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For Woman’s Work.
TRUE GROWTH.
Stand Up in thy full stature-- know the best
That lies within thee, and to that be true.
Have faith in thine own power to rise and do,
True growth follows exertion, and not rest.
Whatever has been done, that can you do.
Within yon dwells a latent, living force.
But, as no stream can rise above its source,
To win life’s best, to your own powers be true.
Hampton, la. Florence A. Jone®.
For Woman's Work. •
FRENCH LITERATURE.
No 2.
\/ \/E find but little genius for original
jL JL composition in the end of the six
teenth century and the beginning of the
seventeenth.
The French language was in somewhat
of a chaotic state, due, in a measure, to the
extensive importation of foreign words
ar d ideas. At that time mediaeval influ
ence no longer had an active force, and the
activity of the Renaissance was lost in the
midst of the wars of the League period.
A divided and critical spirit controlled the
work of the seventeenth century, and is
responsible for its merits and its defects.
Desportes and Bertaut were the last of
the school of Ronsard. The poet of the
time was Francois Malherbe whom the
French regard as the father of their poetry,
alth< ugh his principles were not at once
received.
While his influence was slowly making
way, a more healthy one was being exerted
in the department of prose by Jean de
Balzac (the elder Balzac, as he is some
times called to distinguish him from the
great novelist of the nineteenth century.)
Balzac was careful in handling a subject,
and in his letters sought to regulate the
stvle of prose writing and purify the vo
cabulary. In those times there were lit
erary coteries in which ladies of rank and
au'hoTS took part.
The famous Madame de Rambouillet was
the chief patroness of these meetings, at
which many short prose pieces were com
posed and recited.
While Louis XIII. was on the throne,
the developments of French literature
were of a different nature; it was confined
principally to religious disputes on ques
tions of dogma and church government.
In Rene Descartes France produced a great
philosopher as well as a careful, elegant
writer o* prose. The question of free will
was handled by Jansenius, a Dutch theo
logian, and from whom a school of this or
der grew in France. It adopted much of
the philosophy of Descartes, and soon there
were many followers, chief among whom
was Blaise Pascal, who, from a purely lit
erary view, was superior to Descartes.
He wrote the famous letters called Pro
vinciales, which ars among the master
pieces of the literature of the world, and
were the outcome of a dispute which arose
between the Jansenists and Jesuits; and
which in the end dealt the fatal stroke to
the former. The time was propitious for
the establishment of an Academy, for the
critical spirit of Malherbe and Ba’zac was
thoroughly inculcated; and while the ef
forts of Cardinal de Richelieu did not ex
actly lay the foundation for the Academy,
yet he did much to transform it from a
mere private club into an institution,
charged with overseeing French language
and literature.
At this time, the drama grew greatly in
public estimation, and some of the great
est triumphs of French literature are asso
ciated with the plays written during this
epoch. Pierre Corneille was the first
great dramatist of the highest class, al
though belabored hard before doing any
thing decidedly good.
In the fall ot 1644 the elite of Paris as
sembled at the Hotel de Rambouillet to
hear Corneille read a tragedy. There
were assembl d waiting for the great
dramatist. Madame de Rambouillet.
Madame de Sendery, Madame de Sevigne,
Balzac, Menage, Bossuet, and others of
less note. Madame de Rambouillet wished
to dispel the ennui which a gay French
company finds difficult to endure while
waiting, so stipulated the time for the ar
rival of her guests half an hour in advance
of Corneille, that he might not be inter
rupted by a door opening, curious eyes
turned, etc., and, as a means of entertain
ment, it was proposed to bind the eyes of
Madame de Sevigne for a game of Colin
Maillard, (blind man’s buff.) The game
of the then youig Madame de Sevigne
was brought to a close by the entrance of
Corneille, accompanied by his brother and
Be serade, a poet; and the morning ended
with triumph lor Corneille, and gratifica
tion to the assemblage.
French literature in the age of Louis
XIV- is of exaggerated merit and admira
tion, as it produced only one of the great
est authors, Moliere.
Corneille, Descartes, and Rascal belong
to an earlier time. In point of work of
permanent value, however, no age can
rightly boast of literature more valuable.
With La Fontaine, Racine, La Rochefou
cauld, Malebranche, Bossuet, Fenelon,
are to be classed (though just missing the
highest honor); Boileau, La Bruyere,
Madame de Sevigne, Massillon, and many
others holding hardly a lesser place as re
gards good work.
The drama holds the most prominent
place in the literature oi the age of Louis
XIV. of which Moliere and Racine were
the great representatives. The former is
the greatest of all comic writers. It has
been said of Moliere, that “he is the one
great dramatist who has persistently kept
before his eyes the moral purpose which
is always asserted to be one of the chief
merits of the stage.” To La Rochefoucauld
is ascribed the happy faculty of convey
ing the greatest amount ot meaning in a
few short, chosen words. To Louis
XlV.’s reign belong t h e most famous let
ter and memoir-writing of France. No
writer of letters ever equalled Madame de
Sevigne in grace, unstudied style and
naive expression. The cabinet at which
she wrote these letters which beautified
her native tongue, is still to be seen in the
house she once occup’ed; it was in that
part of Paris which in the reign of Louis
XIII. was the ccurt end. of the town.
There is no sign of a court there now, but
fruit stalls and cobblers are to be seen,
and what was once a royal palace is now
a tavern. Near this quarter once stood
the famous Hotel de Rambouillet, where
Catherine de Vivonne, (Marchioness de
Rambouillet) held her aesthetic soirees to
which came all the noted personages of
the day. Madame de Haintenon holds a
place not very far below Madame de
Sevigne; indeed, by some she is consid
ered her equal, in literary merit.
A work of Madame de La Fayette,
“La Princesse de Cleves,” a story of her
own heart, suggested the modern novel.
Her stories are not remarkable, except for
a delicacy of character paintings, and they
aim at imaginary lite and sentiment. In
literary eminence no man of letters
ranks higher than La Fontaine. His
“Contes” are taken from older prose, but
generally his writings reveal his personal
ities and are remarkable for their humor
and grace. He may be considered a direct
descendant of the old fabliau writers.
History does not tell of any’ period when
preachers and theologians played such an
important part as in the age of Louis
XIV. Bossuet stands at the head of the
literary theologians of France. Mascaron,
Flechier, and Bourdaloue were also great
ornaments in this line. Massillon
preached his most eloquent sermon on the
death of Louis XIV., whom he survived
thirty years.
The genius of Fenelon was less towards
theology than that of the divines men
tioned above, but his standard of elegance,
of style, and of expression is unrivalled.
We trace the foot-prints, as it were, of
Descartes in this century s march, for his
brilliant work had made a lasting impres
sion.
Eighteenth century literature really
does not extend over the whole of the hun
dred years between 1700 and 1800. The
years of the reign of the great-grandson
of Louis XIV. were not remarkable for
their literature; and the Revolution, for a
long time, produced very little of interest
and importance.
After the death of Voltaire and Rous
seau in 1778, not much of value was pro
duced for a considerable period. This
century was emphatically the age of Vol
taire. Not alone was he successful in
every branch of literature he ever under
took, but the spirit of the age was undoubt
edly the same as that which inspired all
his work.
Be it said that this spirit may have been
well meaning, but certainly was it true
that it was irrevent. Five great names
belong to the eighteenth century, those of
Montesquieu, Voltaire, Rousseau, Dide
rot, and Buffon. There are older authors
belonging to what is called the transition
period, or the space between the age of
Louis XIV. and the age of the Encyclo
paedia as it is sometimes called.
Le Sage, author of that famous novel,
“Gil Blas,” is chief of these writers. Some
one has compared him with Fielding, and
discovered some striking analogies. Fon
tenelle ranks next in importance to Le
Sage, though of an inferior order of genius.
Charles de Secondat, better known as
Baron de Montesquieu, belongs to the
eighteenth century. He is a writer of
great eminence, as well as a great think
er, and his literary ityle is de ightful.
Another great name that occupied an
important place in the latter part of the
century, is that of Jean Jacques Rous eau,
who is to be carefully distinguished from
the less famous J. B. Rousseau of an earlier
time. The former originated what has
since been known as sentimentalism. So
cial laws, education, and the arts were to
WOMAN’S WORK.
be reformed from his point of view; and
the affections and emotions were to be
given the fullest play. All things seemed
wrong to him, and he set about changing
them. H's, indeed, was an unhappy tem
perament, but it did not overshadow his
talent. His novel, “Emile,”had such pop
ularity as no novel had ever before en
joyed in France. On literature, on poli
tics, on private manners and morals
Rousseau exercised an almost unequalled
influence.
Bernardin de St. Pierre soon followed his
example as a lover of nature and describer
ot natural beauty; but he possessed more
experience and a less unhappy tempera
ment. His “Paul et Virginie” ranks with
“Telemaque” as a book for general read
ing. The name of Danis Diderot should
not be omitted among the writers of this
century. He laid the foundation for a
new school of literature after the death ot
Rousseau. His merit lies rather in the
realm of literary criticism, than in his
force as a writer. His writings are not
equal in style, but all abound in original
thought. They consist of plays and es
says, on all sorts of subjects. His art
criticisms, on the exhibitions of the Paris
Salon, furnish the only examples of this
class of literature in that period. Another
name worthy of mention is that of Georges
Louis Leclerc Comte de Buffon, who
was the leader of a class whose time was
given to physical science. Buffon was
among the first who gave attention to lit
erary form, and is recognized as the chief
master, in France, of rhetorical precision.
The best memoirs of the century are prob
ably those of Madame de Staei-Delaunay,
and the best letters, those of Mademoiselle
de Lespinasse. Among the historians,
Rollin and Rulhiere may be mentioned as
examples of literary ability.
Such is au imperfect summary ot this
period of French literature.
S. P. B.
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