Froissart. By Mary Darniesteter. Translated from the French by E.
Frances Poynter. (T. Fisherlinwin.) —Madame Darmesteter sketches with admirable precision and force the personal and literary characteristics of Froissart. She gives his biography, as it may be gathered from his own statements, so simple and naïf. She estimates for us his value as a historian, which, indeed, she estimates at a very low figure, and as a chronicler, for which she cannot say too much. Another service which she renders to the reader is to set out what may be called Froissart's literary ancestry and kindred. There was at least one chronicler to whom he owed much, Jean-le-Bel, Canon of Liege,—indeed, in his earlier chapters he borrows largely from this predecessor ; there were others, contemporary or nearly so, with whom he may be profitably compared. To us the personality of Froissart has the special interest that he spent a considerable time in England. He came here in his early manhood, being attached to the Court of Queen Philippa, for whom he continued to cherish a profound reverence. He came in mature life, and was on terms of what we may almost call intimacy with the unhappy Richard II. How he came to write the chronicles, what patronage and encouragement he met with, in what spirit ho dealt with his subject-matter, these matters and others, his veracity, his accuracy, his picturesque power, are dealt with in these pages.
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