SEVEN OF THE CAUSERIES DU LUNDI EDITED WITH NOTES AND AN INTRODUCTION BY GEORGE MCLEAN HARPER, PH.D. Woodhull Professor of Romance Languages NEW YORK HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY 1897 5-8-34 THE essays in this volume are all from the collected edition of the "Causeries du Lundi "; but the one on Saint-Simon was originally printed as a preface to that author's memoirs, and the one on La Fontaine appeared first when the Causeries were re-edited. At the head of the list stands Sainte-Beuve's answer to the vital question in literature: What is a classic? He had come through the period of romanticism which centred about the year 1830, with his relish for the long-accepted models undiminished. In spite of a brief connection with the school of Hugo, he never ceased to be entirely satisfied with his authors of the statelier past. No one ever enjoyed them more; no one ever found such persuasive words of praise for them. La Bruyère, Voltaire, Montesquieu—these names still meant for him propriety of diction, perfect urbanity, and that nice balance between restraint and fluidity of expression which marks the epoch when the maturity of a literature has been attained and just a little passed. But it was not in vain that Sainte-Beuve lived in the first half of the nineteenth century. He was touched by the air of greater freedom which blew so strong iii |