and his lips parted
in a laugh of such potent joyousness that he communicated the contagion
of it to his hearers. He spoke in a pleasant, well-modulated voice,
with fluctuations in tone that accorded nicely with the circumstances
of the recital; and his gestures and power of mimicry seemed to conjure
up the characters whose adventures he narrated. He was so successful
that he gave up telling stories in public, for fear of acquiring the
reputation of an entertainer, which might have robbed him of the high
consideration which he exacted both for himself and for his writings.

In the full heat of his literary work Balzac did not forget his
political ambitions; and, since the Revolution of July, 1830, had made
him eligible, he was anxious to present himself in 1832 at one of the
electoral colleges, as a candidate for the supplementary elections. In
April he wrote a pamphlet, Inquest into the politics of two Ministries,
which he signed "M. de Balzac, eligible elector," and in which he set
forth his criticisms of the government and his own principles. As soon
as it was printed he sent off forty copies to General de Pommereul, for
the purpose of distribution among his friends in Fougeres; and he wrote
him:

"I shall write successively four or five more, in order to prove to the
electors who nominate me that I can do them honour, and that I shall
try to be useful to the country.

"As for parliamentary incorruptibility, my ambition is to see my