A Chair on the Boulevard

A Chair on the Boulevard

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Title: A Chair on The Boulevard
Author: Leonard Merrick
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A CHAIR ON THE BOULEVARD

By LEONARD MERRICK

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY A. NEIL LYONS
1921

CONTENTS
I THE TRAGEDY OF A COMIC SONG
II TRICOTRIN ENTERTAINS
III THE FATAL FLOROZONDE
IV THE OPPORTUNITY OF PETITPAS
V THE CAFÉ OF THE BROKEN HEART

VI THE DRESS CLOTHES OF MONSIEUR POMPONNET
VII THE SUICIDES IN THE RUE SOMBRE
VIII THE CONSPIRACY FOR CLAUDINE
IX THE DOLL IN THE PINK SILK DRESS
X THE LAST EFFECT
XI AN INVITATION TO DINNER
XII THE JUDGMENT OF PARIS
XIII THE FAIRY POODLE
XIV LITTLE-FLOWER-OF-THE-WOOD
XV A MIRACLE IN MONTMARTRE
XVI THE DANGER OF BEING A TWIN
XVII HERCULES AND APHRODITE
XVIII "PARDON, YOU ARE MADEMOISELLE GIRARD!"
XIX HOW TRICOTRIN SAW LONDON
XX THE INFIDELITY OF MONSIEUR NOULENS

INTRODUCTION
These disjointed thoughts about one of Leonard Merrick's most
articulate books must begin with a personal confession.
For many years I walked about this earth avoiding the works of
Leonard Merrick, as other men might have avoided an onion. This
insane aversion was created in my mind chiefly by admirers of what is

called the "cheerful" note in fiction. Such people are completely agreed
in pronouncing Mr. Merrick to be a pessimistic writer. I hate
pessimistic writers.
Years ago, when I was of an age when the mind responds acutely to
exterior impressions, some well-meaning uncle, or other fool, gave me
a pessimistic book to read. This was a work of fiction which the British
Public had hailed as a masterpiece of humour. It represented, with an
utter fury of pessimism, the spiritual inadequacies of--but why go into
details.
Now, I have to confess that for a long time I did Mr. Merrick the
extraordinary injustice of believing him to be the author of that popular
masterpiece.
The mistake, though intellectually unpardonable, may perhaps be
condoned on other grounds. By virtue of that process of thought which
we call the "association of ideas," I naturally connected Mr. Merrick
with this work of super-pessimism; my friends being so confirmed in
their belief that he was a super-pessimist.
But by virtue of a fortunate accident, I at last got the truth about Mr.
Merrick. This event arose from the action of a right-minded butcher,
who, having exhausted his stock of _The Pigeon-Fancier's Gazette_,
sent me my weekly supply of dog-bones wrapped about with Leonard
Merrick.
These dog-bones happened to reach my house at a moment when no
other kind of literary nutriment was to be had. Having nothing better to
read I read the dog-bone wrappers. Thus, by dog-bones, was I brought
to Merrick: the most jolly, amusing, and optimistic of all spiritual
friends.
The book to which these utterances are prefixed is to my mind one of
the few really amusing books which have been published in England
during my lifetime. But, then, I think that all of Mr. Merrick's books are
amusing: even his "earnest" books, such as _The Actor-Manager, When
Love Flies out o' the Window, or The Position of Peggy Harper_.

It is, of course, true that such novels as these are unlikely to be found
congenial by those persons who derive entertainment from fiction like
my uncle's present. On the other hand, there are people in the world
with a capacity for being amused by psychological inquiry. To such
people I would say: "Don't miss Merrick." The extraordinary
cheerfulness of Mr. Merrick's philosophy is a fact which will impress
itself