The new heroism was to pervade the
whole man, and, in order to make him acceptable, to influence his
costume as well as his mind. There was to be something Roman in him, and
something French; he was to be represented in the style of Louis the
Fourteenth's statues, where the monarch appears in a Roman tunic and a
French wig.

[Illustration: BURIAL OF SIR GUY OF WARWICK.]

The transformation occurred first in France, and was received with great
applause. The times indeed were most propitious for a display, not of
the barbaric heroism of olden times, but of courtly heroism; of an
heroism which plumes, wigs and ribbons well fitted, and which, with
scarcely any change, could be transferred from the battle field to the
drawing-room, from Rocroy to the Hotel de Rambouillet: no mean heroism,
however, for all its ribbons. At this period, in France, manly and lofty
virtues, as well as worldly ones, were worshipped in life, in literature
and in art. From the commencement to the end of the century, examples of
undoubted heroes were not lacking; Henri IV., Richelieu, Mme. de
Longueville, Conde, Louis XIV., Turenne, now by their good qualities,
now by their caprices, now by their deeds and now by their looks,
resembled heroes of romance, and popularized in France an ideal of
nobleness and greatness. In order to please and to be admired, it was
necessary to show a lofty character; men must be superior to fortune,
and women must appear superior to the allurements of passion; the hero
made a display of magnanimity, the heroine of chastity. The hero won the
battle of Fribourg, and the heroine had Montausier to pay court to her
for thirteen years before she consented to be united to him in the bonds
of wedlock. Such were the persons most admired in real life; such were
the characters of romance and tragedy whom the public liked best,
without, however, distinguishing between them. The Cid, Alceste,
Artaban, Nicomede, as well as Julie d'Angennes, Montausier and Conde,
were all members of the same family, and not any one of them more than
another appeared comic or ridiculous: that is why Montausier was very
far from being offended that traits of the character of Alceste were
thought to be found in him, and that is why Mme. de Sevigne, a
passionate admirer of Corneille, becomes as honestly enthusiastic over
the extravagant heroes of the new romances as over those of the great
Cornelian tragedies. "I am mad for Corneille; everything must yiel