nce and in
other countries began to interest themselves in the Felibres, and the
Felibrige to-day counts among its members men of science as well as men
of letters.

In 1874 one of the most remarkable of the celebrations, due to the
initiative of M. de Berluc-Perussis, was held at Vaucluse to celebrate
the fifth centenary of the death of Petrarch. At this _Felibree_ the
Italians first became affiliated to the _idea_, and the Italian
ambassador, Nigra, the president of the Accademia della Crusca, Signor
Conti, and Professor Minich, from the University of Padua, were the
delegates. The Institute of France was represented for the first time.
This celebration was highly important and significant, and the scenes of
Petrarch's inspirations and the memories of the founder of the
Renaissance must have awakened responsive echoes in the hearts of the
poets who aimed at a second rebirth of poetry and learning in the same
region.

The following year the _Societe des langues romanes_ at Montpellier
offered prizes for philological as well as purely literary works, and
for the first time other dialects than the Provencal proper were
admitted in the competitions. The Languedocian, the Gascon, the
Limousin, the Bearnais, and the Catalan dialects were thus included. The
members of the jury were men of the greatest note, Gaston Paris, Michel
Breal, Mila y Fontanals, being of their number.

Finally, in 1876, on the 21st of May, the statutes of the Felibrige were
adopted. From them we quote the following:--

"The Felibrige is established to bring together and encourage all those
who, by their works, preserve the language of the land of _oc_, as well
as the men of science and the artists who study and work in the interest
of this country."

"Political and religious discussions are forbidden in the Felibrean
meetings."

The organization is interesting. The Felibres are divided into
_Majoraux_ and _Mainteneurs_. The former are limited to fifty in number,
and form the Consistory, which elects its own members; new members are
received on the feast of St. Estelle.

The Consistory is presided over by a Capoulie, who wears as the emblem
of his office a seven-pointed golden star, the other Majoraux, a golden
grasshopper.

The other Felibres are unlimited in number. Any seven Felibres dwelling
in the same place may ask the Maintenance to form them into a school.
The schools administer their own affairs.

Every seven years the Floral Game