INTRODUCTION IX

talent. It saw in them only so many maniacs, simpletons, grotesques, 'bourgeois.' It did not try to discover the genuine goodness of heart that lurks under a dull and commonplace exterior, the real suffering expressed by an awkward gesture, the profound sincerity, or the caressing affection conveyed by an ill-turned phrase."

French realists, painters, novelists, dramatists, poets, even, seemed to study the "petit monde" simply for the purpose of mocking or insulting their characters. Their doctrine of art became simply the expression of their pride as privileged stylists, so that, as a resuit, they generally represented only appearances, for truth, to be found, needs not so much to be sought as to be loved. This tenderness and love Brunetière finds in Bazin, whom he reproaches gently for being too kindly in his earlier writings at the expense of depth and force. Thèse qualities later came to Bazin through wider study of life in the provinces, in Spain and in Italy so that when he wrote De toute son âme, 1897, La Terre qui meurt, 1899, Les Oberlé, 1901, and Donatienne, 1902, his talent had attained maturity; he had gained force without resorting to violence or to coarseness.

Brunetière admires especially the simplicity of Bazin's procédure, which consists in putting each thing in its place and in giving it thus its true value as art, as characterization and as life. Is not this naturalism in the best sensé of the word? There is little plot ; the characters develop under the influence