I love my Provence more than thy province,
I love France more than all."

Possibly no other three lines could express as well the whole spirit of
the Félibrige.

Our subject being Mistral and not Félix Gras, a passing mention must
suffice. One of his remarkable works is called _Toloza_, and recounts
the crusade of the Albigenses, and his novel, _The Reds of the Midi_,
first published in New York in the English translation of Mrs. Thomas A.
Janvier, is probably the most remarkable prose work that has been
written in Provençal.[4] Only the future can tell whether the Provençal
will pass through a prose cycle after its poetic cycle, in the manner of
all literatures. To many serious thinkers the attempt to create a
complete literature seems of very doubtful success.

The problems, then, which confront the Félibres are numerous. Can they,
with any assurance of permanence, maintain two literary languages in the
same region? It is scarcely necessary to state, of course, that no one
dreams of supplanting the French language anywhere on French soil. What
attitude shall they assume toward the "patoisants," that is, those who
insist on using the local dialect, and refuse to conform to the usage of
the Félibres? Is it not useless, after all, to hope for a more perfect
unification of the dialects of the _langue d'oc_, and, if unification is
the aim, does not logical reasoning lead to the conclusion that the
French language already exists, perfectly unified, and absolutely
necessary? In the matter of politics, the most serious questions may
arise if the desires of some find more general favor. Shall the Félibres
aim at local self-government, at a confederation something like that of
the Swiss cantons? Shall they advocate the idea of independent