He may more truly be said to have
petrified it so far as his influence went. The French _renaissance_
in the preceding century was produced by causes similar in essentials
to those which brought about that in England not long after. The
_grand siecle_ grew by natural processes of development out of that
which had preceded it, and which, to the impartial foreigner at
least, has more flavor, and more French flavor too, than the
Gallo-Roman usurper that pushed it from its stool. The best modern
French poetry has been forced to temper its verses in the colder
natural springs of the ante-classic period.
[278] In the Elizabethan drama the words "England" and "France" we
constantly used to signify the kings of those countries.
[279] I say supposed, for the names of his two sons, Sylvanus and
Peregrine, indicate that they were born in Ireland, and that Spenser
continued to regard it as a wilderness and his abode there as exile.
The two other children are added on the authority of a pedigree drawn
up by Sir W. Betham and cited in Mr. Hales's Life of Spenser prefixed
to the Globe edition.
[280] Ben Jonson told Drummond that one child perished in the flames.
But he was speaking after an interval of twenty-one years, and, of
course, from hearsay.
Pages:
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279