AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF FRENCH LITERATURE. 991 
this class of poems bear the stamp of undisguised libertinism,* and 
but little accord with the refined feelings of the present day. 
Their historical pieces, as their name imports, were illustrative of 
the history of the times. Useful as these productions doubtless were, 
their utility might have been greatly increased had they been more 
select in their subjects, or more exact in their narration; as the 
only other chroniclers of the age were the monks, who, buried 
in their convents, were totally unacquainted with life, and were 
generally as superstitious as they were ignorant. These compo- 
sitions are, however, chiefly valuable as tending to display, in 
the most distinct and simple manner, the customs, habits, and sen- 
timents of the times. When these are the productions of men illus- 
trious by birth, station, or merits, they acquire a two-fold interest, 
and may truly be handed down as the choicest relics of the age. The 
strvente of Richard in his German prison, and several others of the 
same class, present the most natural, the most “ naive” picture of she 
sentiments and characters of their authors, and are, therefore, sub- 
jects of the greatest interest. 
Their satirical productions are numerous, and are often of the 
greatest value. They, however, too frequently misused the lash, and 
condescended to compose personal invectives and injurious attacks 
against the enemies of their present patron, their rivals in verse, and 
not unfrequently against the ecclesiastics of the period. The poets 
who carried this to the greatest extent were Pierre d’ Auvergne and 
the Monk of Montaudon, both of whom have been designated “‘ T’he 
Lash of the Troubadours ;” on a perusal of their effusions, how- 
ever, we shall be more inclined to despise the lash than the victims. 
The proper subjects for satirical writings are the follies and foibles of 
mankind ; and the satires of the Troubadours acquire additional va- 
lue when, spurning all private feuds and selfish interests, they un- 
sparingly brand and caricature the vices and explain the manners of 
the age. A perusal of these compositions will give us but little rea- 
son to regret the customs of what we so complaisantly term the “ good 
old times.” There we see branded, oppression of serfs, perjury to 
friends, innumerable cruelties, continual robberies, insatiable rapacity, 
and unbounded licentiousness—there we see exposed enormities at 
* One of their most enthusiastic admirers, St. Palaye, in his Histoire Litt. des 
Troub. thus speaks of their amatory poems :—“ Je V’avoue les fades lieux 
communs de galanterie, les répetitions fréquentes des mémes expressions, le 
longueurs et le mauvais gofit rendroient insupportable un recueil complet de 
leurs ceuvrages.”—Discours Prelim, tom. i, p. 64. 
