hich were actually resident
with her, and not a few of whom--such as Boaistuau and Le Macon, the
translators of Bandello and Boccaccio, and Bonaventure Desperiers (_v.
inf._)--were positive experts in the short story. Moreover, the custom
of distributing these collections among different speakers positively
invited collaboration in writing. The present critic and his friend, Mr.
Arthur Tilley of King's College, Cambridge, who has long been our chief
specialist in the literature of the French Renaissance, are in an
amicable difference as to the part which Desperiers in particular may
have played in the _Heptameron_; but this is of no great importance
here, and though Marguerite's other literary work is distinctly inferior
in style, it is not impossible that the peculiar tone of the best parts
of it, especially as regards the religious-amorous flavour, was infused
by her or under her direct influence. The enthusiasm of Rabelais and
Marot; the striking anecdote already mentioned which Brantome, whose
mother had been one of Marguerite's maids of honour, tells us, and one
or two other things, suggest this; for Desperiers was more of a satirist
than of an amorist, and though the charges of atheism brought against
him are (_v. inf._ again) scarcely supported by his work, he was
certainly no pietist. I should imagine that he revised a good deal and
sometimes imparted his nervous and manly, but, in his own _Contes_,
sometimes too much summarised style. But some striking phrases, such as
"_l'impossibilite_ de nostre chair,"[112] may be hers, and the following
remarkable speech of Parlamente probably expresses her own sentiments
pretty exactly. It is very noteworthy that Hircan, who is generally
represented as "taking up" his wife's utterances with a certain sarcasm,
is quite silent here.

[Sidenote: Parlamente on human and divine love.]

"Also," said Parlamente, "I have an opinion that never will
a man love God perfectly if he has not perfectly loved some
of God's creatures in this world." "But what do you call
'perfect loving'?" said Saffredent. "Do you reckon as
perfect lovers those who are _transis_,[113] and who adore
ladies at a distance, without daring to make their wishes
known?" "I call perfect lovers," answered Parlamente, "those
who seek in what they love some perfection--be it beauty,
kindness, or good grace,--always striving towards virtue;
and such as have so h