No. 4.] the ethics OF BOOKS. 129 



or purest, but is full of life and brightness. French clas- 

 sicism had its culmination in Louis XIV., in the 17th cen- 

 tury. The Hotel de Rambouillet and the French Academy 

 were the two organized forces that did the work. The 

 Academy was established by the great Cardinal Richelieu in 

 the time of Louis XIII. ; and the salons by the wife of 

 Marquis de Rambouillet, for the purpose of trying what 

 feminine wit and virtue could do towards reffeneratino- the 

 manners and morals of France. These were wonderful 

 gatherings. Here came Balzac and Voiture, Corneille and 

 Descartes, Bossuet and Bourdaloue, and here Madame de 

 Sevigne brought her beauty, wit and unblemished reputa- 

 tion. This was the grand intellectual age of France, Louis 

 XIV. himself being the centre of all literary move- 

 ments. Then came the writings of the intidels, Voltaire, 

 Diderot and Rousseau, in the 17th and 18th centuries. 

 They prepared the way for the French revolution. During 

 this time their literature was nearly extinguished. The 

 salon flourished until the middle of the present century, 

 expiring witli the beautiful Madame Recamier. The two 

 bright stars of the last part of the 18th and first part of the 

 19th centuries were Chateaubriand and that great woman 

 whom Napoleon feared, Madame de Stael. Victor Hugo's 

 great personality combined with Shakespeare's influence at 

 last broke the power of the classicists and gave the lead to 

 the romancer. Victor Hugo became the mouthpiece of an 

 outraged nation. Gambetta was one who caught the spirit of 

 his writings. Hugo was exiled to the Isle of Guernsey, and 

 for eighteen years he stirred France, whether they would or 

 not. All his romanticist friends w r ere faithful to him; even 

 those who accepted the Emperor, like Gautier and Sainte- 

 Beuve, stood by him. In the closing days of the empire 

 "Hermani" was put upon the stage and was warmly re- 

 ceived by the people. So during the entire reign of Na- 

 poleon III. Hugo lived in the midst by his mighty pen. 



We owe much to the Germans for one thing and another. 

 But we must be wise and discriminating. They are a broad- 

 thinking people. Broad thinking without depth is apt to 

 be free thinking. Their literature was born with Martin 



