The Red and the Black: A Chronicle of the Nineteenth Century
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From this time forth I never will speak word: Othello, V. a (quoted m English by Stendhal).
bad French: a survey conducted in 1794 revealed that 6 million Frenchmen spoke no French at all, and another 6 million spoke it very imperfectly; only 3 million were judged to speak it correctly. Despite the attempts of the Revolution to eradicate the various regional dialects in favour of a national language, French in 1830 was still a second language for large sections of the population.
Sterne: 1713-68.
Lavalitte's escape: Lavalette ( 1769-1830) was an important figure in Napoleon's army and civil administration. He was condemned to death in 1815 for his part in engineering Napoleon's comeback, but managed to escape from prison by changing clothes with his wife. He was smuggled into Bavaria, where he remained until
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granted a pardon in 1822. Sadly, his wife had by this time lost her reason, and never recognized him when he returned to Paris.
René: novel by Chateaubriand ( 1768- 1848), published in 1802. Its hero suffers from world-weariness.
Fouqué's bad grammar: see n. to p. 475 on bad French.
Congregationist: member of the Congregation (see n. to p. 25).
Bishop of ---: see n. to p. 426.
Locke: quoted in French by Stendhal. The Life of John Locke with Extracts from his Correspondence, Journals and Commonplace Books was published by Lord King in 1829.
suppression of the death penalty: this was a subject of contemporary debate. Victor Hugo had published a poem entitled 'The Last Days of a Condemned Man' in 1829.
the Fronde: name of an uprising of nobles against Cardinal Mazarin during Louis XIV's minority ( 1648-52). The Duchesse de Chevreuse ( 1600-79) and the Duchesse de Longueville ( 1619-79) were leading figures in the movement.
king of terrors: Job 18: 14.
Jacobin law: the law of 2 May 1827 had extended the list of those eligible for jury service.
liberal by defection: see n. to p. 291 on the 1827 elections.
events of 1814: fall of Napoleon and Restoration of Louis XVIII.
bad French: see n. to p. 475.
Lavalette: see n. to p. 478. Lavalette glanced at his watch as his death sentence was read out.
Chapter 42: the last 4 chapters have neither title nor epigraph.
Fénelon's God: Fénelon ( 1651-1715), prelate and writer. His Maxims of the Saints ( 1697) were condemned by the Church for Quietism.
thou hast loved much: echo of Christ's words to Mary Magdalene ( Luke 7: 47)
Danton . . . prevented the enemy from reaching Paris: the Jacobins, led by Danton, set up the Insurrectionary Commune on 10 Aug. 1792. Prussian forces marched on France in July 1792, but were defeated by the revolutionary armies at Valmy on 20 Sept.
. . . of common men: lines quoted (with a minor inaccuracy) from Voltaire play Mahomet, 1741 ( II. 5): 'Du droit qu'un esprit
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ferme et vaste en ses desseins / A sur l'esprit grossier des vulgaires humains.'
Manuel: 1775-1827; barrister and liberal deputy under the Restoration. He fought in the revolutionary armies from 1792 to 1797.
Belphégor's lines: '. . . le nœud du mariage / Damne aussi dru qu'aucuns autres estats' ('The marriage bond / Damns as surely as any other state'), from La Fontaine tale Belphégor ( v,7), in which a demon sent to Earth to investigate the marriage state discovers that conjugal life is not a bed of roses.
charcoal: presumably from the fumes. Carbon monoxide poisoning was a recognized hazard of cooking on charcoal stoves and chafing dishes.
latterday apostate: comparison of Julien with Julian the Apostate (331-63): Roman emperor from 361), who forsook Christianity for paganism.
almost noon: Mass could not be celebrated after noon.
natural rights: reference to Rousseau Social Contract (see n. to p. 22).
confiscated from the Protestants: to hand out to nobles in favour at Court.
King of Rome: Napoleon II ( 1811-32), son of Napoleon by his second wife Marie-Louise, was proclaimed King of Rome at his birth. Napoleon abdicated in his favour in both 1814 and 1815.
Dubois: in 1720 Massillon (see n. to p. 423) officiated under Cardinal de Rohan at the consecration of Cardinal Dubois (see n. to p. 248).
novena: 9 days of ritual prayer.
Charles X: 1757-1836; reigned 1824-30.
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