Page:The Library, volume 5, series 3.djvu/93

 RECENT FOREIGN LITERATURE. 81 ture. Other points discussed are the conditions of literary movements, how far literature is the ex- pression of society, and how far it influences social action. The influence of literature on society is a deeply interesting question. It has been declared that many persons would never have the idea of falling in love if they had never read of love, or heard it spoken about. It is possible, though it cannot be proved ; and, in the same way, literature has prob- ably indirectly helped men and women to manifest in language desires and hopes and c etats d'ame,' that without some knowledge, in most cases un- suspected, of literary forms, would have perished of inanition. But even of greater importance, socially speaking, is the fact that thanks to litera- ture, and by virtue of its forms, millions of men have gained some knowledge of ideas that would otherwise have remained a sealed book to them. Buffon wisely declared that the form in which a truth is stated is more useful to humanity than the truth itself. Through literature c 1'enthousiasme religieux comme le sens de la justice, le goto de 1'hero'isme autant que la misere del'ame, la joie de vivre aussi bien que Inspiration vers la mort, se sont manifestos a des publics entiers.' The art of literature, like the other arts, cannot be reduced to a formula, but the close connection of great literature with life, with society, should never be lost sight of by the student ; to that aspect of literature Baldensperger's book forms an admirable and suggestive guide.