Excerpt from �tudes sur la Litt�rature Fran�aise au Dix-Neuvi�me Si�cle, Vol. 1: Madame de Sta�l Et Chateaubriand
Ou peut signaler, au nombre des sympt�mes de langueur et de d�p�rissement de la po�sie, la grande faveur du po�me didactique, invent�, � ce qu'il semble, pour enlu miner les �l�ments des sciences, pour enjoliver le lieu com mun et pour cultiver la p�riphrase. L'�poque poss�d� des �crivains purs, �l�gants, nobles, ing�nieux; elle a ou m�me, tranchons le mot, des po�tes, des po�tes plut�t qu'une po�sie. La spontan�it�, la puissance, l'individualit�, ont manqu� g�n�ralement; mais le sol conservait sa chaleur naturelle sous les neiges de cet hiver: et qu'est-ce, apr�s tout, que dix ans dans l'histoire d'une litt�rature? Ces dix ans, d'ailleurs, ont vu le d�ploiement de deux grandes re nomm�es.
L'attitude de la critique litt�raire m�rite d etre not�e. On ne saurait lui reprocher d'evoir pris absolument le change. S�v�re envers Chateaubriand, elle l'�tait envers Dclille. Elle encouragea peu les tentatives hardies, mais elle loue mod�r�ment les essais timides. Elle ne croyait pas � la nouvelle �cole, mais elle ne croyait plus � l'ancienne.
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Alexandre Vinet was born near Lausanne in Switzerland. Educated for the Protestant ministry, he was ordained in 1819, when already teacher of the French language and literature in the gymnasium at Basel; and throughout his life he was as much a critic as a theologian. His literary criticism brought him into contact with Augustin Sainte-Beuve, for whom he obtained an invitation to lecture at Lausanne, which led to his famous work on Port-Royal.
As a theologian Vinet gave a fresh impulse to Protestant theology, especially in French-speaking lands, but also in England and elsewhere. His philosophy relied strongly on conscience, defined as that by which man stands in direct personal relation with God as moral sovereign, and the seat of a moral individuality which nothing can rightly infringe.
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