No sooner had he returned home than Alice handed Lionel a letter:
"Lionel, this letter is from England."
Lionel took the envelope and glanced at it, discovering that the letter was from The Nineteenth Century magazine in London, signed "Harold Thompson."
This made him pay attention.
Although The Nineteenth Century was only founded in 1877, making it a "young" magazine, its founder, Sir James Knowles, had close ties with figures like the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
Consequently, the inaugural issue featured articles by these prominent figures, and the magazine quickly gained popularity in its early days, with monthly circulation exceeding 20,000 copies by early 1878.
It's worth noting that the publication sold for as much as 2 shillings and 6 pence, equivalent to two days' wages for a skilled British worker, making such a circulation figure nothing short of a miracle.
The Nineteenth Century was also available in the Sorbonne's periodical room, and Lionel had borrowed it several times, knowing its goal was to establish a "completely neutral platform for the exchange of ideas."
However, it seemed to rarely publish purely literary works, focusing primarily on literary, scientific, and social discussions.
Puzzled, Lionel tore open the envelope, pulled out the letter, and read it carefully.
Harold Thompson had written to him in very standard French, which was a basic skill for educated Europeans of that era and not surprising.
The content of the letter was simple: first, it requested authorization for The Nineteenth Century to reprint his novel My Uncle Jules, offering to pay royalties at a rate of 5 pence (approximately 10 sous) per line.
This price seemed quite fair; after all, it was for a reprinted work, and while Lionel was a notable figure in France, he was unknown in Britain.
Second, it hoped Lionel would write an article for the "Modern Symposium" section of The Nineteenth Century's August issue, on the theme of "Impoverished Individuals and Family Responsibility."
"Modern Symposium" was the cornerstone of The Nineteenth Century; it presented a series of articles and responses by different authors on topics such as science, literature, or religion, which the magazine collected and published in a debate-like format.
This "specialized forum" style of article organization allowed readers to quickly glimpse the most cutting-edge intellectual trends of the time.
Harold suggested that Lionel could approach the topic from the perspectives of "how far internal family economic aid obligations should extend" or "the moral conflict between individual success and failure and family relationships," discussing it alongside authors from France, Britain, Germany, and Russia.
In Harold's eyes, My Uncle Jules was a classic novel exploring modern family relationships, which was why he extended the invitation to Lionel.
Lionel frowned.
He was happy to agree to the first request, as it would help him expand his readership in Britain.
However, the second request was somewhat challenging for him—in the context of the late 19th century, especially after the full advent of industrial society, traditional family relationships faced immense challenges in both Britain and France.
The family ethics shaped by traditional agricultural society were facing subversion and even disintegration.
For instance, 200 years ago in England, even the most heartless parents would not have faced the choice of either forcing a 6-year-old child into a chimney to remove ash or into a mine to dig coal.
Similarly, in traditional French society, the family was an economic unit, land was the primary form of property, and most members lived and worked together, leading to a strong concept of "kinship obligation."
Regardless of relatives' economic status, family members had long-term, stable responsibilities for mutual support.
By the time Jules was "exiled" to the Americas, the Darmaigne family's economic source was no longer land but wages, and the members' interdependence diminished—which is why he appeared particularly "wicked."
While money was certainly a major factor in Joseph's family turning a "blind eye" to Jules, there were also undeniable social reasons behind it.
How to reconstruct family ethics within the context of industrialization and capitalism was something many writers and philosophers of that era pondered and explored.
Although Lionel possessed insights 150 years ahead of his time, he might not be able to articulate these issues clearly within the confines of a single article.
He put down the letter, walked to the window, and looked down at the Parisian street scene.
Carriages rumbled, pedestrians bustled, and the pulse of this "capital of Europe" beat ever faster, driven by the engines of industry and capital.
What he saw at this moment was not a romantic street scene, but countless Uncle Juleses, countless Monsieur and Madame Philippes, countless Josephs...
And of course, his unlucky neighbor, Mr. Greenheth—if it had been 100 years earlier, he might not have needed to blow his brains out.
He even thought of himself: a country boy from the Alps, studying alone in Paris, and becoming famous overnight; his ties with the Sorel family, far away in the Alps, were actually very fragile.
Theoretically, he didn't even have to send those 150 francs home every month; after all, falling for a swindler was not his fault, and he had fulfilled his duty to warn them.
What then drove him to almost instinctively take on this obligation that would have otherwise ruined his life?
Even though Lionel was a reader of My Uncle Jules in that era and its author in this one, he had never before contemplated the story so deeply.
He realized that he hadn't truly understood My Uncle Jules...
Only at this moment did he truly feel the genuine heartbeats emanating from those fictional characters, beneath what seemed like cold or warm prose.
In a trance, his middle school Chinese teacher's assertion that "the supremacy of money in capitalist society corrodes family affection" seemed to echo in his ears.
Lionel quickly banished this simplistic, crude assertion from his mind—Jules's tragedy could certainly not be attributed solely to societal or individual moral decay.
The indifference and fear of Monsieur and Madame Philippe were a form of instinctive self-preservation; 19th-century society was changing too rapidly and wildly, and no one could predict what tomorrow would bring.
Joseph's sympathy and powerlessness, on the other hand, represented the confusion of a new generation after the collapse of old ethics.
Therefore, one could not simply blame family indifference, nor merely talk about moral requirements.
What Lionel wanted to explore was: after the old ties broke, what kind of new ties were possible and reasonable? And what should these ties be based on?
Pure emotion?
—That had always seemed rather unreliable.
A limited contract of economic mutual aid?
—Yet that imposed unbearable risks on individuals.
Or was intervention by social forces needed to share the burdens that families couldn't bear?
—In an era where there was no pension or health insurance?
At this thought, he took out paper and pen and began to write his reply to Harold Thompson.
First, he agreed to the request for the novel's reprinting; then he also approved of participating in the "Modern Symposium" topic, but stated that the manuscript would not be ready for The Nineteenth Century until the end of June.
The reason was simple: the article was quite challenging, and he also had to cope with his end-of-year exams.
After finishing the letter, Lionel handed it to Alice to transcribe and mail, then went out after dinner.
Today he had a major event—visiting Europe's grandest art exhibition, the Impressionists' Waterloo, the annual "Paris Salon."
(End of chapter)
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