er classes but material and brutal instincts.

"Whether the Felibres 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 Felibres 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 Felibrige. To the Felibres is due
the honor of the movement; it is their ardor and their faith that have
developed and strengthened it."

[Footnote 2: _Histoire du Felibrige, par_ G. Jourdanne, _Librairie
Roumanille, Avignon, 1897_.]

[Footnote 3: The stem of the cup has the form of a palm tree, under
which two female figures, representing Catalonia and Provence, stand in
a graceful embrace. Below the figures are engraved the two following
inscriptions:--

Morta la diuhen qu'es, Ah! se me sabien entendre!
Mes jo la crech viva. Ah! se me voulien segui!
(V. Balaguer.) (F. Mistral.)

(They say she is dead, (Ah, if they could understand
but I believe she me! Ah, if they would follow
lives.) me!)
]

[Footnote 4: In 1899, Felix Gras published a novel called _The White
Terror_. His death occurred early in 1901.]

CHAPTER III

THE MODERN PROVENCAL LANGUAGE

The language of the Felibres is based upon the dialect spoken in the
plain of Maillane, in and about the town of Saint-Remy. This dialect is
one of the numerous divisions of the _langue d'oc_, which Mistral claims
is spoken by nearly twelve millions of people. The literary history of
these patois has been written by B. Noulet, and shows that at the close
of the terrible struggles of the Albigenses the language seemed dead. In
1324 seven poets attempted to found at Toulouse the competitions of the
_Gai Savoir_, and so to revive the ancient poetry and the ancient
language. Their attempt failed. There was literary production of varying
degree of merit throughout two or three centuries; but until the time of
Jasm