' These were not
published until long after his death, first appearing in Leyden about
1665, at the Hague in 1740, and in Paris in 1787.
published until long after his death, first appearing in Leyden about
1665, at the Hague in 1740, and in Paris in 1787.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v04 - Bes to Bro
For a literature to bring nothing up for debate is the
same thing as to lose all its significance. The people that pro-
duce such a literature may believe as firmly as they please that
the salvation of the world will come from it, but their expecta-
tions will be doomed to disappointment; such a people can no
more influence the development of civilization in the direction of
progress than did the fly who thought he was urging the car-
riage onward by now and then giving the four horses an insig-
nificant prick.
-
Many virtues as for example warlike courage
- may be
preserved in such a society, but these virtues cannot sustain
literature when intellectual courage has sunk and disappeared.
All stagnant reaction is tyrannical; and when a community has
by degrees so developed itself that it wears the features of
tyranny beneath the mask of freedom, when every outspoken
utterance that gives uncompromising expression to free thought
is frowned upon by society, by the respectable part of the press,
and by many officials of the State, very unusual conditions will
be needed to call forth characters and talents of the sort upon
which progress in any society depends. Should such a commu-
nity develop a kind of poetry, we need not wonder overmuch
if its essential tendency be to scorn the age and put it to
shame. Such poetry will again and again describe the men of
the time as wretches; and it may well happen that the books
which are the most famous and the most sought after (Ibsen's
'Brand,' for example) will be those in which the reader is made
to feel at first with a sort of horror, and afterwards with a
sort of satisfaction - what a worm he is, how miserable and how
cowardly. It may happen, too, that for such a people the word
Will becomes a sort of catchword, that it may cry aloud with
dramas of the Will and philosophies of the Will. Men demand
that which they do not possess; they call for that of which they
most bitterly feel the lack; they call for that which there is the
keenest inquiry for. Yet one would be mistaken were he
## p. 2309 (#507) ###########################################
GEORG BRANDES
2309
pessimistically to assume that in such a people there is less
courage, resolution, enthusiasm, and will than in the average of
others. There is quite as much courage and freedom of thought,
but still more is needed. For when the reaction in a literature
forces the new ideas into the background, and when a commu-
nity has daily heard itself blamed, derided, and even cursed for
its hypocrisy and its conventionality, yet has remained convinced
of its openness of mind, daily swinging censers before its own.
nostrils in praise thereof,—it requires unusual ability and un-
usual force of will to bring new blood into its literature. A
soldier needs no uncommon courage to fire upon the enemy
from the shelter of an earthwork; but if he has been led so ill
that he finds no shelter at hand, we need not wonder if his
courage forsakes him.
Various causes have contributed to the result that our litera-
ture has accomplished less than the greater ones in the service
of progress.
The very circumstances that have favored the
development of our poetry have stood in our way. I may in the
first place mention a certain childishness in the character of our
people. We owe to this quality the almost unique naïveté of our
poetry. Naïveté is an eminently poetical quality, and we find it
in nearly all of our poets, from Oehlenschläger through Ingemann
and Andersen to Hostrup. But naïveté does not imply the
revolutionary propensity. I may further mention the abstract
idealism so strongly marked in our literature. It deals with our
dreams, not with our life.
It sometimes happens to the Dane on his travels that a for-
eigner, after some desultory talk about Denmark, asks him this
question: How may one learn what are the aspirations of your
country? Has your contemporary literature developed any type
that is palpable and easily grasped? The Dane is embarrassed
in his reply. They all know of what class were the types that
the eighteenth century bequeathed to the nineteenth. Let us name
one or two representative types in the case of a single country,
Germany. There is 'Nathan the Wise,' the ideal of the period
of enlightenment; that is, the period of tolerance, noble humanity,
and thorough-going rationalism. We can hardly say that we have
held fast to this ideal or carried it on to further development,
as it was carried on by Schleiermacher and many others in Ger-
many. Mynster was our Schleiermacher, and we know how far
his orthodoxy stands removed from Schleiermacher's liberalism.
Instead of adopting rationalism and carrying it on, we have
•
## p. 2310 (#508) ###########################################
2310
GEORG BRANDES
stepped farther and farther away from it. Clausen was once
its advocate, but he is so no more. Heiberg is followed by
Martensen, and Martensen's 'Speculative Dogmatic' is succeeded
by his Christian Dogmatic. ' In Oehlenschläger's poetry there
is still the breath of rationalism, but the generation of Oehlen-
schläger and Örsted is followed by that of Kierkegaard and
Paludan-Müller.
The German literature of the eighteenth century bequeathed
to us many other poetic ideals. There is Werther, the ideal of
the "storm and stress" period, of the struggle of nature and
passion with the customary order of society; then there is Faust,
the very spirit of the new age with its new knowledge, who,
still unsatisfied with what the period of enlightenment has won,
foresees a higher truth, a higher happiness, and a thousandfold
higher power; and there is Wilhelm Meister, the type of human-
ized culture, who goes through the school of life and from ap-
prentice becomes master, who begins with the pursuit of ideals
that soar above life and who ends by discerning the ideal in the
real, for whom these two expressions finally melt into one.
There is Goethe's Prometheus, who, chained to his rock, gives
utterance to the philosophy of Spinoza in the sublime rhythms
of enthusiasm. Last of all, there is the Marquis von Posa, the
true incarnation of the revolution, the apostle and prophet of
liberty, the type of a generation that would, by means of the
uprising against all condemned traditions, make progress possible
and bring happiness to mankind.
With such types in the past our Danish literature begins.
Does it develop them further? We may not say that it does.
For what is the test of progress? It is what happens after-
ward. It has not been printed in this shape, but I will tell you
about it. One fine day, when Werther was going about as usual,
dreaming despairingly of Lotte, it occurred to him that the bond
between her and Albert was of slight consequence, and he won
her from Albert. One fine day the Marquis von Posa wearied of
preaching freedom to deaf ears at the court of Philip the Second,
and drove a sword through the king's body-and Prometheus
rose from his rock and overthrew Olympus, and Faust, who had
knelt abjectly before the Earth-Spirit, took possession of his
earth, and subdued it by means of steam, and electricity, and
methodical investigation.
Translation of W. M. Payne.
## p. 2311 (#509) ###########################################
2311
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
(1458-1521)
N 1494, shortly after the invention of printing, there appeared
in Basle a book entitled 'Das Narrenschiff' (The Ship of
Fools). Its success was most extraordinary; it was immedi-
ately translated into various languages, and remained favorite with
the reading world throughout the sixteenth century. The secret of its
popularity lay in its mixture of satire and allegory, which was exactly
in accord with the spirit of the age. The Ship of Fools' was not
only read by the cultivated classes who could appreciate the subtle
flavor of the work, but-especially in Ger-
many-it was a book for the people, rel-
ished by burgher and artisan as well as by
courtier and scholar. Contemporary works
contain many allusions to it; it was in
fact so familiar to every one that monks
preached upon texts drawn from it. This
unique and powerful book carried the spirit
of the Reformation where the words of
Luther would have been unheeded, and it
is supposed to have suggested to Erasmus
his famous 'Praise of Folly. '
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
In its way, it was as important a pro-
duction as Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. '
The Narrenschiff' was like a glass in which every man saw the
reflection of his neighbor; for the old weather-beaten vessel was filled
with a crew of fools, who impersonate the universal weaknesses of
human nature. In his prologue Brandt says:—
"We well may call it Folly's mirror,
Since every fool there sees his error:
His proper worth would each man know,
The glass of Fools the truth will show.
Who meets his image on the page
May learn to deem himself no sage,
Nor shrink his nothingness to see,
Since naught that lives from fault is free;
And who in conscience dare be sworn
That cap and bells he ne'er hath worn?
He who his foolishness decries
Alone deserves to rank as wise.
## p. 2312 (#510) ###########################################
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
2312
He who doth wisdom's airs rehearse
May stand godfather to my verse!
"For jest and earnest, use and sport,
Here fools abound, of every sort.
The sage may here find Wisdom's rules,
And Folly learn the ways of fools.
Dolts rich and poor my verse doth strike;
The bad finds badness, like finds like;
A cap on many a one I fit
Who fain to wear it would omit.
Were I to mention it by name,
I know you not,' he would exclaim. "
Sebastian Brandt represented all that was best in mediæval Ger-
many. He was a man of affairs, a diplomat, a scholar, an artist, and
a citizen highly esteemed and reverenced for his judgment and
knowledge. Naturally enough, he held important civic offices in
Basle as well as in Strassburg, where he was born in 1458. His
father, a wealthy burgher, sent him to the University of Basle to
study philosophy and jurisprudence and to become filled with the
political ideals of the day. He took his degree in law in 1484 at
Basle, and practiced his profession, gaining in reputation every
day.
In early youth he dedicated a number of works in prose and verse
to the Emperor Maximilian, who made him Chancellor of the Empire,
and frequently summoned him to his camp to take part in the nego-
tiations regarding the Holy See. He was universally admired, and
Erasmus, who saw him in Strassburg, spoke of him as the "incom-
parable Brandt. " His portrait represents the polished Italian rather
than the sturdy middle-class German citizen. His features are deli-
cately cut, his nose long and thin, his face smooth, and his fur-
bordered cap and brocade robes suggest aristocratic surroundings.
No doubt he graced, by his appearance and bearing as well as by
his richly stored mind, the dignity of Count Palatine, to which rank
the Emperor raised him. He died in Strassburg in 1521, and lies in
the great cathedral.
In addition to the pictures in the Ship of Fools' (some of which
he drew, while others he designed and superintended), he illustrated
"Terence' (1496); the Quadragesimale, or Sermons on the Prodigal
Son' (1495); 'Boëtius' (1501), and Virgil' (1502), all of which are
interesting to the artist and engraver. In the original edition of
the 'Ship of Fools,' written in the Swabian dialect, every folly is
accompanied with marginal notes giving the classical or Biblical pro-
totype of the person satirized.
## p. 2313 (#511) ###########################################
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
2313
"Brandt's satires," says Max Müller in his 'Chips from a German Work-
shop,' “are not very powerful, nor pungent, nor original. But his style is
free and easy.
He writes in short chapters, and mixes his fools in such a
manner that we always meet with a variety of new faces. To account for
his popularity we must remember the time in which he wrote. What had the
poor people of Germany to read toward the end of the fifteenth century?
Printing had been invented, and books were published and sold with great
rapidity. People were not only fond, but proud, of reading. This entertain-
ment was fashionable, and the first fool who enters Brandt's ship is the man
who buys books. But what were the wares that were offered for sale? We
find among the early prints of the fifteenth century religious, theological, and
classical works in great abundance, and we know that the respectable and
wealthy burghers of Augsburg and Strassburg were proud to fill their shelves
with these portly volumes. But then German aldermen had wives and
daughters and sons, and what were they to read during the long winter
evenings?
There was room therefore at that time for a work like the
(Ship of Fools. > It was the first printed book that treated of contemporary
events and living persons, instead of old German battles and French knights.
"People are always fond of reading the history of their own times. If the
good qualities of the age are brought out, they think of themselves or their
friends; if the dark features of their contemporaries are exhibited, they think
of their neighbors and enemies. The Ship of Fools) is the sort of satire
which ordinary people would read, and read with pleasure. They might feel
a slight twinge now and then, but they would put down the book at the end,
and thank God that they were not like other men. There is a chapter on
Misers,- and who would not gladly give a penny to a beggar? There is a
chapter on Gluttony,—and who was ever more than a little exhilarated after
dinner? There is a chapter on Church-goers,- and who ever went to church
for respectability's sake, or to show off a gaudy dress, or a fine dog, or a
new hawk? There is a chapter on Dancing,- and who ever danced except
for the sake of exercise?
We sometimes wish that Brandt's satire
had been a little more searching, and that, instead of his many allusions to
classical fools,
he had given us a little more of the scandalous gossip
of his own time. But he was too good a man to do this, and his contempɔ-
raries no doubt were grateful to him for his forbearance. »
•
•
From a line in his poem saying that the Narrenschiff was to be
found in the neighborhood of Aix, it is supposed that Brandt received
his idea from an old chronicle which describes a ship built near Aix-
la-Chapelle in the twelfth century, and which was borne through
the country as the centre-piece for a carnival, and followed by a
suite of men and women dressed in gay costume, singing and dan-
cing to the sound of instruments. The old monk calls it "pagan
worship," and denounces it severely; but Brandt saw great possibili-
ties in it for pointing a moral, according to the fashion of his time.
The illustrations contributed not a little to the popularity of the
book, for he put all his humor into the pictures and all his sermons
and exhortations into his text.
## p. 2314 (#512) ###########################################
2314
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
Just as Brandt in his literary qualities has been compared to
Rabelais, so his satirical pencil has been likened to Hogarth's. Bold-
ness, drollery, dramatic spirit, force, and spontaneous satire charac-
terize both artists. He does not mount a pulpit and speak to the
erring masses with sanctimonious self-righteousness; but he enters
the Ship himself to lead the babbling folk in motley to the land of
wisdom. His own folly is that of the student, and he therefore
begins caricaturing himself.
To open the Ship of Fools' is to witness a masquerade of the
fifteenth century. The frontispiece shows a large galley with high
poop and prow and disordered rigging. Confusion reigns. Every one
wears the livery of Folly, the fantastic hood with two peaks like
asses' ears, and decorated with tiny jingling bells. One man on the
prow gesticulates wildly to a little boat, and cries to the passengers,
"Zu schyff, zu schyff, brüder: ess gat, ess gat! " (On board, on
board, brothers; it goes, it goes! )
>>
In these pages every type of society is seen, "from beardless
youth to crooked age, as the author asserts. Men and women of all
classes and conditions, high and low, rich and poor, learned and
unlearned; ladies in long trains and furred gowns; knights with long
peaked shoes, carrying falcons upon their wrists; cooks and butlers
busy in the kitchen; women gazing into mirrors; monks preaching
in pulpits; merchants selling goods; gluttons at the table; drunkards
in the tavern; alchemists in their laboratories; gamesters playing
cards and rattling dice; lovers in shady groves-all and each wear
Folly's cap and bells.
Another class of fools is seen engaged in ridiculous occupations,
such as pouring water into wells; bearing the world on their shoulders;
measuring the globe; or weighing heaven and earth in the balance.
Still others despoil their fellows. Wine merchants introducing salt-
petre, bones, mustard, and sulphur into barrels, the horse-dealer
padding the foot of a lame horse, men selling inferior skins for good
fur, and other cheats with false weights, short measure, and light
money, prove that the vices of the modern age are not novelties.
Other allegorical pictures and verses describe the mutability of fortune,
where a wheel, guided by a gigantic hand outstretched from the sky,
is adorned with three asses, wearing of course the cap and bells.
The best German editions of this book are by Zarncke (Leipsic,
1854), and Goedecke (1872). It was translated into Latin by Locker
in 1497, into English by Henry Watson as 'The Grete Shyppe of
Fooles of the Worlde' (1517); and by Alexander Barclay in 1509.
The best edition of Barclay's adaptation, from which the extracts
below are drawn, was published by T. H. Jamieson (Edinburgh, 1874).
## p. 2315 (#513) ###########################################
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
2315
* Floats.
§ Single.
THE UNIVERSAL SHYP
CO
OME to, Companyons: ren: tyme it is to rowe:
Our Carake fletis*: the se is large and wyde
And depe Inough: a pleasaunt wynde doth blowe.
Prolonge no tyme, our Carake doth you byde,
Our felawes tary for you on every syde.
Hast hyther, I say, ye folyst naturall,
Howe oft shall I you unto my Navy call?
Ye have one confort, ye shall nat be alone:
Your company almoste is infynyte;
For nowe alyve ar men but fewe or none
That of my shyp can red hym selfe out quyte. ‡
A fole in felawes hath pleasour and delyte.
Here can none want, for our proclamacion
Extendyth farre: and to many a straunge nacyon.
Both yonge and olde, pore man, and estate:
The folysshe moder: hir doughter by hir syde,
Ren to our Navy, ferynge to come to[o] late.
No maner of degre is in the worlde wyde,
But that for all theyr statelynes and pryde
As many as from the way of wysdome tryp
Shall have a rowme and place within my shyp.
My folysshe felawes therfore I you exort
Hast to our Navy, for tyme it is to rowe:
Nowe must we leve eche sympyll§ haven and porte,
And sayle to that londe where folys abound and flow;
For whether we aryve at London or Bristowe,
Or any other Haven within this our londe,
We folys ynowe || shall fynde alway at honde.
Our frayle bodyes wandreth in care and payne
And lyke to botes troubled with tempest sore
From rocke to rocke cast in this se mundayne,
Before our iyen beholde we ever more
The deth of them that passed are before.
Alas mysfortune us causeth oft to rue
Whan to vayne thoughtis our bodyes we subdue.
We wander in more dout than mortall man can thynke,
And oft by our foly and wylfull neglygence
Quite rid himself of.
+ Fools.
Enough.
## p. 2316 (#514) ###########################################
2316
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
Our shyp is in great peryll for to synke.
So sore ar we overcharged with offence
We see the daunger before our owne presence
Of straytis, rockis, and bankis of sonde full hye,
Yet we procede to wylfull jeopardye.
We dyvers Monsters within the se beholde
Redy to abuse or to devour mankynde,
As Dolphyns, whallys, and wonders many folde,
And oft the Marmaydes songe dullyth our mynde
That to all goodnes we ar made dull and blynde;
The wolves of these oft do us moche care,
Yet we of them can never well beware.
About we wander in tempest and Tourment;
What place is sure, where Foles may remayne
And fyx theyr dwellynge sure and parmanent?
None certainly: The cause thereof is playne.
We wander in the se for pleasour, bydynge payne,
And though the haven of helth be in our syght
Alas we fle from it with all our myght
OF HYM THAT TOGYDER WYLL SERVE TWO MAYSTERS
FOLE he is and voyde of reason
A
Whiche with one hounde tendyth to take
Two harys in one instant and season;
Rightso is he that wolde undertake
Hym to two lordes a servaunt to make;
For whether that he be lefe or lothe.
The one he shall displease, or els bothe.
A fole also he is withouten doute,
And in his porpose sothly blyndyd sore,
Which doth entende labour or go aboute
To serve god, and also his wretchyd store
Of worldly ryches: for as I sayde before,
He that togyder will two maysters serve
Shall one displease and nat his love deserve.
For he that with one hounde wol take also
Two harys togyther in one instant
For the moste parte doth the both two forgo,
And if he one have: harde it is and skant
## p. 2317 (#515) ###########################################
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
And that blynd fole mad and ignorant
That draweth thre boltis atons* in one bowe
At one marke shall shote to[o] high or to[o] lowe.
He that his mynde settyth god truly to serve
And his sayntes: this worlde settynge at nought
Shall for rewarde everlastynge joy deserve,
But in this worlde he that settyth his thought
All men to please, and in favour to be brought
Must lout and lurke, flater, laude, and lye:
And cloke in knavys counseyll, though it fals be.
If any do hym wronge or injury
He must it suffer and pacyently endure
A double tunge with wordes like hony;
And of his offycis if he wyll be sure
He must be sober and colde of his langage,
More to a knave, than to one of hye lynage.
Oft must he stoupe his bonet in his honde,
His maysters back he must oft shrape and clawe,
His brest anoyntynge, his mynde to understonde,
But be it gode or bad therafter must he drawe.
Without he can Jest he is nat worth a strawe,
But in the mean tyme beware that he none checke;
For than layth malyce a mylstone in his necke.
He that in court wyll love and favour have
A fole must hym fayne, if he were none afore,
And be as felow to every boy and knave,
And to please his lorde he must styll laboure sore.
His many folde charge maketh hym coveyt more
That he had levert serve a man in myserye
Than serve his maker in tranquylyte.
But yet when he hath done his dylygence
His lorde to serve, as I before have sayde,
For one small faute or neglygent offence
Suche a displeasoure agaynst hym may be layde
That out is he cast bare and unpurvayde,‡
Whether he be gentyll, yeman § grome or page;
Thus worldly servyse is no sure herytage.
Wherfore I may prove by these examples playne
That it is better more godly and plesant
To leve this mondayne casualte and payne
And to thy maker one god to be servaunt,
+ Rather.
+ Unprovided.
Three bolts at once.
2317
§ Yeoman
## p. 2318 (#516) ###########################################
2318
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
Which whyle thou lyvest shall nat let the want
That thou desyrest justly, for thy syrvyce,
And than after gyve the, the joyes of Paradyse.
OF TO[O] MOCHE SPEKYNGE OR BABLYNGE
HE THAT his tunge can temper and refrayne
And asswage the foly of hasty langage
Shall kepe his mynde from trouble, sadnes and payne,
And fynde therby great ease and avauntage;
Where as a hasty speker falleth in great domage
Peryll and losse, in lyke wyse as the pye
Betrays hir byrdes by hir chatrynge and crye.
Is it not better for one his tunge to kepe
Where as he myght (perchaunce) with honestee,
Than wordes to speke whiche make hym after wepe
For great losse folowynge wo and adversyte?
A worde ones spokyn revoked can not be,
Therfore thy fynger lay before thy types,
For a wyse mannys tunge without advysement trypes.
He that wyll answere of his owne folysshe brayne
Before that any requyreth his counsayle
Shewith him selfe and his hasty foly playne,
Wherby men knowe his wordes of none avayle.
Some have delyted in mad blaborynge and frayle
Whiche after have supped bytter punysshement
For their wordes spoken without advysement.
Many have ben whiche sholde have be counted wyse
Sad and discrete, and right well sene
* in scyence;
But all they have defyled with this one vyse
Of moche spekynge: o cursyd synne and offence
Ryte it is that so great inconvenience
So great shame, contempt rebuke and vylany
Sholde by one small member came to the hole body.
Let suche take example by the chatrynge pye,
Whiche doth hyr nest and byrdes also betraye
By hyr grete chatterynge, clamoure dyn and crye,
Ryght so these folys theyr owne foly bewraye.
But touchynge wymen of them I wyll nought say,
They can not speke, but ar as coy and styll
As the horle wynde or clapper of a mylle.
* Well seen well versed.
-
## p. 2319 (#517) ###########################################
2319
THE ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
(PIERRE DE BOURDEILLE)
(1527-1614)
VERY historian of the Valois period is indebted to Brantôme
for preserving the atmosphere and detail of the brilliant life
in which he moved as a dashing courtier, a military adven-
turer, and a gallant gentleman of high degree. He was not a pro-
fessional scribe, nor a student; but he took notes unconsciously, and
in the evening of his life turned back the pages of his memory to
record the scenes through which he had passed and the characters
which he had known. He has been termed the "valet de chambre≫
of history; nevertheless the anecdotes scattered through his works
will ever be treasured by all students and
historians of that age of luxury and mag-
nificence, art and beauty, beneath which
lay the fermentation of great religious and
political movements, culminating in the
struggle between the Huguenots and Cath-
olics.
Brantôme was the third son of the
Vicomte de Bourdeille, a Périgord noble-
man, whose family had lived long in Gui-
enne, and whose aristocratic lineage was
lost in myth. Upon the estate stood the
Abbey of Brantôme, founded by Charle-
magne, and this Henry II. gave to young
Pierre de Bourdeille in recognition of the
military deeds of his brother, Jean de Bourdeille, who lost his life in
service. Thereafter the lad was to sign his name as the Reverend
Father in God, Messire Pierre de Bourdeille, Abbé de Brantôme.
Born in the old château in 1527, he was destined for the church, but
abandoned this career for arms. At an early age he was sent to
court as page to Marguerite, sister of Francis I. and Queen of Na-
varre; after her death in 1549, he went to Paris to study at the Uni-
versity. His title of Abbé being merely honorary, he served in the
army under François de Guise, Duke of Lorraine, and became Gentle-
man of the Chamber to Charles IX. His career extended through
the reigns of Henry II. , Francis II. , Charles IX. , Henry III. , and
Henry IV. , to that of Louis XIII. With the exception of diplomatic
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
## p. 2320 (#518) ###########################################
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
2320
missions, service on the battle-field, and voyages for pleasure, he
spent his life at court.
About 1594 he retired to his estate, where until his death on July
15th, 1614, he passed his days in contentions with the monks of
Brantôme, in lawsuits with his neighbors, and in writing his books:
'Lives of the Illustrious Men and Great Captains of France'; 'Lives
of Illustrious Ladies'; 'Lives of Women of Gallantry'; 'Memoirs, con-
taining anecdotes connected with the Court of France'; 'Spanish
Rodomontades'; a 'Life' of his father, François de Bourdeille; a
'Funeral Oration' on his sister in-law; and a dialogue in verse,
entitled 'The Tomb of Madame de Bourdeille.
' These were not
published until long after his death, first appearing in Leyden about
1665, at the Hague in 1740, and in Paris in 1787. The best editions
are by Fourcault (7 vols. , Paris, 1822); by Lacour and Mérimée (3
vols. , 1859); and Lalande (10 vols. , 1865-'81).
What Brantôme thought of himself may be seen by glancing at
that portion of the "testament mystique" which relates to his writ-
ings:-
"I will and expressly charge my heirs that they cause to be printed the
books which I have composed by my talent and invention. These books will
be found covered with velvet, either black, green or blue, and one larger
volume, which is that of the Rodomontades, covered with velvet, gilt outside
and curiously bound. All have been carefully corrected. There will be found
in these books excellent things, such as stories, histories, discourses, and witty
sayings, which I flatter myself the world will not disdain to read when once
it has had a sight of them. I direct that a sum of money be taken from my
estate sufficient to pay for the printing thereof, which certainly cannot be
much; for I have known many printers who would have given money rather
than charged any for the right of printing them. They print many things
without charge which are not at all equal to mine. I will also that the said
impression shall be in large type, in order to make the better appearance,
and that they should appear with the Royal Privilege, which the King will
readily grant. Also care must be taken that the printers do not put on the
title-page any supposititious name instead of mine. Otherwise, I should be
defrauded of the glory which is my due. »
The old man delighted in complimenting himself and talking
about his "grandeur d'âme. " This greatness of soul may be measured
from the command he gave his heirs to annoy a man who had
refused to swear homage to him, "it not being reasonable to leave
at rest this little wretch, who descends from a low family, and
whose grandfather was nothing but a notary. " He also commands
his nieces and nephews to take the same vengeance upon his enemies
"as I should have done in my green and vigorous youth, during
which I may boast, and I thank God for it, that I never received an
injury without being revenged on the author of it. "
## p. 2321 (#519) ###########################################
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
2321
Brantôme writes like a "gentleman of the sword," with dash and
élan, and as one, to use his own words, who has been "toujours trot-
tant, traversant, et vagabondant le monde» (always trotting, travers-
ing, and tramping the world). Not in the habit of a vagabond,
however, for the balls, banquets, tournaments, masques, ballets, and
wedding-feasts which he describes so vividly were occasions for the
display of sumptuous costumes; and Messire Pierre de Bourdeille
doubtless appeared as elegant as any other gallant in silken hose,
jeweled doublet, flowing cape, and long rapier. What we value most
are his paintings of these festive scenes, and the vivid portraits
which he has left of the Valois women, who were largely responsible.
for the luxuries and the crimes of the period: women who could
step without a tremor from a court-masque to a massacre; who
could toy with a gallant's ribbons and direct the blow of an assassin;
and who could poison a rival with a delicately perfumed gift. Such
a court Brantôme calls the "true paradise of the world, school of all
honesty and virtue, ornament of France. » We like to hear about
Catherine de' Medici riding with her famous "squadron of Venus":
"You should have seen forty or fifty dames and demoiselles follow-
ing her, mounted on beautifully accoutred hackneys, their hats adorned
with feathers which increased their charm, so well did the flying
plumes represent the demand for love or war. Virgil, who under-
took to describe the fine apparel of Queen Dido when she went out
hunting, has by no means equaled that of our Queen and her ladies. »
Charming, too, are such descriptions as "the most beautiful ballet
that ever was, composed of sixteen of the fairest and best-trained
dames and demoiselles, who appeared in a silvered rock where they
were seated in niches, shut in on every side. The sixteen ladies
represented the sixteen provinces of France. After having made the
round of the hall for parade as in a camp, they all descended, and
ranging themselves in the form of a little oddly contrived battalion,
some thirty violins began a very pleasant warlike air, to which they
danced their ballet. " After an hour the ladies presented the King,
the Queen-Mother, and others with golden plaques, on which were
engraved "the fruits and singularities of each province," the wheat
of Champagne, the vines of Burgundy, the lemons and oranges of
Provence, etc. He shows us Catherine de' Medici, the elegant, cun-
ning Florentine; her beautiful daughters, Elizabeth of Spain and Mar-
guerite de Valois; Diana of Poitiers, the woman of eternal youth and
beauty; Jeanne d'Albret, the mother of Henry IV. ; Louise de Vaude-
mont; the Duchesse d'Étampes; Marie Touchet; and all their satel-
lites, as they enjoyed their lives.
-
Very valuable are the data regarding Mary Stuart's departure
from France in 1561. Brantôme was one of her suite, and describes
IV-146
## p. 2322 (#520) ###########################################
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
2322
her grief when the shores of France faded away, and her arrival in
Scotland, where on the first night she was serenaded by Psalm-tunes
with a most villainous accompaniment of Scotch music. "Hé! quelle
musique! " he exclaims, "et quel repos pour la nuit! "
But of all the gay ladies Brantôme loves to dwell upon, his favor-
ites are the two Marguerites: Marguerite of Angoulême, Queen of
Navarre, the sister of Francis I. , and Marguerite, daughter of Cathe-
rine de' Medici and wife of Henry IV. Of the latter, called familiarly
"La Reine Margot," he is always writing. "To speak of the beauty
of this rare princess," he says, "I think that all that are, or will be,
or have ever been near her are ugly. "
Brantôme has been a puzzle to many critics, who cannot explain
his "contradictions. " He had none. He extolled wicked and immoral
characters because he recognized only two merits, -aristocratic birth
and hatred of the Huguenots. He is well described by M. de Barante,
who says:-"Brantôme expresses the entire character of his country
and of his profession. Careless of the difference between good and
evil; a courtier who has no idea that anything can be blameworthy
in the great, but who sees and narrates their vices and their crimes
all the more frankly in that he is not very sure whether what he
tells be good or bad; as indifferent to the honor of women as he is
to the morality of men; relating scandalous things with no conscious-
ness that they are such, and almost leading his reader into accepting
them as the simplest things in the world, so little importance does
he attach to them; terming Louis XI. , who poisoned his brother, the
good King Louis, calling women whose adventures could hardly have
been written by any pen save his own, honnêtes dames. »
Brantôme must therefore not be regarded as a chronicler who
revels in scandals, although his pages reek with them; but as the
true mirror of the Valois court and the Valois period.
THE DANCING OF ROYALTY
From Lives of Notable Women'
A
H! HOW the times have changed since I saw them together
in the ball-room, expressing the very spirit of the dance!
The King always opened the grand ball by leading out
his sister, and each equaled the other in majesty and grace. I
have often seen them dancing the Pavane d'Espagne, which must
be performed with the utmost majesty and grace.
The eyes
of the entire court were riveted upon them, ravished by this
lovely scene; for the measures were so well danced, the steps so
## p. 2323 (#521) ###########################################
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
2323
intelligently placed, the sudden pauses timed so accurately and
making so elegant an effect, that one did not know what to admire
most, the beautiful manner of moving, or the majesty of the
halts, now expressing excessive gayety, now a beautiful and
haughty disdain. Who could dance with such elegance and grace
as the royal brother and sister? None, I believe; and I have
watched the King dancing with the Queen of Spain and the
Queen of Scotland, each of whom was an excellent dancer.
I have seen them dance the 'Pazzemezzo d'Italie,' walking
gravely through the measures, and directing their steps with so
graceful and solemn a manner that no other prince nor lady
could approach them in dignity. This Queen took great pleasure
in performing these grave dances; for she preferred to exhibit
dignified grace rather than to express the gayety of the Branle,
the Volta, and the Courante. Although she acquired them
quickly, she did not think them worthy of her majesty.
I always enjoyed seeing her dance the Branle de la Torche,
or du Flambeau. Once, returning from the nuptials of the
daughter of the King of Poland, I saw her dance this kind of a
Branle at Lyons before the assembled guests from Savoy, Pied-
mont, Italy, and other places; and every one said he had never
seen any sight more captivating than this lovely lady moving
with grace of motion and majestic mien, all agreeing that she
had no need of the flaming torch which she held in her hand;
for the flashing light from her brilliant eyes was sufficient to
illuminate the set, and to pierce the dark veil of Night.
THE SHADOW OF A TOMB
From Lives of Courtly Women'
Ο
NCE I had an elder brother who was called Captain Bour-
deille, one of the bravest and most valiant soldiers of his
time. Although he was my brother, I must praise him,
for the record he made in the wars brought him fame. He was
the gentilhomme de France who stood first in the science and
gallantry of arms. He was killed during the last siege of Hesdin.
My brother's parents had destined him for the career of letters,
and accordingly sent him at the age of eighteen to study in Italy,
where he settled in Ferrara because of Madame Renée de France,
Duchess of Ferrara, who ardently loved my mother. He enjoyed
## p. 2324 (#522) ###########################################
2324
ABBE DE BRANTÔME
life at her court, and soon fell deeply in love with a young
French widow,- Mademoiselle de La Roche,- who was in the
suite of Madame de Ferrara,
They remained there in the service of love, until my father,
seeing that his son was not following literature, ordered him
home. She, who loved him, begged him to take her with him
to France and to the court of Marguerite of Navarre, whom she
had served, and who had given her to Madame Renée when she
went to Italy upon her marriage. My brother, who was young,
was greatly charmed to have her companionship, and conducted
her to Pau. The Queen was glad to welcome her, for the young
widow was handsome and accomplished, and indeed considered
superior in esprit to the other ladies of the court.
After remaining a few days with my mother and grand-
mother, who were there, my brother visited his father. In a short
time he declared that he was disgusted with letters, and joined
the army, serving in the wars of Piedmont and Parma, where he
acquired much honor in the space of five or six months; during
which time he did not revisit his home. At the end of this
period he went to see his mother at Pau.
He made his rever-
ence to the Queen of Navarre as she returned from vespers; and
she, who was the best princess in the world, received him cor-
dially, and taking his hand, led him about the church for an
hour or two. She demanded news regarding the wars of Pied-
mont and Italy, and many other particulars, to which my brother
replied so well that she was greatly pleased with him. He was
a very handsome young man of twenty-four years. After talking
gravely and engaging him in earnest conversation, walking up
and down the church, she directed her steps toward the tomb of
Mademoiselle de La Roche, who had been dead for three months.
She stopped here, and again took his hand, saying, "My cousin"
(thus addressing him because a daughter of D'Albret was mar-
ried into our family of Bourdeille; but of this I do not boast, for
it has not helped me particularly), "do you not feel something
move below your feet?
"No, Madame," he replied.
"But reflect again, my cousin," she insisted.
My brother answered, "Madame, I feel nothing move. I
stand upon a solid stone. "
"Then I will explain," said the Queen, "without keeping you
longer in suspense, that you stand upon the tomb and over the
## p. 2325 (#523) ###########################################
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
2325
body of your poor dearly-loved Mademoiselle de La Roche, who is
interred here; and that our friends may have sentiment for us at
our death, render a pious homage here. You cannot doubt that
the gentle creature, dying so recently, must have been affected
when you approached. In remembrance I beg you to say a
paternoster and an Ave Maria and a de profundis, and sprinkle
holy water. Thus you will win the name of a very faithful
lover and a good Christian. "
M. LE CONSTABLE ANNE DE MONTMORENCY
From Lives of Distinguished Men and Great Captains>
HⓇ
E NEVER failed to say and keep up his paternosters every
morning, whether he remained in the house, or mounted
his horse and went out to the field to join the army.
It was
a common saying among the soldiers that one must "beware the
paternosters of the Constable. " For as disorders were very fre-
quent, he would say, while mumbling and muttering his pater-
nosters all the time, "Go and fetch that fellow and hang me
him up to this tree;" "Out with a file of harquebusiers here be-
fore me this instant, for the execution of this man! "
"Burn me
this village instantly! " "Cut me to pieces at once all these
villain peasants, who have dared to hold this church against the
king! " All this without ever ceasing from his paternosters till
he had finished them-thinking that he would have done very
wrong to put them off to another time; so conscientious was he!
TWO FAMOUS ENTERTAINMENTS
From 'Lives of Courtly Women'
I
HAVE read in a Spanish book called 'El Viaje del Principe '
(The Voyage of the Prince), made by the King of Spain in
the Pays-Bas in the time of the Emperor Charles, his father,
about the wonderful entertainments given in the rich cities. The
most famous was that of the Queen of Hungary in the lovely
town of Bains, which passed into a proverb, "Mas bravas que
las festas de Bains" (more magnificent than the festivals of Bains).
Among the displays which were seen during the siege of a coun-
terfeit castle, she ordered for one day a fête in honor of the
## p. 2326 (#524) ###########################################
2326
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
Emperor her brother, Queen Eleanor her sister, and the gentle-
men and ladies of the court.
Toward the end of the feast a lady appeared with six Oread-
nymphs, dressed as huntresses in classic costumes of silver and
green, glittering with jewels to imitate the light of the moon.
Each one carried a bow and arrows in her hand and wore a
quiver on her shoulder; their buskins were of cloth of silver.
They entered the hall, leading their dogs after them, and placed
on the table in front of the Emperor all kinds of venison pasties,
supposed to have been the spoils of the chase. After them came
the Goddess of Shepherds and her six nymphs, dressed in cloth
of silver, garnished with pearls. They wore knee-breeches be-
neath their flowing robes, and white pumps, and brought in
various products of the dairy.
Then entered the third division Pomona and her nymphs-
bearing fruit of all descriptions. This goddess was the daughter
of Donna Beatrix Pacheco, Countess d'Autremont, lady-in-waiting
to Queen Eleanor, and was but nine years old. She was now
Madame l'Admirale de Chastillon, whom the Admiral married
for his second wife. Approaching with her companions, she
presented her gifts to the Emperor with an eloquent speech,
delivered so beautifully that she received the admiration of the
entire assembly, and all predicted that she would become a
beautiful, charming, graceful, and captivating lady. She was
dressed in cloth of silver and white, with white buskins, and a
profusion of precious stones-emeralds, colored like some of the
fruit she bore. After making these presentations, she gave the
Emperor a Palm of Victory, made of green enamel, the fronds
tipped with pearls and jewels. This was very rich and gor-
geous.
To Queen Eleanor she gave a fan containing a mirror
set with gems of great value. Indeed, the Queen of Hungary
showed that she was a very excellent lady, and the Emperor
was proud of a sister worthy of himself. All the young ladies
who impersonated these mythical characters were selected from
the suites of France, Hungary, and Madame de Lorraine; and
were therefore French, Italian, Flemish, German, and of Lor-
raine. None of them lacked beauty.
At the same time that these fêtes were taking place at Bains,
Henry II. made his entrée in Piedmont and at his garrisons in
Lyons, where were assembled the most brilliant of his courtiers
and court ladies. If the representation of Diana and her chase
-
## p. 2327 (#525) ###########################################
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
2327
given by the Queen of Hungary was found beautiful, the one at
Lyons was more beautiful and complete. As the king entered
the city, he saw obelisks of antiquity to the right and left, and
a wall of six feet was constructed along the road to the court-
yard, which was filled with underbrush and planted thickly with
trees and shrubbery. In this miniature forest were hidden deer
and other animals.
As soon
as his Majesty approached, to the sound of horns
and trumpets Diana issued forth with her companions, dressed in
the fashion of a classic nymph with her quiver at her side and
her bow in her hand. Her figure was draped in black and gold
sprinkled with silver stars, the sleeves were of crimson satin
bordered with gold, and the garment, looped up above the knee,
revealed her buskins of crimson satin covered with pearls and
embroidery. Her hair was entwined with magnificent strings of
rich pearls and gems of much value, and above her brow was
placed a crescent of silver, surrounded by little diamonds. Gold
could never have suggested half so well as the shining silver the
white light of the real crescent. Her companions were attired in
classic costumes made of taffetas of various colors, shot with
gold, and their ringlets were adorned with all kinds of glittering
gems.
Other nymphs carried darts of Brazil-wood tipped with black
and white tassels, and carried horns and trumpets suspended by
ribbons of white and black. When the King appeared, a lion,
which had long been under training, ran from the wood and lay
at the feet of the Goddess, who bound him with a leash of
white and black and led him to the king, accompanying her
action with a poem of ten verses, which she delivered most
beautifully. Like the lion-so ran the lines-the city of Lyons
lay at his Majesty's feet, gentle, gracious, and obedient to his
command. This spoken, Diana and her nymphs made low bows
and retired.
Note that Diana and her companions were married women,
widows, and young girls, taken from the best society in Lyons,
and there was no fault to be found with the way they performed
their parts. The King, the princes, and the ladies and gentle-
men of the court were ravished. Madame de Valentinois, called
Diana of Poitiers,-whom the King served and in whose name.
the mock chase was arranged,-was not less content.
## p. 2328 (#526) ###########################################
2328
FREDRIKA BREMER
(1801-1865)
REDRIKA BREMER was born at Tuorla Manor-house, near Åbo
in Finland, on the 17th of August, 1801. In 1804 the family
removed to Stockholm, and two years later to a large estate
at Årsta, some twenty miles from the capital, which was her subse-
quent home.
At Årsta the father of Fredrika, who had amassed a
fortune in the iron industry in Finland, set up an establishment in
accord with his means. The manor-house, built two centuries before,
had become in some parts dilapidated, but it was ultimately restored
and improved beyond its original condi-
tion. From its windows on one side the eye
stretched over nearly five miles of meadows,
fields, and villages belonging to the estate.
In spite of its surroundings, however,
Fredrika's childhood was not a happy one.
Her mother was severe and impatient of
petty faults, and the child's mind became
embittered. Her father was reserved and
melancholy. Fredrika herself was restless
and passionate, although of an affectionate
nature. Among the other children she was
the ugly duckling, who was misunderstood,
and whose natural development was con-
FREDRIKA BREMER
tinually checked and frustrated. Her talents were early exhibited in
a variety of directions. Her first verses, in French, to the morn,
were written at the age of eight. Subsequently she wrote comedies
for home production, prose and verse of all sorts, and kept a journal,
which has been preserved. In 1821 the whole family went on a tour
abroad, from which they did not return until the following year,
having visited in the meantime Germany, Switzerland, and France,
and spent the winter in Paris. This year among new scenes and
surroundings seems to have brought home to Fredrika, upon the
resumption of her old life in the country, its narrowness and its
isolation. She was entirely shut off from all desired activity; her
illusions vanished one by one. "I was conscious," she says in her
short autobiography, "of being born with powerful wings, but I was
conscious of their being clipped;" and she fancied that they would
remain so.
## p. 2329 (#527) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2329
Her attention, however, was fortunately attracted from herself to
the poor and sick in the country round about; and she presently
became to the whole region a nurse and a helper, denying herself
all sorts of comforts that she might give them to others, and brav-
ing storm and hunger on her errands of mercy. In order to earn
money for her charities she painted miniature portraits of the Crown
Princess and the King, and secretly sold them. Her desire to in-
crease the small sums she thus gained induced her to seek a pub-
lisher for a number of sketches she had written. Her brother readily
disposed of the manuscript for a hundred rix-dollars; and her first
book, 'Teckningar ur Hvardagslifvet' (Sketches of Every-day Life),
appeared in 1828, but without the name of the author, of whose
identity the publisher himself was left in ignorance. The book was
received with such favor that the young author was induced to try
again; and what had originally been intended as a second volume of
the 'Sketches' appeared in 1830 as 'Familjen H. ' (The H. Family).
Its success was immediate and unmistakable. It not only was re-
ceived with applause, but created a sensation, and Swedish literature
was congratulated on the acquisition of a new talent among its
writers.
The secret of Fredrika's authorship—which had as yet not been
confided even to her parents-was presently revealed to the poet
(and later bishop) Franzén, an old friend of the family. Shortly
afterward the Swedish Academy, of which Franzén was secretary,
awarded her its lesser gold medal as a sign of appreciation. A third
volume met with even greater success than its predecessors, and
seemed definitely to point out the career which she subsequently
followed; and from this time until the close of her life she worked
diligently in her chosen field. She rapidly acquired an appreciative
public in and out of Sweden. Many of her novels and tales were
translated into various languages, several of them appearing simul-
taneously in Swedish and English. In 1844 the Swedish Academy
awarded her its great gold medal of merit.
Several long journeys abroad mark the succeeding years: to Den-
mark and America from 1848 to 1857; to Switzerland, Belgium,
France, Italy, Palestine, and Greece, from 1856 to 1861; to Germany
in 1862, returning the same year. The summer months of 1864 she
spent at Årsta, which since 1853 had passed out of the hands of the
family. She removed there the year after, and died there on the 31st
of December.
Fredrika Bremer's most successful literary work was in the line of
her earliest writings, descriptive of the every-day life of the middle.
classes. Her novels in this line have an unusual charm of expression,
whose definable elements are an unaffected simplicity and a certain
## p. 2330 (#528) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2330
quiet humor which admirably fits the chosen milieu. Besides the
ones already mentioned, 'Presidentens Döttrar' (The President's
Daughters), Grannarna' (The Neighbors), 'Hemmet' (The Home),
'Nina,' and others, cultivated this field. Later she drifted into
"tendency » fiction, making her novels the vehicles for her opinions
on important public questions, such as religion, philanthropy, and
above all the equal rights of women. These later productions, of
which Hertha' and 'Syskonlif' are the most important, are far
inferior to her earlier work. She had, however, the satisfaction of
seeing the realization of several of the movements which she had so
ardently espoused: the law that unmarried women in Sweden should
their majority at twenty-five years of age; the organization at
Stockholm of a seminary for the education of woman teachers; and
certain parliamentary reforms.
In addition to her novels and short stories, she wrote some verse,
mostly unimportant, and several books of travel, among them 'Hem-
men i ny Verlden' (Homes in the New World), containing her ex-
periences of America; 'Life in the Old World'; and 'Greece and the
Greeks. '
A HOME-COMING
From The Neighbors'
LETTER I. -FRANCISCA W. TO MARIA M.
ROSENVIK, Ist June, 18 .
HE
ERE I am now, dear Maria, in my own house and home, at
my own writing-table, and with my own Bear. And who
then is Bear? no doubt you ask. Who else should he be
but my own husband? I call him Bear because-it so happens.
I am seated at the window. The sun is setting. Two swans
are swimming in the lake, and furrow its clear mirror. Three
cows-my cows—are standing on the verdant margin, quiet, fat,
and pensive, and certainly think of nothing. What excellent
cows they are! Now the maid is coming up with the milk-pail.
Delicious milk in the country! But what is not good in the
country? Air and people, food and feelings, earth and sky, every-
thing there is fresh and cheering.
Now I must introduce you to my place of abode -no! I must
begin farther off.
same thing as to lose all its significance. The people that pro-
duce such a literature may believe as firmly as they please that
the salvation of the world will come from it, but their expecta-
tions will be doomed to disappointment; such a people can no
more influence the development of civilization in the direction of
progress than did the fly who thought he was urging the car-
riage onward by now and then giving the four horses an insig-
nificant prick.
-
Many virtues as for example warlike courage
- may be
preserved in such a society, but these virtues cannot sustain
literature when intellectual courage has sunk and disappeared.
All stagnant reaction is tyrannical; and when a community has
by degrees so developed itself that it wears the features of
tyranny beneath the mask of freedom, when every outspoken
utterance that gives uncompromising expression to free thought
is frowned upon by society, by the respectable part of the press,
and by many officials of the State, very unusual conditions will
be needed to call forth characters and talents of the sort upon
which progress in any society depends. Should such a commu-
nity develop a kind of poetry, we need not wonder overmuch
if its essential tendency be to scorn the age and put it to
shame. Such poetry will again and again describe the men of
the time as wretches; and it may well happen that the books
which are the most famous and the most sought after (Ibsen's
'Brand,' for example) will be those in which the reader is made
to feel at first with a sort of horror, and afterwards with a
sort of satisfaction - what a worm he is, how miserable and how
cowardly. It may happen, too, that for such a people the word
Will becomes a sort of catchword, that it may cry aloud with
dramas of the Will and philosophies of the Will. Men demand
that which they do not possess; they call for that of which they
most bitterly feel the lack; they call for that which there is the
keenest inquiry for. Yet one would be mistaken were he
## p. 2309 (#507) ###########################################
GEORG BRANDES
2309
pessimistically to assume that in such a people there is less
courage, resolution, enthusiasm, and will than in the average of
others. There is quite as much courage and freedom of thought,
but still more is needed. For when the reaction in a literature
forces the new ideas into the background, and when a commu-
nity has daily heard itself blamed, derided, and even cursed for
its hypocrisy and its conventionality, yet has remained convinced
of its openness of mind, daily swinging censers before its own.
nostrils in praise thereof,—it requires unusual ability and un-
usual force of will to bring new blood into its literature. A
soldier needs no uncommon courage to fire upon the enemy
from the shelter of an earthwork; but if he has been led so ill
that he finds no shelter at hand, we need not wonder if his
courage forsakes him.
Various causes have contributed to the result that our litera-
ture has accomplished less than the greater ones in the service
of progress.
The very circumstances that have favored the
development of our poetry have stood in our way. I may in the
first place mention a certain childishness in the character of our
people. We owe to this quality the almost unique naïveté of our
poetry. Naïveté is an eminently poetical quality, and we find it
in nearly all of our poets, from Oehlenschläger through Ingemann
and Andersen to Hostrup. But naïveté does not imply the
revolutionary propensity. I may further mention the abstract
idealism so strongly marked in our literature. It deals with our
dreams, not with our life.
It sometimes happens to the Dane on his travels that a for-
eigner, after some desultory talk about Denmark, asks him this
question: How may one learn what are the aspirations of your
country? Has your contemporary literature developed any type
that is palpable and easily grasped? The Dane is embarrassed
in his reply. They all know of what class were the types that
the eighteenth century bequeathed to the nineteenth. Let us name
one or two representative types in the case of a single country,
Germany. There is 'Nathan the Wise,' the ideal of the period
of enlightenment; that is, the period of tolerance, noble humanity,
and thorough-going rationalism. We can hardly say that we have
held fast to this ideal or carried it on to further development,
as it was carried on by Schleiermacher and many others in Ger-
many. Mynster was our Schleiermacher, and we know how far
his orthodoxy stands removed from Schleiermacher's liberalism.
Instead of adopting rationalism and carrying it on, we have
•
## p. 2310 (#508) ###########################################
2310
GEORG BRANDES
stepped farther and farther away from it. Clausen was once
its advocate, but he is so no more. Heiberg is followed by
Martensen, and Martensen's 'Speculative Dogmatic' is succeeded
by his Christian Dogmatic. ' In Oehlenschläger's poetry there
is still the breath of rationalism, but the generation of Oehlen-
schläger and Örsted is followed by that of Kierkegaard and
Paludan-Müller.
The German literature of the eighteenth century bequeathed
to us many other poetic ideals. There is Werther, the ideal of
the "storm and stress" period, of the struggle of nature and
passion with the customary order of society; then there is Faust,
the very spirit of the new age with its new knowledge, who,
still unsatisfied with what the period of enlightenment has won,
foresees a higher truth, a higher happiness, and a thousandfold
higher power; and there is Wilhelm Meister, the type of human-
ized culture, who goes through the school of life and from ap-
prentice becomes master, who begins with the pursuit of ideals
that soar above life and who ends by discerning the ideal in the
real, for whom these two expressions finally melt into one.
There is Goethe's Prometheus, who, chained to his rock, gives
utterance to the philosophy of Spinoza in the sublime rhythms
of enthusiasm. Last of all, there is the Marquis von Posa, the
true incarnation of the revolution, the apostle and prophet of
liberty, the type of a generation that would, by means of the
uprising against all condemned traditions, make progress possible
and bring happiness to mankind.
With such types in the past our Danish literature begins.
Does it develop them further? We may not say that it does.
For what is the test of progress? It is what happens after-
ward. It has not been printed in this shape, but I will tell you
about it. One fine day, when Werther was going about as usual,
dreaming despairingly of Lotte, it occurred to him that the bond
between her and Albert was of slight consequence, and he won
her from Albert. One fine day the Marquis von Posa wearied of
preaching freedom to deaf ears at the court of Philip the Second,
and drove a sword through the king's body-and Prometheus
rose from his rock and overthrew Olympus, and Faust, who had
knelt abjectly before the Earth-Spirit, took possession of his
earth, and subdued it by means of steam, and electricity, and
methodical investigation.
Translation of W. M. Payne.
## p. 2311 (#509) ###########################################
2311
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
(1458-1521)
N 1494, shortly after the invention of printing, there appeared
in Basle a book entitled 'Das Narrenschiff' (The Ship of
Fools). Its success was most extraordinary; it was immedi-
ately translated into various languages, and remained favorite with
the reading world throughout the sixteenth century. The secret of its
popularity lay in its mixture of satire and allegory, which was exactly
in accord with the spirit of the age. The Ship of Fools' was not
only read by the cultivated classes who could appreciate the subtle
flavor of the work, but-especially in Ger-
many-it was a book for the people, rel-
ished by burgher and artisan as well as by
courtier and scholar. Contemporary works
contain many allusions to it; it was in
fact so familiar to every one that monks
preached upon texts drawn from it. This
unique and powerful book carried the spirit
of the Reformation where the words of
Luther would have been unheeded, and it
is supposed to have suggested to Erasmus
his famous 'Praise of Folly. '
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
In its way, it was as important a pro-
duction as Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. '
The Narrenschiff' was like a glass in which every man saw the
reflection of his neighbor; for the old weather-beaten vessel was filled
with a crew of fools, who impersonate the universal weaknesses of
human nature. In his prologue Brandt says:—
"We well may call it Folly's mirror,
Since every fool there sees his error:
His proper worth would each man know,
The glass of Fools the truth will show.
Who meets his image on the page
May learn to deem himself no sage,
Nor shrink his nothingness to see,
Since naught that lives from fault is free;
And who in conscience dare be sworn
That cap and bells he ne'er hath worn?
He who his foolishness decries
Alone deserves to rank as wise.
## p. 2312 (#510) ###########################################
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
2312
He who doth wisdom's airs rehearse
May stand godfather to my verse!
"For jest and earnest, use and sport,
Here fools abound, of every sort.
The sage may here find Wisdom's rules,
And Folly learn the ways of fools.
Dolts rich and poor my verse doth strike;
The bad finds badness, like finds like;
A cap on many a one I fit
Who fain to wear it would omit.
Were I to mention it by name,
I know you not,' he would exclaim. "
Sebastian Brandt represented all that was best in mediæval Ger-
many. He was a man of affairs, a diplomat, a scholar, an artist, and
a citizen highly esteemed and reverenced for his judgment and
knowledge. Naturally enough, he held important civic offices in
Basle as well as in Strassburg, where he was born in 1458. His
father, a wealthy burgher, sent him to the University of Basle to
study philosophy and jurisprudence and to become filled with the
political ideals of the day. He took his degree in law in 1484 at
Basle, and practiced his profession, gaining in reputation every
day.
In early youth he dedicated a number of works in prose and verse
to the Emperor Maximilian, who made him Chancellor of the Empire,
and frequently summoned him to his camp to take part in the nego-
tiations regarding the Holy See. He was universally admired, and
Erasmus, who saw him in Strassburg, spoke of him as the "incom-
parable Brandt. " His portrait represents the polished Italian rather
than the sturdy middle-class German citizen. His features are deli-
cately cut, his nose long and thin, his face smooth, and his fur-
bordered cap and brocade robes suggest aristocratic surroundings.
No doubt he graced, by his appearance and bearing as well as by
his richly stored mind, the dignity of Count Palatine, to which rank
the Emperor raised him. He died in Strassburg in 1521, and lies in
the great cathedral.
In addition to the pictures in the Ship of Fools' (some of which
he drew, while others he designed and superintended), he illustrated
"Terence' (1496); the Quadragesimale, or Sermons on the Prodigal
Son' (1495); 'Boëtius' (1501), and Virgil' (1502), all of which are
interesting to the artist and engraver. In the original edition of
the 'Ship of Fools,' written in the Swabian dialect, every folly is
accompanied with marginal notes giving the classical or Biblical pro-
totype of the person satirized.
## p. 2313 (#511) ###########################################
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
2313
"Brandt's satires," says Max Müller in his 'Chips from a German Work-
shop,' “are not very powerful, nor pungent, nor original. But his style is
free and easy.
He writes in short chapters, and mixes his fools in such a
manner that we always meet with a variety of new faces. To account for
his popularity we must remember the time in which he wrote. What had the
poor people of Germany to read toward the end of the fifteenth century?
Printing had been invented, and books were published and sold with great
rapidity. People were not only fond, but proud, of reading. This entertain-
ment was fashionable, and the first fool who enters Brandt's ship is the man
who buys books. But what were the wares that were offered for sale? We
find among the early prints of the fifteenth century religious, theological, and
classical works in great abundance, and we know that the respectable and
wealthy burghers of Augsburg and Strassburg were proud to fill their shelves
with these portly volumes. But then German aldermen had wives and
daughters and sons, and what were they to read during the long winter
evenings?
There was room therefore at that time for a work like the
(Ship of Fools. > It was the first printed book that treated of contemporary
events and living persons, instead of old German battles and French knights.
"People are always fond of reading the history of their own times. If the
good qualities of the age are brought out, they think of themselves or their
friends; if the dark features of their contemporaries are exhibited, they think
of their neighbors and enemies. The Ship of Fools) is the sort of satire
which ordinary people would read, and read with pleasure. They might feel
a slight twinge now and then, but they would put down the book at the end,
and thank God that they were not like other men. There is a chapter on
Misers,- and who would not gladly give a penny to a beggar? There is a
chapter on Gluttony,—and who was ever more than a little exhilarated after
dinner? There is a chapter on Church-goers,- and who ever went to church
for respectability's sake, or to show off a gaudy dress, or a fine dog, or a
new hawk? There is a chapter on Dancing,- and who ever danced except
for the sake of exercise?
We sometimes wish that Brandt's satire
had been a little more searching, and that, instead of his many allusions to
classical fools,
he had given us a little more of the scandalous gossip
of his own time. But he was too good a man to do this, and his contempɔ-
raries no doubt were grateful to him for his forbearance. »
•
•
From a line in his poem saying that the Narrenschiff was to be
found in the neighborhood of Aix, it is supposed that Brandt received
his idea from an old chronicle which describes a ship built near Aix-
la-Chapelle in the twelfth century, and which was borne through
the country as the centre-piece for a carnival, and followed by a
suite of men and women dressed in gay costume, singing and dan-
cing to the sound of instruments. The old monk calls it "pagan
worship," and denounces it severely; but Brandt saw great possibili-
ties in it for pointing a moral, according to the fashion of his time.
The illustrations contributed not a little to the popularity of the
book, for he put all his humor into the pictures and all his sermons
and exhortations into his text.
## p. 2314 (#512) ###########################################
2314
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
Just as Brandt in his literary qualities has been compared to
Rabelais, so his satirical pencil has been likened to Hogarth's. Bold-
ness, drollery, dramatic spirit, force, and spontaneous satire charac-
terize both artists. He does not mount a pulpit and speak to the
erring masses with sanctimonious self-righteousness; but he enters
the Ship himself to lead the babbling folk in motley to the land of
wisdom. His own folly is that of the student, and he therefore
begins caricaturing himself.
To open the Ship of Fools' is to witness a masquerade of the
fifteenth century. The frontispiece shows a large galley with high
poop and prow and disordered rigging. Confusion reigns. Every one
wears the livery of Folly, the fantastic hood with two peaks like
asses' ears, and decorated with tiny jingling bells. One man on the
prow gesticulates wildly to a little boat, and cries to the passengers,
"Zu schyff, zu schyff, brüder: ess gat, ess gat! " (On board, on
board, brothers; it goes, it goes! )
>>
In these pages every type of society is seen, "from beardless
youth to crooked age, as the author asserts. Men and women of all
classes and conditions, high and low, rich and poor, learned and
unlearned; ladies in long trains and furred gowns; knights with long
peaked shoes, carrying falcons upon their wrists; cooks and butlers
busy in the kitchen; women gazing into mirrors; monks preaching
in pulpits; merchants selling goods; gluttons at the table; drunkards
in the tavern; alchemists in their laboratories; gamesters playing
cards and rattling dice; lovers in shady groves-all and each wear
Folly's cap and bells.
Another class of fools is seen engaged in ridiculous occupations,
such as pouring water into wells; bearing the world on their shoulders;
measuring the globe; or weighing heaven and earth in the balance.
Still others despoil their fellows. Wine merchants introducing salt-
petre, bones, mustard, and sulphur into barrels, the horse-dealer
padding the foot of a lame horse, men selling inferior skins for good
fur, and other cheats with false weights, short measure, and light
money, prove that the vices of the modern age are not novelties.
Other allegorical pictures and verses describe the mutability of fortune,
where a wheel, guided by a gigantic hand outstretched from the sky,
is adorned with three asses, wearing of course the cap and bells.
The best German editions of this book are by Zarncke (Leipsic,
1854), and Goedecke (1872). It was translated into Latin by Locker
in 1497, into English by Henry Watson as 'The Grete Shyppe of
Fooles of the Worlde' (1517); and by Alexander Barclay in 1509.
The best edition of Barclay's adaptation, from which the extracts
below are drawn, was published by T. H. Jamieson (Edinburgh, 1874).
## p. 2315 (#513) ###########################################
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
2315
* Floats.
§ Single.
THE UNIVERSAL SHYP
CO
OME to, Companyons: ren: tyme it is to rowe:
Our Carake fletis*: the se is large and wyde
And depe Inough: a pleasaunt wynde doth blowe.
Prolonge no tyme, our Carake doth you byde,
Our felawes tary for you on every syde.
Hast hyther, I say, ye folyst naturall,
Howe oft shall I you unto my Navy call?
Ye have one confort, ye shall nat be alone:
Your company almoste is infynyte;
For nowe alyve ar men but fewe or none
That of my shyp can red hym selfe out quyte. ‡
A fole in felawes hath pleasour and delyte.
Here can none want, for our proclamacion
Extendyth farre: and to many a straunge nacyon.
Both yonge and olde, pore man, and estate:
The folysshe moder: hir doughter by hir syde,
Ren to our Navy, ferynge to come to[o] late.
No maner of degre is in the worlde wyde,
But that for all theyr statelynes and pryde
As many as from the way of wysdome tryp
Shall have a rowme and place within my shyp.
My folysshe felawes therfore I you exort
Hast to our Navy, for tyme it is to rowe:
Nowe must we leve eche sympyll§ haven and porte,
And sayle to that londe where folys abound and flow;
For whether we aryve at London or Bristowe,
Or any other Haven within this our londe,
We folys ynowe || shall fynde alway at honde.
Our frayle bodyes wandreth in care and payne
And lyke to botes troubled with tempest sore
From rocke to rocke cast in this se mundayne,
Before our iyen beholde we ever more
The deth of them that passed are before.
Alas mysfortune us causeth oft to rue
Whan to vayne thoughtis our bodyes we subdue.
We wander in more dout than mortall man can thynke,
And oft by our foly and wylfull neglygence
Quite rid himself of.
+ Fools.
Enough.
## p. 2316 (#514) ###########################################
2316
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
Our shyp is in great peryll for to synke.
So sore ar we overcharged with offence
We see the daunger before our owne presence
Of straytis, rockis, and bankis of sonde full hye,
Yet we procede to wylfull jeopardye.
We dyvers Monsters within the se beholde
Redy to abuse or to devour mankynde,
As Dolphyns, whallys, and wonders many folde,
And oft the Marmaydes songe dullyth our mynde
That to all goodnes we ar made dull and blynde;
The wolves of these oft do us moche care,
Yet we of them can never well beware.
About we wander in tempest and Tourment;
What place is sure, where Foles may remayne
And fyx theyr dwellynge sure and parmanent?
None certainly: The cause thereof is playne.
We wander in the se for pleasour, bydynge payne,
And though the haven of helth be in our syght
Alas we fle from it with all our myght
OF HYM THAT TOGYDER WYLL SERVE TWO MAYSTERS
FOLE he is and voyde of reason
A
Whiche with one hounde tendyth to take
Two harys in one instant and season;
Rightso is he that wolde undertake
Hym to two lordes a servaunt to make;
For whether that he be lefe or lothe.
The one he shall displease, or els bothe.
A fole also he is withouten doute,
And in his porpose sothly blyndyd sore,
Which doth entende labour or go aboute
To serve god, and also his wretchyd store
Of worldly ryches: for as I sayde before,
He that togyder will two maysters serve
Shall one displease and nat his love deserve.
For he that with one hounde wol take also
Two harys togyther in one instant
For the moste parte doth the both two forgo,
And if he one have: harde it is and skant
## p. 2317 (#515) ###########################################
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
And that blynd fole mad and ignorant
That draweth thre boltis atons* in one bowe
At one marke shall shote to[o] high or to[o] lowe.
He that his mynde settyth god truly to serve
And his sayntes: this worlde settynge at nought
Shall for rewarde everlastynge joy deserve,
But in this worlde he that settyth his thought
All men to please, and in favour to be brought
Must lout and lurke, flater, laude, and lye:
And cloke in knavys counseyll, though it fals be.
If any do hym wronge or injury
He must it suffer and pacyently endure
A double tunge with wordes like hony;
And of his offycis if he wyll be sure
He must be sober and colde of his langage,
More to a knave, than to one of hye lynage.
Oft must he stoupe his bonet in his honde,
His maysters back he must oft shrape and clawe,
His brest anoyntynge, his mynde to understonde,
But be it gode or bad therafter must he drawe.
Without he can Jest he is nat worth a strawe,
But in the mean tyme beware that he none checke;
For than layth malyce a mylstone in his necke.
He that in court wyll love and favour have
A fole must hym fayne, if he were none afore,
And be as felow to every boy and knave,
And to please his lorde he must styll laboure sore.
His many folde charge maketh hym coveyt more
That he had levert serve a man in myserye
Than serve his maker in tranquylyte.
But yet when he hath done his dylygence
His lorde to serve, as I before have sayde,
For one small faute or neglygent offence
Suche a displeasoure agaynst hym may be layde
That out is he cast bare and unpurvayde,‡
Whether he be gentyll, yeman § grome or page;
Thus worldly servyse is no sure herytage.
Wherfore I may prove by these examples playne
That it is better more godly and plesant
To leve this mondayne casualte and payne
And to thy maker one god to be servaunt,
+ Rather.
+ Unprovided.
Three bolts at once.
2317
§ Yeoman
## p. 2318 (#516) ###########################################
2318
SEBASTIAN BRANDT
Which whyle thou lyvest shall nat let the want
That thou desyrest justly, for thy syrvyce,
And than after gyve the, the joyes of Paradyse.
OF TO[O] MOCHE SPEKYNGE OR BABLYNGE
HE THAT his tunge can temper and refrayne
And asswage the foly of hasty langage
Shall kepe his mynde from trouble, sadnes and payne,
And fynde therby great ease and avauntage;
Where as a hasty speker falleth in great domage
Peryll and losse, in lyke wyse as the pye
Betrays hir byrdes by hir chatrynge and crye.
Is it not better for one his tunge to kepe
Where as he myght (perchaunce) with honestee,
Than wordes to speke whiche make hym after wepe
For great losse folowynge wo and adversyte?
A worde ones spokyn revoked can not be,
Therfore thy fynger lay before thy types,
For a wyse mannys tunge without advysement trypes.
He that wyll answere of his owne folysshe brayne
Before that any requyreth his counsayle
Shewith him selfe and his hasty foly playne,
Wherby men knowe his wordes of none avayle.
Some have delyted in mad blaborynge and frayle
Whiche after have supped bytter punysshement
For their wordes spoken without advysement.
Many have ben whiche sholde have be counted wyse
Sad and discrete, and right well sene
* in scyence;
But all they have defyled with this one vyse
Of moche spekynge: o cursyd synne and offence
Ryte it is that so great inconvenience
So great shame, contempt rebuke and vylany
Sholde by one small member came to the hole body.
Let suche take example by the chatrynge pye,
Whiche doth hyr nest and byrdes also betraye
By hyr grete chatterynge, clamoure dyn and crye,
Ryght so these folys theyr owne foly bewraye.
But touchynge wymen of them I wyll nought say,
They can not speke, but ar as coy and styll
As the horle wynde or clapper of a mylle.
* Well seen well versed.
-
## p. 2319 (#517) ###########################################
2319
THE ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
(PIERRE DE BOURDEILLE)
(1527-1614)
VERY historian of the Valois period is indebted to Brantôme
for preserving the atmosphere and detail of the brilliant life
in which he moved as a dashing courtier, a military adven-
turer, and a gallant gentleman of high degree. He was not a pro-
fessional scribe, nor a student; but he took notes unconsciously, and
in the evening of his life turned back the pages of his memory to
record the scenes through which he had passed and the characters
which he had known. He has been termed the "valet de chambre≫
of history; nevertheless the anecdotes scattered through his works
will ever be treasured by all students and
historians of that age of luxury and mag-
nificence, art and beauty, beneath which
lay the fermentation of great religious and
political movements, culminating in the
struggle between the Huguenots and Cath-
olics.
Brantôme was the third son of the
Vicomte de Bourdeille, a Périgord noble-
man, whose family had lived long in Gui-
enne, and whose aristocratic lineage was
lost in myth. Upon the estate stood the
Abbey of Brantôme, founded by Charle-
magne, and this Henry II. gave to young
Pierre de Bourdeille in recognition of the
military deeds of his brother, Jean de Bourdeille, who lost his life in
service. Thereafter the lad was to sign his name as the Reverend
Father in God, Messire Pierre de Bourdeille, Abbé de Brantôme.
Born in the old château in 1527, he was destined for the church, but
abandoned this career for arms. At an early age he was sent to
court as page to Marguerite, sister of Francis I. and Queen of Na-
varre; after her death in 1549, he went to Paris to study at the Uni-
versity. His title of Abbé being merely honorary, he served in the
army under François de Guise, Duke of Lorraine, and became Gentle-
man of the Chamber to Charles IX. His career extended through
the reigns of Henry II. , Francis II. , Charles IX. , Henry III. , and
Henry IV. , to that of Louis XIII. With the exception of diplomatic
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
## p. 2320 (#518) ###########################################
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
2320
missions, service on the battle-field, and voyages for pleasure, he
spent his life at court.
About 1594 he retired to his estate, where until his death on July
15th, 1614, he passed his days in contentions with the monks of
Brantôme, in lawsuits with his neighbors, and in writing his books:
'Lives of the Illustrious Men and Great Captains of France'; 'Lives
of Illustrious Ladies'; 'Lives of Women of Gallantry'; 'Memoirs, con-
taining anecdotes connected with the Court of France'; 'Spanish
Rodomontades'; a 'Life' of his father, François de Bourdeille; a
'Funeral Oration' on his sister in-law; and a dialogue in verse,
entitled 'The Tomb of Madame de Bourdeille.
' These were not
published until long after his death, first appearing in Leyden about
1665, at the Hague in 1740, and in Paris in 1787. The best editions
are by Fourcault (7 vols. , Paris, 1822); by Lacour and Mérimée (3
vols. , 1859); and Lalande (10 vols. , 1865-'81).
What Brantôme thought of himself may be seen by glancing at
that portion of the "testament mystique" which relates to his writ-
ings:-
"I will and expressly charge my heirs that they cause to be printed the
books which I have composed by my talent and invention. These books will
be found covered with velvet, either black, green or blue, and one larger
volume, which is that of the Rodomontades, covered with velvet, gilt outside
and curiously bound. All have been carefully corrected. There will be found
in these books excellent things, such as stories, histories, discourses, and witty
sayings, which I flatter myself the world will not disdain to read when once
it has had a sight of them. I direct that a sum of money be taken from my
estate sufficient to pay for the printing thereof, which certainly cannot be
much; for I have known many printers who would have given money rather
than charged any for the right of printing them. They print many things
without charge which are not at all equal to mine. I will also that the said
impression shall be in large type, in order to make the better appearance,
and that they should appear with the Royal Privilege, which the King will
readily grant. Also care must be taken that the printers do not put on the
title-page any supposititious name instead of mine. Otherwise, I should be
defrauded of the glory which is my due. »
The old man delighted in complimenting himself and talking
about his "grandeur d'âme. " This greatness of soul may be measured
from the command he gave his heirs to annoy a man who had
refused to swear homage to him, "it not being reasonable to leave
at rest this little wretch, who descends from a low family, and
whose grandfather was nothing but a notary. " He also commands
his nieces and nephews to take the same vengeance upon his enemies
"as I should have done in my green and vigorous youth, during
which I may boast, and I thank God for it, that I never received an
injury without being revenged on the author of it. "
## p. 2321 (#519) ###########################################
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
2321
Brantôme writes like a "gentleman of the sword," with dash and
élan, and as one, to use his own words, who has been "toujours trot-
tant, traversant, et vagabondant le monde» (always trotting, travers-
ing, and tramping the world). Not in the habit of a vagabond,
however, for the balls, banquets, tournaments, masques, ballets, and
wedding-feasts which he describes so vividly were occasions for the
display of sumptuous costumes; and Messire Pierre de Bourdeille
doubtless appeared as elegant as any other gallant in silken hose,
jeweled doublet, flowing cape, and long rapier. What we value most
are his paintings of these festive scenes, and the vivid portraits
which he has left of the Valois women, who were largely responsible.
for the luxuries and the crimes of the period: women who could
step without a tremor from a court-masque to a massacre; who
could toy with a gallant's ribbons and direct the blow of an assassin;
and who could poison a rival with a delicately perfumed gift. Such
a court Brantôme calls the "true paradise of the world, school of all
honesty and virtue, ornament of France. » We like to hear about
Catherine de' Medici riding with her famous "squadron of Venus":
"You should have seen forty or fifty dames and demoiselles follow-
ing her, mounted on beautifully accoutred hackneys, their hats adorned
with feathers which increased their charm, so well did the flying
plumes represent the demand for love or war. Virgil, who under-
took to describe the fine apparel of Queen Dido when she went out
hunting, has by no means equaled that of our Queen and her ladies. »
Charming, too, are such descriptions as "the most beautiful ballet
that ever was, composed of sixteen of the fairest and best-trained
dames and demoiselles, who appeared in a silvered rock where they
were seated in niches, shut in on every side. The sixteen ladies
represented the sixteen provinces of France. After having made the
round of the hall for parade as in a camp, they all descended, and
ranging themselves in the form of a little oddly contrived battalion,
some thirty violins began a very pleasant warlike air, to which they
danced their ballet. " After an hour the ladies presented the King,
the Queen-Mother, and others with golden plaques, on which were
engraved "the fruits and singularities of each province," the wheat
of Champagne, the vines of Burgundy, the lemons and oranges of
Provence, etc. He shows us Catherine de' Medici, the elegant, cun-
ning Florentine; her beautiful daughters, Elizabeth of Spain and Mar-
guerite de Valois; Diana of Poitiers, the woman of eternal youth and
beauty; Jeanne d'Albret, the mother of Henry IV. ; Louise de Vaude-
mont; the Duchesse d'Étampes; Marie Touchet; and all their satel-
lites, as they enjoyed their lives.
-
Very valuable are the data regarding Mary Stuart's departure
from France in 1561. Brantôme was one of her suite, and describes
IV-146
## p. 2322 (#520) ###########################################
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
2322
her grief when the shores of France faded away, and her arrival in
Scotland, where on the first night she was serenaded by Psalm-tunes
with a most villainous accompaniment of Scotch music. "Hé! quelle
musique! " he exclaims, "et quel repos pour la nuit! "
But of all the gay ladies Brantôme loves to dwell upon, his favor-
ites are the two Marguerites: Marguerite of Angoulême, Queen of
Navarre, the sister of Francis I. , and Marguerite, daughter of Cathe-
rine de' Medici and wife of Henry IV. Of the latter, called familiarly
"La Reine Margot," he is always writing. "To speak of the beauty
of this rare princess," he says, "I think that all that are, or will be,
or have ever been near her are ugly. "
Brantôme has been a puzzle to many critics, who cannot explain
his "contradictions. " He had none. He extolled wicked and immoral
characters because he recognized only two merits, -aristocratic birth
and hatred of the Huguenots. He is well described by M. de Barante,
who says:-"Brantôme expresses the entire character of his country
and of his profession. Careless of the difference between good and
evil; a courtier who has no idea that anything can be blameworthy
in the great, but who sees and narrates their vices and their crimes
all the more frankly in that he is not very sure whether what he
tells be good or bad; as indifferent to the honor of women as he is
to the morality of men; relating scandalous things with no conscious-
ness that they are such, and almost leading his reader into accepting
them as the simplest things in the world, so little importance does
he attach to them; terming Louis XI. , who poisoned his brother, the
good King Louis, calling women whose adventures could hardly have
been written by any pen save his own, honnêtes dames. »
Brantôme must therefore not be regarded as a chronicler who
revels in scandals, although his pages reek with them; but as the
true mirror of the Valois court and the Valois period.
THE DANCING OF ROYALTY
From Lives of Notable Women'
A
H! HOW the times have changed since I saw them together
in the ball-room, expressing the very spirit of the dance!
The King always opened the grand ball by leading out
his sister, and each equaled the other in majesty and grace. I
have often seen them dancing the Pavane d'Espagne, which must
be performed with the utmost majesty and grace.
The eyes
of the entire court were riveted upon them, ravished by this
lovely scene; for the measures were so well danced, the steps so
## p. 2323 (#521) ###########################################
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
2323
intelligently placed, the sudden pauses timed so accurately and
making so elegant an effect, that one did not know what to admire
most, the beautiful manner of moving, or the majesty of the
halts, now expressing excessive gayety, now a beautiful and
haughty disdain. Who could dance with such elegance and grace
as the royal brother and sister? None, I believe; and I have
watched the King dancing with the Queen of Spain and the
Queen of Scotland, each of whom was an excellent dancer.
I have seen them dance the 'Pazzemezzo d'Italie,' walking
gravely through the measures, and directing their steps with so
graceful and solemn a manner that no other prince nor lady
could approach them in dignity. This Queen took great pleasure
in performing these grave dances; for she preferred to exhibit
dignified grace rather than to express the gayety of the Branle,
the Volta, and the Courante. Although she acquired them
quickly, she did not think them worthy of her majesty.
I always enjoyed seeing her dance the Branle de la Torche,
or du Flambeau. Once, returning from the nuptials of the
daughter of the King of Poland, I saw her dance this kind of a
Branle at Lyons before the assembled guests from Savoy, Pied-
mont, Italy, and other places; and every one said he had never
seen any sight more captivating than this lovely lady moving
with grace of motion and majestic mien, all agreeing that she
had no need of the flaming torch which she held in her hand;
for the flashing light from her brilliant eyes was sufficient to
illuminate the set, and to pierce the dark veil of Night.
THE SHADOW OF A TOMB
From Lives of Courtly Women'
Ο
NCE I had an elder brother who was called Captain Bour-
deille, one of the bravest and most valiant soldiers of his
time. Although he was my brother, I must praise him,
for the record he made in the wars brought him fame. He was
the gentilhomme de France who stood first in the science and
gallantry of arms. He was killed during the last siege of Hesdin.
My brother's parents had destined him for the career of letters,
and accordingly sent him at the age of eighteen to study in Italy,
where he settled in Ferrara because of Madame Renée de France,
Duchess of Ferrara, who ardently loved my mother. He enjoyed
## p. 2324 (#522) ###########################################
2324
ABBE DE BRANTÔME
life at her court, and soon fell deeply in love with a young
French widow,- Mademoiselle de La Roche,- who was in the
suite of Madame de Ferrara,
They remained there in the service of love, until my father,
seeing that his son was not following literature, ordered him
home. She, who loved him, begged him to take her with him
to France and to the court of Marguerite of Navarre, whom she
had served, and who had given her to Madame Renée when she
went to Italy upon her marriage. My brother, who was young,
was greatly charmed to have her companionship, and conducted
her to Pau. The Queen was glad to welcome her, for the young
widow was handsome and accomplished, and indeed considered
superior in esprit to the other ladies of the court.
After remaining a few days with my mother and grand-
mother, who were there, my brother visited his father. In a short
time he declared that he was disgusted with letters, and joined
the army, serving in the wars of Piedmont and Parma, where he
acquired much honor in the space of five or six months; during
which time he did not revisit his home. At the end of this
period he went to see his mother at Pau.
He made his rever-
ence to the Queen of Navarre as she returned from vespers; and
she, who was the best princess in the world, received him cor-
dially, and taking his hand, led him about the church for an
hour or two. She demanded news regarding the wars of Pied-
mont and Italy, and many other particulars, to which my brother
replied so well that she was greatly pleased with him. He was
a very handsome young man of twenty-four years. After talking
gravely and engaging him in earnest conversation, walking up
and down the church, she directed her steps toward the tomb of
Mademoiselle de La Roche, who had been dead for three months.
She stopped here, and again took his hand, saying, "My cousin"
(thus addressing him because a daughter of D'Albret was mar-
ried into our family of Bourdeille; but of this I do not boast, for
it has not helped me particularly), "do you not feel something
move below your feet?
"No, Madame," he replied.
"But reflect again, my cousin," she insisted.
My brother answered, "Madame, I feel nothing move. I
stand upon a solid stone. "
"Then I will explain," said the Queen, "without keeping you
longer in suspense, that you stand upon the tomb and over the
## p. 2325 (#523) ###########################################
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
2325
body of your poor dearly-loved Mademoiselle de La Roche, who is
interred here; and that our friends may have sentiment for us at
our death, render a pious homage here. You cannot doubt that
the gentle creature, dying so recently, must have been affected
when you approached. In remembrance I beg you to say a
paternoster and an Ave Maria and a de profundis, and sprinkle
holy water. Thus you will win the name of a very faithful
lover and a good Christian. "
M. LE CONSTABLE ANNE DE MONTMORENCY
From Lives of Distinguished Men and Great Captains>
HⓇ
E NEVER failed to say and keep up his paternosters every
morning, whether he remained in the house, or mounted
his horse and went out to the field to join the army.
It was
a common saying among the soldiers that one must "beware the
paternosters of the Constable. " For as disorders were very fre-
quent, he would say, while mumbling and muttering his pater-
nosters all the time, "Go and fetch that fellow and hang me
him up to this tree;" "Out with a file of harquebusiers here be-
fore me this instant, for the execution of this man! "
"Burn me
this village instantly! " "Cut me to pieces at once all these
villain peasants, who have dared to hold this church against the
king! " All this without ever ceasing from his paternosters till
he had finished them-thinking that he would have done very
wrong to put them off to another time; so conscientious was he!
TWO FAMOUS ENTERTAINMENTS
From 'Lives of Courtly Women'
I
HAVE read in a Spanish book called 'El Viaje del Principe '
(The Voyage of the Prince), made by the King of Spain in
the Pays-Bas in the time of the Emperor Charles, his father,
about the wonderful entertainments given in the rich cities. The
most famous was that of the Queen of Hungary in the lovely
town of Bains, which passed into a proverb, "Mas bravas que
las festas de Bains" (more magnificent than the festivals of Bains).
Among the displays which were seen during the siege of a coun-
terfeit castle, she ordered for one day a fête in honor of the
## p. 2326 (#524) ###########################################
2326
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
Emperor her brother, Queen Eleanor her sister, and the gentle-
men and ladies of the court.
Toward the end of the feast a lady appeared with six Oread-
nymphs, dressed as huntresses in classic costumes of silver and
green, glittering with jewels to imitate the light of the moon.
Each one carried a bow and arrows in her hand and wore a
quiver on her shoulder; their buskins were of cloth of silver.
They entered the hall, leading their dogs after them, and placed
on the table in front of the Emperor all kinds of venison pasties,
supposed to have been the spoils of the chase. After them came
the Goddess of Shepherds and her six nymphs, dressed in cloth
of silver, garnished with pearls. They wore knee-breeches be-
neath their flowing robes, and white pumps, and brought in
various products of the dairy.
Then entered the third division Pomona and her nymphs-
bearing fruit of all descriptions. This goddess was the daughter
of Donna Beatrix Pacheco, Countess d'Autremont, lady-in-waiting
to Queen Eleanor, and was but nine years old. She was now
Madame l'Admirale de Chastillon, whom the Admiral married
for his second wife. Approaching with her companions, she
presented her gifts to the Emperor with an eloquent speech,
delivered so beautifully that she received the admiration of the
entire assembly, and all predicted that she would become a
beautiful, charming, graceful, and captivating lady. She was
dressed in cloth of silver and white, with white buskins, and a
profusion of precious stones-emeralds, colored like some of the
fruit she bore. After making these presentations, she gave the
Emperor a Palm of Victory, made of green enamel, the fronds
tipped with pearls and jewels. This was very rich and gor-
geous.
To Queen Eleanor she gave a fan containing a mirror
set with gems of great value. Indeed, the Queen of Hungary
showed that she was a very excellent lady, and the Emperor
was proud of a sister worthy of himself. All the young ladies
who impersonated these mythical characters were selected from
the suites of France, Hungary, and Madame de Lorraine; and
were therefore French, Italian, Flemish, German, and of Lor-
raine. None of them lacked beauty.
At the same time that these fêtes were taking place at Bains,
Henry II. made his entrée in Piedmont and at his garrisons in
Lyons, where were assembled the most brilliant of his courtiers
and court ladies. If the representation of Diana and her chase
-
## p. 2327 (#525) ###########################################
ABBÉ DE BRANTÔME
2327
given by the Queen of Hungary was found beautiful, the one at
Lyons was more beautiful and complete. As the king entered
the city, he saw obelisks of antiquity to the right and left, and
a wall of six feet was constructed along the road to the court-
yard, which was filled with underbrush and planted thickly with
trees and shrubbery. In this miniature forest were hidden deer
and other animals.
As soon
as his Majesty approached, to the sound of horns
and trumpets Diana issued forth with her companions, dressed in
the fashion of a classic nymph with her quiver at her side and
her bow in her hand. Her figure was draped in black and gold
sprinkled with silver stars, the sleeves were of crimson satin
bordered with gold, and the garment, looped up above the knee,
revealed her buskins of crimson satin covered with pearls and
embroidery. Her hair was entwined with magnificent strings of
rich pearls and gems of much value, and above her brow was
placed a crescent of silver, surrounded by little diamonds. Gold
could never have suggested half so well as the shining silver the
white light of the real crescent. Her companions were attired in
classic costumes made of taffetas of various colors, shot with
gold, and their ringlets were adorned with all kinds of glittering
gems.
Other nymphs carried darts of Brazil-wood tipped with black
and white tassels, and carried horns and trumpets suspended by
ribbons of white and black. When the King appeared, a lion,
which had long been under training, ran from the wood and lay
at the feet of the Goddess, who bound him with a leash of
white and black and led him to the king, accompanying her
action with a poem of ten verses, which she delivered most
beautifully. Like the lion-so ran the lines-the city of Lyons
lay at his Majesty's feet, gentle, gracious, and obedient to his
command. This spoken, Diana and her nymphs made low bows
and retired.
Note that Diana and her companions were married women,
widows, and young girls, taken from the best society in Lyons,
and there was no fault to be found with the way they performed
their parts. The King, the princes, and the ladies and gentle-
men of the court were ravished. Madame de Valentinois, called
Diana of Poitiers,-whom the King served and in whose name.
the mock chase was arranged,-was not less content.
## p. 2328 (#526) ###########################################
2328
FREDRIKA BREMER
(1801-1865)
REDRIKA BREMER was born at Tuorla Manor-house, near Åbo
in Finland, on the 17th of August, 1801. In 1804 the family
removed to Stockholm, and two years later to a large estate
at Årsta, some twenty miles from the capital, which was her subse-
quent home.
At Årsta the father of Fredrika, who had amassed a
fortune in the iron industry in Finland, set up an establishment in
accord with his means. The manor-house, built two centuries before,
had become in some parts dilapidated, but it was ultimately restored
and improved beyond its original condi-
tion. From its windows on one side the eye
stretched over nearly five miles of meadows,
fields, and villages belonging to the estate.
In spite of its surroundings, however,
Fredrika's childhood was not a happy one.
Her mother was severe and impatient of
petty faults, and the child's mind became
embittered. Her father was reserved and
melancholy. Fredrika herself was restless
and passionate, although of an affectionate
nature. Among the other children she was
the ugly duckling, who was misunderstood,
and whose natural development was con-
FREDRIKA BREMER
tinually checked and frustrated. Her talents were early exhibited in
a variety of directions. Her first verses, in French, to the morn,
were written at the age of eight. Subsequently she wrote comedies
for home production, prose and verse of all sorts, and kept a journal,
which has been preserved. In 1821 the whole family went on a tour
abroad, from which they did not return until the following year,
having visited in the meantime Germany, Switzerland, and France,
and spent the winter in Paris. This year among new scenes and
surroundings seems to have brought home to Fredrika, upon the
resumption of her old life in the country, its narrowness and its
isolation. She was entirely shut off from all desired activity; her
illusions vanished one by one. "I was conscious," she says in her
short autobiography, "of being born with powerful wings, but I was
conscious of their being clipped;" and she fancied that they would
remain so.
## p. 2329 (#527) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2329
Her attention, however, was fortunately attracted from herself to
the poor and sick in the country round about; and she presently
became to the whole region a nurse and a helper, denying herself
all sorts of comforts that she might give them to others, and brav-
ing storm and hunger on her errands of mercy. In order to earn
money for her charities she painted miniature portraits of the Crown
Princess and the King, and secretly sold them. Her desire to in-
crease the small sums she thus gained induced her to seek a pub-
lisher for a number of sketches she had written. Her brother readily
disposed of the manuscript for a hundred rix-dollars; and her first
book, 'Teckningar ur Hvardagslifvet' (Sketches of Every-day Life),
appeared in 1828, but without the name of the author, of whose
identity the publisher himself was left in ignorance. The book was
received with such favor that the young author was induced to try
again; and what had originally been intended as a second volume of
the 'Sketches' appeared in 1830 as 'Familjen H. ' (The H. Family).
Its success was immediate and unmistakable. It not only was re-
ceived with applause, but created a sensation, and Swedish literature
was congratulated on the acquisition of a new talent among its
writers.
The secret of Fredrika's authorship—which had as yet not been
confided even to her parents-was presently revealed to the poet
(and later bishop) Franzén, an old friend of the family. Shortly
afterward the Swedish Academy, of which Franzén was secretary,
awarded her its lesser gold medal as a sign of appreciation. A third
volume met with even greater success than its predecessors, and
seemed definitely to point out the career which she subsequently
followed; and from this time until the close of her life she worked
diligently in her chosen field. She rapidly acquired an appreciative
public in and out of Sweden. Many of her novels and tales were
translated into various languages, several of them appearing simul-
taneously in Swedish and English. In 1844 the Swedish Academy
awarded her its great gold medal of merit.
Several long journeys abroad mark the succeeding years: to Den-
mark and America from 1848 to 1857; to Switzerland, Belgium,
France, Italy, Palestine, and Greece, from 1856 to 1861; to Germany
in 1862, returning the same year. The summer months of 1864 she
spent at Årsta, which since 1853 had passed out of the hands of the
family. She removed there the year after, and died there on the 31st
of December.
Fredrika Bremer's most successful literary work was in the line of
her earliest writings, descriptive of the every-day life of the middle.
classes. Her novels in this line have an unusual charm of expression,
whose definable elements are an unaffected simplicity and a certain
## p. 2330 (#528) ###########################################
FREDRIKA BREMER
2330
quiet humor which admirably fits the chosen milieu. Besides the
ones already mentioned, 'Presidentens Döttrar' (The President's
Daughters), Grannarna' (The Neighbors), 'Hemmet' (The Home),
'Nina,' and others, cultivated this field. Later she drifted into
"tendency » fiction, making her novels the vehicles for her opinions
on important public questions, such as religion, philanthropy, and
above all the equal rights of women. These later productions, of
which Hertha' and 'Syskonlif' are the most important, are far
inferior to her earlier work. She had, however, the satisfaction of
seeing the realization of several of the movements which she had so
ardently espoused: the law that unmarried women in Sweden should
their majority at twenty-five years of age; the organization at
Stockholm of a seminary for the education of woman teachers; and
certain parliamentary reforms.
In addition to her novels and short stories, she wrote some verse,
mostly unimportant, and several books of travel, among them 'Hem-
men i ny Verlden' (Homes in the New World), containing her ex-
periences of America; 'Life in the Old World'; and 'Greece and the
Greeks. '
A HOME-COMING
From The Neighbors'
LETTER I. -FRANCISCA W. TO MARIA M.
ROSENVIK, Ist June, 18 .
HE
ERE I am now, dear Maria, in my own house and home, at
my own writing-table, and with my own Bear. And who
then is Bear? no doubt you ask. Who else should he be
but my own husband? I call him Bear because-it so happens.
I am seated at the window. The sun is setting. Two swans
are swimming in the lake, and furrow its clear mirror. Three
cows-my cows—are standing on the verdant margin, quiet, fat,
and pensive, and certainly think of nothing. What excellent
cows they are! Now the maid is coming up with the milk-pail.
Delicious milk in the country! But what is not good in the
country? Air and people, food and feelings, earth and sky, every-
thing there is fresh and cheering.
Now I must introduce you to my place of abode -no! I must
begin farther off.
