LITERATURE OF THE AGE OF THE REVOLUTION AND OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
(1700-1885).
1. THE DAWN OF SKEPTICISM.--In the age just past we have seen religion,
antiquity, and the monarchy of Louis XIV., each exercising a distinct and
powerful influence over the buoyancy of French genius, which cheerfully
submitted to their restraining power. A school of taste and elegance had
been formed, under these circumstances, which gave law to the rest of
Europe and constituted France the leading spirit of the age. On the other
hand, the dominant influences of the eighteenth century were a skeptical
philosophy, a preference for modern literature, and a rage for political
reform. The transition, however, was not sudden nor immediate, and we come
now to the consideration of those works which occupy the midway position
between the submissive age of Louis XIV. and the daring infidelity and
republicanism of the eighteenth century.
The eighteenth century began with the first timid protestation against the
splendid monarchy of Louis XIV., the domination of the Catholic Church,
and the classical authority of antiquity, and it ended when words came to
deeds, in the sanguinary revolution of 1789. When the first generation of
great men who sunned themselves in the glance of Louis XIV. had passed
away, there were none to succeed them; the glory of the monarch began to
fade as the noble _cortège_ disappeared, and admiration and enthusiasm
were no more. The new generation, which had not shared the glory and
prosperity of the old monarch, was not subjugated by the recollections of
his early splendor, and was not, like the preceding, proud to wear his
yoke. A certain indifference to principle began to prevail; men ventured
to doubt opinions once unquestioned; the habit of jesting with everything
and unblushing cynicism appeared almost under the eyes of the aged Louis;
even Massillon, who exhorted the people to obedience, at the same time
reminded the king that it was necessary to merit it by respecting their
rights. The Protestants, exiled by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes,
revenged themselves by pamphlets against the monarch and the church, and
these works found their way into France, and fostered there the rising
discontent and contempt for the authority of the government.
Among these refugees was Bayle (1647-1706), the coolest and boldest of
doubters. He wrote openly against the intolerance of Louis XIV., and he
affords the first announcement of the characteristics of the century. His
"Historical and Critical Dictionary," a vast magazine of knowledge and
incredulity, was calculated to supersede the necessity of study to a
lively and thoughtless age. His skepticism is learned and philosophical,
and he ridicules those who reject without examination still more than
those who believe with docile credulity. Jean Baptiste Rousseau (1670-
1741), the lyric poet of this age, displayed in his odes considerable
energy, and a kind of pompous harmony, which no other had imparted to the
language, yet he fails to excite the sympathy. In his writings we find
that free commingling of licentious morals with a taste for religious
sublimities which characterized the last years of Louis XIV. The Abbé
Chaulieu (1639-1720) earned the appellation of the Anacreon of the Temple,
but he did not, like Rousseau, prostitute poetry in strains of low
debauchery.
The tragedians followed in the footsteps of Racine with more or less
success, and comedy continued, with some vigor, to represent the corrupt
manners of the age. Le Sage (1668-1747) applied his talent to romance;
and, like Molière, appreciated human folly without analyzing it. "Gil
Blas" is a picture of the human heart under the aspect at once of the
vicious and the ridiculous.
Fontenelle (1657-1757), a nephew of the great Corneille, is regarded as
the link between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, he having
witnessed the splendor of the best days of Louis XIV., and lived long
enough to see the greatest men of the eighteenth century. He made his
début in tragedy, in which, however, he found little encouragement. In his
"Plurality of Worlds," and "Dialogues of the Dead," there is much that
indicates the man of science. His other works are valued rather for their
delicacy and impartiality than for striking originality.
Lamotte (1672-1731) was more distinguished in criticism than in any other
sphere of authorship. He raised the standard of revolt against the worship
of antiquity, and would have dethroned poetry itself on the ground of its
inutility. Thus skepticism began by making established literary doctrines
matters of doubt and controversy. Before attacking more serious creeds it
fastened on literary ones.
Such is the picture presented by the earlier part of the eighteenth
century. Part of the generation had remained attached to the traditions of
the great age. Others opened the path into which the whole country was
about to throw itself. The faith of the nation in its political
institutions, its religious and literary creed, was shaken to its
foundation; the positive and palpable began to engross every interest
hitherto occupied by the ideal; and this disposition, so favorable to the
cultivation of science, brought with it a universal spirit of criticism.
The habit of reflecting was generally diffused, people were not afraid to
exercise their own judgment, every man had begun to have a higher estimate
of his own opinions, and to care less for those hitherto received as
undoubted authority. Still, literature had not taken any positive
direction, nor had there yet appeared men of sufficiently powerful genius
to give it a decisive impulse.
2. PROGRESS OF SKEPTICISM.--The first powerful attack on the manners,
institutions, and establishments of France, and indeed of Europe in
general, is that contained in the "Persian Letters" of the Baron de
Montesquieu (1689-1755); in which, under the transparent veil of
pleasantries aimed at the Moslem religion, he sought to consign to
ridicule the belief in every species of dogma. But the celebrity of
Montesquieu is founded on his "Spirit of Laws," the greatest monument of
human genius in the eighteenth century. It is a profound analysis of law
in its relation with government, customs, climate, religion, and commerce.
The book is inspired with a spirit of justice and humanity; but it places
the mind too much under the dominion of matter, and argues for necessity
rather than liberty, thus depriving moral obligation of much of its
absolute character. It is an extraordinary specimen of argument,
terseness, and erudition.
The maturity of the eighteenth century is found in Voltaire (1694-1778);
he was the personification of its rashness, its zeal, its derision, its
ardor, and its universality. In him nature had, so to speak, identified
the individual with the nation, bestowing on him a character in the
highest degree elastic, having lively sensibility but no depth of passion,
little system of principle or conduct, but that promptitude of self-
direction which supplies its place, a quickness of perception amounting
almost to intuition, and an unexampled degree of activity, by which he was
in some sort many men at once. No writer, even in the eighteenth century,
knew so many things or treated so many subjects. That which was the ruin
of some minds was the strength of his. Rich in diversified talent and in
the gifts of fortune, he proceeded to the conquest of his age with the
combined power of the highest endowments under the most favorable
circumstances. He was driven again and again, as a moral pest, from the
capital of France by the powers that fain would have preserved the people
from his opinions, yet ever gaining ground, his wit always welcome, and
his opinions gradually prevailing, one audacious sentiment after another
broached, and branded with infamy, yet secretly entertained, till the
futile struggle was at length given in, and the nation, as with one voice,
avowed itself his disciple.
It has been said that Voltaire showed symptoms of infidelity from infancy.
When at college he gave way to sallies of wit, mirth, and profanity which
astonished his companions and terrified his preceptors. He was twice
imprisoned in the Bastile, and many times obliged to fly from the country.
In England he became acquainted with Bolingbroke and all the most
distinguished men of the time, and in the school of English philosophy he
learned to use argument, as well as ridicule, in his war with religion. In
1740 we find him assisting Frederick the Great to get up a refutation of
Machiavelli; again, he is appointed historiographer of France, Gentleman
of the Bed-chamber, and Member of the Academy; then he accepts an
invitation to reside at the Court of Prussia, where he soon quarrels with
the king. After many vicissitudes he finally purchased the estate of
Ferney, near the Lake of Geneva, where he resided during the rest of his
days. From this retreat he poured out an exhaustless variety of books,
which were extensively circulated and eagerly perused. He had the
admiration of all the wits and philosophers of Europe, and included among
his pupils and correspondents some of the greatest sovereigns of the age.
At the age of eighty-four he again visited Paris. Here his levees were
more crowded than those of any emperor; princes and peers thronged his
ante-chamber, and when he rode through the streets a train attended him
which stretched far over the city. He was made president of the Academy,
and crowned with laurel at the theatre, where his bust was placed on the
stage and adorned with palms and garlands. He died soon after, without the
rites of the church, and was interred secretly at a Benedictine abbey.
The national enthusiasm which decreed Voltaire, as he descended to the
tomb, such a triumph as might have honored a benefactor of the race, gave
place to doubt and disputation as to his merits. In tragedy he is admitted
to rank after Corneille and Racine; in "Zaïre," which is his masterpiece,
there is neither the lofty conception of the one, nor the perfect
versification of the other, but there is a warmth of passion, an
enthusiasm of feeling, and a gracefulness of expression which fascinate
and subdue. As an epic poet he has least sustained his renown; though the
"Henriade" has unquestionably some great beauties, its machinery is tame,
and the want of poetic illusion is severely felt. His poetry, especially
that of his later years, is by no means so disgraceful to the author as
the witticisms in prose, the tales, dialogues, romances, and pasquinades
which were eagerly sought for and readily furnished, and which are, with
little exception, totally unworthy of an honorable man. As a historian,
Voltaire lacked reflection and patience for investigation. His "History of
Charles XII.," however, was deservedly successful; the reason being that
he chose for his hero the most romantic and adventurous of sovereigns, to
describe whom there was more need of rapid narrative and brilliant
coloring than of profound knowledge and a just appreciation of human
nature. In his history of the age of Louis XIV., Voltaire sought not only
to present a picture, but a series of researches destined to instruct the
memory and exercise the judgment. The English historians, imitating his
mode, have surpassed him in erudition and philosophic impartiality. Still
later, his own countrymen have carried this species of writing to a high
degree of perfection. Throughout the "Essay on the Manners of Nations" we
find traces of that hatred of religion which he openly cherished in the
latter part of his life. The style, however, is pleasing, the facts well
arranged, and the portraits traced with originality and vivacity.
Some have attributed to Voltaire the serious design of overturning the
three great bases of society, religion, morality, and civil government,
but he had not the genius of a philosopher, and there is no system of
philosophy in his works. That he had a design to amuse and influence his
age, and to avenge himself on his enemies, is obvious enough. Envy and
hatred employed against him the weapons of religion, hence he viewed it
only as an instrument of persecution. His great powers of mind were
continually directed by the opinions of the times, and the desire of
popularity was his ruling motive. The character of his earlier writings
shows that he did not bring into the world a very independent spirit; they
display the lightness and frivolity of the time with the submission of a
courtier for every kind of authority, but as his success increased
everything encouraged him to imbue his works with that spirit which found
so general a welcome. In vain the authority of the civil government
endeavored to arrest the impulse which was gaining strength from day to
day; in vain this director of the public mind was imprisoned and exiled;
the farther he advanced in his career and the more audaciously he
propagated his views on religion and government, the more he was rewarded
with the renown which he sought. Monarchs became his friends and his
flatterers; opposition only increased his energy, and made him often
forget moderation and good taste.
3. FRENCH LITERATURE DURING THE REVOLUTION.--The names of Voltaire and
Montesquieu eclipse all others in the first half of the eighteenth
century, but the influence of Voltaire was by far the most immediate and
extensive. After he had reached the zenith of his glory, about the middle
of the century, there appeared in France a display of various talent,
evoked by his example and trained by his instructions, yet boasting an
independent existence. In the works of these men was consummated the
literary revolution of which we have marked the beginnings, a revolution
more striking than any other ever witnessed in the same space of time. It
was no longer a few eminent men that surrendered themselves boldly to the
skeptical philosophy which is the grand characteristic of the eighteenth
century; writers of inferior note followed in the same path; the new
opinions took entire possession of all literature and cooperated with the
state of the morals and the government to bring about a fearful
revolution. The whole strength of the literature of this age being
directed towards the subversion of the national institutions and religion,
formed a homogeneous body of science, literature, and the arts, and a
compact phalanx of all writers under the common name of philosophers.
Women had their share in the maintenance of this league; the salons of
Mesdames du Deffand (1696-1780), Geoffrin (b. 1777), and De l'Espinasse
(1732-1776) were its favorite resorts; but the great rendezvous was that
of the Baron d'Holbach, whence its doctrines spread far and wide,
blasting, like a malaria, whatever it met with on its way that had any
connection with religion, morals, or venerable social customs. Besides
Voltaire, who presided over this coterie, at least in spirit, the daily
company included Diderot, an enthusiast by nature and a cynic and sophist
by profession; D'Alembert, a genius of the first order in mathematics,
though less distinguished in literature; the malicious Marmontel, the
philosopher Helvétius, the Abbé Raynal, the furious enemy of all modern
institutions; the would-be sentimentalist Grimm, and D'Holbach himself.
Hume, Gibbon, Bolingbroke, and others were affiliated members. Their plan
was to write a book which would in some sense supersede all others, itself
forming a library containing the most recent discoveries in philosophy,
and the best explanations and details on every topic, literary and
scientific.
The project of this great enterprise of an Encyclopaedia as an immense
vehicle for the development of the opinions of the philosophers, alarmed
the government, and the parliament and the clergy pronounced its
condemnation. The philosophy of Descartes and the eminent thinkers of the
seventeenth century assumed the soul of man as the starting-point in the
investigation of physical science. The men of the eighteenth century had
become tired of following out the sublimities and abstractions of the
Cartesians, and they took the opposite course; beginning from sensation,
they did not stop short of the grossest materialism and positive atheism.
Such were the principles of the Encyclopaedia, more fully developed and
explained in the writings of Condillac (1715-1780), the head of this
school of philosophy. His first work, "On the Origin of Human Knowledge,"
contains the germ of all that he afterwards published. In his "Treatise on
Sensation," he endeavored, but in vain, to derive the notion of duty from
sensation, and expert as he was in logic, he could not conceal the great
gulf which his theory left between these two terms. Few writers have
enjoyed more success; he brought the science of thought within the reach
of the vulgar by stripping it of everything elevated, and every one was
surprised and delighted to find that philosophy was so easy a thing.
Having determined not to establish morality on any innate principles of
the soul, these philosophers founded it on the fact common to all animated
nature, the feeling of self-interest. Already deism had rejected the
evidence of a divine revelation. Now atheism raised a more audacious
front, and proclaimed that all religious sentiment was but the reverie of
a disordered mind. The works in which this opinion is most expressly
announced, date from the period of the Encyclopaedia.
D'Alembert (1717-1773) is now chiefly known as the author of the
preliminary discourse of the Encyclopaedia, which is ranked among the
principal works of the age.
Diderot (1714-1784), had he devoted himself to any one sphere, instead of
wandering about in the chaos of opinions which rose and perished around
him, might have left a lasting reputation, and posterity, instead of
merely repeating his name, would have spoken of his works. He may be
regarded as a writer injurious at once to literature and to morals.
The most faithful disciple of the philosophy of this period was Helvétius
(1715-1771), known chiefly by his work, "On the Mind," the object of which
is to prove that physical sensibility is the origin of all our thoughts.
Of all the writers who maintained this opinion, none have represented it
in so gross a manner. His work was condemned by the Sorbonne, the pope,
and the parliament; it was burned by the hand of the hangman, and the
author was compelled to retract it.
Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was a writer who marched under none of
the recognized banners of the day. The Encyclopaedists had flattered
themselves that they had tuned the opinion of all Europe to their
philosophical strain, when suddenly they heard his discordant note.
Without family, without friends, without home, wandering from place to
place, from one condition in life to another, he conceived a species of
revolt against society, and a feeling of bitterness against those civil
organizations in which he could never find a suitable place. He combated
the atheism of the Encyclopaedists, their materialism and contempt for
moral virtue, for pure deism was his creed. He believed in a Supreme
Being, a future state, and the excellence of virtue, but denying all
revealed religion, he would have men advance in the paths of virtue,
freely and proudly, from love of virtue itself, and not from any sense of
duty or obligation. In the "Social Contract" he traced the principles of
government and laws in the nature of man, and endeavored to show the end
which they proposed to themselves by living in communities, and the best
means of attaining this end.
The two most notable works of Rousseau are "Julie," or the "Nouvelle
Héloïse," and "Emile." The former is a kind of romance, owing its interest
mainly to development of character, and not to incident or plot. Emile
embodies a system of education in which the author's thoughts are digested
and arranged. He gives himself an imaginary pupil, the representative of
that life of spontaneous development which was the writer's ideal. In this
work there is an episode, the "Savoyard Vicar's Confession of Faith,"
which is a declaration of pure deism, leveled especially against the
errors of Catholicism. It raised a perfect tempest against the author from
every quarter. The council of Geneva caused his book to be burned by the
executioner, and the parliament of Paris threatened him with imprisonment.
Under these circumstances he wrote his "Confessions," which he believed
would vindicate him before the world. The reader, who may expect to find
this book abounding with at least as much virtue as a man may possess
without Christian principle, will find in it not a single feature of
greatness; it is a proclamation of disagreeable faults; and yet he would
persuade us that he was virtuous, by giving the clearest proofs that he
was not.
To the names of Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau, must be added that of
Buffon (1707-1788), and we have the four writers of this age who left all
their contemporaries far behind. Buffon having been appointed
superintendent of the Jardin des Plantes, and having enriched this fine
establishment, and gathered into it, from all parts of the world, various
productions of nature, conceived the project of composing a natural
history, which should embrace the whole immensity of being, animate and
inanimate. He first laid down the theory of the earth, then treated the
natural history of man, afterwards that of viviparous quadrupeds and
birds. The first volumes of his work appeared in 1749; the most important
of the supplementary matter which followed was the "Epochs of Nature." He
gave incredible attention to his style, and is one of the most brilliant
writers of the eighteenth century. No naturalist has ever equaled him in
the magnificence of his theories, or the animation of his descriptions of
the manners and habits of animals. It is said that he wrote the "Epochs of
Nature" eleven times over. He not only recited his compositions aloud, in
order to judge of the rhythm and cadence, but he made a point of being in
full dress before he sat down to write, believing that the splendor of his
habiliments impressed his language with that pomp and elegance which he so
much admired, and which is his distinguishing characteristic. Buffon,
while maintaining friendship with the celebrated men of his age, did not
identify himself with the party of the encyclopaedists, or the sects into
which they were divided. But he lived among men who deemed physical nature
alone worthy of study, and the wits of the age who had succeeded in
discovering how a Supreme Being might be dispensed with. Buffon evaded the
subject entirely, and amid all his lofty soarings showed no disposition to
rise to the Great First Cause. After his time, science lost its
contemplative and poetical character, and acquired that of intelligent
observation. It became a practical thing, and entered into close alliance
with the arts. The arts and sciences, thus combined, became the glory of
France, as literature had been in the preceding age.
The declining years of Voltaire and Rousseau witnessed no rising genius of
similar power, but some authors of a secondary rank deserve notice.
Marmontel (1728-1799) is distinguished as the writer of "Belisarius," a
philosophical romance, "Moral Tales," and "Elements of Literature." He
endeavors to lead his readers to the enjoyments of literature, instead of
detaining them with frigid criticisms.
La Harpe (1739-1803) displayed great eloquence in literary criticism, and
some of his works maintain their place, though they have little claim to
originality.
Many writers devoted themselves to history, but the spirit of French
philosophy was uncongenial to this species of composition, and the age
does not afford one remarkable historian. The fame of the Abbé Raynal
(1718-1796) rests chiefly on his "History of the Two Indies." It is
difficult to conceive how a sober man could have arrived at such delirium
of opinion, and how he could so complacently exhibit principles which
tended to overthrow the whole system of society. Scarcely a crime was
committed during the revolution, with which this century closes, but could
find its advocate in this declaimer. When, however, Raynal found himself
in the midst of the turmoils he had suggested, he behaved with justice,
moderation, and courage; thus proving that his opinions were not the
result of experience.
The days of true religious eloquence were past; faith was extinct among
the greater part of the community, and cold and timid among the rest.
Preachers, in deference to their audience, kept out of view whatever was
purely religious, and enlarged on those topics which coincided with mere
human morality. Religion was introduced only as an accessory which it was
necessary to disguise skillfully, in order to escape derision. Genuine
pulpit eloquence was out of the question under these circumstances.
Forensic eloquence had been improving in simplicity and seriousness since
the commencement of the eighteenth century, and men of the law were now
led by the circumstances of the times to trace out universal principles,
rather than to discuss isolated facts. The eloquence of the bar thus
acquired more extensive influence; the measures of the government
converted it into a hostile power, and it furnished itself with weapons of
reason and erudition which had not been thought of before.
We come now close upon the epoch when the national spirit was no longer to
be traced in books, but in actions. The reign of Louis XV. had been marked
with general disorder, and while he was sinking into the grave, amid the
scorn of the people, the magistrates were punished for opposing the royal
authority, and the public were indignant at the arbitrary proceeding.
Beaumarchais (1732-1799) became the organ of this feeling, and his
memoirs, like his comedies, are replete with enthusiasm, cynicism, and
buffoonery. Literature was never so popular; it was regarded as the
universal and powerful instrument which it behooved every man to possess.
All grades of society were filled with authors and philosophers; the
public mind was tending towards some change, without knowing what it would
have; from the monarch on the throne to the lowest of the people, all
perceived the utter discordance that prevailed between existing opinions
and existing institutions.
In the midst of the dull murmur which announced the approaching storm,
literature, as though its work of agitation had been completed, took up
the shepherd's reed for public amusement. "Posterity would scarcely
believe," says an eminent historian, "that 'Paul and Virginia' and the
'Indian Cottage' were composed at this juncture by Bernardin de St,
Pierre, (1737-1814), as also the 'Fables of Florian' which are the only
ones that have been considered readable since those of La Fontaine." About
the same time appeared the "Voyage of Anacharsis," in which the Abbé
Barthélemy (1716-1795) embodied his erudition in an attractive form,
presenting a lively picture of Greece in the time of Pericles.
Among the more moral writers of this age was Necker (1732-1804), the
financial minister of Louis XVI., who maintained the cause of religion
against the torrent of public opinion in works distinguished for delicacy
and elevation, seriousness and elegance.
When the storm at length burst, the country was exposed to every kind of
revolutionary tyranny. The first actors in the work of destruction were,
for the most part, actuated by good intentions; but these were soon
superseded by men of a lower class, envious of all distinctions of rank
and deeply imbued with the spirit of the philosophers. Some derived, from
the writings of Rousseau, a hatred of everything above them; others had
taken from Mably his admiration of the ancient republics of Greece and
Rome, and would reproduce them in France; others had borrowed from Raynal
the revolutionary torch which he had lighted for the destruction of all
institutions; others, educated in the atheistic fanaticism of Diderot,
trembled with rage at the very name of a priest or religion; and thus the
Revolution was gradually handed over to the guidance of passion and
personal interest.
In hurrying past these years of anarchy and bloodshed, we cast a glance
upon the poet, André Chénier (1762-1794), who dared to write against the
excesses of his countrymen, in consequence of which he was cited before
the revolutionary tribunal, condemned, and executed.
4. FRENCH LITERATURE UNDER THE EMPIRE.--Napoleon, on the establishment of
the empire, gave great encouragement to the arts, but none to literature.
Books were in little request; old editions were sold for a fraction of
their original price; but new works were dear, because the demand for them
was so limited. When literature again lifted its head, it appeared that in
the chaos of events a new order of thought had been generated. The
feelings of the people were for the freer forms of modern literature,
introduced by Madame de Staël and Châteaubriand, rather than the ancient
classics and the French models of the seventeenth century.
Madame de Staël (1766-1817) has been pronounced by the general voice to be
among the greatest of all female authors. She was early introduced to the
society of the cleverest men in Paris, with whom her father's house was a
favorite resort; and before she was twelve years of age, such men as
Raynal, Marmontel, and Grimm used to converse with her as though she were
twenty, calling out her ready eloquence, inquiring into her studies, and
recommending new books. She thus imbibed a taste for society and
distinction, and for bearing her part in the brilliant conversation of the
salon. At the age of twenty she became the wife of the Baron de Staël, the
Swedish minister at Paris. On her return, after the Reign of Terror,
Madame de Staël became the centre of a political society, and her drawing-
rooms were the resort of distinguished foreigners, ambassadors, and
authors. On the accession of Napoleon, a mutual hostility arose between
him and this celebrated woman, which ended in her banishment and the
suppression of her works.
"The Six Years of Exile" is the most simple and interesting of her
productions. Her "Considerations on the French Revolution" is the most
valuable of her political articles. Among her works of fiction, "Corinne"
and "Delphine" have had the highest popularity. But of all her writings,
that on "Germany" is considered worthy of the highest rank, and it was
calculated to influence most beneficially the literature of her country,
by opening to the rising generation of France unknown treasures of
literature and philosophy. Writers like Delavigne, Lamartine, Béranger, De
Vigny, and Victor Hugo, though in no respect imitators of Madame de Staël,
are probably much indebted to her for the stimulus to originality which
her writings afforded.
Another female author, who lived, like Madame de Staël through the
Revolution, and exercised an influence on public events, was Madame de
Genlis (1746-1830). Her works, which extend to at least eighty volumes,
are chiefly educational treatises, moral tales, and historical romances.
Her political power depended rather on her private influence in the
Orleans family than upon her pen.
Châteaubriand (1769-1848) must be placed side by side with Madame de
Staël, as another of those brilliant and versatile geniuses who have
dazzled the eyes of their countrymen, and exerted a permanent influence on
French literature. While the eighteenth century had used against religion
all the weapons of ridicule, he defended it by poetry and romance.
Christianity he considered the most poetical of all religions, the most
attractive, the most fertile in literary, social, and artistic results,
and he develops his theme with every advantage of language and style in
the "Genius of Christianity" and the "Martyrs." Some of the
characteristics of Châteaubriand, however, have produced a seriously
injurious effect on French literature, and of these the most contagious
and corrupting is his passion for the glitter of words and the pageantry
of high-sounding phrases.
The salutary reaction against skepticism, produced in literature by Madame
de Staël and Châteaubriand was carried into philosophy by Maine de Biran
(1766-1824), and more particularly by Royer-Collard (1763-1846) who took a
decided stand against the school of Condillac and the materialists of the
eighteenth century. Royer-Collard restored its spiritual character to the
science of the human mind, by introducing into it the psychological
discoveries of the Scotch school. Benjamin Constant (1767-1830) infused
into political science a spirit of freedom before quite unknown. In his
works he attempted to limit the authority of the government, to build up
society on personal freedom, and on the guaranties of individual right.
His writings combine extraordinary power of logic with great variety and
beauty of style.
Proceeding in another direction, Bonald (1753-1846) opposed the spirit of
the French Revolution, by establishing the authority of the church as the
only criterion of truth and morality. As Rousseau had placed sovereign
power in the will of the people, Bonald placed it in that of God, as it is
manifested to man through language and revelation, and of this revelation
he regarded the Catholic church as the interpreter. He develops his
doctrines in numerous works, especially in his "Primitive Legislation,"
which is characterized by boldness, dogmatism, sophistry in argument, and
by severity and purity of style.
The peculiarities of Bonald were carried still farther by De Maistre
(1755-1852), whose hatred of the Revolution led him into the system of an
absolute theocracy, such as was dreamed of by Gregory VII. and Innocent
III.
5. FRENCH LITERATURE FROM THE RESTORATION TO THE PRESENT TIME.--The
influences already spoken of, in connection with the literary progress
which began in Germany and England towards the close of the eighteenth
century, produced in the beginning of the nineteenth century a revival in
French literature; but the conflict of opinions, the immense number of
authors, and their extraordinary fecundity, render it difficult to examine
or classify them. We first notice the great advances in history and
biography. Among the earlier specimens may be mentioned the voluminous
works of Sismondi and the "Biographie Universelle," in fifty-two closely
printed volumes, the most valuable body of biography that any modern
literature can boast. Since 1830, historians and literary critics have
occupied the foreground in French literature. The historians have divided
themselves into two schools, the descriptive and the philosophical. With
the one class history consists of a narration of facts in connection with
a picture of manners, bringing scenes of the past vividly before the mind
of the reader, leaving him to deduce general truths from the particular
ones brought before him. The style of these writers is simple and manly,
and no opinions of their own shine through their statements. The chief
representatives of this class, who regard Sir Walter Scott as their
master, are Thierry, Villemain, Barante, and in historical sketches and
novels, Dumas and De Vigny.
The philosophical school, on the other hand, consider this scenic
narrative more suitable to romance than to history; they seek in the
events of the past the chain of causes and effects in order to arrive at
general conclusions which may direct the conduct of men in the future. At
the head of this school is Guizot (1787-1876), who has developed his
historical views in his essays on the "History of France," and more
particularly in his "History of European Civilization," in which he points
out the origin of modern civilization, and follows the progress of the
human mind from the fall of the Roman Empire. The philosophical historians
have been again divided according to their different theories, but the
most eminent of them are those whom Châteaubriand calls fatalists; men
who, having surveyed the course of public events, have come to the
conclusion that individual character has had little influence on the
political destinies of mankind, that there is a general and inevitable
series of events which regularly succeed each other with the certainty of
cause and effect, and that it is as easy to trace it as it is impossible
to resist or divert it from its course. A tendency to these views is
visible in almost every French historian and philosopher of the present
time. The philosophy of history thus grounded has, in their hands, assumed
the aspect of a science.
HISTORY.--Among the celebrated writers who have combined the philosophical
and narrative styles are the brothers Amadée and Augustine Thierry (1787-
1873), (1795-1856), who produced a "History of the Gauls," of "The Norman
Conquest," and other excellent works; Sismondi (1773-1842), whose history
of the "Italian Republics" and of the "French People" are characterized by
immense erudition; Thiers (1797-1877), whose clearness of style is
combined with comprehensiveness and eloquence; Mignet (1796-1884),
celebrated for his history of the French Revolution. The voluminous
"History of France," by Henri Martin (1810-1884), is perhaps the best and
most important work treating the whole subject in detail.
The downfall of the July Monarchy brought forth works of importance on
this subject, the most noted of which are those by Lamartine, Michelet,
and Louis Blanc. Lamartine's "History of the Girondins" was written from a
constitutional and republican point of view, and was not without influence
in producing the Revolution of 1848, but it is the work of an orator and
poet rather than that of a historian. The historical and political works
of Michelet (1778-1873) are of a more original character; his imaginative
powers are of the highest order, and his style is striking and
picturesque. The work of Louis Blanc (1813-1883) is that of a sincere and
ardent republican, and is useful from that point of view, as is that of
Quinet (1803-1875). Lanfrey places the character of Napoleon in a new and
far from favorable light. Taine, so distinguished in literary criticism,
has discussed elaborately the causes of the Revolution.
POETRY AND THE DRAMA; RISE OF THE ROMANTIC SCHOOL.--During the Middle Ages
men of letters followed each other in the cultivation of certain literary
forms, often with little regard to their adaptation to the subject. The
vast extension of thought and knowledge in the sixteenth century broke up
the old forms and introduced the practice of treating each subject in a
manner more or less appropriate to it. The seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries witnessed a return to the observance of arbitrary rules, though
the evil effects were somewhat counterbalanced by the enlargement of
thought and the increasing knowledge of other literature, ancient and
modern. The great Romantic movement, which began in the second quarter of
the nineteenth century, repeated on a larger scale the movement of the
sixteenth to break up and discard many stiff and useless literary forms,
to give strength and variety to such as were retained, and to enrich the
language by new inventions and revivals. The supporters of this reform
long maintained an animated controversy with the adherents of the
classical school, and it was only after several years that the younger
combatants came out victorious. The objects of the school were so
violently opposed that the king was petitioned to forbid the admission of
any Romantic drama at the Théâtre Français, the petitioners asserting that
the object of their adversaries was to burn everything that had been
adored and to adore everything that had been burned. The representation of
Victor Hugo's "Hernani" was the culmination of the struggle, and since
that time all the greatest men of letters in France have been on the
innovating side. In _belles-lettres_ and history the result has been most
remarkable. Obsolete rules which had so long regulated the French stage
have been abolished; poetry not dramatic has been revived; prose romance
and literary criticism have been brought to a degree of perfection
previously unknown; and in history more various and remarkable works have
been produced than ever before, while the modern French language, if it
lacks the precision and elegance to which from 1680 to 1800 all else had
been sacrificed, has become a much more suitable instrument for the
accurate and copious treatment of scientific subjects. At the time of the
accession of Charles X. (1824), the only writers of eminence were Béranger
(1780-1857), Lamartine (1790-1869), and Lamennais (1782-1854), and they
mark the transition between the old and new. Béranger was the poet of the
people; most of his earlier compositions were political, extolling the
greatness of the fallen empire or bewailing the low state of France under
the restored dynasty. They were received with enthusiasm and sung from one
end of the country to the other. His later songs exhibit a not unpleasing
change from the audacious and too often licentious tone of his earlier
days. In the hands of Lamartine the language, softened and harmonized,
loses that clear epigrammatic expression which, before him, had appeared
inseparable from French poetry. His works are pervaded by an earnest
religious feeling and a rare delicacy of expression. "Jocelyn," a romance
in verse, the "Meditations," and "Harmonies" are among his best works.
Victor Hugo (b. 1800) at the age of twenty-five was the acknowledged
master in poetry as in the drama, and this position he still holds. In him
all the Romantic characteristics are expressed and embodied,--disregard of
arbitrary rules, free choice of subjects, variety and vigor of metre, and
beauty of diction. His poetical influence has been represented in three
different schools, corresponding in point of time with the first outburst
of the movement, a brief period of reaction, and the closing years of the
second empire. Of the first, Théophile Gautier (1811-1872) was the most
distinguished member. The next generation produced those remarkable poets,
Theodore de Banville (b. 1820), who composed a large amount of verse
faultless in form and exquisite in shade and color, but so neutral in tone
that it has found few admirers, and Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), who
offends by the choice of unpopular subjects and the terrible truth of his
analysis.
The poems of De Vigny are sweet and elegant, though somewhat lacking in
the energy belonging to lyric composition. Those of Alfred de Musset
(1800-1857) are among the finest in the language.
The Gascon poet Jasmin has produced a good deal of verse in the western
dialect of the _Langue d'oc_, and recently a more cultivated and literary
school of poets has arisen in Provence, the chief of whom is Mistral.
The effect of the Romantic movement on the drama has been the introduction
of a species of play called the _drame_, as opposed to regular comedy and
tragedy, and admitting of freer treatment. Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas
(1803-1874), Victorien Sardou (b. 1831), Alexandre Dumas _fils_ (b. 1821),
Legouvé (b. 1807), Scribe (1791-1861), Octave Feuillet (b. 1812), have
produced works of this class.
The literature of France during the last generation has been prolific in
dramas and romances, all of which indicate a chaos of opinion. It is not
professedly infidel, like that of the eighteenth century, nor professedly
pietistic, like that of the seventeenth. It seems to have no general aim,
the opinions and efforts of the authors being seldom consistent with
themselves for any length of time. No one can deny that this literature
engages the reader's most intense interest by the seductive sagacity of
the movement, the variety of incident, and the most perfect command of
those means calculated to produce certain ends.
In 1866 appeared a collection of poems, "Le Parnasse Contemporain," which
included contributions of many poets already named, and of others unknown.
Two other collections followed, one in 1869 and one in 1876, by numerous
contributors, who have mostly published separate works. They are called
collectively, half seriously and half in derision, "Les Parnassiens."
Their cardinal principle is a devotion to poetry as an art, with diversity
of aim and subject. Of these, Coppée devotes himself to domestic and
social subjects; Louise Siefert indulges in the poetry of despair;
Glatigny excels all in individuality of poetical treatment. The
Parnassiens number three or four score poets; the average of their work is
high, though to none can be assigned the first rank.
FICTION.--Previous to 1830 no writer of fiction had formed a school, nor
had this form of literature been cultivated to any great extent. From the
immense influence of Walter Scott, or from other causes, there suddenly
appeared a remarkable group of novelists, Hugo, Gautier, Dumas, Mérimée,
Balzac, George Sand, Sandeau, Charles de Bernard, and others scarcely
inferior. It is remarkable that the excellence of the first group has been
maintained by a new generation, Murger, About, Feuillet, Flaubert,
Erckmann-Chatrian, Droz, Daudet, Cherbulliez, Gaboriau, Dumas _fils_, and
others.
During this period the romance-writing of France has taken two different
directions. The first, that of the novel of incident, of which Scott was
the model; the second, that of analysis and character, illustrated by the
genius of Balzac and George Sand. The stories of Hugo are novels of
incident with ideal character painting. Dumas's works are dramatic in
character and charming for their brilliancy and wit. His "Trois
Mousquetaires" and "Monte Christo" are considered his best novels. Of a
similar kind are the novels of Eugene Sue. Both writers were followed by a
crowd of companions and imitators. The taste for the novel of incident,
which had nearly died out, was renewed in another form, with the admixture
of domestic interest, by the literary partners, Erckmann-Chatrian.
Théophile Gautier modified the incident novel in many short tales, a kind
of writing for which the French have always been famous, and of which the
writings of Gautier were masterpieces. With him may be classed Prosper
Mérimée (1803-1871), one of the most exquisite masters of the language.
Since 1830 the tendency has been towards novels of contemporary life. The
two great masters of the novel of character and manners, as opposed to
that of history and incident, are Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) and Aurore
Dudevant, commonly called George Sand (d. 1876), whose early writings are
strongly tinged with the spirit of revolt against moral and social
arrangements: later she devoted herself to studies of country life and
manners, involving bold sketches of character and dramatic situations. One
of the most remarkable characteristics of her work is the apparently
inexhaustible imagination with which she continued to the close of her
long life to pour forth many volumes of fiction year after year. Balzac,
as a writer, was equally productive. In the "Comédie Humaine" he attempted
to cover the whole ground of human, or at least of French life, and the
success he attained was remarkable. The influence of these two writers
affected the entire body of those who succeeded them with very few
exceptions. Among these are Jules Sandeau, whose novels are distinguished
by minute character-drawing in tones of a sombre hue.
Saintine, the author of "Picciola," Mme. Craven (Reçit d'une Soeur), Henri
Beyle, who, under the _nom de plume_ of _Stendhal_, wrote the "Chartreuse
de Parme," a powerful novel of the analytical kind, and Henri Murger, a
painter of Bohemian life. Octave Feuillet has attained great popularity in
romances of fashionable life. Gustave Flaubert (b. 1821), with great
acuteness and knowledge of human nature, combines scholarship and a power
over the language not surpassed by any writer of the century. Edmond About
(b. 1828) is distinguished by his refined wit. One of the most popular
writers of the second empire is Ernest Feydeau (1821-1874), a writer of
great ability, but morbid and affected in the choice and treatment of his
subjects. Of late, many writers of the realist school have striven to
outdo their predecessors in carrying out the principles of Balzac; among
these are Gaboriau, Cherbulliez, Droz, Bélot, Alphonse Daudet.
CRITICISM.--Previous to the Romantic movement in France the office of
criticism had been to compare all literary productions with certain
established rules, and to judge them accordingly. The theory of the new
school was, that a work should be judged by itself alone or by the
author's ideal. The great master of this school was Sainte-Beuve (1804-
1869), who possessed a rare combination of great and accurate learning,
compass and profundity of thought, and above all sympathy in judgment.
Hippolyte Taine (b. 1828), the most brilliant of living French critics,
Théophile Gautier, Arsène Houssaye, Jules Janin (d. 1874), Sarcey, and
others, are distinguished in this branch of letters.
MISCELLANEOUS.--Among earlier writers of the nineteenth century are
Sismondi, whose "Literature of Southern Europe" remains without a rival,
the work of Ginguené on "Italian Literature," and of Renouard on
"Provençal Poetry." In intellectual philosophy Jouffroy and Damiron
continued the work begun by Royer-Collard, that of destroying the
influence of sensualism and materialism. The philosophical writings of
Cousin (1792-1867) are models of didactic prose, and in his work on "The
Beautiful, True, and Good" he raises the science of aesthetics to its
highest dignity. Lamennais (1782-1854) exhibits in his writings various
phases of religious thought, ending in rationalism. Comte (1798-1857), in
his "Positive Philosophy," shows power of generalization and force of
logic, though tending to atheism and socialism. De Tocqueville and
Chevalier are distinguished in political science, the former particularly
for his able work on "Democracy in America." Renan (b. 1823) is a
prominent name in theological writing, and Montalembert (1810-1870) a
historian with strong religious tendencies.
Among the orators Lacordaire, Père Felix, Père Hyacinthe, and Coquerel are
best known.
Among the women of France distinguished for their literary abilities are
Mme. Durant, who, under the name of Henri Greville, has given, in a series
of tales, many charming pictures of Russian life, Mlle. Clarisse Bader,
who has produced valuable historical works on the condition of women in
all ages, and Mme. Adam, a brilliant writer and journalist.
In science, Pasteur and Milne-Edwards hold the first rank in biology, Paul
Bert in physiology, and Quatrefages in anthropology of races.