The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-03-12

the soul as there is i'm nature. nescio
quid, an unrecognized point OF reality
that cannot be reduced or changed: IL
we go so far thanks to this nescio quid,
that we no longer consider religion and
science as Observation-Disclosures first re-
veals to us what the other cannot reach
| we have not denied that which was the
firm. strong valid part of the credo OF
our great elders-that part which
stands the intimate and profound credo
OF the work of Zola--faith in the one
ness Of the true. the conviction that the
only element OF salvation for man is the
knowledge and acceptance of the law.
i'm pursuance of the real. for in moral
order. as in, physical order, the defini-
ton is exact. Laws are the necessary
relations which result from the nature
of things" All the aesthetics of the
scholastic philosophy, named in their
turn realistic, naturalistic, analytical.
psychological, and that which ought to
be called the school OF observation, hold
by this formula.
Follow this school across the GEN.
turies and see II as IL grows little by
little. manifesting it's existence in ev-
cry enduring work OF time. 1t is shown
in the eloquent but shallow imagina-
ton of Chateaubriand. this meager
splinter OF anatomy the dry sapless
character Ado,phe. which ii is very pos
sible the author of "LItineraire" would
not deign to read. Today "LItineraire"
is only a magnificent literary ruin.
while Adolphe is alive, virile as IL he
dated from yesterday simply because
he is true to life. true with the precise
exactitude OF the monograph of physi-
clan. Following Immediately after the
epoch when romanticism weaves her
fairy network over everything, the ro-
mances of Balzac and of Stendahl, with
all the portraiture OF Sainte-BeuVe, APP
peared. How these names resound even
at this hour of the century! They seem
TO belong TO our own neighbors. And
when we read the "Comedie Humane"
and Rouge eft Noir" and the "Lundis"
we are moved by an emotion not ar
Theological or artificial, but actual and
direct.
What we. find I'm these works and
what we love I'm them is truth. truth
with it's inimitable accent. IL is truth
that we search for and that we devour
in such portions of the great lyrical Gre
ations OF a bygone day. The verses OF
Lamartine of Hugo. OF De Musset. OF
DE Vigny and OF Gautier which have
preserved their youth are those verses
i'm which their authors. putting aside
their own theories OF art, have por-
trayed with simplicity and strict ac-
curacy the deep feeling and the sensi-
tive tenderness, the JOY or grief. OF the
generation. The forgotten or ephemeral
portions OF classic uDl'ks are those i'm
which their authors misunderstood the
spirit Of incisive analysis which Is the
veritable essence OF a century. We see.
moreover. how the late comers OF the
school OF romanticism padded science
with poetry and loaded reality with
imagination.
In the hands OF Baudeiaire the elegy
becnme n creature wrapped in a mantle
OF analysis and psychology Behind all
the poems Of I.econte de Lisle is hidden
vigorously precise technical erudition.
Then comes Flaubert. who. born I'm
hospital. the son OF doctor OF medi-
cine. although he had inhaled science
through every pore and i'm spite OF his
ardent passion for synthetic form. Gre
ated I'm Madame de Bovary" the finish
ed type Of the work OF modern art. In
which are found united blended. fused
i'm an indissoluble amalgamation. truth
and beauty and all that one. OF these
attributes can derive from the other.
-
The romances of NJ. Emile zola spring
from this new birth. which Tainc de-
fined with marvellous Interpretation
when he called literature living psy-
GEOLOGY"
J The author Of "Rouson-Macquart"