Florian

“ FLORIAN, JEAN PIERRE CLARIS DE (1755–1794) , French poet and romance writer, was born on the 6th of March 1755 at the château of Florian, near Sauve, in the department of Gard. His mother, a Spanish lady named Gilette de Salgues, died when he was quite a child. His uncle and guardian, the marquis of Florian, who had married a niece of Voltaire, introduced him at Ferney and in 1768 he became page at Anet in the household of the duke of Penthièvre, who remained his friend throughout his life. ”

“ Enter Florian.
Flor. Ha! lights still burning—fortunately then he has not retired to rest,—baron! baron!
Runs to the door.
Eug. (Shrieks.) Ah! the voice of succour—turn, turn in pity—snatch me from despair—preserve me from the grave.
Flor. Heavens!
Involuntarily he withdraws the bar, and Eugenia darting forth, clings wildly round him.
Flor. Unhappy woman! whence these transports?
Eug. Swear to preserve me, swear not to yield me to the murderer’s dagger; no, no, you have a human heart; am I not safe with you? ”

“ Florian eyed them with the lenient glance of a man of taste who appraises and appreciates a beautiful woman’s selection. When the bread-and-butter gigglers had exhausted upon them their slender stock of laudatory adjectives⁠—⁠their oh’s and just look’s, and dear me, aren’t they beautiful’s⁠—⁠he broke in with his bland smile, and, laying the necklet in a curve on the white tablecloth before him, began to discourse with much unction in the Florianic tongue, on the æsthetic points of this pretty trifle. ”

“ She raised her face to his, and again the feeling that this man was only a mere acquaintance passed into her being, as she looked into his eyes. She turned her lips away. But Florian, as the feeling of strangeness impressed her, lost it himself in the contemplation, brief but irresistible, of the upturned lips with their momentary invitation so soon withdrawn. The primal man in him awoke. ”

“ During the remainder of Florian’s stay at the seminary, his thoughts continually reverted to his lost friend, who had, he feared, from a mysterious expression of the presiding Jesuit, met with some terrible calamity. During confession, he had once expressed his grief for the sudden deprivation of his friend, when, to his great surprise, the venerable priest, placing his hand solemnly upon the fair and innocent brow of Florian, exclaimed with fervent emphasis, “Thank God, my son, that it has so happened!” ”

“ His style, at once elegant and easy, has universally recommended him to the teachers of language, and Telemachus is commonly succeeded or supplanted by some work of Florian. In the circulating libraries the Tales of Florian are almost as generally read as those of Voltaire and Marmontel. He possesses indeed very great attractions for the lovers of light reading. His narrative is spirited and interesting. Love, Friendship, and Heroism are his themes, and he commonly descants upon them with that genuine warmth which results from the combination of sensibility with genius. ”

“ Flor. How fares Vavir?
Hil. Alas! her little life is ebbing fast
From heart-wounds of thy making! Florian,
I have no time to lose on empty forms—
I have no words to waste on idle speech—
My poor sick sister loves thee! Much misled
By thy light words, she placed full faith in thee:
And she is dying for her faith. Oh, sir,
There is but one physician in the world
Who, under Heaven, can save my darling’s life.
Go to her now. If thou hast loved me, sir,
Be merciful, and save this life for me! [Pg 36]
Flor. ”

“ He exits suddenly, and prevents Florian by his action from any reply.
Flor. Heard I aright? Yes, he pronounced it—“Geraldine is thine.” Earth’s gross substantial touch is felt no more: I mount in air, and rest on sunbeams! Oh! if I dream now—royal Mab! abuse me ever with thy dear deceits; for in serious wakeful hours, truth ne’er can touch my senses with a joy so bright. O! I could sing, dance, laugh, shout; and yet methinks, had I a woman’s privilege, I’d rather weep; for tears are pleasure’s oracles as well as grief’s.
Enter L’Eclair. ”

“ About 1183 a portion of them was presented to King Casimir of Poland, and from that time Florian became the patron saint of that country. He is represented as a warrior holding in his hand a vessel from which he pours out flames, and on this account his protection is often sought against fire. ”

“ In the writings of Florian we are solely interested with the meaning of the tale, with its moral, which is always refined and delicate, and with his ingenuous and even epigrammatic style. Florian loves Horace, Virgil, La Fontaine, is delighted with Montaigne and the poetic tales of the 16th century; he notices the caprices and little irregularities of human nature, without being a biting critic or a profound moralist. ”

“ To Florian such impressions, these misgivings as to the ultimate tendency of the years, of the relationship between life and death, had been suggested spontaneously in the natural course of his mental growth by a strong innate sense for the soberer tones in things, further strengthened by actual circumstances; and religious sentiment, that [193] system of biblical ideas in which he had been brought up, presented itself to him as a thing that might soften and dignify, and light up as with a "lively hope," a melancholy already deeply settled in him. ”

“ There is a beautiful exemplification of this power given by Florian, in his story of a Theban sculptor. He is a [Pg xvii] wandering orphan in the streets of his native city, and his first entrance into the workshop of the celebrated Praxitiles well proves the truth of what we have set down in the foregoing pages.—“He is suddenly transported on beholding so many masterpieces of art! He gazes upon them—he is lost in admiration! ”

“ It must be admitted that the artist has done his author full justice, although the fables are so highly esteemed by some that they have been favorably compared with, and even equalled, to those of La Fontaine. The world will hardly assent to that opinion, perhaps, but still Florian's fables will ever be found interesting and instructive, and for this reason these selections from them are now offered to the American public. ”

“ All these, and many other unimportant details, Florian’s soul endured, possessing itself in patience for many minutes together, in the fervent hope that at last this living encyclopædia of genealogical knowledge would come round to the character of the Vision of Beauty.
“And Mrs Palmer, who sits opposite me,” he adventured gently after awhile, when Miss Beard reached a pause in her caustic comments; “she seems a nice little thing in her way, though, of course, a mere butterfly. She comes from New York. I suppose you know her?” ”

“ FLORIAN, SAINT, a martyr honoured in Upper Austria. In the 8th century Puoche was mentioned as the place of his tomb, and on the site was built the celebrated monastery of canons regular, St Florian, which still exists. His Acta are of considerable antiquity, but devoid of historical value. Their substance is borrowed from the Acta of St Irenaeus of Sirmium. The cult of St Florian was introduced into Poland, together with the relics of the saint, which were brought thither in 1183 by Giles, bishop of Modena. Casimir, duke of Poland, dedicated a church at Cracow to him. ”

“ Giving his horse to a Kaffir ostler, whose sole raiment was a waistcoat made of a sleeveless regimental tunic, Florian somewhat wearily entered the 'hotel,' the proprietor of which started and changed colour at the sight of his red coat, as well he might, for, though disguised by a bushy beard, sedulously cultivated, and a shock head of hair under his broad-leaved hat, he was one of the many deserters from our troops, already referred to, and, though apparently anxious to appear civil, was secretly a ruffian of the worst kind. ”

“ Alas that all women were not as hard-hearted as the sea-prince! The lovely Florimel, sweetest and most innocent of maidens, the goddaughter of Venus, who had been reared by the Graces and Muses on Mount Helicon, had beheld the handsome Marinell from the windows of the castle not far distant from the sea, where she now had her dwelling-place. Often, with her attendant maidens, had she ridden near the beach, and often had dismounted to gather pebbles and sea-weed which the waves washed far in to shore. ”

“ First saw at home a looking-glass,
In which it often fondly gazed.
At length, by a mere child's caprice,
But which the grown man often shows,
Its raptures for the mirror cease,
At which it ugly glances throws. ”

“ There's nothing here but good.
The flood is to a deluge grown,
The whole world now is overflown,
And its domination is our own.
What is the need, midst such a sea,
In fear of hooks or hawks to be? ”

“ Could it be possible that it was gall to him to look upon her in her beauty and her promise: thinking of his infant boy!
Florence had no such thoughts. But love is quick to know when it is spurned and hopeless; and hope died out of hers, as she stood looking in her father's face.
"I ask you, Florence, are you frightened? Is there anything the matter, that you come here?"
"I came, papa—"
"Against my wishes. Why?"
She saw he knew why—it was written broadly on his face—and dropped her head upon her hands with one prolonged low cry. ”

“ Bright and fair dawned the wedding-day of Prince Florimel and Queen Titania.
Though all the days vied in beauty with each other, this one seemed to be more radiant with grace and loveliness than usual, for every living thing loved the happy little lovers and all Nature rejoiced with them. ”

“ Oh how I hate that pedant art,
So captious and so very smart,
Which of a thing as clear as light,
Makes all obscure and dark as night;
Makes error right, and proves to you
That truth itself must be untrue! ”

“ But this good reason serves to give
Why we make merry while we live.
We study friendship, love, and peace,
And our enjoyments thus increase.
Life we embellish all we may,
By kind attentions all the day. ”

“ A kind of literature which was common among these Saracens, and for which the Spaniards were indebted to them, was that of novels or romances. The Arabs were ever, as they still are, passionate lovers of story-telling. As well in the tents of the wild Bedouin as in the palaces of the East, alike under the gilded domes and peasant roofs of Grenada, this taste prevailed. Everywhere they assembled nightly to listen to romantic narratives of love and valour. ”

“ Of the two girls Florence was her darling. She dreamed much of Florence’s future, of the husband she would win, of the position she would attain, and of the advantage which she, Mrs Fortescue, would derive from her young friends—advancement in the social scale. Beauty was better than talent; and Florence, as well as being an heiress, was also a beauty. ”

“ She lives in Quincy, and is here for a month, but we shall keep her longer if we can. She is a source of great entertainment. Of course, you have noticed Florence closely—you couldn't help it. She is one of the sweetest creatures that ever lived, and she has character, too. I couldn't think more of her if she were my daughter—and she is to be my daughter. She and my son Howard are soon to be married. It is the prettiest romance in life or fiction. They are near the same age. ”

“ THE VIPER AND THE BLOOD-SUCKER.
Once to the leech the viper said—
"How different is our lot!
They who love you would wish me dead;
Men like me not.
They seem to bear for me some spite,
While on their blood they let you feed. ”

“ Against th' infernal thirst for blood
Indulged by tyrants of the wood.
He spoke of helpless innocence,
Oppress'd by lawless insolence;
Dwelt on the vices of the great;
Their love of power insatiate ”

“ Florio was not quite sure that he fully understood all that was said to him, but he was delighted at the idea of leaving Fuss, and said so.
Florella smiled upon him, and continued, "It may not be so easy as you imagine; those who serve me have to stand a test of faithfulness, energy, and courage. Our life seems one of careless mirth, but it is not so. We, of course, are happy, and enjoy ourselves; but we have many duties, and are not altogether free, as would be supposed. I am at the head of this little band. We are Flower Fairies, cousins to the Wind Fairies and Herb Elves. ”

“ Florio meant to include our poet, we may, without scruple, infer. To an actor, to a rising dramatic writer, to one who had placed the first fruits of his genius under his protection, and who was still contending with the difficulties incident to his situation, the taste, the generosity, and the feeling of Lord Southampton, would naturally be attracted; and the donation which, in all probability, followed the dedication of Venus and Adonis, we have reason, from the voice of tradition, to conclude, was succeeded by many, and still more important, proofs of His Lordship's favour. ”

“ THE TWO GARDENERS.
Two brother gardeners had the lot
To fall heirs to a garden spot.
They halved in peace the legacy,
Working together day by day,
Living in perfect amity,
Each managing in his own way. ”

“ It is the most entertaining and instructive branch of history, and admits of the description and passion of romance, with this essential difference, that the characters and incidents ought not only to be agreeable to Nature, but strictly true. Hence no books are so proper for the amusement and instruction of youth, who, by reading them, are incited to the imitation of great and virtuous actions ”

“ Our hearts can love, yet, from lust free,
Observe the laws of chastity;
And ne'er do we our honors earn
By loss of virtue in return.
Since this is so, how can you then,
Think we possess the souls of men? ”