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LITERATURE.
FRENCH LtTEnATuRE.

Hriss rS o, .orIn xiv. till rus E*n .. 7ns
Hmm q tout' rn,.,rrx New York: q. r;
r. s'";s%: NO. &c. O." 49, Sa!tfSs; 9s: :s:sn' Hsc'f
The present forms the third and concluding
volume Of rsoL Vsn Lsuu's work on
tbe History Of French Literature, and
oply now eau tie reader form laiE
and adequate conception Of the manner
In which tic task has been performed. The
hHtnrr of natton's literature L. one of the
cra,dcsL works an author tat undertake; and
It demands corscspopdngly great puwerx To
4 thorough and accurate knowledge of the
political history Of tie country whose literature
lie attempts to review. he must add minute
acquaintance with the principal works Of It's
authors. lie must te catholic and generous In
biz Judgment, thoroughly in sympathy with the
genius Of the people, nnd possessed Of COM
pletc knowledge Of The literary history
oi tllu othcr principal contemporary
uaious It may be objected that
,hls Is requiring too much Of any man; but not
With fewer qualifications can tho task be adc-
auatc'Y performed Tho literature of people
eon.aius and reflects nit Tint Is best in that
peoples, inner y well as outer lltc History
aions can bo drawn from the same series Of
events; but In q natluDfs literature can always
truthfu1ly be seen the great moving Ideas Of the
raec, It's mo1c and degree Of development, and
tic part It will play in future human progress.
asp three principal stages In nattons intellect
ual growth: frft. tho initiative, or formative;
scco,d, the creative, or Inventive: and third,
.hc critical. Or reflective age. III the Initiative
period, the language Ia crystallIzng Into forms,
and tic ouly products Of literature arc 3soettc,-
either lyric, like the ballad-poetry Of England
aud Spall, or scml-listorlcai, like the rhyu,ine
chronicles Of Rome and Northern France. Tho
lfh Is In iJ4R rAf~ ~1tkrxz $n-
ton % luz Z aiia ~ narmonioas h No outstds Ia iniu.
ruce lus IA ret made Itself felt, but the native
genius develops In aIl It's own originality.
After this, q scuBoh OF stagnation, or oven re-
.rogrcss!on, follows; as witness The time be-
tween Homer and Ilerodotus, Plautus and
VIRGIL, Clsatccr and Shakespeare, or Dante and
The efa9HtetHtLti.
when thn masterpieces Of literature nro pro-
tuccd. This time, too, hus Its counter part, when
Ecnsus runs riot, subitmty sinks to bof1bast,
metaphor turns to cnrieaturc. The attempt Of
talent to aurpass genius results only IN strained
comparisons, petty concciss, anil faltu brtllIancy
i 4 not efanco Tint the school Of Alar!nl In
Itatr, Of tioneora III Spain. Of Konearl and tho
Pjssa1c 10 France, III Holfmann.wadan and
I;ohcnstein IN Germany, md Of Lilly and the
Euphulsts in England, succeeded ths times OF
the hlchcst literary development In those coun.
tries; but III a:rorIanye will. taw Of national
Intellectual growth.
ln tho third period, reason Is pre-emiDent.
there Is u tendency to work according to axeI
rules, aud to condemn any ,lnfettctcd flights Of
genius. So rnucn tie history uf useccs mud
home teaches: 1hs ,srltlgal ,agr in them was
many, and ltaIY, after tic cizssical periotl Of
tie escyrntccutt; mud Eighteenth Centurfcs, haro
burst cut In new arlt wider, fuller and Tirhcr
s1Hwtn En- H., i!ow rress TINT wl!l be now long =
luz times: what even its reis,tye imnor-
tai.ce 10 the preceding eras. we rsnmot
tell. We live III it, aid are loo
much blinded Gy ts bI',liancy to Judge il justly.
originality; tint liz literature il vide. nj dccn.
Othcrs clan thnt xr aii tVc m the mn.,ntait.
tvps, and ouly deuy rrrut intellectual sMnren,-
aey 10 any. becausc tfts staniarI il 70 hige thas
general ,teyelonInrnt al tlte h,lman mind ia
grratiy chunge1 ir|,n, ,rhot /, 80. n ths s,rs
teenth or Hayc,,tcenth Century.
Tic literary historian must ino,,lro tnto ths
causcs Of ills tec.,iiar nrs,rTess he m,,st sbnw nv
xhat thc comparative yatxu Of = iiter,i,,se % Il !:
wllat II las Contributed m tha nn'rI.orat;on ~
tts human rale: what 1ts it,f,,st,cs hsa hcen m
other nations. Tic Frcnch haye no phllosoph.
sa! !, literary history q thcir own; They have
OF their literature, rrarhtc and cear nrtrssts of
inulytluo writers Eut ntn. u i,n hsye .,nhrssr,t
the whole iu one Dbilosonhlc review. Nisnri.
Gerusrz. and Amperc iii attcmpicd Il: nut
nt1Ijn&nnhN
been expouudcti. Tha historv ~ ,ie Renc'{;cf,ne
authurs only prt,fessca to be a seriea Of snnaia,
1t Is to be regretted that Viliema,n wn. cnntrnt
With writing the literary hieinrv ~ m rnar,
tenth aud EtEhtecu,h Ccntunes only. nemn-
geut Aas written an excellent hi, vers hrisf
history af French literature. OF whlrh Frof. Vsn
Laln has frequently mada tise.
Laylug aside this general suhb,yf,;on con.
1uon to al nations, the literary htstnrv nf
Frauce ulay be divided Into 6ye Terfn.js 'Ths
trst cinbrares the tins from this orir1n nj th.,
language up to tho e1oss Of tho FIltsenth Can.
fury, anl lncludes the narues OF VilIrnar.iou,,,.
Fruissart, Conmines, Kabelais, aud Msrot'
Tue secoHd eoseEs he Sixteenth Century, and
eu,orases, AmYo1 rlloptsal, Ronsard, Mon.
taigne, Maihcrbe, Folture. and R:anicr. Thr
third era-the Seventeenth cenIury-is ths Au.
GUSTAV aEe Of French literature, and tncluie,
it, greatest namcs. Then Comes The Uevnl.,,
tonary period, extending ~ tle eloss of Ii.
Eighteenth Ceulury. Tbs dith period embrace
~ subsequent AM! up to The present day.
Tie history ol French literature Ii pecults,
III n,uuy respects. Unlike that Ut tnY othet
rare, 1t bud kind OF elder s,stes-tht Pru.
!eueal,-whIch tour.sheA like = bothousx exptit
tuf two centuries, and then died. it, 4pjucuce
however, lived, aud did much TO mold tbs Kro
t;Iz