ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN

Lire the names of Besant and Rice, Beaumont and Fletcher, those of Erckmann and Chatrian are inseparably united in the history of literature. Emile Erckmann was born in Pfalzburg, Alsace, May 20, 1822. After studying at the Lyceum of Professor Perrot in Pfalzburg, he went to Paris to read law. He did not know any French till he was twelve years of âge.

Alexandre Chatrian was born December 18, 1826, also an Alsatian. He became an usher in Professor Perrot's Lyceum, where he was introduced to Erckmann in 1847. The two soon became fast friends and composed many stories and dramatic pièces which, however, met with little success. To make a living, Erckmann had to apply himself to law, and Chatrian obtained a position in a railway office. In 1859 they published "L'Illustre Docteur Mathéus," which was well received. "Madame Thérèse" and other novels upon the events of the French Révolution and of the First Empire followed and met with popular favor. In 1872, after the annexation of Alsace by Germany, the two authors published "L'Histoire du Plébiscite," which produced a great sensation.

Erckmann and Chatrian hâve been called the " novelists of republicanism, the panegyrists of the French Révolution." Of the value of their work, Ex-President White of Cornell University has said : " Thèse delightf ul works well deserve their great success. Not only is the couleur locale admirably preserved, but the very spirit of those who took part