As to the future of this rich and beautiful idiom, nothing can be predicted.  The Felibrige movement appears to have endowed southern France with a literary language rivalling the French; it appears to have given an impulse toward the unification of the dialects and subdialects of the langue d’oc.  But the patoisants are numerous and powerful, and will not abdicate their right to continue to speak and write their local dialects in the face of the superiority of the Felibrige literature.  Is it to be expected that Frenchmen in the south will hereafter know and use three languages and three literatures—­the local dialect, the language of the Felibres, and the national language and literature?  One is inclined to think not.  The practical difficulties are very great; two literatures are more than most men can become familiar with.

However, this much is certain:  a rich, harmonious language has been saved forever and crystallized in works of great beauty; its revival has infused a fresh, intellectual activity into the people whose birthright it is; it has been studied with delight by many who were not born in sunny Provence; a very great contribution is made through it to philological study.  Enthusiasts have dreamed of its becoming an international language, on account of its intermediary position, its simplicity, and the fact that it is not the language of any nation.  Enthusiasm has here run pretty high, as is apt to be the case in the south.

In connection with the revival of all these dialects the opinion of two men, eminent in the science of education, is of the greatest interest.  Eugene Lintilhac approves the view of a professor of Latin, member of the Institute, who had often noticed the superiority of the peasants of the frontier regions over those from the interior, and who said, “It is not surprising, do they not pass their lives translating?” Michel Breal considers the patois a great help in the study of the official language, on the principle that a term of comparison is necessary in the study of a language.  As between Provencal and French this comparison would be between words, rather than in syntax.  Often the child’s respect for his home would be increased if he sees the antiquity of the speech of his fireside; if, as Breal puts it, he is shown that his dialect conforms frequently to the speech of Henri IV or St. Louis.  “If the province has authors like Jasmin, Roumanille, or Mistral, let the child read their books from time to time along with his French books; he will feel proud of his province, and will love France only the more.  The clergy is well aware of this power of the native dialect, and knows how to turn it to account, and your culture is often without root and without depth, because you have not recognized the strength of these bonds that bind to a locality.  The school must be fast to the soil and not merely seem to be standing upon it.  There need be no fear of thereby shaking the authority of the official language; the necessity of the latter is continually kept in sight by literature, journalism, the administration of government.”