674 



DANTE 



DANTON 



authentic record of his features. Boccaccio also, 

 writing not very many years after his death, has 

 preserved numerous personal details, such as that 

 he was of moderate stature, stooping when he 

 walked, slow and dignified both in gait and speech, 

 reserved and taciturn in habit, but, when he spoke, 

 keen, sarcastic, and often contemptuous. That 

 he was devoted to music and painting appears 

 from many passages in his works, as well as from 

 current tradition. 



The dates and sequence of his various works are 

 a matter of conjecture, and are still very much dis- 

 puted. Doubtless the Vita Nuova is the earliest. 

 By far the most celebrated is the Divina Commedia, 

 the pre-eminent greatness of which has tended to 

 eclipse his other writings, which do not generally 

 receive the attention they deserve. In this poem 

 he purposes, and assuredly fulfils his purpose, ' to 

 say of Beatrice that which never yet was said of 

 any woman ' ( end of Vita Nuova ). In this vision 

 of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, we have, as it 

 were, an encyclopedic view of the highest culture 

 and knowledge of the age on philosophy, history, 

 classical literature, physical science, morals, the- 

 ology. All this, moreover, is expressed in the 

 sublimest and most exquisite poetry, and with 

 consummate power and beauty of language. The 

 Divina Commedia, indeed, may be said to have 

 made the Italian language, which was before so 

 rude and unformed that Dante himself hesitated 

 to employ it on such a theme, and is said to have 

 commenced his poem in Latin. No york probably 

 in the world, except the Bible, has given rise to so 

 large a literature. To say nothing of nearly six 

 hundred MSS. in which it was copied before print- 

 ing became common, there have been published 

 about three hundred editions ; it has been no 

 less than a hundred times translated into various 

 European languages ; and of commentaries, intro- 

 ductions, essays, and monographs there is no end. 

 About fifty years after Dante's death, a public 

 lectureship on the Divina Commedia was estab- 

 lished at Florence, to which Boccaccio was first 

 appointed. 



The next most important work (and one throwing 

 much light on the Commedia ) is the fragment called 

 the Convito, or Banquet. It takes the form of a com- 

 mentary on some canzoni, or short poems, of the 

 author, of which there are only three, though the 

 work, if completed, would have contained fourteen 

 of these 'courses,' as the author calls them. Its 

 contents are almost as encyclopedic as those of the 

 Commedia. The De Monarchia ( written in Latin ) 

 expounds Dante's theory of the right, and, as he 

 held, divinely-intended, government of the world, 

 by a universal emperor acting in harmony with a 

 universal pope, respectively administering, without 

 conflict or interference, the temporal and spiritual 

 affairs of mankind. Another work, again un- 

 finished, since it consists of two books only, when 

 four were promised, is the De Vidgari Eloquio. 

 It also is written in Latin, and is a discussion of 

 the origin of language, the several divisions of 

 languages, and' the numerous dialects of Italian 

 in particular. A considerable collection of short 

 poems, canzoni, sonnets, &c., is also preserved 

 under the title of the Canzoniere, and finally, we 

 have about a dozen epistles addressed mainly to 

 leading statesmen or rulers, and dealing with the 

 most urgent political problems of the day. There 

 are also some Eclogues and other minor works, as 

 well as several of doubtful authenticity which are 

 sometimes assigned to him. 



The editions most to be recommended are as follows : 

 For the Commedia, Brunone Bianchi, or Fraticelli, are 

 the most serviceable for ordinary students ; for a more 

 thorough and critical study, Scartazzini (3 vols.) is indis- 

 pensable ; for the De Monarchia and the Vita Nuova, 



also the Commedia, the editions of "VVitte ; for all the 

 works, Fraticelli ; for all except the Commedia, Giuliani. 

 The Oxford Dante, a complete text (3 vols.), was pub- 

 lished in 1894 by the present writer, who has also written 

 Dante and his Early Bioyraphers (1890). Scartazzini'a 

 Proleyomeni della Divina Commedia ( 1890 ) represents the 

 labours of fifteen years ; and on it is based the German 

 Dante Handbuch, translated by Butler ( 1894 ) as A Com- 

 panion to Dante. Butler has also published Dante, his 

 Times and his Work (1895). The invaluable Biblioyrafia 

 Dantescaof Colombde BatineswascontinuedbyCarpellini 

 (1845-65) and by Petzholdt (1865-80). L. G. Blanc's 

 Vocabolario Dantesco is very valuable ; and for a general 

 introduction to the life, character, and works of Dante, 

 A Shadow of Dante, by Maria Francesca Rossetti, is 

 strongly to be recommended. The principal English 

 translations in verse are by Gary, Wright, Cay ley, 

 Pollock, Longfellow, Plumptre, Hazelfoot, Rossetti, Sib- 

 bald, and Musgrave ( the last three the Inf. only ) ; and 

 in prose by Dr John Carlyle (Inf. only ), Butler, and C. 

 E. Norton. 



Danton. GEORGES-JACQUES, was born of good 

 farmer-people, at Arcis-sur-Aube, 26th October 

 1759. The outbreak of the French Revolution 

 found him a quiet and studious man, practising as 

 an advocate in Paris, but ere long its fever filled his 

 veins. It was not till 1792, however, that he became 

 a great leader, as we find no trace of his influence in 

 such movements as the destruction of the Bastille 

 and the forcible removal of the court from Ver- 

 sailles to the Tuileries. Mirabeau quickly de 

 tected Danton's genius, and hastened to attach him 

 to himself, but his death in the spring of 1791 

 removed the last stay to the speedy downfall of the 

 monarchy and the onward progress of a turbulent 

 and infatuated democracy. Along with Marat and 

 Camille Desrnoulins, Danton instituted the Corde- 

 liers' Club, which soon became the rallying-point of 

 all the hotter revolutionists. There the tall Ibrawny 

 man a born Tribune with harsh and daring 

 countenance, beetling black brows, and a voice 

 of enormous power, thundered with vehement 

 eloquence against the aristocrats, till the passions 

 of the populace rose into ungovernable fury. 

 Meantime the unhappy king stumbled into ever 

 new blunders most fatal, the attempt to flee from 

 Paris (June 1791), 'nd the affair of the Champ de 

 Mars (July 2, 1791). Assertions have been made 

 that Danton was after these events corrupted by 

 the court, but there is no trustworthy evidence 

 of this, and it is certain that his hostility to the 

 monarchy remained as implacable as ever. ' The 

 Mirabeau of the Sansculottes ' was, indeed, says 

 M. Claretie, ' a kind of bourgeois Mirabeau, equally 

 powerful, but neither dissolute nor venal.' Dan- 

 ton's share in the insurrectionary march on the 

 Tuileries (10th August 1792) is very doubtful, but 

 it is certain that immediately thereafter he appears 

 as Minister of Justice. And now the gigantic per- 

 sonality of the man seemed to overshadow all the 

 surrounding figures. He stood forth as the incar- 

 nate spirit of the Revolution, manifesting alike its 

 heroic audacity in the presence of danger from 

 without, and its mad suspicion and terror of 

 danger from within. The advance of the Prussians 

 seemed for a moment to strike a panic to the heart of 

 France. On the 2d of September Danton mounted 

 the tribune, and addressed the Legislative Assembly 

 in a speech of tremendous power, which closed with 

 the famous words regarding the enemies of France : 

 ' Pour les vaincre, pour les atterrer, que faut-il ? 

 De 1'audace, encore de 1'audace, et toujours de 

 1'audace. ' The heart of Paris was moved with 

 resistless enthusiasm : she poured forth army alter 

 army of her sons, whose fiery valour quickly drove 

 the invaders from the sacred soil of France. But 

 the excitement of Paris was not all heroic the Sep- 

 tember murders in the prisons were merely an out 

 burst of cowardice and fear. Danton had no share 



