But
then, it is not astonishing for those times, for that wonderful
sixteenth century, the epoch of fierce convictions and frantic loves!
How the human instrument vibrated then in all its chords! How
liberal-minded, productive, and active men were! Does not this phrase of
Fenelon apply wonderfully well to that period: "A sight well calculated
to delight the eye?" For, without making any reference to the foreground
of the picture,--beliefs crumbling at their foundation like tottering
mountains, newly discovered worlds, lost worlds brought to light again,
Michael-Angelo beneath his dome, laughing Rabelais, observant
Shakespeare, pensive Montaigne,--where can be found a greater
development in passions, a greater violence in courage, a greater
determination in willpower, in fine, a more complete expansion of
liberty struggling against all native fatalities? And with what a bold
relief the episode stands out in history, and still, how wonderfully
well it fits in, thereby giving a glimpse of the dazzling brightness and
broad horizons of the period. Faces, living faces, pass before your
eyes. You meet them only once; but you think of them long afterwards,
and endeavour to contemplate them in order that they may be impressed
more deeply upon your mind.
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