The Portland daily press., 1877-03-17
Recent Publications.

HISTORY OF FRENCH LITERATURE. By Henry
Van Laun. VOL I. From its Origin to the
Renaissance. New York G. P. Putnam's Sons.
For sale by Loring, Short & Harmon.
Mr. Van Laun holds that the history of a
literature is the history of people, that no
history OF a literature worthy of the name can
aHord to pass by in silence the dynastic
changes, the national and civil wars, the prog
ress OF law, the amelioration of social habits
and institutions which make up the annals of q
nation; for the literature is itself the outcome
OF all these events, and once created becomes
itself an active organism, having distinct and
independent energy of its own whereby it
forthwith begins to react upon its creators, and
to assist in the development of the race and of
the epoch from which it sprang. So no litera-
ture can be understood until we know the cir
cumstances which attended its birth, the events
which hastened or retarded its development,
the attraction or obstacle which gave it some
marked bent, the inherent fault which perhaps
led to its degeneracy or decay. Literature is
the product of the man. aLd the man is the
product of his surroundings. To comprehend
him AMI his work we must know his race, the
skies under which he wrote, the political histo-
ry of his people, their social condition, and all
the influences which bampered or nourished
his genius
Governed by these considerations, Mr.. Van
Laun has undertaken to write a history of
French literature. The attempt is not
slight one, but, so far the first volume of the
work, which scarcely carries the reader beyond
the splendid dawn of the Renaissance, gives
evidence, the attempt is a successful one. The
method is the method of Taine made broader
in its application. The style IS strong and
pure, occasionally rising to lofty sweep. and
not infrequently t;nged as seems o be the
style of all writer's who make loving study of
them, By the mocking humor of the French
satirists. Unfagging industry and profound
research are evidenced and from the wealth IF
material accumulated history is fashioned
which gives every promise of becoming stan
dard, comprehensive and critical, thoroughly
exhaustive of its subject clear and attractive
in presentation. He has traced to their sources,
Iberian, Celtic, Frankisb, Roman, even Greek,
the fnesse of expression, the rhetorical gift the
sprightliness of mood, the adroitness of repair
tee, the love of equality, the habit of satire, the
oAthChO lcIlllIty VI luo iOSiCdl uudubJ, lu5
quick perception OF cause and effect, which
characterize French literature to-day. The
labor las been labor OF love discharged with
enthusiasm. Certainly no notler subject could
engage pen. The literature OF France is in
some respects the most splendid 10 Europe,
and its masterpieces are today amongst the
most notable landmarks of universal literature.
Frenchmen must be ranked with the great
pioneers of modern thought, the great leaders
of modern intelligence, and to them the world
owes language distinguished above all others
for the logical discrimination of ideas, orderly
arrangement OF thoughts, clearness and sever-
ty of expression, readiness of deduction and
elegance Of diction. France was pre-eminent-
ly the cradle of the Renaissance, and to her
cherishing care We owe the revival of religion,
language and literature; she represents in spec
ial degree the development of the Latin civil-
cation, and her literature is, in a peculiar and
remarkable sense, reflection of her history.
The first faint flush of reviving civilization fell
upon her face. As Mr.. Van Laun eloquently
remarks: France is the land of Chansoas de
Geste. of romances culled from the rich fields
of medieval history, and legends bright with
the glow of a triumphant Christianity. Her
troubadours, her trouveres and jougleurs, filled
Europe with their,songs, and wrote the nursery
rhymes of infant civilization.
In pursuance of his comprehensive plan MIR.
Van Lam sketches in broad outline the history
of those races which SUCCESSFULLY took up their
abode in the ancient Gaul, and whose product
Is the French nation to-day. The vanguard of
the invading races, the Iberian, himself pushed
on by the thlok-coming barbarians behind
made faint impression, and left little trace on
language. except in the mysterious Basque
tongue. The earliest known iDhabitant the
Celt, though repeatedly conquered has never
been obliteratsd aud has contributed in sub
stantial measure to the modern Frenchman.
The ancient Gaul, passionatsly devoted, says
Cato, to two things, fighting well and speaking
shrewdly. has deeply affected both the charac
ter and the vocabulary of France. No wave Of
invasion has been able to drown him out But
in literature, there enains. with the exception
of few strains of Celtic poetry, no record
o. him. The first spark of learning was brought
BY the Greeks and nourished in in the famous
colony of MaIsilia, he Marseilles of to-day
Greek art followed in the train of Greek com
merce, and so marked was the Greek stamp,
that Mr.. Van Laun inclines t, believe that the
dabades and serenadeS, genre which we might
think SO esse italy French in its flavor, are
but themes upon nCts cherished through
many ages of recollection from the Greek songs
of dawn. Certain it is that the earliest OF the
French fablaux are "reminiscences Of the
Greek myths and that the wanderings Of
Ulysses were only reproduced by the French
bards. After Greece came Rome and Rome
set its strong mark on Gaul as it did on all the
provinces that came under it's yoke. The
intellectual existence of Gaul was in.
extiicably interviewer With that of her Roman
conquero-s, and for long time it was her de s.
tiny to follow the principal phases of Latin
literature. Last came the Germans-Franks
Goths and Burgundans. The latest conquer
ors deeply imbued the French character will
their special virtues, but in its ultimate forma
tion the Gallo pecnlarities have prevailed ovel
the German. The German literature had little
attractions for people who had cultivated the
literature Of Rome. 1t was the adopted Latin
of the Gallo-Romans which became the Ian
guage of the new race and which finally de-
veloped into the French of the Trouveres and
the Renaissance. The classical spirit had
made its impress never to be effaced, and gave
to the forming French taste that form, style
beauty, arrangement, precision which pre-
eminently characterize the French tongue TO-
day. That which began by being purely i'm
itatve and diffident process bee ,me what il
now is-ihe spontaneous and unfettered exer.
else of classical taste. The mantle of classical
Culture and intellectual refinement fel-not
exclusively, but in marked and special mar.
uer-upon the shoulders of France. But, Mr..
Van Laun warns us, it is ot to classical in
fuence alone, though it may be to it in The
main, that we must look for the dawn ofleaIn
ing in Europe. 1t is at most, he says, thu
marriage of the North and the South 10 which
we owe the fertility of modern thought; and in
that marriage the South, with all her rich ap
parel and dowry of lettered grace, was tbt
bride whilst the verile intellect and reproduc
tive energy of the North was necessary tc
bring to bi,th the stupendous issue of thei
union.
Broadly sketching tn, course of events b,
which Pagan and Roman Gaul became Chris
tian France our author proceeds with wide ant