As soon as Alice returned home, she handed Lionel a letter: "Lionel, this letter is from England."
Lionel took the envelope and glanced at it, discovering that the letter was from London, from the "Nineteenth Century" magazine, signed "Harold Thompson."
This made him pay attention.
Although "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.
Therefore, the inaugural issue featured articles by these prominent figures, and it 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, so achieving this circulation was nothing short of a miracle.
The Sorbonne's periodical room also had "Nineteenth Century," and Lionel had borrowed it a few times, knowing that its goal was to establish a "completely neutral platform for the exchange of ideas."
However, it seemed to rarely publish literary works, focusing mainly on literature, science, and social discussions.
With curiosity, Lionel tore open the envelope, pulled out the letter, and read it carefully.
Harold Thompson wrote to him in very standard French, which was a basic skill for European intellectuals of that era, so it was not surprising.
The content of the letter was also simple: first, he hoped to authorize "Nineteenth Century" to reprint his novel "my uncle jules," paying a manuscript fee of 5 pence (about 10 sous) per line.
This price was quite fair, as it was a reprint. Although Lionel was a prominent figure in France, he was unknown in England.
Second, he hoped Lionel would write an article to participate in the "Modern Symposium" section of the August issue of "Nineteenth Century," on the theme of "Impoverished Individuals and Family Responsibility."
The "Modern Symposium" was the cornerstone of "Nineteenth Century," providing a series of articles and responses from different authors on topics such as science, literature, or religion. The magazine collected them and published them in a debate-like format.
This "special 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 "how far should the obligation of financial assistance within the family extend" or "the moral conflict between individual success and family relationships," discussing it with authors from France, England, Germany, and Russia.
In Harold's eyes, "my uncle jules" was a typical novel exploring modern family relationships, which is 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 England.
But the second request presented a challenge 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 England and France.
The family ethics formed in traditional agricultural society were facing subversion and even disintegration.
Just as in England 200 years ago, even the most heartless parents would not face the choice of whether to stuff their 6-year-old child into a chimney to remove ash or into a mine pit to dig coal.
Similarly, in traditional French society, the family was an economic unit, with land as the main asset, and most members lived and worked together, so the concept of "kinship obligation" was very strong.
Regardless of the relatives' economic situation, family members had a long-term, stable responsibility to support each other.
By the time Jules was "exiled" to America, the Sorel Family family's income no longer came from land but from wages, and the mutual dependence among members decreased—which made him seem particularly "egregious."
The indifference of Joseph's family towards Jules, while greatly influenced by money, also had undeniable social reasons behind it.
How to reconstruct family ethics in the context of industrialization and capitalism was something many writers and philosophers of this era were pondering and exploring.
Although Lionel possessed insights 150 years ahead of his time, he might not be able to clearly explain these issues within the scope of a single article.
He put down the letter, walked to the window, and looked out over the Parisian streetscape.
Carriages rumbled, pedestrians hurried, and the pulse of this "capital of Europe" beat faster and faster, driven by the engines of industry and capital.
What he saw at this moment was not a romantic streetscape, but countless Uncle Jules, countless Mr. and Mrs. Philippe, countless Josephs…
Of course, there was also his unfortunate neighbor, Mr. Greenheight—if it had been 100 years ago, he probably wouldn't have needed to blow his brains out with a gun.
He even thought of himself: a country boy from the Alps, studying alone in Paris, and then achieving fame overnight; the ties connecting him to the Sorel Family family far away in the Alps were actually very fragile.
Theoretically, he didn't even need to send 150 francs home every month, after all, falling for a swindler had nothing to do with him, and he had fulfilled his duty of warning them.
What drove him to almost instinctively take on this obligation that would have destroyed his life?
Even though Lionel was a reader of "my uncle jules" in that era and its author in this era, he had never before thought about this piece so deeply.
He realized that he didn't truly understand "my uncle jules"...
Only now did he feel the real heartbeats of those fictional characters beneath the seemingly cold or warm brushstrokes.
In a trance, his junior high Chinese teacher's assertion that "the capitalist society's money-first ideology corrodes family affection" seemed to echo in his ears.
Lionel quickly chased this simple, crude assertion out of his mind—Jules's tragedy could certainly not be attributed solely to social or individual moral decay.
Mr. and Mrs. Philippe's indifference and fear were a form of instinctive self-preservation. The changes in 19th-century society were too fast, too frantic; no one could predict what would happen tomorrow.
Joseph's sympathy and powerlessness, on the other hand, represented the confusion of a new generation after the collapse of old ethics.
Therefore, one cannot simply blame family indifference, nor can one merely talk about moral requirements.
What Lionel wanted to explore was: after the old ties break, what kind of new ties are possible and reasonable? And what should these ties be based on?
Pure emotion?
—It seems it has always been unreliable.
A limited economic mutual assistance contract?
—Yet it subjects individuals to unbearable risks.
Or does it require the intervention of social forces to share the burden that families cannot bear?
—In an era without even pensions or health insurance?
At this point, he took out paper and pen and began to write a reply to Harold Thompson. First, he agreed to the request for reprinting the novel; then, he also expressed his approval for participating in the "Modern Symposium" topic, but the manuscript would only be submitted to "Nineteenth Century" magazine by the end of June.
The reason was simple: this article was quite difficult, and he also needed to cope with the annual exams.
After writing the letter, Lionel handed it to Alice to transcribe and mail, then he went out after dinner.
Today he had a big event—visiting Europe's grandest art exhibition, the deathbed of Impressionist painters, the annual "Paris Salon."
(Three updates completed, four updates tomorrow)
Today, writing was unexpectedly interrupted many times, so I apologize for being so late.