Why force me to be faithless to
yourself?
Warner - World's Best Literature - v21 - Rab to Rus
On leaving Port Royal in
1658, and entering Harcourt College at Paris, to receive his final
training, Racine, with his literary instincts and his capacity for en-
joying life, was quickly admitted to a pleasure-loving set of authors
and amateurs, of whom La Fontaine the fabulist was one. Encour-
aged by them, he threw himself into poetry, and in 1660 attracted
public attention and royal munificence by an ode, The Nymph of
the Seine,' written on the occasion of Louis XIV. 's marriage. His
devout family connections, alarmed for his salvation, rusticated him to
the south of France, where he was to study for orders. But in 1663
this experiment was abandoned. Racine returned to Paris, met La
Fontaine again, formed acquaintance with Boileau and Molière, and
under their sanction began his theatrical career.
After one unsuccessful venture, his 'Thébaïde' (1664) was played
by Molière's company. It was followed the next season by 'Alex-
andre. ' Both of these dramas reflect the ideas of older authors, par-
ticularly Corneille. But in 1667, with Andromaque,' a delineation
of maternal love in conflict with a widow's fidelity, set off by the
love and jealousy of suitors and rivals, Racine found his peculiar
and lasting manner. The enthusiasm aroused by the psychological
analyses of 'Andromaque' had been exceeded in Paris only by the
delight occasioned by the romantic declamations of The Cid. ' He
next tried a comedy of an Aristophanic bent, The Pleaders' (1668),
a satire of legal procedure. But this was Racine's sole deviation
from the tragic path. Britannicus' (1669), on the imperiousness of
## p. 12029 (#67) ###########################################
JEAN RACINE
12029
Agrippina and the baseness of Nero; 'Bérénice' (1670), the idyl
of the Jewish princess forsaken by her lover Titus, for reasons of
State; Bajazet' (1672), the vengeance of a queen on her rival and
faithless lover; 'Mithridate' (1673), the Oriental despot, the enemy
of Rome, disputing a girl's heart with his own son; 'Iphigénie'
(1674), a mother's love, oblivious of all but the object of its passion,
contrasted with filial affection and obedience,- all these pictures of
the heart of woman were summed up, reached their culmination, in
the love, shame, jealousy, revenge, and remorse which the poet im-
agined in the story of 'Phèdre' (1677). The great parts in Racine
were for the heroines. The heroes rarely attained the level of being
even counterpoises.
A literary cabal in favor of the rhymester Pradon prevented the
immediate success of 'Phèdre'; and this circumstance, coupled with
his reviving devotion, led Racine to renounce the stage and its sur-
roundings. He was made historiographer of the King, married, and
divided his time between his family and the court. But the old fire
was only smoldering within him. It burst forth into new and brighter
flame when at the summons of Madame de Maintenon a religious
drama was demanded for the girls' school at St. Cyr. The fusion of
Racine's piety with the gratification of his poetic ideals was now
possible; and 'Esther' (1689), a Scriptural idyl built on the model of
French tragedy, with the addition of the lyric choruses of the Greeks,
displayed his talent at its best. Another sacred tragedy with choruses,
'Athalie (1691), was lost to Racine's contemporaries by doubts about
the wisdom of schoolgirls acting. The remainder of our author's
life was passed in the exercise of his official duties, in the composi-
tion of religious hymns, and the penning of biting epigrams ridicul-
ing the playwrights of the time. He died the last year of the century,
on April 26th.
The first part of Racine's dramatic work, from 'Andromaque' to
'Phèdre,' being strictly within the canons of French classical tragedy,
calls for no further mention. But the second part, though consisting
of but two plays, drawn from sacred sources, presents certain novel-
ties. The addition of the choruses, imitated as they evidently were
from Greek models, suggests that French tragedy, in its conflict
with its rival the opera, would not be above borrowing some of that
rival's attractions. Besides, 'Athalie,' which is regarded by many as
the best example of French tragedy, takes certain liberties with the
scenery and the number of persons in evidence on the stage; and
this points to a modification, an enlarging, of the scope of the tradi-
tional play.
'Athalie' is also to be noticed for its plot. The element of love
does not enter into it. It is the strife of an unscrupulous, ambitious,
## p. 12030 (#68) ###########################################
12030
JEAN RACINE
yet fluctuating woman with the direct and persevering enthusiasm
of a strong man who summons the miraculous to his aid. For
these divergences from the ordinary run, and for its intrinsic excel-
lence, 'Athalie' was the constant preoccupation of French dramatists
down to the reaction in the nineteenth century against all tragedy,
classical or romantic. It powerfully aided in confirming Racine in
the supremacy which his method, his psychology, his measured lan-
guage and harmonious versification, had combined in awarding to
him. The subsequent history of French tragedy is hardly more than
a commentary on Racine.
The best edition of Racine's complete works is published at Paris
by Hachette et Cie. , in the series of 'Les Grands Écrivains' (8 vols. ,
8vo). It is edited by Paul Mesnard. Nearly every French critic
has written on Racine, but F. Brunetière's chapters (Lectures 5 and 7)
in his 'Époques du Théâtre Français' (Paris, 1892), and G. Lanson's
comments in his 'Histoire de la Littérature Française' (Paris, 1895),
pages 532-547, are especially valuable.
L. M Warren.
THE RIVALS
From Bajazet '
Scene: The private apartments of Bajazet at Byzantium. Present: Rox-
ana, Bajazet, Atalide, Zara.
R
OXANA -
Come, Bajazet, 'tis time to show yourself,
That all the court may recognize its master:
All that these walls contain, many in number,
Gathered by my command, await my wishes.
My slaves (the rest will follow where they lead)
Are the first subjects that my love allots you.
[To Atalide]-
This sudden change from wrath to milder mood
May well surprise you, madam. For, but now,
Determined to take vengeance on a traitor,
I swore he should not see another day;
Yet almost ere he spoke my heart relented:
'Twas love imposed that oath, and love revokes it.
Reading deep passion in his wild distraction,
His pardon I pronounced, and trust his promise.
## p. 12031 (#69) ###########################################
JEAN RACINE
12031
Bajazet — Yes, I have promised, and my word is pledged
Ne'er to forget all that to you I owe:
Have I not sworn that constant care and kindness
Roxana
Atalide-
Roxana
Atalide
-―――
Roxana
Atalide
Roxana
-
――――――
Roxana
-
Shall duly pay my debt of gratitude?
If on these terms your favor I may claim,
[Exit.
I go to wait the harvest of your bounty.
Heavens! What amazement strikes me at this moment!
Is it a dream? and have mine eyes deceived me?
What mean these frigid words, this sombre greeting,
Which seems to cancel all that passed between us?
What hope does he imagine mine, for which
I banished my resentment, and restored him
To favor? He, methought, swore that his heart
Would own me mistress to his dying day.
Does he repent already of the peace
That we had signed? Was I just now deluded?
But was he not conversing with you, madam ?
What did he say?
To me? He loves you always.
His life at least depends on my belief
That it is so. But tell me, pray, when joy
Should triumph, how can you explain the gloom
That settled on his features as he left me?
Madam, I saw no cloud upon his brow.
Oft has he told me of your gracious kindness,
And he just now was full of it; at parting
He seemed to me the same as when he entered.
But be that as it may, need it surprise you
That on the eve of such important issues
He should be troubled, and some signs escape him
Of anxious thoughts that on his mind intrude?
Such plausible excuses do you credit
For skill that pleads on his behalf more fairly
Than he could do himself.
What other cause-
Enough! I read your motive, madam, better
Than you suppose. Leave me, for I would be
Alone a little while. I too am troubled,
And anxious cares are mine as well as his,
To which I owe a moment's thought in secret.
How must I construe all that I have seen?
Are they in league together to deceive me?
Wherefore this change, those words, that quick departure?
Did I not catch a glance that passed between them?
## p. 12032 (#70) ###########################################
12032
JEAN RACINE
Fatima-
Roxana
Fatima
Were they not both struck with embarrassment ?
Ah! why has Heaven doomed me to this affront?
Is this the fruit of all my blind affection?
So many painful days and sleepless nights,
Plots and intrigues, treason too deep for pardon!
And shall they all turn to a rival's profit?
But yet, too ready to torment myself,
I may too closely scan a passing cloud,
And take for passion what is mere caprice.
Surely he would have carried to the end
His wiles; and in full prospect of success,
He could have feigned at least a moment longer.
Love, uncontrolled by reason, quakes at shadows:
Let me take courage. Why should Atalide
Be dreaded as my rival? What has he
To thank her for? To which of us to-day
Owes he the sceptre?
But too well I know
Love is a tyrant; and if other charms
Attract, what matter crowns, or life itself?
Can benefits outweigh the heart's attachment ?
I need but search mine own. Did gratitude
Constrain me to his brother, when this wretch
Bewitched me? Ah! if other tie were absent,
Would the idea of marriage so alarm him?
He gladly would have seconded my wishes,
And not have braved destruction by refusal.
Just cause.
-
But some one comes to speak with me.
What can she want?
Enter Fatima
Forgive me this intrusion:
But there is come a courier from the army;
And though the seaward gate was shut, the guards,
On bended knees, without delay unlocked it
To orders from the Sultan, to yourself
Addressed, and strange to say, 'tis Orcan brings them.
Orcan!
Yes, he; of all the Sultan's slaves
The one most trusted for his faithful service,
Blackest of those whom Afric's sun has scorched.
Madam, he asks impatiently for you:
## p. 12033 (#71) ###########################################
JEAN RACINE
12033
Roxana
I thought it best to give you timely notice,
And lest you should be taken by surprise,
I have detained him in your own apartments.
What new disaster comes to overwhelm me?
What can his bidding be? What my reply?
Doubtless the Sultan, in his mind perturbed,
Has Bajazet condemned a second time.
Without my sanction none will dare to take
His life; for all obey me here. But ought I
To shield him? Bajazet or Amurath
Which claims allegiance? One have I betrayed;
The other may be false to me. Time presses;
I must resolve this fatal doubt, nor let
The precious moments pass.
Cannot conceal its secret inclination.
I will watch Bajazet and Atalide:
Then crown the lover, or destroy the traitor.
NDROMACHE [to Hermione] —
Love, when most cautious,
THE APPEAL OF ANDROMACHE
From 'Andromaque›
Scene: The palace of Pyrrhus, at Buthrotum in Epirus. Present: An-
dromache, Hermione, Cleone, Cephissa.
Α
XXI-753
Translation of R. B. Boswell.
Why fly you, madam? Is it not a sight
To please you, Hector's widow at your knees,
Weeping? But not with tears of jealousy
I come, nor do I envy you the heart
Surrendered to your charms. A cruel hand
Robbed me of him whom only I admired.
Love's flame was lit by Hector long ago,
With him it was extinguished in the tomb.
But he has left a son. Some day you'll know
How closely to one's heart a son can cling;
But you will never know, I wish it not,
How keen the pang when danger threatens him,
And they would take him from you,-all that's left
To soothe a blighted heart. Ah, when worn out
With ten long years of woe, the Trojans sought
Your mother's life, on Hector I prevailed
## p. 12034 (#72) ###########################################
12034
JEAN RACINE
Hermione-
Andromache-
How scornfully did she refuse my prayer!
Cephissa- Accept her counsel. See him, as she says;
One look of yours may Greece and her confound-
But look, he seeks you of his own accord.
Enter Pyrrhus and Phoenix
Pyrrhus [to Phoenix] -
Pyrrhus-
Andromache-
Phoenix-
Phoenix-
Andromache [to Cephissa]-
My eyes have over him!
Cephissa-
Andromache
To succor her. O'er Pyrrhus you have power
As I had then o'er Hector. Can they dread
The infant he has left? Him let me hide
In some far distant isle. And they may trust
My fears to keep him there, taught but to weep
With me.
Cephissa-
I feel for you, but duty holds
My tongue tied, when my sire declares his will:
It is by him that Pyrrhus's wrath is stirred.
But who can bend him better than yourself?
His soul has long been subject to your eyes:
Make him pronounce the word, and I'll consent.
Pyrrhus-
Andromache-
Pyrrhus-
Where is the princess? Said you not that she
Was here?
Is lost!
Andromache-
Will follow.
I thought so.
--
Hermione is gone, and we
Is certain.
Now you see what power
What says she?
Has he not promised them my child?
Given him up.
Speak! Why obstinately dumb?
All
But not
Vain are my tears,- his death
How her pride disdains to look
My way!
I should but irritate him more.
Let us retire.
Yielded to Greece.
Come, Hector's son shall be
## p. 12035 (#73) ###########################################
JEAN RACINE
12035
Andromache [throwing herself at his feet) —
Stop, sire.
What will you do?
Give up the son? Why not the mother, then?
Where is the kindness that you swore to me
So lately? Can I touch no chord at least
Of pity? Does this sentence bar all hope
Of pardon?
Phoenix knows my word is pledged.
Pyrrhus-
Andromache-
-
Pyrrhus-
Andromache
Pyrrhus-
――――――
No dangers were too great for you to brave
On my behalf!
Blind then, I now can see.
Your wishes might have won his pardon once;
You ne'er so much as asked it. Now you come
Too late.
Full well you understood, my lord,
The sigh that feared repulse. Forgive the trace
Of pride, that died not with my royal rank,
And made me shrink from importunity.
My lord, you know, had it not been for you,
Andromache would never have embraced
A master's knees.
No, in your secret soul
You hate me, scorn to owe me anything.
This son, the only object of your care, —
You would have loved him less, had he been saved
Through me. You hate me with a bitter scorn,
And worse than all the other Greeks combined.
Enjoy at leisure such a noble rage.
Come, Phoenix.
I will go where Hector's gone.
What further can I say to him?
The author of my woes, he knows them all.
[To Pyrrhus]-
See to what state you have reduced me, sire!
I've seen my father slain, our walls enwrapt
In flames, and all our family cut off,
My husband's bloody corpse dragged through the dust,
His only son reserved for chains with me.
For his sake I endure to live a slave.
Andromache
Cephissa Madam-
Andromache
Yea, more, this thought has sometimes brought relief,—
That fate has fixed my place of exile here;
The son of many kings beneath your sway
## p. 12036 (#74) ###########################################
12036
JEAN RACINE
Pyrrhus-
Is happier as a slave than he could be
Elsewhere, and I had hoped his prison walls
Might be a place of refuge. Priam found
Achilles could respect his fallen state:
I thought his son more generous still. That trust,
My Hector, pardon, when I deemed thy foe
Too noble to commit a dastard's crime!
Ah, had he but allowed us to abide
Where for thine ashes I had raised a tomb,
And ending there his hatred and our woes,
Parted us not from thy beloved remains!
Go and await me, Phoenix. -
Madam, stay.
Your tears may yet win back this cherished son.
Yes, I regret that, moving you to weep,
I armed you with a weapon 'gainst myself;
I thought I could have brought more hatred here.
You might at least consent to look at me:
See, are my eyes those of an angry judge,
Whose pleasure 'tis to cause you misery?
Why force me to be faithless to yourself?
Now for your son's sake let us cease to hate.
'Tis I who urge you, Save the child from death.
Must sighs of mine beg you to spare his life?
And must I clasp your knees to plead for him?
Once more, but once,- Save him and save yourself.
I know what solemn vows for you I break,
What hatred I bring down upon myself.
Hermione shall go, and on her brow
For crown I set a burning brand of shame;
And in the fane decked for her marriage rites
Her royal diadem yourself shall wear.
This offer, lady, is no longer one
You can afford to scorn. Perish or reign!
A year's contempt has made me desperate,
Nor can I any longer live in doubt,
Harassed by fears and mingling threats with groans.
To lose you is to die,-'tis death to wait.
I leave you to consider, and will come
To bring you to the temple where this child
My fury shall destroy before your eyes,
Or where in love I crown you as my queen.
## p. 12037 (#75) ###########################################
JEAN RACINE
12037
Enone-
Scene: The palace at Træzen, in the Peloponnesus. Present: Phædra,
Hippolytus, Enone.
There I see him!
PHEDRA My blood forgets to flow, my tongue to speak
What I am come to say.
Phædra-
THE CONFESSION OF PHÆDRA
From Phèdre›
Hippolytus-
Phædra-
―――――――
Think of your son,
How all his hopes depend on you.
I hear
You leave us and in haste. I come to add
My tears to your distress, and for a son
Plead my alarm. No more has he a father,
And at no distant day my son must witness
My death. Already do a thousand foes
Threaten his youth. You only can defend him.
But in my secret heart remorse awakes,
And fear lest I have shut your ears against
His cries. I tremble lest your righteous anger
Visit on him ere long the hatred earned
By me, his mother.
Madam, is mine.
No such base resentment,
I could not blame you, prince,
If you should hate me. I have injured you:
So much you know, but could not read my heart.
T' incur your enmity has been mine aim:
The selfsame borders could not hold us both;
In public and in private I declared
Myself your foe, and found no peace till seas
Parted us from each other. I forbade
Your very name to be pronounced before me.
And yet if punishment should be proportioned
To the offense, if only hatred draws
Your hatred, never woman merited
More pity, less deserved your enmity.
Hippolytus-A mother jealous of her children's rights.
Seldom forgives the offspring of a wife
Who reigned before her. Harassing suspicions
Are common sequels of a second marriage.
Of me would any other have been jealous
No less than you, perhaps more violent.
## p. 12038 (#76) ###########################################
12038
JEAN RACINE
Ah, prince, how Heaven has from the general law
Made me exempt, be that same Heaven witness!
Far different is the trouble that devours me!
Hippolytus-This is no time for self-reproaches, madam.
It may be that your husband still beholds
The light, and Heaven may grant him safe return,
In answer to our prayers. His guardian god
Is Neptune, ne'er by him invoked in vain.
He who has seen the mansions of the dead
Returns not thence. Since to those gloomy shores
Theseus is gone, 'tis vain to hope that Heaven
May send him back. Prince, there is no release
From Acheron's greedy maw. And yet, methinks,
He lives and breathes in you. I see him still
Before me, and to him I seem to speak;
My heart-
Phædra-
Phadra
Hippolytus-
Phædra-
—
Oh, I am mad! Do what I will,
I cannot hide my passion.
Yes, I see
The strange effects of love. Theseus, though dead,
Seems present to your eyes, for in your soul
There burns a constant flame.
Ah, yes, for Theseus
I languish and I long; not as the Shades
Have seen him, of a thousand different forms
The fickle lover, and of Pluto's bride
The would-be ravisher, but faithful, proud
E'en to a slight disdain, with youthful charms
Attracting every heart, as gods are painted,
Or like yourself. He had your mien, your eyes,
Spoke and could blush like you, when to the isle
Of Crete, my childhood's home, he crossed the waves,
Worthy to win the love of Minos's daughters.
What were you doing then? Why did he gather
The flower of Greece, and leave Hippolytus?
Oh, why were you too young to have embarked
On board the ship that brought thy sire to Crete?
At your hands would the monster then have perished,
Despite the windings of his vast retreat.
To guide your doubtful steps within the maze
My sister would have armed you with the clue.
But no, therein would Phædra have forestalled her.
Love would have first inspired me with the thought
And I it would have been whose timely aid
## p. 12039 (#77) ###########################################
JEAN RACINE
12039
Had taught you all the labyrinth's crooked ways.
What anxious care a life so dear had cost me!
No thread had satisfied your lover's fears:
I would myself have wished to lead the way,
And share the peril you were bound to face;
Phædra with you would have explored the maze,
With you emerged in safety or have perished.
Hippolytus-Gods! What is this I hear? Have you forgotten
That Theseus is my father and your husband?
Why should you fancy I have lost remembrance
Thereof, and am regardless of mine honor?
Hippolytus - Forgive me, madam. With a blush I own
That I misconstrued words of innocence.
For very shame I cannot bear your sight
Longer. I go-
Phædra-
Phædra-
Ah! cruel prince, too well
You understood me. I have said enough
To save you from mistake. I love. But think not
That at the moment when I love you most
I do not feel my guilt; no weak compliance
Has fed the poison that infects my brain.
The ill-starred object of celestial vengeance,
I am not so detestable to you
As to myself. The gods will bear me witness,
Who have within my veins kindled this fire;
The gods, who take a barbarous delight
In leading a poor mortal's heart astray.
Do you yourself recall to mind the past:
'Twas not enough for me to fly,—I chased you
Out of the country, wishing to appear
Inhuman, odious; to resist you better,
I sought to make you hate me. All in vain!
Hating me more, I loved you none the less:
New charms were lent to you by your misfortunes.
I have been drowned in tears, and scorched by fire;
Your own eyes might convince you of the truth,
If for one moment you could look at me.
What is't I say? Think you this vile confession
That I have made is what I meant to utter?
Not daring to betray a son for whom
I trembled, 'twas to beg you not to hate him
I came. Weak purpose of a heart too full
Of love for you to speak of aught besides!
Take your revenge, punish my odious passion;
## p. 12040 (#78) ###########################################
12040
JEAN RACINE
Enone-
Theramenes
Prove yourself worthy of your valiant sire,
And rid the world of an offensive monster!
Does Theseus's widow dare to love his son?
The frightful monster! Let her not escape you!
Here is my heart. This is the place to strike.
Already prompt to expiate its guilt,
I feel it leap impatiently to meet
Your arin. Strike home. Or if it would disgrace you
To steep your hand in such polluted blood,
If that were punishment too mild to slake
Your hatred, lend me then your sword, if not
Your arm. Quick, give 't.
What, madam, will you do?
Just gods! But some one comes. Go, fly from shame;
You cannot 'scape if seen by any thus.
Enter Theramenes
-
Is that the form of Phædra that I see
Hurried away? What mean these signs of sorrow?
Where is your sword? Why are you pale, confused?
Hippolytus-Friend, let us fly. I am, indeed, confounded
With horror and astonishment extreme.
Phædra- but no; gods, let this dreadful secret
Remain forever buried in oblivion.
Translation of R. B. Boswell.
## p. 12041 (#79) ###########################################
12041
ALFRED RAMBAUD
(1842-)
lfred RambauD, like many of his predecessors at the head of
the Board of Education in France, taught in the ranks be-
fore he rose to be Grand Master of the University. He was
born in 1842 at Besançon, in the province of Franche-Comté, whose
children are supposed to be peculiarly hot-headed and tenacious of
opinion. But M. Rambaud is no fanatic: he is liberal and concilia-
tory, with an ardent desire for the education of the masses. He is a
disciple of Jules Ferry, who first called him to a leading position in
the direction of public affairs, as private secretary and chef de cabinet
at the ministry of Public Affairs in 1879. After three years at the
École Normale, M. Rambaud was successively professor of history at
Caen and at Nancy. On quitting the ministry he returned to his
duties as professor, and was appointed to the Faculty of Letters in
Paris.
His works are educational and historical. His favorite occupation
is looking over and preparing the great work he has undertaken in
collaboration with his friend and colleague, Ernest Lavisse, the his-
torian dear to French youth; namely, the General History from the
Fourth Century to Our Day. ' The first number of this serial history
appeared in 1892. It is carefully done, clear, and in a widely liberal,
philosophical spirit. M. Rambaud contributes the portion on Russia.
He is an authority on all things Russian, knowing the language and
having traveled in the country.
His speeches form an important part of his "literary luggage,» as
the French say. He speaks well, but not in the florid, ornamental
style common in France. He is journalier ("touch-and-go"), and
must warm to his subject before mastering it. No one knows what
will warm him; the man himself probably less than any one. But
once warmed, his voice never falters in its soft, far-reaching wave of
sound. His gestures are slow and propitiatory; he turns his head
slyly from left to right, and sees very well with those small, dark,
sharp yet merry eyes of his, that are surmounted, not shaded, by the
thin regular arch of eyebrows, like notes of interrogation on his high
narrow forehead. He has a great deal of dry humor, both as speaker
and writer, and doubtless often laughs to himself at his opponents
as he sits comfortably on the ministerial bench of the Chamber of
## p. 12042 (#80) ###########################################
12042
ALFRED RAMBAUD
Deputies. The present looks small to a man who studies the past.
Like most of his countrymen, he mingles the politics of the day with
speeches on literary, artistic, or educational subjects, and spangles
them with quotations from the classics and similes boldly drawn from
practical illustrations. One day at the Franco-English Guild, at a
meeting presided over by the British minister, M. Rambaud in a little
improvisation on the two countries, "who never," said he, "need be
enemies, though their differences were so great," compared them to
"twin piston-rods, impelling with equal beat the onward march of
liberty, order, and peace. " Elsewhere he calls them "the Siamese
twins of political economy. "
M. Rambaud is a linguist, a colonialist, and a Russophil,— uniting
the three fads of the French of to-day. He wrote a preface and
notes to a translation of Seely's 'Expansion of England'; contributed
to a geographical work, La France Coloniale,' and to the articles
on Russia in the General History of Europe'; and has written two
books on Russia, - 'La Russie Épique,' a translation of popular and
heroic song, and a 'History of Russia. ' This last won a prize at the
French Academy. It clear and concise. Every sentence contains
a fact. The description of Nicholas I. (Chapter xxxvi. , page 638) is
striking:"He was a living incarnation of despotism. His giant
stature, his stately manner, his mystic pride in his imperial office, his
unwearied attention to business in its smallest details, his iron will,
his love of military grandeur, uniform, and display, all tended to
strike awe.
When his power was shattered, a nation rose full grown
from its ruins. " The work closes with the following words: - "With
the government of Russia, France has often been in conflict; with her
people, since she has become a nation, France sympathizes and is at
one. »
The most important of his educational works is the 'History of
Civilization in France' from the earliest times to the French Revolu-
tion, with a concluding chapter on general events up to our day.
This chapter has been developed into a volume of seven hundred
and fifty closely packed pages, The History of Contemporary Civ-
ilization in France': an interesting, amusing summing-up of the
progress made since 1789 in all branches of human knowledge. It
contains a declaration of principle, and a theory of the duty of a
citizen. Extracts are given illustrating these points.
M. Rambaud has further written a History of the Greek Empire
in the Tenth Century'; a 'History of the French Revolution, 1789–
1799'; a novel for the young-a story of ancient Gaul, 'L'Anneau de
César'; and 'French Rule in Germany,' in two volumes, - the first
entitled 'The French on the Rhine, 1792-1804,' and the second 'Ger-
many under Napoleon, 1804-1811. ' These last-named volumes are
## p. 12043 (#81) ###########################################
ALFRED RAMBAUD
12043
written to refute the accusation of cruelty, tyranny, and perfidy,
made by recent German historians against France. The extracts
given further on show the line of argument.
The General History' has reached Vol. x. , No. 109,- 'The Con-
gress of Verona,' 1822. Chapter vi. of Vol. viii. , entirely from the pen
of M. Rambaud, treats of Russia, Poland, and the East. The late
Greco-Turkish conflict gives interest to the section on Catharine II. 's
attempt at founding a Russo-Greek empire, a passage from which is
given.
M. Rambaud gives his facts in general with little comment, wast-
ing few words in explanation or ornament. The broad lines that
show the important events are straight and clear, without twirl or
flourish. Impartial, philosophical, and at times anecdotal, his style
differs entirely from the French writers we are accustomed to: unlike
Michelet, who was a poet rather than a historian, unlike Thiers, who
was a politician and wrote his books in his leisure hours, this
scholar of a new school loves the quiet of his study better than the
noise of the forum, the depths of historical research better than the
shallow stream of popular favor. Yet he must speak, because speech
in France is the great organ of education. No man who has not
lived in France can understand the power of spoken words over
Frenchmen, whether in private or public life.
His first speech was delivered at Besançon in 1880, where he repre-
sented the minister, Jules Ferry, at the unveiling of a statue of Victor
Hugo. His latest was at the palace of the Trocadero in June last
(1897), where he told his fellow-citizens that peoples who would be
free must depend on individual effort rather than on government
support. Jules Ferry often said the same thing; indeed, M. Ram-
baud never fails to recall with rare and dignified gratitude, on every
occasion, what he owes to his patron: an uncommon thing in these
forgetful, hurried times, and a bold thing some years ago in France,
where the mention of Jules Ferry's name at a public meeting was
shaking a red rag at a bull.
M. Rambaud does speak much and often: he is a minister, and
his duties are migratory. He flits from place to place, presiding, dis-
coursing, distributing rewards, and giving good advice. Indeed, the
Liberal Republicans are everywhere setting the sound good sense of
their teaching against the eloquently worded promises of the reaction-
ary socialist party, who, like all attacking bodies, are very active.
Of late M. Rambaud has become a protectionist; imitating Jules Ferry,
who did so to please his electors in the east of France. The flame
of his eloquence burns low and long; it lights the way without daz-
zling, it guides without exciting.
## p. 12044 (#82) ###########################################
ALFRED RAMBAUD
12044
HALTING STEPS TOWARD DEMOCRACY
From the 'History of Civilization in France>
N
APOLEON, as First Consul and Emperor, modeled his court on
that of former kings, and endeavored to give good man-
ners to his officers and their wives, and to attract the
members of the old noblesse; saying, "They alone know how to
serve. " The revolution of 1848 gave back to the popular classes
their rights and power; but the impatience of the workmen and
the apathy of the peasants let a new Cæsar rise, who treated.
democracy and universal suffrage as children. To-day they are
full-grown men. Among the nations of Europe, France stands
alone as being the sole important State at once democratic, re-
publican, and with universal suffrage.
FRENCH GOVERNMENTAL EXPERIMENTS
From the History of Contemporary Civilization in France>
C
ONTEMPORARY history should not be separated from politics;
nor can politics be, as some seem to think, a matter of
opinion, of prejudice, passion, or excitement. When well
understood they are a science, and even belong to experimental
science; and as such, are of course still uncertain, hypothetical in
conclusions: but must tend, if judged in a truly scientific spirit,
to laws as sure as those of physics, chemistry, or natural history.
. In politics, the heat of passion is always in inverse ratio
to a man's scientific education. Ignorant people are always vio-
lent.
•
In my study of the different forms of government we have
tried, it will be seen that I have denied the merits of none:
neither the generous, humane ideas of the Constituent, nor the
patriotic energy of the Convention, nor the administrative genius.
of Napoleon I. , nor the parliamentary honesty of the two consti-
tutional monarchies, nor the ardent spirit of social justice which
animated the Second Republic [1848], nor the great material
progress accomplished under the Second Empire.
1658, and entering Harcourt College at Paris, to receive his final
training, Racine, with his literary instincts and his capacity for en-
joying life, was quickly admitted to a pleasure-loving set of authors
and amateurs, of whom La Fontaine the fabulist was one. Encour-
aged by them, he threw himself into poetry, and in 1660 attracted
public attention and royal munificence by an ode, The Nymph of
the Seine,' written on the occasion of Louis XIV. 's marriage. His
devout family connections, alarmed for his salvation, rusticated him to
the south of France, where he was to study for orders. But in 1663
this experiment was abandoned. Racine returned to Paris, met La
Fontaine again, formed acquaintance with Boileau and Molière, and
under their sanction began his theatrical career.
After one unsuccessful venture, his 'Thébaïde' (1664) was played
by Molière's company. It was followed the next season by 'Alex-
andre. ' Both of these dramas reflect the ideas of older authors, par-
ticularly Corneille. But in 1667, with Andromaque,' a delineation
of maternal love in conflict with a widow's fidelity, set off by the
love and jealousy of suitors and rivals, Racine found his peculiar
and lasting manner. The enthusiasm aroused by the psychological
analyses of 'Andromaque' had been exceeded in Paris only by the
delight occasioned by the romantic declamations of The Cid. ' He
next tried a comedy of an Aristophanic bent, The Pleaders' (1668),
a satire of legal procedure. But this was Racine's sole deviation
from the tragic path. Britannicus' (1669), on the imperiousness of
## p. 12029 (#67) ###########################################
JEAN RACINE
12029
Agrippina and the baseness of Nero; 'Bérénice' (1670), the idyl
of the Jewish princess forsaken by her lover Titus, for reasons of
State; Bajazet' (1672), the vengeance of a queen on her rival and
faithless lover; 'Mithridate' (1673), the Oriental despot, the enemy
of Rome, disputing a girl's heart with his own son; 'Iphigénie'
(1674), a mother's love, oblivious of all but the object of its passion,
contrasted with filial affection and obedience,- all these pictures of
the heart of woman were summed up, reached their culmination, in
the love, shame, jealousy, revenge, and remorse which the poet im-
agined in the story of 'Phèdre' (1677). The great parts in Racine
were for the heroines. The heroes rarely attained the level of being
even counterpoises.
A literary cabal in favor of the rhymester Pradon prevented the
immediate success of 'Phèdre'; and this circumstance, coupled with
his reviving devotion, led Racine to renounce the stage and its sur-
roundings. He was made historiographer of the King, married, and
divided his time between his family and the court. But the old fire
was only smoldering within him. It burst forth into new and brighter
flame when at the summons of Madame de Maintenon a religious
drama was demanded for the girls' school at St. Cyr. The fusion of
Racine's piety with the gratification of his poetic ideals was now
possible; and 'Esther' (1689), a Scriptural idyl built on the model of
French tragedy, with the addition of the lyric choruses of the Greeks,
displayed his talent at its best. Another sacred tragedy with choruses,
'Athalie (1691), was lost to Racine's contemporaries by doubts about
the wisdom of schoolgirls acting. The remainder of our author's
life was passed in the exercise of his official duties, in the composi-
tion of religious hymns, and the penning of biting epigrams ridicul-
ing the playwrights of the time. He died the last year of the century,
on April 26th.
The first part of Racine's dramatic work, from 'Andromaque' to
'Phèdre,' being strictly within the canons of French classical tragedy,
calls for no further mention. But the second part, though consisting
of but two plays, drawn from sacred sources, presents certain novel-
ties. The addition of the choruses, imitated as they evidently were
from Greek models, suggests that French tragedy, in its conflict
with its rival the opera, would not be above borrowing some of that
rival's attractions. Besides, 'Athalie,' which is regarded by many as
the best example of French tragedy, takes certain liberties with the
scenery and the number of persons in evidence on the stage; and
this points to a modification, an enlarging, of the scope of the tradi-
tional play.
'Athalie' is also to be noticed for its plot. The element of love
does not enter into it. It is the strife of an unscrupulous, ambitious,
## p. 12030 (#68) ###########################################
12030
JEAN RACINE
yet fluctuating woman with the direct and persevering enthusiasm
of a strong man who summons the miraculous to his aid. For
these divergences from the ordinary run, and for its intrinsic excel-
lence, 'Athalie' was the constant preoccupation of French dramatists
down to the reaction in the nineteenth century against all tragedy,
classical or romantic. It powerfully aided in confirming Racine in
the supremacy which his method, his psychology, his measured lan-
guage and harmonious versification, had combined in awarding to
him. The subsequent history of French tragedy is hardly more than
a commentary on Racine.
The best edition of Racine's complete works is published at Paris
by Hachette et Cie. , in the series of 'Les Grands Écrivains' (8 vols. ,
8vo). It is edited by Paul Mesnard. Nearly every French critic
has written on Racine, but F. Brunetière's chapters (Lectures 5 and 7)
in his 'Époques du Théâtre Français' (Paris, 1892), and G. Lanson's
comments in his 'Histoire de la Littérature Française' (Paris, 1895),
pages 532-547, are especially valuable.
L. M Warren.
THE RIVALS
From Bajazet '
Scene: The private apartments of Bajazet at Byzantium. Present: Rox-
ana, Bajazet, Atalide, Zara.
R
OXANA -
Come, Bajazet, 'tis time to show yourself,
That all the court may recognize its master:
All that these walls contain, many in number,
Gathered by my command, await my wishes.
My slaves (the rest will follow where they lead)
Are the first subjects that my love allots you.
[To Atalide]-
This sudden change from wrath to milder mood
May well surprise you, madam. For, but now,
Determined to take vengeance on a traitor,
I swore he should not see another day;
Yet almost ere he spoke my heart relented:
'Twas love imposed that oath, and love revokes it.
Reading deep passion in his wild distraction,
His pardon I pronounced, and trust his promise.
## p. 12031 (#69) ###########################################
JEAN RACINE
12031
Bajazet — Yes, I have promised, and my word is pledged
Ne'er to forget all that to you I owe:
Have I not sworn that constant care and kindness
Roxana
Atalide-
Roxana
Atalide
-―――
Roxana
Atalide
Roxana
-
――――――
Roxana
-
Shall duly pay my debt of gratitude?
If on these terms your favor I may claim,
[Exit.
I go to wait the harvest of your bounty.
Heavens! What amazement strikes me at this moment!
Is it a dream? and have mine eyes deceived me?
What mean these frigid words, this sombre greeting,
Which seems to cancel all that passed between us?
What hope does he imagine mine, for which
I banished my resentment, and restored him
To favor? He, methought, swore that his heart
Would own me mistress to his dying day.
Does he repent already of the peace
That we had signed? Was I just now deluded?
But was he not conversing with you, madam ?
What did he say?
To me? He loves you always.
His life at least depends on my belief
That it is so. But tell me, pray, when joy
Should triumph, how can you explain the gloom
That settled on his features as he left me?
Madam, I saw no cloud upon his brow.
Oft has he told me of your gracious kindness,
And he just now was full of it; at parting
He seemed to me the same as when he entered.
But be that as it may, need it surprise you
That on the eve of such important issues
He should be troubled, and some signs escape him
Of anxious thoughts that on his mind intrude?
Such plausible excuses do you credit
For skill that pleads on his behalf more fairly
Than he could do himself.
What other cause-
Enough! I read your motive, madam, better
Than you suppose. Leave me, for I would be
Alone a little while. I too am troubled,
And anxious cares are mine as well as his,
To which I owe a moment's thought in secret.
How must I construe all that I have seen?
Are they in league together to deceive me?
Wherefore this change, those words, that quick departure?
Did I not catch a glance that passed between them?
## p. 12032 (#70) ###########################################
12032
JEAN RACINE
Fatima-
Roxana
Fatima
Were they not both struck with embarrassment ?
Ah! why has Heaven doomed me to this affront?
Is this the fruit of all my blind affection?
So many painful days and sleepless nights,
Plots and intrigues, treason too deep for pardon!
And shall they all turn to a rival's profit?
But yet, too ready to torment myself,
I may too closely scan a passing cloud,
And take for passion what is mere caprice.
Surely he would have carried to the end
His wiles; and in full prospect of success,
He could have feigned at least a moment longer.
Love, uncontrolled by reason, quakes at shadows:
Let me take courage. Why should Atalide
Be dreaded as my rival? What has he
To thank her for? To which of us to-day
Owes he the sceptre?
But too well I know
Love is a tyrant; and if other charms
Attract, what matter crowns, or life itself?
Can benefits outweigh the heart's attachment ?
I need but search mine own. Did gratitude
Constrain me to his brother, when this wretch
Bewitched me? Ah! if other tie were absent,
Would the idea of marriage so alarm him?
He gladly would have seconded my wishes,
And not have braved destruction by refusal.
Just cause.
-
But some one comes to speak with me.
What can she want?
Enter Fatima
Forgive me this intrusion:
But there is come a courier from the army;
And though the seaward gate was shut, the guards,
On bended knees, without delay unlocked it
To orders from the Sultan, to yourself
Addressed, and strange to say, 'tis Orcan brings them.
Orcan!
Yes, he; of all the Sultan's slaves
The one most trusted for his faithful service,
Blackest of those whom Afric's sun has scorched.
Madam, he asks impatiently for you:
## p. 12033 (#71) ###########################################
JEAN RACINE
12033
Roxana
I thought it best to give you timely notice,
And lest you should be taken by surprise,
I have detained him in your own apartments.
What new disaster comes to overwhelm me?
What can his bidding be? What my reply?
Doubtless the Sultan, in his mind perturbed,
Has Bajazet condemned a second time.
Without my sanction none will dare to take
His life; for all obey me here. But ought I
To shield him? Bajazet or Amurath
Which claims allegiance? One have I betrayed;
The other may be false to me. Time presses;
I must resolve this fatal doubt, nor let
The precious moments pass.
Cannot conceal its secret inclination.
I will watch Bajazet and Atalide:
Then crown the lover, or destroy the traitor.
NDROMACHE [to Hermione] —
Love, when most cautious,
THE APPEAL OF ANDROMACHE
From 'Andromaque›
Scene: The palace of Pyrrhus, at Buthrotum in Epirus. Present: An-
dromache, Hermione, Cleone, Cephissa.
Α
XXI-753
Translation of R. B. Boswell.
Why fly you, madam? Is it not a sight
To please you, Hector's widow at your knees,
Weeping? But not with tears of jealousy
I come, nor do I envy you the heart
Surrendered to your charms. A cruel hand
Robbed me of him whom only I admired.
Love's flame was lit by Hector long ago,
With him it was extinguished in the tomb.
But he has left a son. Some day you'll know
How closely to one's heart a son can cling;
But you will never know, I wish it not,
How keen the pang when danger threatens him,
And they would take him from you,-all that's left
To soothe a blighted heart. Ah, when worn out
With ten long years of woe, the Trojans sought
Your mother's life, on Hector I prevailed
## p. 12034 (#72) ###########################################
12034
JEAN RACINE
Hermione-
Andromache-
How scornfully did she refuse my prayer!
Cephissa- Accept her counsel. See him, as she says;
One look of yours may Greece and her confound-
But look, he seeks you of his own accord.
Enter Pyrrhus and Phoenix
Pyrrhus [to Phoenix] -
Pyrrhus-
Andromache-
Phoenix-
Phoenix-
Andromache [to Cephissa]-
My eyes have over him!
Cephissa-
Andromache
To succor her. O'er Pyrrhus you have power
As I had then o'er Hector. Can they dread
The infant he has left? Him let me hide
In some far distant isle. And they may trust
My fears to keep him there, taught but to weep
With me.
Cephissa-
I feel for you, but duty holds
My tongue tied, when my sire declares his will:
It is by him that Pyrrhus's wrath is stirred.
But who can bend him better than yourself?
His soul has long been subject to your eyes:
Make him pronounce the word, and I'll consent.
Pyrrhus-
Andromache-
Pyrrhus-
Where is the princess? Said you not that she
Was here?
Is lost!
Andromache-
Will follow.
I thought so.
--
Hermione is gone, and we
Is certain.
Now you see what power
What says she?
Has he not promised them my child?
Given him up.
Speak! Why obstinately dumb?
All
But not
Vain are my tears,- his death
How her pride disdains to look
My way!
I should but irritate him more.
Let us retire.
Yielded to Greece.
Come, Hector's son shall be
## p. 12035 (#73) ###########################################
JEAN RACINE
12035
Andromache [throwing herself at his feet) —
Stop, sire.
What will you do?
Give up the son? Why not the mother, then?
Where is the kindness that you swore to me
So lately? Can I touch no chord at least
Of pity? Does this sentence bar all hope
Of pardon?
Phoenix knows my word is pledged.
Pyrrhus-
Andromache-
-
Pyrrhus-
Andromache
Pyrrhus-
――――――
No dangers were too great for you to brave
On my behalf!
Blind then, I now can see.
Your wishes might have won his pardon once;
You ne'er so much as asked it. Now you come
Too late.
Full well you understood, my lord,
The sigh that feared repulse. Forgive the trace
Of pride, that died not with my royal rank,
And made me shrink from importunity.
My lord, you know, had it not been for you,
Andromache would never have embraced
A master's knees.
No, in your secret soul
You hate me, scorn to owe me anything.
This son, the only object of your care, —
You would have loved him less, had he been saved
Through me. You hate me with a bitter scorn,
And worse than all the other Greeks combined.
Enjoy at leisure such a noble rage.
Come, Phoenix.
I will go where Hector's gone.
What further can I say to him?
The author of my woes, he knows them all.
[To Pyrrhus]-
See to what state you have reduced me, sire!
I've seen my father slain, our walls enwrapt
In flames, and all our family cut off,
My husband's bloody corpse dragged through the dust,
His only son reserved for chains with me.
For his sake I endure to live a slave.
Andromache
Cephissa Madam-
Andromache
Yea, more, this thought has sometimes brought relief,—
That fate has fixed my place of exile here;
The son of many kings beneath your sway
## p. 12036 (#74) ###########################################
12036
JEAN RACINE
Pyrrhus-
Is happier as a slave than he could be
Elsewhere, and I had hoped his prison walls
Might be a place of refuge. Priam found
Achilles could respect his fallen state:
I thought his son more generous still. That trust,
My Hector, pardon, when I deemed thy foe
Too noble to commit a dastard's crime!
Ah, had he but allowed us to abide
Where for thine ashes I had raised a tomb,
And ending there his hatred and our woes,
Parted us not from thy beloved remains!
Go and await me, Phoenix. -
Madam, stay.
Your tears may yet win back this cherished son.
Yes, I regret that, moving you to weep,
I armed you with a weapon 'gainst myself;
I thought I could have brought more hatred here.
You might at least consent to look at me:
See, are my eyes those of an angry judge,
Whose pleasure 'tis to cause you misery?
Why force me to be faithless to yourself?
Now for your son's sake let us cease to hate.
'Tis I who urge you, Save the child from death.
Must sighs of mine beg you to spare his life?
And must I clasp your knees to plead for him?
Once more, but once,- Save him and save yourself.
I know what solemn vows for you I break,
What hatred I bring down upon myself.
Hermione shall go, and on her brow
For crown I set a burning brand of shame;
And in the fane decked for her marriage rites
Her royal diadem yourself shall wear.
This offer, lady, is no longer one
You can afford to scorn. Perish or reign!
A year's contempt has made me desperate,
Nor can I any longer live in doubt,
Harassed by fears and mingling threats with groans.
To lose you is to die,-'tis death to wait.
I leave you to consider, and will come
To bring you to the temple where this child
My fury shall destroy before your eyes,
Or where in love I crown you as my queen.
## p. 12037 (#75) ###########################################
JEAN RACINE
12037
Enone-
Scene: The palace at Træzen, in the Peloponnesus. Present: Phædra,
Hippolytus, Enone.
There I see him!
PHEDRA My blood forgets to flow, my tongue to speak
What I am come to say.
Phædra-
THE CONFESSION OF PHÆDRA
From Phèdre›
Hippolytus-
Phædra-
―――――――
Think of your son,
How all his hopes depend on you.
I hear
You leave us and in haste. I come to add
My tears to your distress, and for a son
Plead my alarm. No more has he a father,
And at no distant day my son must witness
My death. Already do a thousand foes
Threaten his youth. You only can defend him.
But in my secret heart remorse awakes,
And fear lest I have shut your ears against
His cries. I tremble lest your righteous anger
Visit on him ere long the hatred earned
By me, his mother.
Madam, is mine.
No such base resentment,
I could not blame you, prince,
If you should hate me. I have injured you:
So much you know, but could not read my heart.
T' incur your enmity has been mine aim:
The selfsame borders could not hold us both;
In public and in private I declared
Myself your foe, and found no peace till seas
Parted us from each other. I forbade
Your very name to be pronounced before me.
And yet if punishment should be proportioned
To the offense, if only hatred draws
Your hatred, never woman merited
More pity, less deserved your enmity.
Hippolytus-A mother jealous of her children's rights.
Seldom forgives the offspring of a wife
Who reigned before her. Harassing suspicions
Are common sequels of a second marriage.
Of me would any other have been jealous
No less than you, perhaps more violent.
## p. 12038 (#76) ###########################################
12038
JEAN RACINE
Ah, prince, how Heaven has from the general law
Made me exempt, be that same Heaven witness!
Far different is the trouble that devours me!
Hippolytus-This is no time for self-reproaches, madam.
It may be that your husband still beholds
The light, and Heaven may grant him safe return,
In answer to our prayers. His guardian god
Is Neptune, ne'er by him invoked in vain.
He who has seen the mansions of the dead
Returns not thence. Since to those gloomy shores
Theseus is gone, 'tis vain to hope that Heaven
May send him back. Prince, there is no release
From Acheron's greedy maw. And yet, methinks,
He lives and breathes in you. I see him still
Before me, and to him I seem to speak;
My heart-
Phædra-
Phadra
Hippolytus-
Phædra-
—
Oh, I am mad! Do what I will,
I cannot hide my passion.
Yes, I see
The strange effects of love. Theseus, though dead,
Seems present to your eyes, for in your soul
There burns a constant flame.
Ah, yes, for Theseus
I languish and I long; not as the Shades
Have seen him, of a thousand different forms
The fickle lover, and of Pluto's bride
The would-be ravisher, but faithful, proud
E'en to a slight disdain, with youthful charms
Attracting every heart, as gods are painted,
Or like yourself. He had your mien, your eyes,
Spoke and could blush like you, when to the isle
Of Crete, my childhood's home, he crossed the waves,
Worthy to win the love of Minos's daughters.
What were you doing then? Why did he gather
The flower of Greece, and leave Hippolytus?
Oh, why were you too young to have embarked
On board the ship that brought thy sire to Crete?
At your hands would the monster then have perished,
Despite the windings of his vast retreat.
To guide your doubtful steps within the maze
My sister would have armed you with the clue.
But no, therein would Phædra have forestalled her.
Love would have first inspired me with the thought
And I it would have been whose timely aid
## p. 12039 (#77) ###########################################
JEAN RACINE
12039
Had taught you all the labyrinth's crooked ways.
What anxious care a life so dear had cost me!
No thread had satisfied your lover's fears:
I would myself have wished to lead the way,
And share the peril you were bound to face;
Phædra with you would have explored the maze,
With you emerged in safety or have perished.
Hippolytus-Gods! What is this I hear? Have you forgotten
That Theseus is my father and your husband?
Why should you fancy I have lost remembrance
Thereof, and am regardless of mine honor?
Hippolytus - Forgive me, madam. With a blush I own
That I misconstrued words of innocence.
For very shame I cannot bear your sight
Longer. I go-
Phædra-
Phædra-
Ah! cruel prince, too well
You understood me. I have said enough
To save you from mistake. I love. But think not
That at the moment when I love you most
I do not feel my guilt; no weak compliance
Has fed the poison that infects my brain.
The ill-starred object of celestial vengeance,
I am not so detestable to you
As to myself. The gods will bear me witness,
Who have within my veins kindled this fire;
The gods, who take a barbarous delight
In leading a poor mortal's heart astray.
Do you yourself recall to mind the past:
'Twas not enough for me to fly,—I chased you
Out of the country, wishing to appear
Inhuman, odious; to resist you better,
I sought to make you hate me. All in vain!
Hating me more, I loved you none the less:
New charms were lent to you by your misfortunes.
I have been drowned in tears, and scorched by fire;
Your own eyes might convince you of the truth,
If for one moment you could look at me.
What is't I say? Think you this vile confession
That I have made is what I meant to utter?
Not daring to betray a son for whom
I trembled, 'twas to beg you not to hate him
I came. Weak purpose of a heart too full
Of love for you to speak of aught besides!
Take your revenge, punish my odious passion;
## p. 12040 (#78) ###########################################
12040
JEAN RACINE
Enone-
Theramenes
Prove yourself worthy of your valiant sire,
And rid the world of an offensive monster!
Does Theseus's widow dare to love his son?
The frightful monster! Let her not escape you!
Here is my heart. This is the place to strike.
Already prompt to expiate its guilt,
I feel it leap impatiently to meet
Your arin. Strike home. Or if it would disgrace you
To steep your hand in such polluted blood,
If that were punishment too mild to slake
Your hatred, lend me then your sword, if not
Your arm. Quick, give 't.
What, madam, will you do?
Just gods! But some one comes. Go, fly from shame;
You cannot 'scape if seen by any thus.
Enter Theramenes
-
Is that the form of Phædra that I see
Hurried away? What mean these signs of sorrow?
Where is your sword? Why are you pale, confused?
Hippolytus-Friend, let us fly. I am, indeed, confounded
With horror and astonishment extreme.
Phædra- but no; gods, let this dreadful secret
Remain forever buried in oblivion.
Translation of R. B. Boswell.
## p. 12041 (#79) ###########################################
12041
ALFRED RAMBAUD
(1842-)
lfred RambauD, like many of his predecessors at the head of
the Board of Education in France, taught in the ranks be-
fore he rose to be Grand Master of the University. He was
born in 1842 at Besançon, in the province of Franche-Comté, whose
children are supposed to be peculiarly hot-headed and tenacious of
opinion. But M. Rambaud is no fanatic: he is liberal and concilia-
tory, with an ardent desire for the education of the masses. He is a
disciple of Jules Ferry, who first called him to a leading position in
the direction of public affairs, as private secretary and chef de cabinet
at the ministry of Public Affairs in 1879. After three years at the
École Normale, M. Rambaud was successively professor of history at
Caen and at Nancy. On quitting the ministry he returned to his
duties as professor, and was appointed to the Faculty of Letters in
Paris.
His works are educational and historical. His favorite occupation
is looking over and preparing the great work he has undertaken in
collaboration with his friend and colleague, Ernest Lavisse, the his-
torian dear to French youth; namely, the General History from the
Fourth Century to Our Day. ' The first number of this serial history
appeared in 1892. It is carefully done, clear, and in a widely liberal,
philosophical spirit. M. Rambaud contributes the portion on Russia.
He is an authority on all things Russian, knowing the language and
having traveled in the country.
His speeches form an important part of his "literary luggage,» as
the French say. He speaks well, but not in the florid, ornamental
style common in France. He is journalier ("touch-and-go"), and
must warm to his subject before mastering it. No one knows what
will warm him; the man himself probably less than any one. But
once warmed, his voice never falters in its soft, far-reaching wave of
sound. His gestures are slow and propitiatory; he turns his head
slyly from left to right, and sees very well with those small, dark,
sharp yet merry eyes of his, that are surmounted, not shaded, by the
thin regular arch of eyebrows, like notes of interrogation on his high
narrow forehead. He has a great deal of dry humor, both as speaker
and writer, and doubtless often laughs to himself at his opponents
as he sits comfortably on the ministerial bench of the Chamber of
## p. 12042 (#80) ###########################################
12042
ALFRED RAMBAUD
Deputies. The present looks small to a man who studies the past.
Like most of his countrymen, he mingles the politics of the day with
speeches on literary, artistic, or educational subjects, and spangles
them with quotations from the classics and similes boldly drawn from
practical illustrations. One day at the Franco-English Guild, at a
meeting presided over by the British minister, M. Rambaud in a little
improvisation on the two countries, "who never," said he, "need be
enemies, though their differences were so great," compared them to
"twin piston-rods, impelling with equal beat the onward march of
liberty, order, and peace. " Elsewhere he calls them "the Siamese
twins of political economy. "
M. Rambaud is a linguist, a colonialist, and a Russophil,— uniting
the three fads of the French of to-day. He wrote a preface and
notes to a translation of Seely's 'Expansion of England'; contributed
to a geographical work, La France Coloniale,' and to the articles
on Russia in the General History of Europe'; and has written two
books on Russia, - 'La Russie Épique,' a translation of popular and
heroic song, and a 'History of Russia. ' This last won a prize at the
French Academy. It clear and concise. Every sentence contains
a fact. The description of Nicholas I. (Chapter xxxvi. , page 638) is
striking:"He was a living incarnation of despotism. His giant
stature, his stately manner, his mystic pride in his imperial office, his
unwearied attention to business in its smallest details, his iron will,
his love of military grandeur, uniform, and display, all tended to
strike awe.
When his power was shattered, a nation rose full grown
from its ruins. " The work closes with the following words: - "With
the government of Russia, France has often been in conflict; with her
people, since she has become a nation, France sympathizes and is at
one. »
The most important of his educational works is the 'History of
Civilization in France' from the earliest times to the French Revolu-
tion, with a concluding chapter on general events up to our day.
This chapter has been developed into a volume of seven hundred
and fifty closely packed pages, The History of Contemporary Civ-
ilization in France': an interesting, amusing summing-up of the
progress made since 1789 in all branches of human knowledge. It
contains a declaration of principle, and a theory of the duty of a
citizen. Extracts are given illustrating these points.
M. Rambaud has further written a History of the Greek Empire
in the Tenth Century'; a 'History of the French Revolution, 1789–
1799'; a novel for the young-a story of ancient Gaul, 'L'Anneau de
César'; and 'French Rule in Germany,' in two volumes, - the first
entitled 'The French on the Rhine, 1792-1804,' and the second 'Ger-
many under Napoleon, 1804-1811. ' These last-named volumes are
## p. 12043 (#81) ###########################################
ALFRED RAMBAUD
12043
written to refute the accusation of cruelty, tyranny, and perfidy,
made by recent German historians against France. The extracts
given further on show the line of argument.
The General History' has reached Vol. x. , No. 109,- 'The Con-
gress of Verona,' 1822. Chapter vi. of Vol. viii. , entirely from the pen
of M. Rambaud, treats of Russia, Poland, and the East. The late
Greco-Turkish conflict gives interest to the section on Catharine II. 's
attempt at founding a Russo-Greek empire, a passage from which is
given.
M. Rambaud gives his facts in general with little comment, wast-
ing few words in explanation or ornament. The broad lines that
show the important events are straight and clear, without twirl or
flourish. Impartial, philosophical, and at times anecdotal, his style
differs entirely from the French writers we are accustomed to: unlike
Michelet, who was a poet rather than a historian, unlike Thiers, who
was a politician and wrote his books in his leisure hours, this
scholar of a new school loves the quiet of his study better than the
noise of the forum, the depths of historical research better than the
shallow stream of popular favor. Yet he must speak, because speech
in France is the great organ of education. No man who has not
lived in France can understand the power of spoken words over
Frenchmen, whether in private or public life.
His first speech was delivered at Besançon in 1880, where he repre-
sented the minister, Jules Ferry, at the unveiling of a statue of Victor
Hugo. His latest was at the palace of the Trocadero in June last
(1897), where he told his fellow-citizens that peoples who would be
free must depend on individual effort rather than on government
support. Jules Ferry often said the same thing; indeed, M. Ram-
baud never fails to recall with rare and dignified gratitude, on every
occasion, what he owes to his patron: an uncommon thing in these
forgetful, hurried times, and a bold thing some years ago in France,
where the mention of Jules Ferry's name at a public meeting was
shaking a red rag at a bull.
M. Rambaud does speak much and often: he is a minister, and
his duties are migratory. He flits from place to place, presiding, dis-
coursing, distributing rewards, and giving good advice. Indeed, the
Liberal Republicans are everywhere setting the sound good sense of
their teaching against the eloquently worded promises of the reaction-
ary socialist party, who, like all attacking bodies, are very active.
Of late M. Rambaud has become a protectionist; imitating Jules Ferry,
who did so to please his electors in the east of France. The flame
of his eloquence burns low and long; it lights the way without daz-
zling, it guides without exciting.
## p. 12044 (#82) ###########################################
ALFRED RAMBAUD
12044
HALTING STEPS TOWARD DEMOCRACY
From the 'History of Civilization in France>
N
APOLEON, as First Consul and Emperor, modeled his court on
that of former kings, and endeavored to give good man-
ners to his officers and their wives, and to attract the
members of the old noblesse; saying, "They alone know how to
serve. " The revolution of 1848 gave back to the popular classes
their rights and power; but the impatience of the workmen and
the apathy of the peasants let a new Cæsar rise, who treated.
democracy and universal suffrage as children. To-day they are
full-grown men. Among the nations of Europe, France stands
alone as being the sole important State at once democratic, re-
publican, and with universal suffrage.
FRENCH GOVERNMENTAL EXPERIMENTS
From the History of Contemporary Civilization in France>
C
ONTEMPORARY history should not be separated from politics;
nor can politics be, as some seem to think, a matter of
opinion, of prejudice, passion, or excitement. When well
understood they are a science, and even belong to experimental
science; and as such, are of course still uncertain, hypothetical in
conclusions: but must tend, if judged in a truly scientific spirit,
to laws as sure as those of physics, chemistry, or natural history.
. In politics, the heat of passion is always in inverse ratio
to a man's scientific education. Ignorant people are always vio-
lent.
•
In my study of the different forms of government we have
tried, it will be seen that I have denied the merits of none:
neither the generous, humane ideas of the Constituent, nor the
patriotic energy of the Convention, nor the administrative genius.
of Napoleon I. , nor the parliamentary honesty of the two consti-
tutional monarchies, nor the ardent spirit of social justice which
animated the Second Republic [1848], nor the great material
progress accomplished under the Second Empire.
