there Spain and Italy they, the Troubadours,
were thought a brilliiipt ornament to society;
princes and scheming maidens were proud of
their praise and their service of gallantry, or
dreaded the biting railery of their satiric music;
while on the other hand, the majority of the
Troubadours gladly attached themselves to the
court of a powerful prince or noble. Trouba
dours came from every rank and stage of feudal
society, and as their habits and experiences greatly
varied, so varies the character of their songs.
The long list of Troubadours begins with Gull
lem, the Ninth Count of Poitiers, the first of
whom we have any knowledge and whose verses
exhibit partly the popular ballad style and partly
a more elaborate mode of poetic conception.
His life and works appear to have been equally
immoral. In Provence particularly the art of the
Troubadour attained its acme of grace, of courtli
ness, of subtle and delicate. expression. The
Troubadours of Provence were, for the most part,
highly born and in greater majority than those
of any other place. The art of poetry was one of
the most fashionable accomplishments of the day.
More than one of the Norman kings of England
prided themselves on the Troubadours' fame.
The Chansons were, as a rule, the longest and
most dignified of the songs of the Troubaddurs,
who adopted this style in particular when they
wished to deal worthily with the praise of God,
of religion or morality. The versification usually
consists of ten -syllabled couplets, though the
rhymes occasionally alternate and in finished
compositions correspond in the several stanzas,
line for line and rhyme for rhyme.
Trouvire was the name given in Northern
France to the same kind of courtly or learned
poet, who, in the South, was called Troubadour.
Like the latter he was usually attended by a
Youngleur whose business it was to furnish an
instrumental accompaniment to the songs which
his master composed and sung. Sometimes, but
rarely, the Trouvire himself played on a harp.
The tenth century had been the darkest of the
'THE FREE LANCE.
dark ages; and the meagre trace which it has left
upon the pages of history tells us of little more
than terrible plagues, famines of almost incredi
ble severity and universal horror and depression.
The eleventh century lifted this dark vail and
once more literature was revived ; so that, that
which was really the dawn of French literature,
appeared. From this it is natural that the first
poetry of the North was epic rather than lyric;
based as it was upon the deeds of heroes rather
than lovers. The first efforts of the Trouvires
were partly pointed towards the celebration of
national heroes and they found the Carolingian
kings and their followers to be materials worthy
of their most strenuous efforts, and often historical
accuracy has been solely due to the taste and fash
ion of the Trouvires.
The corps of cadets of this institution, tinder
the command of Lieutenant S. S. Pague, U, S.
A., went into camp near Hunters' Station on the
Bellefonte and Buffalo Run Railroad, on May 29,
remaining until June 2d.
The camp was situated on a pleasant eleva
tion from which a picturesque view of the stir
rounding country met the gazer's eye. The camp
consisted of two company streets, enclosed on
each side by eight A and two officers' tents, and on
one end by the Commandant's quarters, and on
the other end by five tents for the guard. The
following schedule was obeerved : 6 o'clock a.
m., Reveille ; 6:30, Policing ; 6:50, Inspection ;
7:00, Breakfast ; 8:3o, Guard Mounting ;
Drill ; r:3O, Ist Sergeant's Call ; 2;00, Din
ner ; 3,00 o'clock p. m., Policing ; 4:00, Drill ;
5:00, Supper ; 6:15, Dress Parade ; 9:30, Tattoo;
0: 00, Taps.
On Friday the schedule was somewhat var
ied. In the afternoon, to the surprise of a large
number of visitors from Bellefonte, State College
and the surrounding country, a sham battle was
fought. In the east corner of the grounds a fort
CA MP Afe,4L LLS TER