The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-02-18
INSTRUCTIVE LECTURE.
sUBJECT, "1HE ROnfNTIC fNFRENcH
LITERITURE."
Professor Boatwrlghts Address In the hich-
mond College Chapel-Iie says Dumas Il
Descended From Segress-interesting
Discussion of Hugo's Works,

,,ond College ChapeI-IIe says Dumas IL
Descended From Segress-interestlhS
Discussion of Hugos Works.
Professor Fred W. Boatwright delivered a
most interesting and instructive lecture last
evening in the chapel of the Richmond College
His subject was The Romantic In French
literature and through the entire discourse
the speaker showed plainly his familiarity
with his theme and that he WAS more than
ordinarily well yersed in the literature Of all
ages and Of all lands, though in years hardly
more than boy.
The house was crowded with one Of the
most refined and cultivated audiences ever
assembled in Richmond
ON the blackboard was a photography Of
the works which bore upon the theme, and Oh
which the speaker made frequent mention.
In beginning his lecture the Professor said
"Tho word romantic. as used here would
hardly describe the meetings ~ uranus
and Thsbe or Abcard and Helose, but
IL is. nevertheless the same word with
much the same latent meaning. IL IS we'll
known that the French language dld NOT
spring from the classic Latin of Cicero, but
from the cOlloquia iarg0n of the Roman l.e-
zion. and that II wa. held IN contempt for lit-
erary purposes long after 1t nag become
"A medium of ordinary communcatloh. lhH
Z i
sentimental love tales written for tnr MASSES
i'm "A language they could understand that the
name of the language itself was given name
which persists to-day IN the French word Ion
novel.
- ErAT. g Esr MOL
.. Louis the XIV.
assembled the throne. and. going but 20 step be-
! yond his predecessor. proclaimed: Il etat.
| q est moi This dctum had rs effect NOT
only ON political affairs. but also ip the realm
of literature. The prominent governing ldeA
| Of the classic school was that only the
beautiful should Doe expressed I'D literature.
| Chssicism in its topics and treatment was
/ despotic 0lgarchy. The same idea peryaded
.cuipture painting architecture and land
/ scape gardening. These arts We're all dller-
ent modes OF the beautiful, which was genei-
/ ally synonymous with the symmetrical anu
polished.
Anyone who has ever walked down the
stately avenues in the parks Of Louis NV. 40
| Versailles needs mo- additional commentary on
! the absolute domination oi the 9ymmetncal
/ and beautiful IN the Augustan age of French
| literature Every tree Is cube on a coue'
every shrub q pyramid and every square "
/ circle
THE MAN WITHOUT SKIN.
"Corncille. Racine and Molcire all rcbcllol
against the classic yoke but We're compelled
/ 10 submit with more OF less grace.
Jean Jacqouc- R0sseau. the man withouta
/ skin was the first % plead the cause OF man
as man. He held mp the mirror to ma
ture, emphasized the dignity OF Hu-
man nature. and prepared the way Tor
all that Wa, % follow His 'Coutnt social
was o. become the textbook of Republic,
and in his 'NOuvelie Heloi-e' was the germ ~
a new literature. His declaration az the -'l-
ereigmty OF the people and the equality oi ai
/ men was a revelation, and IN its light France
/ found freedom. The revolution sounded the
death 6ucll of absoluteism IN politics and lit
/ erature with single peal.
The most distinguished If Rousseau'- pu-
/ pills was Bernardin de st. Pierre. an author
whom one book has made immortal Simple.
picturesque. pathetic, the story ~ Paul ana
Virginia Will continue 10 appeal o. the hearts
of men. regardless Of prejudice or matt unallty.
Professor Boatwright then outlined the IN
fuence and mentioned the most impornnt
! works If Nine. De Stael. Chatcaubrand and
Iamartine. These authors We're the precur-
! sor- of the organized dramatic movement.
The writers. hc SAID who constituted the
organized and aggressive romantic school
were Victor Hugo. Ste. Beuve, Alexander
Dumas. pere Balzac. Meri Nee, George Sand.
Gautier, and De Musset.
HUGO THE MAsTEE.
Hugo was the acknowledged master Of the
movement His introduction 10 Cromwell
was the manifesto ot the romantic school
According 10 Hugo poetry has three ages,
each of which corresponds 10 an epoch OF
~ih'lf'INt NlA' ''l's NAA' i't' 49, ''tt'f'
present modern age Is dramatic. he
drama embraces all the elements Of life,
the body rs well ms the mlnd'
the grotesque As well AS the beautiful A
poet would say that the rising OF the sun Is
| hymn. his course IN mid-heayen glowing
epic. his sinking 20 rest dark drama where
day or night, life OF death struggle together.
-.
a "a history of Goothe's work is history
Of German literature IN the eighteenth
epoch in the literature of France lie
was an ardent admirer of Shakespeare,
and IN his wonderful faculty OF
word-painting and the magniiicence of his
language. l. il a question Of II he did not excel,
the king of dramaticlsts But he did not have
Shakespeare's intimate knowledge or the
requirements Of the stage and was especially
deficient I'm q sense of proportion. lie does
not always combine the grOtesque and the
beautiful according to his own ideal and thus
sometimes oversteps the line between the
sublime and the ridiculous.
As the principle of the classic school was
beauty. so that of the romantic was life The
| rOmanticists represented ideas lyrcallv. and
/ thus appealed 10 sentiment. The result Of
| the classic conception had been type-the
misanthrope. the liar, and Iartufe, the hypo-
| crite.
The new school recognized that man was
not all good nor all evil, not all soul nor all
| body: in short that antthses exist every
/ where, and 50 they gave Us real human
! beings Paul and Virginia, Corrnne and Her
! nanin
ALExANDRER DUMAS.
The speaker said that Alexander Dumas,
pere. was a natural descendant of a negro
! woman on the island of San Domingo. lie
was. he said. curious figure III literature,
and his place is hard To tx. He early
commenced 10 work with others, and
a. his fame increased he used only to retouch
the work of his assistants. and would then
publish it over his own name In n single
| year he issued more than forty volumes. and
the works which bear his name number more
than twelve hundred. lie finally sunk SO low
that he used to exhibit himself in shop win
dows for "a few confines His WAS the novel
of incident. aud no other novelist has been
able 10 initiate his combinations of dialogue
and incident in such gigantic variations with
| Success
The speaker touched on the sef-styled nat
uralists' school, and characterized 1t as the
degenerate offspring Of the romantic. The
naturasts proceed on the principle of a news
| paper reporter or camera. They propose 10