, 1873-10-12
FRENCH TRAITS. ",

bY PRoE. WILLIAM MATHEWS, OF THE uN1yEnsIrY
OF CHICAGO.
Tho eamo qualities Of mind which lead the
french to excel in logic render Inevitable
their nforiorty in poetry, especially iu tho high
est formH Of the art. Unriyalel In scientific
precision, scaling with ease tho dizziost peaks OF
speculative philosophy, they aro stricken with
impotence when they would soar to the higher
regions Of poetical or spiritual thought. Tie
highest quality Of thor tragic, as vol as Of their
epic, verso is An
EXQUISITE AND DAZZLING RnEronro.
Fancy it exhibits In abundance, but sad lack
Of imagination. In the long roll Of their poets,
from Malherbo to Lamnrtine, thore ts not one
who has given evidence Of high creative
powcr; Of that power which peoples tho
elements with fantastic forms, and fills
tho earth with unearthly horoism. intel
ioct and beauty; which gayo us the tin
forno :" OF Dante and h[ilton's vision OF hell,
sponcor'a palaces and haunted woods, and
Una tanning tho forest lion by her beauty,
and those wondrouB croatona Of Shakespeare,
Titauia and Oboron, Ariel aud Puck, aud
tho cloudy witches Of II Macbeth" 1t 1as boon
Justly said of tho French tragedy that tho
dramaiis persona aro not individual agents,
they arc but so many aspects Of tho author
himaolf,- vehicles for bis oloqucnco, his wiadom
or lis wit. When wo road "Honry w." 30
think only Of FalBtaff when VIC rcnd t'Androm-
acho," ne think only Of Racine. Honce,
neither In the literature OF tho French, nor IN
their familiar talk, do ne meet with those
ceer-recurring allusions to the fictitious
characters Of the national stage which
wo meet with III the conversation aud
literature Of England. Sr Toby Bolch,
aud Shallow, and Dogberry, Unclo Toby, Tom
JoneH, Pickwick, Mlcawber, and Becky Sharp,
are as real to us as any beings we iostle against
in the street; but tho Kings and Bagcs, tho
lackeys aud cha1nbermaids Of the classical
French theatre are all "graduates Of the Car
tesau academy, y,-rea9onors from whom, indeed,
you learn no fanacics, but associates from whom
you catch 10 inspiration
Though Franco llarsolf has loudly denied, ret
all other nations with ono voice proclaim her i'll
fcriority to her rivals in tho realms OF magi,,-
atiyo art. What one Of her acutcst modern critics
has said Of the Latin races generally is doubly
true Of her. "Tho Latin races, says II. Taiue
"Bhow o decided tasto for tho external aud
decorative aspect Of things, for pompous dis-
play feeding tho senses and ranity, for
logical order, outward sy1nmotry, and pleas
ing arrangements; in Hort, for form. The Ger
manic ltoratures, on the contrary, are romantic;
their principal source is the Edda, and tho all
Gent Sagas Of tho North; their groatest matter
piece is the drama Of Shakespeare, that is to Say.
tho crude and complete representation Of aotual
life with all its atrocious, ignobe, and common
place detaile its sublime and brutal Instincts tho
entire outgrowth Of human character displayed
before us, now III familiar Rtylo bordering on
tho trivial, and nov poetic even to 1yricism, in
coherent, excesavo, but Of incomparaDlo jtorce,
and filling our souls tuish the scarm and palpitat-
ing passion Of u1sich il is tho o,ttc1y" 4 Frouoh
Homer, or Dante, or Ceryantos, or Goethe, or
Milton, would bo all anomaly such as the world
Inns nover seon. The very language. moulded
by the montal charactod Of peoplo
wanting depth OF scnsibility and grandeur Of
| Imagination, is not vehicle for tho highest
specos Of poetry. So in music, sculpture, aud
painting; Fronch Beethoven, Handel, or
Haydn,--a Fronch Raphael or Michael Angelo
would startle the world.
| Again, tho logical tastca OF the french explain
| the national passion for
ABSTRACT IDEAS,
to tho aospotism Of which their best writer's nd
mlt that tloy haye always been prey. Doubt
less this passion llaH had it's advantages. Giuzot
| cain,a, with justice, that science, properly 80
called, has prosperod moro in France than In
England that political idoas in tue former
country, though less practical than in the latter
have had grander elevation and a more yigor.
oua flight. It is unquoationably true that
in the revolutions Of Trance ideas have almoa,
Invariably preceded action; changes In doctrine
have preceded changoB III institutions and, in
the march Of civilization, mind has always led llc
van. An ablo English wrltcr,-Mr. john Morley,
in Ills late work on Voltairo,-tustly emphasizes
tho fact tlaat, In France, absolutlsm In Church
aud Slate foil before tho sinewy genius Of stars
reason, while iu England it foil before respect
for social convenience, protesting against mo-
nopolios, boneyoloncos, and shp-monoy. III
Franco. ho sayB, speculation had penetrated ovos
tho whole field of social Inquiry beforo single
stop had boon taken towards application. while,
in England, social principles wore applied before
tloy rociycd any kind Of speculative application
III franco, tho most o1Tootiyo eno'ny Of tho pria'
cipleH Of dospotism WAS Voltairo,-poet, pull
osophcr, Historian aud critic; In England, {
band Of hon,oly squircs. Tho English writer's
whether on polities or philosophy seldom
dig down to tho eternal granite OF lral
| principles; they rarely giva tho fundamental
reason Of thiugH; they are contout to hug tho
faet, and honca aro rs noted for thoir want O.
elevation OF thought upon theoretical question:
ns for their steady good sonao aud practical abl
ity. Taine, In Ills notice Of Addison, bitterly
complains that his morality, thoroughly English
always orawla amoug conlmonpacos. discovering
no principles. milking no deductions. Tl'
Fronch, OH the other hanst, have boon engagot
iu perpetual struggle to escape from tho con
troll Of facts, and to substitute therefor som
itleal with which facts have had nothing to do
For eighty years thotE thoughts have beon con
centrated on tue one purpoae Of finding that " ab
stract perfection Of government" which, as nj
English statesman has aaid, lis not an objoot o
reasonable pursuit. because 1t Ia not one Of pos
slbls attalnuont yet, With q fair fold opon II