The first act opens with a dialogue between Abner and Joad. Abner is captain of the host of Athaliah's army, but he has remained faithful to the house of David and the worship of Jehovah and has come at break of day to take part in the great festival about to be celebrated. Oui, je viens dans son temple adorer l'Éternel. Je viens, selon l'usage antique et solennel, Où sur le mont Sina la loi nous fut donnée. He next deplores the desertion of the altars of Jehovah and the apostasy of so many Jews and expresses his fears that fresh misfortunes may be looked for from Athaliah's sombre rage. But the high-priest dispels his terrors by reminding him of the power and the promises of the Lord, attested by many recent miracles. Celui qui met un frein à la fureur des flots Sait aussi des méchants arrêter les complots, etc. Joad gives the faithful Abner to understand that the race of David is not extinct and soon after declares to his wife, that the day has come to proclaim Joas king and seat him on the throne of his fathers. This announcement at first alarms Josabeth in the highest degree, but in the end she submits to the will of God, and the act ends with the beautiful hymn: Tout l'univers est plein de sa magnificence. Qu'on l'adore, ce Dieu, qu'on l'invoque à jamais! Chantons, publions ses bienfaits, etc. These hymns, which are sung by a chorus composed of young girls of the tribe of Levi, constitute the most beautiful feature of the play; they are unsurpassed in French poetry for harmony and sweetness, and their lines are easily impressed on memory. In the second act we see Zachariah, the youthful son of the highpriest hastily entering the vestibule and relating with troubled mien that Athaliah has had the daring to force her way into the temple in the middle of the sacred rites. But the high-priest standing forth. before the dismayed congregation has bidden her leave the sacred precincts. Reine, sors, a-t-il dit, de ce lieu redoutable, D'où te bannit ton sexe et ton impiété. Viens-tu du Dieu vivant braver la majesté? Athaliah, arrested by the courage of the high-priest, now enters the vestibule with her guards and Abner, who tries to excuse Joad's boldness. The queen sends for Mathan, an apostate Jew, who had become high-priest of Baal, and turning to Abner endeavours to justify her deeds of blood: Je ne veux point ici rappeler le passé, Ni vous rendre raison du sang que j'ai versé. Next she relates a horrible dream, which thrice in a single night has troubled her sleep: C'était pendant l'horreur d'une profonde nuit; Ma mère Jézabel devant moi s'est montrée, Comme au jour de sa mort pompeusement parée, etc. The phantom bent over her couch, warned her to fear the vengeance of the God of the Jews and disappeared, leaving in its place: un horrible mélange D'os et de chairs meurtris, et traînés dans la fange, Next there appeared a child of sweet and noble mien, who, while she was admiring his winning looks and modest grace, suddenly pierced her bosom with a dagger. In the morning, having found no relief by praying to Baal, she bethought herself of trying to appease the God of the Jews. But while endeavouring to make her way into the sacred precincts, she has seen and recognized near the altar the very child against which she was warned by her dream. He disappeared almost immediately, and she now asks Abner and Mathan what measures she ought to take to avert the threatening danger. The latter advises her to seize the child and slay him, but Abner indignantly exclaims: Hé quoi! Mathan? d'un prêtre est-ce là le langage? and taking his advice, Athaliah only sends for the mysterious child and questions him. Joas appears before the queen accompanied by Josabeth. The questions and answers that follow are disposed with marvellous skill, so as to bring out in full relief the candour, innocence and cleverness of the young prince, without either justifying or calming Athaliah's fears entirely. She wishes to take him to the court with her, but he refuses: Moi, des bienfaits de Dieu je perdrais la mémoire? He does not wish to leave the temple. Abner restores the child to Josabeth, and the chorus, who have witnessed this scene glorify in their hymns the innocent happiness of childhood, when it has been nurtured in the love and fear of God, and contrasts it with the impious ways of the wicked. Quel astre à nos yeux vient de luire? Quel sera quelque jour cet enfant merveilleux? Il brave le faste orgueilleux, Et ne se laisse point séduire A tous ses attraits périlleux, etc. In the third act Mathan reappears with his confidant Nabal and sends to ask Josabeth for an interview; before she comes, he reveals to Nabal his whole history, the motives that have made of him an apostate, his remorses and the base designs he cherishes in his breast. He has declared war against God himself. Heureux si sur son temple achevant ma vengeance, Je puis convaincre enfin sa haine d'impuissance, The When Josabeth enters, Mathan gives her Athaliah's injunctions. Où suis-je? De Baal ne vois-je pas le prêtre ? He threatens him with the punishment that God has already prepared for him, and Mathan flies from the temple in utter dismay. Joad, when left alone with Josabeth, bids her prepare to show the youthful Joas to the people as their lawful king. Then the spirit of God descends on the high-priest; he sees the future opening before him and breaks out into prophecy: Cieux, écoutez ma voix; terre, prête l'oreille! Ne dis plus, ô Jacob! que ton Seigneur sommeille! In this prophecy, which is composed wholly of scriptural expressions, the high-priest foretells the capture of Jerusalem and the sack of the temple, the captivity of Babylon, the advent of the Messiah and the triumph of the new Jerusalem, the Christian Church. Then he distributes among the Levites the weapons which have been kept hidden in the temple. Ce formidable amas de lances et d'épées Qui du sang philistin jadis furent trempées, Et que David vainqueur, d'ans et d'honneurs chargé, Fit consacrer au Dieu qui l'avait protégé. The act ends with a hymn in which the chorus express their hopes and fears. Le Seigneur a daigné parler; Mais ce qu'à son prophète il vient de révéler, O promesse! ô menace! ô ténébreux mystère! In the fourth act Joad reveals the secret of his birth to the young prince. The priests and Levites are ranged in arms round his throne, and the high-priest having proclaimed him king of Judah, entreats them to fight bravely for the house of David and the true God. They swear allegiance to the king, and Joad counsels him how he is to avoid the errors of his fathers. News is brought that Athaliah and her soldiers are about to attack the temple, but the little garrison is undismayed, and their courage is exalted by the warlike strains of the chorus: Partez, enfants d'Aaron, partez. De vos aïeux n'arma le zèle. C'est votre roi, c'est Dieu pour qui vous combattez, etc. Où sont les traits que tu lances, Grand Dieu, dans ton juste courroux? N'es-tu plus le Dieu des vengeances? etc. In the fifth act the Levites are preparing to meet the attack, when Abner appears. He had been thrown into prison by the queen, but subsequently released, and now comes as her ambassador to propose terms of peace. Athaliah promises not to harm the temple and its inhabitants, provided that the mysterious child and the treasures said to have been left by David be given up to her at once. Joad at first resists the demand, but finding from Abner's words how great is his attachment to the house of David and the temple of Jehovah, he feigns compliance and consents to admit Athaliah, accompanied only by a small escort. Meanwhile the youthful Joas is seated on a throne close by the sanctuary, and a curtain conceals him from view, pending the arrival of the queen. She enters with threats and defiance on her lips and imperiously demands the fulfilment of Joad's promises: Cet enfant, ce trésor, qu'il faut qu'on me remette, JOAD. Sur-le-champ tu seras satisfaite: Je te les vais montrer l'un et l'autre à la fois. The curtain is withdrawn and Joas appears seated on his throne and guarded by the Levites with drawn swords. The high-priest points to the child and says: B. Platz, Manual of French Literature. 14 Connais-tu l'héritier du plus saint des monarques, Peuples, et vous, Abner, reconnaissez Joas. Athaliah, enraged by these words, bids her soldiers free her from the hateful phantom and seize the child, but Joad cries: Soldats du Dieu vivant, défendez votre roi! The back of the stage is thrown open and displays the interior of the temple and the Levites in arms crowding in on every side. At the sight, Athaliah perceives that she has fallen into a snare, but it is in vain she calls on her army for help: they are far away and cannot hear her. From the battlements the Levites proclaim the accession of Joas and the story of his wonderful salvation and announce that the wicked queen is captive in the temple. At the news, Athaliah's mercenaries are smitten with a sudden panic and disperse in all directions. She herself, after giving vent to the most frightful imprecations, is led out to suffer outside the sacred precints the punishment due to her crimes. Such is the plot and these are the characters of this scriptural play, which unfolds itself piece by piece, simply and majestically, like some gorgeous panorama of mountain scenery. The character of Joad is an excellent conception; he is indeed the high-priest of the living God, jealous of his rights, inexorable in pursuing the aim pointed out by the will of Jehovah, and we cannot but respect his piety and the lofty courage, which never falters in the execution of his terrible task. By his side and contrasted with him appears Josabeth, no less pious, no less true, but weak and full of tender fears, as beseems a woman. Mathan is the type of the ambitious renegade; though the priest of Baal he is no idolater, but a blaspheming hypocrite. He is Athaliah's evil genius, ever urging her forward in the path of crime and driven on himself by the necessity of stifling his remorses with more and more blood. Concerning Abner it has been said that for a soldier he talks too much and does not act enough, but had Racine given him a more active part it would, as La Harpe rightly observes, have destroyed the religious character of the piece, which would not have been either so original or so well in keeping with the manners of the Jews. The character of Joas is a charming combination of naïve innocence and precocious wit. The only feature in the play which mars its general harmony is the manner in which Joad lures Athaliah to destruction, by using (in his interview with Abner) a word capable of a double meaning. Such duplicity seems unworthy of the high-priest of Jehovah and the sacred cause he represents; at the same time we may remark that, though in this case not founded upon fact, it is by no means out of keeping with the national character of the Jews, as may be proved by numerous instances from Holy Scripture. However, the small defects of the play are amply compensated by the wonderful beauty of the language, which rises from simplicity to grandeur without an effort and even attains to the sublime heights of prophecy. LA BRUYÈRE. SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AND WORKS.1 JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE was born in 1639 or 1644 near the small town of Dourdan, in Normandy, and died in 1696 at Versailles. He was commissioner of the taxes at Caen, when Bossuet2 sent for him to Paris and got him appointed tutor to the young duke Louis de Bourbon, grandson to the great Condé. He remained with the prince all his life as secretary and literary companion, receiving a pension of 3000 livres. La Bruyère was a moralist and a keen observer, and his favourite work among the classics was the Characters of Theophrastus. He first translated and then set to imitate it, publishing along with it his Caractères or Moeurs du Siècle. This book obtained a marvellous success, owing in great part to the malicious pleasure the readers found in what they took to be allusions to well-known persons of the day, though in most cases the author himself had not intended any. La Bruyère is more remarkable for wit and sagacity than depth of thought; the chief merit of his work lies in the brilliant qualities of his style, and we prize him even more as a writer than a philosopher. His expressions and his modes of thought have about them something startling and original, which pleases the reader and compensates for the absence of more sterling qualities. In 1693, three years before his death, La Bruyère was elected a member of the French Academy. LES CARACTÈRES. I. DES OUVRAGES DE L'ESPRIT. 54. CORNEILLE ne peut être égalé dans les endroits où il excelle: il a pour lors un caractère original et inimitable; mais il est inégal. Ses premières comédies sont sèches, languissantes, et ne laissaient pas espérer qu'il dût ensuite aller si loin; comme ses dernières font qu'on s'étonne qu'il ait pu tomber de si haut. Dans quelques-unes de ses meilleures pièces, il y a des fautes inexcusables contre les mœurs, un style de déclamateur qui arrête l'action et la fait languir, des négligences dans les vers et dans l'expression qu'on ne peut comprendre en un si grand homme. Ce qu'il y a eu en lui de plus éminent, c'est l'esprit, qu'il avait sublime, auquel il a été redevable de certains vers, les plus heureux qu'on ait jamais lus ailleurs, de la conduite de son théâtre, qu'il a quelquefois hasardée contre les règles des anciens, et enfin de ses dénoûments; car il ne s'est pas toujours assujetti au goût des Grecs et à leur grande simplicité: il a aimé au contraire à charger la scène d'événements dont il est presque toujours sorti avec succès; admirable surtout par l'extrême variété et le peu de rapport qui se trouve pour le dessein entre un si grand nombre de poëmes qu'il a composés. Il semble qu'il y ait plus de ressemblance dans ceux de RACINE, et qu'ils tendeut un peu plus à une même chose; mais il est We have followed the Notice sur la personne et les écrits de La Bruyère by Suard, secretary of the French Academy. The text is that adopted in the edition of M. Servois, which forms a part of the Grands Ecrivains de la France published under the direction of M. Regnier. 2 Bossuet, v. p. 153. 3 Theophrastus, a famous Greek philosopher, born about 371 B. C. author of the Characters. |