MY MEMOIRS BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS TRANSLATED BY E. M. WALLER WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ANDREW LANG VOL. I 1802 TO 1821 WITH A FRONTISPIECE NEW YORK THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1907 NOTE The translator has, in the main, followed the edition published at Brussels in 1852-56, in the Preface to which the publishers state that they have printed from "_le manuscrit autographe_" of the author. They furthermore print a letter from Dumas, dated Brussels, 23rd December 1851, in which Dumas says: "Je vous offre donc, mon cher Meline, de revoir moi-même les épreuves de votre réimpression, et de faire de votre édition de Bruxelles la seule édition complète qui paraîtra à l'étranger." The translation has been collated (_a_) with the current edition, and (_b_) with the original edition published in Paris in 1852-55, and certain omitted passages have been restored. Dumas' spelling of proper names has been followed save in a few cases deemed to be misprints. THESE MEMOIRS ARE DEDICATED TO THE HONOURABLE COUNT ALFRED D'ORSAY MY FELLOW-CRAFTSMAN AND MY BOSOM FRIEND ALEXANDRE DUMAS CONTENTS BOOK I CHAPTER I My birth--My name is disputed--Extracts from the official registers of Villers-Cotterets--Corbeil Club--My father's marriage certificate--My mother--My maternal grandfather--Louis-Philippe d'Orléans, father of Philippe-Égalité--Madame de Montesson--M. de Noailles and the Academy--A morganatic marriage CHAPTER II My father--His birth--The arms of the family--The serpents of Jamaica--The alligators of St. Domingo--My grandfather--A young man's adventure--A first duel--M. le duc de Richelieu acts as second for my father--My father enlists as a private soldier--He changes his name--Death of my grandfather--His death certificate CHAPTER III My father rejoins his regiment--His portrait--His strength--His skill--The Nile serpent--The regiment of the King and the regiment of the Queen--Early days of the Revolution--Declaration of Pilnitz--The camp at Maulde--The thirteen Tyrolean chasseurs--My father's name is mentioned in the order of the day--France under Providence--Voluntary enlistments--St.-Georges and Boyer--My father lieutenant-colonel--The camp of the Madeleine--The pistols of Lepage--My father General of Brigade in the Army of the North CHAPTER IV My father is sent to join Kléber--He is nominated General-in-Chief in the Western Pyrenees--Bouchotte's letters--Instructions of the Convention--The Representatives of the People who sat at Bayonne--Their proclamation--In spite of this proclamation my father remains at Bayonne--Monsieur de l'Humanité CHAPTER V