The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-05-21

fact. this is the demi-monde. the world Of sham
mendOes, temporary fidelity and virtue for a
5GSy"s"TiSs; Is s'' IN itseif piquSnt; L becomss
nowadays and see a crowd OF silly exeitable
won. tS.w whose ID,o = l9SnSing for ;al,,s B9hem 7, 81 tsTa
the special comedy Of, hristophapes 70 the life
md wants Of the Parls!ans "a q bprlcsaue en-.
that It was Interpreted By beautiful girls.
beautifully dressed; The TRANSPARENCY 81 the
s1Owd; but NJ. ponney added words worse
the Greeks, In the art Of describing young. ele-
giant. smiling depravity and adjoining SEN
mora, deiiishttuul form Of art we once possessed
Greeks by the aid OF PatIn, and has restored 1t
II may be said tina. surely in tho naturalism
OF lola and Maupassant. in the gorgeous sensu-
BUSINESS Of Pierre Lott. in the, Greek depray!ty
of Partisan comedy. French literature has
ProbaGiiy' il is so, And Yet il should not he
FORGOTTEN that this result is due 70 the intro;
d In,estiN 81 the NapoleoniG spirit o. savage and 2d
doubt the tendencies which have now done
their worst and ptmost-et least i may so be
poleonic spirit was manifested, Frenchmen
have always been too prone to laugh and
s"hfe n force "eo0 in fre e%iy literature f"a1s during The
taire-was Rousseau. from whom the great
the first. saws sainte Beuve in one Of his most
s4sHisiit Into c Gnr iiteratn xso r II i. :!sfG po% hiS
that the sentiment OF nature is reckoned
among us in the eighteenth century. It's
sentiment Of our domestic life. OF that comely.
poor. ,Gulet, hidden life. In which are acenm-
ton" But Sainte Beuve also admits the de
!!toanbes the moral sense" He does not seem
mentlon of which Is forbidden. that there are
certain igpoble., disgusting. cynical expires;
stops which a virtuous man never uses. and
In "a sense, indeed. ,naturnlism shut carry
inG, Rousseauism. on the eide Of debasement,
Declining to allow that there are any things the
mention Of which ought to be forbidden. 1t
psriments ln Of sf lie. and d''V viii 'f have .n M ' ~ lar,
Documents save those from which every
thing In The shape Of superstition" senti;
morality has been ruthlessly stripped, Like
Napoleonism, which inspired Balzac. II 1t did
not inspire Tola; II seeks 70 t shoT human y m ~ ma "a.
There is one reieeming ~feature-and per.
letters during, the present period, the very
agony Of decadence though 1t may be-. They
are possessed by the enth1siasmmSqe might
their art. lola, indeed. says that he Is not an
artist. but merely an ourrier. But he breaches
fits Of despair. 1 have hal but one remedy;
work. How often have / sat DOWN to ny table
in the morning not knowing what to do. full
Of the revolt OF my suffering, my task has been
stfensthen ID i By my ia tasf.ss And zola
has practiced what he has preached. There
is no more question sfl OF as ten to the labor E. he has Is t eX,
moral earnestness which has caused him to
endeavor to do Justice to Dreytus. whom he
although tho effort has meant for him exile
and the loss OF fortune. And, however de-
m9ralizing or degradire may be the results
at being artists in the highest sense Of the
word. their desire to attain. perfection has been
hG IdWard d"G de q q SaSrs0a said o, his brother
Jules. He was slain by style" Flaubert. the
author Of Madame Bovary" and |%Salammbo"
even. those he passed upon the French fiction
Gagged in COMPOSITION. He demanded similar
perfection OF his pupils. OF Guy de .Naupas-
SAINT; the most promIsing and most unfSrtunate
interesting French Literature of To-Day
says; He waited to make his debut til his
ductions. Flsnbert" lived near RRouen. Ma1.
set; From childhood the great man had
tain themes to exert himself upon; You will
go to such a street. where you will see a con.
sisaf' y ,Sna a RSTro and 'G read T'l It 's 70 :n wt't and a0 III
Flaubert pronounced, Now 1 see the pic.
ture.' Maupassant had % work and destroy
did not destroy, a Greaa deal more than he did
that, in particular; he did not destroy al hi:
xxm nlff!'Hf iyp ei ' bat a Of fis indo &sfsssHs' fndu ssi
and Of his ultimate. success as perhaps the
greatest master Of the conte or short story il
the highest literary sense, OF the word. there
can be no matter OF doubt.
and AeS Seliaatc to sp }9Iqo sbai p fThaps t has m pfodd 5art
ADEQUATE translation, BY Mrs: Lyttelton There
taste was n?t diseased The triumph of tht
bes. artists Is to make healthy work agreeable
e2ly has been Z that CT Maupassant. Of Fia,ubeGrtt
Of the brothers Goncourt. OF all the suprem,
artists who have been writing-and fighting
Ample proof is. indeed. to hand that even il
the agony OF deeadsnce FRENCH literature |!
as a4' SIFer iST yi ITietyyt as eyer In thu that x it Is stil WIZ th,
even in this dark hour,does not feel the truth o
the words Of hope and enthusiasm which Mr.
Of one Of the H"I Amerlca ans who VIII ing fsu re- in b,
very remarkable, novel, Ashes OF Empire
nraFf hnman WITH nr,s al I her rh 1aui sam haas i HSes m99'
everything that makes life worth while -thar
All the other European nations put together
drop out Of the world and the world woult
never be the worse. But blot out France o.
England. or your own blessed country. and |
would mean something very different"
II only this remarkable and varied energy
this passion for art. could be diverted to othel
and nobJer endsl n only the French would
allow the ape and tiger to die out OF their live.
and their itecature! Is 1t quite useless ever
now to cherish some such aspiration? Ii
answer to this II may at least be said tina
there are not wanting bits OF blue sky.
Take the theatre. where undoubtedly the de
cadence has been seen ut is worst. VI Filon
who has already been quoted, says. "Whethel
It be = matter OF rejoicing. or ri. a~ffiction
France is in the best Of health, and whatever
the world may say, shows no sign of menta
disease. | cannot discern the dismal sym y
TOM which are described with such melan
choly pleasure, or II | do discern them. the!
seem to me unimportant. or even il q few o
them are important, they are counterbaianceC
by reassuring phenomena" Among. these
reassurlng pnenomena is undoubtedly thu
fact that the greatest Of recent dramatic SUI
cesses in France Is NJ. RoStand's "Cyrano d.
Bergerac." No doubt this piece owes a YER!
great deal to the marvellous appearance in tn
loading role OF that greatest of living actors
NJ. Coquelin. But IL is also notable az tn,
triumph not Of debaSing sensuality or Of still
more debesing cynicism. but OF old and eve
fresh romance. OF self sacrifice carried 4
heroic heights. OF that brilliant yet sirpl
gayety in which France is exhibited at her best
Among the other reassurinE theatrical phe
oman u-IInh NJ EIln, "a ~ ara n Ga tho 70