vented? and why is there an alms-box for the reception of offerings to defray the expenses connected with the chapel? No religious services are now performed in it. Very probably this most unchristian cultus is a relic of some old pagan custom, which has become incorporated into the religion of the people, a religion handed down with little change from one generation to another.' Statements very similar to those made by the person who has charge of the chapel, we also had from other inhabitants of Tréguier; and we very much fear they are a matter of historical truth. But let us turn away from this subject. 6 We should have been glad to have given additional extracts from different parts of this fine poem, but space forbids. 'Le Pardon,' Les Conscrits,' 'Les Lutteurs,' Les Noces,' are all particularly good. One short passage, we however must give from Les Noces,' which forms the conclusion of the poem. Any one who has visited Brittany, must have been struck by the swarms of importunate beggars met everywhere. But the Breton creed is that of Madame de Chantal. The Bretons are most kind to the poor, and will, with her, look beyond the miserable, and, perhaps, repulsive object that solicits alms, and share her faith and love, and say, 'I do not see them, but Jesus Christ in them.' Brizeux thus speaks of the ceremonies which take place, and of the treat given to the poor, on the occasion of a marriage : 'Moi-même j'arrive au terme de ma route, Long chemin qu'un plus fort eût trouvé court sans doûte, Que souvent je disais: Je n'arriverai pas ! Seule alors vous m'aidiez, ô Puissance cachée ! Humble force du cœur qu'en parlant j'ai cherchée ! "Ah! cette noce encore a des pompes plus hautes: Mais les feux sont éteints; la noce, où donc est-elle ? 'La noce était au bourg, et priait pour ses morts, pose les corps ; Puis, le service dit, on vit la foule entière Chercher chacun sa robe aux coins du cimetière; Et le sol fut couvert de parents à genoux 6 A vous, pauvres! à vous, enfin, estropiés ! Vol. i. pp. 288, 289. La Fleur d'Or abounds in beautiful pieces. There is one especially, which, for grace, naturalness, and elegance, is unsurpassed, and worthy Chénier, Lamartine, and Hugo. It is entitled A E., and begins thus: 'Le jour naît dans les prés et sous les taillis verts La fleur ouvre au matin plus de pourpre et d'azur, ] A l'aube humide qui l'arrose. Que de fleurs ont passé qu'on n'a point su cueillir ! Aucune des fleurs de ce monde. Allons cueillir des fleurs; par un charme idéal 'Allons cueillir des vers! sous la fleur du buisson 'Cueillons des fleurs! Et puis, heureux de mon fardeau, Qui voile encor ma bien-aimée, Et du bruit de mes vers dissipant son sommeil, 'Riante et mollement soulevée à demi, Je veux que de mes fleurs sur son front endormi Et qu'en un doux silence admirant leurs couleurs, Ont plus de fraîcheur et de grâce.'-Vol. ii. pp. 23, 24. In the poem, or rather collection of poems, called Primel et Nola,' and now included in the Histoires Poétiques, the portrait of Monsieur Flammik, the rustic denizen of Brittany, qui veut faire le monsieur, and who apes the manners, language, and dress of the Parisian dandy, is cleverly drawn. We ourselves, in the course of our peregrinations in certain parts of Brittany, have occasionally come into contact with individuals of the Flammik type, and can testify to the correctness of the sketch: "Voici Monsieur Flammik avec son air matois, Ce n'est pas du Français, ce n'est plus du Breton. Il se moque du diable, il se moque des saints. Vol. ii. pp. 242, 243. In La Harpe d'Armorique, the same Monsieur Flammik is very racily described in Breton verse. In the recueil called Cycle,' which also now forms part of the Histoires Poétiques, are found translations from different poets, ancient and modern. We will extract the version, or imitation rather, of the Sic vos non vobis.' It is good, but not equal to the original: 'J'ai fait des vers, un autre en eut tous les honneurs. : Vous pour un autre aussi posez, oiseaux chanteurs, Vous pour un autre aussi, grands boeufs, de vos sueurs Vous pour un autre aussi, pompez le sue des fleurs, Vous, abeilles légères.'-Vol. ii. p. 404. In the Poétique Nouvelle,' à propos of the French capital, we find the following noble passage, though perhaps, the word justement, in the fifteenth line, should not be received without some qualification, as the sacred Name employed further on is certainly objectionable : 'Mais entends-tu gémir les tragiques douleurs? L'homme, hélas! n'est jamais sans un sujet de pleurs. Répudiant ses mœurs, ses grands hommes, son Dieu, Vol. ii. pp. 445, 446. We shall conclude our extracts by giving the larger portion of the 'L'Elégie de la Bretagne,' the last piece published by Brizeux. The beginning, like the rest of the poem, has been much admired, and deservedly so. It reminds one of Victor Hugo's splendid poem, 'Le Géant': 'Silencieux men-hirs, fantômes de la lande, Avec crainte et respect dans l'ombre je vous vois! Puis les rois et les dues sous leurs cottes de mailles, Les ermites cachés à l'ombre des taillis, Tous les saints de Léon, tous les saints de Cornouailles, 'De l'orgueilleux César à la Bonne Duchesse, Et qui, brisant leur joug, craient: Plutót mourir! 'Les châteaux sont détruits et nue est la campagne, 'Sortez d'entre les morts, hommes des anciens âges! 'Moi, je dévoue encore aux divines colères Et des sombres granits, ces temoins du passé!' Vol. ii. pp. 283, 284. This is grand, and, in more than one respect, highly poetical. The poet then apostrophises the steam-engine, big with ruin and desolation:: 'Ah! le grand destructeur arrive! Sous la nue . Une lourde vapeur annonce sa venue: C'est un dragon de fer, un monstre aveugle et sourd, Il va, plein d'un brasier, qu'il vomit par sa gueule; Venir sur le vent d'est le hideux beuglement.' The same ideas and apprehensions have been more prosaically put forth by other writers, but they seem to us scarcely called for. Certainly, as De Quincey says, 'Father Time is become very importunate, and clamorously shrill, since he has been 'fitted up with that horrid railway-whistle;' but we doubt whether the poet's vaticinations will be realized for generations to come; at any rate, we predict that the 'men-hirs longtemps debout,' and the chênes séculaires,'' ces témoins du passé,' will still remain for a long time undisturbed. In our opinion, the influences of railways and electric telegraphs, in changing the character of Brittany and of Bretons, have been greatly overrated; and ages will elapse before 'Trade's unfeeling train Usurp the land, and dispossess the swain.' Of course more frequent and rapid means of communication, and the consequent greater facilities of commerce, and the new relations into which the inhabitants will be brought, will effect certain modifications in the habits and pursuits of some of the people; Flammiks will doubtless be on the increase; but we doubt whether extensive and radical changes will be produced in the moral features of Bretons any more than in the general physical aspect of the country. Breton character and habits |