INTRODUCTION V

Champagne. The latter soored a fine Buccees on the Tfiéâtre historique,

This enumeration of works by our author is, however, far from exhaustive. During the later years of the reig^ of Napoléon III he had lectured on varions literarj topics, andmoet of thèse lectures hâve been published in book form. When he tried to speak on Déranger the govemment interfered by prohibiting the continuance of the lectures. He produoed a fine study on La Fontaine and Lamartine, one on Cervantes, another on Mo- Hère, ail of which were well received. He has also written, in later years, many préfaces toworks of other», and a number of articles, some of them reaching the size of books, on important questions of the day. Jules Claretie is both a thinker and a poet, a man of an unusual productive power of whom it may be said that his works are the resuit of a rare union of head and heart. He is a patriot who has keenly suffered from the misfortunes that befell his country, but he is also a f riend of humanity, and the passage on page 69, 11. 9—16 of this édition of La Frontière is not a mère phrase, but expresses a conviction of his heart. If at times he has emphasized too much certain unwholesome tendencies of modem life, — hypnotism, mental suggestion and the like receiving great attention in several of his novels, (the one entitled Jean Momaa being almost wholly based on the depressing idea of mental suggestion),— he has, on the other hand, honestly and ably striven to counteract its destructive tendencies. His works, as a rule, bave anelevating and healthy tendency, and their perusal oftea arouses enthusiasm of the best sort. The author of La Frontière is profoundly convinced that what humanity