had produced in nobility and beauty. They did not succeed, but they had
the honour of having undertaken the task, and they also, all said and
done, produced some fine things.

RONSARD; DU BELLAY.--If the truth must be written, Ronsard created an
epic poem which it is impossible to read, and some rather overpowering
odes after the Pindaric manner; but he wrote detached epic pieces which,
though always a trifle artificial, possess real beauty, and some
_odelettes_ which are enchanting in their grace and genuineness of
feeling, as well as sonnets that are in all respects marvellous. Joachim
du Bellay, on his part, wrote sonnets which must be numbered among the
most beautiful in the French tongue--the rest often had agreeable
inspirations.

DRAMATIC POETS.--Add to their group some dramatic poets who did not yet
grasp what constituted a living tragedy and who, even when they imitated
Euripides, belonged to the school of Seneca, but who knew how to write in
verse, to make a discourse, and, occasionally, a gentle elegy. To mention
only the chief, these were Jodelle, Robert Garnier, and Montchrestien.

PROSE WRITERS: AMYOT; CALVIN.--In prose, in this second half of the
sixteenth century, there were translators like Amyot, who set forth
Plutarch in a limpid French full of ease and geniality, as well as
somewhat careless. Religious writings such as those of Calvin, in a hard
style and "dreary," as Bossuet expressed it, exhibited vigour, power, and
sobriety. Among political writers was the eloquent La Boetie, the friend
of Montaigne, who in his _Discourse on Voluntary Servitude_
vindicated the rights of the people against _One_, that is the
monarch. Among authors of _Memoirs_ were Montluc and Brantome,
picturesque in divergent manners, but both inquisitive, well-informed,