"life is real, life is earnest." As a result, partly of this dreaminess, Ruy Blas neglects to anticipate the return of his master, and wanders aimlessly through the town, instead of taking vigorous measures against the villain. His ultimate fall is due, therefore, not to crime but to weakness, and this weakness is his dreamy, imaginative nature, the idleness and indolence of genius, a sort of dolce far niente. Like Waverley, Ruy Blas is rather a creature of imagination than of reason. This mystic yearning of Ruy Blas is likewise characteristic of romanticism. He is one of those idle dreamers who are often daring enough to gather flowers from Alpine heights or pluck them from the brink of some abrupt declivity or impending precipice. The more insignificant, indefinite, and difficult of attainment the object of their longing desires, the greater the endeavor to obtain it. Their longing is of the blue-flower type, that mysterious something as distant and of as vague a color as the sky itself. Somehow or other they have intimations or catch glimpses of the unattainable objects of their pining, long before they assume definite shape in their mind or appear visible to the naked eye. They are never quite sure as to whether these objects are material or spiritual. They do not know whether they are to be discovered finally in the sky, on the sea, in the desert, or in the solitude of woods or caves. Their minds are so filled with hazy, dim, mysterious aspirations, that they cannot determine whether their ideal happiness or perfect bliss is to be enjoyed in this world or in the world to come. The desires of these romantic, longing souls are often purposeless, unutterable, and insatiable. As a consequence of this day-dreaming, these seekers after ideal and unattainable happiness become restless, discontented, vacillating, languishing, moody, incapable of action, aimless wanderers, and victims of the maladie du siècle. To them that purpose which leads to activity is absurd. To Lucinda, industry and utility are the "angels of death with the flaming swords, who stand in the way of man's return to Paradise." They cannot think of following a calling or adopting a profession. They cannot endure the exertion or the restraint of forming useful purposes or industrious habits. Ne'er-Do-Well is a vagrant idler, who lies under the trees, playing his zither, or holds some insignificant post obtained under the influence of his lady. Manfred delights in wandering alone in the wilderness or upon the mountain tops, in gazing upon the torrent or the stars, and in listening to the sighing of the Autumn winds. Ruy Blas, who passed his youth in idleness and longing, asked himself the question, "why work?" Such dreamers are often men of genius, not subject to the laws of ordinary men. To them fortune comes as in a night, only to forsake them in as brief a time. They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. And yet the greatest achievements and discoveries of mankind have been accomplished by men of restless longings and insatiable desires. The pathway of history and literature is strewn with just such wrecks. Nations and individuals have alike failed to realize completely their hightest ambitions, deepest longings, and noblest aspirations. The Hebrews sought the promised land, and the Christians saw visions of the new Jerusalem. The old Greeks were constantly indulging in vague dreams about happy lands out beyond their reach, or of far off golden fleeces. Mediæval peoples explored the seas, trying to find the happy isles, made crusades to redeem and restore the eternal city, went in quest of the Holy Grail, and wandered over land and sea in search of utopias and beautiful paradises. Hamlet was filled with desires and speculations, but was impotent to accomplish his noble purposes. The hero in Klinger's Sturm und Drang, who had an "indefinite craving for boundless activity," became a day-laborer, in order to be something. The restless Rousseau, tormented by a thousand aimless and insatiable desires, was thoroughly discontented with himself and his surroundings. The unhappy wandering René, dissatisfied with life and incapable of resolute, definite action, failed to accomplish his most ardent wishes. Many of the heroes of Byron, another restless, discontented spirit, were incapable of forming any definite plan of action or of satisfying any of their passionate yearnings. These romantic heroes, because of their aspirations which remain always indefinite and incompletely fulfilled, have been fitly compared to a Gothic cathedral. Even Tennyson, inspired by the Christian injunction, "Be ye perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect," would have the Unattainable shadowed forth, would have man rise step by step to higher things, scale the mighty stair Whose landing place is wrapped about with clouds Of glory of Heaven, ascend the vast altar-stairs That slope through darkness up to God, and keep before the mind that far-off divine event, To which the whole creation moves. On the way, however, to this ultimate perfection and this distant consummation there are necessarily countless wrecks. The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. JAMES D. BRuner. American School of Classical Studies in Rome ROMAN CHURCH MOSAICS OF THE FIRST NINE CENTURIES WITH ESPECIAL REGARD TO THEIR POSITION IN THE CHURCHES THERE is literary evidence to show that the mosaic decoration of early Christian churches probably followed, if not a set scheme, at least a tradition as to subjects and their placing in the church. It is intended in this paper to examine and classify the existing church mosaics of Rome and the immediate vicinity with a view to discovering what light the actual remains throw on the existence and history of this supposed traditional or conventional arrangement. The work has been limited to Roman mosaics originating before the close of the ninth century which are actually to be seen to-day, because (1) it is deemed wise to classify and study the existing pictures before entering on the subject of the "lost mosaics," already covered by Müntz and other writers, and (2) the Roman mosaics up to the end of the ninth century exhibit a distinct local character in decided contrast to the later works. The following churches in Rome contain mosaic pictures whose origin is before the year 900 A.D.: S. Agnese (Via Nomentana), Battistero Lateranense (Exedra di SS. Rufina e Secunda, Oratorio di S. Giovanni Evangelista, Cappella di S. Venanzio), S. Cecilia in Trastevere, SS. Cosma e Damiano, S. Costanza, S. Lorenzo in Agro Verano, S. Marco di Pallacine, S. Maria in Domnica, S. Maria Maggiore, SS. Nereo ed Achilleo, S. Prassede, S. Pudenziana, S. Paolo fuori le mura, S. Pietro in Vincoli, S. Sabina, S. Stephano rotondo, and S. Teodoro. 1 Cf. Kraus, Geschichte d. christlichen Kunst, I, pp. 383-389. 2 Cf. De Rossi, Gio. Battista, Musaici cristiani . . . delle chiese di Roma, Rome, 1899, Note bibliografiche sui musaici perduti.' American Journal of Archaeology, Second Series. Journal of the 251 10 These mosaics fall into the following chronological order: Fourth century: S. Costanza (aisle), S. Pudenziana, Exedra di SS. Rufina e Secunda. Fifth century: Oratorio di S. Giovanni Evangelista in Battistero Lateranense, S. Maria Maggiore (triumphal arch and nave), S. Paolo fuori (arch), S. Sabina. Sixth century: SS. Cosma e Damiano, S. Lorenzo. Seventh century: S. Agnese, S. Pietro in Vincoli, S. Stefano rotondo, Cappella di S. Venanzio in Battistero Lateranense. Eighth century: S. Teodoro. Ninth century: S. Cecilia in Trastevere, S. Maria in Domnica, S. Marco, SS. Nereo ed Achilleo, S. Prassede. The mosaics are found in churches of the basilica type as well as in buildings of central construction. We may group the churches with regard to the parts on which mosaics are placed as follows: Mosaic as altar-piece: S. Pietro in Vincoli. Mosaics on interior walls: S. Sabina, Cappella di S. Zenone. Mosaics on walls of nave over the supporting columns: S. Maria Maggiore. Mosaics on triumphal arch: S. Maria Maggiore, S. Paolo fuori, S. Lorenzo fuori, S. Prassede. Mosaics on tribune arch and apse: S. Venanzio, SS. Cosma e Damiano, S. Maria in Domnica, S. Prassede, S. Marco. Mosaic on tribune arch (apse mosaic destroyed): SS. Nereo ed Achilleo. Mosaics in apse only: S. Pudenziana, S. Agnese fuori, S. Teo doro, S. Cecilia in Trastevere. Mosaics on minor apsidal vaultings or lunettes: S. Stefano rotondo, S. Costanza. Mosaics on lateral or central vaults: S. Costanza, S. Giovanni Evangelista, Cappella di S. Zenone. It should be noted in regard to the foregoing classification that reference is here made only to the mosaics coming within the limits specified at the beginning of this paper. Thus, |