to sum up the general phenomena
of that literature as distinguished from its particular accomplishments
during the chief periods of its development. Beyond this neither the
scale of the book, nor its plan as indicated in the preface, has
permitted of indulgence in generalising criticism. But it has been
suggested by authorities whose competence is not disputable that
something in the nature of a summary of these summaries, pointing out
briefly the general history, accomplishments, and peculiarities of the
French tongue in its literary aspect during the ten centuries of its
existence, is required, if only for the sake of a symmetrical
conclusion. It may be urged on the other side that the history of
literature--like all other histories, and perhaps more than all other
histories--is never really complete, and that there is consequently some
danger in attempting at any given time to treat it as finished. He must
have been a miraculously acute critic who, if he had attempted such
treatment of the present subject sixty or seventy years ago, would not
have found his results ludicrously falsified by the event but few years
afterwards. But this drawback only applies to generalisation of the
pseudo-scientific kind which attempts to predict: it can be easily
guarded against by attending to the strict duties of the historian and,
without attempting to speak of the future, dealing only with the
actually accomplished past.

The first thing, and perhaps the most important thing, which must strike
anyone who looks upon French literature as a whole, is that, taking all
conditions together, it is the most complete example of a regularly and
independently developed national literature that presents itself
anywhere. It is no doubt inferior in the point of independence to Greek,
but then it has a much longer course, considered as the exponent of
national character. It has a shorter course than English, and it is not
more generally expository of national characteristics; but then it is
for a great part of that course infinitely more independent of foreign
influences, and, unlike English, it has scarcely any breaks or dead
seasons in its record. Compared with Latin (which as a literature may be
said to be entirely modelled on Greek) it is exceptionally original:
compared with Spanish and Italian it has been exceptionally long-lived
and hale in its life: compared with German it was exceptionally early in
attaining the full possession of its