The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-01-24

exclusively remembered as writer OF trae
edy. yet, like Racine. no produced ono comedy
10 Menteur," founded on n Spanish original
and which, through Foote'S version. Is famila
to English and American payEocrs.
II is q standing rcproach TO tho French
Academy thut Corneille's G. cat rontcmporary
Moiore, was not u member OF it. As actor
manager. and. above all. observer. ltolitre hn.
often been compared with Shat ospcnrc and 4
is interesting TO find the English author OF thi.
handbook doubling whether Shakespeare him
solf ever euualcd Moliarc in the latter.
peculiar vein Of comedy. Mr. kccno IL dis
posed to admit that for knowledge OF life, pur,
wit and n sort OF benevolent pity not I'm
touched by mild contempt, MoIiare has
had no superior among writers for tho stage
We find quoted with approval In Harness
dctum that Moliere is Of all writer's the on,
who hns most observed man without making a
parade oil his observation. He produces the
effect of knowing mankind by instinct rathc,
than of having gained his knowledge by study
In reading his works attentivcy we are no;
moro astonished Mt the author than at what We
learn of ourselves In his estimate of Racine
the author OF this treatise reflects tho aim ost
unanimous verdict OF French critics. affirm.
ing that within the limits at,ainabc by O
drama adopting the unitics trammclcd
by rhyme and aiming ut an artificial
perfection. the author of "lhtrc" and
Britanncus" Inns outdistanced comnnrison.
Apropos OF Racinc's dcvations from the
model Of Sophocles. 1t is pointed out by
Mr. Keene that these arc especially note.
worthy in the sphere assigned to the passion
OF love. In the Greek civilization, as in the
Eastern life OF our own day. women were in
significant figures. but when Encinc wrote for
tho stage tho influence Of refined and Guilt.
| ynt ol nd hoi for I'm III e ,
an important factor in French society. Even
Corneille had recognized tho necessity of as
signing to this modern IN ssion considerable
role In his dramas. OF the other poets Of the
so.called Age OF Glory. Mr.. Keene mentions
only two. Boileau and La Fontaine He is
aware that Racine was largely indebted to
| Boilcau for the taste which assured the
perfection of his own poetic style. Neither
does he omit to note that Pope's best work.
tho Rape OF tho Lock" was an almost avowed
imitation OF the "Lutrn of Boilcuu. and that
| the formers Essay on Criticism" was in like
| manner suggested by the lattcr's Art Poe.
ti1ue.' 1t is true enough that Boilcau's school
is forsnkrn. but to him belongs tho credit of
having enuncated principles which became
the canons Of French versiflcation for two CEN
| turtles. and from which mono but tho boldest
| modern writer's have ventured to widely devi-
| ate. While Pope reminds US OF Boilcau,
| Mr.. kecne can think OF no English
poet who can BIO ikened to La Fon-
taine. He mentions Gray. Thomson. and
| Prior as imperfect analogues in certain direc-
tons. but he seems to have forgotten Gay
Apropos of La Fontnnes narvete he is hap
pily called child with tho powers Of n man.
What La IIarpe said about this writer has
never been improved upon: -" He does not SO
much compose rs converse: II he relates any,
| fhipp II 10 boc ho bac al,
seems to DO telling you secret and to be UNI
der the necessity Of doing So" Admitting
that some Of LII Fontaine's writings are shock
| ing to modern readers. Mr.. Kcene suggests
TINT he is not so much immoral MS non moral
and that. as his old nurse said when he was
dying. "Le bon Dieu n'aura Iamais lie courage
| de IL damner."
Nv.
At the head OF the prose writer's OF the seven
| tcenth century Mr.. Keene naturally places Dcs-
cartes and Pascal. next to whom he would rank
Fenclon and Bossuet. The" Discours de la Me-
| thode." tho only ono OF Descartes's works which
| was originally written in French. is regarded
| by his compatrots as one of the finest MASTER
| pieces of their prose. His straightforward,
manly e!ouuence did for French prose writing
! what lie Cid was to do for poetry. His diction
| is no graceful. fantastic nmagnm of learned
and vcrnacular idioms; in it We see n language
| familiar to oil educated persons made the
vehicle Of original thought. As regards tho
| lofty place kept by Pascal in French literature,
| Mr.. Kccnc sees that this is duo not to his
| philosophical scientific writings. but
| to the mixture OF grave irony and digniflcd
contempt in style that is the acmo OF curious
| felicity. and which made the Le'res d I'M pro-
| rncinl irresistible. Addressed as these letters
were to the public. which was at that time
largely composed OF women. they appealed to
| common scnse in tho name OF morality and
reliGon.and employed such instruments Of per-
| suasion as brevity clearness. and an elegance
then unknown. II biting. natural pleasantly
and telling words and phrases which riveted
themselves in the memory. 1t is not within
the province Of this handbook to consider how
far Pascal was Just: all that the author has to
notice is the power Of his literary art.
In the paragraphs devoted to Fenton. we are
reminded that in a treatise on female educa-
ton he showed this to DO tho true basis of So
ciai advancement. thus anticipating the posi-
ton taken by many modern reformers. In a
treatixo on elolucncc. FcnGlon maintained
that written sermons were not oratory. which,
| he said. was only to be found flowing hot from
the furnace of the soul This doctrine found
no sanction in the earlier practice Of Bossuet,
for II was not until late in life that the Bishop
OF McauN trusted III his sermons to tho i'm.
pulse Of the moment. and even then in his
funeral orations ho preserved tho habit of
carefully writing out beforehand what he had
TO say. The sermons Of Bourdaloue also were
first committed TO writing. then learned by
heart. and delivered from memory. F,,nG-
Ion said Of him: Il know OF no preacher
more capable OF demonstration and less 1T to
touch OF to persuade Tho fourth Of tho grcnt
pulpit orators was MHssi!lon. who also recited
| written COMPOSITIONS. but his diction never had
the slightest appearance Of effort. Two other
prose writer's OF this period who cannot be
| passed over, even in the most summary RI.
view. are La Bruyere and La RochefoucaulJ.
As tho former obviously initiated 1heophras
tuE, so he was himself initiated by Addiso
ana tho authors of the Spectator and TaHie..
No one can say more in Il few words than In
RruyIr". and not only the writer Of comedies.
as Nh kceac suggests but also the writer of
novels will find in him abundance OF instruc.
ton. As regards the mn%ms Of La Roche
!oucanld. tho compiler of this manual fol-
lows La Hnrpe In averring that these oro
exclusively applicable to sociatv os