endowed them with a literature that comes closer to their sympathies
than the classic literature of France can ever come; they have been
raised in their own esteem, and there has been undoubtedly a great
awakening in their mental life. The Félibrige has given expression to
all that is noblest and best in the race, and has invariably led onward
and upward. Its mission has been one that commands respect and
admiration, and the Félibres to-day are in a position to point with
pride to the great work accomplished among their people. Arsène
Darmesteter has well said:--

"A nation needs poetry; it lives not by bread alone, but in the ideal
as well. Religious beliefs are weakening; and if the sense of poetic
ideals dies along with the religious sentiment, there will remain
nothing among the lower classes but material and brutal instincts.

"Whether the Félibres were conscious of this danger, or met this popular
need instinctively, I cannot say. At any rate, their work is a good one
and a wholesome one. There still circulates, down to the lowest stratum
of the people, a stream of poetry, often obscure, until now looked upon
with disdain by all except scholars. I mean folklore, beliefs,
traditions, legends, and popular tales. Before this source of poetry
could disappear completely, the Félibres had the happy idea of taking it
up, giving it a new literary form, thus giving back to the people,
clothed in the brilliant colors of poetry, the creation of the people
themselves."

And again: "As for this general renovation of popular poetry, I would
give it no other name than that of the Félibrige. To the Félibres is due
the honor of the movement; it is their ardor and their faith that have
developed and strengthened it."