Le Pedant Joue.

The new edition of Le Pedant Joue, including an introduction on the life and works of Cyrano de Bergerac, by H. B. Stanton '00, is a most satisfactory piece of work. Besides the introductory essay and M. C. H. L. N. Bernard's revised edition of the text there is a short preface by Professor Ferdinand Bocher.

This life of Cyrano de Bergerac will be relished by all who have been delighted with the romantic manliness and nobility of M. Rostand's hero. The actual Cyrano, it was known from the start, had been poetically idealized by M. Rostand; but the extent of the liberties with history could not hitherto be accurately determined. In the light of the present essay, the real Cyrano turns out to have been a brawler and a bully, full of the extravagance of the early free thinkers. "Not at all the man who after overcoming a hundred assassins could turn about and conquer his own love in his loved one's very presence."

In the estimation of Cyrano de Bergerac's place in the development of French literature, is given a careful, well balanced summary of the pre-classic period in France. Excellent reasons are advanced to prove that this staging of the play by the Cercle Francais will be its first presentation at any theatre. On the whole the author has shown pains-taking study of the authorities and excellent taste.