University of California Berkeley 
 
Mifcellaneous Pieces 
 
 I N 
 
 LITERATURE, HISTORY, 
 
 AND 
 
 PHILOSOPHY. 
 
 BY MR. D'ALEMBERT, 
 
 MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF 
 INSCRIPTIONS AT PARIS. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for C. HENDERSON, at the Royal Exchange^ 
 and fold byT. BECKET and P. A. DE HONDT, in 
 the Strand. MDCCLXIV. 
 
 l)6v 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 /fMONG the many trifling productions which are 
 daily imported from our ingenious rivals the French* 
 it is furprijing that fuch an author as Mr* D * Alembert 
 Jhould be almofl unknown in our language. 
 
 It may be a fufficient encomium upon the character of 
 Mr* D^Alembert, to fay, that he was the friend of Mon- 
 tefquiett when living, and the guardian of his reputation 
 when dead : one thing, however, muft be acknowledged, 
 that no writer has united the precijion of philofophy and 
 the graces of poetry 'with morefuccefs. 
 
 The principles laid down in his EJ/ay on Tranjlation 
 are new and ingenious ; and it were to be wijhed, that 
 the flnefl pajjages of the bejl clajjics were fele tied with the 
 fame judgment, which the author has Jhewn in his Ex- 
 traclsfrom Tacitus. 
 
 The pieces in this volumt are more adapted to the gene- 
 rality of readers than the reft of the author's compofitions, 
 
 as they chiefly relate to hiftory and the b elks' lettres. The 
 
 Memoirs rf Chriftina, queen of Sweden, contain many 
 interefting fafts, interfperfed with obfervations that are 
 pertinent, fpirited and concife.The Account of the Go- 
 *uernment of Geneva would not have difgraced the pen of 
 
 Tacitus or Salluft. The EJ/ay upon the Abufe of Criti- 
 
 ifm on Religion is perhaps the befl and mofl candid defence 
 of philofophy, anaphilofophers, thathasyet beenpublijhed. 
 The Piece upon Eloquence difco*vers to us the true founda- 
 tion of the fublime, and, by refolding it folely into the 
 genuine fentiments of the heart, ftrongly conceived and 
 clearly txprejfcd) expofcs the futility of thofe falfe fyftems of 
 
 rhetoric^ 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 rhetoric, which would reduce eloquence to a mechtfoical 
 
 fcience, when it is the gift of nature alone. The Alliance 
 
 between learned Men and the Great Jhews the true way of 
 living with great men, free from fertile adulation or 
 cynical rufticity. None were ewer better qualified than 
 Mr. jyAlembert to treat fo delicate afubjecl y as none ever 
 received more diftinguijhed marks of refpeft without court- 
 ing them at the expence of his honour or repofe : he hat 
 given the rejult of his objervations without jpleen or va~ 
 tiity ; the confcioufnejs of his own merit might have- 
 excufed the one, and the favours he has received have 
 tempted him to the other Great talents are the titles and 
 dijiinftions of Nature, *wbzle thofe conferred by princes are 
 often capricious or venal gratuities for the proftitution of 
 virtue and honour : the former an the inherent unalien- 
 able property of their pojjejjbrs ; the latter defcend alike to 
 the hero and the knave. 
 
 The editor is indebted for the tranjlation of the Effay on 
 *afte to Mr. Gerrard, and for that of the Government of 
 Geneva, and the Memoirs of Chrijlina y to another gen>- 
 tkman. 
 
 M I S C E L- 
 
MISCELLANIES. 
 
 REMARKS ON TRANSLATION. 
 
 THEY are not laws which I am now going to 
 dictate. It would better become thofe writers 
 among us, who h-ave engaged in tranflation with moft 
 fuccefs, to fet themfelves up for legiflators. But they 
 have done better than tranfcribe rules, they have 
 given examples. Let us learn this art from their 
 works, and not from certain confident decifions which 
 are liable to difpute. Where are the precepts that 
 -ought to be preferred to great models ? the Lift always 
 enlighten, the firft may prove pernicious. In all 
 kinds of literature, reafon has laid down a few rules, 
 -caprice has multiplied them, and pedantry has forged 
 fhackles, which prejudice reveres, and which ta- 
 lents dare not break through. To which of the fine 
 .arts foever we caft our eyes, we fee every-where me- 
 diocrity dictating laws, and genius meanly Hooping 
 to obey them. It is a fovereign imprifoned by his 
 (laves. But if we will not fuffer it to be fubjugated, 
 neither fhould we fuffer it to range without controuK 
 B This 
 
2 REMARKS ON TRANSLATION. 
 
 This rule, fo ufeful to the progrefs of learning, 
 /hould be extended, I think, not only to originals, 
 but to works of imitation ; among which may be 
 ranked tranflations. 
 
 In this efiay we will attempt to fhun the two ex- 
 tremes of rigour and indulgence, which are equally 
 dangerous. We will examine the laws of translation, 
 \vith refpect to the genius of languages ;, and then 
 with refpect to the genius of authors ; and laftly, 
 with relation to the principles which may be laid 
 down in this kind of writing. 
 
 - It is commonly imagined, that translation would 
 ,be very cafy, if all languages were formed upon one 
 : another. In that cafe, 1 dare fay, there would be 
 nany indifferent tranHators, ^and few excellent. The 
 former would confine themfelves fervilely to a literal 
 verfion, and look no farther ; the latter would aim 
 at feme thing more, harmony, and eafe of ftyle ; two 
 qualities which good writers have never neglected, and 
 .\vhich form the characterise of fome. 
 
 The tranflatpr ought to have a nice difcernment, to 
 diitingiiilh when a ftrict fidelity may yield to the graces 
 of diction, without enfeebling the fentiment. One of 
 -the great difficulties of writing, and efpecially of 
 tranilatinf, is to know how far energy may be facri- 
 ficed to noblenefs, correctnefs to eafe, and a rigorous 
 iuilnefs to the mechanifm of ftyle. Reafcn is a fevere 
 judge, whom we cught to fear. The ear, a haughty 
 .one, that muft be uied wii! addrefs. Jt ought not to 
 be laid down as a rule to tranflate literally, even in 
 pdfuges where the genius of the languages corre- 
 
 fponds. 
 
REMARKS ON TRANSLATION, 3 
 
 fponds, if the translation would be dry, harfli, and 
 inharmonious. 
 
 However, the difference of the characters of lan- 
 guages, fcarcely ever permitting a literal verfion, 
 faves the tranflator this difficulty, from the neceflity 
 it lays him under of facrifking either agreement to 
 y>recifion, x>r precifion to agreement. But the impcf- 
 fibility of rendering the original word for word, 
 leaves him a dangerous liberty; for, as he cannot 
 give his copy a perfect refemblance, there is reafou 
 to fear he will not give it fuch a one as it may have. 
 
 Befides, as the niceties of our own language * re- 
 quire fo much fludy to be well underftood, how muck 
 more is necefiary to unravel the niceties of a foreign 
 language ; and what is a tranflator without this 
 -double knowledge ? 
 
 The tranflators of the antients think themfelves 
 the leail interefted in this remark. If the niceties of 
 dkKon efcape them in the original, they efcape their 
 readers too ; and yet, by an unaccountable fate, they 
 are treated with more feverity 'than any other of their 
 profeffion. A kind of fuperliition in favour of anti- 
 quity difpofes us to imagine, that the antients always 
 (xprefled themfelves in the happieft manner. Ouf 
 ignorance turns to the advantage of tlte original, and 
 -the prejudice of the copy. The tranflator always 
 appears to come fhort, not of the idea the original 
 gives us of himfelf, but of that which we have of 
 him; and, to render the abfurdity complete, we 
 3d mi re at the fame time that mob of modern La- 
 
 * The French language. 
 
 B 2 tinifts* 
 
4 REMARKS ON TRANSLATION. 
 
 tinifls, moil of whom, being infipid in their own 
 language, impofe upon us in a dead one ; fo 
 true is it with refpect to languages, as well as au^- 
 thors, that whatever is dead has a title to our ha- 
 jnage. 
 
 But is it true, fome perhaps will fay, that lan- 
 guages have a different character ? We are not ig^ 
 norant, that forne modern literati, who pique them- 
 felves upon a philofophical fpirit, and who have 
 given proofs of it fometimes, have maintained a con- 
 trary opinion ; an abfurdity which, according to 
 cuftom, has been charged upon the philofophical 
 fpirit, but which it never dictated. 
 
 In the hands of a man of genius every language is 
 adapted to all ftyles. It will be either light .or pa- 
 thetic, neat or fublime, according to the fubjeft 
 and the "writer. In this fenfe languages have not 
 a diilinguiihing character ; but, if they are all 
 equally proper for the fame kind of work, they are 
 pot equally fit to exprefs the fame idea. It is this in 
 which the diverfity of their genius confifls. 
 
 Languages^, in confequence of this diveriity, mufl 
 have their mutual advantages over one another. But 
 their advantage, in general, will be great, in pro- 
 portion to their variety of turns, brevity of con- 
 itruftion, licence, and richnefs. This richnefs does 
 not confiil in a power of exprefiing the fame idea in a 
 barren abundance of fynonimous terms, but every 
 ^hade of an idea in different terms. 
 
 Of all languages cultivated by men of letters, the 
 Italian is the moil variegated, the moil flexible, and 
 
 * the 
 
REMARKS ON TRANSLATION- 5 
 
 tlie moft capable of the different forms we may want 
 to give it. It is not lefs rich in good tranilations, 
 than excellent in vocal mufic, which is a fpecies of 
 tranflation. On the other hand, our language is the 
 moft fevere in its laws, the moft uniform in its con- 
 ftru&ion, the moft contracted in its career. Can we 
 wonder then that it fhould be the rock of tranflators, 
 as it is alfo of poets ? But what Ihould be the refult 
 of thefe difficulties ? To teach us to prize good au- 
 thors, as they are incapable of giving us mean pro- 
 ductions. 
 
 If languages have their genius, authors likewife 
 have theirs. The character of the original ought to 
 be transferred to the copy. This is a rule which 
 aught to be the more recommended, as it is pra&ifed 
 the leaft ; and as readers are moft apt to difpenfe with 
 the obfervation of it. 
 
 How many tranflations are there which, like re- 
 gular beauties, without foul, without phyfiognomy, 
 reprefent in the fame manner works of the moft un- 
 equal compofition ? This is, if I may fo exprefs my- 
 felf, a kind of wrong fenfe, which does the moft 
 harm to a tranflation. Others are hafty, and amend 
 themfelves ; but thefe are endlefs and incorrigible. 
 The blemifhes, which may be removed by cancelling 
 them, do not deferve the name. It is not the faults, 
 it is the coldnefs, which murders compofitions ; and 
 they are almoft always more blameable for the things 
 which are not there, than fjr thofe which the author 
 has inferted* 
 
 B 3 Ii 
 
o REMARKS ON TRANSLATION, 
 
 Jt is the more difficult to do full juftice to an ori- 
 ginal in a tranflation, as it is fo eafy to miftake his' 
 iirokes, and to fee him only in one point of view* 
 A writer, for example, fhall poflefs two properties in 
 his ftyle, concifenefs and vivacity, which are not ne- 
 cefiarily united, as brevity is often found with cold- 
 nefs and insipidity. Yet a translator, in imitating him,, 
 ihall be contented with aiming at concifenefs, without 
 being lively ; and thus the molt beautiful part of the 
 refemblance is wanting. 
 
 But, indeed, how mould we put on the air of a 
 Granger, if we are not fitted for it by nature. Men 
 of genius ought to be translated only by thofe who 
 refemble them ; and who, while they imitate them, 
 are capable of being their rivals. A painter, of mo- 
 derate merit in original drawing, may be a good co- 
 pyift ; but for this a fervile imitation is all that is 
 jieceiTary. The translator copies with colours which 
 are peculiar to him. 
 
 - The charadler of writers is distinguished either by 
 their thoughts, or ftyle, or both, Thofe who excel 
 in thoughts, lofe the leaft in pafiing from one language 
 to another. Corneille would be eaiier translated than 
 Racine ; and (what may feem a paradox) Tacitus 
 than Salluft. Salluit, having faid every-thing, re- 
 quires a tranflation that fcarce preferves him. Ta- 
 citus, leaving much understood, and making his rea* 
 der think, requires a tranflation only to lofe nothing. 
 
 Writers, who join a refinement of ideas with that of 
 flyle, afford more advantages to a translator, than 
 whofe agreeablenefs is in their ftyle only. In 
 
 the 
 
REMARKS ON TRANSLATION, | 
 
 the firft cafe, one may flatter one's- felf with being 
 able to transfer to the copy the character of the 
 thought; and, confequently, at leaft part of the 
 fpirit of the author. In the fecond place, if we 
 do not render the diftion, we do nothing. 
 
 Of the laft clafs of authors, fo peculiarly unfa-* 
 vourable for translation, the leail ftubborn are thole 
 whofe principal quality is to handle their language 
 elegantly ; the moil intraftable are thofe whofe man" 
 ner of writing is peculiar to themfelves. 
 
 The Engliih have tranflated fome of Racine's tra- 
 gedies well : I doubt whether they would tranflate, 
 with the fame fuccefs, Fontaine's fables, the moil 
 original work perhaps in the French language; or 
 Anainte, a paftoral full of thofe details of gallantry 
 and agreeable ftories, which the Italian language is 
 fo well formed to exprefs, and which it mull be left 
 in the in tire pofleflion of; or, in fhort, the letters of 
 madam de Sevigne, fo frivolous as to their fubjeft, 
 and fo feducing by their negligence of ftyle. Some 
 foreigners have miftaken them, not being able to 
 tranflate them. Indeed nothing cuts mort fo many 
 difficulties, as mifapprehenfion. 
 
 It has been afked, whether poets may be tranflated 
 into verfe, efpecially in our language, which does 
 not admit of blank verfe like the Engliih and Italian, 
 and which will not excufe the want of rhime, either in 
 the tranflator or the poet. Many of our writers, 
 from a paiTion for difficulty, or poetry, have pre- 
 tended, that it is impoflible to give a profe verfion of 
 poets, without disfiguring them, . and fpciling their 
 B 4 pria- 
 
3 REMARKS ON TRANSLATION. 
 
 principal charms, the meafure and harmony. It re- 
 mains to inquire, whether rendering them into verfe 
 35 not, properly fpeaking, imitating, and not tranf- 
 lating them. The fingle article of the different har- 
 anony of the two languages raifes an infurmountablo 
 bar againlt tranfiations in verfe. Can it be ima- 
 gined, that our poetry, with its rhrmes, its he- 
 snifticks always alike, the uniformity of its courfe, 
 and, if I durft fay it, its monotony, can reprefent 
 the varied cadence of the Greek and Roman poefy ? 
 and yet the difference of harmony is the leaft ob~ 
 ilacle. Afk fome of our beft poets, who tranfplanted 
 into our language forne of the finelt paflages in Ho- 
 mer and Virgil, how many times they have been 
 forced to fubftitute, in the room of ideas they could 
 not render, ideas of equal dignity taken from their 
 own fund, to fupply imagery by fentiment ; energy 
 of exprefFion, by vivacity of turn ; pomp of har- 
 mony, by ftrength of thought ? Thofe fine verfes of 
 Virgil upon fuicides are well known, 
 
 Qui iibi leturn 
 
 Infontes peperere manu lucemque perofi, 
 Projecere animas. 
 
 They detefl the light, and fling away their live?. 
 
 The timid genius of our language will not allow 
 this image, though fo noble and animating ; in the 
 room of which one of our great poets has fubilituted 
 thefe pretty verfes 5 
 
 Us 
 
REMARKS ON TRANSLATION. 9 
 
 Us non pu fupporter foibles et furieux, 
 Le fardeau de la vie impofe par les dieux. 
 
 Furious and weak they fink beneath the weight 
 Of life's fad burthen by the gods impofed. 
 
 Perhaps it would be difficult to decide the merit of 
 thefe two poets ; but it is eafy to fee, that the French 
 verfes are no tranflation of the Latin. To tranflate 
 poetry into profe, is to turn a meafured air into re- 
 citative : To tranilate it into verfe, is to change one 
 meafured air into another, which is not inferior to 
 it, yet not the fame. The firft a good copy, but 
 feeble ; the fecond is a work upon the fame fubject, 
 rather than a copy. But how mail we be able to do 
 juftice to poets who have written in a foreign lan- 
 guage ? We muft learn it. 
 
 To bring thefe reflections to a conclusion. If the 
 greatnefs of the difficulty conHitutes the principal 
 merit, then he who tranflates has more merit than he 
 who creates. 
 
 In men of genius ideas are born without pains-, 
 and the expreffion moil adapted to them fprings up 
 along with them ; to exprefs in our own manner, 
 ideas which are not our own, is almoft intirely 
 the work of art, and this art is the more per- 
 fect as it is the lefs difcovered ; but, let it be ever fo 
 well conceal'd, we know that it exifts ; and for this 
 reafon we prefer originals to works of imitation. 
 Nature will not lofe her claim upon us. The pro- 
 ductions at which ihe alone prefides, are thofc which 
 B 5 tfrike 
 
jo REMARKS ON TRANSLATION. 
 
 ftrike us the mod. Thus fruits in their natural foil, 
 raifed with ordinary culture, and moderate care, are 
 preferred to exotics, which are forced under the fame 
 fun with much pains and induftry. We may tafte the 
 lafl, but we have recourfe always to the firft. 
 
 However, while we aflign to creative writers the 
 firft rank, which they deferve, it is but juft to place 
 good tranflators next to them, above thofe who hava 
 wrote perhaps as well as poffible without genius. 
 But there is a kind of fatality attached to thofe arts, 
 which confift in altering the drefs of a flrange per- 
 fonage. There are thofe whom we degrade by the 
 'moft unjuft prejudice. There are thofe to whofe me- 
 rit we do not do fufficient juftice, and the tranflator is 
 certainly among that number.^ 
 
 This is not the only injuftice which renders their 
 work fo ungrateful, and their number fo fmall ; for, 
 though they nd fufficient difficulties which they can- 
 not furmount, yet we take a pleafure in rivetting 
 their chains, as if it was for the fake of being a bar 
 to their encouragement, and to our own intereft. 
 
 The firft hardlhip we impofe on them, or rather 
 which they incur themfelves, is, to reft content with 
 being the copyifts, inftead of the rivals, of the au- 
 thors they translate : Superftitioufly devoted to their 
 originals, they look upon it as facrilege, to dare to 
 cmbellilh even pafTages that are feeble ; they dare 
 not be fuperiors, and will not be at the pains to 
 fucceed. 
 
 It is juft as if an able engraver, in copying the 
 (drawing of a great mailer, ihould forbid himfdf any 
 
 - fine 
 
REMARKS ON TRANSLATION. it 
 
 fine and delicate touches to hide its faults, or distin- 
 guish its beauties. 
 
 Obliged, as the translator is, fo often to fall fnort 
 of his author, ought he not to be above him when 
 he can ? 
 
 It may be objected, that fuch liberty is in danger 
 of degenerating into licentioufnefs. But, when the 
 original is well chofe, the occafions for amendment or 
 embellishment will occur very rarely ; if they are 
 frequent, it is not worth translating. 
 
 A fecond obstacle, which translators have made for 
 themfelves* is that timidity which flops them, when 
 with courage they dare fwerve from their modeL 
 This courage confifts in Hiking new expreSTions to do 
 juftice to lively and Strong paffages in the original. 
 Thefe liberties ought to be ufed with fobiiety, they 
 ought to be necerTary ; but when does that happen ? 
 Is it in all cafes where the difficulty of translating 
 arifes from the genius of language ? Each has its pe- 
 culiar laws, which ought not to be violated. To 
 /peak Latin in French would be a fantaltical teme- 
 rity, inSlead of a happy boldnefs. But when there 
 is room to believe, the author has adopted an exprei- 
 iion of genius in his own language, then we may 
 feek for a fimilar one. But what is an expreSIion of 
 genius ? It is not a new word dictated by Singularity 
 or idlenefs, but the neceSFary and exa& re- union of 
 fome known terms, to render a new idea with energy. 
 This is almoft the only innovation with which a 
 translator may be indulged, 
 
 Th 
 
12 REMARKS ON TRANSLATION. 
 
 The moft indifpenfable condition of ufmg new 
 cxpreffions is, that they mall give the reader no idea 
 of confcraint, though conftraint was the occafion of 
 them. In converting with ftrangers of great fire, 
 who fpeak our language with eafe and boldnefs, we 
 nd, that they think in their own language, and 
 tranilate into ours ; and we regret, that the fingular 
 and forcible terms they make ufe of are not autho- 
 rized by cuftom. 
 
 The converfation of flrangers (fuppofmg it to be 
 correct) is the image of a good translation. The 
 original ought to fpeak our language not with that 
 fuperftitious timidity which is felt for a native tongue, 
 but with that noble liberty which knows how to em- 
 belliili one language, by borrowing peculiar ftrokes 
 from another. Thus the tranflation will have every 
 quality to render it worthy of efleem ; that eafy and 
 natural air, which is imprinted by the genius of the 
 original, and, at the fame time, that tafte of the foil 
 which a foreign .tincture muft give it. 
 
 Good tranfiations are the beft calculated for enrich- 
 ing language. This is the ufe I would make of 
 them, which, in my opinion, is more proper, than 
 what is hinted by a famous Satyrift of the laft age, 
 who was as paffionate an admirer of the antients, as 
 he was a fevere, and fometimes unjuft cenfor of the 
 moderns. " The French, fays he, want tafte, and 
 " only the tafte of the antients can form it amongft 
 ' our authors and connoifTeurs ; and good traniia- 
 ( ' tions would give that valuable tafte to thofe who 
 V are not qualified to read the originals." If we 
 
 want 
 
REMARKS ON TRANSLATION. 13 
 
 want tafte, I know not where it is fled. It is not, at 
 leaft, the fault of the models in our language, which 
 are inferior to the antients in no refpecls. To men- 
 tion only the dead ; who will dare to place Sophocles 
 above Corneille, Euripides above Racine, Theo- 
 phraftus above Bruyere, or Phaedrus above Fontaine ? 
 Let not our claflical library confift folely of tranfla- 
 tions, nor let us exclude them. They will multiply 
 good models ; they will affift us in underftanding the 
 character of writers, ages, and people ; they will 
 teach us to perceive thofe fhades, which diflinguifh 
 abfolute and univerfal tafte from national. 
 
 The third arbitrary law t which tranflators are 
 fubje6l, is the ridiculous conftraint of tranflating 
 an author from beginning to end. By this means 
 the translator, fatigued and chilled by the weak paf- 
 fages, languishes in the molt excellent parts ; be- 
 fides, why mould he be put to the torture to give an 
 elegant turn to a falfe thought, or to be nice upon a 
 common idea ? It is not to bring the faults of the 
 antients to light, that we tranfplant them into our 
 language, but to enrich our learning by what is ex- 
 cellent among them. To tranflate them by parcels 
 is not to mutilate them, it is to paint them in profile, 
 and to advantage. What entertainment can there be 
 in a tranflation of that part of the ^Eneid, where 
 the harpies rob the Trojans of their dinner ; or of 
 thofe cold, and fometimes grofs pleafantries, which 
 disfigure the harangues of Cicero ; or of thofe pafr 
 fages in an hiflorian, which prefent nothing intereft- 
 ing to the reader in point of matter or llyle ? Why, 
 
 in 
 
I 4 REMARKS ON TRANSLATION. 
 
 in iliort, fhould we transfer into another language 
 that which has only graces in its own, like the de- 
 tails of agriculture and paftoral life, which are fo 
 agreeable in Virgil, and fo infipid in all the tranf- 
 lations which have been made of them ? 
 
 Why fhould not the wife rule of Horace, to ne- 
 glect what we cannot fucceed in, be as applicable to 
 translations as any other kind of writing .* 
 
 Our learned men would find a confidcrable advan-^ 
 tage, in tranflating by parcels certain works, (which 
 contain beauties fufficient to make the fortune of a 
 number of writers,) whofe authors, if they had a* 
 much tafte as genius, would eclipfe writers of the 
 rfl rank. What pleafure, for inftance, would Se- 
 neca and Lucan give thus opened and tranflated by a 
 mafterly hand ? Seneca, fo excellent to cite, and fo 
 tirefome to read fucceflively forward, who turns round 
 the fame object with a brilliant rapidity ; in this re- 
 fpecl: different from Cicero, who always keeps ad- 
 vancing, though flowly, to his end. Lucan, the 
 Seneca of poets, fo full of mafculine and true beau- 
 ties, but too declamatory, too monotonous, too 
 full of maxims, and too void of images. The only 
 writers who have a title to be tranflated intirely, are 
 they whofe agreeablenefs confifls in their very negli- 
 gence, fuch as Plutarch in his lives of illullrious 
 men, where, quitting and refuming his fubjed every 
 inftant, he converfes with his reader without tiring 
 him. 
 
 I am led by the preceding to another reflection, 
 which, though it has not a direct relation to the pre- 
 fer 
 
REMARKS ON TRANSLATION. i 
 
 Tent matter, may be ufeful. The authors we can 
 put into the hands of youth in the courfe of iludy 
 are but a fmall number, and of them it is a ftill 
 fmaller part which we can teach them to enter into 
 and underftand ; yet their memory mufl be pro- 
 mifcuoufly charged with good, indifferent, and 
 wretched, juft as this part happens to turn out; while 
 the true beauties, thanks to the little tafte of the ge- 
 nerality of matters, are commonly the leaft noticed. 
 Would it not be infinitely better to feleft, from the 
 different works of each author, the moft excellent 
 pafTages, and to lay before the reader nothing of the 
 antients, but what deferves to be retained ? Thus, 
 they would not only become pofiefied of their thoughts 
 in general, but the beft of them ; they would be 
 acquainted with the ftyle and genius of a great num- 
 ber of their writers ; in fhort, they would have the 
 advantage of cultivating their minds, while they 
 formed their tafte. Such a collection need not be 
 immenfely large, if it was made with choice, and 
 the common term of ftudy would be long enough to 
 render it familiar : We cannot enough recommend 
 it to fome able fcholar, to undertake this work, He 
 ought, however, to have two qualities rarely united, 
 a profound intimacy with the antients, and a free- 
 dom from all fuperltition in their favour. He ought 
 not to be like that enthuiiaflic wodhipper of Homer, 
 who, having undertook to mark all the fine paffages 
 in that great poet, had, in three readings, marked 
 the whole from one end to the other. Could fuch a 
 man flatter himfelf, that he knew the true beautks of 
 
 Homer, 
 
16 REMARKS ON TRANSLATION. 
 
 Homer ? or could Homer himfelf have been pleafed 
 with fuch an admirer ? 
 
 I return to my fubjecl. The principles of tran- 
 lating laid down here are fuch as 1 have followed in 
 rendering different paffagcs of Tacitus. Some of 
 them have already appeared ; and as the public reliih 
 them, and wifh for more, it is to oblige them that I 
 have added a greater number, the fruits of a few 
 moments leifure left me, after fix years of painful la- 
 bour of a different kind. However, I am far from 
 pretending to have extracted all that is remarkable 
 in his works. The prejudices of a tranflator apart, 
 as he is beyond comparifon the greateft hiilorian of 
 antiquity, fo he furnilhes us withmoft pafiages worthy 
 of being fele&ed. Neverthelefs, perhaps this will 
 be fufficient to point out the different kind of beau- 
 ties of which we find models in this incomparable 
 author, who has painted men with fo much energy, 
 truth, and addrefs, afFeding events in fo pathetic a 
 manner, and virtue with fo much fentiment ; whopof- 
 feiTed, in fo high a degree, the true eloquence of ex- 
 prefiing great things fimply ; and who may be re- 
 garded as one of the belt mailers of morality, by 
 that fad, but ufeful knowledge of men, which may 
 be learnt from his works. He is accufed, I know, 
 of giving too bad a portrait of human nature, that 
 is, of fludying it too well ; of being obfcure, which 
 means only, that he did not write for the multitude ; 
 of having too rapid and concife a ftyle, as if it was 
 not the greatefl merit of a writer, to fay a great deal 
 in a few words. 
 
 It 
 
REMARKS ON TRANSLATION. 17 
 
 It is impoffible to tranflate a great genius, unlefs 
 k be with vivacity and enthuiiafm ; but, if he be 
 alfo a profound writer, it requires time to ftudy how 
 to render him - r befides, in order to avoid all at once 
 the coldnefs and negligence of fome works of tafle^ 
 it feems necefTary to write quick, and to correct flow. 
 Convinced of thefe principles, I made this effay with 
 rapidity, and 1 reviewed it afterwards with as much, 
 rigor and exaftnefs as I was capable of. 
 
 The principal thing to which I applied myfelf, was 
 to preferve the precifion, the noblenefs, the brevity 
 of the original, as far as might be permitted for my 
 fmall talents, (with the feeble affiftance of a language 
 fo difficult to manage as ours, fo ungrateful, fo drawl- 
 ing, fo equivocal,) to contend with fuch a writer as 
 Tacitus. In thofe pafTages where it was impoffible 
 to be as clofe as the original, I have broken the ftyle 
 to render it more lively, and to fupply by that means, 
 though imperfectly, that concifenefs I was not capable 
 of attaining. 
 
 I have attempted, in mort, to render his fpirit 
 where I could not render his words. The pieces I 
 have published are retouch'd in fome places, and the 
 objeft of moil of the alterations has been, to make 
 the alteration more forcible and concife, without de- 
 ftroying the fenfe of the original, or giving any 
 hardnefs and aridity to the ftyle. I have reftored the 
 true fenfe in two or three paflages where I was before 
 miilaken. I have fometimes departed from the fenfe 
 adopted by others, and fometimes from that which 
 has had the fan&ion of a whole mob of commentators 
 
 and 
 
IS REMARKS ON TRANSLATION*. 
 
 and tranflators; I believe never without good reafons. 
 In general, where the fenfe appeared to me disputable 
 or doubtful, I have always chofe the beft, as there is 
 always reafon to think that is the author's. Some- 
 times, where it was impofllble to give his full mean- 
 ing to common readers, without a multitude of words, 
 I have preferred leaving his beauties to the fagacity 
 of the intelligent reader, to annihilating them by a 
 paraphrafe.- Sometimes, indeed, I have taken the 
 liberty to alter his fenfe a little, when it feemed to 
 prefent an image or idea that was puerile ; for my 
 juft admiration of Tacitus does not blind my eyes to 
 that fmall number of paflages, where he appears to 
 me to fall beneath himfelf. Such, for example, in 
 my opinion, is that part 0f the life of Agricola, 
 where Tacitus oppofes the rednefs of Domitian's- 
 countenance, to the palenefs of the wretches whom 
 he caufed to be executed in his prefence, where he 
 remarks, that this colour being natural, preferved the 
 face of the empejror from the imprefiion of fhame ; a 
 trifling and frivolous circumflance, neither worthy of 
 the genius of the hiftorian, nor the hateful and af- 
 fecting picture he gives of fo many innocent victims, 
 and a tyrant who could lee them expire. 
 
 Whatever be the reft of the plan I have laid down 
 in this tranflation, I ought not to expect it will be 
 relifhed by all the world. In this fubjedt, more than 
 any other, each reader has, if I may fo fpeak, his 
 peculiar ftandard, or, if you will, his prejudices, to 
 which he expects a tranflator will be conformed. 
 Hence, nothing perhaps is more rare in literature, 
 
 than 
 
REMARKS ON TRANSLATION". t$ 
 
 than a tranflation generally approved. If it be liked 
 en the whole, how many particulars are there which 
 give a handle to criticifm r 
 
 I mould think myfelf happy in obtaining the fuf- 
 frage of a final! number of men of letters, who, by 
 an intimate knowledge of the nature of the two laiv- 
 guages, the genius of Tacitus, and the true prin- 
 ciples of translating, are capable of eftimating the 
 pains I have taken ; with refped to thofe who only 
 believe they are, I have nothing to exped, or to 
 demand from them. 
 
 The only favour I wim to receive from thofe whom 
 I acknowledge to be true judges is, not to confine 
 themfelves to the difcovery of my faults, but to offer 
 jne at the fame time the means of corroding. them. 
 Of all the injuries tranflators have a right to refent, 
 many of which I have already remarked, the prin- 
 cipal is the manner in which they have been accuf- 
 torned to be cenfured. I don't (peak of thofe filly, 
 vague, falfe cri-ticifms, which deferve no attention, 
 J fpeak of cenfure that is not without grounds, and 
 equitable in appearance. Yet even this, I fay, in 
 fubjeds of tranflation, .is not warrantable. We may 
 judge of a free work without referve, and content 
 ourfelves with expofmg its faults in a juft criticifm, 
 becaufe the author was mailer of his plan, of what he 
 ought to fay, arui the manner of faying it ; but the 
 tranilator is in a flate of conftraint on all fides ; 
 Obliged to advance in a narrow and fiippery path, not 
 of his own chufing, and fometimes to throw himfelf 
 cm one fide to efcape a precipice - 9 fo that, to criticife 
 
 upon 
 
2d REMARKS ON TRANSLATION. 
 
 tipon him with juftice, it is not fufficient to (hew he 
 has committed a fault, he mufl be convinced, that he 
 could have done better, or as well, without fo doing ; 
 In vain will it be to reproach him, that his tranflation 
 Wants a rigorous juftnefs, if it cannot be proved, thaf 
 he could preferve this juftnefs without ceafing to be 
 agreeable ; in vain will it be to pretend, that he has 
 not given the full idea of his author, "unlefs it can be 
 fhewn, that it was poffible, without rendering the 
 copy feeble and languid. In vain will it be to ac- 
 cufe his tranflation of harfiinefs, if another is not 
 fubilituted in its ftead, more natural and forcible. 
 To correct the miftakes of an author is merit in a 
 common critic, but is a duty in the cenfor of a tran 
 lation. It is not to be wondered at then, if, in this 
 kind of writing, as in all others, good critics mould 
 be as fcarce as good compofitions. And why mould 
 it be fo ? Satyr is fo very convenient ! The generality 
 of readers are lavifh of it to fhew their acutenefs. 
 *Tis true learning alone that gives us a fecurity, I 
 will not fay for being elleemed, but I will fay, for 
 being read. 
 
 DIS. 
 
pISCOURSE BEFORE THE FRENCH 
 ACADEMY. 
 
 ME ssi E URS> 
 
 BEING engage4 in abftraft iludies from my 
 youth, and iince obliged to devote myfelf to 
 them by my .adoption into a learned and celebrated 
 Society, I mufl content myfelf with loving and ad- 
 .miring your labours,, The votes you have honoured 
 me with, are not to he imputed fo much to my 
 Writings as to my featiments for you, my zeal for 
 jhe glory of letters, and my attachment to thofe, 
 y/ho, in imitation of your example, render them re- 
 /pedtable by their talents, and their manners. Thefe 
 aje the tit.les which I bring here ; they do me ho- 
 jriour, and they coil me nothing to maintain. 
 
 But, firs, this is fpeaking too much of myfelf : 
 The firil duty, which gratitude obliges me to, is to 
 forget myfelf, that I may attend to what you are in- 
 terefted in, and partake in that concern you now ex- 
 prefs for the lofs you have fuilained. The biihop of 
 Vannes was only indebted to himfelf for the repu- 
 tation and honours he enjoyed : He was a flranger to 
 the fupplenefs .of addrefs, the bafenefs of intrigue, 
 and all thofe contemptible meafures, which lift men. 
 to dignities by meannefs. He was eloquent and vir- 
 tuous, and thefe two qualities intitled him to epifco- 
 pal hoaours, and your fuffrages, 
 
 Permi 
 
U DISCOURSE BEFORE 
 
 Permit me to introduce the homage I owe to his 
 memory, "by fome reflexions upon that art for which 
 lie was diftinguiihed. Thefe reflections are drawn 
 from your works, and they are fubmitted to your 
 judgment. 
 
 Eloquence is the talent of conveying with rapidity 
 and force to the minds of others, thofe fentiments 
 with which we ourfelves are affeded. This fublime 
 talent has its origin in an uncommon fenfibility of 
 what is grand and true. The fame difpofition of 
 mind, which makes us fufceptible of a lively and 
 fingular emotion, is fufficiently qualified to give an 
 external reprefentation of them ; fo that there is no 
 art in eloquence, fmce it requires nothing but to feel. 
 It is not for the fake of- producing beauties, but 
 avoiding faults, that the rules of great matters have 
 been militated. Nature forms men of genius, as fhe 
 forms precious metals in the bowels of the earth, 
 rough, irregular, and allayed with different matter. 
 Art is of no more fervice to genius than it is to me- 
 tals ; it adds nothing to their fubftance, it only fepa- 
 rates that which is foreign, and difplays the genuine 
 work of nature. 
 
 According tothefe principles, firs, which are yours, 
 nothing can be truly eloquent, but what preferves 
 this character in palling from one language to an- 
 other. The fublime will always be transferred, and 
 often the ilyle. Why do the Cicero's and the De- 
 mofthenes's intered thofe who read them in a dif- 
 ferent language from their own, though mutilated 
 and traveitted > The genius of thofe great men. 
 
 breathes 
 
THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 25 
 
 breathes ftill ; and, if I may Co exprefs myfelf, the 
 print of their fpirit cannot be effaced. 
 
 To be eloquent, without afpiring to the glory of 
 it, nothing more is required, than a genius elevated 
 with great objeds. Defcartes and Newton, (pardon 
 this example in a geometrician who dares to fpeak 
 of eloquence before you) Defcartes and Newton, 
 thofe two legiilators in the art of thinking, whom I 
 <lo not pretend to place in the rank of orators, are 
 eloquent when they fpeak of God, and Time, and 
 Space. 
 
 Indeed, whatever elevates the mind or foul, is the 
 proper fubjecl: of eloquence, on account of the plea- 
 fure we feel in feeing ourfelves great. 
 
 On the other hand, that which annihilates us in 
 our own eyes, is not lefs proper ; and, perhaps, for 
 the fame reafon : For, what is more capable of exalt- 
 ing us, even in humbling us, than a contrail betwixt 
 that fmall fpace we occupy in the univerfe, and that 
 immenie extent which our ideas dare traverfe, dart- 
 ing, as I may fay, from that centre where we are 
 placed ? 
 
 Nothing then, firs, can be more favourable to elo- 
 tjuence, than the truths of religion. They fet before 
 us the nothingnefs and dignity of man ; but the 
 grander the fubjedl is, the more does it require fuch 
 as are capable of treating it, and the rules of pul- 
 pit eloquence fuinciently balance by their rigour the 
 Advantages of the object. 
 
 Almoft everything is dangerous in this kind. Th* 
 Afiiculty of pronouncing in a manner affefting, yet 
 
 natural, 
 
24 DISCOURSE BEFORE 
 
 natural, thofe truths whofe importance has rendered 
 them common ;. the dry and didactic form, fo oppofite 
 to great movements, and great ideas ; the air of for- 
 wardnefs and affectation, which difcovers the orator 
 to be more attentive to himfelf than the God whom 
 he reprefents ; in ihort, the tafte for frivolous orna- 
 ments, which are an outrage to the majefty of the 
 fubjecl. Of all the different flyles which profane 
 eloquence admits, there is properly only one flyle 
 .which agrees with that of the pulpit. The fublime 
 jought always to be in the fentiment, or the thought, 
 ,and the fimplicity in the expreflion. 
 
 Sach, gentlemen, was the eloquence of the orator, 
 who is the object of your regret this day. He was 
 affecling and artlefs, like^ religion and truth : He 
 -feems to have formed himfelf upon the model of thofe 
 /imple and noble difcourfes (by which one of your 
 moft illultrious members* infpiredour monarch, while 
 young, with virtues whofe fruits we are now reaping.) 
 
 Happy would it be for the church and the nation, 
 5f, after enjoying the eloquence of my predeceffor fo 
 long, they could but collect the remains of it after 
 Jus death ! The reading of them would undoubtedly 
 be to infure their, fuccefs ; but the bilhop of Vannes, 
 from a fendment we cannot blame, though we do not 
 .refpecl, diftrufted, as he ufed to fay of himfelf, his 
 youth and his friends. He was too intelligent not to 
 
 * M. Maflillon, bifliop of Clermont, in his petit Careme, 
 jucach.ed before the king during his minority. 
 
THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 25 
 
 be modeft. His mind was like his eloquence, fimple 
 and elevated. Simplicity is the common effect of an 
 elevation of fentiments, becaufe fimplicity confifts 
 in appearing what one really is, and noble minds are 
 always gainers by being known. 
 
 In fhort, what did moil honour to the bifhop of 
 Vannes, was his enlightened regard for religion ; he 
 had refpeft enough for it, to wifli to make others love 
 it ; he knew that the opinions of men are as dear as their 
 paffions, but lefs durable, when they are left to them- 
 felves ; that error is but too apt to refill the appli- 
 cation of violent remedies ; that moderation, gentlenefs, 
 and time, will- fubdue every thing but truth.' 
 
 He was alfo very far from entertaining that blind 
 and barbarous zeal, which fearches for impiety where 
 it is not; and which being lefs a friend to religion 
 than an enemy to fcience, and letters, infults and in- 
 jures men, whofe conduct and writings are with- 
 out reproach. Where can I, gentlemen, inveigh with 
 more force andiuccefs againft this cruel injuflice, than, 
 in a fociety which contains all that is refpe&able in 
 religion, great in the ftate, and celebrated in letters. 
 Religion owes to literature and philofophy, the con- 
 firmation of its principles ; fovereigns, the eftablifL- 
 ment of their rights, which are violated and difputed 
 in ages of ignorance ; and die people, that general 
 knowledge, which makes authority more fweet, and 
 obedience more faithful. 
 
 HOVV happy are we, gentlemen, in living under a 
 
 prince, both wife and humane, who knows how well 
 
 letters are calculated to .make a nation love what he 
 
 C cherifhes 
 
6 DISCOURSE BEFORE 
 
 cherifhes moft himfelf, juftice, truth, order and peace. 
 Difpofitions fo refpeclabJe as thefe, in our auguft fo- 
 vereign, ought to be as high in our eftimalion as thofe 
 fhining aftions, one of which would be fufficient to 
 immortalize his reign ; the grandeur of his family 
 augmented ; two provinces conquered ; and two vic- 
 tories gained in perfon ; peace reftored to Europe by 
 his moderation ; the nobleile reconciled to the defen- 
 ders of their country ; the fchool of heroes raifed by 
 the fide of their afylum ; the earth meafured from the 
 extremity of Africa to the Icy-Sea; the talk for 
 agriculture and ufeful arts encouraged by operations 
 jnoil wifely combined ; the moft neceflary part of 
 commerce made free, and by that means fubfiilance 
 afforded to twenty millions Of people, who appeal to 
 him as their father. 
 
 it belongs to us, gentlemen, (a zeal for my country 
 authorizes me to add myfelf to the number) to us, I fay, 
 to anfwer fuch pure and equitable intentions of our 
 juft prince, by recommending in our writings the 
 peaceable love of religion, and the laws. It was prin- 
 cipally with a view to fix the manner of thinking, as 
 well as fpeaking, by your works, that your illuftrious 
 founder eftablifhed you. He knew all the confidera- 
 tion, and confequently all the authority which a man 
 of letters might draw from his fituation ; Richlieu, the 
 conqueror of Spain, of heroes and the great, amidft the 
 homage paid him from all quarters, perceived, that 
 if the fage honoured his great talents, the multi- 
 tude only honoured his place ; and that the applaufes 
 which Corneille fnatched from the multitude and the 
 philofopher, were given to the man. 
 
 The 
 
THE FRENCH ACADEMY. 27 
 
 The plan and the laws which your founder prefcri- 
 bed to you, were the refult of the idea he entertained 
 of the dignity of your labours ; he made you the mod 
 valuable and juft prefent that a great minifter could 
 make to a fociety of men, (who meet together for the 
 advancement of fcience) equality and liberty. By 
 this means he prevented that fpirit of ferment and 
 intrigue, which is a flow poifon to literary focieties. 
 By this means he laid up for hiinfelf that honour you 
 have conferred upon him ; that which the firft mem- 
 bers of the ftate derive to themfelves among you, by 
 facrificing to learning that rank which it refpefts in 
 the great, even while they ftand upon it, and much 
 more when they forget it. 
 
 Thus it was that Pompey, the conqueror of Mithri- 
 dates, of Africa, and Afia, who was capable of difputing 
 with Caefar the empire of the world, laid down his 
 fafces, his ambition, and his laurels at the gate of a 
 philofopher, with whom he was going to converfe, 
 leaving it a doubt among fages, which of them upon 
 this occalion was the greatefl, the philofopher, or the 
 conqueror. 
 
 But the moft diftinguifhed honour you have received 
 has been the immediate protection of your fovereigns. 
 Such a dignity is too great for any but princes; letters 
 can only be protected honourably by kings, or by 
 themfelves : The French academy has feen at its head 
 that prince, who was fo famous in the annals of 
 France, of Europe, and of the univerfe ; to whofe 
 glory adverfity itfelf contributed, greater when, for 
 the relief of his people, he obtained peace of the na- 
 C 2 tions 
 
2.8 DISCOURSE BE FOR E, &c. 
 
 tions leagued againft him, than when he compelled 
 them to receive it; in fine when he merited of his fub- 
 jefts, of {bangers, and of his enemies, the honour of 
 giving his name to the age he lived in. 
 
 Such, gentlemen, are the immortal fubjefts you are 
 bound to celebrate ; fuch are the engagements of thofe 
 whom the poflefTion of its tenets has called to a feat 
 among you. For my own part, I (hall content myfelf 
 with hearing and reading. You fee my affection for 
 my country, already known to a prince who is the ally 
 and friend of our nation, and whofe eulogium Europe, 
 and his own actions, will excufe me from making, 
 will improve by your example. Jn ihort, I ihall learn 
 of you what the Lacedemonian youths learnt of their 
 mailers a reverence for the laws, a love of virtue, and 
 an abhorrence of every bafe and unworthy aclion. 
 
 To conclude, gentlemen, penetrated as I am with a 
 fenfe of your honour, and my own 4uty, the fenti- 
 ments which fill my foul, impatient to fhew themfelves, 
 injure one another, and I mail bear an exception to 
 that rule, that to feel is to be eloquent. 
 
 RE- 
 
REFLECTIONS ON ELOCUTION, 
 STYLE IN GENERAL. 
 
 ELoquence, the daughter of genius and liberty, 
 owes its birth only to republics. Orators have 
 devoted the talent of fpeaking to the great objects of 
 government ; and as, upon thefe occasions, it is ne- 
 cefTary to convince and engage the people, eloquence 
 is called the art of perfuading, that is, of command- 
 ing the underftanding, and moving the paffions at the 
 fame time. 
 
 Our modern writers, for the mofl part fuperilitious 
 and fervile imitators of antiquity, have adopted this 
 definition, without recollecting, that the antients, 
 who gave it, confined eloquence to the moil noble 
 and exalted purpofes ; and confequently, this defi- 
 nition rnuft be incomplete. 
 
 On the other hand, how many pieces of maflerly 
 , eloquence are there, which have no other end, but 
 purely to move, and not to convince. 
 
 To think otherwife, is to be of the opinion of that 
 rigid mathematician, who, after reading an admi- 
 rable fcene of madnefs in Phaedrus, afked coolly, 
 " What does all this prove r" 
 
 The definition we have given of eloquence, con- 
 
 tains the moft general idea we can conceive ; " It is 
 
 *' the talent of rapidly conveying, and forcibly im- 
 
 " prefling, that deep fentiment with which we our- 
 
 " felves are infpired." This idea will fuit with the 
 
 -eloquence even of filence, that powerful, and fome- 
 
 C 3 times 
 
30 REFLECTIONS ON ELOCUTION, 
 
 times fublime language of great paflions ; it will fuit 
 with the eloquence of gefture, which one may call 
 the eloquence of the people, by the power it has to 
 captivate the multitude, who are always ftruck more 
 with what they fee, than what they underftand : In 
 fine, it will fuit with that exact, calm eloquence, 
 which confines itfelf to convince without moving, 
 and which feeks to obtain our confent, without forcing 
 it by violence. This lad fpecies of eloquence is not 
 perhaps the leaft powerful ; for we are lefs guarded 
 againft infimiation than force. However, as the ta- 
 lent of moving conftitutes the principal character of 
 eloquence, it is in that point of view that we mall 
 now chiefly confider it. 
 
 The property of eloquence is not only to move, 
 but to elevate the mind. This is the concomitant 
 effect of that which feems only intended tor excite 
 tears : The pathetic and the fublime make a deep 
 imprefiion upon us ; in finding ourfelves foftened, we 
 feel a confcioufnefs that we are greater at that time, 
 becaufe we perceive that we are better ; the fweet and 
 delightful penfivenefs into which we are thrown by 
 a difcourfe, or an affecting reprefentation, gives us a 
 good opinion of ourfelves, by the teflimony it bears 
 to our fenfibility of fpirit. This teftimony is the 
 principal fource of the pleafure we enjoy in love ; 
 and, in general, of all thofe agreeable fenfations, 
 which accompany all tender and awful fentiments. 
 
 We call eloquence a talent, and not an art, as moft 
 rhetoricians have reprefented it ; for every art may be 
 acquired by lludy and exercife, but eloquence is the 
 
 gift 
 
AND STYLE IN GENERAL. 31 
 
 gift of nature. Rules are defigned to check a genius 
 which is irregular, and not to damp that flame of ge- 
 nius which takes wing ; their only ufe is to prevent 
 thofe pannages, which are truly eloquent, from being 
 debafed by others, where negligence or bad taile pre- 
 vail. All the rules in the world could never have in- 
 fpired Shakefpeare's admirable foliloquy in Hamlet, 
 though they might have faved the barbarous and dif- 
 gufting fcene of the grave-diggers. 
 
 We exprefs well what we conceive well ; we 
 deliver with warmth what we feel with enthufiafm ; 
 and words as eafily prefent themfelves to paint 
 a lively emotion, as a clear idea. The fentiment is 
 enfeebled, is extinguifhed in the orator, by the cold 
 and ftudied care to exprefs it ; and all that his labour 
 amounts to, is to convince his hearers, that he does not 
 feel himfelf what he wants to inftil into them . ' ' Love, 
 " and do what you will," faid one of the fathers of 
 the church. " Feel, and fay what you will,'* this 
 is all the myftery of orators. 
 
 If we were to afk writers of genius about the fined 
 paiTages in their works, they would acknowledge, 
 that thefe coft them the leait pains, becaufe they were 
 infpired when they produced them. Nature, difen- 
 gaged from all conilraint, and braving all rules, 
 works her greateft miracles ; and we experience the 
 truth of that paiTage in Quintilian, " It is the foul 
 " alone which makes us eloquent; the moft igno- 
 " rant, when agitated by a violent pafiion, are never 
 " at a lofs how to exprefs themfelves." 
 
 C 4 Such 
 
32 REFLECTIONS ON ELOCUTION, 
 
 Such was the enthufiafm which once animated the 
 .peafant of the Danube, and made him admired by 
 the fenate in the very fanctuary of eloquence. It is 
 the fame enthufiafm, prompt to communicate itfelf 
 to the hearer, which makes fuch difference betwixt 
 fpoken eloquence, if I may ufe the expreffion, and 
 that which is written. Eloquence in books is like 
 mufic upon paper, mute, void, and lifelefs ; it lofes 
 its greateft force, and it Hands in need of action to 
 difpiay it. It is impoffible, without being melted, to 
 read the affecting perorations of Cicero for Flaccus * 
 Ponteius, Sextus Plancius, and Sylla ; the moft ad- 
 mirable models of eloquence which all antiquity has 
 left us of the pathetic kind. How vaft mufl be their ef- 
 fect, may we not imagine, in the lips of that great 
 man ? Let us only reprefent to ourfelves Cicero, in 
 the midil of the bar, animating with tears the moil: 
 affecting difcourfe, holding the fon of Flaccus in his 
 arms, prefenting him to the judges, and imploring 
 in his behalf humanity and the laws : Can we won- 
 der at the effect we are told of, that he was inter- 
 rupted by the groans and fobs of the auditory ? Can 
 we wonder, that fuch a fcene fhould feduce and bias 
 the judges ? In fine, is it to be looked upon as ama- 
 iing, that the eloquence of Cicero was fo frequently 
 fuccefsful in faving his guilty clients? The Areopagus, 
 which was refolved to maintain ftridt juftice, forbad the 
 advocates the ufe of all eloquence. He mull there, 
 
 * See the peroration for Flaccus j it is perhaps next to that fot 
 Milo, which was never fpoke, the beft in Cicero. 
 
 and 
 
AND STYLE IN GENERAL. 33 
 
 and at our tribunals, have produced other reafons, be- 
 fides thofe which were pathetic ; and the judges of 
 Athens, like ours, would have given moft of thofe 
 caufes againft him, which he gained at Rome. 
 
 We muft not only feel, to be eloquent, but we muft 
 not feel by halves, as we mufl not conceive by halves, 
 if we would fpeak with clearnefs. If you would 
 have me weep, you muft weep yourfelf, fays Horace, 
 in his admirable Art of Poetry, which may be juftly 
 called the code of good tafte. We muft acknowledge, 
 however, that if the agitation, which animates the orator 
 when he writes, be very lively, it is not necefTary it 
 mould be always equal to what it propofes to excite. 
 Our minds have two principles by which they are moved, 
 fentiment and imagination. The firft of thefe refources 
 has doubtlefs the greateft force ; but the imagination 
 can fometimes aft a part, and yet keep its place ; 
 by its means an orator will draw tears from the au- 
 dience, and fhed them himfelf, without being really 
 affected ; by its means it is that a comedian, putting 
 himfelf in the place of thofe he represents, agitates 
 and diftreffes the fpeclators \vith the animated recital 
 of thofe misfortunes he is not fenfible of; in fine, it is 
 by means of the imagination, that men of fine parts are 
 capable, by their writings, of infpiring that love of 
 virtue, which they have not themfelves. Imagination 
 does not fupply the want of fentiment by the impreflion 
 it makes on ourfelves, but it can fupply it by the im- 
 pulfe which it gives to others. The eftccl of fenti- 
 jnent in us is more concentred ; that of imagination is 
 mere calculated to expand itfelf abroad; the a&ion of 
 C 5 the 
 
34 REFLECTIONS ON ELOCUTION, 
 
 the latter is more violent and mort ; that of fentiment 
 is more flrong and conftant. 
 
 Thus the emotion, which ought to animate an ora- 
 tor, mould compenfate, by its vehemence, what it 
 wants in point of -duration. It is not like that fu- 
 perficial agitation which eloquence excites in cold 
 breafts, an impreffion purely mechanic, produced by 
 example, and the tone which is given to a multitude : 
 The more genius the hearer is endued with, the more 
 will his impreffion refemble that of the orator, and 
 the more capable will he be of imitating that which 
 he admires. 
 
 If the end of eloquence is to convey to the mind 
 of another perfon the movements of our own breaft, 
 it follows, that the more limple a difcourfe is upon 
 grand fubje&s, the more eloquent it will be, becaufe 
 it will paint the fentiment with the greateft truth. 
 
 I cannot tell what has induced fo many modern 
 writers to talk fo much of the " eloquence of things," 
 as if there was an eloquence of words. 
 
 Eloquence (it cannot be repeated too often) is 
 always in the fubjecl, and the nature of the fub- 
 jeft ; or rather of the fentiment it produces, transfufed 
 into the difcourfe. Eloquence does not confift, (as 
 fome of the antients have faid, and a great many 
 echoes have fince repeated) in faying great things in 
 a fublime ftyle, but in a fimple one. It is enfeebling 
 a great idea, to feek to elevate it with a pomp of 
 words. The Pfalrnift fays, " The heavens declare 
 " the glory of God, and the firmament fheweth forth 
 " his handy-work." How ftrangely has one of our 
 
 own 
 
AND STYLE IN GENERAL. 35 
 
 own pcets disfigured this fublime thought in attempt' 
 ing to extend and adorn it. 
 
 The heavens inftruft the earth 
 
 Their author, to revere, 
 All that the globe contains 
 
 Extols creating power : 
 ' O ! what a lofty fong, 
 
 A concert, O 1 how grand, 
 Of all the heavenly orbs ; 
 
 What grandeur infinite ! 
 What harmony divine 
 
 Refults <from their accords ! 
 
 This example, perhaps, it will be faid, is ill chofe : 
 The entire ftrophe is but indiiFerent, and unworthy 
 to be compared with the original. Let us take an- 
 other, whofe beauty cannot be denied, the fong of 
 Ezekiah, tranflated by the fame poet. 
 
 I've feen my peniive days 
 Verging to their decline, 
 And, at the noon of life, 
 I'm going jult to fet, 
 Death, fpreading wide his wings, 
 O'erwhelms in endlefs made 
 The light I once enjoy'd, 
 And in that darkfome night 
 I feek in vain the reft 
 Of my departed days. 
 
 How 
 
36 REFLECTIONS ON ELOCUTION, 
 
 How admirable are thefe verfes ! We cannot help 
 tracing the poet in " the noon of life, and the fetting 
 4< of life ; the days verging to their decline, and the 
 <( wide-fpread wings of death." Can thefe images, 
 beautiful as they are, (but the produ&icns of wit, 
 which feeks to paint, and not of fentiment, which 
 feeks only to exprefs) be compared with the itriking 
 Simplicity of Scripture, the deep and unfeigned pen- 
 fivenefs with which the young prince reprefents him- 
 felf at the gates of death? " I have faid, in the 
 " midft of my days I lhall die, and I have fought 
 *' the reft of my years." 
 
 But further, let us compare the poet with himfelf 
 in the fame piece ; we fhall find, that, however beau- 
 tiful be the itrophe we have juft cited, we fhall not 
 heiitate to prefer the following for this Jingle reafon, 
 that the expreflion is more natural, and lefs ftudied. 
 
 With mournful cries and fears 
 My troubles feem to grow, 
 My eyes, bedew' d with tears, 
 Would gladly ope no more : 
 I tell the darkfome night, 
 Thou'lt overwhelm my foul ; 
 I tell the ruddy morn, 
 That day thou gilds fo bright 
 Shall be the laft to me. 
 
 Nothing could have been more beautiful than this 
 ftrophe, if the original had not exceeded it in being 
 
 rnore 
 
AND STYLE IN GENERAL. 37 
 
 more fimple " I have faid I mall fee my people no 
 " more, and my eyes, weary with looking to heaven, are 
 clofed." 
 
 The juft elogium of Longinus upon that fublime 
 paflage in Geneiis, is well known, " God faid let 
 " there-be light, and there was light;" fome modern 
 writers have pretended, that this palTage, inftead of an 
 example of the fublime, ihould be mentioned as an 
 example of fnnplicity. They look upon that to be 
 the dired oppofite of the fublime, which conflitutes 
 its true character, " the fimple expreffion of a great 
 idea". 
 
 But let us pafs from facred to profane inftances and 
 give another example of the advantages of iimplicity 
 of exprefiion, to convey noble and pathetic ideas 
 with all poflible energy and truth ; let us recollect in 
 what manner Virgil paints Orpheus, folitary and 
 penfive on the fea-fhore, lamenting his dear Euridice 
 from the rifmg to the departing day. A middling 
 poet, a poet with lefs tafte, would have ufed the ppe- 
 tical phrafe of the rifmg and the fetting fun ; Ovid 
 would have been glad of the opportunity, but let us 
 hear Virgil, 
 
 Te dulcis conjux, te folo in littore fecum, 
 Te veniente die, te decedente canebat. 
 
 If any thing can be fuperior to thefe admirable 
 lines, it is the moving and real defcription of the 
 Jews in captivity : " By the ftreams of Babylon we far, 
 and wept when we remembered Sion". 
 
 The 
 
38 REFLECTIONS ON ELOCUTION, 
 
 The natural and fimple ftyle, fays Pafcal, enchants 
 us with reafon ; for we expected the author, and we 
 find the man. The moft brilliant expreflion lofes its 
 merit, when the attention of the mind is wearied 
 with purfuing it : This exertion makes us think 
 the author is poffefTed with himfelf, and has a mind 
 to poflefs us alfo with the fame idea ; from that time 
 his title to our approbation finks, and we give our 
 confent to him, as fcantily and as reluctantly as pof- 
 fible. Befides, the affectation of ftyle injures the ex- 
 preifion of the fentiment, and confequently the truth 
 of it. A writer, juftly celebrated for his works, but 
 a dangerous model, and deemed fufpicious in matters 
 of talte, has paft an elogium upon this phrafe of 
 Rochefoucaut, " my underftanding was the dupe of my 
 heart," meaning, ** I believed my miftrefs faithful, be- 
 caufe I wifhed her fo;" the laft expreflion is that of na- 
 ture, it is the only one which would prefent itfelf to 
 a diftreffed lover ; the firfl is that of a wit, who never 
 was in love, or is pail it. 
 
 One of the fureft ways of judging whether a flyle 
 has this ineftimable and rare fimplicity or no, is to 
 place ourfelves in the circumftances*of the author ; to 
 fuppofe we have the fame thought to exprefs, and to 
 fee if, without pains or preparation, we render it in the 
 fame manner. 
 
 " Unhappy Phocas ! Maurice! O how happy ! thou 
 " haft two fons, who after thee will die; but when I'm 
 * gone, I have not one to reign." 
 
 Could the moft ordinary perfon in the world, who 
 had this fentiment to exprefs, convey it in any other 
 
 terms ? 
 
AND STYLE IN GENERAL. 39 
 
 terms ? the only difference between a common man 
 and a genius, is that the fecond finds the fentiment in 
 his own heart, the firft muft have it fuggefted to him. 
 
 Genuine ftrokes of eloquence are the molt eafily 
 tranilated, becaufe of the grandeur of the idea, under 
 whatever form it is prefented ; and there is no lan- 
 guage which will not admit of a natural and fimple 
 expreflion of a fublime fentiment. 
 
 Men, faid a philofopher, have pretty near the fame 
 fund of thoughts, they only differ in the manner of 
 conveying them. This maxim is both true and.falfe ; 
 all men have the fame fund of common thoughts, 
 which the vulgar exprefs difagreeably, and the inge- 
 nious gracefully; great ideas belong only to great 
 geniufes ; middling ones receive them only upon credit, 
 and the ornaments in which they appear, difcover them 
 to be not in their natural foils, but exotics, and 
 tranfplanted. 
 
 But it maybe faid, if eloquence, properly fo call'd, 
 that which moves us by great objects, has fo little need 
 of the rules of elocution ; if it requires only to fol- 
 low the expreffion which is dictated by nature ; why 
 have the antients given us fo many treatifes upon the 
 rules of elocution ? This queftion deferves to be exa- 
 mined deeply. 
 
 Eloquence, properly fpeaking, confifts only in lively 
 and rapid ftrokes ; its effeft is to move violently, and 
 all the emotion dies in a fhort time ; fo that it is im- 
 poflible that eloquence mould reign in long difcourfes, 
 except by intervals ; the darknefs and light muft al- 
 ternately prevail. But if the fhades of a pi&ure are 
 
 necefTary 
 
40 REFLECTIONS ON ELOCUTION, 
 
 neceflary, they ought not to be too ftrong : The orator 
 and the auditor mufl both have their retting places ; 
 but in thofe places he muft only breathe, not fleep ; 
 and it is by the calm charms of elocution, that he 
 mufl be kept in this fweet and agreeable fituation. 
 Thus it is certain, whatever air of paradox it may affume, 
 that the rules of elocution are only required for thofe 
 pafTages, which are not truly eloquent, where nature 
 Hands in need of art. The man of genius is in no 
 danger of falling into a feeble and negligent ftyle, 
 except where he is not fuftained by his matter. It 
 -is then he ought to have recourfe to elocution, and 
 intently to purfue it ; when he has great things to fay, 
 his elocution will be what it ought to be, without 
 pains. 
 
 The antients, if I am not miftaken, were fenfible 
 of this truth, on which account they treated eloquence 
 with fuch detail, and for the fame reafon we mall trace 
 its principles the more curforily. 
 
 Elocution has two parts, which it is nece/Tary to 
 diftinguifh, though they are frequently confounded, 
 diction, and ftyle. Diction has properly no relation 
 but to the grammatical qualities of a difcourfe, fuch 
 as correctnefs, and clearnefs. Style, on the other hand, 
 comprehends thofe qualities of elocution, which are 
 more particular, more difficult, and more rare, which 
 mark the genius and talents of the writer or fpeaker ; 
 fuch as propriety, elevation, harmony, and eafe. Let 
 us go over them in order. 
 
 Though correctnefs be fo eflential a quality that it 
 needs no recommendation, the orator ought not to be 
 
 fuch 
 
AND STYLE IN GENERAL. 41 
 
 fuch a flave to it, as to injure the fpirit of his difcourftf. 
 A happy licentioufnefs is to be ranked among fmall 
 faults ; it is blameable to be incorreft, but it is a 
 crime to be cold. When Racine faid, " Je t' aimois 
 " inconftant qu'eufle je fait fidele !" he chofe rather 
 to be inaccurate, than languid, and to fail in gram- 
 mar, than in expreflion. 
 
 Clearnefs, that fundamental law, neglefted every day 
 by fo many writers, who think themfelves profound, 
 and are only obfcure, confiils in avoiding not merely 
 ambiguous conftruftions, and phrafes loaded with 
 ideas acceflbry to the principal one, but all epigram- 
 matic turns, the wit of which the multitude are not 
 capable of underftanding. I fay the multitude, for 
 the orator muft not forget that it is to them he fpeaks ; 
 it is them whom he is to move, to melt, and to per- 
 fuade. Eloquence, which is not calculated for the 
 bulk of mankind, is no eloquence at all ; but if the 
 orator is to banilh from his difcourfe the epigram- 
 matic finefie, which for the moft part is nothing but 
 the puerile and contemptible art of making things 
 appear more ingenuous than they are, there is 
 another kind of fineffe, which may be allowed him, 
 which is fometimes neceflary, and which ought to 
 be diilinguimed from obfcurity. Obfcurity confifts in 
 prefenting to the mind an adulterated fenfe ; the fi- 
 nefTe, in prefenting two fenfes, the one obvious and 
 fimple, for the vulgar, and a more ornamented and po- 
 liihed one for men of genius ; and why may not an elo- 
 quent difcourfe referve a few ftrokes for thofe, whom an 
 orator will really have the higheH ambition to pleafe? It 
 
 belongs 
 
42 REFLECTIONS ON ELOCUTION, 
 
 belongs to great geniufes to judge him, and to the mul- 
 titude to obey him. He ought however to be fober 
 and cautious in indulging this finefle, and to for- 
 bid himfelf the ufe of it in all fubje&s fufceptible of 
 elevation or vehemence, which require a manly co- 
 louring, and bold and deep flrokes ; refinement of ex* 
 preffion in fuch fubjecls deilroys all noblenefs, and 
 ferves only to enervate without embellilhing. It is 
 in ftyle, as it is in characler ; grandeur and fine/Te are 
 incompatable. If we regard literally what has been 
 frequently afTerted, that clearnefs is the charafteriftic 
 of our language, we fhall imagine it to be the moft 
 favourable for an orator. But to be undeceived in 
 this refpecl, nothing more is neceffary than to write 
 in French ourfelves, or to afk thofe who have. No 
 language without exception is more liable to obfcu- 
 rity than ours, and none requires more minute caution 
 in the ufe of it, in order to be underflood. 
 
 Clearnefs is the property of our language in this 
 fenfe only, that a French writer ought never to lofe the 
 clearnefs of his view, becaufe it is always ready to 
 pfcape him ; it may naturally be afked then, how a lan- 
 guage, fubject to this grevious fault, and itfelf timid, 
 furd, and far from exuberant, mould have met with 
 fuch rare fortune all over Europe ? Many caufes have 
 concurred to this, the grandeur France rofe to in the 
 late reign, the fuperiority of our good writers in point 
 of tafle, above thofe of other nations, and perhaps 
 that capricious defliny which determines the fate of 
 languages, as well as that of men. 
 
 Befidcs 
 
AND STYLE IN GENERAL. 43 
 
 Eefides clearnefs and corre&nefs, which are entirely 
 grammatical, and have no relation to any thing but 
 diftion, there is another correftnefs equally effential, 
 which belongs to ftyle, and coniifts in the propriety 
 of the terms : in midling authors, their expreffion is 
 always befide the idea, and the perufal of them gives 
 men of genius a kind of pain like that which a fine 
 ear feels from a perfon, who lings neither well nor ill. 
 Propriety of terms is the diftin&ive charafteriftic of 
 great writers ; it is this which fets their flyle upon a 
 level with their fubjecl:; it is this quality which dif- 
 covers the true talent of writing, and not the frivo- 
 lous art of difguifing common ideas with falfe colours* 
 
 It is this neceflity of ufmg proper terms, that 
 makes good verfes fo rare, becaufe the reftraint laid 
 upon poetry, obliges verifiers to content themfelves 
 with expreffing their thoughts feebly or imperfectly, 
 when by good luck they happen to have any ; on the 
 other hand, thofe who have true poetical talents, derive 
 from this very reftraint, a fource of new beauties. 
 The obligation the poet is under to feek for expreffion, 
 often leads him to thofe which have the greatefl 
 energy and propriety, which perhaps he would never 
 have hit upon, if he had wrote in profe, becaufe his 
 pride induces him to be pleafed with thofe, which 
 firft offer themfelves to his pen-. This conftraint, and 
 the advantage fpringing from it, is the beft reafon 
 perhaps that can be afligned, why our tragedies mould 
 flill be in rhyme ; but it would be worth while to en- 
 quire whether the obfervance of this law has not pro- 
 duced more bad verfes than good ; and whether it 
 
 does 
 
44 REFLECTIONS ON ELOCUTION, 
 
 does not hurt many excellent geniufes, who, without 
 much fkill in poetry, may pofTefs extraordinary ta* 
 lents for the flage. 
 
 From the propriety of terms, arife precifion, ele- 
 gance, and energy, according to the nature of the 
 fubjecls treated of, or the things defcribed : Pre* 
 cifion in philofophical, elegance in entertaining, and 
 energy in grand or pathetic fubjecls. 
 
 Thefe qualities at the fame time that they fuit the 
 flyle to the fubject, give it an air of noblenefs, ef- 
 pecially as an orator ought to feparate all popular ideas 
 and low fubjedls. It is true, that the lownefs of ideas 
 and fubjedls is too often arbitrary ; the antients al- 
 lowed themfelves much more liberty than we, who, 
 having banifh'd all delicacy from our manners, have 
 carried it to excefs in our writings, and our difcour- 
 fes. However unphilofophical a nation may be in 
 this refpecl, an orator, who would expect to fucceed 
 in it, muft conform himfelf to its prejudices, which 
 may be called the philofophy of the vulgar; even 
 genius braves them in vain, efpecially among a light 
 and frivolous people, who are more ftruck with the 
 ridiculous than the grand, who would be unmoved 
 with a fublime, while they would not fuffer a popular 
 or a trivial expreflion to efcape them ; and who after 
 whole pages of genius, would be implacable to a fmgle 
 line of bad tafle. 
 
 We come now to harmony, one of the mofl indif- 
 penfable ornaments of an eloquent difcourfe. To aflc 
 if there be any harmony of ftyle, is almoft to en- 
 quire, whether there be any fuch thing as mufic -, and 
 
 to 
 
AND STYLE IN GENERAL. 45 
 
 to attempt to prove it, almoft as ridiculous as to put the 
 queftion. Some no doubt have no ear for harmony of 
 language, as others have none for muncal harmony; 
 but nature, and not reafoning, mult help them. 
 
 The antients were extremely delicate upon this 
 point, as we may learn from a pafTage of Cicero f, 
 where, in defcribing the effect of the eloquence of a 
 tribune, who invoked the manes of a citizen againil 
 a feditious fon, he appears more engaged with the 
 arrangement of his words, than the idea they convey. 
 
 Cicero's attention to harmony in pathetic pafTages, 
 is no contradiction to what we have advanced, " that 
 " great ideas excufe negligence of terms." We do not 
 mean here expreflion in itfelf, but the mechanical dif 
 pofition of words ; the firft is dictated by nature, the 
 fecond proceeds from a good ear, and the art of ar- 
 ranging terms in the mofl harmonious manner. An 
 orator is like a mufician, genius may enable him to 
 
 f I was prefent, fays Cicero, when L.Carbi, cried out in an ha- 
 rangue to the people, " O Marce Drufe (patrem appello) tu dicerc 
 folebas facram, efle rempublicam ; quicunque earn violavifict ab 
 " omnibus efle ei paenas perfolutas j patris dictum fapiens teajeritas 
 ** filii comprobavit". 
 
 This termination " comprobavit" adds Cicero, excited a general 
 admiration throughout the whole afiembly ; were we to change 
 tke order of the words in this manner, tf comprobavit filii teme- 
 ' ritas", it will have no effect. This will convince us,, by the 
 way, of the modefty of our modern Latinifls, who fpeak Latin ai 
 ill as they write it : This example will be fufficient to /hew how ex 
 quifitely feofiblc the antients were of harmony, 
 
 fin 
 
46 REFLECTIONS ON ELOCUTION, 
 
 fmg, but art and a good ear alone can direct in pro* 
 peyly connecting modulated founds. 
 
 Though our poetry and profe are lefs fufceptible of 
 harmony than thofe of the antients, they have not- 
 withftanding a certain kind of melody which is pe- 
 culiar to them. Perhaps our profe has one advan- 
 tage in not being fo monotonous, and confequently 
 not fo fatiguing ; the conqueft of difficulties is the 
 great merit of poetry, and the principal fource of the 
 pleasure it occasions : Is it not on this account that 
 we feldom read a long work in verfe at once with- 
 out difguft, and that the charms of verification af- 
 fect us lefs in proportion to our advancement in years ? 
 
 However it be, as poets have formed languages, fo 
 the harmony of poetry has given birth to that of profe. 
 Malherbe among us wrote harmonious odes, when our 
 profe was barbarous and uncouth : We are indebted 
 to Balzac for firft giving it harmony. " Eloquence, fays 
 " Mr. Voltaire, has fo much power over mankind, 
 " that we admire Balzac in his time, for having found 
 " that fmall mare of an unknown, but neceffary art, 
 " which confifts in the choice of harmonious words, 
 " and for having ufed them out of their place." The 
 Ityle of Thucidides, which wants nothing but har- 
 mony, according to Cicero, is like the buckler of 
 .Minerva by Phidias, which might be taken to pieces. 
 
 There are two things wfcich charm the ear in a dif- 
 courfe, found, and number ; the found, by the quality 
 of the words ; the number, by their arrangement. It 
 is not eafy for an orator to err in thefe points ; as little 
 pretenfions as he may have to a fine ear, the pronun- 
 ciation 
 
AND STYLE IN GENERAL. 47 
 
 ciation alone will enable him to diftinguilh founds 
 that are fvveet and melodious, from thofe which are 
 harfti and unmufical ; and for the fame reafon thofe, 
 which when connected are fmooth and harmonious, 
 from thofe which are rough and uneven ; but there is 
 another thing with refpeft to harmony to be attended 
 to, which is equally neceflary with the choice and fuc- 
 ceflion of words, and which requires a well-verfed and 
 delicate ear. 
 
 As in mufic, the agreement of the melody does not 
 arife only from the relation which the founds, but alfo 
 which the feveral phrafes of the fong, have to each 
 other ; fo oratory (which is more analogous to mufi- 
 cal harmony than we imagine) confifts in not making 
 too great an inequality betwixt the members of the 
 fame phrafe ; and alfo in not making the laft members 
 too fhort in proportion to the firft ; to Ihun equally pe- 
 riods which are too long, and phrafes which are too 
 contracted, or, if I may fay fo, half blown, a ftyle, 
 which takes away our breath, and one which obliges 
 us to draw it every inftant, which refembles a kind 
 of chequer work ; in fine, to know how to intermingle 
 rounded and well-fupported periods, with others which 
 are lefs, and only ferve for the repofe of the ear. It 
 is fcarce to be believed, how much a iingle word, 
 being longer or fhorter at the end of a phrafe, or 
 a termination being mafculine or feminine, or even 
 the difference of a fmgle fyllable, changes the har- 
 mony of the whole. The clofe fludy of the beft 
 matters, joined to a quick and fenfible ear, will teach 
 us better than all the rules in the world. 
 
 A* 
 
4 S REFLECTIONS ON ELOCUTION, 
 
 As to affectation and ftifhefs, thofe enemies to every 
 kind of beauty, they are not lefs fo in this refpecl. 
 Cicero fo difficult in every thing relating to harmony 
 of flyle, condemns Theopompus very juftly -for his 
 extreme attention to avoid every concourfe of vowels. 
 Cuflpm and the ear, muft procure for us this talent 
 of themfelves, without fatigue. The pra&ifed orator, 
 by a kind of inftincl:, perceives the fucceffion of har- 
 monious words, as a good reader fees by a glance of 
 his eyes, the fyllables which go before and tliofe which 
 come after. 
 
 In imitation of the antients, we have banimed the 
 great verfe from ourprofe; but it is remarkable that 
 our mofl founding profe contains many verfes of 
 fmaller meafure, which being properly intermixed 
 and without rhyme, give it all the agreeablene/s of 
 poetry, without that monotony and uniformity, for 
 which our verfe is reproached. The profe of Moliere 
 abounds with this kind of verfe, the firfl fcene of the 
 Sicilian furnilhes us with an example. 
 
 Chut n'avancez pas d'avantage 
 
 Et demeurez en cet endroit, 
 
 Jufqu'a ce que, je vous appelle 
 
 111 fait nour comme dans un four mouche 
 
 Le ciel fi eft habille ce foir en fcara 
 
 Et je ne vois pas unecloile, 
 
 Que montre le bout de fon nez 
 
 -Sotte condition que celle diin efclave 
 
 Dene vivre jamais pour foi, 
 
 Et 
 
AND STYLE IN GENERAL. 49 
 
 Et d'etre toujours, toutenties 
 Aux paflions d* un makre 
 
 TThe reft of the piece is pretty nearly of the fame kind. 
 
 The harmonious difpofition of words is fometimes 
 incompatable with their logical arrangement ; what 
 ihall be done in this cafe.? A rigid philofopher would 
 not hefitate at all; reafon is his mailer, I had almoft 
 faid, his tyrant. The orator, as much a captive to 
 his ear, as the philofopher to reafon, facrifkes fometimes 
 harmony, fometimes juflnefs, according to theobjedl he 
 ihas in view; harmony, when he wants to ftrike by 
 things; juftnefs, when he -fecks to attract by expreflion; 
 but thefe faorifices ought feldom to be made, .and then 
 -only in light inftances. 
 
 To unite juihiefs and harmony was in all probabi- 
 lity the fuperior talent of Demofthenes'; but in a dead 
 language, the merit of thefe two qualities in a great 
 uneafure'difap pears. We fuppofe more than we feel J, 
 and its no wonder that fome moderns in doing juftice 
 to his eloquence, mould not be (truck in the fame 
 manner as the Athenians ; their admiration doubtlefs 
 was juft, becaufe they were a delicate and fenilble 
 D nation ; 
 
 J In pronouncing Latin verfes, we maim the profody and the 
 meafure every moment we make long fhort, and (hort long j we 
 dwell upon vowels which ought to difappear on account of the eli- 
 fion j in fliort, we fcaai the verfeagainft the fcnfe, and yet wefind har- 
 mony in Latin verfe 5 is this reafon or prejudice ? I have faid we fcan 
 the verfe againft the fenfe, the demonftration is eafy. In fcanning 
 ior example hexameter vcrfcs, we Hop At the laft fyUablc of the da&yle, 
 
50 REFLECTIONS ON ELOCUTION, 
 
 nation; and they underftood his eloquence and his 
 language. Ours in the fame degree would be the 
 extravagance of enthufiafm. 
 
 The rational efteem of a philofopher does more 
 honour to great writers, than the exclamations of a 
 college, and the prejudice of pedants. Pindar was 
 certainly a great poet ; antiquity, more capable of de- 
 ciding his merit than we, has pronounced him fuch ; 
 but is this a reafon why we mould admire him like 
 infants, even in his extravagancies.? 
 
 Can we laugh at any thing more ridiculous than 
 the commentary of Deipreaux on the firft ode of this 
 author, .and his efforts to give a fub.lime tranflation of 
 .the fantalUcal mixture, which the Greek poet makes 
 cf water, gold, and the fun, with the Olympic games, 
 iii the fame ftrophe* If Perrault or Chapelain had 
 jbeen the ajuthor of fuch a one, what a copious fubjecl 
 would it have afforded for pleafantry or fatyr. 
 
 But to return to ourfubjeft : however agreeable har- 
 mony may ,be in itielf, it will lofe .a great deal of it* 
 .value, if it is on]y employed in adorning a loofe, dif- 
 fufe flyle. Axoncife llyle, which is neither disjointed 
 nor obfcure, has this fmgular merit .above all others, 
 to make a difcourfe referable the progrefs of the 
 
 nd yet k is a'wr.ys (hort ; 'tis juft as if in a comfofuion of mufick, 
 x:o'ififting of minims ard crochets, we fhould flop and dwell upoa 
 the lafl chrochet j we fcan verfes as if the daclyle, infiead of being t 
 long fyllable followed by two fhor: ones, was a /hort fyllable fol- 
 lowed 1 y two long Grits. Muficians will undtrfiand mr, and I muft 
 nfc too many words to be underwood by others, 
 
AND STYLE IN GENERAL. 51 
 
 wind, and imitate that rapid operation by which the 
 intellectual powers communicate their ideas. We 
 become often more obfcure in fhunning brevity, than, 
 in courting it ; in taking the longefl rout we often 
 lofe our way ; the fureft method of accompliming our 
 purpofe, is to go the fhorteft road, provided we can 
 keep conftantly advancing, and not leaping from one 
 place to another. Brevity does not confift in omitting 
 any neceiTary ideas, but in ranging each idea in its 
 proper place, and expreffing it by the moil proper 
 terms ; by this means our ftyle will have this twofold 
 advantage, of being concife without fatiguing, and 
 explicit without being loofe. 
 
 From thefe principles we may judge how diflant 
 from true eloquence is that loquacity fo frequent at the 
 bar, which confifts in faying a very little in a great 
 many words ; two reafons have contributed to this 
 fault, (than which there cannot be a more unfupporta- 
 ble one to true genius) the falfe ideas of eloquence^ 
 which are entertained in our colleges, where youth 
 are taught to drown a common thought in a deluge 
 of infipid periods ; and that example of Cicero, who 
 is too often verbofe, " He who has life and pith', fays 
 *' Montaigne, is ftufted. with his long-winded fentences.'* 
 'Tis true, Cicero makes us forget this fault for the 
 other qualities of an orator, which he poflefies in a 
 fupreme degree ; but the defects of great writers are 
 always imitated by middling authors. 
 
 It is not fufficient that the ftyle of the orator be 
 
 $lear, corred, noble, harmonious, lively, and concife ; 
 
 D z it 
 
52 REFLECTIONS ON ELOCUTION, 
 
 it muft alfo be eafy; or, in other words, the pains 
 it coils, mull not be perceivable. 
 
 Cicero, fo often cited already, and who cannot be 
 too much recommended, in a treatife concerning elo- 
 quence, owes one of his greateft charms to the ini- 
 mitable facility of his ilyle. If we perceive a flight 
 degree of ftudy, it is in his care to arrange his words, 
 and yet we may fee this care does not cofl him much ; 
 and that the words, after prefenting themfelves to his 
 mind without feeking for them, come in of them- 
 felves, and marfhal themfelves without trouble under 
 Jiis pen. 
 
 The true character of the eloquence of Cicero, in 
 my opinion, is, a happy conjunction of eafe and 
 harmony. It is this union, being fo difficult to imi- 
 tate, which renders this author fo hard to tranflate, 
 cfpecially in a language like ours, where the in- 
 verfion is not permitted, and where a forced arrange- 
 ment of words is a continual danger to the harmony. 
 The habit and ufe of writing in verfe, produces thofe 
 gns of afFe&ation and labour in writing in profe, 
 which the orator ought very carefully to avoid. 
 
 Mbft poets, accuftomed to the ordinary language of 
 verification, tranfport themfelves, again!! their will, 
 into profe ; and, if they make any efforts to become 
 iimple, they are confcrained and fliff ; if they aban- 
 don themfelves to the negligence of their pen, their 
 ilyle is languid and fpiritlefs. Thus, our poets have 
 commonly fucceeded ill in profe. The prefaces of 
 Ra/cine are feebly written ; thofe of Corneille are as 
 defective in point of language, as they are excellent 
 
 in 
 
AND STYLE IN GENERAL. jj 
 
 in depth of matter. The profe of RoufTeau is hard, 
 that of Defpreaux heavy, and that of Fontaine in- 
 iipid. 
 
 Nothing is more opposite to an eafy ftyle, and con- 
 fequently to a good tafte, than that figurative and 
 poetical language, which is charged with metaphors 
 and antithefes, which is called, for what reafon I 
 cannot tell, the academic ftyle, though the moft ce- 
 lebrated members of the French academy have fhun- 
 ned it with care, and feverely profcribed it in their 
 works. We may call it, with more reafon, the ftyle 
 of the pulpit, as being ufed by moft of our modern 
 preachers : It makes their fermons refemble not 
 the effufion of a heart penetrated with the truths 
 which it wants to perfuade others, but a kind of te- 
 dious, monotonous reprefentation, where the after is 
 applauding himfelf, without being attended to. What 
 fliall we fay of a man, who, being about to addrefe 
 us on the things of a world, where we are moft inte~ 
 refted, acquits himfelf by a ftudied, meafured dif- 
 courfe, charged with figures and ornaments ? Can this 
 rhetorician appear to us any otherwife, than as acling 
 an infipid and ridiculous part ? This is the true picture 
 of the generality of our preachers. Their declamations 
 feem beneath the pious comedies of our miflionaries, 
 which make men of the world fmile, and common 
 people weep. Thefe mifiiouaries feem at leaft to be 
 affected with what they deliver, and their elocution, 
 coarfe and unpoliihed as it is, produces its efteft on 
 thofe for whom it is calculated. 
 
 D 3 Is 
 
$4 REFLECTIONS ON ELOCUTION, 
 
 Is it not aftoniihing after this, that the eloquence 
 of the pulpit mould be regarded as a bad fpecies, by 
 thofe who confound this fpecies with the abufe of it ? 
 Le Petit Careme of father Maflillon will fuffice to 
 teach Chriftian orators', and their judges, the dif-* 
 ference betwixt true elegance, and that affectation. 
 to which it is oppofcd. We may likewife appeal to 
 the fernron on the humanity of the great, which 
 preachers ought conflantly to read, to form a good 
 tafte, and princes to be acquainted with, to leant 
 they are men. 
 
 The fimplicity and nature of MaiTdlon appear to 
 me more qualified to lead us into the fpirit of the 
 truth of Chriflianity, than all the dialectic of Bou- 
 daloue. The logic of the gofpel is in our hearts \ 
 there only mult we feek for it. The moft preffing 
 arguments in favour of the diflrefTed, will never 
 touch him, who can fee his fellow creatures fuffer 
 without being moved ; an infenfible mind is an harp- 
 flchord without firings, from which it is impoffible to 
 draw any found. If the dialectic is neceflary, it is 
 only in matters of doctrine, and thefe are more cal- 
 culated for books than the pulpit, which is only the 
 theatre of great emotion, and not minute difcuffion. 
 
 The feverity of controverfy rejects and profcribes 
 cvery-thing, but reafon and proof. To initruct and 
 convince are its only object ; we ought not to under- 
 take to prove the truths of Chriltianity in fermons, or 
 in verfe. The recollection of the clofet, and the au- 
 ilerity of profe, are more adapted to a matter fo 
 fcrious. 
 
 Jn 
 
AND STYLE IN GENERAL. 5? 
 
 In explaining the rules of oratorical elocution, we 
 have given thofe of ftyle in general. The orator, the 
 hiftorian, and the philofopher, (for one may reduce 
 all writers to thefe clafles) differ from each other moil 
 in the fubjeft they treat of, and this difference of fub- 
 jecl: renders a difference of ftyle necefTary. The hi- 
 ftorian ought to think and paint; the philofopher 
 fhould feel and think ; the orator feel, paint, and 
 think. But elocution has but one rule for all : To 
 be clear, precife, harmonious, and alfo eafy and 
 natural. 
 
 The affectation of ftyle, always painful and dif- 
 gufting, is peculiarly fo in matters of philofophy, 
 which ought to fhine in their own beauty, the chief 
 ornament being the fubject itfelf, and which rejeft, as 
 unworthy, all borrowed finery. It is principally to 
 thefe matters, that we may apply that beautiful paf- 
 fage of Petronius; " Grandis et ut ita dicam pudica 
 ** oratio naturali pulchritudine exurgh." The great, 
 and, if I may fay, the chafle oration, rifes up in its 
 own natural beauty. 
 
 In a word, truth, fimplicity, and nature, are all 
 which a writer ought to have conftantly before his 
 eyes. The eilential point of good writing is, to be 
 rich in ideas ; but ideas are fcarce, and rhetoric 
 common. 
 
A SHORT ACCOUNT OF THE GOVERN- 
 MENT OF GENEVA. 
 
 * | V HE city of Geneva Hands upon two hills at the 
 A end of the lake, which at prefent bears its 
 name, and was formerly called the Leman Lake. 
 The fituation is delightful ; on one fide you fee the 
 lake, on the other the Rhone, and all around a 
 beautiful country: Hills covered with rural villas 
 the whole length of the lake ; and here and there the 
 frozen fummits of the Alps, which in fine weather, 
 when illuminated by the fun, look like mountains of 
 filver. 
 
 The port of Geneva, upon the lake, fecured by- 
 jnoks) furnifhed with veflels, having a good mart, 
 and lying between France, Italy, and Germany,, 
 renders the inhabitants induftrious, commercial, and 
 opulent. 
 
 % Geneva has many fine buildings, and agreeable 
 w alks: The flreets are well lighted in the night, 
 and they have ere&ed an engine upon the Rhone, 
 very fimple in its conftrudion, which can raife water 
 an hundred feet ; and by that means fupplies the 
 fcighefl parts of the town. The lake is about- 
 eighteen leagues in length, and between four and five 
 in breadth in the broadeft part. It is a kind of 
 fmaller fea, fubject to tempelts, and exhibiting other 
 curious phenomena. 
 
 Julius Caefar fpeaks of Geneva as a tow>n ; of the- 
 Aliobroges, at that time a Roman province : He: 
 
 came 
 
A SHORT ACCOUNT OF, &c. 57 
 
 came there to flop the progrefs of the Helvetians r 
 known fmce by the name of Swifs. -When Chrifti- 
 anity was introduced, it became an epifcopal fee, 
 fubjecl to the bifhop of Vienna. At the beginning 
 of the fifth century, the emperor Honorius gave up 
 the government to the citizens, who were difpofTefTed 
 of it again in 5 34, by the French king, 
 
 When Charlemagne, towards the end of the eighth, 
 century, went to attack the kings of Lombardy, and 
 to deliver the Roman pontiffs from thofe tyrants, (foe 
 which he was rewarded with the imperial crown) he 
 came to Geneva, and made it the general rendezvous 
 of his army. It was afterwards annexed as an in- 
 heritance to the German empire, and Conrad was 
 crowned there in 1034. But the fucceeding em- 
 perors, occupied in more important bulineis, which 
 the reHlefs fpirit of the holy fee was perpetually fur- 
 milling for more than 300 years, overlooked Geneva, 
 which infenfibly mock off the yoke, and became an 
 imperial city, having the biihop for its prince, or 
 rather its chief magiilrate, whofe authority was re- 
 ftrained by that of the citizens. The arms they took 
 from that time were expreffive of this fort of mixed 
 government, an imperial eagle on one fide, there- 
 verfe, a key, reprefenting the power of the church, 
 with this device, " Foil tenebras lux." 
 
 The city of Geneva {till retains thefe arras, after 
 having renounced the Roman church. They have 
 nothing in common with the papacy, but the keys, 
 which they bear upon their efcutcheoh.; and it I* 
 foni thing iingular, that they retain even thefe, aftcc 
 D 5 having 
 
58 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF 
 
 having broke, with a kind of fuperftition, every other 
 connection with Rome: They feem to have ima- 
 gined, that the device " Poft tenebras lux," which, 
 as they thought, exprefTed exaftly their religious con- 
 dition, would not allow them to make any alteration 
 in the other parts of their arms. 
 
 Their neighbours the dukes of Savoy, counte- 
 nanced fometimes by the bifhop, made many attempts 
 upon the liberty of the Genevois, which they bravely 
 repelled, fupported by the alliance of Fribourg and 
 Eerne. It was at that time, that is, about the year 
 1526, that the council of the two hundred was efta- 
 "blilhed. The opinions of Luther and Zuinglius 
 began then to gain ground ; they had been embraced 
 at Berne, were approved of by the Genevois, and, 
 in 1535? eftablimed among them ; popery was abo- 
 lifhed, and the bifhop, who flill takes upon him the 
 title of bifhop of Geneva, without having any more 
 jurifdiction there, than the bifhop of Babylon has in 
 his diocefe, has been fmce that time refident at 
 Annecy. 4 
 
 There is yet to be feen, between the two gates of 
 the town's hall at Geneva, a Latin infcription, in 
 memory of the abolition of the Catholic religion : 
 The pope is there called Antichrift. This expref- 
 fion, which, in the iirft fervours of liberty and inno- 
 vation, might be indulged to that uncultivated age, 
 feems to us, at this time, rather unworthy the philo- 
 fophic fpirit of Geneva. Let us recommend to them 
 to fubftitute, in the ftead of this rude and injuricus 
 
 memorial, 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF GENEVA. 59 
 
 memorial, fomething better, and with more truth 
 and fimplicity. 
 
 In refpeft to the Catholics, the pope is the head of 
 the true church: To Proteilants, the wifer and 
 more moderate of them, he is a fovereign prince in- 
 titled to refpect, though not obedience ; but, in an 
 age like this, the notion of Antichrift fhould be for- 
 gotten. 
 
 To maintain their liberty againfl the enterprizes of 
 the dukes of Savoy, and of their own biihops, the 
 Genevois ftrengthened themfelves farther by an al~ 
 Hance with Zurich, but efpecially with France. 
 By thefe they were enabled to refill the armies of 
 Charles Emmanuel, and the treafures of Philip the 
 fecond, a man whofe ambition and defpotifm, cruelty 
 and fuperftition, have loaded his memory with the 
 execrations of all poilerity. Henry the fourth, who 
 had fent 300 foldiers to aid the Genevois, had him- 
 felf foon after cccafion for their afuftance, which 
 proved ferviceable to him during the time of the 
 league, and on other occafions ; aad from Iience the 
 Genevois, as well as the Switzers, derive thofe pri- 
 vileges which they enjoy in France. 
 
 Defirous of doing honour to their city, the Gene 
 vois invited Calvin amongfl them, who had very de- 
 fervedly gained a high reputation : He was a man of 
 the firil rank in point of learning ; wrote Latin as 
 well as a dead language would allow, and French 
 with a purity very rare in that age. This excellence, 
 which able grammarians admire even now, rendered 
 his writings much fuperior to moll of his own time ; 
 
 as 
 
60 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF 
 
 as the works of MefTrs, de Port Royal are diftinguifhed 
 at this day, on the fame account, from the barbarous 
 rhapfodies of their adverfaries and cotemporaries. 
 
 Calvin, who was an able lawyer, and a wife divine,, 
 though heretical, compofed, in concert with the ma- 
 giftrates, a body of civil and ecclefiaflical laws, 
 which received the fan&ion of the people in the year 
 3 43, and are become the eftablifhed laws of the re- 
 public. 
 
 The fuperfluous wealth of the church, which, be- 
 fore the reformation, ferved only to pamper the 
 luxury of the bilhops, and their dependants, was em- 
 ployed in founding an hofpital, a college, and an 
 academy. But the wars, in which Geneva was en- 
 gaged for near 60 years, retarded the progrefs of thc- 
 arts, and of commerce, as well as the fciences. In 
 jine, the ill fuccefs of the efcalade, attempted by the 
 duke of Savoy in 1602, is the epocha of the tran- 
 quillity of this republic. 
 
 The Genevois repulfed their enemies, who had 
 attacked them by furprize ; and, to deter the duke 
 from attempting fuch kinds of enterprizes for the fu- 
 ture, they ordered three of his principal generals to 
 be hanged. They thought they had a right to treat 
 as criminals and robbers, thofe who attacked their 
 city, without having made any declaration of war ; 
 for this fmgular and modern piece of policy, of 
 inaking war without any declaration, was at that 
 time unkown in Europe ; and though it has been a 
 practice ever fince among the larger Mates, it is too 
 injurious to fmall ones ever to be relillied by them. 
 
 Puke 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF GENEVA. 6*. 
 
 Duke Charles having loft his generals, and finding 
 himfelf thus repulfed, gave over all thoughts of 
 making himfelf matter of Geneva. His example 
 ferved for a leflbn to his fucceflbrs ; and, fmce that 
 period, Geneva has been gradually increaling in in- 
 habitants, riches, and improvements, in the bofom 
 of peace. Some inteftine diflentions indeed (the la'lt 
 of which happened in 1738,) have now and then 
 difturbed a little the tranquillity of the ftate, but 
 they have been all happily compofed under the me- 
 diation of France, and the confederate cantons ; and 
 their fecurity againft foreign dangers is now better 
 provided for than ever, by two late treaties ; one con- 
 cluded in 1749 with France, the other in 1754* with 
 the king of Sardinia. 
 
 It is very remarkable, that a city, which contains 
 fcarce 24,000 inhabitants, and whofe fcattered terri- 
 tory confifls not of 30 villages, fhould be a fovereign 
 ftate, and one of the moft flourilhing cities of Europe ; 
 enriched by her liberty and her commerce, ihe fre~ 
 quently beholds every-thing around her in flames, 
 without having any lhare in the calamity. The events 
 which diflurb the reft of Europe, afford her only an 
 amufing fpectacle, which (he obferves without taking 
 any part in them. Attached to France by treaties 
 and by commerce, to England by commerce and re- 
 ligion, fhe is too prudent to intereft herfelf in the 
 wars that embroil thefe two powerful nations ; me 
 pronounces witk impartiality upon the juftice of their 
 contefts, and judges all the fovereigns of Europe, 
 without flattering, injuring, or fearing them. 
 
 Tk* 
 
62 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF 
 
 The city is well fortified, particularly on the fide 
 of that prince from whom it has moft to fear, the 
 king of Sardinia. On the fide of France it is almoft 
 open and defencelefs ; but difcipline is kept up as in 
 a military place, the arfenals and magazines well fur- 
 nifhed, every citizen is a foldier, as in Switzerland 
 and antient Rome : The Genevois are allowed to 
 go into foreign fervice, but the republic does notfur- 
 nifh any ftate with regular bodies of men, nor does 
 it fuffer an inrolment within its own territories. 
 
 Though the individuals are rich, the government is 
 poor, from that averfion which the people mew to 
 new taxes, how little burthenfome foever. The re- 
 venues of the flate do not amount to ;oo,>co livres 
 of French money ; and yet, by the admirable ceco- 
 nomy with which they are, managed, they are fuf- 
 ficient, and even afford a furplus for extraordinary 
 emergencies. 
 
 The people of Geneva are divided into four cla/Tes. 
 I. Citizens Who are the fons of burgefles, and 
 born in the city; thefe only, are intitled to any fhare 
 in the magiftracy. 2. BurgefTes Who are the fons 
 of burgefles or citizens, but born in a foreign coun- 
 try or ftrangers, who have obtained the freedom of 
 the city, which the magiilrates have a power to be- 
 ftow : Thefe may be appointed of the general 
 council, and even cf the grand council, called the 
 council of 200. 3. Inhabitants Strangers, who 
 have the permiilion of the magiftrates to live there, 
 but no other privilege. 4. Natives The fons of 
 inhabitants -, thefe have fome privileges their fathers 
 
 have 
 
TH GOVERNMENT OF GENEVA. 63 
 
 have not, but are excluded from all mare in the go- 
 vernment. 
 
 At the head of the republic are four fyndics, the 
 members of which continue only for one year, and 
 cannot be re-elefted till the expiration of four years : 
 To thefe are joined a fmall council, confining of 20 
 counfellors, a treafurer, and two fecretaries of ftate ; 
 and another corps, which is called the corps of juftice. 
 The daily occurrences which require difpatch, whe- 
 ther of a criminal or civil kind, are the province of 
 thefe two bodies of men. 
 
 The grand council is compofed of 2^0 citizens, 
 or burgeffes ; thefe determine upon the more impor-' 
 tant affairs of the civil government, grant pardons, 
 coin money, cleft the members of the petit council, 
 and deliberate on what is proper to be laid before the 
 general council, which comprehends the whole body 
 of the citizens and burgefTes, except thofe under 20, 
 bankrupts, and thofe who are rendered infamous : . 
 To this afiembly belongs the legiflative power, the 
 right of making peace and war, concluding treaties, 
 imposing taxes, and electing the principal magiftrates, 
 which is done in the cathedral, with great order and 
 decency, though the number of the electors is about 
 1500. 
 
 It is obfervable from this account, that the go- 
 vernment of Geneva has all the advantages, without 
 any of the inconveniences, of a democracy. Every 
 thing is under the direction of the fyndics : All inea- 
 fures for public deliberation proceed from the petit 
 council, and are returned there to be put in exe- 
 cution* 
 
64 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF 
 
 cution. ^The city of Geneva feems to have taken 
 for its model that wife law of the antient Germans re- 
 corded by Tacitus ; ' De minoribus rebus prin- 
 " cipes confultant, de majoribus omnes ; ita tamen,, 
 ** ut ea quorum penes plebem arbitrium eft, apud 
 " principes prxtradlentur." 
 
 The civil law of Geneva is almoft intireiy a tran- 
 fcript of the Roman civil law, with fome modifica- 
 tions ; for inftance, a father is not allowed the free 
 difpofal of more than half his fortune, the reft is di- 
 vided equally amongft his children. This law fe-v 
 cures, on one hand, the dependance of the child ; 
 and prevents the injuftice of the father, on the other. 
 
 M. de Montefquieu, with reafon, calls that an ex- 
 cellent law, which excludes from all public employ- 
 ments thofe who do not difcharge their fathers debts 
 after his death ; and yet with more reafon, thofe who 
 do not pay their own. 
 
 The degrees of confanguinity, within which mar- 
 riage is prohibited, are not extended beyond thofe of 
 the Levitical law. Thus, germain-coufms are al- 
 lowed to marry, but the prohibited degrees admit of 
 no difpenfation. Divorce is allowed in cafe of adul- 
 tery, or wilful defertion after judicial proclamations. 
 Criminal juftice is executed with more regularity 
 than rigour. The torture, which is now laid afide in 
 moft countries, and Ihould be every-where, as a ufe- 
 lefs cruelty, is abolifhed at Geneva. It is only made 
 ttfe of to criminals under fentence of death, in order 
 to difcover their accomplices, where it is necelTary. 
 
 The 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF GENEVA. 6$ 
 
 The perfon accufed has a right to a copy of th& 
 proceedings againfl him) and may require the affift~ 
 ance of his parents, and of an advocate, who is al- 
 lowed eight hours to defend him before the judges* 
 Criminal fentences are pronounced in public by the 
 fyndics with much folemnity. 
 
 Hereditary dignity is unknown at Geneva : The 
 fons of the firit magiftrate are loft in the crowd, till 
 their own merit diftinguifhes them ; nobility and 
 riches confer neither rank- nor privilege, nor give 
 any facility of advancement to the offices of the ftate. 
 All folicitation for places is ftriclly prohibited : 
 Public employments are fo little lucrative, they af- 
 ford no temptations for the avaricious : They are ob- 
 je&s only to nobler minds r by the confideration and 
 refpeft they procure. 
 
 Few difputes come to a legal trial, they are gene- 
 rally adjufted by common friends, by the advocates, 
 themfelves, and by the judges. 
 
 Their fumptuary laws forbid the ufe of jewels and 
 embroidery, limit the expence of funerals, and oblige- 
 all the citizens to walk on foot in the ftreets, car- 
 riages being allowed only in the country. Thefe 
 laws, which are regarded in France as too fevere, 
 nay, almofl barbarous and inhuman, by no means 
 abridge the real conveniences of life, which are al- 
 ways to be obtained at little expence ; they retrench- 
 only the pageantry of it, which contributes not to. 
 happinefs, aiid often produces ruin, without any ad- 
 vantage* 
 
 There 
 
66 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF 
 
 There is, perhaps, nowhere fo many happy mar- 
 riages ; Geneva has, in this refpeft, the Hart of our 
 manners atleaft two centuries: The reftraints upon 
 luxury remove the fear of a multitude of children ; 
 and by this means luxury is not, as in France, one 
 of the greateft obftacles to population. 
 
 Plays are not fuffered at Geneva, not becaufe they 
 difapprove of thefe diverfions themfelves, but they 
 are afraid, it feems, that a turn for drefs, for difli- 
 patiqn and licentioufnefs, mould be introduced among 
 their youth, by fuch entertainments. Is it not pof- 
 fible, however, to remedy this inconvenience, by 
 wife and well executed laws for the conduft of the 
 players ? By fuch means Geneva might enjoy thefe 
 amufements, preferve their manners, and have the 
 benefit of both. Dramatic reprefentations would 
 form the tafte of the citizens, and give them a deli- 
 cacy of feeling, and an elegance of fentiment, which 
 are very difficult to be acquired without this refource. 
 Learning would improve, licentioufnefs would not 
 increafe, and Geneva might unite the wifdom of 
 Sparta, with the politeneA of Athens. 
 
 There is another confidcration worthy the regard 
 of fo wife and learned a republic, and ought, per- 
 haps, to perfuade them to admit thefe entertainments. 
 That barbarous prejudice again ft the profeffion of a 
 player, that kind of ignominy which we throw upon 
 thefe people, who are fo neceiTary to the progrefs and 
 fupport of the fine arts, is certainly one of the prin- 
 cipal caufes of the irregularities they are reproached 
 with. They feek, in the indulgences of pleafure, 
 
 fome 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF GENEVA. 67 
 
 fome recompence for that want of refpeft, which theif 
 profefTion cannot obtain. 
 
 A comedian, amongft us, who behaves well, de- 
 ferves a double fhare of refpeft, and yet we fcarce 
 think him intitled to any. The fcribbler, who in- 
 fults the public diftrefs, and fupports himfelf by it ; 
 the courtier, who cringes and bows, but pays no 
 debts ; thefe are a fort of people we honour moft. 
 If comedians were not only tolerated at Geneva, but 
 properly regulated, countenanced, refpecled as the/ 
 deferve; and, in fhort, put upon the fame footing 
 with the reft of the citizens, this city would foon have 
 the advantage of pofleffing what is thought fo rare, 
 and yet is mader fo by our own fault, a company of 
 refpe&able comedians, which would foon become the 
 beft in Europe. Perfons of good tafte, and of a turn 
 for the theatre, who are afraid of hurting their cha- 
 racters with us, by this fort of employment, would 
 refort to Geneva, in order to cultivate, not only with- 
 out reproach, but with refpecl, a talent fo agreeable 
 and uncommon. Refiding here, which many of the 
 French think fo melancholy, from the want of public 
 entertainments, would then be living amongft liberal 
 pleafures, and in the bofom of liberty and philofo- 
 phy ; and ftrangers would no longer be furprifed at 
 feeing, in a place where decent and regular enter- 
 tainments are forbidden, the permiflion of thofe grofs 
 and buffoon farces, which are equally oftenfive to 
 good taile and good manners : This is not all ; in 
 a little time, the example of the comedians of Ge- 
 neva, the regularity of their conduit, and the regard 
 
 paid 
 
63 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF 
 
 j>aid to them, would ferve as a model to the come- 
 dians of other nations, and a le/Ton to thofe who have 
 hitherto treated them with fo much rigour, and even 
 Contempt ;- We mould no longer fee them pen- 
 fioned by the government, and anathematized by the 
 
 church: Our prieits would lofe the habit of ex^ 
 
 communicating, our citizens of defpifing them; and 
 a frnall republic would have the honour of having re- 
 formed Europe in this point, a more important one 
 perhaps than we are aware of. 
 
 Geneva has an university, which they call an aca- 
 demy, where youth are educated without expence : 
 The profe/Tors are eligible into offices of Hate 
 Many of them have become magiRrates, and this 
 privilege contributes much to keep up the emulation 
 and fame of the academy. Some years ago they 
 eftablifhed a fchool for defigning. The advocates, 
 fcriveners, and phyficians, form feveral bodies, into/ 
 which none are admitted, till after public examina* 
 tion. All the trading companies have likewife their 
 regulations, their apprenticefhips, and their gover- 
 nors. 
 
 Their public library is a well chofen collection of 
 books, confifling of fix and twenty thoufand volumes, 
 and a great number of MSS. The books are lent to 
 all the citizens, every one reads and informs himfelf ; 
 and, by this means, the people of Geneva are better 
 inftru&ed than any-wjiere elie. They find none of 
 thofe inconveniences, which we fuppofe would follow 
 the fame indulgence amongfl us ; perhaps the Ge^ 
 nevois and our politicians may both be in the right. 
 
 Geneva 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF GENEVA. 6* 
 
 Geneva was the firft, after England, in adopting 
 the practice of inoculation for the fmall-pox, which, 
 has been eftablilhed with fuch difficulty in France; 
 which however is eftablifhed, notwithftanding many 
 of our phyficians ftill oppofe it, as their predece/Tors 
 did the circulation of -the biood, the ufe of emetics, 
 and many other inconteftable truths, and practical 
 improvements. 
 
 All the fciences, and moft of the arts, have been 
 cultivated with fo much fuccefs at Geneva, that it is 
 furprifing to fee the lift of learned men and artifts of 
 every kind, which this city has produced within the 
 two laft ages. It has even had the good fortune 
 fometimes to be the refidence of celebrated ftrangers* 
 whom its agreeable fituation, and the liberty it en- 
 joys, have invited to retire thither. M. de Voltaire, 
 who has refided there for the laft feven years, finds, 
 among thefe republicans, the fame marks of efteeiri 
 aftd confederation, which he has received from fo 
 many monarchs. 
 
 The art of making clocks and watches is in great 
 perfection at Geneva ; more than five thousand people 
 are employed in it, that is to fay, more than a fifth 
 part of the citizens. The other arts, agriculture 
 efpecially, are not neglected. Their great care and 
 labour is a remedy againft the natural poverty of the 
 foil. All the houfes are built of frone, which very 
 often prevents fires; affiftance is immediately had, 
 when they da happen, by their admirable regulations 
 for extinguiming fires. 
 
7 o A SHORT ACCOUNT OF 
 
 The hofpitals at Geneva are not, as in other places, 
 a mere refuge for infirmity and difeafe, the poor tra- 
 veller is hofpitably entertained in them ; and betides, 
 a number of fmall contributions are .received there, 
 and doled out to poor families, to enable them to 
 live, without leaving their homes, or their employ- 
 ments. The hofpitals expend yearly more than treble 
 their revenue : Such is the munificence and cha- 
 ritable difpofition of thefe people. 
 
 What remains, is to fay fomething of the religion 
 -of Geneva ; a fubjeft more interefting, perhaps, to 
 philofophers than any other : We will therefore enter 
 into this matter with fome particularity, defiring our 
 reader, however, to remember, that we are writing 
 hiftory, not controverfy, and that to relate is not to 
 approve. 
 
 The ecclefiailical conftitution of Geneva is pure 
 Prefoyterianifm ; no biihops nor canons; Not that 
 they difapprove of Epifcopacy, but, as they have no 
 faith in the divine right of biihops, they think pallors, 
 not quite fo rich and important as biihops, agree 
 better with a fmall republic. 
 
 The miniilers are either pallors, like our pariih 
 priefls, or poilulans, as .our priefis without benefice. 
 The revenue of the pallors does not amount to above 
 1200 livres, without any cafual profits : The ftate 
 makes this allowance. The church has nothing. 
 
 o 
 
 The miniiters are not admitted till they are 24 years 
 of age, and then not till after very iiricl examinations, 
 ; both of their learning and morals. It were much to 
 fre wiihed our church would follow this example. 
 
 The 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF GENEVA. 71 
 
 The clergy have nothing to do with funerals, it is a 
 mere aft of the police, and is done without any pa- 
 jade : They think at Geneva all pomp on fuch occa- 
 fions ridiculous. They bury their dead in a large 
 cimetery, at a convenient diftance from the city; a 
 cuftom that mould be followed every-where. 
 
 The clergy of Qeneva are men of exemplary man- 
 ners : The minifters live in great harmony together ; 
 they are never feen, as in other countries, difputing 
 with bitternefs upon fubjefts that are not intelligible; 
 perfecuting one another, accufmg one another inde- 
 cently before the magiftrates : It is necefiary, how- 
 ever, that they agree in thofe articles that are thought 
 .efTential to religion. Moft of them do not believe 
 in the divinity of Chrift, of which Calvin, their 
 chief, was fo zealous a defender, and on which ac- 
 count he had Servetus burned to death. When they 
 are told of this barbarity, which throws a ftain upon 
 jhe charity and moderation of their patriarch, they 
 ido not attempt to defend him ; they acknowledge, 
 that Calvin did a very blameable thing, and they 
 content themfelves (if it is a Catholic they are talking 
 to) with pppofmg to the death of Servetus, the ho:~ 
 rid day of St. Bartholomew (which every honeft 
 frenchman wifhes to blot from our hiflory, even with 
 his blqcd,) and .the puniihment of John Hufs, which 
 die Catholics themfeives, they fay, do not venture to 
 juftify ; where humanity and good faith were equally 
 violated ; and which mould cover the memory of the 
 emperor Sigifnxond with eternal difgrace. 
 
 ft 
 
73 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF 
 
 It is no inconfiderable proof of the progress of 
 human reafon, fays M. Voltaire, that it has been al- 
 lowed to fay, in a book printed at Geneva with public 
 approbation,, (An efTay on univerfal hiftory by this 
 author) " Calvin had a bad heart with a good un- 
 del-Handing, the death of Servetus appears at this 
 * l day abominable." We prefume, the encomiums, 
 *lue to this noble liberty of thinking and writing, 
 belong equally to the author, to his age, and to Ge- 
 neva. How many countries are there, in which phi- 
 lofophy has made equal progrefs, but where truth is 
 itill in captivity, where reafon dares not raife her 
 yoice, to reprobate what me condemns in filence, and 
 where too many pusillanimous writers, whom they 
 called learned, pay refpecl: to prejudices, which they 
 iinight remove with equal ctecency and fuccefs. 
 
 The notion of hell, one of the great articles of 
 our creed, many of the clergy of Geneva do not be- 
 lieve in. They think it injurious to the Deity to 
 fuppofe, that a Being of fo much goodnefs and juilice 
 vihould be capable of ptmifhing our faults with ail 
 eternity of torment. , 
 
 They explain away, as well as they can, the pa 
 4ages of Scripture, which exprefsly contradift this 
 opinion, afTerting, that no paftage in the facred books 
 fhould be literally interpreted, againft which hu- 
 manity and reafon revolt. They believe, however, 
 that there are fufFerings in another life, but thefe 
 ^only temporary : Thus Purgatory, which was one of 
 the principal caufes of the feparation of Proteftants 
 from the Roman communion, is the only puniihment 
 
 they 
 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF GENEVA. 73 
 
 they believe in after death ; Another inftance to be 
 added to the hiflory of human contradictions. 
 
 In fhort, perfect Socinianifm is the religion of moft 
 of their paftors ; rejecting every-thing that is called 
 myftery, they imagine the firft principle of a religion 
 thaf is true, is, to propofe nothing as an article of 
 faith, that is not reconcileable to reafon : Thus, when 
 they are urged with the neceflity of revelation, fo e- 
 fential a doftrine of Chriftianity, they fubftitute the 
 term of utility, which they like better. In this, if 
 they are not orthodox, they are at leaft confident with 
 their own principles. 
 
 A clergy, who think In this manner, mould have 
 a fpirit of toleration, which is a fufficient reafon to 
 make them regarded with an evil eye by the minifters 
 of other reformed churches : One may venture to fay, 
 however, without intending to approve in other re- 
 fpedls the religion of Geneva, that there are few 
 countries where the theologians and ecclefiaftics are 
 greater enemies to fuperftition ; on the other hand, as 
 intolerance and fuperilidon ferve only to multiply 
 unbelievers, there are fewer complaints at Geneva, 
 than in other places, of the progrefs of infidelity ; 
 which is not to be wondered at. Religion there is 
 confined almoft intirely to the adoration of one God, 
 at leaft among thofe who are not of the multitude ; 
 a reverence for Chrift, and for the Scriptures, are 
 perhaps the only points that diftinguifh. from pure 
 Deifm the Chriftianity of Geneva. 
 
 Toleration is not the only good quality of the ec- 
 clefiaftics; obferving ftriftly the duties of their fun&ion, 
 E they 
 
74 A SHORT ACCOUNT OF 
 
 they are the firft in giving the citizens an example of 
 fuhmiffion to the laws. The .confiftory, eftablifhed to 
 fuperintend their con-duct, inflict only fpiritual pu- 
 nifhments. The difFering interefts of church and 
 Hate, which, in times of ignorance, have lhaken the 
 crowns of fo many emperors, and which we know 
 but too well have been the caufe of dreadful cala- 
 mities even in more enlightened ages, are quite un- 
 known .at Geneva. The clergy do nothing without 
 the approbation of th.e .magi (bates. 
 
 Their worfhip is fimple and plain ; no images, no 
 /lights, no ornaments in their churches. They have 
 JAift ROW new- fronted their cathedral in a good tafte, 
 pei haps, in a little time, they may decorate the in- 
 N fide of their churches : Where, indeed, Ihould be the 
 inconvenience of having pictures and llatues, direct- 
 ing the people, if they "thought proper Jiot to pay 
 any worlhip to them, to regard them only as memo- 
 rials intended to reprefent, in a Striking and agreeable 
 manner, the great events of religion ? Superilition 
 would cot be encouraged by this, .and the arts would 
 improve. V/e fpeak here as the reader would think, 
 on the principles of the Genevois clergy, not on thofs 
 of the Catholic faith. 
 
 Their church fervice confifls of fermons and hymns ; 
 their fermons are in a great meafure confined to fub- 
 jefts of morality, by which they are fo much the bet- 
 ter.; *heir finging is in a wretched taile, and die 
 French verfes they fing frill worfe : One would hope 
 they will make forne .reform in this refpeft. They 
 lately placed an organ in the cathedral, and per- 
 haps, 
 
THE GOVERNMENT OF GENEVA. 7$ 
 
 "haps, in time, may perform the religious worlhip in- 
 bv'cter language," and with better mufic. In other re- 
 fpefts, truth obliges us to fay, the Supreme Being is 
 worihipped at Geneva with a decency and fobriety 
 not to be found in our churches. 
 
 We fhould not probably have faid fo much, if we 
 had been writing upon the government of a great 
 monarchy. In the eye of philofophy, the republic 
 of bees is not lefs interefting than the hiflory of a 
 mighty kingdom ; and perhaps it is only in little 
 Hates that we can find a perfect model of political 
 government. If religion will not allow us to think 
 the Genevois have taken the beft means to fecure the 
 kappinefs of another life, reafon obliges us to con- 
 fefs, they are almoil as happy as they can be hi 
 this.- 
 
 O fortunatos minium fua il bona norint ! 
 
 E 2 'HE 
 
THE AfitJSE OF CRITICISM IN RELIGION* 
 
 Qusc caput a call regionibus oftendebat. 
 
 FAther Laubruflel, an author of little note, and 
 lefs merit, publifhed a work, which has been 
 long fi nee forgot, with the fame title that this bears. 
 His aim was to revenge religion of thofe impo- 
 tent attacks which infidelity and herefy have made 
 againft it. The enterprise was very laudable, and it 
 is to be lamented that he was not more happy in 
 the execution of it ; and that he has fo frequently 
 fubftituted declamations and injuries in the room 
 6f reafoning ; however, without approving his logic, 
 we may reckon fomething to the account of his 
 zeal, if zeal ought to cover a multitude of trifles, 
 as charity a multitude of fins. The object we 
 have in view is very different from this, but not 
 lefs ufeful, and we mail endeavour to execute it 
 better. It is to vindicate philofophers from the re- 
 proach of impiety with which they have often been 
 unjuftly charged, by afcribing to them fentiments 
 not their own ; giving forced interpretations to their 
 words ; drawing from their principles odious and 
 falfe confequences which they difavow ; in a word, 
 by fligmatizing as criminal,, or dangerous, opini- 
 ons which Chriflianity has no.t forbid. Among 
 the innumerable abufes with which criticifm may 
 be reproached, there is none more pernicious than 
 that we are complaining of : it is highly neceiTary 
 
 therefore 
 
THE ABUSE OF, &cv 77 
 
 therefore we mould pull ofF the mafk, and difcoun- 
 tenance it. 
 
 The importance of this fubjeft, perhaps, would 
 require a confiderable work ; the reflexions I am 
 going to lay before the reader are but a plan or 
 {ketch ; may they meet with the approbation of thofe 
 fages who equally underfland the rights of faith 
 and reafon ; may this fcheme of an apology be 
 cfteemed and adopted by fojne of our celebrated writ- 
 ers, more worthy and more capable of executing 
 it than myfeif. 
 
 II. The firft duty either in defending truth or en- 
 quiring after it, is to be jujl ; we will begin with ac- 
 knowledging that the advocates for Chriflianity have 
 fome reafon to be appreheniive for it, at leafl as far 
 as they ought to be for that whic& is not the produc- 
 tion of man. It is not to be diiTembled that Chri- 
 flianity is ncw-a-days indecently attacked in a great 
 number of writings. It is true the manner in which 
 it is commonly done, is fufrkient to iktisfy thofe 
 who might be alarmed by the attack. The defire 
 to lay aiide all the reibraint of pafilon, and the va- 
 nity of thinking different from the multitude, have 
 made more unbelievers than the illufions of fophifm, 
 if indeed we are to include in the number of un- 
 believers all thofe impious perfons who only wifh to 
 appear fo, and, as Montaigne fays, would fain be 
 worfe than they are able. Such a mower of arrows: 
 fhot from all fides againfl Chriflianity, has thrown 
 fome of our moft pious writers into confternation. 
 Engaged to fuftain- the caufe and honour of religion, 
 E 3 which 
 
7 3 THE ABUSE OF 
 
 which they believe to be in danger, becaufe they fee 
 it outrageoufly befet, they lie in ambufh, if I may fa 
 fpeak, to furprife infidelity in every new book, 
 and it muft be confefled, that they have found out 
 a fad and plentiful crop : but fome among them, 
 like foldiers tranfported by an impetuofity of courage 
 and ardour beyond their rank, expofe themfelves to 
 be attacked in flank ; and in the vehemence of their 
 zeal and their refearches, betray an indifcretion dan- 
 gerous to their caufe. When they have not been 
 able to find real impieties, they have been obliged 
 to forge imaginary ones, to have the honour of -com- 
 bating them. They have fuppofed intentions when 
 crimes have been wanting, and have gone fo far as 
 to accufe filence itfelf. 
 
 " Socrates, faid-a Roman, I am attacked on account 
 ' of my words, becaufe I am innocent in my actions. " 
 So might one of our philofophers fay, I am attacked 
 on account of my thoughts, becaufe I am irreproach- 
 able in my words. Dionyfius, the tyrant of Syra- 
 cufe, put to death one of his fubjecls who had con- 
 fpired againft him in a dream. There is feldom 
 wanting a falfe zeal to carry injuflice ilill further 
 than credit or power. The tyrant puniilied dreams ; 
 the enemies of philofophy fuppofe them, demand the 
 blood of the guilty, and it is but rare that they 
 have not obtained it, to the mame of reafon and hu- 
 manity. 
 
 III. Nothing has been more common than the charge 
 of irreligion brought againft learned men by thofe who 
 have no pretenfions to philofophy. Pericles had 
 
 fcarce 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. 79 
 
 fcarce credit enough to fave Anaxagoras, accufed of 
 atheifm by the Athenian priefts, for having pre- 
 tended, that the univerfe was governed by one Su- 
 preme Intelligence, according to general and inva- 
 riable laws. The aftfes of Socrates were Hill fmoak- 
 ing, when Ariitotle, being cited by fanatical ene- 
 mies before the fame judges, was forced to Ihun pef- 
 fecution by flight. " We m nil not expofe, fly s he", 
 " phiiofophy to a fecond injury." The fuperftitious 
 Athenians, who applauded the impiety of Ariflophan'es, 
 suffered him to turn the objects of their worfhip into 
 ridicule, and would not fufter any other to be fub- 
 flituted in their ftead. No-body was forbid to fpeak 
 of the Divinity among the Greeks, but thofe only 
 who were capable of doing it worthily. But with- 
 out riling fo high as the age of Anaxagoras, So- 
 crates and Ariftotle, let us confine ourfelves to what 
 is paffing in our own, 
 
 IV. The famous jefuit Harduin, oneof thefirflmen 
 of his age for the depth of his erudition, and one of 
 the laft for the ridiculous ufe he made of it, had 
 cnce the extravagance to compofe a piece on pur* 
 pofe'to put under the ban of atheifm, without fhamc 
 or remorfe, refpeftable authors, many of whom had 
 fjlidly proved the exillence of God in their writ- 
 ings ; an abfurdity well worthy of a vifionary, who 
 pretended that moft of the beft works of antiquity 
 were compofed by monks of the nth century. This 
 pious fceptic in attacking, as he did, the certainty 
 of almoft all hiilorical monuments, deferved more 
 t'iaa any man the name of an enemy to religion, 
 E 4 if 
 
Po THE ABUSE OF 
 
 if his opinions had not been too ftupid to have any 
 followers. " His folly, fays a celebrated writer, 
 *' takes away the heinoufnefs of his calumny; but 
 *' thofe who repeat this calumny in our age, are 
 ** not always reckoned fods, and they are often very 
 " dangerous." Naturally intolerant in their opini- 
 ons, however indifferent they are in themfelves, thefe 
 men feize with eagernefs every thing which may ferve 
 for a pretext to render theif opinions refpeclable. 
 They want to conned with Chriftianity the mcft con- 
 tentious metaphyfical queftions, and the moft arbi- 
 trary fiyflems of philofophy. In vain does religion, 
 fo ilmple and precife as it is in its doclrines, rejec"l 
 conilantly an alliance which difhonours it ; it is on 
 account of this imaginary alliance that it has been 
 imagined to have been attacked in thofe works where 
 there is not the leaft fufpicion. Let us enter into a 
 detaii with -relation to this point, and ihew with 
 what injuftice the wifeft and mofl refpedlable philo- 
 fophers have been treated on a fubjec~l of fuch im- 
 portance* 
 
 V. Give me matter and motion and I will make a 
 world, faid Defcartes once, and after him one of his 
 followers. This proportion, which has been regarded 
 as injurious to God, is, perhaps, the fublimell thing 
 which philofophy has pronounced of the glory of 
 the Supreme Being ; a thought fo profound and 
 fo great could only come from a great genius, who, 
 on one ilde, perceived the necefiity of an Almighty 
 Intelligence to give exiftence and impulfe to matter, 
 and who perceived, on the other, the fimplicity and 
 
 the 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. 81 
 
 the variety not lefs to be admired of the laws of 
 motion ; laws, by virtue of which the Creator has 
 included ail events in the firft, as their feed, and need 
 nothing to produce them but a word, according 
 the fublime language of Scripture. This is all that 
 the proportion of Defcartes can mean, to one who 
 is difpofed to underftand it ; but the enemies of rea- 
 fon, who only perceive the worki of the Supreme Be- 
 ing in miniature, and who offer him a worlhip that 
 is rigid, pusillanimous, and bounded like themfelves, 
 difcern nothing in the purer and fublimer homage of 
 philofophy, but a proud fabricator of fyftems, who 
 feems to wiih to put himfelf in the place of the Di- 
 vinity. 
 
 VI. The Newtonians admitted a vacuum and at- 
 traction; this was very near the phyfic of Epicurus; now 
 this philofopher was an atheift, and therefore the New- 
 tonians muft be the fame ; fuch is the logic of one of 
 their adverfaries. Notwithftanding, it is true that no 
 philofophy is more favourable to the belief of the be- 
 ing of a God than Newton's. For how mould the 
 particles of matter, which have no action themfelves, 
 be able to tend towards one another, unlefs this ten- 
 dency was excited by the Omnipotent will of a So- 
 vereign Mover ? A Cartefian atheift is one who is 
 miftaken in his principles ; a Newtonian atheift 
 would be fomething worfe, a philofopher who draws 
 falfe conclufions. 
 
 VII. " When I lift up my eyes to heaven, faid an 
 M impious man, I believe I fee traces of the Divinity, 
 " but when I look around me" Look within you, 
 
 E 5 one 
 
2 THE ABUSE OF. 
 
 one might anfwer, and woe be to you if* that proof is 
 not fufficient. Indeed nothing elfe is neceffary but 
 to defcend into ourfelves, to difcover the workman- 
 fhip of a Sovereign Intelligence which has given us 
 exigence, and has preierved us in it. That exigence 
 is a prodigy which cannot ftrike us too much, becaufe 
 it is a continual one. It brings back to our mind 
 every inftance of a Supreme Power on which we de- 
 pend. But the more fenfible the impreffion of his 
 acting is upon ourfelves and all furrounding objects, 
 the more inexcufable are we in feeking it in minute 
 and frivolous objects. A learned in an, of modern 
 times, who was fo perfuaded of the exiilence of God, 
 that he 'has inveftigated and given new proofs of it ; 
 neverthelefs thought it is his duty to attack certain pu- 
 erile, and even indecent arguments, by which certain 
 authors have attempted to efiablim this great truth, but 
 in reality have only injured and degraded it. This phi- 
 lofopher took thofe weapons out of the hands of atheifts, 
 which the weaknefs of thefe authors lent them ; would 
 one expect he mould be charged with furniihing them ? 
 yet this is what thofe ignorant or treacherous cenfors 
 have been fofcandalous as to reproach him with. Thus 
 the illuftrous Boerhaave was once accufed of Spinozifm > 
 becaufe having heard that this fyftem was badly at- 
 tacked by fome unknown perfon more orthodox, he 
 afked him, if he had read what he was going to con- 
 fute. 
 
 VIII. The fame philofopher, too eafily moved by the 
 differences of certain fcholailics about the arguments 
 for the exiilence. of God, has pretended, that the 
 
 proofk 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. 83 
 
 proofs, on which it refls, are not, properly fpeaking, 
 demonilrations ; that they turn only upon very great 
 probabilities, and that they derive their invincible 
 force from their multitude and their union. We are 
 far from believing that no proof of th-e being of God 
 is rigoroufly demonflrative, but we are not the more 
 difpofed therefore to tax with atheifm thofe who 
 think otherwife. The exigence of Cxfar is not de- 
 monitrated like the theorems of geometry ; is that a 
 reafon for entertaining the leaft doubt about it ? Li 
 an infinity of matters, many arguments may form in 
 the mind, by their concurrence, a conviction as 
 ftrong as that which fprings from demonflradon, tho' 
 each particular in itfelf is only probable, as a con- 
 currence of teflimonies in the fupport of a facl pro- 
 duces a certainty as irreverftble as that of geometry, 
 though of a different kind. This is what Pafcal has 
 before remarked on the proof of the being of God ; 
 and was Pafcal ever fufpefted of doubting this truth ? 
 The enemies of that great man have faid, that it was 
 a fufiicient anfvver to his 18 provincial letters to re- 
 peat i& times that he was a heretic, but they never 
 once dared to fay that he was an atheift. 
 
 IX. Some writers have maintained that the explicit 
 anddiftind notion of the creation, is not to be found 
 cither in the Old or New Teftament. This after- 
 lion has been attacked as impious ; it would have 
 been more natural t have diicufied this point by an 
 examination of the pafiages themfelves, and this ex- 
 amination would not have been difficult ; but what- 
 ever fide we take, it feems to me that faith has nothing 
 
 to 
 
$4 THE ABUSE OF 
 
 to fear ; this needs fome explication. The creation* 
 as the theologians themfelves confefs, is a truth 
 which reafon itfelf teaches, a neceflary effect of the 
 exiftence of a firft Being. This notion then is of the 
 number of thofe which revelation fuppofes, and upon 
 which there is no occafion for it to fpeak in an ex- 
 prefs and particular manner. It is fufficient that the 
 facred books affirm nothing in contradiction to it. 
 It is on this account we do not accufe them ; and 
 when fome of the ancient Chriftian fathers, as it is 
 pretended, did not exprefs themfelves with fufficient 
 clearnefs on the fubjecl: of creation, is it a reafon for 
 believing they thought matter to be eternal ? 
 
 X. The opinion which has been attributed to two or. 
 three fathers upon the nature of the foul, has raifed 
 the fame clamour, and deferves the feme anfwer. If 
 we may believe different critics, thofe fathers had 
 not very diftinft ideas about the fpirituality of the 
 thinking principle, and feemed to have made it ma- 
 terial. The pretenfion, however, of thefe critics, 
 whether well or ill-founded, has furnimed a handle 
 to accufe them of that rnaterialifm they attribute to. 
 others ; for, now-a-days, materialifm, which we fee 
 every where the hydra, has feven heads to combat ; 
 but if two or three ecclefiafUcal writers have been in 
 an error, which we do not pretend to determine, what 
 has this miftake to do with religion ? are the philo- 
 fophical pro >fs for the fpirituality of die foul lef& 
 convincing ? cannot we allow the full force to thefe 
 proofs which Defcartes firft inveftigated and explained, 
 and believe, that fome of the fathers of the church 
 
 were 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. 85 
 
 were not acquainted with them ? But, fay they, thofe 
 who maintain that the diftindl idea of creation is 
 not to be found in the Scripture, nor the fpiritaalit/ 
 of the foul in the ancient do&ors^ do it only becaufe 
 they pretend that the world is eternal, and the foul 
 matter. If they pretend this, they ought to be con- 
 vinced of the contrary,- nothing is more neceflary or 
 more juft ; but it mould teem not to be the likelieft 
 way that can be chofe to mifreprefent them, efpe- 
 cially when they acknowledge, as many have done 
 in the moft exprefs terms, thofe two truths which 
 they are charged with calling in queition. 
 
 XI. It is not enough to Hand up againft impiety, we 
 muft not be miftaken in the kind of impiety we at- 
 tack. " I am accufed, faid a Tyrrhenian one day, of 
 " materialifm. This is juft as if a Conftitutionary 
 " mould be accufed of Janfenifm; if I was to doubt, 
 " it would rather be upon the exiflence of matter than 
 " of thought. I know nothing of the former, but 
 4< from the equivocal report of my fenfes ; and I know 
 ** the other by the infallible teftimony of interior fen- 
 ' timent ; my own thought affures me of the exirt- 
 " ence of a thinking principle. The idea which I 
 '* have of body and extenfion is much more uncertain 
 '* and obfcure, and upon this objeft I only entertain 
 *' a reafonable fcepticifm. Thus inftead of being a 
 '* materialift, I am inclined to deny the exiftence of 
 *' matter, at lead fuch as my fenfes reprint to me ; 
 '* but it appears to me wifer to be filent and to 
 " doubt." 
 
 The 
 
86 THE ABUSE OF 
 
 The name of materialift (I cannot help repeating itj 
 is become now-a-days a kind of war-hoop; it is a qua- 
 lification which is indifcriminately applied to all kinds 
 of unbelievers, and even to thofe whom we want to 
 iligmatize as fuch. in all religions, and in all times, 
 fanaticifm has not plumed itfelf, either upon equity 
 or juftice : Jt has given to thofe, whom it wanted to 
 damn, not the names they deferved, but thofe which 
 would do them moft hurt : Thus, in the primitive 
 times, the Pagans- gave all Chriilians the name of 
 Jews. 
 
 XII. During the reign of the Ariftotelian philofophy, 
 that is, for many ages, it was believed, that all our 
 ideas came from the fenfes ; and it could not be ima- 
 gined, that an opinion, fo conformable to reafon and 
 experience, mould ever be regarded as dangerous. It 
 was even forbid, on pain of death, to teach a contrary 
 doctrine. The pumfhment was, it mufbbe confefTed, 
 a little hard, whether our ideas are derived from fenfe 
 or not. It is right all the world ihould live ; but the 
 prohibition and the penalty prove the religious at-' 
 tachment of our fathers to an antient opinion, " that 
 " fenfation is the fource of all knowledge." Def- 
 eartes came, and faid, " The foul is fpirkual : Now, 
 ' what is a f^iritual being without ideas ? The foul 
 < therefore has ideas from the inflant its exigence 
 " commences, that is, it has innate ideas." This 
 reafoning, joined to the attraction of a new opinion, 
 feduced many fchools ; but they went farther than 
 their mafter. From the fpirituality of the foul, Def- 
 cartes concluded innate ideas ; one of his difciples 
 
 concluded 
 
CRITICISM IN PvELTGION. '.87 
 
 concluded more, that to deny innate ideas, was to 
 deny the fpirituality of the foul - r perhaps they would 
 have made innate ideas an article of faith, if they 
 could have diffembled, that this pretended truth was 
 only difcovered in the laft century. We have feen 
 theologians carry their extravagance fo far,, as to 
 maintain, that the opinion, which unites our ideas 
 to our fenfations, endangers the myftery of original 
 fin, and the grace of baptifm. It is thus, that the 
 moll inconteltable maxims in philofophy and the ma- 
 thematics have been attacked, under pretence of 
 their feeming oppoiltion with fome dodrine of faith : 
 Befides, is it impoflible to combat innate ideas, by 
 the fame weapons of religion which eilablifhed it ? 
 Muft not an infant, who has the idea of God, as the 
 Cartefians pretend, from the breaft, and even from 
 the womb, alfo know the duties owing to God, 
 which is contrary to the firft principles of religion 
 and common fenfe ? Will any one fay, the idea of 
 God exifts in infants, without being developed ? But 
 what are ideas which the foul poflefTes without knowing 
 them, and the things which it knows without thought, 
 and yet is obliged to learn afterwards, as much as if 
 it had never known them ? A fpiritual being, fome 
 may fay, muft necefTariiy have ideas from the mo- 
 ment it exifts. It is eafy to anfwer, that this being, 
 in the firft moments of its exigence, may be confined 
 to fenfation ; that a' capacity of thinking is fufficient 
 to conflitute it immaterial, fince that power,, by the 
 confeffion of all divines, belongs only to a fpiritual 
 fubftance. But further, to decide in what fpirituality 
 
 confiH:> 
 
88 THE ABUSE OF 
 
 confifls, and whether it be the nature of a fpiritual 
 being to think, or even to perceive always, what di- 
 ftincT: idea have we of the nature of the foul ? Let us 
 afk Malebranche, who will not be fufpecled of con- 
 founding mind with matter. In fine, it is by our 
 fenfes that we have the knowledge of corporeal fub- 
 ftance : It is therefore through their means, that we 
 have been taught to regard it as incapable of will 
 and fenfation, and confequently of thought : From 
 thence refult two confequences ; the firfl, that we owe 
 to our fenfations and reflections the knowledge we 
 have of the immateriality of the foul; in the fecond 
 place, that the idea we have of fpirituality is ne- 
 gative, which teaches what a fpiritual being is not, 
 without informing us what it is f it would be pre- 
 fumption to think otherwife, and weaknefe to believe 
 we muft think otherwife to be orthodox. 
 
 The foul is neither matter nor extenfion, and yet 
 it is fomething ; though grofs prejudice, fortified by 
 habitude, leads us to judge, that what is not matter 
 is nothing. See where philofophy conducts us, aad 
 where it leaves us 1 
 
 XIII. That ftraage madnefs, of wifhing to convert 
 into doctrines the mofl groundlefs opinions concerning 
 the foul, is not peculiar to our age. We will relate only 
 a tingle example. Hincmar, archbifhop of Rheims, 
 who got Gothefcale fo well fcourged at the council 
 of Quercy, while it was proving that Gothefcale was 
 blameable, procured the condemnation of one John 
 Scot Erigones, who, among many real errors, main- 
 tained, that the foul was not in the body. It is dif- 
 ficult 
 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. 89 
 
 cult to conceive in what this pretended herefy could 
 confift ; for it is the property of the body only to be 
 in one place rather than in another; and, if they had 
 been as vigilant againft materialifm in the 9th cen- 
 tury as at prefent, John Scot would have had a good 
 chance for accufing his adverfary. The foul is united 
 to the body in a manner altogether unknown to us, 
 and inexplicable by all the dark metaphysics of the 
 fchools ; but, in the time of Hincmar, they were too 
 ignorant to know how to doubt. 
 
 XIV. If the philofopher, always obliged to exprefs 
 himfelf clearly, ought not to allow himfelf any improper 
 exprelfions on fo delicate a fubjeft, he ought not to 
 condemn too lightly, and without explication, equi- 
 vocal expreflions on a fubjeft which is likewife fo 
 obfcure, and which gives us fuch little hold to rea- 
 foning and to language : For example, an author, 
 who fhould fay now-a-days, that the foul " is efTen- 
 *' tially the fubftantial form of the human body,'* 
 would at leaf* be fufpedled of materialifm. Never* 
 thelefs, whoever mould advance fuch a proportion, 
 would only repeat the firft canon of the general 
 council of Vienna. The truth is, the word form is a 
 vague term, to which the fathers of the council un 
 doubtedly applied a catholic fenfe, and confequently r 
 we may be permitted to ufe it, if we fix the fame 
 fenfe to it. 
 
 In a modern work this canon is mentioned and ex- 
 plained, to prevent the abufe the materialifls of our 
 days might make of it. This apologift might repent 
 him of his zeal, if a good aftion mould be repented 
 
 of; 
 
$o THE ABUSE OF 
 
 of; for, notwithftanding the ferious and fimple ton^ 
 of his defence, he has been foolifhly accufed of an 
 intention to turn into ridicule the doctrine of the 
 cecumenic council. 
 
 XV, This is not the only example of equivocal ex- 
 preffions ufed differently in the fchools, or even adopted 
 now-a-days by whole feds of philofophers. Male- 
 branehe, and his difciples, called God, the Univerfal 
 Being. The Spinoziib would not exprefs themfelves 
 otherwife. The Scotifls allow God to be extended^ 
 eternal, immenfe, immoveable, indivifible; and it is 
 only by involving themfelves in an obfcure jargon, 
 that they defend their making him corporeal, or at 
 lead extended : Neverthelefs, it would be unjuft to 
 accufe Malebranche of Spinozifm, or the Scotiils of 
 confounding God with fpace. Why fhould not the 
 fame indulgence be fhewn to men as little inclined to 
 deceive as they ? And it is the more equitable, as 
 there is no fubject where an intention to injure finds 
 more plaufible pretences of exerting itfelf, than re- 
 ligion. Expreflions that are innocent in themfelvea, 
 cr in the fenfe affixed to them by their author, are 
 often made fufceptible of an erroneous or dangerous 
 fenfe, efpecially when feparated from that which goes 
 before, and that which follows. To convince us of 
 this, it is fuincient to caft our eyes upon the innu- 
 merable abufes, which error has made of Scripture 
 expreflions. 
 
 XVI. The metaphyfical opinions of the philofophers 
 have not been the object of a thoufand declamations only, 
 their fy Items too, concerning the formation and ay- 
 rang: meat 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. 91 
 
 rangement of the univerfe, have met with the fame 
 fate. Matter is not eternal ; it muft have begun 
 therefore to exiit ; here is a point where we may dif- 
 fer : Has God ranged in order the different particles 
 of matter from the time that he created them, or was 
 it a greater or lefler time that chaos continued, before 
 the feparation of the particles ? here philofpphers may 
 be divided. Indeed, if there be nothing in body but 
 figure and motion, as found philofophy intimates, 
 what difficulty is there in fuppofing, that the Supreme 
 Being, after creating matter, and forming it inftantly 
 into a fingle, homogeneous mafs, apparently ihape- 
 lefs, fhould imprefs upon its different particles that 
 movement, which is necefTary to feparate, or bring 
 them to one another, and produce by this means dif- 
 ferent bodies ; and that light, ftars, animals, and 
 plants, fpring from this great operation, the work of 
 the eternal Geometrican, in that fucceffion and time 
 the Creator prefcribed ? This grand and noble idea, 
 fo far from being a contradiction to divine power and 
 goodnefs, ferves to difplay them before our eyes. 
 Befides, the exiflence of chaos, before the feparation 
 of its particles, is an hypothecs necefTary to the phy- 
 fical explanation of the formation of the terreftrial 
 globe. 
 
 The Supreme Being had power, at the fame inftant, 
 to create and arrange the world, without having for- 
 bid the philofopher from inquiring, in what manner 
 he might have produced it in a longer time, and by 
 virtue of laws of motion eftabliihed by the Author of 
 nature. The fyflem of this philofopher may be more 
 
 or 
 
$2 THE ABUSE OF 
 
 or lefs confident with phenomena, but the naturalifl, 
 not the theologian, muit judge him. Thus the New- 
 tonians, to explain the figure of the earth, fuppofed 
 that it was originally a fluid. Thus Defcartes thought 
 it once a fun, obfcured by a thick cruft which co- 
 vered it; an hypothecs which has occasioned as much 
 pitiable chicanery among divines, as folid objections 
 among philofophers. 
 
 XVII. No natural philofopher now-a-days doubts, 
 that the fea has covered a great part of the earth. It 
 appears impoflible to attribute folely to the deluge all 
 the veitiges which remain of fo antient an inunda- 
 tion ; this opinion has been attacked, as contrary to 
 Scripture : We need only open the book of Geneiis, 
 fo fee how unjuft fuch an imputation is, "On the third 
 " day God faid, let the waters afTemble together in one 
 " place ; and there was dry land." Has this pafTage 
 any need of a commentary ? Perhaps we might find, 
 in the fame chapter, proofs of the exigence of chao* 
 before the formation of the world, if we had not al- 
 ready obferved it is of no confequence to religion^ 
 provided that we do not maintain the eternity of 
 chaos. But we cannot omit, without cenfure, on 
 this occafion, the bad judgment of a modern critic. 
 The illuftrious hiilorian of the academy of fciences, in 
 one of his extracts, faid, thatfifh were thefirft inhabit* 
 ants of our globe : The cenfor inveighs with all his might 
 againft the impiety, not believing that he had Scripture 
 for his voucher. Confult Genefis, and we find, that he 
 either wants honelty or memory, for we there read, 
 
 that 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. 93 
 
 that fifh were in reality the firil animals that were 
 created. 
 
 X VIII. No perfon is ignorant, that the pafTage in the 
 book of Jofliua, which has been both injudicioufly at- 
 tacked and defended, was the caufe-of Galileo's misfor- 
 tunes. " Wherefore, fay your quick geniufes, did Jofhua 
 *' order the fun to Hand ftill, inilead of commanding 
 " the earth? What difficulty could there be for an 
 ** author, who pretends to be infpired, to defcribe 
 " things as they really are ? Why mould the Holy 
 " Spirit, which dictated the Scriptures, lead us into 
 " a phyfical error, while it clears up our duty $** 
 " You ought to believe, anfwer .the inquifitors on 
 -** the other hand, that the fun turns round the earth ; 
 *' the Holy Spirit, which ought to know, aiTures you 
 " of it, and it cannot deceive you." One might 
 reply to them both, that, in indifferent matters, the 
 Scripture makes ufe of -the language of the people. 
 But this anfwer is not fufficient j it feems to me, that, 
 in order to confound the impiety of one fide, and the 
 \veaknefs of the other, we fhould add, that the 
 Scripture mull fpeak the language of the people, in 
 order to be underflood ; that a miffionary, preaching 
 among favages in this manner, " I announce to you, 
 " that God, who makes the earth we inhabit roll 
 41 round the fun," would engage no attention to his 
 difcourfe. It is necefTary for us to hold another kind 
 of language to induce them to hear us ; we muft imi- 
 tate, in fome meafure, the example t>f him, who had 
 recourfe to a fable to difpofe the Athenians to liilen 
 to him. In a word, we ihould firit of all make them 
 
 Chrilttans ; 
 
94 THE ABUSE OF 
 
 ChrifUans ; and afterwards, if we pleafe, or if we can, 
 make them aitronomers. When they are fuch, they 
 will not 'leek for fyftems of the world in ill-under- 
 flood paflages of Scripture ; and, in forming their 
 opinions, they will prefer the obfervatory, to the holy 
 office. They will be like the king of Spain, who, 
 as Pafcal informs us, chofe rather to believe 
 the antipodes on the authority of Columbus, who 
 came from thence, than rejedl them, on account of 
 pope Zechariah, who never had been there. Let us 
 j-efpecl Scripture fo as never to ufe it profanely ; and 
 let us leave madam Dacier to juitify the talking of 
 Achilles's horfes in Homer, by the difcourfe of Ba- 
 laam's afs. 
 
 XIX. Opinions purely metaphyilcal, and fyflems 
 concerning the formation of the world, have not fur- 
 nifhed the only pretences for arraigning philofophers ; 
 calumny has neglected nothing that might conduce to 
 the fame purpofe. Can one refrain from fentiments 
 of pity or indignation, to fee one of our moil cele- 
 brated writers accufed of impiety by journalifts, for 
 having faid, that Jordan is but a fmall river, that 
 Paleftine was, at the time of the crufades, what it is 
 now, one of the moft barren countries of Alia ? 
 
 Critics accumulate paffages of Scripture to prove, 
 that it was very fertile in Joihua's days : But what 
 do all thefe pafTages prove of this place in the time of 
 Saladin, or of its prefent flate ? Why may not God 
 have avenged the death of Chrift, by turning its 
 riches and abundance into fterility ? Or rather, (for 
 the fimpleil explanations are always the beft) \vhy 
 
 may 
 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. 95 
 
 trray not a country, enflaved and unpeopled, become 
 barren by that very depopulation ? But, when they 
 are determined to make a writer fufpecled, every- 
 thing is impiety in his lips ; his proofs of the being 
 of God are treated as fophifmsj his arguments in fa- 
 vour of .religion,, as pleafantries levelled againft it. 
 Let him write againft fuperftition and fanaticifm, it is 
 Chriftianity he aims at : Does he plead for the civil 
 toleration of every religion, it is only to ihew his 
 indifference to all. 
 
 XX. Give me, faid Fontenelle, in his hiftory of ora- 
 cles, but half a dozen men who are capable of being per- 
 fuaded, that it is not the fun which makes the day, 
 and I will not defpair of bringing all nations, by their 
 means, into the fame belief. If any-thing in the 
 world is inconteftable, it is aiTuredly this propofition, 
 of which the abfurd religions of Afia and Africa fur- 
 r.iih but too melancholy and linking a proof. What 
 have the cenfors of the hiftory of oracles made of 
 this ? " Why it only wanted half a dozen more, fay 
 " they, to make it an impious affertion." The im- 
 piety, however, is intirely their own ; for, if half a 
 dozen were capable of feducing mankind into error, 
 does it follow, that twelve different perfons .could not 
 lead them into truth ? In what refpefts can the many 
 juft and folid obfervations, which have been made in 
 modern times, upon prejudice, credulity, falfe pro- 
 phecies, and falfe miracles, affect thofe invincible 
 Arguments by which true religion is fupported ? 
 
 XXI. The fathers of the church, the fir.it defenders of 
 jChriflianity, did not diftruft in this manner the gocd- 
 
 nefs 
 
$6 THEABUSEOF 
 
 nefs of their c&ufe. They were not afraid of ob- 
 jections, nor open day ; they were ignorant of falfe 
 attacks, and pufillanimous precautions. Many wri- 
 ters of our days, worthy to follow them in fo noble a 
 career, have imitated their example ; but if the re- 
 fpeclable caufe of the gofpel has had its Pafcals and 
 Bofluets, it has likewife had its Chaumeiux and its 
 Garafle's. 
 
 XXII. The abufe of criticifm in religious matters is 
 pernicious to religion itfelf on many accounts ; for 
 the diiingenuity and trifling with which a good caufe it 
 fometimes defended; for the confequences drawn 
 by the multitude from the vague charge of irre- 
 ligion brought againit the philofophers, for the mo- 
 tives which have induced men, pretendedly good, to 
 declare war againfl reafon ^ in fliort, from the little 
 union, and reciprocal animofity, of its adverfaries ; 
 each of thefe obje6U merits a feparate article, and we 
 will devote a few moments to them. 
 
 XXIIL The Encyclopedia will furnim us with the fub- 
 jec~l of the firfl article. Under fubflantial forms we men- 
 tioned the argument of the Cartefians againfl the fouls 
 of beafts, drawn from this principle of St Auftin, 
 that, *' under a juft God, no creature could fufFer, 
 4< who had not deferved it;" an argument well 
 known in the fchools, which Malebranche has availed 
 himfelf of with much force ; and which fenfible phi- 
 lofophers and divines have always looked upon as 
 very difficult to confute. In explaining this argu- 
 ment, it was remarked at the fame time, that this 
 was at mofl an objection, which ought not to hurt 
 
 thofe 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. 97 
 
 thefe proofs, there are of the fpirituality of the foul, 
 of its immortality, and of Divine juilice and pro- 
 vidence. 
 
 What has one of the adverfaries of the Encyclo- 
 pedia made of this ? He has pretended, that the 
 only defign of this article was to ridicule this prin- 
 ciple of St. Auftin ; and to prove it, they have con- 
 cluded from the principle, that he looked upon brutes 
 as machines, an opinion very far from the good 
 doctor's thoughts, and the honour of which folely 
 belongs to his pretended apologift. Thus it is not 
 the Encyclopedia, but its ridiculous adverfary, who 
 accufes one of the moft refpe&able fathers of the 
 church of abfurdities and falfe conclufions, and in 
 this manner it is that religion is defended. Accord- 
 ing to this new apoflle, it is not poffible to be Chrif- 
 tians without believing brutes to be machines. Thus 
 from St. Peter, to Defcartes, there have been no Chrifli- 
 ans. But this writer aflonimes us with equal abfur- 
 dities, when he pretends, that moral duties are not 
 known by reafon, and that the exigence of the body 
 is a truth of revelation, and maintains, in fhort, 
 jigainft unbelievers, that the foul is of its own na- 
 ture immortal ; a proportion which is blafphemous, 
 ilnce it robs the Supreme Intelligence of one of his 
 moft effential attributes. The uncreated Being alone 
 is of his eflence immortal. Our foul exiils only by the 
 will of this Being, who thinks proper to give it an 
 eternal exiflence, which it receives every inftant by 
 a continual creation. It is not by the diffolution of 
 the parts that the foul ceafes to be as the body does ; it 
 F is 
 
9 3 THE ABUSE OF 
 
 is in relapfing into that non-entity, from whence the 
 authorof nature drew it, and to which it is liable every 
 inftant to return. Thefe are the firfl elements of 
 Chriftian metaphyfics, which the author ought to 
 have been intruded in before he wrote. It muft be 
 a fad and humbling circumflance to be obliged to 
 learn this doctrine of thofe very perfons whom he 
 faxes with denying them. 
 
 XXIV. Thofe who exercife their critical talents 
 with moll violence, and confequently with indifcre- 
 tion, aflame fometimes the air of moderation, when 
 they are fure of attacking with advantage. I know 
 not by what fatality the champions of Chriflianity 
 have adied otherwife, and fupported the intereft of 
 God with injurious malignity. They have this dif- 
 advantage, that they prejudice the reader againfl the 
 advocates of religion, they exafperate, and confe- 
 quently alienate thofe minds which would be recon- 
 ciled by moderation ; in ihort, they hinder the critic 
 from bellowing upon the arguments all the regard and 
 attention that is due to them. When they content 
 ithemfelves, for example, as enthufiafts fometimes do, 
 with faying of atheifts, that they are not honeft, and 
 that atheifm has its fource only in libertinifm, this 
 undoubtedly may be true in general ; but have they 
 any reafon to expect to make profelytes by thefe 
 means ? Although the interefl we have in denying a 
 truth may render our unbelief fufpefted, this intereft 
 is not a fufficient reifon for being condemned, when 
 "better proofs may be offered. The more a wife man 
 examines the evidence of God's exiflence, the more 
 
 intelli- 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. 99 
 
 intelligence will he derive from thence, and the more 
 ought he to be in a difpofition to offer him a reafon- 
 able worfhip, the only one which truly honours him, 
 and which is. one of the firft of his precepts. 
 
 The beft method of maintaining that atheifts can- 
 not be honeft, is to prove, with the greateft clearnefs, 
 the truth they oppofe. Let us not imitate a modern 
 writer, who began with advancing that there were no 
 infidels, and ended with refuting them ; befides, of 
 what Signification to truth are the motives of thofe 
 who deny it ? what, does it contribute towards convic- 
 tion to difallow our adverfaries probity and good faith ? 
 This is imitating the fchoolmafter in the fable, who 
 fcolded the boy for drowning himfelf, and made an 
 harangue before he would fave him. Can it be de- 
 nied, in ihort, that many philofophers, ancient and 
 modern, accufed of atheifm or fcepticifm, have been, 
 in appearance at leaft, irreproachable in their con* 
 jduft, and Ihewn themfelves as regular in their man- 
 ners, as blind and inconclulive in their opinions ? 
 ' Strike, but hear," faid Themiftocles to Eurebiades; 
 one might fay to thefe pretended champions of reli- 
 gion, " ftrike, but reafon." Alas ! it is to be feared 
 fuch wife and prudent advice as this might be re- 
 peated a long while without effect. Excefs in every 
 thing is the element of man ; his nature is to be paffi- 
 onate upon all fubjedls which engage him ; modera- 
 tion is to him a ftate of violence ; it is only through 
 conftraint or reflexion that he fubmits, and when the 
 importance of the caufe he defends, ferves for a pre- 
 text to his aniraoiity, he abandons himfelf to it with- 
 F 2 out 
 
ico THE ABUSE OF 
 
 out decency or remorfe. Has falfe zeal then for- 
 got that the Gofpel has two precepts equally indif- 
 penfable, the love of God, and our neighbour ? and 
 does it imagine that the belt way of keeping the firft 
 is by violating the fecond ? 
 
 XXV. The defence of Chriftianity has not only 
 been prejudiced by afperfions, but by the nature of 
 the accufations, and the character of the accufed. The 
 more heinous it is to propogate irreligion, the more 
 criminal it is to accufe others of fo doing who are 
 innocent ; in this cafe particularly, it is more necef- 
 fary that we judge of men by what they have written, than 
 by what they are unjuftly fufpe&ed of having thought, 
 cr intended to fay. Faith is the gift of God, which 
 is not to be procured of ourfelves *, and all that foci- 
 ety ordains, is to refpeft this precious gift in thofe 
 who have the happinefs to enjoy it ; it belongs to 
 men to judge of difcourfe, and to God, of the heart. 
 Thus the charge of irreligion, efpecially when brought 
 before the public, cannot be fupported by proofs too 
 convincing and notorious. But this precaution, fo 
 equitable in itfelf, is ftill more neceffary when a ce^ 
 lebrated writer is attacked, whofe name is fufficient 
 to give weight to his opinions, even to thofe he is 
 
 * If he means ty faith the belief of the ChrifKan religion in 
 general, it is to be procured of ourfelves by the exercife of com- 
 mon candour, like the belief of any hiftcrical event or moral 
 truth j but if he means the belief of fome dolrines of human 
 invention, falfly afcribed to Chriflianity, he may call it fupernatu- 
 ral, if he pleafes. 
 
 falfely 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. 101 
 
 falfely accufed of. What advantage did religion de- 
 rive from the imputations and -invectives fo often cad 
 upon the illuftrious author of the Spirit of Laws ? 
 On the one hand, they have not been able to convift 
 him of having meant the lead injury to the Gofpel, 
 of which he fpeaks with the greateft refpeft through- 
 out his work : on the other, the infidels have glo- 
 ried in a chief fo generoufly given them ; they have 
 accepted with gratitude this prefent, and the name of 
 Montefquieu has been more ferviceable to them, than 
 the pretended blows he is accufed of levelling againft 
 Chriftianity. Authority is the great argument of the 
 multitude ; and infidelity, faid a man of genius, is 
 the faith of libertines. After fo many writings and 
 pious railings againft the author of the Spirit of Laws, 
 the feniible defenders of religion, who at firft kept 
 filence, at length broke it (perhaps a little too late) 
 to vindicate this philofopher themfelves. They felt 
 the weight of a name which they had oppofed, and 
 did not forget to blot it out of the lilt of mifcreants, 
 where it had been rafhly placed. 
 
 XXVI. Should we wifh to know one of the princi- 
 pal caufes of this declared war againft philofophers : 
 The divines of France are divided into two parties, 
 who have long detefted and tore one another in pieces 
 for the glory of God, and the good of the church and 
 ftate. The weakeft of the two, after exhaufting all 
 that malice or calumny could invent to defeat their 
 adverfaries, concluded with taxing them of indifference 
 towards the doftrines of the Gofpel, attacked every 
 day in innumerable writings. Senfible of this re- 
 F 3 proach 
 
102 THE ABUSE OF 
 
 proach, and piqued in honour, they Teem to have united 
 with the weaker to fall foul upon all infidels indifcri- 
 jninately, whether real or fuppofed. This offenfive 
 alliance ought naturally to have put a ftop to the 
 war that has been kindled in the bofom of the Gal- 
 lican church above thefe ico years, but, unhappily 
 for religion, it does not produce this effect, and 
 one cannot fay r on this occafion, " facli funt amici 
 ex ipfa die ;" on the contrary, this declared war a- 
 gainlt the common enemy, has only furniflied the 
 two parties with a new pretext for reviling one ano- 
 ther with the more fury and fcandal ; a late Unking- 
 example will be a fad proof of what we now ad- 
 vance : there appeared lail year a work famous for a 
 great number of editions and criticifms that were 
 made upon it, which we condemn, with the author, 
 as far as they are found worthy of cenfure. The 
 Journalifts of Trevoux, who have enjoyed the privi- 
 lege of abufing every-thing under the name of irre- 
 ligion, whether 5 it mentioned it or no, made a very 
 brife attack upon this work in their vulgar dogma- 
 tical ftyle, and have endeavoured even to leflen the 
 talents of this author; bat in this laft refpeft, indeed, 
 they muft permit us to be of a different opinion 
 from them ; matters of tafte and philofophy are 
 a profane fort of knowledge, in which they dare no* 
 pique themfelves with being infallible. Divinity is 
 their fort, and yet it is a province which good men 
 now contell with them. However, thefe journalilts 
 enjoyed their viclory peaceably, till a periodical con-? 
 sealed writer, a more declared enemy to them than 
 
 even 
 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. 103 
 
 even to the infidel, came to make his charge in his 
 turn againft the fame book, which had been fo zea- 
 louily and largely attacked already. But it happened 
 that the blows of this new bruifer fall much hea- 
 vier upon the journalifts than the work itfelf. " Be- 
 ' hold, fays he, the effects of the abominable morality 
 " of the cafuifts, behold the do&rine of the Cafnedis, 
 " the Tamborins, the Berruyers and their brethren, 
 " confecrated in this pernicious production." The 
 reafonable men, on the other hand, exclaim in their 
 turn : " See the brethren of the Cafnedis, the Tam- 
 " borins, and the Berruyers, well recompenced for 
 " their zeal and religion, avenged in a very edifying 
 ** manner. 5 ' Indeed, if thefe critics accufe one ano- 
 ther of being in the principles of the -author con- 
 demned, one of them muft neceflarily be difhonelt ; 
 let us not think of taxing them in common, and de- 
 ciding their quarrel like the procefs of the wolf and 
 the fox before the ape. 
 
 XXVIf. When we fee the author of a libel, twenty 
 times difgraced by the magiftrate, declaim againft 
 infidels, we cannot help thinking of Calvin, who burnt 
 Servetus. But fanatics are always auftere ; in accufing 
 the perfon who differs from them in opinion of irre- 
 ligion, they give themfelves an air of zeal, which is 
 always agreeable to partymen ; they have the fatis- 
 faftion of calumniating government, which is indiffe- 
 rent to them, in comparifon of what they call the 
 caufe of God, which is in reality their own. However, 
 this may be faid with confidence, if thofe are to b$ 
 puniflied who do moil harm to Chriftianity, fanatics, 
 F 4 ought 
 
i 4 THE ABUSE OF 
 
 ought mueh rather to be fupprefled than infidel 
 What idea muft the people form of religion when 
 they fee its minifters anathematizing each other, till 
 authority forces them to that filence which charity 
 itfelf ought to prefcribe ? Don't we believe, that the 
 fcandalous difputes of divines of our days, upon 
 matters often futile, and always unintelligible, have 
 not done more mifchief to Chriilianity, than the 
 feeble reafbnings of the impious ? Why fhall 
 they not produce the fame effect upon the deifls, 
 which the quarrels of the Dominicans did upon the 
 emperor of China? " Thefe men, fays he, are come 
 " 5000 leagues to preach to us a do&rine upon 
 *' which they are not agreed themfelves." In fine, 
 what can have a greater tendency to {tumble the 
 weak, and make irreligion triumph, than fo many 
 contradictory works as we have feen accumulated in 
 thefe later times upon grace, the character of the 
 true church, and miracles ? The public, at laft, has 
 contented itfelf with being ignorant of thefe works, 
 and defpifmg their authors ; and they, in revenge for 
 not being read, have attacked thofe who are. 
 
 XXVIII. Let us plead, as much as lies in our 
 power, in favour of humanity and philofophy, againft 
 their unj uft complaints . Fads will fuifice without rea- 
 fonings, and, perhaps, will have greater force. Open 
 ecclefiaftical hiftory, which is always fo ufeful to the 
 Chriftian and the philofopher ; to the Chriftian, to 
 animate him by examples of virtue, and the accom- 
 pliihments of the divine Promifes, in fpite of the op- 
 pofition of all the powers of the earth ; to the phi- 
 lofopher 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. 105 
 
 lofopher, by the incredible and numberlefs monu- 
 ments it prefents to him of human extravagance, 
 and the evils which fanaticifm has produced. We 
 might ihew, by a detail of thefe evils, how govern- 
 ment has interefted itfelf in defending and fupporting 
 men of letters, who, being convinced of the true 
 doctrines of the faith, have had the juftice and the 
 equity to feparate what did not belong to it. It is, 
 indeed, to them that fovereigns owe the confirmation 
 of their power, and the deflru&ion of a tribe of 
 abfurd opinions, hurtful to the ftate ; on the contrary, 
 it is by confounding thofe objects with religion which 
 are foreign to it, that the people have groaned fa 
 long under the temporal power of ecclefialtics, that 
 excommunications, thofe refpeftable arms of the 
 church, have been lavifhed to fupport rights purely 
 human, and often ill-founded; that the fon of Charle- 
 main, as a flave rather than a Chriftian, underwent 
 ten times, fucceffively, the ignominy of a public pe- 
 nitence, which fome bifhop had the aflurance to com- 
 mand him, and which he merited only by the bafenefs 
 of fubmitting to it* ; that an cecumenique council, in 
 
 the 
 
 * In 822 and 823 Lewis, who was called the Debonnairv hut 
 who much better deferved the appellation of the Weak, fnbmitted 
 to a public penance at Attigny and Soifibns ; the firft time, for 
 putting to death his nephew who had revolted againft him j the 
 fecond time, for not receiving the law from his children. " The 
 " biftiops, who impofed this penance, pretended, that it was not 
 " lawful for him to refujne the royal dignity, St. Ambrofe did 
 F 5 " no t 
 
106 THE ABUSE OF 
 
 the age of fervitude and ignorance, durft not openly 
 proteft againft the defigns of an audacious pontiff, 
 who imagined he had a right to deprive an emperor 
 of his patrimony* 5 that one of our kings, to ex- 
 piate 
 
 e< not draw fuch confequences from the penitence of Theodofius ; 
 '* will any one fay, that that great Saint wanted courage to avail 
 ** himfelf of the authority of the church, or that he was lefs 
 '* wife than the bifhops of the ninth century ? Thefe bifhops, 
 f< much more hardened, declared themfelves againft Lewis the 
 " Debonnair, in favour of his children, and ftirred up that civil 
 " war which ruined the empire of France. Specious pretexts 
 were not wanting ; Lewis was a weak prince, governed by his 
 " fecond wife j the empire was in diforder j but they fliould have 
 *' had fome regard to confequences, and not pretend to expofe a 
 tf monarch to the fame penance as a fimple monk." The two 
 penances of this prince, efpecially the laft, which he deferred the 
 leaft, were attended with the moft mortifying circumftances. 
 Ebbon, archbifhopof Rheims, who had dared to degrade his matter, 
 \vas indeed depofed the year after, but the emperor was di (ho- 
 noured. 
 
 * In 1245, at the firft general council of Lyons, pope Innocent 
 IV. publicly depofed, in the prefence of the council, Frederic JI. 
 all the fathers holding a lighted candle, which he regarded 
 as a tacit approbation, but very unjuftly ; for it is evident, as 
 M. Fleury obferves, that this depofition was not made with 
 the approbation of the council, as other decrees. But, fay the 
 Proteftants, why the candle and their filence ? To this obje&ion 
 it is anfwered, that the greateft part of the ecclefiaftics were, 
 in general, of the opinion, that the popes had power over the 
 
 temporal 
 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. 107 
 
 plate the crime of burning 1300 ecclefiaftics, took 
 the refolution of killing ioo,coo perfons in Syria to 
 fhevv his penitence* ; that fools have plundered their 
 own families to enrich ignorant and ufelefs monks ; 
 that the ridiculous controverfies of the Greeks upon 
 abfurdities, have haftened the deftruclion of their em- 
 pire f ; that uncertain and cruel proofs were regarded 
 
 temporal kings, but that God did not permit that this opinion 
 (hould be confirmed by a pofitive fuftrage of the oecumenic coun- 
 cil 5 and the filence of the church afiembled, is not always a 
 mark of approbation, efpecially in matters not expr.efsly relative 
 to the faith. 
 
 * It is well known that the abbe Suger, as great a ftatefman 
 as the abbe de la Clarivaux was an orator, oppofed this unfortu- 
 nate croifade, which Lewis the Young undertook by the advice 
 of St. Bernard. The event juftified the fears of the minifter, 
 and confuted the promifes of the preacher. Lewis took up the crofs 
 to conquer Paleftine, and drive out the Saracens, his expedition 
 ended in divorcing his wife at his return, and lofmg, by that 
 means, Poitou and Guienne. In vain did St. Bernard wi/h to juftify 
 himtelf, by imputing to the fins of the warrior the mifcarriage of 
 that enterprise j he forgot that the nrft croifade was more fucccfs- 
 ful, though its champions were not more worthy of fuccefs, and 
 he did not fee, fays M. Fleury, that a proof is never conclufive, 
 which is not always fo. 
 
 f About the middle of the I4th century, certain weak monks 
 of Mount Athos, whofe brains were turned by long and fre- 
 quent failings, imagined they faw upon their navel the light of 
 Mount Tabor, ajid fpent their time in contemplating it, a moft 
 F 6 deplorable 
 
io8 THE ABUSE OF 
 
 as the judgments of God, the confequence of which 
 was often the condemnation of the innocent, and 
 the acquittal of the guilty * ; that one of the richefl 
 
 parts 
 
 deplorable herefy ! They pretended further, that this light was 
 uncreated, being no other than God himfelf. Barlaam, their ad- 
 verfary, ftill more ridiculous than they in giving them a ferious 
 anfv/er, had credit to get an afiembly convened at Conftantino- 
 pie againft thefe vifionaries, little aware that he himfelf fhould 
 be condemned there ; however, this was the confequence. The 
 emperor Andronicus Paleologus harangued the pretended council 
 with fo much vehemence that he died a few hours afterwards, an 
 exit worthy an emperor. It was this Andronicus Paleologus who 
 abandoned the fea-coaft of his dominion to ruin, becaufe he 
 was afiured that God was fo well fatisfied with his zeal for die 
 church, that his enemies durft not attack him, The fame em- 
 peror regretted the time, which the management of his affairs 
 ilole from theological debates. The quarrel of the Greeks about 
 the light of Tabor, lafted till the definition of the empire, and 
 continued with violence while Bajazet was befieging Conftanti- 
 nople. All thefe ridiculous controverfies, in which the empe- 
 rors took part, haftened their downfal, in making them neglect 
 the government. 
 
 * One may read in a great number of works a detail of thefe 
 fort of proofs, and the reafons why they were abolished ; all forts 
 of queftions were generally decided in this manner : they went 
 fo far as to throw two miflals into the fire, to try which was 
 the beft j the moft extraordinary event, and the leaft expected by 
 them, happened on this occafion, they were both burnt. A Clerk 
 of Provence fubmitted himfelf to the fiery trial, to prove a re- 
 velation 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION 109 
 
 parts of the world has been depopulated by mon- 
 fters, who put the inhabitants to death by puniihing 
 them into conversion ; that one half of our nation 
 has heen bathed in the blood of the other ; in fine, 
 that the ftandard of rebellion has been put into the 
 hands of fubjefts againft their fovereigns, and a 
 fword into the hand of fovereigns againft their fub- 
 jefts*. It is by the light of philofophy that we have 
 been delivered from fo many evils. A few intrepid men 
 
 velation which he faid he had of the difcovery of the holy fpear. 
 The prieft died. The event would always have been equally 
 uniform in all trials, if they had been honefily managed j but in 
 ages of ignorance, as well as others, there are men who know 
 how to cheat. 
 
 * We cannot conclude thefe notes better than by a pafTage of 
 M. Fleury. " It is melancholy, I am very fenfible, to relate 
 " thefe unedifying facts, but the foundation of hiftory is 
 " truth. There are two forts of perfons who are difpleafed with 
 " the relation of thefe things 5 the firft are the profane politi- 
 " cians, who, not knowing true religion, confound it with falfe 5 
 " they are afraid of diminifhing its refpect in the minds of the 
 " people, that is to fay, according to them, of undeceiving 
 " them. I will not difpute with thefe politicians. One ought to 
 " begin with inflructing and converting them j but I ought to 
 " fatisfy, if pofiible, thofe fcrupulous good men, who, through 
 " a miftaken zeal, fall into the fame misfortune of fhuddering 
 < { where there is no danger to be apprehended. What are you 
 " afraid of, I would fay ? of finding out the truth ? Do you love 
 " then to remain in error, at leaft in ignorance ? and can you 
 ' flay there with fafety, you who ought to inftrucl others?'* 
 
 liave 
 
no THE ABUSE OF 
 
 have fometimes dared, at the peril of their liberty, 
 their fortunes, and their lives, to open the eyes of 
 fubjects and kings. The gratitude which they have 
 a right to demand of our age, ought to be eftimated 
 by the importance of the fervices they have rendered, 
 and the molt real effect of this gratitude is in the 
 protection which ought to be given to their fuccef-* 
 fors. This protection, we can fay with pleafure, 
 finds fewer obftacles every day, in proportion as 
 the fpirit of philofophy, which fpreads continu- 
 ally, communicates itfelf to the more found and 
 wife part of the divines, and renders them more in- 
 dulgent, or more equitable in matters which are 
 not their object. We do not live in thofe times, 
 when it was a crime to teach any other philofophy 
 than Ariflotle ; with a little more ignorance and au- 
 thority it had been made^ law of the ftate, as it is 
 flill among our neighbouring nations *. 
 
 XXIX. We need but caft our eyes upon thofe un- 
 happy nations, who are victims to fo ridiculous a law, 
 to convince us of the fad effects which arife from fear, 
 
 * Our fathers faw but little more in 1624, when, at the re- 
 queft of the univerfity, and efpecially of the Sorbonne, it was 
 forbid by an arret of parliament, " on pain of death to hold or 
 ** teach any maxim contrary to ancient and approved authors, 
 ** or to enter into any debate but fuch as ftiould be approved 
 " by the doctors of the faculty of theology." By the fame ar- 
 ret feveral perfons who had compofed and publi/hed thefes 
 againft the doctrine of Ariflotle, were either reprimanded or ba- 
 niihed. 
 
 and 
 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. in 
 
 and the impoffibility of being inftrufted. Will pof- 
 terity believe it of our days, that there was printed 
 in one of the capital cities of Europe, a work with this 
 title, Syftema Ariftotelicum de formis fubftantialibus & 
 accedentibus abfolutis, 1750? will they not imagine it 
 was a miftake of the prefs, and that it ought to be read 
 1550? Such, however, in the midft of the eighteenth 
 century, is the deplorable ftate of reafon, in one of the fineft 
 regions of the earth, in a nation otherwife refined and 
 polite ; while the fciences are making fuch progrefs in 
 England, France and the Proteftant part of Germany* 
 I fay the Proteftant part ; for we muft acknowledge, 
 with forrow, the prefent fuperiority of the univerfities 
 of that party to the Catholic fchools. It is fo ftriking, 
 that ilrangers, travelling in thofe places, and paffing 
 from a Catholic univerfity to a neighbouring Proteftant 
 one, cannot help thinking, they have removed 400 
 leagues or lived 400 years ; that they have got from Sala- 
 manca to Cambridge, or from the age of Scotus to 
 that of Newton. We make this remark with the more 
 freedom, as the difference of light and knowledge in 
 thefe regions cannot be afcribed to their different re-^ 
 ligions. 
 
 In France, where the Catholic doftrine is followed 
 and refpe&ed, the fciences are cultivated with great 
 fuccefs. In Italy itfelf they are not neglected ; 
 doubtlfs for this reafon, becaufe the fovereign pontiffs, 
 for the moft part fenfible and wife, and knowing the 
 abnfes which fpring from ignorance, can more readily 
 fupprefs in Italy the tyranny of fubaltern inquifitors, 
 where it is neceiTary ; for every thing ferves as a pre- 
 4 text 
 
ii2 THE ABUSE OP 
 
 text to this contemptible and mifchievous wretches to 
 extinguifh light, and obftruct the progrefsof the mind. 
 
 XXX. It feems to me, that one way of reducing 
 their dominion in thofe unfortunate countries where 
 they happen ilill to rule, is to encourage, as much as 
 pofllble, theftudyof thedemonftrative fciences. Princes 
 who govern thefe people, and would have them ihake 
 off the yoke of fuperftition and ignorance, encourage 
 the increafe of mathematicians among them. This 
 will produce philofophers in time. The moft delicate 
 orthodoxy has no contention with geometry. Thofe 
 who believe they have an intereft in keeping the mind 
 in darknefs, mould they be forefighted enough to 
 know the effect of the progrefs of this fcience, would 
 want a pretext for hindering its fpreading. The ftudy 
 of geometry will foon lead to that of found phyfics, 
 and this to true philofophy^ which, by the light it will 
 diffufe all around, will foon rife fuperior to all the 
 efforts of fuperftition; for thefe efforts, however great, 
 become quite ufelefs when a nation is once enlightened. 
 
 XXXI. It is doing injury to religion, to endeavour 
 to fupport it by ignorance. The provinces of philo- 
 fophers and divines are like thofe of the fpiritual and 
 temporal powers ; nothing can be better diftinguimed 
 than the refpeclive rights of each ; but as fometimes the 
 fpiritual power, having fhook off the temporal yoke 
 which oppreffed it, is willing to opprefs in its turn : 
 fo fome minifters of religion, after emerging from the 
 darknefs which an infolent philofophy endeavoured to 
 throw over them, have been willing, in their turn, to 
 lock in this philofophy within the bounds which reli- 
 gion 
 
 
CRITICISM IN RELIGION. 113 
 
 gion prefcribes. Their feveral rights appear, at this 
 time of day, too well fixed, too well underilood and 
 determined, to have any thing to fear from each other's 
 attacks. It is their intereft to be united, as it is for 
 two powerful princes to be upon amicable terms; and 
 if, on the one hand, Chriftianity, being fupported by 
 divine and human laws, be eflablifhed on the mofl 
 durable foundation ; on the other, there is room to 
 believe, that the phiiofophers of the eighteenth century, 
 while they juftly refpecl: the doctrines of faith, will 
 defend their interefts with more force and advantage 
 than the princes of the twelfth century defended their 
 crowns. 
 
 XXXII. This is the fubflance of the reflections 
 which feemed proper to be made at this time of day, 
 upon criticifm in points of religion. I doubt not but 
 they will be approved, when they are examined 
 without prejudice, and with the light of found phi- 
 lofophy. I believe I am fufficiently fortified againfl 
 the attacks of weak and hypocritical fanatics ; but 
 with regard to perfons who are prejudiced againft me 
 out of a fmcere, but miflaken, zeal, I lhall refpedl the 
 caufe, without dreading or approving the effect of it ; 
 and content myfelf with replying in the words of 
 Cicero, 
 
 Iftos homines fine contumelia dimittamus, funt 
 enim & boni viri et quoniam ita ipfi fibi videntur, 
 beati. 
 
 AN 
 
AN ESSAY UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 LEARNED MEN, AND THE GREAT. 
 
 Sine ira et ftudio quorum caufas procul habeo. TACIT. 
 
 To M. L' Abbe De Canaye, of the royal academy of 
 infcription and belle letters. 
 
 Accept, my good friend, the fruits of our philofophical 
 converfations, in which you are equally concerned 
 with myfelf. To whom can I prefent them with 
 more propriety than to you, whofe example fo well 
 fhews, how happily one may live without the great, 
 and whofe company how eafily they may be difpen- 
 fedwith? Whatever pains I may have taken in 
 this efTay, to fpeak the truth in a manner the lead 
 ofFenfive, confident with integrity, I cannot hope to 
 pleafe all the world: However, men of letters will 
 admire my courage, honeft men will applaud me, 
 and you will love me the more. 
 
 HE R E are no people who have not continued a 
 JL long time in a ftate of barbarifm, or rather of 
 ignorance : for it is not yet decided whether they are 
 fynonymous expreflions or not. Our own nation, from 
 aft infinity of caufes which are no lefs dangerous to 
 explain, than eafy to perceive, remained many ages 
 buried under the profoundeft ignorance. 
 
 This indeed was not to be lamented, if we may credit 
 fome philofophers, who pretend to afcribe the deprava- 
 tion of human nature to the influence of knowledge. 
 
 For, 
 

 UPON THE ALLIANCE, &c. 
 
 For, as this enlightened age is corrupt, thofe 
 philofophers conclude, that it is the confequence and 
 effel of the progrefs of fcience. If they had lived 
 in thofe periods which we call barbarous, they would 
 then have regarded ignorance as the enemy of virtue. 
 The wife man, who calmly contemplates all ages as 
 well as his own, difcerns among all mankind a pretty 
 near refemblance. 
 
 Be this as it will, our day is at laft come; but, as 
 the night has continued long, the twilight and the 
 dawn have been long alfo. Charles V. (one of the 
 wife!!, and, confequently, one of the greateft of 
 princes who ever reigned, though lefs celebrated than 
 a mob of kings who have been only fortunate or power- 
 ful) made fome efforts to revive in his dominions a taile 
 for the fciences. He had undoubtedly the wifdom to 
 perceive, in the midft of the troubles which difturbed 
 his reign, that the cultivation of letters was one of 
 the moft infallible means of fecuring the tranquillity 
 of a monarchy, for a reafon which, on the contrary, 
 may render them pernicious to republics, becaufe, 
 when purfued too far, there is an attraction attending 
 them which engro/Tes mens attention, and makes them 
 cold to every other object. 
 
 His fuccefTors, either too ignorant, or too defpo- 
 tic, feemed to negleft the wife views of Charles: 
 But the original movement, though enfeebled, flill 
 fubfifted till the time of Francis I. who gave to Ian- 
 guiming genius a new impulfe. This prince was hap- 
 pily born with a difpofidon to love men of learning, 
 or at leaft with a difcernment that led him to protect 
 
 them: 
 
1 16 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 them : for we may defend them without loving them ; 
 and intereil or vanity often make men dupes with re- 
 fpect to the motives of their regards for them. Their 
 gratitude, in return, to this monarch was without 
 paralel. Men of letters, like the people, think 
 themfelves indebted to princes for the leaft privi- 
 leges ; and (what is truly memorable in the hiftory 
 of genius and the human heart) the title of Father of 
 letters contributed more to efface the innumerable 
 faults of Francis I. than the more refpe&able name of 
 Father of his people availed to cancel thofe of Lewis 
 XII. Hiftory feems to have placed the flrft of thefe 
 two kings in the fame rank with his rival in glory, 
 Charles V. who, though greatly his fuperior in abi- 
 lities, could not engage fo many pens in his praife, 
 and who neglected the vanity of being the idol 
 of learned men, for the lefs real, but more deftru&ive 
 honour, of being the terror of Europe. 
 
 The nobility of France, though always fond of 
 following blindly the example of their kings, did not 
 difcover the fame tafle for letters as Francis I. 
 
 Little removed from thofe times when the heroes, 
 who knew not how to read, could gain battles, and 
 fubdue provinces, they were confcious of no glory 
 but that of arms ; and here we find one of thofe cir- 
 qumftances in our hiftory, in which pride and pre- 
 judice prevailed over the defire of paying court to the 
 monarch. The natural difpofition of the courtiers to 
 ignorance, found more indulgence under the kings 
 who fucceeded him, who were rather to be called 
 prote&ors of letters, than zealous friends ; I except 
 
 neither 
 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 117 
 
 neither Charles IX. the author of fome verfes, which, 
 perhaps, would never have been mentioned if they 
 had not been wrote by a fovereign, nor even Henry 
 IV. who, as fome fay, gave fufficient encouragement 
 to learned men, but who treated all hisfubje&s nearly 
 as well ; becaufe, having conquered his kingdom, 
 he had the affections of his people to engage, and any 
 marks of diftinclion ihewn to a fmall number of par- 
 ticular men, might have tended to alienate the minds 
 of the multitude. 
 
 However, on the one hand, as the power of the 
 king increafed, on the other, the moot of knowledge, 
 which bloomed under Francis I. became fruitful in 
 the centre of the nation, without fpreading itfelf 
 much towards the extremities ; or, in other words, 
 it flourimed not among the poor, whofe fubfiftence 
 confined them to hard labour, nor among the rich, 
 who fpent their lives in idlenefs and intrigues. At laft 
 Lewis XIV. appeared, and the refpeft he mewed to 
 men of letters foon gave the tone to a nation long 
 accuflorned to receive it from its lords. Ignorance 
 ceafed to be the dear privilege of the nobility ; know- 
 ledge and genius, having recovered their reputation, 
 furpafled thofe bounds which unadvifed vanity feemed 
 to have prefcribed. Philofophy, animated by the 
 efleem of the monarch, by flow fteps rofe out of the 
 dungeon to which imbecility and fuperftition had 
 confined it. Prejudice gradually retreated, without 
 noife or violence, becaufe it is the nature of philo- 
 fophy to force no barriers, but to wait till they fall 
 down before it, and to turn afide when they will not. 
 
 Even 
 
UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 
 Even fciences me did not give birth to, and geniufes, 
 lealt qualified for her fervice, were not left deftitute of 
 encouragement. 
 
 The diffusion of a philofophical fpirit through all 
 books, and all ranks, forms that period of time when 
 a people may be faid to be -moft enlightened. It is 
 then that the body of the nation begins to have vvif- 
 dom ; or, whic-h is nearly the fame, begins to per- 
 ceive how much it is defective, after the labour of 
 two centuries to procure it. It is then that the great 
 begin to be felicitous, not only about the works, but 
 the perfons, of moderate, as well as diftinguifhed re- 
 putation; they are eager, from vanity at leaft, to 
 reward abilities with marks of efleem, often more in*- 
 terelted than fincere. Snatched from their folitude, 
 learned men fee themfelves translated to a new vor- 
 tex, where they have frequent occafions of obferving 
 how injudicioufly they are placed. This experiment 
 I have tried, and it may be ufeful when we do not 
 try it too long : the reflections which it fuggefled to 
 me fhall be the fubject of this eflay. As mankind 
 in the fame circumftances, and with limilar intereft, 
 fee nearly the fame things, I doubt not but other 
 learned men have made the fame obfervations before 
 me ; fo much the vvorfe for thofe to whom they are 
 new. However, the greateft number muft be ftran- 
 gers to fome or other of them, becauit they were 
 made in a country where I was only a paflenger ; and 
 we cannot fpeak with freedom of the nations we have 
 vifited, till our return. I wifh my reflections may be 
 of fome advantage to thofe who fhall follow me in 
 
 the 
 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 1 19 
 
 the fame courfe ; but if I cannot propofe to myfelf fo 
 reafonable a defign, I will imitate thofe travellers 
 who, though too well fatisfied to have any defire of 
 recommencing their adventure, cannot help enter- 
 taining others with an account of them. 
 
 It is not furprifing that the company of the great 
 ihould have fome attractions for learned men. The 
 real or apparent advantages to be drawn from fuch a 
 connection, eafily prefent themfelves : the inconve- 
 niences are only known by experience. Such is the 
 misfortune of felf-love, that, though it receives the 
 deepeft wounds from that which did not feem able to 
 aiFecl it, though it is very often more eafily deceived 
 than fatisfied, it lays itfelf open to the advances of 
 every-thing that may flatter, and never fufpecls that 
 which may do it an injury. 
 
 The firft advantage which men of letters find in 
 the world is, that they are more celebrated at leaft, if 
 not more known, and appear before a tribunal dif- 
 ferent from that of their rivals. To unfold, and, at 
 the fame time, to eftimate this advantage, it is necef- 
 fary to rife higher, and to examine upon what prin- 
 ciples, and in what manner, we endeavour to arrive 
 at that glory which is founded on great talents. 
 
 The more genius a man has, the more difcontented 
 he is with it : I appeal to perfons of wit of all ages 
 and nations. It is true, the examination they make 
 of themfelves is in fecret : the pleadings and fen- 
 tence of this procefs are both carried on in the privy- 
 chamber, if I may ufe fuch an expreflion, and they 
 would be forry if the determination was confirmed by 
 
 the 
 
120 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 the world. On the contrary, the efleem of others is 
 a fubftitute to the unfavourable opinion we enter- 
 tain of ourfelves ; it is the ftafF upon which felf-love 
 fupports itfelf. There are but two kinds of men 
 who are perfectly fatisfied in their judgments of them- 
 felves, a perfect genius, which never exifted, and a per- 
 fect fool, which is common enough ; the inability of 
 the laft to underiland his own ignorance, fupplies 
 that which he does not know ; from hence it hap- 
 pens, that, in the diftribution of happinefs, fools 
 are far from having the woril mare. 
 
 I doubt not but men of letters, who have taken 
 the pains to look into themfelves, and to think like 
 philofophers, will readily admit the truth of what I 
 advance. The merit of mens writings is like that of 
 their hearts, none can pronounce upon it fo well as 
 themfelves, becaufe none can have fo near a point of 
 view, nor fo long an acquaintance. It is in con- 
 fequence of this, that the more the excellence of a 
 work confifls in fomething intrinfic and independent 
 of opinion, the lefs felicitous we are of the appro- 
 bation of others : from whence it comes, that the 
 fatisfaction ariiing from the fludy of geometry is fo 
 pure and complete, the progrefs we make in that 
 fcience, and the degree of excellence to which we 
 attain, may be meafured, I might fay, with the fame 
 accuracy as the objects to which it relates. 
 . We have no occafion to recur to the eftimate of 
 others, except in thofe cafes where there is no eila- 
 blifhed flandard, and there we hope they will be fa- 
 vourable to us. Now, in fubjects of tafte and the 
 
 belles 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 121 
 
 belles lettres, it confifts in .a certain kind of value, 
 which is always arbitrary in part, if not wholly fo, 
 at leaft as far as negligence, paffion, or caprice, in- 
 terfere in raifing or depreffing it. This makes it evi- 
 dent to me, that, if mankind were to live feparate, 
 -and to employ themfelves in the purfuit of fuch ob- 
 jects as their prefervation dictated, they would prefer 
 the ftudy of the ufeful, to the entertaining fciences. 
 We devote our thoughts to the latter for the advan- 
 tage of others, to the former for our own. A poet 
 in a defart ifland would, in my opinion, be a very 
 idle character in comparifon of a geometrician. Jt 
 is natural to conclude, from thefe reflections, that 
 the defire of reputation, though natural to mankind, 
 is fufficient to mortify them, when philofophically 
 confidered. But, without examining fo fevere a con- 
 fequence, let us go a little farther, and purfue all 
 the frauds, or, as Montaigne fays, all the lures of 
 ielf-love. 
 
 Though it is jealous of the power of deceiving 
 others, it muft not deceive them too grofsly ; for they 
 may foon be convinced of their miftake, and avenge 
 themfelves by a contempt as unjuft as their efteem. 
 Befides, mould the illufion of others continue, the 
 more grofs it is, the more is the flattery of felf-Iove 
 diminiihed ; the pleafure we rind in impofmg upon 
 others, is conttituted, in part, of the fatisfaftion 
 that is felt in feeing oarfelves better judges than they 
 of our own qualifications and abilities ; but, to make 
 this fatisfaction as pure and perfect as poflible, it is 
 of importance to have our caufe before difinterefted 
 G arbiters, 
 
222 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 arbiters, who mall have no motives, from rivalf; 
 or paftion, to deprefs us; fo well fkilied, as not 
 be fufpefted of pronouncing uithout examination ; 
 and fo ftiperficial, as to give us no reafon to dread 
 ihe feverity of their judgment. 
 
 This, if I am not miilaken, is the reafon why th 
 generality of learned men feek after the eitcrm and 
 protection of the great. 
 
 it is taken for granted their education has given 
 them fome judgment, at leaft we nnd this prejudice 
 generally eftablifhed, and, as vanity finds an r-dvan- 
 tage here, it avails itfelf of it: for philosophers 
 themfelves never fail to foment prejudices which may 
 benefit, with the fame ardour that they attack thofe 
 which may hurt them. 
 
 They are principally felicitous to retain in the 
 caufe thofe among the great who, without devoting 
 themfelves to the profeffion of letters, cultivate them 
 in a certain degree, but are not indebted to them 
 either for their fortune or diftinclion ; having nothing 
 to fear from the acutenefs of their penetration, the 
 'find in them precifely that mare of undemanding 
 which does not alarm the jealcufy of their ielf-love. 
 Neverthelefs, as this fort of half connoiiTeurs is rare 
 among the great, he does not confine himfelf to aim 
 only at the eftcem of the molt celebrated, but per- 
 fuades himfelf to prefs into his fervice the whole 
 body, becaufe he hopes that, his admirers being the 
 greateft number, their approbation will draw a mul- 
 titude of folfowers after them. The fuffrages ct this 
 troop of fubalterns would be a little flattering, if 
 
 they 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT, 225 
 
 they flood alone, but, when adorned by a leading 
 vote, they not only increafe their number, but ac- 
 quire a kind of additional value. Self-love, infatiable 
 in its appetite for glory, feeks to efpoufe to its in- 
 tereft thofe among the great who have moil of theie 
 echoes at their command; a lefs delicate vanity Is 
 content with ranking one or two great names in the 
 number of its patrons. 
 
 Such is the real or pretended utility which men of 
 letters think they draw to their reputation from a 
 commerce with the great; I mean by this word all 
 thofe who, either from their anceflors or themfelves, 
 have attained a con/iderable diftindtion in fociety : 
 for in a ftate fo monarchical as ours, where xhere i^ 
 properly fpeaking, but one lord, the power -;of the 
 prince blends the ftate happily together. Opulence, 
 the proof of independence .and credit, readily joins 
 irfelf by its own authority to high birth ; aiad I do 
 not know but it would be wrong to prevent it. The 
 inferior ftates, who are poflefled of neither of them, 
 endeavour to place themfelves in the fame line, with 
 a view, undoubtedly, of lefiening the number of that 
 clafs of men who are above them, and to bring the 
 different condkions of Hfe to that equality which is 
 fo natural, and to which they are always tending, 
 without being confcious of it. 
 
 I will now, with -permiffion, cool yefti mate, without 
 caprice or flattery, thefe Difpenfers of renown, and 
 the right which they ufurp, or are .entitled 4o, of de- 
 liv.erijag their oracles. 
 
 It 
 
 
12 j. UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 It is but juft, however, for me previoufly to declare, 
 that it is rot my intention here to eftablifh any prin- 
 ciples or facts, which are abfolutely univerfal ; fome 
 exceptions there are, I acknowledge it with pleafure: 
 birth and fortune neither exclude talents, nor beflow 
 them. 
 
 Firft of all, I fhall not be timorous in branding with 
 the name of prejudice the common opinion, -which fup- 
 pofes the Great to have a better education than 
 others; and confequently, (if equal in other re fpects) 
 to be more intelligent judges. The education they 
 receive being wholly confined to external accomplifh- 
 rnents, may qualify them to impofe on the people, 
 but not to judge of men. What a fatire upon our 
 manners is Philip's letter to Ariilotle on the birth-day 
 of Alexander* ! What would Socrates have faid of the 
 public education we give to our young nobility, of the 
 puerilities which we encourage in them, as if there 
 
 * ( ( The gods (were the words of Philip to the finefr genius of 
 f( that age) have given me a Ton ; but I thank them not fo much 
 " for giving me one, as for giving him in the time of Ariftotle." 
 This letter, which equally redounds to the honour of the prince 
 and of the philofopher, ought to immortalize Philip in the etieem 
 of wife men, more than thofe dangerous abilities with which he 
 forged the chains of Greece. Such letters to philosophers have 
 been now a long time obfolete ; I don't mean only from princes, 
 but from perfons who have no hope of becoming fuch. But now 
 1 fpeak of the Great only by the bye, and becaufe it has a necef- 
 fary relation to my. fubjeft. What a world of matter would fo 
 important a point fugged ! 
 
 was 
 
 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. i:j 
 
 was nothing better to be taught them ? Senfiblc of 
 the fituation of youthful minds, who are molt fufcep- 
 tible of the imprefllons of goodnefs, grandeur, and 
 truth, he had but too frequent occafion to inculcate 
 upon their matters, the maxims which are fo appli- 
 cable to our prefent manners, that " youth could 
 " not be too much refpefted." 
 
 But how afto n iflied would he have been to fee per- 
 fons living in the midfl of a religion fo meek and 
 lowly as ours, and fo well calculated to humble the 
 mind of man, continually afKefting to remind the no- 
 ble pupils of the glory of their name and birth, and 
 for want of more real and honourable motives, having 
 recourfe to fuch as thefe ; inftead of repeating to them, 
 as they always mould, that all mankind are their 
 equals by the intention of nature ; that on account of 
 talents, many are their fuperiors ; and that a great 
 name, to him who knows how to think, is of as great 
 weight and value as the moft pompous equipage ! 
 
 I doubt not but this cenfure of the public education 
 of the Great, which is unfortunately too juft, will be 
 oppofed by thofe encomiums which celebrated perfons 
 have given them. I anfwer, that they only fpeak of what 
 it ought to be, or, if what they faid of it might be 
 true in their days, it is palpably different now. I dare 
 fay to thefe feges, " Come and fee." I am as little 
 folicitous about another objection, from there having 
 been a few happy geniufes, whofe fmgular talents 
 have not been ftifled by a bad education. It would 
 be equally as pleafant to pretend there is no difficulty 
 G 3 in 
 
126 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 in poliming the Mufcovites, becaufe the Czar was born 
 among them. 
 
 It is with this rich fund of ideas and capacity, 
 that fo many of the Great judge and condemn what 
 they ought to revere. They have not even the forry 
 iatisfa&ion of knowing where they are unjuft. Having 
 neither received from others, nor acquired of them- 
 felves, the principles of criticifing upon any thing, 
 is it aflorafhing, that they mould be ignorant of any 
 difference either in writings or in men ? The writer, 
 who vifits and flatters them molt, however little in 
 himfelf,, is to them the firft of his order; as the 
 courtier is moft in the graces of the minilter who fo- 
 licits with moil afliduity. This man of letters is their 
 oracle, and their council, and they are the echo of his 
 ridiculous decifions. 
 
 This affords us a profpeft, not lefs agreeable than 
 philofophical, to fee how widely they vary in their 
 judgments: the current fentiments, which their flat- 
 terers take care to di&ate to them, are their own again, 
 becaufe they have none but from them. The lail work 
 cf a famous man, who has not had the good fortune 
 to pleafe them, is always the worft of his productions: 
 and they never begin to do him juftice, till fome new 
 performance of his offers new food to their fatire ; they 
 then declare * that his former piece difcovered fome 
 ' ingenuity ; but what can be expefted from a genius 
 * quite exhaufted ?' 
 
 The moft effe&ual method of making thefe Ariitar- 
 chufcs more circumfpecl:, would be to prevail upon 
 
 tjiein 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. fz 7 
 
 them to give their opinion under their own hand. At 
 the end of a very few years, when the fury of cabal 
 and the fpirit of party yield to the decifion of tha 
 wife, thefe unrelenting, but ignorant, judges would 
 be found either contradi&ing themfelves or the public ; 
 for notwithitanding all the injuries charged fo often 
 upon the public, and fometimes fo defervedly, it ge- 
 nerally determines with judgment and equity. It is 
 true, the public which judges, that is to fay, which 
 thinks, is not conftituted of thofe who pronounce, 
 nor of all who read. Its decrees are not tumultuous ; 
 fometimes it gives a fecond examination, where preju- 
 dice and paflion feemed to think they had decided the 
 caufe ; and its oracles committed to the truft of a fmall 
 number of celebrated men, at. leail teach the multi* 
 tude the opinions they are to form. 
 
 Befides, it is among men of letters, and among them 
 only, that they muft expeft to meet with themfelves, 
 that is, with perfons of the fame art, (whatever it be) 
 capable of estimating the true beauties of a work, and 
 the degrees of difficulty that have been furmounted 
 in executing it. If the Great have any right to be 
 efteemed found judges, it is only fo far as they are; 
 in the flri&eft fenfe, men of letters themfelves. A 
 mere admirer of an art feldom reafons with fo much 
 judgment, I will not fay as an accompliihed artift, but 
 as an indifferent one. It is in vain to imagine, that a 
 talent fo eafy and common as that of compofing bad 
 works, (which may be dignified by the honourable 
 appellation of works of The Society) gives a title to 
 the requifite qualities of a judge. 
 
 G 4 It 
 
128 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 It requires an exertion of all the powers we poflH5 r 
 to obtain a jult knowledge of the iecrets of an art ; ifr 
 is no lefs than a gift flowing fromthe generous profu- 
 iion of nature. Now, to difplay all the efforts in our 
 power, we muft not confine our views in writing to the 
 little circle of friends or complaifant flatterers ; we muft 
 addrefs our performances to the world, or at leaft finifh 
 them with the fame pains, as if they were to make 
 their appearance in it. 
 
 Woe be to the author, whoie work feeks only the 
 pafTport of his own times, or obtains no more than 
 the fan&ion of five or fix votes, already engaged by a 
 previous perufal ! I appeal to thofe abortive produc- 
 tions, which their iiluftrious authors condemn fo juftly 
 to perpetual obfcurity, and which thofe who are privy 
 to them, muft one day as extravagantly defpife, at 
 they before applauded them. I appeal to the genuine 
 fentiments of the public, when by fome misfortune or 
 fome ill addrefs of vanity, thefe performances venture 
 to make their public appearance. Perhaps fome may 
 fay, " What, will you bring a man of letters to be 
 *' judged by his rivals ? what indulgence has he to 
 *< hope for from the emulation of a competitor, at leafl 
 " when he has not been able to fettle his own judgment 
 ' concerning himfelf ?" To anfwer this obje&ion, I 
 muft remark, that among men of letters, who purfue 
 the fame path, as there are different talents, fo there 
 are different clafles. Thefe clafles are fufficiently 
 marked of themfelves ; and men of letters, by a kind 
 of tacit convention, form this diftindlion without in- 
 tending it. 
 
 Each 
 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 129 
 
 Each perfon, indeed, I muft confefs, endeavours to 
 advance himfelf to a clafs more elevated than he is 
 qualified to fill ; but there is no reafon to fear, left 
 the federal ranks mould be overturned by thefe preten- 
 fions ; for vanity can never be deluded beyond a cer- 
 tain degree : the fole effeft of this is, to reduce the 
 number of the claries, for they can never be confound- 
 ed all together: beftdes, he who fhould afpire to uni- 
 verfal and perpetual monarchy, even though he mould 
 be worthy of it, would run a great rifque of finding 
 many malecontents ; that anarchy which deftroys po- 
 litical ftates, gives ftrength and fubfiftence to the 
 literary republic. It is with fome difficulty that 
 any magiftrates are endured ; but kings are utterly 
 unfupportablc. 
 
 The different clafTes being thus conflituted, and 
 each having nothing to diftinguifh it from its neigh- 
 bours, if we are not equitably tried in our cwn clafs, 
 we may may obtain juflice at leaft in the inferior or 
 fuperior ones. If we -were to confult thefe differ- 
 ent claiTes feparately, there would refult from the 
 combination of their fuffrages, a decifion on which 
 we may fafely rely, when we are not qualified to pafs 
 judgment on ourfelves. Thus the fentiment of com- 
 mon foldiers and fubalterns, is a far more equitable teft 
 of the abilities of a general, than that of prejudiced 
 rivals, or corrupted flatterers. It is the fame in thecourfe 
 of literature ; the determination of conncifTeurs produces 
 fometimes a flow effect, becaufe it finds itfelf frequently 
 encountered by a great number of unjuft and clamcf- 
 rous decifions. It is as true with refpeft to tafle and 
 G 5 genius 
 
1 30 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT ! 
 
 genius as philofophy; nothing is more rarely pofTefTed, 
 wore impracticable to acquire, nor more commonly pre- 
 tended to. Hence fo many reputations ufurped, for a 
 time at leaft, which while they call forth moderate 
 talents, only difcourage great ones, and humble them 
 by letting them fee through what hands fame is diflri- 
 bnted. Hence that mob of petty focieties and tribu- 
 nals, where great geniufes are mangled to pieces by 
 perfo-ns not worthy to read them. 
 
 If perfons of diiUnguifiied talents did but poflefs a 
 little more practical philofophy than they do, it would 
 be an entertainment to them to fee the quarrels of thefe 
 little focieties we are fpeaking of, and the contempt 
 they affect for one another, or rather the flridl juftice 
 with which they treat each other's merit ? the high 
 and decifive air with which they fpurn the fentence of 
 their rival, to make it ridiculous ; and, in Ihort, the 
 neologifm they have introduced into our language, 
 from which better writers are fcarce able to fecure 
 themfelves. 
 
 ,A profpeft like this, viewed with the eyes of calm' 
 reafon,ismore than fufficient toconfole true philofophy 
 under the lofs of a multitude of frivolous voices. 
 Like a powerful fovereign, rendered by his fuperior 
 forces inacceflible to every attack, he may look down 
 and fee at a diflance barbarous corfairs mangling one 
 another, after attempting, in vain, to injure the fron- 
 tiers of his dominions; but philofophers, or rather 
 thofe who profefs themfelves fuch, like fovereign 
 princes, cannot difiemble the kail infult; and the 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 131 
 
 defire of returning vengeance often proves more hurt- 
 ful to them than the infults themfelves. 
 
 We are little acquainted with the nature of envy, if 
 we think we can filence it, by appearing too fenfible 
 of it : this is only giving it that confequence which 
 it defires. Pofterity had been ignorant of the very 
 names of Bcevius and Maevius, if Virgil had not been 
 fo weak as to mention them in his verfes. 
 
 Men of letters, of a certain ran-k, degrade themfelves 
 by anfwering fatire ; and they are blamed for it by the 
 public, which fometimes takes a malignant pleafure 
 in the fhafts that are thrown againfbthem. A marr; 
 whofe talents and genius give him the confcioufnefs of 
 deferving reputation, may let the public voice alone. 
 He need not trouble himfelf with dictating what it 
 ihall determine ; but wait, if I may fay fo, for future 
 fame to come and take his orders. He will foon put 
 to filence every inferior voice, as the force of the fun- 
 damental found in a concord deftroys every di/Tonance 
 which tends to alter the harmony. 
 
 But the man of letters is fo litde of a philofopher, 
 as to be chagrined becaufe juftice is not done him ; and 
 fo imprudent as to fuffer his refentments to be blazed 
 abroad. Then envy redoubles her attacks, and even 
 ridicules him for not enjoying the reputation of his 
 own excellent works. In ihort, we.muft ad in fame 
 as cautioufly as in ficknek ; impatience is fatal in 
 either of them. How many men are there diftin- 
 guiihed for their rare endowments, to whom we may 
 apply the rebuke formerly made to a Carthaginian 
 general, " The gods do not give all talents to one : 
 G 6 " you 
 
132 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 
 " you have that of obtaining a vi&ory, but not that 
 " of ufmg one." 
 
 Renown is a kind of game of commerce, where 
 chance fometimes gets a fortune; but where merit 
 acquires, in general, more certain gains ; provided, 
 that'while it ufes the tricks of gamefters, it does not 
 expofe itfelf to be betrayed by them. But it is too 
 frequently confidered as a mere lottery, where perfons 
 imagine they make their fortune by inventing falfe 
 tickets. 
 
 When I confider the empire of letters, I think I fee 
 a fpacious place, crouded with a multitude of empirics 
 mounted upon ilages, calling to pafTengers, and 
 deceiving the people ; who begin with laughing at 
 them, and end with being their dupes. It is by thefe 
 means fo many writers gain a kind of name in the 
 world. Would you be applauded for a wit ? tell the 
 public aloud that you are one. You will be ridiculed 
 by a great number : you will impofe, however, upon 
 fome fools, who will gather round you. The mob 
 will thicken more and more ; and thole who would 
 not hearken to you at firft, fhall either fall in with 
 the opinion of the multitude at laft, or be forced to 
 hold their tongues. 
 
 Thus the reputation of fome literati, when com- 
 pared with their works and their perfons, is a very 
 extraordinary phenomenon, which cannot be accounted 
 for ; but which muft be admitted, out of refpect to 
 what is called the public. We muft recolledt on this 
 occafion, the ftory of the naturalift, who upon attempt- 
 ing to explain why caverns are warmer in fummer than, 
 
 winter, 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 133 
 
 winter, faid, Perhaps it was owing to one caufe; 
 and perhaps to another; and perhaps it was not 
 true. 
 
 I mall not declaim before learned men on the com- 
 mon-place topics of contempt of glory, fo often re- 
 commended, and with fuch little fincerity, by philo- 
 fophers. I will not feek to degrade motives, which 
 without having, if you will, any real foundation, 
 are the fprings of every thing great, ufeful, and agree- 
 able among mankind. The efteem of our cotempo- 
 raries and fellow-countrymen is a felicity by common 
 agreement ; and fo univerfally is it acknowledged for 
 fuch, that it would be fenfelefs, ufelefs, and dangerous 
 to undeceive the world in this point. But as public 
 efteem is the objedl which calls forth great perfor- 
 mances, it is by great performances alone that we 
 muft feek to obtain it, or at leaft to deferve it ; and 
 not to ufurp it by idle and defpicable machinations. 
 
 Write as if you was in love with glory : ac~l as if 
 you was indifferent to it. 
 
 Thefe confiderations chiefly belong to thofe, whom 
 we call wits ; and whofe works being intended to be 
 read, meet with the worft judges. They are lefs 
 neceffary to thofe who are engaged in the demonflrative 
 fciences, where merit does not {land fo much in need 
 of the eftimation of others to determine it. But it 
 would tempt one to be of a different opinion, to fee 
 the artifice they have recourfe to, to obtain fuffrages, 
 that are more pompous than honourable ; and the 
 envenomed hatred they carry about them, which they 
 have not the prudence to conceal ; yet thefe men have 
 
 the 
 
154 -tJPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 the modefty to call themfelves philofophers ; as if phi^ 
 lofophy, before it pretended to regulate the fyftem of 
 the world, fliould not teach us to begin with ourfelves, 
 and to fet a proper value upon every objtft. We 
 place the hatred of poets next to that of women : 
 I don't know but it would be right to rank that of 
 thefe men betwixt them both, or at their head. A 
 fevere epigram exhaufts all the vengeance of a poet. 
 The rage of a philofopher is more cenflant and inflexi- 
 ble, though it has no more for its object, perhaps, 
 than to fland in the lift of the partizans of a woman, 
 who takes herfelf for a great peribnage, only becaufe 
 ihe has overcome the fatigue of reading pliilofophical 
 books, without underftanding them. 
 
 I am far from imagining this a juft portrait of all 
 thofe who run the noble career of fcience ; neither am 
 I willing to make any particular application : this 
 would be disfiguring, and fpoiling by fat ire, an eflay 
 which I would have folely dedicated to truth. General 
 paintings are only permitted by philofophy and hu^ 
 manity. It is true, if we feldom apply them, they will 
 be little ferviceabk ; but portraits of a peculiar kind* 
 and ftriking likenefe, are flrll kfs. 
 
 To avoid the like reproach, let us draw a veil over 
 the intercourfes of the learned. When I fpeak of the 
 learned, I don't mean by that term thofe who may be 
 called perfons of erudition.; they are a nation little 
 known, and not very numerous or commercial, and 
 quite innocent of this charge. Moil of them belonged 
 to the fixteenth century, and had the good fortune to 
 be ftrangers to ours. Happy vvuld it be, if cur phi- 
 lofophers 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 135 
 
 lofophers and geometricians lived together like them ; 
 their labour profited the world, without making fo 
 much clamour; and in this refpeft they were better. 
 
 A ftranger wrote a book with this title, " Of the 
 " quackery of the learned :" this title promifed 
 much. If unfortunately the book did not prove a good 
 one, it was not becaufe the author wanted memoirs, 
 but becaufe the memoirs wanted an author. However, 
 if he had travelled in France, he had deprived his 
 book of an excellent chapter. 
 
 To examine things without prejudice, why do we 
 prefer to a man of erudition whom we negleft, a phi- 
 lofopher and geometrician whom we underftand lefs, 
 and who contributes, feemingly, nothing to our amufe- 
 ment ? Opinion and eftablifhed cuflom have certainly a 
 great (hare in fo arbitrary a preference. What has brought 
 into fafhion geometricians fo much of late ? It ufed to 
 be regarded as an inconteftable thing, that a geome- 
 trician, being tranfportedoutof his own fphere, could 
 not poilibly have common fenfe. It was eafy, indeed, 
 to rectify this miflake by reading Defcartes, Hobbes, 
 Pafcal, and many others: but that was toomuch trouble* 
 To how many perfons have thefe great men never yet 
 exifted ! In England they were contented in having 
 the greatelt genius of his age ; in France they 
 would not have been fatisfied if he had not been an 
 agreeable man. In fine, a geometrician, of the rft 
 reputation, matched from us by Pruflia, is found to 
 poiTefs, in an uncommon degree, all that engaging 
 fprightlinefs which we fo much admire, and which 
 he adorned by more fubftantial qualities, that fpright- 
 linefs 
 
136 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 Hnefs which geometry is no more likely do deftroy 
 where it is, than the belles lettres are to give where it 
 is not. All at once our eyes are open to behold as it 
 were a new and extraordinary phenomenon. We are 
 aftonimed to find that a geometrician is not a kind of 
 favage. Immediately, as we keep no medium in our 
 judgment, a geometrician is a fight indifcriminately 
 fought after. 'Tis true, this madnefs does not lalt 
 long ; not becaufe it is found to be a madnefs, but 
 becaufe no madnefs is of long continuance in our na- 
 tion. It ftill fubfifts, though in an inferior degree. 
 But if I was one of thefe geometricians, I mould not 
 be much elated with the reception they meet with. 
 The elogium beftowed on them are only relative to 
 the unfavourable idea formerly conceived of them. 
 He is a great geometrician, they fay, and an agreeable 
 man too ; encomiums fufficiently mortifying in their 
 principle, andfimilarto thofe we give noblemen. Should 
 the laft happen to reafon tolerably well on a work of 
 fcience or belles lettres, we extol their fagacity to the 
 fkies ; as if a man of quality was forced, by his rank, to 
 be lefs inftrucled than others in the fubjeclon which he 
 fpeaks. In a word, in France we treat geometricians 
 and the nobility as we do Turkim and Perfian ambaf- 
 fadors. We are furprifed to find good fenfej in the moft 
 ordinary degree, in a perfon who is neither a French- 
 man nor a Chriftian ; and, confequently, we catch at 
 every trivial and foolifh thing that drops from their 
 lips, as fo many apophthegms. In truth, were we 
 to trace the motives of thofe elogiums, which fome 
 perfons are fo prodigal of, we ihould find enough to 
 
 confole 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 137 
 
 confole us under their fatire, and, perhaps, even their 
 contempt. 
 
 I cannot quit this fubjec~l without making fome re- 
 flections on that paffion we affect for Grangers. What 
 I am going to fay will be the lefs a digreffion, iince 
 flrangers, being fo well received every where now-a- 
 days, and efpecially when they are rich and of great 
 name, they conflitute a particular party in the world ; 
 which deferves obfcrvation, as they are courted by 
 men of letters for the fake of their beloved reputa- 
 tion. 
 
 When we attentively confider the grangers tran 
 planted amongft us, whom we reproach by the elo- 
 giums we are fo profufe of, we rarely difcover any 
 other motive for them than a ridiculous prejudice in 
 our own favour, joined to an ambition of humbling 
 our fellow-countrymen. 
 
 . I mould be forry if the Englifh, whom we affect to 
 praife in preference to others, mould be dupes to thefe 
 motives. I may be accufed, perhaps, of revealing a 
 fecret of ftate; but I believe I am going to commit 
 no great crime. However it happens, I confefs, that 
 with all the efleem I have for their perfons, I have 
 dill more for their nation : and I am as little curi- 
 ous to fee an Englishman at Paris, as I mould be to fee 
 a Frenchman at London. Such a lord arrived here, 
 with a very great reputation, who appears in conver- 
 fation to be no more than a common perfon. He may 
 be a great ftatefman, and know how to treat the 
 molt important fubje&s in the fenate, in his own lan- 
 guage, and yet Hammer in a ftrange tongue, among 
 
 a peopl 
 
13 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 a people whofe cuftoms, interefts, ridieuloufnefs and 
 littlenefs he is utterly unacquainted with. 
 
 It is to men of letters, we muft ackowlcdge, that 
 the Englifh nation is indebted for the prodigious good 
 fortune it has met with among us. Inferior to the 
 French in matters of tafte and agreeablenefs, but fu- 
 perior in merit, at leaft in the number of excellent 
 philofophers me has produced, fhe has gradually 
 communicated, in the works of her writers, that pre- 
 cious liberty of thinking, which reafon knows how to 
 improve, which men of wit abufe, and which fools 
 murmur at. 
 
 So many French pens have celebrated England, 
 that their elogiums feemed to have calmed the natio- 
 nal hatred, at leaft on our part: for it muft be agreed, 
 that in this point we have the advantage of them a 
 little; and they <lo not exactly return the praifes we 
 give them. Is not this referve (by the way) an ac- 
 knowledgment of our fuperiority ? at leaft, the honour 
 they do us to come and fee our tafte, our air, and even 
 our prejudice, is a kind of tacit and involuntary 
 elogium, which the French vanity can accomodate it- 
 felf to better than any other. It feems that we have 
 actually made an exchange with England : inftrufted 
 and enlightened by them, we feem to carry away, at 
 leaft to difpute with them, the glory of the mathe- 
 matical fciences ; and they, on the other hand, are 
 about deriving from our converfation and books, that 
 tafte, and agreeablenefs, and method, which is want- 
 ing in their productions. Let us take care that me 
 does not ibon furpafs her mailers. 
 
 Out 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 139 
 
 Our literati, who have contributed fo much to the 
 progrefs of the madnefs of Anglicifm, have very good 
 reafons for protecting and countenancing their own 
 condudl. They flatter themfelves, that the refpeft 
 they exprefs for Grangers will be paid them back 
 again at the fame price ; that they will celebrate their 
 admirers upon their return to their own country, and 
 acquaint France, in their writings, what treafures 
 fhe pofTefles, fometimes incognito, and without often- 
 tation. This is, doubtlefs, taking a long rout to 
 fame ; but the longeft way in this cafe is the leaft 
 troublefome, and if reputation does but come at laft, 
 they will fubmit to wait for it with patience. 
 
 Sometimes a man of letters makes himfelf a ilranger 
 to his own country, and removes three hundred leagues 
 from envy, after having ftrove againftitin vain ; buthe 
 forgets that diftance, which difarms the fhafts of 
 fatire, likewife chills the ardor of friendmip more 
 than of hatred ; and that with refpedl to the con- 
 nections, which were formed with perfons at a great 
 diftance, they are often broke when they are prefent. 
 Thus all the advantage he reaps from this ftep is, 
 cooling the zeal of the friends he has in the place to 
 which he retires, and going to feek for new enemies. 
 He flatters himfelf, that {hangers are a kind of living 
 POSTERITY, whofe teftimony will triumph over com- 
 patriots that are either blind or infmcere. He is not 
 aware, that the more he is attached to ftrangers, the 
 lefs theydeferve the name of POSTERITY, toconiHtute 
 which the diftance of leagues is much lefs necefTary 
 than the diftance of years ; in proportion as they be- 
 
 * come 
 
i 4 o UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 come in a certain degree his fellow countrymen, they 
 adopt his paffions, becaufe they have the fame in- 
 terefts ; the greateft fuperiority cannot intirely ftifle the 
 voice of envy, and he muft wait till it is no more, to 
 receive the recompence of that real POSTERITY, 
 before which jealoufy is eclipfed, and all little 
 objects vanifh away. The only motive which can 
 juiiify a man of letters in renouncing his country, i$ 
 the cry of fuperftition raifed againil his works, and 
 the perfections, fometimes fecret, fometimes public, 
 which me kindles againil him. However indebted 
 he may be to his fellow countrymen for the ufe of his 
 talents, he is more to himfelf for his own happinefs ; 
 and he may then adopt the words of Milo ; " If I 
 44 can no longer enjoy the bleflings of my native 
 " country, at leaft I will avoid the evils it may in- 
 *' flift upon me, and J will go and feek my repofe 
 " in a ftate that is juft and free/* Thus the Ari- 
 flotles, the Defcartefes, and fuch-like, conduced 
 themfelves. 
 
 To finifh thefe reflexions, I could wifli fome in- 
 genious author would give us a philofophical de- 
 fcription of the temple of literary fame ; till a more 
 able architect rifes up, I will prefent my reader with 
 the idea I have formed of it. 
 
 We are conducted to this temple through an im- 
 menfe forefl, by a kind of labyrinth, planted with 
 little piercing thorns, and fo narrow, that two tra- 
 vellers cannot walk abreaft without throwing one an- 
 other down. In the middle of the foreft, and in 
 front of the temple, there is one iingle, grand avenue, 
 
 infeiled 
 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 141 
 
 infefled with free-hooters, and not many others, ex- 
 cept it be a few either fo courageous as to relift them, 
 or fo complaifant as to pay them refpedt on the road. 
 
 Fame, a fpeftre compofed of lips and ears, without 
 eyes, having a falfe ballance in one hand, and a 
 difcordant trumpet in the other, admits a party of 
 travellers into the temple in the utmoft confufion ; 
 then all Hates are confounded, while the reft of the 
 candidates, eager to enter, but repulfed by fortune 
 or juftice, make the environs of the temple refound 
 with their fatires againft thofe who are within. The 
 fanftuary is peopled only with thofe dead, who were 
 denied entrance in their Jives, or of thofe living, 
 who were almofl always chafed away till their death* 
 A few good books are found in the fancluary intire, 
 and a few detached of a ftill greater number ; but on 
 the outfide of the temple may be read the iimple 
 titles of an infinite number of others affixed to all 
 the columns of the portico, and preferred by the 
 hawkers to reward all pa/Tengers, juft like the bills of 
 mountebanks and empirics at the doors of our public 
 places, which we receive without ever reading them. 
 
 Thus I have, in my opinion, ftated thofe prin- 
 ciples which will enable us to eftimate that repu- 
 tation, which men of letters think they derive from 
 the fociety of the Great. There is, befides this, an- 
 other advantage which they expect to find in this 
 commerce, and that is what they call IMPORTANCE, 
 and which we mult not confound with reputation ; 
 the laft is principally the reward of talents or inge- 
 nuity ; the firft is connected with rank, place, riches, 
 
 or, 
 
142 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 or, in general, with the need we ftand in of thofe 
 on whom they are beilovved. Abfence, or diftance 
 of time and place, far from enfeebling reputation, 
 become ufeful to it; the other, on tfce contrary, 
 being wholly external, feems infeparable from the 
 prefent. 
 
 Let us endeavour to fee this in a philofophical point 
 of view. All men (whatever weaknefs or flattery 
 may pretend) by the law of nature, are equal : The 
 principle of this equality is found in the mutual oc- 
 cafion ,we have of each other, and the neceffity of 
 living together in fociety ; but this natural equality 
 is in fome meafure deilroyed by an inequality of con- 
 vention, which, by making a diitindion of ranks, 
 has prefcribed to each a certain order of external 
 duties ; external duties I fay, for the internal and 
 real ones are perfectly equal^ to all, though of a dif- 
 ferent kind ; To mention the higheft flate ; the fo- 
 vereign himfelf owes juftice to the meaneft of his 
 fubjedls, as rigoroufly as they owe obedience to him. 
 
 The grand diftindtions among mankind are owing 
 to thefe four things ; abilities, wit, birth and for- 
 tune. Let none wonder that I begin with abilities ; 
 in effect, it is in thefe that the true difference of 
 mankind confills. Yet it muft be allowed, if the 
 queilion of fuperiority is to be decided by that which 
 contributes mofl to happinefs, by that which rentiers 
 us moft independent of each other, and others moil 
 dependent upon us, by that which brings us the 
 moft apparent friends, and the feweil declared -ene- 
 mies; then fortune undoubtedly ought to have the 
 
 firft 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 143 
 
 rft place. Notwithftanding this, why happens it 
 that talents obtain the preference in the public 
 ^fteem ? It is becaufe they have the valuable advan- 
 tage of being a certain refource which cannot be 
 taken away, and which even misfortunes ferve but to 
 render more quick and fure ; it is becaufe a nation 
 is principally indebted to abilities for the efteem of 
 Grangers, and the benefits 'it is capable of drawing 
 from a crowd of neighbours, whether equitable of 
 jealous, which furround it. 
 
 But if, in the order of public eftimation, abilities 
 go before birth and fortune ; in return, they are be- 
 hind both of them at a very great diltance in the 
 order of external importance. This practice, alto- 
 gether inconftant, and perhaps unjuft as it is, mult 
 be founded, however, on fome reafons ; for it is im- 
 poifible that all men, without fome motives, plaulible 
 ones at leaft, mould admit a prejudice burthenfome 
 to the greateil number. 
 
 1 apprehend this to be the principle of it : 
 Mankind not finding it in their .power to be equal, 
 it is necefTary that the difference betwixt them mould 
 be fettled and peaceful, that it mould be built on 
 thofe advantages which can neither be difputed nor 
 denied ; now this is what is found in birth and for- 
 tune. To afcertain the difference betwixt any two 
 perfons, nothing more is required, than to be able 
 to determine the value of titles, and their contraft, 
 and this is -eafier done than by putting talents in their 
 place. The difparity betwixt them in this refpect 
 will not be fo unanimoufly acknowledged, especially 
 
 by 
 
I 4 4 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 by interefted parties. It is convenient then that birth 
 and fortune fhould be the principal mark of the 
 inequality among men, for the fame reafon that 
 every-thing is decided in company by a plurality of 
 voices, though the determination of the greateft num- 
 ber is not always the bell. 
 
 Thus the reafon is evident why importance and 
 reputation cannot poffibly be the fame. A man of 
 letters, full of probity and wifdom, is incomparably 
 more excellent than an incapable minifler, or a 
 peer in difgrace; neverthdefs, let them be in the 
 fame place, and all the attention will be paid to 
 rank, and the man of letters may fay, like -Philo- 
 pcemen, " I pay a tax for my bad * look." In 
 vain will you object to me the honour given to Cor- 
 neille, that he had a place allotted to him in the 
 theatre, and that all the jcompany faluted him when 
 he made his appearance. I anfwer, either that the 
 fa6i is exaggerated, or that they had a mind to fhew 
 a mark of diitin&ion to that great man in particular, 
 which the nation had decreed him in public. 
 
 * The fl-ory to which this alludes is this : Philopcemen had a 
 mean afpeft, and took no pains to adorn his pcrfoa. Once he 
 fent word to a friend in Megara, that he would fup \vuh him 5 
 but going earlier than he was expe&ed, and before his friend was 
 ready to receive him, he was empkned by fome of the fcrvants in 
 cleaving wood ; and being furprifed by his hoft, and a/ked, how 
 he could be employed in fo dishonourable an employment ? he 
 chearfully replied, I am now fuftering for my bad looks and 
 appearance. 
 
 It 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 145 
 
 It is fo true, that importance is annexed to flate 
 rather than abilities, that of two men of letters 
 he who is the weakeft, but the moft wealthy, 
 is generally care/Ted with the moft civility. If in- 
 genious men are offended with this diftinftion, they 
 have nobcdy to complain of but themfelves : Let 
 them ceafe to laviih their homage upon a let of men, 
 who think they honour them by taking notice of 
 them, and who feem to mew, by the oftentation 
 of their politenefs, that it is an aft of benevolence 
 rather than juftice : Let them ceafe to court the com- 
 pany of the great, reminded by the fecret and vifible 
 difgufts they meet with. Let them no longer be igno- 
 rant of thofe advantages, which fuperiority of genius 
 gives them over other men. In Ihort, let them not pro- 
 ftrate themfelves before the knees of thofe who ought 
 to be at their feet. A man of merit ought, on this 
 occafion, to aft the part of Achilles at the court of 
 Scyros, happy when he could find an UlyfTes capable 
 of being brought over to his fide. But where are the 
 UlyfTefes ? 
 
 Men of letters* who pay tTieir court to the great, 
 form different clafles. Some are their flaves, without 
 being fenfible of it, and confequently without re- 
 medy ; others are filled with indignation at a di> 
 agreeable perfonage when he is forced upon them, 
 yet do not fail to fupport themfelves conftantly under 
 it, by the advantage they flatter themfelves with de- 
 nying from it to their fortune. It is pardoning them 
 to pity them l They might eafily be convinced by 
 their own experience, that this method of arriving 
 H at 
 
-UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 
 at a fortune is very tedious, and by no means certain, 
 and that a great many complaifances and bafeneflbs 
 are necefTary to accomplifh this mofl defpicable fervice. 
 A third clafs, not fo numerous, includes thofe, who, 
 -having formed in the morning the moil ferious projects 
 -of continuing free, begin the 'evening with being 
 /laves, and who, at a,ll times, bold and timid, noble 
 vand intereiled, feem to rejeft with one hand, what 
 .they are flretching out the other to lay hold of. 
 
 The little confidence between their fentiments and 
 .conducl makes them refemble certain amphibious ani- 
 ,mals, whofe nature is not determined, though their 
 .exiflence is out of all doubt. In this lafl clafs, in my 
 ^apprehenfion the mofl criminal, we may rank thofe,, 
 who, after having paid incenfe to the great in public, 
 pull them in pieces among particulars, and make a 
 .great parade among their equals in .philosophy, which 
 cofts them very little. This clafs is more extenfive 
 than we are apt to imagine. They imitate thofe 
 Jfe&s of antient philofophers, wjio, after worfhipping 
 publicly in the temple, ridicule Jupiter in private; 
 uith this difference, -that the philofophers of Greece 
 and Rome were obliged to frequent the temple, but 
 nothing obliges the others to offer worfhip to mens 
 perfons. 
 
 I do not mean to fix the fame reproach upon thofe 
 .who live with the great, only to tell them the truth. 
 This is, doubtlefs, the mofl hpnourable part we can 
 p.t before men ; but have they deferv-ed that wa 
 jQiould run fuch rifques ? 
 
 Lucian, 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 147 
 
 Lucian, whom we may call the Grecian Swift, be- 
 caufe, like him, he laughed at every-thing, even at 
 -thofe things which did not deferve it, has left us a 
 very fpirited diflertation upon men of letters, who 
 devote themlelves to -the fervice of the great. The 
 'tablet he has drawn might very jultly be inferted under 
 -the article of calumny*: " Figure to yourfelves, fays 
 *' he, Fortune upon a lofty throne environed with 
 " precipices, and round her an infinite number of 
 < people eager to climb up to it, while they are 
 ' dazzled with her glory. Hope, richly adorned, 
 " offers to be their guide, having at her fide Deceit 
 " and Slavery. Behind her Labour and Pain (and, I 
 " would have added, the vexation of the fons of 
 " opulence and grandeur) torment the miferable 
 " wretches, and abandon them to old age and re- 
 " pentance." I am ferry that this fame Lucian, 
 after having faid, that flavery to the great deftroys 
 the very name of friendship, mould end by accepting 
 a place in the fervice of the emperor, and, what is 
 worfe, by juftifyinghimfelf in this refpe&fo wretchedly, 
 he is like an empiric violently ill of the tooth-ache, 
 who fells infallible medicines againft it. Luciau 
 began by being a philofopher; the reputation of 
 his works made him univerfally fought after ; this 
 mould have ferved to make his retreat the more 
 inacceflible, for philofophy is like devotion, to make 
 no longer progrefs, is to flop. He refign'd himfelf to 
 the carefles which awaited him, became a man of 
 
 * The article Calumny in the Encyclopedia. 
 
 H 2 the 
 
14$ UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 <he world without perceiving it, and concluded with 
 being a courtier. 
 
 The lafl part is the bafefl that can be a&ed by a 
 man of letters. In effecl, what is a courtier ? He is 
 a man whom the misfortune of kings and people has 
 placed betwixt the fovereign and truth to conceal 
 it from his eyes. The weak tyrant liftens to and loves 
 thefe vile and dangerous men: The able tyrant 
 avails himfelf of them, and defpifes them. The 
 .king, who knows how to reign, banimes them from 
 his prefence, and pumihes them, and then truth re- 
 gains her afcendancy. 
 
 It has been faid, what a happinefs it would be for 
 ftates, if kings were philofophers. It would be fu- 
 cient if they were furrounded by wife men ; but phi- 
 lofophy fhuns a court, and cither would be a mifan- 
 thrope there, or very uneafy, and therefore very im- 
 properly fituated. Ariftotle at laft was difcontented 
 with Alexander ; and Plato, at the court of Dionyfius, 
 reproached himfelf for having endured, in his old 
 age, the caprices of a young tyrant. In vain did 
 another philofophcr, a flatterer of this Dionyfius, 
 feek to excujfe his living at a court, by faying, that 
 phyiicians ftiould always attend the difeafed. He 
 might eafi.ly be anfwered, that when diforders are 
 incurable and contagious, to undertake their cure is 
 cxpofing ourfelves to the infection. If there muft be 
 philofophers at court, it is for juft fuch a reafon as 
 there are profefibrs of Arabic in the republic of let- 
 ters, who may teach a language which fcarce any- 
 i)0dy itudie?, and which they thernfelv^s are in danger 
 
 ef 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 149 
 
 of forgetting, without recalling it by frequent exer- 
 cife. 
 
 The wife man, in paying to birth and fortune 
 tliofe devotions which fociety has prefcribed, is in 
 fome refpects frugal of them ; he confines them tor 
 externals, becaufe a philofopher mould know how to 
 manage, and not to inflame, the prejudices of the 
 nation : He mould falute the idols of the people 
 when he is obliged to it, but never feek them of his own 
 accord. Does he find himfelf under that rare necef- 
 fity of making his court, which he is fometimes com- 
 pelled to from great and laudable motives ? Protected 
 by his talents and his virtue, he fmiles, without anger 
 or difdain, upon the man whom he is then obliged 
 to addrefs. The man of quality, whofe anceftors are 
 his only merit, is of no more confequence in the eye 
 of reafon, than an old man returned to infancy, who- 
 once performed great things ; or rather he is a man 
 to whom all others mull ufe a certain language, be- 
 caufe a certain perfonage of the fame name, fome 
 years before, had either genius or power, or riches or 
 fame, or perhaps only fortune and addrefs. 
 
 The wife man does not forget, that if ingenuity 
 rnufl pay to titles external refpeft, that titles owe 
 ingenuity other homage more real and valuable: But 
 how many learned men fplit upon this rock in their 
 connections with the great ! If they are not permitted 
 to ufe that familiarity, and that perfect equality, 
 without which all the intercourfes of fociety are in- 
 fipid and fpiritlefs, the diftance is mortifying, be* 
 caufe they have frequent occafions of feeling it;- and 
 H 3 if 
 
x$o UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 if they go into familiarity, it is the fable of the lion,, 
 with whom it is dangerous to play. 
 
 A man of letters, forced by fingular circumftances 
 to fpend his days near a minifter of ftate, faid one 
 day, with much truth and delicacy, " he would be 
 " familiar with me, but I pulh him from me with 
 " refpecl." 
 
 Among the moft affable and courteous perfons of 
 cUftinclion, there are few who, in company with men 
 of letters, lay aiide their real or pretended grandeur 
 fo far as to forget it altogether. This is obfervable, 
 particularly in thofe conventions where we are not 
 of their opinion. It feeins, that in proportion as 
 the man of genius eclipfes him r the man of qua- 
 lity fhews himfelf, and appears to exaft a deference 
 which the other had difpenfed with : Thus, the 
 commerce of the great vyith men of letters too often 
 concludes by fome notorious rupture, a rupture which 
 almoft always proceeds from a forgetfulnefs of thofe 
 mutual duties, which were owing on one fide or 
 other, fometimes on both. 
 
 Neverthelefs I acknowledge, for the fake of truth,, 
 and from no other motive whatfoever, there are 
 ibme perfons of diftinclion who deferve to be ex- 
 cepted ; and if I was not apprehenfive their names 
 and elogiums might look like an indirect and unjufl 
 iatire upon thofe whom I muft omit, becaufe I do 
 not know them, 1 would mention them here *. Their 
 
 * To fpeak here only of Grangers ; all who have known M. 
 lc marunes Lomcllini,, envoy extraordinary from the republic of 
 
 Genoa, 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 15? 
 
 familiarity needs not be fufpe&ed, becaufe it is the 
 of that efleem they entertain for great talents, 
 
 Genoa,, know, that truth only dictated this elogium, which the 
 author made in his dedication of his Enquiry into the procefllon 
 of the equinoxes : " The greateft geniufes of* antiquity prefixed 
 " the names of their friends to their works, becaufe a friend 
 * ( was dearer to them than a patron. A fentiment fo worthy of 
 ** you as this, is all I fliall pretend to imitate them i-n. I am 
 '* not going to pay homage to your birth, that would be putting 
 f< your anceftors in your place, and forgetting that I am writing- 
 f< to a philofopher. The reception you give to men of letters^ 
 *' docs not permit them to fee your fuperiority of rank, becaufe- 
 ' you do not enx'y their fuperiorityof knowledge. Not fatisfied 
 '* with feeking their company, you (hew them that real refpeft, 
 " which will never miflead them if they are worthy of it j and' 
 * as vanity has no (hare in your efleem for them, reputation 
 cr never impofes on your judgment, I prefent thefe refearches 
 tf to you as to a profound geometrician, who knows how to' 
 <f unite the charms of wit with the fublimeft knowledge, and 
 " whofe praife I diftinguifh among the fmall number of thofe' 
 *< whofe encomiums do me honour.'* 
 
 If it be \awful to add to the elogium of Grangers that of the' 
 dead, which can nerer hurt the living, the author would men- 
 tion, as a proof of the fentiments of his heart, what he wrote 
 in 1752, to a man whofe meirory ought to be dear to all men of 
 letter?, the marquis d'Argenfon, in the dedication of an EfTay of' 
 a-ncw theory on the refinance ; " Learned men and great writers, 
 < ( who approach you in fuch numbers, w r ill applaud the homage' 
 " I pay you. The refpeft which they exprefs for you'- is the' 
 " more fincere, as it is founded in attachment j and the more" 
 H 4 juft 
 
I 5 2 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 and that fincere pleafure they find in the company of 
 men of letters. Indeed, this fociety is really the moil 
 uieful and noble that a man who thinks can poflibly 
 wifh for. If the fciences footh the foul, they elevate- 
 it too : One of thefe qualities dire&ly flows from the 
 other, and it is an inconteftible truth, (in fpite of 
 the heavy reproaches that have been made againft 
 men of letters) that they are not only fuperior to 
 other men in underflanding, but are alfo generally 
 lefs vicious in their fentiments and conduct 9 as their 
 dc fires are more limited, they are more delicate about 
 the means of gratifying them, and more grateful for 
 favours conferred, becaufe the fewer obligations gra- 
 
 " juii, as you do not demand it. You owe a fentimenl fo true, 
 *' and yet fo flattering, to that condefcending familiarity with 
 which you treat men of talents, and which can alone render 
 " the fociety cf the great and men of letters equally worthy of 
 * l each other. Your company, both ufeful and agreeable, from 
 4t that inf nite variety of knowledge which fecures to you the 
 tf voices of the moft fenfible part cf the nation, is, to all who 
 -*' furround you, a conftant lefTon of modefly, candour, and 
 ** public fpirit. and all thole virtues \vhich this age is content to 
 " admire. In fine, a philcfopher in your fentiments and your 
 tk ' conduct, you comprehend in this fingular charadler a quality 
 flill more fingular, that of poilefling thefe talents without 
 *' oflentation. May your example teach fome of our Mecaenas'g 
 il (now too much multiplied for the glcry and advantage of Ict- 
 t( ters) that the true way of honouring merit is to protect it, is 
 * to honour themfelves by the manner in which they diftin- 
 tf guifh it.'* 
 
 charge 
 
tEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 153 
 
 titude has to fulfil, the more fcrupulous it is to dif- 
 charge them* M. Fouquet was aband6ned in his 
 difgrace by all that got their fortunes un'der him. 
 Two men of letters alone remained faithful, Fon- 
 taine and Peliflfon : Undoubtedly the number might 
 have been more confiderable ; and I am forry not to 
 be able to add to thefe two names thofe of Moliere 
 and the great' Corneille ; but, in fhort, men of let- 
 ters diftinguifhed themfelves on this occafion, and the 
 defcendants of that minifter cannot be too mindful 
 of it. 
 
 The eonclufion of all we have been faying is, that 
 the only perfons of diftin&ion, whofe acquaintance 
 ought to be cultivated by men of letters, are thofe 
 whom they can treat and efteem, with the utmoft con- 
 fidence, as their equals and friends, and that all others 
 are to be manned without exception. Philoxenes, 
 after he had heard the verfes of Dionyfius the tyrant, 
 could fay, " O that he would fend me to the mines." 
 How many men of letters, fnatched from their obfcu- 
 rity, and plunged all at once into a circle of cour- 
 tiers, might cry out, almoft at their entrance, " O 
 ** that they would reftore me my folitude again." I 
 never underftood how the anfwer of AriiUppus to 
 Diogenes came to be admired : " If you had known 
 ' how to live with great men, you would never have 
 " lived upon pulfe." Diogenes did not reproach 
 him for living with great men, but for paying his 
 court to a tyrant. That Diogenes who, in the midft 
 of poverty, was capable of braving the conqueror of 
 Afta, and who only wanted decency to make him a 
 H 5 model 
 
i 5 4 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 model for wife men, was a philofopher of antiquity 
 the moft cried down, becaufe his intrepid veracity 
 rendered him the fcourge of philofophers themfelves ; 
 he was, in reality, one of thofe who had the cleareft 
 knowledge of mankind, and the true value of things. 
 
 Every age, and efpecially our own, ftands in need 
 of a Diogenes ; but the difficulty is in finding men 
 who have the courage to be one, and men who have 
 patience to endure one. 
 
 Amongft the great, who feem to hold men of let- 
 ters in eftimation, thofe who have fohie pretenfions to 
 a fine genius conflitute a fmgular party ; vanity in- 
 fpires them with thefe pretenfions, pride prevents 
 them from mewing them to all the world. Notwith- 
 Itanding that general light with which our philofo- 
 phical age has been irradiated, there are fome worthy 
 men, more than is generally imagined, who do not 
 think the quality of author, or profeffor of literature^ 
 to be a title fufficieritly noble of itfelf. It muft be 
 confeffed, the French nation has fcarce fliook off 
 the yoke of that barbarity it has endured fo long;. 
 This is not at all to be wondered at. Birth being, 
 an advantage which chance bellows, it is natural nafc 
 only to be willing to enjoy it, but flill further, to- 
 fubjeft to i all thofe wh'ofe acquifitions are more 
 painful. Pride and felf-love both find their account 
 in this difpofition. 
 
 I know that the generality of the great exclaim 
 againft fuch a reproach j but let them afk their own 
 confciences ; let them but give us leave to examine 
 their conventions, and we fhall remain convinced, 
 
 that 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 155 
 
 that the name of the man of letters is regarded by 
 them as but a fubaltern title, which can only fall to 
 the fhare of an inferior rank ; as if the art of inftrucl- 
 ing and enlightening mankind, next to that very rare 
 one of governing them well, was not the moft noble 
 inveftiture of humanity. A great prince, fenfible, as 
 it behoves him to be, to all kinds of glory, will be 
 chiefly folicitous for that which arifes from the ta- 
 lents of the mirrd, when he can attain it ; becaufe he 
 knows if it be not the moft brilliant, it has at leafl this 
 invaluable advantage,- that no perfoh can challenge a 
 mare with us. 
 
 To be convinced of the truth of what I have men-" 
 tionedj the low opinion which is generally formed in 
 the world concerning men of letters ; it will be fuf- 
 ficient to attend to that kind of reception they com- 
 monly meet with from it. It is pretty near of the 
 fame kind with that we give to certain agreeable 
 profeflions, which undoubtedly require talents, but 
 which, in enquiring after them, we afreet to degrade, 
 as we honour other flates without knowing why, 
 Indolence would be po/TefTed of talents ; and vanity 
 finds means to feparate them from perfons. It is this 
 which makes the part of men of letters, next to that 
 of eccleilaflics, the moil difficult to be acted in the 
 world. One of thefe two profefiions is iituated be- 
 twixt the extremes of hypocrify and fcandal, and the 
 other of pride and bafenefs. Muft men of letters, 
 then, utterly renounce the company of the great ? 
 Befides the exceptions which I have made above to 
 II 6 this 
 
156 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 this rule, fome particular confiderations make it necef- 
 fary to moderate and reftrain it. 
 
 Thofe men of letters who can derive no advantage 
 to the obje&s of their ftudies, from a commerce with 
 the world, ought to limit themfelves to that company 
 (of what kind foever it be) where they will find the 
 relaxation they want, in the fweets of confidence and 
 friendihip. What end would our frivolous converfa- 
 tions anfwer to a philofopher, except to coop up his 
 genius, and deprive him of thofe excellent ideas he 
 would acquire by meditation and reading. It was not 
 at the hotel de Rambouillet that Defcartes difcovered 
 the application of algebra to geometry, nor at the 
 court of Charles II. that Newton found out the prin- 
 t iple of univerfal gravitation ; and for the manner of 
 v/riting, Malebranch, who lived in retirement, and 
 \vhofe amufements were only the diverlion of a child, 
 i-> by no means, in point of ftile, the woril model for 
 philofophers. 
 
 It is not the fame with refpeft to thofe whom we call 
 fine geniufes. To paint men in works of imagina- 
 tion, they muft know them ; to reprefent fafts juftly, 
 they muft not flatter themfelves they can guefs at them ; 
 ib much the worfe for thofe of whom they do make ran- 
 dom conjectures. A commerce with the world is abfo- 
 lately neceilkry for this kind of men of letters ; but it 
 were to be wifhcd, however, they would content 
 thenvfelves with being bare fpeftators in this artificial 
 fociety, and fpe&ators fo attentive and obfervant as 
 net to be obliged too often to return to a comedy, 
 which is not 'always good enough to be feen over-again ; 
 
 that 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 157 
 
 that they would aflift at the piece no more than the 
 pit who judge of the actors, and whom the actors 
 dare not infult ; in a word, that they mould be of the 
 fame mind with Apollonius Thyaneus, who came to* 
 Rome once, in the reign of Nero, to fee, as he faidy 
 what fort of an animal was a tyrant. 
 
 It is much to be deiired, that thofe who take upon 
 them to draw a picture of the age, whether by a piece 
 for the theatre, or any other performance, would not 
 fatify themfelves with borrowing its jargon and cant 
 phrafe. It is by this diftorted and barbarous language, 
 now days, that perfons pretend to diflinguifh the au- 
 thors who frequent what is called " Good company ;" 
 but who are, in reality, the worfe for it } whatever 
 may be imagined ; and whofe manner of writing, I 
 appeal to experience, would be much better if the 
 company they kept was lefs brilliant. 
 
 Jt belongs only to a fmali number of fingular men 
 to prefer ve themfelves from this contagion ; but it is 
 very extraordinary that men of letters, formed for 
 ftudying, knowing and fixing language, ihould, by 
 a tacit agreement, fubmit to take the law in this point 
 from the great, to whom they ought to prefcribe it. 
 In thofe days, when our language was only a fan- 
 taftlcal mixture of the* bad and good, the great 
 writers faw into futurity, if I may fpeak fo, and 
 banifhed from their works thofe turns and words 
 which they thought would foon grow old : this is what 
 Pafcal did in his Provincial Letters, a work which is 
 read in our days, though compofed one hundred years 
 ago. At this time, when our language is degenerated 
 
 and 
 
14* UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 and degraded, great writers will fhew the fame pro- 
 phetical fpirit in prescribing from their writings the 
 daily jingling of our fets of good company. Perhaps it. 
 will become at lafl fo ridiculous, that our authors will 
 become more ridiculous than they, for having adopted 
 it, and be obliged to return to the fjmple and the 
 true. 
 
 One of the principal inconveniences an/ing from 
 the fociety of the great with men of letters, and 
 yet at the fame time one of the principal means by 
 which the laft propofe to arrive at efteem and con fide- 
 ration, is the rage of patronizing, which has produced 
 among us the Maecenas's, as they are called. How 
 would that favourite of A uguflus be furprifed to fee 
 his name fo often profaned, and the abject fituation 
 in which men of letters fland, with refpect to thofe 
 who wear this name ! Horace wrote to Maecenas, that 
 is, to the greatefl nobleman of the greater! empire 
 that ever exiited, upon terms of equality, which did 
 honour to them both ; and in a nation fo polifhed, fo 
 enlightened, fo little enflaved as ours pretends to be, 
 a man of letters, who was to addrefs his protector as 
 Horace addreffed his, would be condemned by his 
 fellow- writers. 
 
 The common form of our dedicatory epiftles is one 
 of thofe things which have difgraced letters. Almoft 
 every body is ringing the honour they do to letters, 
 by protecting them, but never the honour they receive 
 from them, nor the obligations they are under to re- 
 fpect them. It feems that bafenefs and falfhood are 
 the neceftary perfections of thefe kinds of compo- 
 
 fitions 5 
 
LEARNED 1 MEN AND THE GREAT. 149 
 
 fit-ions ; as if praifes, beftowed with noblenefs of fpi- 
 rit, were not far more flattering to him who receives, 
 and more honourable to him who gives them. 
 
 Are we to be furprifed then that fo many of mode- 
 rate, but mean, talents, mould be celebrated at the 
 expence of genius ? The Orpheus of our nation, 
 who in giving fo rapid a change to die whole form 
 of French mufic, prepared a revolution, which he 
 could not help difcovering fome glimpfe of, was he 
 not (to mention no other examples) the object of ha- 
 tred and perfecution from a great number of Mae- 
 cenas's, for no other crime but being above their pro- 
 tection ? 
 
 It is true, that excepting only a frnall number of 
 great perfonages fo happy as to be fully fenfible of 
 the talents of this famous man, and fo bold as to 
 proclaim them, the reft had not the fatisfaftion of 
 feeing the public confirm their opinion, but ended 
 their oppofition, by reluctantly fubfcribing to the 
 judgment of the nation ; a judgment which they 
 would have prevented, if it had been in their power, 
 had that illuftrious artift deigned to make a mew of 
 confulting them upon mufic. His fuccefs and his 
 glory furnifh us with a flriking example of the truth of 
 what we have advanced above, that the authority of 
 men of letters always prevails at laft. It is to their 
 fuffrage, next to himfelf, that a writer owes the repu- 
 tation he enjoys, in fpite of cabal and envy; not 
 that we approve the fanaticifm of fome fort of admi- 
 rers. The efteem of the wife is the moft calm ; 
 but it is the property of great talents to make fanatics ; 
 
 and 
 
160 tfPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 and we muft expeft to meet with them in an age, 
 when it is a kind of heroifm to celebrate fuptrior ge- 
 nius, as naturally as we look for enthufiafts, flaggelifts 
 and convulfion-mongers among the fefts who are under 
 perfecution. 
 
 Corneille, for the confolation of great geniufes who 
 fhall follow him be it remembered, was conftantly 
 perfecuted by almoft all the lovers of that time, who 
 had Scudery and Boifrobert for their heroes. It mud 
 be fo. Racine, who perhaps wanted nothing to 
 make him capable of furpafling Corneille but to have 
 lived like him, left no room for his adverfaries to at- 
 tack him. That fpirit of the courtier, which he had 
 too much of, and which without Athalia, Phaedra and 
 Brittanicus, would have been a (lain upon his glory, 
 did not hinder him from fupprefling the chagrin that 
 came from thofe whofe protection he idolized, and 
 to which he was enfiaved.- 
 
 It ought to be, however, fome fatisfa&ion to 
 perfecuted talents, to fee how readily the public 
 is pleafed to reverfe the fentence of pretended men of 
 tafle. It is almoft an infallible reprobation of a work, 
 to envy their efteem. They imagine, by proclaiming 
 the talents of the authors they have efpoufed, to in- 
 fpire a prepofiefiion in their favour. The nation, on 
 the other hand, efleeming every opportuniny of exer- 
 cifing its liberty an invaluable privilege, and per- 
 ceiving a defign to furprife or feize upon its fuffrage 
 by violence, is always the leaft difpofed to give its 
 confent upon fuch terms. It is the fame with refpecl 
 to works proclaimed before-hand, which are kept 
 
 from 
 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 161 
 
 from the public a long time. The world cannot lire 
 upon expectation ; the longer it has been diTappointed, 
 the more ftriftly it requires the effects to anfwer ; and 
 woe be to him that fruftrates its hopes ! It is not 
 having recourfe to fuch ridiculous and ufelefs oftenta- 
 tion as this that will fecure the fuccefs of a work, it 
 muft be by making fevere and intelligent friends its 
 judges in private, fuch as will never approve but 
 when they cannot do otherwife ; and vvhofe opinion 
 we readily fubmit to. 
 
 Hitherto I have only fpoken of thofe lovers of fci- 
 cnces, who are content with fupporting men of letters 
 by the power of their credit, and the weaknefs of their 
 fuffrages ; by a perfon of credit I mean, one who is 
 felicitous to procure admirers, not one who has cou- 
 rage to enter the lifts with formidable adverfaries. 
 Experience but too ftrongly proves, that perfecuted 
 talents have nothing to look for from this quarter : 
 their patrons will foon be repulfed by their enemies. 
 But men of letters, perhaps, imagine other refources 
 are to be found in the wifdom of certain lovers of 
 fcience, which we will divide into two clafles. 
 
 The firft contains thofe who know themfelves too 
 well to venture to appear in public, but who are not 
 fStisfied, like the reft of their brethren, with being 
 abfolute at dinner, and calling for the fublime from a 
 poet, and difcoveries from a learned man : they have 
 further pretenfions than thefe ; even to enlighten their 
 followers, to furnifh them with plans for their works, 
 and to direct them in the execution. I am furprifed 
 none of their defendants addrefs them as fome nego- 
 tiators 
 
*<5 2 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 tiators did Colbert, when he was inflrudting thenv 
 " Leave thefe things to us." This flatefman, who 
 fhewed his abilities in never fpeaking upon a fubjeft 
 he did not understand, and in giving none but ufeful 
 advice, Ihewed.them too in taking it well, that men, 
 better informed than himfelf, mould in this refpeft 
 maintain their own judgment. 
 
 In the fecond clafs of Maecenas's are thofe who afpire 
 to the glory of being authors themfelves. There are 
 few who do not fucceed in this enterprize, thanks to- 
 the adulation which enfiames them; let them only be 
 the adopted fathers of a work publimed in their name,- 
 a hundred pens are eager to applaud it, from the hero- 
 down to the TheHites in literature. All cry out,. 
 Here is a mailer-piece. Have they made but an al- 
 manack, it can be demonflrated, they have found out 
 tke fyftem of the world. 
 
 This reproach is chiefly levelled at certain foreign 
 journalifls ; (for I would hardly dare to fay that there 
 are any in France who deferve it) with one hand they- 
 lift up from their humble fituations, flatues of clay, 
 and with the other they vainly attempt to mutilate the 
 golden flatues of great men, dcflitute of patronage 
 and credit. In their periodical memoirs, which we 
 may call, as Voltaire called hiilory, immenfe archives 
 of falmood, and little repofitories of truth ; they com- 
 mend every one but him who deferves to be com- 
 mended : thus the good things they fay of bad books, 
 difgrace them even more than the injuflice which they 
 would inflict upon the good. 
 
 The 
 
LEARNED MEN ANI> THE GREAT. 163, 
 
 The jpurnalifls I fpeak of might be compared to 
 thofe mercenary fubalterns appointed to collect the 
 cuftoms in great cities, who are inflexibly fevere to 
 the people, but pafs by great lords with refpeft; permit 
 contraband trade to their friends, pra&ife it frequently 
 themfelves, while they greedily feize upon the pro- 
 perty of others under this pretence. It is in vain to 
 folicit of thofe critics any thing fo unreafonable as 
 flattery ; but fure we may be permitted to exhort them 
 at leafl to diftinguiih between the author and the 
 work.- 
 
 What mofl fcandaloufly reflects upon the^ great 
 and on literature, is that writers, who diihonour them- 
 felves by fatire, mould find patrons Hill more con- 
 temptible than they. The man of letters, who de- 
 ferves that name, equally difdains, on his own account, 
 to complain of the one, or to anfwer the other ; but 
 how little foever he is affected by the injuries them- 
 felves, he will not be inattentive to the influence- 
 which lends them credit, if it be only for the fake of 
 forming a juft idea of thofe who condefcend to be 
 their protectors. In a place where the liberty of the 
 prefs is not free, the liberty of abufmg men of let- 
 ters by fatire, is one proof of the little real elteem they 
 are held in, and the pleafure there is in feeing them 
 infulted ; for why is it more innocent to offer an in- 
 dignity to a man of letters, who is an honour to his 
 country, than to ridicule a man in a public ftation, 
 who is a fcandal to it ? 
 
 If it was imagined that all libels and fatires were 
 freely permitted ; in this cafe, all ftates and condi- 
 tions 
 
164 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 tions would indifcriminately be the objects of them. 
 We may fay further, let perfonal fatire be punifhed as 
 feverely as poflible. 
 
 Thofe who attack a perfon in the mcaneft rank of 
 fociety in his probity, in his manners, or in his com- 
 dition, muftanfwer for it; but let free liberty be given, 
 in the face of the public, to eftimate the talents ef 
 thofe who protect, as well as thofe who write ; thofe 
 haughty and defpicable perfons, who look upon men 
 of letters as a kind of animals, deftined to fight upon 
 the arena for the pleafure of the multitude, mould 
 come down then from their amphitheatres, and let 
 their judges take their places. 
 
 I cannot omit this opportunity of relating an anec- 
 dote, well enough to give an idea of the character and 
 injuflice of the men I fpeak of. One of them turned 
 into ridicule the exceifive delicacy of a certain author, 
 who had exprefied fome chagrin (perhaps too much) 
 at fome fatires publifhed againft him. The ingenious 
 author compofed a fong, in which the great man was 
 delicately ridiculed : had he been capable of under- 
 ftanding the offence, the laws would not have been 
 fevere enough to have punifhed fo great an injury. 
 
 The laft fort of lovers of fcience, who, for fome 
 reafons, have a better title to be confidered than the 
 reft, and who may be regarded as the real protectors- 
 of literature, are thofe who feek to contribute to 
 the progrefs of the fciences and the arts by their bene- 
 faftions. 
 
 I am forry for thofe men of letters, vvhofe fortune 
 obliges them to fly to fo fad and dangerous a refource. 
 
 It 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 165 
 
 It is in their power, however, to conduft themfelves 
 with fo much dignity and noblenefs of fpirit, as to 
 lay their very benefadlors under obligation. I dif- 
 charge, with intereft, the kindnefs your father did me, 
 faid the philofopher to one of his difciples ; for I have 
 been the caufe of his being applauded all over the 
 world. 
 
 The abbe De St. Pierre, once depriving himfelf of 
 a confiderable part of his fortune in favour of M. 
 Varignon, faid to him, " I don't give you a penfion, 
 " but the revcrfe ; I would make you independent of 
 " me :" a piece of heroifm well worthy of being pro- 
 pofed as a model to all benefactors. This is the 
 price which fuch a title fhould colt; but how few 
 would wifli to purchafe it on the fame conditions ! 
 
 What a leflbndoes this example of the Abbe afford 
 to certain benefa&ors, often as covetous as vain, who 
 think themfelves the fathers of literature, for fome few 
 flight favours far beneath their fortune, which they 
 take care fecretly to divulge ? When they have obliged 
 worthy men, they ought not to fpeak to them of gra- 
 titude; that principle knows how to impofe upon 
 itfelf laws fuificiently fevere. But mankind are fo 
 attentive to feize upon every thing that may give 
 them a fuperiority over their equals, that a benefit 
 conferred is commonly regarded as a kind of claim or 
 purchafe-money for him whom we have obliged ; an 
 aft of fovereignty which is abufed to. make perfons 
 miferable in their dependence. Much has been writ- 
 ten, and with juftice, againil the ungrateful; but fuch 
 benefactors as thefe have been left in repofe ; and 
 
 they 
 
i66 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 they would furnifh a chapter, which is wanting to the 
 hiftory of tyrants *. 
 
 Thus, to a well-born mind, the greatefl obftacle 
 to opulence is the exercife of its own eflential rights. 
 
 * The author, though he declares this lad trufh, is far from 
 thinking gratitude a reftraint j on the other hand, he has given 
 lafting proofs of his own to the only man in place to whom he 
 owed it, the count<T Argenfon, in his dedication of his new treatife 
 De Dynamique. " The favourable reception (fays he) which 
 " the learned have given to this work, encourages me to prefeht 
 " it to you. I could wifh to have rendered it worthy of pofterity, 
 " for the. fake of tranfmitting down to it the only teftimony I can 
 tf give of my attachment and gratitude. There is no truth in this 
 ( < book dearer to me than fo noble and juft a feritiment as this. 
 " The lefs I have fought after benefactors, the more mindful 
 " ftiould I be of thofe who have .generoufly offered me their patro- 
 " nage, and the favours of majefty, which are never out of my 
 " mind, always bring to my remembrance the minifler who pro- 
 " cured them. May the fciences, Sir, always faithful in pre- 
 " ferving the names of thofe who have loved them, celebrate in 
 (< a manner worthy of France and you, thofe eftabli/hments fo 
 " glorious to your miniftry, -which leave your fuccefTors the ho- 
 " nour of ' cultivating them. May -you retire -from the world, 
 <( enjoy in peace the happinefs a private life can give, in remov- 
 f< ing from you too near a view of the miferics of mankind. 
 " Such are the wiihes of a citizen, who will always intereft him- 
 t( fclf in your felicity, and who now, for the firft time, cannot 
 (C help complaining, that -his fituation is not more- exalted to 
 <( enable ham to give more eclat to his applaufe." 
 
 Abfo* 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 167 
 
 Abfolute indigence is a furer road to places and 
 riches ; becaufe flavery is what it has always been 
 accuflomed to. The neceflity of delivering it'felf 
 from extreme mifery, while it renders all means ex- 
 cufabk, infenfibly familiarizes them to the mind : fo 
 that they,can be ufed afterwards with lefs reluctance 
 in enlarging their fortune. Thefe perfons are difci- 
 plined by difgufts and rebuffs ; and they think of no- 
 thing farther than to find their account from the un- 
 happy habitude of fwallowing them. How difa- 
 greeable, not to fay debating, does the pride and 
 defpotifm of benefactors render their favours ! How 
 mifchievous are bounties, even to perfons of real abi- 
 lities, when abjectly received 1 They communicate to 
 the mind a degree of abjectnefs which infenfibly finks 
 its ideas, and at length infects his writings : for the 
 flyle takes ks tincture from the character. Are you 
 fublime in your fentiments ? your manner of writing 
 will be firm and noble. I don't deny but there may 
 be exceptions to this rule, as there are to many other ; 
 but thefe exceptions will be a kind of phenomena. 
 
 The Roman could cry out, " Bread and fhews I" 
 how defirable wo.uld it be if men of letters could cry 
 out " Bread and liberty!" I fpeak of liberty not only 
 in their perfons, but in their writings. I don*t mean 
 to confound it with that criminal licence which attacks 
 what it ought to reverence. True courage is that 
 which combats vice and follies, keeps perfons in awe, 
 and obeys the laws of LIBERTT. TRUTH, and 
 POVERTY, (poverty I fay; for if this be dreaded, 
 the former will be abfent) ought to be always before 
 
 the 
 
t68 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 the eyes of men of letters, as POSTERITY fhould 
 be before fovereign princes. 
 
 When I fay that poverty ought to be one of the 
 words of this device for men of letters, I don't pretend 
 to afTert that it is equally neceflary for them to be poor, 
 as it is for them to be true and free, and that poverty 
 forms an eilential circumflance in their condition ; I 
 only maintain that they ought not to fear it. It would 
 be unjufl to forbid them riches ; for why has not a 
 man of letters the fame right to opulence as fo many 
 others, who are either ufelefs, or hurtful to their 
 country, whofe fcandalous luxury is an infultupon the 
 publk mifery ? But if a man of letters ambitioufly 
 feeks after fortune, (as one of our molt illuftrioufi 
 writers obferved very juilly) he deferves to get one; 
 and why fhould it be imagined fo very difficult to get 
 one, even by honourable methods ? We can produce, 
 in the hiflory of philofophy, one, who being re- 
 proached by his enemies for defpifing riches, becaufe 
 he kad not the abilities to acquire them, applied him- 
 felf to commerce, enriched himfelf by it in one year, 
 and then turned philofopher again. 
 
 If it be eafy to make a fortune by honourable me- 
 thods, it muft be fli-ll more eafy to attain it when perfons 
 can fcruple at nothing. For this purpofe, it requires 
 nothing more than a ftrongly determined refolution 
 to fucceed by patience and boldnefs : perhaps it is the 
 only fuccefs which affords no proof of any kind of 
 genius; for a genius of intrigue and dexterity is no: 
 worthy of that name ; it is the genius of thofe who 
 have no other, and wifh fo/ none befide. It is by 
 
 making 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 169 
 
 making a long and fuccefsful ufe of this fo very com- 
 mon a talent, that perfons without merit, and without 
 name, are able to arrive at very large fortunes, and 
 considerable employments. England only has this 
 honour to boaft of, that her men of letters have ad- 
 vanced themfelves, by their genius, to the higheil 
 (rations ; with us fuch merit is generally a fufficient 
 motive to exclude them, and, perhaps, this is no 
 misfortune to learning. In general, there are not a 
 fet of more implacable enemies in the world to letters, 
 than ihofe who have made their fortune by them, or 
 by the appearance of them. Elated with favour, 
 thefe middling men are fenfible, that good judges 
 muft behold them in their true fituation, and there- 
 fore^ they can never forgive them. 
 
 Neverthelefs, this rule is not entirely a general one. 
 Among the different Maecenas's of our age, fome are 
 to be found, who, being enriched by letters, take 
 under their protection learned men of inferior note and 
 fortune. But, to fee the manner in which they treat: 
 them, one would be tempted to think, that the name 
 of republic of letters was a very ill contrived one, as 
 nothing can be lefs republican than their conduct and 
 manner of behaving to their equals. They feem to 
 be perfuaded, they are the only perfons who deferve 
 to be rich ; and, at the fame time that they complain 
 of their own indigence in the midit of a very genteel 
 fortune, mould you mention a man of letters deftitute 
 of neceflaries, they won't fail to reprefent him in very 
 cafy circumftances. " Thou haft reafon, Diogenes 
 I " would 
 
* 7 o UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 " would have anfwered, I wifh I could but fee thee a 
 " fingle day in my place." 
 
 The Maecenas's I fpeak of hare adopted a favourite 
 maxim, that men of letters ought to be poor : the rea- 
 fon they give is, that necelTity fharpens genius, while 
 wealth benumbs and enfeebles the exercife of it; but 
 their true motive is, by this circumftance, to have a 
 more numerous and dirty levee to flatter them. 
 
 I mult confefs,, that they have fometimes been pu- 
 nilhed, and it is not very uncommon to fee thefe ty- 
 rants in literature, after being celebrated by foreign- 
 ers as well as Frenchmen, at lail outlive their lite- 
 rary reputation, when a change of circ-umftances dif- 
 ables them from doing either good or harm any 
 longer.. 
 
 It is upon a principle nearly the fame with this 
 pretended neceffity, of keeping men of letters in a 
 ilate of dependence, that we have feen, in fome of our 
 famous academies, that fpirit of defpotifm prevail, 
 which, I dare fay, would have been very pernicious 
 to the progress of fcience, had it not been for the fu- 
 perior talents of many members of thofe companies ; 
 for, in a defpotic ftate, the virtues of a citizen are the 
 virtues of a dupe ; they mufl know how to be bubbled 
 fometimes, and ^.erfons of fuch qualifications may be 
 found in plenty every where. 
 
 The Cardinal Richlieu gave to the French academy 
 a very fimple and a very noble form, but then it was 
 Cardinal Richlieu. He was fenfible, notwithftanding 
 the' fyftem of defpotifm of which he was full, and 
 which he had extended fo far, that a Democratic 
 
 form 
 
ILEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT, 171 
 
 ibrm was moll fuitable to fuch a flate as that of the 
 republic of letters, which lives only by liberty : that 
 -.fingiilar man, who underflood the value of talents, 
 determined that,, in the French academy, genius fhould 
 walk in the fame line by the fide of rank and nobi- 
 lity, and that all titles there mould give way to that 
 of the man of letters. He was defirous that this aca- 
 demy mould be almoft entirely compofed of the beft 
 'writers in the nation, to give an ornament to it in the 
 eyes of the wife ; and a fmall number of diftinguifhed 
 noblemen, to make it fplendid to the people; and 
 that the laft mould only be brought in to fupply the 
 places which great writers might leave vacant ; and thus 
 that, in the French academy, prejudices mould con- 
 tribute to do honour to abilities, and not abilities to 
 flatter prejudices ; and efpecially, that attention mould 
 be paid to exclude thofe, who, all at once pretending- 
 to be great authors and great lords, had no title to 
 either. He little imagined, that one day a certain fet 
 of men would be offended to fee themfelves in the 
 French academy betwixt Defpreau and Racine, a 
 plaee which Maecenas himfelf would have thought aa 
 honour, and which he would have filled with modefty. 
 In a word, Cardinal Richlieu eafily perceived, that it 
 was too dangerous to eftablifh, in literary companies, 
 a fpirit of inequality, fo likely to create diilurbance, 
 to repulfe great talentf, to fill that iiluftrious fociety 
 at length with mediocrity, and to expofe literary 
 rewards too much to the mercy of caprice and 
 envy. 
 
 I 2 Jut, 
 
1 72 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 But, to fpeak the truth, thefe recompences are not 
 of fuch abfolute neceffity to the progrefs of letters, as 
 is imagined even in our nation. , Corneille, Fontain, 
 and feveral others, had them not : apparently without 
 them Racine wrote his tragedies, and Defpreau hjs 
 art of poetry ; without them our age has produced the 
 Henriad, the Spirit of Laws, Hippolytus and Aricia, 
 and many fine works of the fame authors, and of 
 others. Great talents require no other principles but 
 the impulfe of nature to unfold them. It is this, and 
 not fortune, which forms a great man : Jt was this 
 which, in the midil of civil wars, peopled Flanders 
 with poor, but able painters : it was this which gave 
 to Italy fo many celebrated artifts, of which but a fmall 
 number liv'd in affluence. In fact, v ith talents and 
 genius nature is pleafed, if I may fo exprefs it, to 
 open, from time to time, mines, which /he abfolutely 
 clofes up again afterwards, and that for many ages. 
 She diverts herfelf equally with the injuftice of fortune 
 and of mankind : me raifes up fingular geniufes in the 
 jnidft of a barbarous people, as me produces precious 
 plants among favage nations, who are ignorant of their 
 virtues. 
 
 Neverthelefs, it is a miftake to afTert, without re - 
 friction, that ill diftributed rewards alwayr difcourage 
 fuperior geniufes ; they are ferviceable fometimes to 
 produce great performances from thofe who never ob- 
 tain them, and who muft labour not to attain them, 
 but to deferve them. Such is the principal utility re- 
 fulting from thefe premiums, especially when they are 
 diftributed in a promifcuous and plentiful manner. 
 
 Far 
 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 17.; 
 
 Far be it from us then to wifh to dry up this fource. 
 The difcouragement which fuch a conduct would in^ 
 troduce (for a time at leaft) among men of letters, 
 would, in my opinion, be a greater mifchief than the 
 homages, not to fay idolatry, which intereft obliges 
 them to pay ; and I am not for imitating that fooliih 
 emperor, who deilroyed the library of Conftantinople, 
 becaufe the men of letters of his empire worfhipped 
 images ; I only think literary recompences mould be 
 lefs frequent. This would be the means of bringing 
 them to be difpenfed with more propriety : by fo 
 doing men would be confined to their particular pro- 
 vince ; favours being more difficultly acquired, would 
 be difputed by none but thofe who are capable of me- 
 riting them ; and celebrated writers, philofophers and 
 artifts, would find eliewhere, in the efteem of their 
 country, a premium fufficiently flattering to reconcile 
 them to wait for other rewards, or to fmile at thofe by 
 whom they were deprived of them. 
 
 But what is never to be forgotten by the great, if 
 they would promote the caufe of literature, is, that 
 perfonal confideration is the only genuine reward of 
 talents, that which gives a value to every other, or 
 rather which fupplies their place. It was this which 
 Greece paid to the great men whom me produced of 
 every kind ; this is the ineftimable reward which let- 
 ters receive at this day from a monarch who fills the 
 throne with the wifdom and virtue of a Julian, with- 
 out his fuperltition. The indifference of Charles V. 
 to literature, transmitted to his defendants, feems to 
 be one of the principal caufes which lias retarded the 
 I 3 pro- 
 
174 WON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 progrefs of genius in his dominions. Prufiia 
 the other hand, will be for ever indebted to Fre- 
 derick for that progrefs fhe has made in fcience and 
 arts. Superior to prejudice, merit alone, with him, 
 was the diftin&ion of mankind : light and truth, fo 
 .necefiary, yet fo much concealed from moil princes,, 
 .axe the fruits of that noble and philofophical liberty,, 
 which he affords to literature. Genius, misfortune 
 and philofophy are a fufficient title to his bounty : hiv 
 tefte for the fciences and the fine arts is as eminent aa 
 k is true, and the more to be applauded, as he does 
 not facrifke to them more important concerns, and 
 knows how to be a monarch better than any thing 
 dfe. 
 
 As the elogiums he has received are not confined tOf 
 the fufFrages of his fubje&s, but ratified by all Eu-r 
 rope, whofe unanimous voice is the tell of the merit o 
 princes, they will be confirmed by the judgment of* 
 future ages, which we may venture to anticipate, be- 
 caufe there is no reafon to fear it. Will he then ac- 
 cept the feeble, but diunterefled homage of a man of 
 letters, whofe pen has not yet been difhonoured by 
 flattery, who had no hopes, when he wrote this enco- 
 mium, of being admitted one day to thank him for 
 his favours, whom friendmip ftill detains in his own 
 country, for he holds it dearer than fortune, and 
 who never defired any thing of him but his efteem r 
 
 Would to God, for the honour of our nation, I 
 could not have faid fo much of our Maecenas's, but 
 truth and juftice check'd my good will, and forbad my 
 filence. I can, however, honeilly proteft, that I 
 
 never 
 
LEARNED MEN AND THE GREAT. 175 
 
 never intended to apply the critical reflections, con- 
 tained in this eiTay, to any one perfon in particular : 
 if, contrary to my defign, fome one fhould think he 
 can difcover his own features in this picture, I mall 
 give him no other anfwer, but that of Protogenes to 
 Demetrius, " I cannot believe you would proclaim war 
 with the arts ;" for an ill-advifed patronage of the in- 
 genious is, in reality, an hoflile attempt againft them. 
 Happy would men of letters be, if they were at laft 
 convinced, that the fureft means of making themfelves 
 refpe&ed, is to live in the clofeft harmony and friend- 
 {hip with each other ; that by this union they would 
 become capable of giving the law to the reft of die 
 nation, in matters of tafte and philofophy ; that true 
 efteem is that which is defpenfed by thofe who are 
 worthy to be efteeraed themfeives ; that q-uackery, in 
 ihort, is a farce which degrades the fpeftator and 
 ' the a&or; and that the thirft for reputation and riches 
 b one of the caufea which contributes moll to the de- 
 cline of letters among us. 
 
 Thefe are the reflexions and views of a writer with- 
 out artifice and without intrigue, without patronage, 
 and confequently without hope, but happily without 
 care. I have endeavoured to explain myfelf freely, 
 though without caprice, upon the different objefts 
 which form the matter of this elTay. I am, and I 
 ought to be, lefs fufpe&ed on this account, as being 
 engaged in a career not very brilliant, but calm, in 
 which the number of judges, of enemies, and flatterers, 
 is very fmall. I do myfelf the juftice of not afpiring to 
 places or literary recompences, as I have not the ho- 
 
 1 4 nou 
 
176 UPON THE ALLIANCE BETWIXT 
 
 nour to be any Irian's dependant or rival, as I have 
 feen too many Maecenas's and great perfonages, not 
 to find fomething to commend, and too few not to 
 have fomething to complain of. 
 
 The fate of this work, when it firft appeared, was 
 abfolutely different from what I expected ; fome per- 
 fons of diftinction honoured it with their encomiums j 
 fome men of letters pulled it in pieces : the firfl faw in? 
 it nothing but a refpectable pride, the laft nothing 
 but a mutinous vanity. The public muft judge whe- 
 ther the former have done me more juftice than the 
 latter. My zeal would be fufficiently repaid, if thofe, 
 who have cenfured me moft, would practife the max- 
 ims they have dictated to me. Letters, in my opi- 
 nion, would then meet with more refpect, and be more 
 deferving of it ; I know that the falfe interefts of men 
 are always oppofite to their true interefts. In this 
 cafe I fhall not be the iirft^nifiionary, who, with mo- 
 derate talents, but very good intentions, with reafons 
 ftiii better, and a conduct conformable to his doctrine, 
 ias had the misfortune to make no profelytes. 
 
 Some of the mere celebrated and acconiplifhed of 
 our fine geniufes may propagate thefe doctrines with 
 better fuccefs. Let me, efcaped from a tumultuous fea, 
 over which I have only been a paflenger, give this 
 piece of advice to men of letters, '* Parcite oves 
 " nimium procedere, non bene ripae creditur; ipfe 
 " aries etiam nunc vellera ficcat." 
 
 REFLEX- 
 
REFLEXIONS ON THE USE AND ABUSE OF 
 PHILOSOPHY IN MATTERS THAT ARE 
 PROPERLY RELATIVE TO TASTE*. 
 
 TH E philofophical fpirit, fo celebrated by one 
 part of our nation, and fo decried by another, 
 has produced different, and even contrary, effects, 
 according as we confiderit with refpectto the fciences, 
 or in relation to the belles lettres. Operating in the fphere 
 of fcience, to which it properly belongs, it has fet limits 
 to that paffion for explaining all things which arofe 
 from the towering pride of fyftem ; but entering into 
 the circle of belles lettres, it has prefumed, on the 
 contrary, to analyze our pleafures, to call before its 
 tribunal the more elegant feelings of the human mind, 
 and to fubmit to its examination the various objects of 
 tafte. If the wife moderation, which has been ob- 
 ferved, in thefe latter times, by philofophers in mat- 
 ters of fcience, has met with much contradiction ; is 
 it furprifing that the encroaching fpirit of the new 
 adventurers in literature has alfo been oppofed? This 
 philofophical fpirit, applied to the objects of tafte, 
 muft undoubtedly difpleafe fuchof our writers as ima- 
 gine, that, in matters of tafte, as well as in thofe of 
 a more ferious kind, every paradox ought to be re- 
 jected, every new opinion banimed, and that, merely 
 becaufe it is new. , This way of thinking, however, 
 
 Thefc reflexions were read by Mr. D'Alembert before the 
 French academy, the i^th of March, 1757. 
 
 I 5 appeal s 
 
i 7 8 AN ESSAY ON TASTE. 
 
 appears to me both unreafonable and pernicious; we 
 cannot extend too far the liberty of examining, judg- 
 ing, and inventing in matters of fpeculation and lite- 
 rary am fement, even though, in many cafes, that li- 
 berty mould be utterly unfuccefsful in its efforts. The 
 flight of genius mufl be unreftrained, fince it is often 
 In the midft of its wildeft excurfions that it creates the 
 true fublime. Such alfo is the cafe with the faculty 
 of reafon, or the philofophical fpirit. Let us there^ 
 fore permit this difcerning fpirit to extend indifcrimi- 
 nately, though fometimes without fuccefs, its infpec- 
 tion to all the objects of our plcafures, and by that 
 .means put it in a capacity of ftriking out new paths, 
 and conducting genius itfelf into unknown regions. 
 
 One of the great advantages of philofophy in its 
 application to matters of tafte, is its being fb admi- 
 rably adapted to cure, or to prevent, that exceffive 
 veneration for a certain clafs of authors, which wa 
 may call by the name of literary fuperftition. It will 
 juflify our efteem of the antients by rendering that 
 efleem rational, and reducing it within its. proper 
 bounds; it will prevent our admiring them in their 
 ci e feels ; it will fhew us their equals in feveral of our 
 modern writers, who, becaufe they have followed the 
 models exhibited by the antients, are fo unreafonably 
 jnodeft as to efteem themfelves inferior to their mailers, 
 .'But it will be afked, whether this method of analyiing 
 jnetaphyfically matters of feeling and fentirnent, will 
 not be attended with many inconveniences? Whether 
 it\vill not often engage us to enquire into the reafons 
 of things which have no reafon at all, damp our plea- 
 
 fure 
 
AN ESSAY ON TASTE. 179 
 
 fure by leading us into the cuftom of difcuflmg coldly 
 what was defigned by nature to touch and to inflame, 
 and put fuch fhackles upon true genius, as to render it 
 fervilely timorous , and check its enterprifmg ardor? 
 Let us endeavour to give a fatisfa&ory anfwer to thefe 
 important queftions. 
 
 Tafte, though far from being generally poflefTed, 
 yet it is by no means an arbitrary thing. This is a 
 truth acknowledged on all fides, both by thofe who 
 reduce tafte to mere feeling and perception, and by 
 thofe alfo who would bring it within the fphere of 
 reafoning and difcuflion. But we mull obferve at the 
 fame time, that all the beauties and perfections which 
 appear in the productions of nature or of art, are not 
 properly the objects of tafte, whcfe perceptions are lefs 
 extenfive than many are apt to imagine. There are 
 certain charms of a fublime and ftriking kind, which 
 equally affect all obfervers, and of which, confe- 
 quently,. all the various orders of mankind, in all ages 
 and nations of the world, are competent judges. But 
 there is alfo another fpecies of beauty, which only 
 affects thofe minds that are pofTeifed of a certain de- 
 licacy of feeling, and which remains imperceptible 
 to vulgar fpirits. The beauties' which belong to this 
 clafs, are beauties only of a fecond order ; becaufe 
 objects, which excite the idea of grandeur, furpafs 
 thofe which affect us only by their graceful nefs and 
 elegance. The charms however of this fecond clafs 
 of objects are thofe, which it requires the moft faga- 
 city to difcern, and the greater! delicacy to feel truly; 
 and accordingly they abound molt in thofe ^nations 
 16 . where 
 
iSo AN ESSAY ON TASTE. 
 
 where focial intercourfe has contributed to the perfec- 
 tion of the arts, and multiplied the fources of plea- 
 iure and enjoyment. It is then in this clafs of beauty, 
 which is adapted to the contemplation of the difcern- 
 ing few, that we are properly to look for the objects 
 of tafte. Thefe obfervations lead us naturally to de- 
 fine tafte, as the faculty of diftinguifhing, in the works 
 ef art, the various qualities which are adapted to ex- 
 cite pleafure or difguft, in minds that are fufceptible 
 of delicate fentiments and perception. 
 
 If, then, tafte be not an arbitrary thing, it muft be 
 founded on fixed and evident principles, by the ap- 
 plication of which, we may form a decifive judgment 
 of all the various productions of art. The truth is, 
 that the fource of our pleafures and of our difgufts 
 lies folely and intircly within ourfelves ; fo that, if we 
 reflect with attention upon our mental frame, we mail 
 fend there general and invariable rules of tafte, which 
 will ferve as the criterion of beauty and deformity, in 
 all the objects, which the fecundity of the different 
 arts prefents to our view. From hence it follows, 
 that the lame phiiofophkal fpirit, which obliges us, 
 for want of fufEclent evidence, to fufpend every mo- 
 ment our enquires about the nature and qualities of 
 thofe objeds that are without us, ought, on the con- 
 trary, to animate our refearches with refpecl to the 
 objects and the nature of tafte, which lies obvious to 
 tw examination, as it exifts within us, andconftitutes 
 11 part of our mental frame. The true philofopher 
 will, at the fame time, eafily perceive that this exa- 
 mination nmil be confined within proper limits. We 
 
 muft 
 
AN ESSAY ON TASTE. 181 
 
 muft never, in our refearches upon any fubject, flatter 
 ourfelves with the hopes of rifing to Firft Principles, 
 which a thick veil perpetually conceals from the eyes 
 of mortals. To inveftigate the primitive and meta- 
 phyfical caufe of our various pleafures, would be as 
 chimerical a project, as to attempt explaining the 
 operation of external objects upon our fenfes. But 
 as the origin of our knowledge has been reduced to a 
 fmali number of fenfations ; fo the fources of thofe 
 pleafures, that are relative to tafte, may be traced out 
 by a few evident obfervations upon the manner in 
 which we perceive and feel. Thus far the true fage 
 extends his refearches ; but here alfo he flops, and 
 defcends from hence, as from firft principles, to thofe 
 confequences that refult from his accurate obferva- 
 tions. 
 
 In analyfing tafte, we mall find many qualities 
 necefTary to the proper exercife of that perceptive 
 power, which efcape the notice of inattentive obfer- 
 vers. It does not confift wholly in accuracy and rec- 
 titude of judgment, however rare and precious this 
 quality may be, nor yet in a delicate ienfibility alone. 
 No : there is yet, further, a confiderable aflemblage 
 of fenfes and powers (if I may fo fpeak) which enters 
 into its compofition, and which we muft therefore care- 
 fully take into the account. A few examples will il- 
 luftrate this obfervation. When we read a fublime 
 piece of poetry, what are the powers and faculties of 
 our nature to which the bard addrefles himfelf ? They 
 are various ; fometimes he fpeaks to our imagination, 
 fometimcs to our affc&ions, fometimes to our reafon, 
 
 but 
 
i8i AN ESSAY ON TASTE. 
 
 but always to the external fenfe or organ of hearing. 
 Verfe is a fpecies of harmony, with refpeft to which 
 the ear is too delicate to admit of the leaft defect ; fo 
 that reafon itfelf, upon fome occafions, is obliged to 
 make certain facrifices to rhime. A philofopher, 
 then, with all his penetration and delicacy of fenti- 
 ment, will be an incompent judge of poetry, if he 
 has not a good ear. He will afterf, that the pleasures 
 which refult from poetic harmony are merely chime- 
 rical ; that all authors, of whatever kind their pro- 
 ductions may be, ought to addrefs themfelves alone 
 to the understanding and the heart; nay, by captious- 
 reafonings, he will caft an apparent ridicule upon the- 
 care and induftry, which are employed in arranging 
 words and periods, fo as to render them harmonious- 
 and pleating to the ear. Thus a natural philofopher, 
 who poflefTed no other external fenfe but that of feel- 
 ing, would hold it as a thing impoffible, that diftant 
 objects mould operate upon our bodily organs, and? 
 would prove his ailertion by fophiftical arguments-, to 
 which no fatisfaftory anfwer could be given, as long- 
 as he was deprived of fight and hearing. Such is the* 
 cafe of that philofopher, who, without a delicate ear, 
 pretends to have a tafle for poetry. He imagine* he 
 does no real injury to a poem, when, by tranfpofing 
 the words, he deftroys their harmony and cadence, 
 and he will attribute the languor and flatnefs, which 
 the poem acquires by this change, to the power of 
 prejudice and cuftom, to which he acknowledges his 
 own involuntary fubjeclion. He will never once ima- 
 gine, that, by breaking the meafure, and tranfpofmg 
 
 the 
 
AN ESSAY ON TASTE. 185 
 
 the words, he has deftroyed the delightful harmony 
 that refulted from their metrical arrangement and 
 proportions. To judge, however, properly of fuch 
 a. conduct, we have only to alk ourfelves, what we 
 Ihould think of a mufician, who, to prove that the 
 pleafure of melody is founded in opinion, and not in 
 nature, mould fpoil a fine air, by deftroying the fym- 
 metry of the founds, of which it was compofed ? 
 
 It is not thus that the true philofopher will judge of 
 the pleafures that arife from poetry. Avoiding wifely 
 all extremes, he will neither attribute them entirely 
 to nature on the one hand, nor wholly to opinion on 
 the other. He will obferve, that, as ail nations are, 
 more or lefs, agreeably affected with the charms of 
 nrufic in general, though they may not all delight in 
 the fame particular kinds of melody ; fo, in -liki 
 manner,, they are all, an general, fufceptible of plea- 
 lure from poetic harmony, though the poetry of one 
 people may differ extremely from that of another. It 
 is by examining attentively this difference, that the true 
 fage. will be able, at length, to determine how far the 
 pleafures we receive from poetry and muiic are influ- 
 enced by habit ; what real additions they derive from 
 thence, and what imaginary ones they receive front 
 opinion. For he will ever diftinguifh between that 
 pleafure, which is the refult of habit, and that which 
 is arbitrary, and merely founded on opinion ; a dif- 
 tinclion hitherto not fufficiently attended to, in treat- 
 ing this fubjeft, but which* notwithstanding,, daily- 
 experience Efficiently juftifies. There are certain 
 pleafures that ftrike us immediately, and that pervade 
 
 the 
 
184 AN ESSAY ON TASTE. 
 
 the foul the very moment that their objects are pre- 
 fented ; there are others, which require time to pro- 
 duce their proper effect ; which are received with in- 
 difference or difguit, until the mind has been modi- 
 fied by their action upon it to a certain degree, and 
 are then enjoyed with the quickeft fenfations of de- 
 light. How often has it happened, that a piece of 
 mufic which we have heard, for the firff time, with- 
 out any agreeable emotion, has excited afterwards in 
 us the mofl extatic raptures, when, by its being often 
 repeated, the ear has been at length able to diftinguifh 
 its complicated charms, and to perceive the whole 
 delicacy and force of its expreflion ? 
 
 This is a finking inftance of the pleafurcs which 
 arife from habit, and which muft by no means be 
 looked upon as arbitrary, becaufe they may be, at 
 rft, received with indifference, . and have the force of 
 prejudice againft them. 
 
 Thus a philofophical connoifTeur will be careful 
 to maintain every faculty and every fenfe in their re- 
 fpeclive privileges, and to attribute to a good ear the 
 authority that belongs to it, in deciding concerning 
 the merit of poetical competitions. But, at the fame 
 time, he will be far from thinking, that the poet's 
 attention to pleafe the external fenfe can juflify his 
 difpenfmg with the more important obligation of fatis- 
 fying the reafbn and imagination of his readers, by 
 the jultnefs of his ideas, and the fublimity of his 
 views. As he is perfuaded that the firit and mofb im^ 
 portant rule of good writing requires a conformity 
 between the ftyle of an author, and the matter which 
 
 he 
 
AN ESSAY ON TASTE. 18$ 
 
 he treats, fo nothing will difguft him more than com- 
 mon and trivial ideas exprefied with affectation, and 
 adorned with the vain pomp and harmony of poetry, 
 A plain and eafy profe will, in his opinion, be pre- 
 ferable to fuch numbers as derive their principal merit 
 from their cadence, and little or none from the truths 
 and fentiments which they are employed to embellifh 
 and fet off. Feelingly fenfible alfo of the charms of 
 poetic imagery, he is, on that very account, pleafed 
 with fuch images alone, as are new and (hiking; and 
 yet even to thefehe will prefer, without hefitation, thofe 
 beautiful fentiments which unfold, in a noble and 
 affecting manner, truths that are ufeful to mankind. 
 
 It muft, however, be carefully obferved, that 
 though a philofopher be poffefTed of all that variety of 
 fenfes and faculties that enter into the compolition of 
 true tafie, yet this is not all that is required in the 
 matter now under confideration ; it is farther necef- 
 fary, that the exercife of thefe faculties be not too 
 much confined to one particular fet of objects. The 
 famous Malebranche could not read the moft fublime 
 verfes, without a certain wearinefs and difguft ; and 
 yet his flyle abounds with all the grand characters of 
 poetry, and is full of imagination, fentiment, and 
 harmony ; but his imagination, entirely occupied 
 about matters purely intellectual, confined its energy 
 to the creation of philofophical fyftems ; and the high 
 degree of feeling and vivacity with which he was eiv- 
 dued, only ferved to make him embrace with ardor, 
 as truth, what was no more than mere hypothecs. 
 Though his profe was extremely harmonious, yet 
 
 poetical 
 
1 86 AN ESSAY ON TASTE 
 
 poetical harmony had no charms to him; which may 
 perhaps be owing to one of the following reafons : 
 either that the fenfibility of his ear was Confined to- 
 the harmony of profe, or that a mechanical and na* 
 tural talent enabled him to write harmonious profe 
 without his perceiving it, jult as his imagination had 
 ferved him in philofophy without his knowledge, or 
 as a mufical inilrurnent produces, without confciouf- 
 efs, well-proportioned founds* 
 
 It is not only to a want of delicacy in the mind, or 
 of fenilbility in the external organs of perception, 
 that we are to impute all erroneous judgments in mat- 
 ters of tafle. The pleafure we receive from any ex- 
 cellent production of art, is, or may be derived from 
 different fources. The true philofophical analyfis 
 confifls therefore, in dlftinguiming well thefe various 
 fources, and keeping them feparate from each other, 
 that fo we may refer to each what properly belongs to 
 it, and may not attribute our pleafures to caufes that 
 have had no fort of influence in their production. It 
 has been obferved, that the rules of each art fhould 
 be taken from the moil excellent compofitions which 
 each refpective art has furnifhed; and the obfervation 
 is undoubtedly juJft. It is not,, however, by the con- 
 fufed aggregate of pleafure, by the collective refult 
 of the agreeable perceptions, which thefe compofiti- 
 ons have produced in us, that we are to fix the rules of 
 tafle; but by that reflex act of the mind, which en- 
 ables us to diflinguifh the particular paffages that ex- 
 cited in us delightful fenfations, from thole which were 
 only defigned as fhades in the piece, or as retting 
 
 places 
 
AN ESSAY ON TASTE, 1*7 
 
 places for the exhaufted attention of the reader, and 
 iilfo from thofe where the author has exhibited marks 
 of involuntary negligence^ For want of obferving, 
 this method, the imagination, warmed by certain 
 beauties of the nobldl kind, which may mine forth 
 in work, otherwife full of the moft monftrous de- 
 fects, will gradually become infenfible of thefe defects f 
 nay, will transform them into beauties, and conduct 
 us at length to that ftupid enthufiafm, which, by ad- 
 miring every thing indifcriminately, perceives, or 
 rather feels nothing truly. Thus, by a confufed and 
 mechanical imprefliori, many will be led either to 
 eftabliih falfe rules of tafte, or, what is equally per- 
 nicious, to fubllitute arbitrary notions in the place of 
 xed principles ; to contract the fphere of the arts ;, 
 to prefcribe bounds to our pleafures, in order to reridea: 
 them infipidly uniform, and to confine the efforts of 
 genius and induftry within a narrow circle. 
 
 It is the province of philofophy to break thefe in~ 
 glorious bonds afunder ; but fhe cannot be too circum- 
 ipect in the choice of the arms, by which this noble 
 deliverance is to be accomplifhed. The late Monf. 
 de la Motte maintained, that verification was not 
 effential to dramatical compofitions ; but to prove an 
 opinion fo fufceptible of a rational defence, he inju- 
 dicioufly launched into paradox, wrote againft poetry 
 in general, and thereby did nothing but injury to his 
 caufe : he might as well have wrote againft mufic of 
 every kind, in order to prove, that the chorus is not 
 eifential to tragedy. This ingenious writer was under 
 no necefuty of combating the prejudices of the public 
 
 againft 
 
iSS AN ESSAY ON TASTE. 
 
 againft his opinion, by fuch fenfelefs paradoxes. 
 There was, methinks, a much fhorter way of proving 
 his point, and that was, to have compofed his cele- 
 brated tragedy of Jnes de Caflro in profe ; the affe&- 
 ing nature of a fubjed fo tenderly interefting, fhould 
 have encouraged him to venture upon this innovation, 
 and thus the theatre would have been enriched with a 
 new fpecies of dramatic poetry. But an ambitious 
 defire of being diftinguiftied from the crowd, leads 
 men. fometimes to combat, in theory, received opini- 
 ons, while a timorous felf-love, that dreads all new 
 and dangerous attempts, through the apprehenfion of 
 mifcarrying, obliges them to follow thofe very opini- 
 ons in praftice. It is here that we may obferve acon- 
 fiderable difference between the philofopher and the 
 legiflator ; the latter difpenfes, in his private con- 
 duel, with the laws which he impofes upon others ; 
 while the philofopher obferves in his work, the rules 
 which he condemns in his preface. 
 
 The two fources of error which we have been 
 hitherto conlidering, viz. the want of ,fenfibility, on 
 the one hand, and the want of that reflexion, which 
 is requifite to diftinguifh the true caufes of our plea- 
 fure, on the other, will be the occafion of perpetuat- 
 ing that tedious controverfy, fo often renewed, and fo 
 injudicioufly carried on, the merit of the ancients. 
 Their advocates, under the impulfe of an enthufiaftic 
 admiration, are too prone to exalt their productions 
 upon the whole, on account of the ftriking beauties 
 that appear in fome of the parts ; while their adver- 
 
 faries 
 
AN ESSAY. ON TASTE. 18; 
 
 faries refiife thofe applaufes that are due to the parts, 
 on account of the defects that appear in the whole. 
 
 There is, however, another error, into which the 
 philofophical critic is more liable to fall ; and to aovid 
 which, he rnult confeque.ntly employ his principal at- 
 tention. This error confifts in applying to the pecu- 
 liar objects of tafte, principles, which, though true 
 in themfelves, yet have no relation to thefe objects. 
 Every one is acquainted with thpfe lines in the tragedy 
 
 of the Horatii, 
 
 . 
 
 Que voulez vous qu'il fit contre trois ? Qu'il mourut. 
 
 IOu qu'un beau defefpoir alors le fecurut*. 
 To enable thofe, who don't underftand the French language, 
 to enter into the true fpirit of this ingenious criticifm, it will be 
 proper to obferve, that in Corneille's tragedy of the Horatii, a 
 meflengcr arrives to inform the old Horatius, that two of his 
 fons were killed, and that the third was flying from the three Cu- 
 riatii. The venerable old man is filled with indignation at the 
 conduct cf his remaining fon. The mefienger, to excufe him, 
 addrefies himfelf thus to the incenfed father : " What other re- 
 " fource had he than flight, overpowered as he was by three 
 " combatants ?" (( A glorious death (replies the old Horatius) 
 " or that fuccour that is adminif!red by a noble deipair.'* Thefe 
 words, A glorious death, which are equivalent to Qu/il mourut, 
 < (include the firft line in the French, and give us a ftriking in- 
 Hance of the true fublime. What follows is cenfured by Mr. 
 d' Alembert, for the excellent reafons offered in his elegant obfcr- 
 vations on this pafTage. 
 
?9o A N ' E-S S A-Y ON T /VS T P.. 
 
 The heroic expreffion of the aged father Qu'il mourut v 
 has been juftly and univerfally admired; and the 
 following verfe as juftly and 'univerfally condemned ; 
 and yet the common principles of metaphyfics will 
 furnifh arguments, or rat-her fophifms, to juftify'tius 
 verfe, againft all the rules of true tafte. It will be 
 alledged, for inftance, that this fecond verfe is necef 
 fary to exprefs all the feelings that pa/Ted in the mind 
 ef the old Horatius ; for though it was his duty to 
 prefer the death of his fon to a life of dimonour ; yet 
 
 it was ftill more natural to wifh that his fon mirht 
 
 tj 
 
 efcape by the means cf his valour, and that, anima- 
 ted by a noble defpair, he might fland alone again ft 
 his three adverfaries, and return victorious from the 
 combat. This defence, however plaufible upon me- 
 taphyfical principles, is abiblutely mifapplied in the 
 cafe before us, where the jqueftion is not concerning 
 the mere expreffion of truth and nature, but concern- 
 ing fuch expreflions of both SLS are Unking and fub- 
 lime. According to the reafoning of the metaphyfical 
 critic, the fecond verfe, as it contains the fentiment 
 that is the moft natural of the two, mould have pre- 
 ceeded the firfl, which, by that means, would hav r e 
 loft the greateft part of its force. Befides, nothing is 
 inore feeble, fiat, and frigid than this fecond verfe, 
 even' when reftored to its true and natural place. For 
 where is the neceffity for the old Horatius's exprefiing 
 the defire which that verfe contains ? Will not every 
 one fuppofe, without difficulty, that it would have 
 been infinitely more rejoicing to him to have feen his 
 Con Jiving, and crowned with victory, than falling a 
 
 vi&im 
 
AN ESSAY ON TASTE. 1511 
 
 victim to the fuperior force of his enemies ? The poet 
 then had no occafion to exprefs a defire, which every- 
 one muft fuppofe : the only fentiment which fuited 
 that violent ftate of emotion, in which the venerable 
 old man now was, the only affe&ion which was proper 
 to be difcovered upon.fuchan occasion, and in cir- 
 cumftances where the glory of his country and of his 
 jname were immediately concerned, was that heroic 
 courage, which engaged him to choofe for his fon a 
 noble death, rather than a life of drfhonour and in- 
 famy. The cold and tardy reafonings of flow and 
 phlegmatic fpirits are very different from the fudderi 
 and prodigious bounds, which minds, nobly fired, 
 make towards the true fublime ; the latter difdaining 
 to remain, even for a moment, in the fphere of vulgar 
 Sentiments, understand much more than they exprefs, 
 and foar with a rapid flight to thofe fentiments and 
 paffions that carry the ftrongeft marks of energy and 
 grandeur. Their progrefs refembles that of one of 
 Homer's gods, whofe fourth ftride brought him from 
 one end of the univerfe to the other. 
 
 Thus, then, it happens, that, in matters of tafte, 
 the demi-philofopher (if I may employ that term) 
 leads us from the paths of truth and nature, to which 
 it is the province of true philofophy to reftore our 
 wandering fteps. It is therefore an injury done both to 
 the belles letters and to philofophy, to imagine that 
 they are either incompatible with, or prejudicial to, 
 each other. Whatever relates to our ideas and per- 
 ceptions, and even to our fentiments and feelings, is 
 the true domain, the proper fphere of philofophy. It 
 
 would 
 
192 AN ESSAY ON TASTE. 
 
 would therefore be as unreafonable to confine her to 
 the heavenly bodies, or to the material fyflem of the 
 univerfe, as it would be to limit poetry to the praifes 
 of the gods, or the pleafures of iove. The true fpirit 
 of philofophy is fo far from being in oppofition to 
 tafte, that it is, on the contrary, its moll folid fupport r 
 as it teaches us always to fet out from true and evident 
 principles, to obferve that every art has its peculiar 
 nature, every fituation and affection of the mind its 
 proper character, and every object its dillinctive co- 
 louring, and thus prevents our confounding the limits 
 by which the various kinds are fo carefully diftin- 
 guifhed. Such is the nature, excellence, and power 
 of the philofophical fpirit, the abufe of which ihews 
 that it is not truly pofleffed. 
 
 It has been remarked by fome, that the fubmitting 
 the objects of tafte to analytical difcuffion is adapted 
 to blunt the delicacy of the feeling powers, and to 
 damp the fire and vigour of genius. But this effect is 
 not to be feared. The true philofopher knows that in 
 the moment when genius creates and invents, it will 
 not admit of the lead check or reftraint - 9 that it loves 
 to rum forward without controul and without rule, to 
 produce indifcriminately the monftrous and the fub- 
 lime, and to carry down its rapid ftream gold and mud 
 mingled together, by the impetuofuy of its courfe. 
 Reafon, therefore, gives way togeniu. 1 , while it creates 
 a boundlefs liberty, and even permits it to continue its 
 career, until it exhaufls its vigour, and finks down to 
 repofe, like thofe fiery courfers, which it is impoffible 
 to tame any other way than by throwing the bridle 
 
 upon 
 
AN ESSAY ON TASTE. 193 
 
 upon their necks. But then it is the time for reafon 
 to exercife its authority, and to fit in juJgment upon 
 the productions of genius. Accordingly, it preferves 
 whatever was the 'offspring of a true and noble en- 
 thufiafm, effaces, on the contrary, whatever was pro- 
 duced by the irregular fallies of an over-heated ima- 
 gination, and thus enriches the republic of letters 
 with maflerly performances in all the various kinds. 
 Where is the writer of genius and taile, who does 
 not perceive, in the heat of compofition, that one part 
 of his mind (if I may fo exprefs myfelf) feparates 
 itfelf from the other which is employed in compofing, 
 in order to obferve its motions, and to give them a 
 free courfe, and alfo points out beforehand what is 
 afterwards to be effaced ? 
 
 The true philofopher ufes much the fame method 
 in judging of the productions of others, that he em- 
 ploys in compofing his own. He begins by giving 
 himfelf up to the high and lively fenfations of plea- 
 fure, which generally arife from the firft impreflion 
 that a new and maflerly performance makes upon the 
 mind. Perfuaded, however, that real beauties gain 
 in proportion as they are attentively examined, he re- 
 collects himfelf ; extends his refearches to the caufes 
 of his fa tis faction; fingles them out one after another; 
 diftinguifhes carefully between illufory fenfations and 
 deep and lafting impreflions ; and by this analytical 
 procedure is rendered capable of pronouncing with 
 judgment concerning the merit of a work in general, 
 and &f each of its particular and constituent parts. 
 
 K From 
 
194 AN ESSAY ON TASTE. 
 
 From thefe obfervations we fhall be furnifhed with 
 an anfwer to a queftion, which has been often pro- 
 pofed, and alfo much debated, viz. Whether, in 
 judging concerning a work of tafte, fentiment or 
 feeling is to be preferred before reafoning and difcuf- 
 fion ? Feeling is undoubtedly th'e natural judge for 
 the firft moment, Difcuffion for the fecond ; and the 
 fecond judge will, almolt always, confirm the deci- 
 jlons of the firft in thofe perfons, who, with a quick 
 ,^nd delicate fenfe of beauty, are fo happy as to poflefs 
 a juft and accurate difcernment. But the difficulty, 
 it will be alledged, ftill remains; for as fentiment 
 and difcuflion will not always agree, what muft be 
 done when they differ ? Is it not belt, in all cafes, 
 to follow fentiment as our guide, and hold always by 
 its decifion ? Is it not a miferable occupation, fome 
 will fay, to be difputing againft our agreeable fen- 
 fations ? and what obligations fhall we lie under to 
 philofophy, if it manifeilly tend to diminifh our plea- 
 fures ? We cannot anfwer this latter queftion without 
 the utmofl regret ; becaufe we are obliged to acknow- 
 ledge the effect of philofophy to be, in reality, what 
 it is here reprefented to be. 
 
 Such is the unhappy lot of humanity, that the 
 knowledge we acquire, ferves only to give us a morti- 
 fying view of the fcenes of error and illufion through 
 which we have paffed, and is, almoft always, attended 
 with the diminution of our pleafures. The rude fim- 
 plicity of our anceflors rendered the impreffions they 
 received from the monftrous productions of the antient 
 
 theatre, 
 
AN ESSAY ON TASTE. 19^ 
 
 theatre, more lively and ftriking than thofe which we 
 receive, in this polifhed age, from the moft perfeft 
 of our dramatic performances. The nations, which 
 we furpafs in knowledge and in refinement, are not 
 lefs happy than we are ; fince both their defires and 
 their wants are lefs numerous than ours, and they arc 
 fivtisfied with pleafures of a lefs elegant kind, than 
 thofe which we purfue. We fhould not, however, be 
 willing to exchange our knowledge for the ignorance 
 of thofe nations, or for the rude fimplicity of our an- 
 ceftors. For, though this knowledge may diminifbi 
 our pleafures, yet it flatters our vanity. We applaud 
 ourfelves on account of that delicacy and refinement, 
 that render us difficult to be pleafed, and even look 
 upon them as meritorious. Self-love is the reigning 
 paflion, and that which, generally fpeaking, we are 
 the moft eager to gratify. The pleafure we derive 
 from thence, is not, like many others, the effecl: of a 
 fudden.and violent impreflion ; it is uniform and per- 
 .manent, and may, therefore, be enjoyed at leifure. 
 
 Thefe reflections, methinks, will be efteemed fufH- 
 cient to juftify philofophy from the accufations that 
 have been brought againft it by ignorance and envy. 
 We cannot, however, conclude without obferving, 
 than even upon the fuppofition that thefe accufations 
 and reproaches were juft, yet they lofe their influence, 
 and become unfeemly, when they are not made by 
 philofophers themfelves. To them alone it belongs 
 to determine the fphere, and to fix the boundaries of 
 the philofophical fpirit ; as it belongs only to thofe 
 who have wit, to plead againft the abufe that may be 
 K 2 mace 
 
196 AN ESSAY ON TASTE. 
 
 inade of it. But it unluckily happens, in oppofition 
 to this rule, that thofe, who have the leaft acquaintance 
 with philofophy, are its moft violent detractors ; juft as 
 poetry is decried by fuch as have no talent for that 
 noble art, the profound fciences, by fuch as are ig- 
 norant of their firft principles, and the age we live in, 
 by thofe writers, whofe productions are the moft 
 adapted to expofe it to contempt. 
 
 MEMOIRS 
 
MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, QUEEN 
 OF SWEDEN. 
 
 TH E knowledge of hiftory, when it is not en- 
 lightened by philofophy, is but a trifling at- 
 tainment. The ftudy of it would have been more in- 
 terefllng, if more time had been fpent upon the hiftory 
 of men, and lefs upon that of princes, which, for the 
 moft part, is little elfe than a regifler of vice and 
 folly ; and the matter is made worfe, when a multi- 
 tude of fa6ls are added unworthy of being remem- 
 bered. A man of genius, unacquainted with hiftory, 
 confoles himfelf in his ignorance, by reflecting, that 
 what pafTes before his eyes will one day become hiftory. 
 
 It were to be wiftied, that every hundred years a 
 collection was made of historical fadls that are worth 
 preferving, and the refufe burnt. This would be a 
 means of relieving our pofterity from that inundation 
 with which it is threatened, if we go on abufmg the 
 prefs under the notion of informing future ages of 
 things we don't think it worth while to enquire after 
 even when they happen. I fuppofe, for this reafona- 
 ble wiih, I fhallhave the reproaches and anathemas of 
 the compilers ; but I appeal from thefe anathemas to the 
 wife ; they alone ought to defcribe men as well as go- 
 vern them : if they did, hiftory and men would fare 
 the better for it. 
 
 I could not help making thefe reflections at feeing 
 
 two huge volumes, which have been juft published in 
 
 Holland, of Memoirs of Chriftina, queen of Sweden. 
 
 K 3 If 
 
i 9 3 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 3f the author of thefe Memoirs had any defign of 
 making the world acquainted with his heroine, I doubt 
 he has mifcarried ; I know many learned men, who 
 are habituated to painful ftudy, and yet could not en- 
 dure this work, or go through, with any patience, 
 that farrago of erudition and citation, in which the 
 Hiftory of Chriftina is involved. 'Tis a portrait ill- 
 defigned, torn to pieces, and difperfed under a heap 
 of rubbiih. 
 
 However, the defire 1 have always had of forming 
 fome idea of this extraordinary princefs, about whom 
 the world is fo much divided, induced me to run over 
 this enormous compilation ; I have furveyed it as one 
 <Ioes thofe perfpe&ives, in which the painter has 
 crawn a human figure in a deformed manner, and 
 which is not to be diftinguifhed but in a certain point 
 of view ; where it appears in its juft proportion, dif- 
 cngaged from thofe adventitious objects that difguife 
 it. I have endeavoured to catch this point of view, 
 but I do not flatter myfelf with having found it. Be 
 that as it will, here is the refult of what I could learn. 
 .If my performance is thought tirefome, the reader mutt 
 have recourfe to the original for better entertainment. 
 I fhall endeavour, at leaft, to render this piece ufeful, 
 by the principles I fhall interfperfe, and the reflections 
 which 1 fhall have occafion to make upon thofe two 
 fccurges of the human race, tyranny and fuperlUtion. 
 
 My firft defign was to have given, from thefe Me- 
 moirs, a fhort hiftory of Chriftina; but the uniform 
 pace and unvaried ilyle, to which they have thought 
 proper to fubject hiilory, would have been a perpetual 
 
 clog 
 
QUEEN OF SWEDEN. 199 
 
 clog upon me. I know not for what reafon it has 
 been fo generally agreed to reduce hiftory to a kind of 
 regular gazette. They pretend, that an hiftorian 
 ought not to take 'the liberty of making reflections, 
 but leave them to be made by the reader. For my 
 own part, I think the belt way of fuggefling reflections 
 to the reader, is to make them. The whole fecret lies 
 in good management, in prefenting them dexteroufly, 
 and connecting them with the fubjeCt, fo as to make 
 it more intereiting, and not tedious. 
 
 In a word, reflections feem to be as necefTary to 
 make hiftory agreeable, even to iix faCts in the me- 
 mory, as geometrical demonftrations are to imprefs 
 upon the mind the truth of proportions. Hiitorians, 
 fome fay, mould only give their depofitions as wit* 
 neffes ; reflections expofe them to the fufpicion of par- 
 tiality. But, in my opinion, the manner of relating 
 fads may render an hiftorian as juftly fufpeCted of be- 
 ing partial, as any reflections he can make ; and if he 
 is liable to partiality either way, fure we ihould prefer 
 that which is Xhe moft agreeable. Befides, the fufpi- 
 cion of partiality properly belongs only to authors who 
 write the hiftory of their own times. Is it probable 
 that 1 mould either make a fatyr or a panegyric upon 
 Chriflina ? I may be charged with being miftaken, 
 and this might be the cafe, if I gave no more than a 
 fimple recital, but I can never be accufed of being bi- 
 afTed either to one fide or the other, 
 
 However, not to contend with a prejudice fo gene- 
 rally received, I am not going to give the reader the 
 kiilory of Chriftina, but only fome obfervations upon 
 K 4 kr 
 
zoo MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 her life. I have no objection to their being called an 
 extract from Chrittina's memoirs a letter upon the 
 fubjec~l a converfation with my reader, or any other 
 title he thinks proper. 
 
 I lhall take no notice of the letters which Chriftina 
 wrote to her father when me was five years old, to 
 inform him that fhe was learning to fay her prayers ; 
 letters which the compiler acknowledges to be little 
 interefting to ftrangers, though, he thinks, they may 
 be of great fervice to the Swedes. 
 
 I pafs by the calculation of her nativity, and her 
 father's Guflavus Adolphus, to confider a few mo- 
 ments that celebrated conqueror. 
 
 While he was avenging the proteftants of the empire 
 againft the oppreifion of Ferdinand, in alliance with 
 France, and fecretly countenanced by the court of 
 Home, on account of its jealoufy of the Auftrian 
 power, all Bavaria refounded with declamations, ex- 
 orcifms, litanies and imprecations againft this prince : 
 the German monks faid he was afltichrift, the Lu- 
 theran minifters faid he was not antichrifl ; our author, 
 however, afiures us, that this prince ufed his victories 
 with great moderation. It is pretended, that Germany 
 was indebted, for the fentiments Guftavus entertained 
 about the Catholics, to his ftudying in his youth at 
 Pavia, under the celebrated Galileo, whom the inqui- 
 fitlon treated as a heretic, becaufe he was an aftrono- 
 jner. But (to fay nothing of its being doubtful whe- 
 ther Guftavus ever was in Italy) a place where the 
 Ptolemaic fyftem was an article of faith, does not feem 
 likely to infpire a Lutheran prince with fuch favourable 
 
 fentiments. 
 
QJJEEN OF SWEDEN; 201 
 
 fcntlments. Be this as it will, pope Urban VIII. 
 who, to all the zeal of a fovereign pontiff for his re- 
 ligion, joined an averfion Hill more violent to the em- 
 peror Ferdinand, afTures us, that the Spaniards of 
 Charles V. did more harm to the Romilh church than 
 the Swedes of Guftavus did in Germany. It is to be 
 wifhed, for the honour of humanity and of Guilavus, 
 that he deferred the encomiums given to his modera- 
 tion. If any thing can render them fufpe&ed, it is 
 that pretended tafte for letters afcribed to him, for no 
 other reafon, but becaufe he had read books on taclics 
 and the military art. It might as well be maintained, 
 that the late king of Pruflia was a lover of the fci- 
 cnces, becaufe his violent paffion for his troops in- 
 duced him to give protection to the furgeons of the 
 army. 
 
 The compiler has fuch a flrange veneration for fo- 
 vereigns, that he allows the merit of countenancing 
 letters even to Charles XII. who never read any thing in 
 his life but Caefar's Commentaries. Thus, in oir 
 prodigality of praifes to princes, we never consider 
 whether they deferve them ; but poflerity, the impar- 
 tial judge of writers and of kings, will aiiign their 
 proper ranks to thofe who commend, and thofe who are 
 commended. 
 
 Nothing ftrikes me more in the hiftory^of Guftavus, 
 than the wife reflections afcribed to him upon con- 
 querors. One might have believed them of Socrates, 
 and GuJtavus mould have added, to the merit of be- 
 ing the author of them, the glory of putting them In 
 practice. 
 
 K 5 The 
 
-02 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 The mifchief he did to the houfe of Auftria did not 
 render Sweden more happy. I don't know but Peter the 
 Great, whofe conquefts always redounded to the ad- 
 vantage of his people, was the beft qualified to deter- 
 mine this moral queftion, whether a prince has a right 
 to aggrandize his fubjects at the expence of his neigh- 
 bours ? To eflabliih the tranquillity of the empire,' 
 and to humble the houfe of Auftria, it was not necef- 
 fary that Guftavus, in one year, ihould invade two- 
 thirds of Germany,, and create jealoufy in his allies, 
 becaufe Louis XIII. refufed an interview with him, 
 the honour of which would have belonged entirely to 
 the king of Sweden. 
 
 Guftavus urged very juftly, that merit conflituted 
 the only diftinguifhing virtue of kings ; but the prin- 
 cipal merit of a fovereign is his love of humanity, 
 juftice and the laws. Kings who have only power, or 
 perhaps valour, though the firft among courtiers, are 
 the laft among wife men. 
 
 1632. This prince being killed at the battle of Lutzei* 
 In a manner fo difficult to be accounted for, Chriftina, 
 yet an infant, fucceeded him. In the plan which the 
 celebrated chancellor Oxenitiern laid down for the re- 
 gency, we can't help difcovering an enmity to defpo- 
 tifw, which ought to confecrate the memory of that 
 great ilatefman. 
 
 He feems inclined to a mixt government, between * 
 a monarchy and a republic ; and we do not deny 
 that this form enjoys many advantages, without en- 
 tering into that delicate queftion about the beft go- 
 vernment that can be infthuted -, the folution of which 
 
 muft 
 
QJJEEN OF SWEDEN. 203 
 
 muft receive different modificatiomfrom the difference 
 of climates, fituation and circumflances, as well as 
 genius of kings and people. 
 
 We can never fulpedl fo intelligent a man as Ox- 
 eniliern, as fome have done, of giving the preference 
 to an Ariflocratical government, which natural right 
 and experience demonflrate to be the vvorft of all. 
 
 Thofe who were charged with the education of 
 Chriilina, were ordered early to inculcate upon her 
 not to put abfolute confidence in any one perfon ; an 
 excellent maxim undoubtedly in itfelf, but which has 
 been abufed by fo many princes, to diftruit both vice 
 and virtue, never to take counfel, and to think them- 
 felves prudent and firm, when they are only obilinate. 
 
 Chriilina early difcovered an uncommon penetration 
 and capacity. We are told that, in her infancy, me 
 could read Thucidides and Polybius in the original, 
 and that me formed a juft judgment concerning thofe 
 writers. It would have been much better to have made 
 her acquainted with men than Greek authors. True 
 philoibphy is more neceffary to a prince than hiftory ; 
 I except that of the Bible, to which the ftates of Swe- 
 den would have had her devote moft of her time, be- 
 ing (as they faid in a memorial drawn upon this occa- 
 fion) the fource of all others. We cannot but com- 
 mend the ftates for taking care that the young queen 
 ihouldbe taught the principles of religion ; butlt feems 
 "that other qualifications were too much forgotten. 
 The fequel ihews they fhould not have been negleded. 
 
 I mall not enter into any particulars relating to the 
 minority of Chriilina, nor of her conduct with France 
 
 K 6 when 
 
20 4 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 when me took the reins of government into her own 
 hands, nor into the reciprocal complaints, perhaps 
 equally juft, of Chriftina and her allies; to explain 
 thefe political contefls is undoubtedly an arduous talk, 
 but the uncertainty of facts, which we are even wit- 
 ncfTes of, mould make the pretended developement of 
 thefe fecret and paft intrigues very fufpicious; they 
 would probably have been reprefented in a very dif- 
 ferent light by the principal actors in them. On 
 thefe fubjects then I mail obferve a profound filence. 
 'Tis the private hiftory of Chriftina, and not the hif- 
 tory of her kingdom, that I am employed about : I 
 ihall not confider her a moment upon the throne of 
 Sweden, but for the fake of viewing her more .dif- 
 tindtly, and at my leifure, in her retirement. 
 
 One of the things, which ought to be remembered 
 to the honour of Chriftina, was the refpect me ex- 
 prefled for the famous Grotius. This man, illuftrious 
 for his works, but rnorefo for the honour of being the 
 friend of Barneveldt, and the defender of the liberties 
 of his country, went to France to feek an afylum 
 againfl the perfecution of the Gomarifts. He offended 
 cardinal Richlieu by not flattering his literary talents ; 
 for it generally happens that great men, by fome foi- 
 ble or other, fink themfelves to the common level. 
 The protector of Myronne> andofl'dmour tyranmquejW\\Q 
 both perfecuted and rewarded Corneille at the fame 
 time, not only neglected doing any thing for Grotius, 
 but obliged him to retire in difguft. Guftavus Adol- 
 phus received him ; Oxenftiern fent him to France 
 with the title of ambafTador, and Chriftina foon after 
 
 confirmed 
 
QUEEN OF SWEDEN. 205 
 
 confirmed this title. Thus fhe recompenfed, in a 
 manner worthy of herfelf, a man of the moft diftin- 
 guiflied merit, mortified the Hollanders, whom fhe 
 could not endure, and piqued the cardinal, of whom 
 fhe thought fhe had reafon to complain. 
 
 Grotius was excufed, by his rank, from pra&ifing 
 that fupplenefs, to which his genius and temper were 
 by no means adapted ; and he had the pleafure of 
 treating, upon an equality, a minifter who had 
 defpifed him. It is for the honour of Chriftina 
 that /he entertained the fame fentiments con- 
 cerning Grotius with pofterity ; not that this concur- 
 rence of teltimonies was necefiary to the reputation 
 of fo great a man : But princes ought to be reminded 
 to be juft, and, like the public, to diftinguifh great 
 and virtuous men. If Chriftina fhewed her refpeft 
 out of vanity ; even fuch a paffion is not to be defpi- 
 fed ; for if it be a weaknefs in kings as well as other 
 perfons, it is a weaknefs capable of producing great 
 
 1646. After theviftory of Norlingen, by which the 
 prince of Conde, and Turenne, at the head of the 
 troops of France, avenged the honour of the Swedes, 
 who had been repulfed there fome years before, 
 Chriftina wrote a letter of thanks to the prince of 
 Conde. Some hiftorians affert, that this prince, in 
 his anfwer, acknowledged a great part of his fuccefs 
 to be due to the vifcount Turenne. If this fac"l is 
 true, the prince of Conde added to his glory by this 
 acknowledgment : but no traces of it are to be found 
 in his anfwer. 
 
 It 
 
206 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 It is no matter of furprize that Chriftina, as pafiicr- 
 nately fond of letters and repofe as her father was of 
 war, fhould haften the conclufion of the peace of Weil- 
 phalia. The animofity and jealoufy of the minifters 
 occafioned greater difficulties than .the prodigious 
 number of interefts, which were to be adjufted. The 
 plenipotentiaries of Sweden (divided as much among 
 themfelves as thofe of France) were the count Oxen- 
 fliern, fon of the great Chancellor, and Alder Sal- 
 vius, chancellor of the court. The firfl afted agree- 
 able to the inftrudlions of his father, who difpleafed 
 Chriftina, becaufe me could not do without him, and 
 becaufe he wanted to protract the conclufion of the 
 peace, in oppofition to the queen's inclinations. He 
 thought the continuation of the war would redound 
 to the honour of Sweden, reduce the power of France, 
 whom he looked upon as a dangerous friend, and be- 
 nefit all the Proteftants of Germany. It was he who 
 wrote to his fon, confufed with the chaos of bufmefs, 
 " Don't you know, my fon, what a little matter is 
 " the fecret of governing the world ?" 
 
 Salvius, the collegue of Oxenftiern, and of a more 
 obliging turn, enjoyed all the queen's favour and 
 confidence ; nor was he deftitute of merit. Chriftina, 
 like other princes, loved rather to be flattered than 
 ferved ; but at the fame time, me was too fenfible to 
 facrifice her difcernment and her true interefl to va- 
 nity and felf-love. Upon making Salvius fenator of 
 Sweden, though he was not of noble family, me ad- 
 drefied herfelf to the fenate in thefe words : " If 
 " an atfair of confequence and counfel be propofed, 
 
QJJEEN OF SWEDEN. 207 
 
 we don't afk who were your anceftors but 
 
 { what is proper to be done. Salvius would have 
 " been qualified in all refpects, had he been born of 
 " a great family. If young perfons of rank have 
 *' abilities, they (hall make their fortunes, like others, 
 " I will not throw obltacles in their way." 
 
 This long wifhed for peace of Weftphalia was at 
 laft accomplifhed, to the mutual fatisfaftion of mofl 
 of the powers concerned, but to the great difcontent 
 of Innocent X. This pope wanted to carry two 
 points in the peace, which were incompatible in them- 
 felves, the humbling the houfe of Auftria, which he 
 defired as a temporal prince, and the redu&ion of the 
 Proteftants, which he wifhed for as a fovereign pontiff. 
 He publifhed a bull, in which he refufed Chriilina the 
 title of queen of Sweden, to punifh her for being too 
 much influenced in the accomplifhment of the peace. 
 Such a ilep would have been politic in the twelfth cen- 
 tury, when princes thought their titles flood in need 
 of briefs and benediftions : it came five hundred 
 years too late. The nuncio polled up the bull of his 
 mailer at Vienna ; the emperor ordered it to be pulled 
 down ; Innocent held his tongue ; and there was an 
 end of the matter. 
 
 The love of liberty made Chriflina refufe all the 
 offers of marriage that were made her, though fome 
 of them were very advantageous, and the Swedes 
 prefled. her much to marry. Philip IV, king of 
 Spain, was one of her fuitors ; but he foon dropped 
 the affair, being afraid, by this alliance, he fhould 
 no longer be able to treat the proteflants as heretics. 
 
 Of 
 
*o3 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 Of thofe that made pretenfions, he who feemed the 
 moil urgent, was Charles Guftavus, Chriflina's coufin, 
 and prince Palatine, for whom fhe had been defigned 
 from her being a child ; but fhe was as deaf to him 
 as to his rivals ; and yet, whether he was lefs difa- 
 greeable to her than the reft, or that fhe then had 
 taken the refolution of abdicating her throne, fhe pre- 
 vailed with the ftates to have him declared her fuccef- 
 for. By this ftep fhe kept herfelf at liberty, fecured 
 the tranquillity of Sweden, and prevented the ambi- 
 tion of fome great families, who might, after her 
 death, have made pretenfions to the crown. Charles 
 Guflavus had a revenue afligned him to keep up a 
 court ; but the queen faid it was the policy of the 
 royal family to give no territory to a prince who was 
 in the fucceflion ; a maxim of no great impertance, 
 and which defpotic princes, the moil mort-fighted of 
 them, have always followed. Chriftina, for the fame 
 reafon, always kept prince Charles in the dark about 
 the affairs of the government during her reign. 
 Though fhe was not fond of governing, yet her in - 
 dependent fpirit would bear no conilraint while fhe 
 did govern. 
 
 It was about this time that the troubles in France 
 began the war of the Fronde, more famous for the ri- 
 diculous circumftances that attended it, than the evils 
 that followed the banifhment of Mazarine his 
 return hisfecondbanimment theimprifonmento~f 
 the princes the turbulent afTemblies of parliament, 
 which at one time feditious, and at another pacific, 
 
 publlfhed 
 
 
QJJEEN OF SWEDEN. 209 
 
 publifhed arrets while they fought battles, and i 
 out warrants for whole armies. 
 
 The love Chriftina had for tranquillity, her fears 
 that this civil war would occafion new troubles in Eu- 
 rope, and perhaps the regard Ihe always had for the 
 prince of Conde, induced her to take part in thefe 
 commotions. She wrote to queen Anne of Auftria, to 
 the duke of Orleans, to the prince, and even to the 
 parliament. Her letters had no other effeft, than to 
 draw upon her Refident complaints and reprimands 
 from the court of France, though he had only followed 
 his orders. Thefe troubles, which were begun with- 
 out her, were foon after put an end to without her 
 mediation. The parliament, which had been upon 
 the point of treating with this princefs, were banimed 
 to Pontoife ; and fo happy with being recalled, that 
 they complimented, a few years after, that very car- 
 dinal, upon whofe head they had fet a price. The 
 prince of Conde, a fugitive in Spain, loft every thing 
 but his reputation ; and Mazarine, till his death, re- 
 mained matter of the queen, the king, and the king- 
 dom. 
 
 The regard which Chriftina had, or affe&ed, for 
 eminent men, made her wilh to have near her the 
 celebrated Defcaites, thereftorer of philofophy, who 
 was unknown in his own country, becaufe he had cul- 
 tivated the fciences more than his fortune; profcribed 
 at Rome, becaufe in the queftion about the motion of 
 the earth, he had paid more regard to aftronomical 
 obfervations than to the pope's bulls, and perfecuted 
 in Holland, for having fubftituted the true method of 
 
 philo- 
 
*io MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 philofophifing to the jargon of the fchools. Chriflina, 
 charmed with the writings of this great man, pro- 
 pofed to him fome of thofe queftions in morals, 
 which philofophers have agitated fo long, without de-r 
 ciding, or making men at all the better or happier. 
 Such, among others, was that of the fovereign good, 
 which, Defcartes faid, confiiled in the right manage- 
 ment of the will ; becaufe, fays he, the happinefs ar- 
 rifing from fortune, health and knowledge do not de- 
 pend upon ourfelves as if the government of the 
 will was not equally under the controul of the Su- 
 preme Being, as the other fources of happinefs. This 
 folution, unfatisfadlory as it was, pleafed Chriflina fo 
 much, that me ardently wifhed to fee the author, as a 
 man whom Hie thought muft be happy, and whofo 
 condition fhe envied. Mr. Chanut, the French am- 
 baffador in Sweden, and a friend of the philofopher, 
 was charged with this negotiation, in which he found 
 great difficulty to fucceed. The difference of climate 
 was one of the principal reafons that deterred Def- 
 cartes from this voyage. He told his friend, that a 
 man, born in the gardens of Touraine, and retired 
 to a country where, indeed, he has Icfs honey, but 
 more milk, perhaps, than in' the land promifed to 
 the Ifraelites, could not eafily prevail upon himfelf to 
 kave it for the fake of living in a country of bears, 
 among rocks and ice. This was a fufficient reafon for 
 a philofopher, who could not be too careful of his 
 health, becaufe it is one of thofe bleflings that does 
 not depend upon other men. But may not we make 
 fome doubt whether Defcartes, who loved to live in 
 
 foli- 
 
QUEEN ON SWEDEN. zn 
 
 folhude, to purfue his ftudies at leifure, was not a 
 little afraid of coming too near a throne. 
 
 A prince in vain attempts to be a philofopher, or 
 to afFecl it. Royalty forms a certain chara&er, that 
 cannot be laid afide, flrikes awe into thofe who 
 approach it, and is troublefbme to the philofopher, 
 in fpite of all the pains the monarch may take to 
 infpire him with confidence. The wife man reve- 
 rences princes; Sometimes efteems them, but always 
 avoids them*. " We are a theatre great enough for 
 *' one another," faid Defcartes to another philofopher, 
 whom he had invited to take part of his retreat, at 
 the time Chriltina wanted to draw him out of it. 
 
 However as the love of liberty cannot iland out 
 againft the importunity of kings, Defcartes foon after 
 repaired to Stockholm, with a full refolution, as he 
 faid, not to conceal his fentiments from the queen, and 
 his intention of returning to a philofophical retire- 
 ment. 
 
 We fee by his letter that he was well fatisfied with 
 the reception the queen gave him. He was excufed 
 from the drudgery of courtiers ; but it was in order 
 to impofe upon him other hardfhips, which totally 
 difconcerted his manner of living, and which, in con- 
 junction with the feverities of the climate, brought 
 him to his grave in about four months. 
 
 * If there are any exceptions to this rule, happy is the fove- 
 reign in whofe favour Uiey are made ! Socrates, accufed by Any- 
 tus before the Areopagus, would have fled to the prote&ion of 
 Marcus Aurelius, had he lived at that time. 
 
 / Defcaites 
 
212 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 Defcartes found in ChrifHna a great deal of wit and 
 fagacity; but it is evident, the unfortunate princefs 
 Palatine was that philofopher's favourite pupil. 
 Whether the troubles he had experienced himfelf in- 
 creafed his attachment, or whether he found her of a 
 more comprehenfive genius, or of a more tradable 
 difpofition, which is the greateft recommendation to 
 the head of a feel, he could not conceal his partiality 
 to her, and by that means alarmed the jealoufy of 
 ChrifUna. 
 
 While he renounced every other advantage, he re- 
 tained the ambition of philofophy to fee his opinion 
 and his talie exclufively adopted ; and, therefore, he 
 did not approve of the queen's dividing her time be- 
 twixt philofophy and the ftudy of the languages. He 
 found himfelf in a difagreeable fituation, among fuch 
 a crowd of fcholars as furrounded the queen ; fuch a 
 literary levee gave occafion to foreigners to fay, that 
 Sweden would foon be governed by grammarians. 
 He had the courage to make fuch free and fpirited re- 
 monftrances to the queen upon this head, as produced 
 an irreconcileable difference betwixt him and the 
 learned Ifaac Voflius, that incredulous and fuperftitious 
 theologian, of whom Charles II. kiw of England, 
 ufed to fay, that he believed every thing but the Bible. 
 Defcartes's reprefentations did not prevent the queen 
 from learning Greek : however they did not alter her 
 fentiments concerning him. 
 
 The moments (he devoted to him, were Mole from 
 her fleep. She intended to have made him director of an 
 academy, which fhe thought of eUablifhing. In ihort, 
 
 fhc 
 
QUEEN OE SWEDEN. 213 
 
 ie diftinguiihed him by To many marks of favour, 
 that it was pretended the grammarians of Stockholm, 
 haftened the philofopher's death by poifon. But this 
 manner of being avenged of an enemy, fays Sorbiere, 
 is an honour which men of letters leave to the 
 great. 
 
 Whatever paflionate fondnefs Chriftina might fhew 
 for the philofophy of Defcartes, there is no reafon to 
 imagine, as fome have done, that (lie confulted him 
 in political affairs. Placed, as me was, in the moft 
 advantageous fchool in the world for this kind of 
 knowledge, the fenate of Sweden, what affiftance 
 could me receive from a philofopher,who, by his 
 conduct in Holland, fhewed that he was unfit to deal 
 with mankind, and who had been hindred, by a 
 thirty years retreat, from knowing them ? It has been 
 pretended, that me had much more regard for Defcartes 
 himfelf, than me had for his opinions ; and that me 
 reaped no other benefit from the ftudy of philofophy 
 than ftbb, to learn that the modern fools are no bet- 
 ter than the antients. 
 
 1651* The troubles which foon after arofe in her 
 kingdom, furnifhed her with much more important fub- 
 jefts than the ftudy of Greek, inhate ideas, andvortexes. 
 The refolution me had taken never to marry, alarmed 
 the people, who were afraid they mould be deflitute 
 of a mailer. The diforder of the finances, exhaufled 
 by her profufenefs, occafioned an univerfal difcontent. 
 This firft fuggefted to her the deiign of quitting the 
 throne. She furrendered herfelf in full fenate 5 de- 
 clared her intention, and fignified it by letter to 
 
 prince 
 
214 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 prince Charles Guflavus. He, verfedin difTimuIation, 
 and fearing left the queen had laid a fnare for him, 
 rejected her propofal, mmt prayed that God and Sweden 
 might preferve her long, a*^, with much parade, 
 pretended to fentiments he was little aquainted with. 
 
 Thefolitude in which he affected to live, after having 
 accepted the fucceflion, his precaution to keep at a dif- 
 tance from court, and the exceffive circumfpection he 
 obfervedin all his words and actions, difcovered plainly 
 his wifhes to afcend the throne. He flattered himfelf 
 perhaps that the fenate would accept her refignation, 
 and appoint him to the government, inrecompence for 
 his modefty : but he was miftaken in his expectations. 
 Whether Chriftina had a mind to appeafe her difcon- 
 tented fubjects, and eilablifh herfelf the more firmly on 
 the throne by their Suffrage, or fhe faw that her abdi- 
 cation was not fo favourably received among foreigners 
 as fhe expected; in mort, whether having renounced 
 the crown out of vanity, fhe had a mind to refume 
 it again out of caprice, fhe fubmitted, or pretended 
 to fubmit to the importunity of her fucceflbr, and her 
 fubjects. 
 
 1652. The year following Chriftina wrote to Mr. 
 Godeau, bifhop of Vence, who publifhed a great 
 many verfes, with very little poetry. This prelate 
 had beflowed many compliments upon her, which fhe 
 anfwered to this effect ; " That the gentlemen of 
 ft France were fo vfed to pay compliment s> that fhe 
 " durft not complain of a general cuftom ; and that 
 " fhe was obliged to him." The fame perfon had 
 difcovered fom.e figns of an ambition to make a con- 
 vert 
 
QJJEEN OF. SWEDEN. 215 
 
 vert of her. The queen, after thanking him for hi.; 
 kind intentions, wifhed fhe had the honour to be of 
 his opinion, and exprefled her furprize that fo fenfible 
 a man fhouid not be a Lutheran. She mewed fo lit- 
 tle her intentions of turning Catholic, that fhe wrote 
 a letter about the fame time to prince^ Frederic of 
 Heffe, to diffuade him from embracing the Romifti 
 religion. Two fuch letters as thefe from a princefs 
 who became a Catholic a year after, would furnifh 
 matter of ailonifhment, if experience had not taught 
 us, how little time is neceflary to change the fenti- 
 ments and tafle of mankind in general, and efpecially 
 of princes. A proteftant author, who has mentioned 
 thefe letters, remarks, with more malignity than wit, 
 that the hour of grace was not yet come : we may fay, 
 with more reafon, that perhaps ChrifUna had not beeri 
 yet fufficiently tormented by the miniilers, to give her 
 an averfion to their dodtrines. Such is the ftrange 
 injuilice which mankind are guilty of, that there is 
 but one ftep betwixt the hatred of divines and the 
 hatred of the worfhip they recommend. If we begin 
 to difengage ourfelves from them, that which appear- 
 ed refpeftable, becomes indifferent; if they abufe 
 their power, that which was indifferent, is indifferent 
 no longer. This kind of reafoning is, doubtlefs, 
 neither folid nor equitable ; but it is _the logic of 
 the paffions. We mufl manage them as we do a fick 
 man : and the fureft way of teaching mankind to be 
 juft, is to begin, by a&ing juftly towards them. 
 
 Befides, if we examine the arguments themfelves 
 which Chriftina made ufe of to engage the prince of 
 
 Hcffc 
 
2i6 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 HefTe to continue in his religion ; it is eafy to difccrm 
 at bottom a real indifference for her own. Though a 
 Lutheran, and confequently as far remote from Cal- 
 vinifm as the church of Rome*, me neverthelefs ad- 
 vifes this Calvinift prince not to change his principles. 
 She feems to have a juft abhorrence of that ftupid 
 rage with which perfons, who call themfelves wife, 
 have written about things which are only to be believed* 
 " I leave it, fays me, to thofe whofe profeflion it 
 *' is to meddle in controverfies, to furfeit with 
 " them at their pleafure." She reprefents to the 
 prince nothing but motives of honour, conftancy, 
 and the advantage of his family and Hate ; motives by 
 no^neans fufficient to ballance the intereft of true re- 
 ligion, but very well adapted to vanity and human 
 weaknefs. 
 
 s The liberality of ChrilUna, bounties lavifhed with 
 little prudence or limitation, foon became the fubjeft 
 of panegyrics to the learned men of Sweden and 
 other countries. Her hiilorian has reckoned two 
 hundred, which at this time are utterly forgotten ; a 
 fate common to moll panegyrics made in the life- time 
 of their heroes. That of Trajan, by Pliny the 
 younger, pronounced before the emperor in full fenate, 
 is almoft the only one which is now extant; and of 
 this we may fay, that even the name of the orator, 
 
 * The Lutherans and Calvinifts have frequently exprefied an im- 
 placable antipathy to each other j yet they are more nearly allied 
 to each other than to Papifls, having the fame common objections 
 tc moft of the fundamental doctrines of popery. 
 
 and 
 
.QJJEEN OF SWEDEN. 217 
 
 and the idea which his work gives us of the eloquence 
 of thofe times, have not contributed fo much to pre- 
 ferve it as the virtues of the prince who was the fub- 
 jed of it. It is not the work which immortalizes the 
 monarch ; it is the monarch who gives the work a 
 paflport to pofterity. Perhaps this very panegyric 
 would have done an injury to Trajan, if, by deferving 
 it, he h,ad not made us forget his weaknefs in hearing 
 it pronounced. 
 
 I pafs over all the marks of refpecl: which Chriftina 
 fhewed to Saumaife (that very learned and very difa- 
 greeable man, who, amongft the many things in which 
 he was engaged, undertook to interpret dreams ) 
 the vifit which Chrifdna made him their leclure to- 
 gether- the boxing match betwixt meffieurs Bour- 
 delot and Meiboom, and other anecdotes of equal 
 importance. I omit likewife the names of all the 
 learned men whom this princefs invited into her king- 
 dom, or found in it, as well as their epiftolary corre- 
 fppnde,nce with her. Inflead of writing fo many Izz- 
 ters of compliment to the learned, me had better have 
 fent a few more letters of exchange to Nicholas Hein- 
 fms, whom fhe commiflipned to purchafe books, 
 manuscripts, t an$ ,rnedals ; and who could never be 
 reimburfed the money he had advanced. However, 
 the hiflorian undertakes to vindicate her conduft, even 
 upon this article, and makes it almoU amount to 
 a crime in Heinfius to complain. This want of 
 fidelity and fair-dealing is common enough among 
 monarchs with one another, but they might be excu- 
 fed a&ing fo to private perfons. 
 
 L 1653. What 
 
218 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 What is moft remarkable in the letters in 
 queftion, is the offer which/ according to a mo< 
 author, Chriftina made to Scudery, of acctptih. 
 dedication of Alaric, and making him a confider. 
 prefent, on condition he would ftrike out of the 
 poem the eulogium of Mr. de la Gardie, who was in 
 difgrace with her majefly. Scudery made ar.fwer to 
 this propofal, that he would never deftroy t. e aUar on 
 which he had facrificed. After fuch an ai'fwer, one 
 cannot help faying, what a pity it is the 'poem-' of 
 Alaric had not been better ! ..--: 
 
 Among the many learned men whom me patronized j 
 of different countries, we don't find one Englifh- 
 man. 
 
 That nation, which has fince been fo fruitful of 
 great geniufes, was then agitated -by : internal 
 troubles and civil wars, very unfriendly to let- 
 ters. They went fo far at. laft> as to cut off the 
 head of. their fovereign Charles I. and were attentive 
 to nothing but their grandeur, liberty, and com- 
 merce. The execution of this prince, at firft, made 
 a great noife in Sweden. Some did not think of it 
 with much horrof ; Mr. Chanut, ambaflador of 
 France, faid, that depriving the king of England of 
 his fovereignty, for violating his contract with his 
 fubje&s, was an example to all princes; but the ex- 
 cefs of fury and injuftice to which the nation was car- 
 ried, was univerfally condemned. It is fcarce pro- 
 bable Chriftina, upon hearing this news, (hduld have 
 held the converfation which has-been afcribcd tc tr ; 
 The Englifh have cut off the head of their king 
 
 for 
 
. QUEEN OF SWEDEN. 219 
 
 " for making no ufe of it ; and they have a&ed very 
 " wifely." Who can reconcile this difcourfe with 
 the letter me wrote, at the fame time, to the fon of 
 that unfortunate monarch, in which fhe exclaims 
 againfl the fentence of that fanguinary parliament ? 
 The horror ChrifHna had conceived of it, was one 
 of the principal caufes of delay to the conclufion of 
 the treaty which Cromwell's ambafTador was then ne- 
 gotiating with her. The ambaflador, who could not 
 execute his commifilon but at the expence of a greac 
 deal of pains and time, complained, that at the au- 
 diences fhe gave him, fne talked of nothing but phi- 
 lofophy, diverfions, and ballads. 
 
 Of all the foreign miniflers at the court of Sweden, 
 Pimentel, the Spanifh ambaflador, was the queen's 
 great favourite. At the firft audience he had with. 
 Chriftina, he retired without faying a word ; and he 
 declared to her the next day, that he had been ftruclc 
 dumb by the majefty of her perfon : one may judge 
 whether this pleafed her or not. Pimentel, an able 
 minifter, availed himfelf of this iirft advantage, to 
 gain the confidence of the queen. He foon di- 
 covered in her a violent paflion for novelty, a preju- 
 dice for the laft comers, and a readinefs to betray her 
 fecrets where fhe had beflowed her liking. But her 
 partiality to Pimentel, however ufeful to Spain, gave 
 both France and Sweden fo much umbrage, that fhe 
 was foon obliged to difmifs him. 
 
 16^4. We are now come to the period at which 
 flie abdicated the crown. The deiign fhe had enter- 
 tained fome years now broke out with fo much yio- 
 L 2 Icnce, 
 
220 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 lence, that it was impoflible to difluade her from it. 
 It feems as if a difguft at bufmefs, and a defire of 
 being free, were the principal motives that influenced 
 her to that determination. " I am perpetually hear- 
 *' ing the fame thing, (faid me, fpeaking about buii- 
 *' nefs.) I fee I muft reftore myfelf to ftudy, and the 
 *' converfation of the learned." She imagined (to 
 wfe one of her own expreffions) me faw the devil when 
 her fecretaries came with difpatches for her to fign ; and 
 the fatigue of government threw her into fuch a deep 
 melancholy, that it was apprehended her mind would 
 be quite broken with it. She communicated to Mr. 
 Chanut the refolution me had taken. The talk, oc- 
 cafioned by her conduct in this refpedl, diflurbed her 
 but little. " I am not felicitous, faid fhe, about 
 ** t\it plaudits. It is almoil impoflible that a refolute 
 * c and vigorous defign fhould pleafe all the world. 
 ** 1 can content myfelf with a iingle approver; and 
 *< I dare engage I mall have one. I mail always 
 ' have the pleafure of recollecting, that I have done 
 " good to mankind." Why then was me defirous to 
 give over doing fo ? 
 
 " The abdication of Chriftina oceafioned great va- 
 riety of opinions. It would have been more generally 
 approved (without deferving to be fo) if her conver- 
 lion, which happened foon after, had not incenfed all 
 the enemies of the catholic church againfl her. In 
 general, we are difpofed to applaud perfons who de- 
 fcend from a throne. We have fo diminutive an idea 
 of the immenfe duties of a prince, that we look upon 
 their abdication as a fplendid kind of facrifice. We 
 
 fhould 
 
QJLJEEN OF SWEDEN. 221 
 
 fhould not be fo rafh and precipitate in forming our 
 judgment, if we were to enquire into the obligation 
 which the name of monarch impofes. Rigoroufly de- 
 voted to juftice, and to decorum, and bound to be the 
 firft in obferving the laws, of which they are the 
 guardians, they are accountable to the ftate for all 
 the evil that happens by their means, and all the good 
 that does not happen. How few kings are there who 
 would be kings on fuch conditions. A fovereign, 
 however, that does pofTefs proper talents for go verr- 
 ment, is guilty of a crime in rendering thofe talents 
 ufelefs, by a voluntary defertion of his ftation. He is 
 excufeable only by fubftituting a fuccefTor capable of 
 fupplying his place. Beiides that fuch fucceflbrs are 
 very rare, there are different? motives that determine 
 the conduct of fome princes in this refpeft, they are 
 only fond, perhaps, of glory, and they have no re- 
 gard for the happinefs of mankind. Princes, indeed* 
 who quit their throne for want of ability to govern, 
 acquit themfelves of a very effential duty. They de- 
 ferve praife, if this was done from an idea of the 
 propriety of it, and their confcioufnefs of incapacity 
 for government. But moft of them want a laudable 
 motive to give even the appearance of juftice to fuch 
 a ftep. A love of indolence, the defire of indulging 
 at leifure fome trifling, contemptible pafiion, are ge- 
 nerally the reafons of their abdication. 
 
 One of the great benefits that princes might have 
 in defcending from their throne, would be to aflurc 
 themfelves, by this means, of the reality of thofe en- 
 comiums which had been lavifhed upcn them while 
 L 3 they 
 
222 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 they were in power to fee the herd of flatterers 
 vanifh, and to find themfelves alone in the company 
 of virtue, if happily virtue be of their acquaintance. 
 But it is not often that thefe benefits have any charms 
 for princes. The example of kings, who voluntarily 
 get rid of their courtiers, is not very contagious. 
 
 It is faid Chriftina, before fhe abdicated her crown, 
 wanted Charles Guftavus to have entered into a treaty 
 with her, that would have been very difhonourable 
 to him. She wanted to referve great part of the 
 kingdom to herfelf, to be abfolutely independent, to 
 have the liberty of going abroad, or flaying in what 
 part of Sweden fhe thought proper. In fhort, fhe ex- 
 pected her fucceflbr mould make no alteration of her 
 appointments in the government. Charles, who had 
 from the firft endeavoured to difTuade Chriftina from 
 this abdication, but who faw plainly that now fhe 
 had gone too far to return, refufed thefe conditions, 
 and told her he would not be a mere titular mo- 
 narch. When Chriftina heard his anfwer, fhe faid, 
 fhe had only made thefe propofals to find out his real 
 character ; that fhe was now fatisfied he was fit to 
 govern, fince he knew fo well the rights of a king. 
 This extorted compliment from Chriftina to her fuc- 
 ccfTor was, to be fure, very fincere. 
 
 To pay his acknowledgments to the queen, Charles 
 had a medal ftruck on this occafion, with thefe words, 
 " That he received the crown from God and Chriftina." 
 This medal offended the ftates ; they faid, and very 
 juftly, that it was by their ele&ion that he afcended 
 the throne. 
 
 We 
 
QUEEN OF SWEDEN. 223 
 
 We cannot deny, fince religion teaches us, that the 
 lawful authority of kings is derived from God ; but 
 it is the confent of the people which is the vifible fign 
 of this lawful authority, and which fecures the exer- 
 cife of it. 
 
 The clergy wanted to oblige Chriftina to remain in 
 Sweden, for fear fhe fhould change her religion ; as 
 if this princefs, after having made a facrifice of her 
 crown to her liberty, had not a right to ufe -this 
 liberty without controul, and could not go to mafs at 
 Stockholm, without difturbing the ftate. But whe- 
 ther it was that fhe wanted to fecure herfelf againfl 
 ecclefiaftical perfections, fo formidable to princes, 
 even when in the height of their power; or whether 
 flie then formed the refolution of fpending the 
 remainder of her life out of her own country, fhe 
 took leave of Sweden a few days after her abdi- 
 cation, and had a medal engraved, the device of 
 which was, " Que le ParnafTe vaut mieux que le 
 " trone." This medal did as little honour to her 
 fentiments, as the device of it did to her tafte. When 
 fhe arrived upon the frontiers of Sweden, at a little 
 rivulet which divides that kingdom from Denmark, 
 " At length (fays ihe) I am at liberty, and out of 
 " Sweden, where, I hope, never to return." Charles 
 once more made her an offer of his heart and hand j 
 but fhe told him, that the time was pail. 
 
 Difguifed in men's cloaths part of her journey, 
 
 fhe travelled over Denmark and Germany ; fcarce 
 
 ver regarding the difcourfe which her abdication 
 
 generally introduced, but difcovering upon thefe oc- 
 
 L 4 cafions 
 
224 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 cafions more phrlofophy than me had ihewn in her 
 re/ignation. 
 
 The prince of Conde being at BrufTels when Chrif- 
 tina paffed through, afked where that queen could be 
 who had fo eafily renounced a crown, for which, fays 
 he, we are fo eagerly contending and grafping at all 
 our lives, without being able to attain ? Her enemies 
 pretended, that fhe exprefTed fome regret when fhe 
 came to BrufTels, at the ftep me had taken. The 
 report reached Sweden ; and the chancellor Oxenftiern, 
 then at the point of death, could not help faying, " I 
 " foretold fhe would repent of her condudl; but me 
 " is the daughter of Guilavus Hill." Thefe were the 
 lail words of that great man. 
 
 Chriftina had prepared for the change of her religion, 
 by viliting all the monafteries and churches me found 
 in her rout, efpecially thofe which contained any re- 
 markable curiofities. Jnfhort, after embracing the Ro- 
 man Catholic religion at BrufTels, fhe publickly abjured 
 Lutheranifm at Infpruck, and took this device, " Fata 
 ** viam invenient." " The fates will dired my courfe." 
 
 This a&ion furniflied matter of great triumph to 
 the Catholics as if the opinions of this princefs gave 
 any new weight to the arguments on which the Ro- 
 mifh religion is founded, and as if it might not be 
 poffible to embrace even true religion merely from 
 human motives. The Proteflants, on the other hand, 
 with as little reafon, fell intodefpair; they pretended 
 indeed that Chriftina, indifferent to all religions in her 
 heart, had only changed for her convenience, that 
 flie might live in Italy at her eafe, where fhe had in- 
 tended 
 
QJUEEN OF SWEDEN. 215 
 
 tended to retire, to enjoy the fine arts which that 
 country poflefled. In proof of this indifference, they 
 mention fome letters or fome difcourfes, the truth of 
 which muft be well attefted before we can conclude 
 any thing from them. It is aflerted, for inftance, that 
 when the Jefuits of Lorrain once offered her a place 
 near St. Bridget of Sweden, (he anfwered, I had ra- 
 ther have a place among the philofophers. It cannot 
 be denied, and experience too evidently proves, that 
 -we feldom embrace from conviction any religion ia 
 which we have not been educated from our infancy. 
 Intereft is fo general a motive for fuch a change, that 
 even thofe, who abjure a falfe religion, are hardly 
 ever efteemed, being always fufpected of entertaining 
 lefs noble views than a pure regard to truth. 
 
 If Chriftina became a Catholic only to indulge her 
 curiolity for ftatues, me did not deferve to have her 
 own erected ; and if me renounced the happinefs of her 
 people for the fake of pictures, me is more contempt- 
 ible than the meaneft of monarchs. 
 
 It is certain that, during her residence at Rome, 
 {he mewed a tafte for the works of the great 
 mailers that filled the city. One day, as me was ad- 
 miring a marble flatue of Truth, done by the cheva- 
 lier Bernini, a cardinal, who was near her, took oc- 
 cafion to compliment her as a more iincere lover of 
 truth than princes in general are. " All truths, an- 
 *' fwered me, are not of marble.** 
 
 The changing of her religion proved fatal to the 
 
 bifhop John Mathia, a moderate Lutheran, who had 
 
 projefted feveral fchemes for the re-union of the Prote- 
 
 L 5 ftant 
 
226 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 ftant churches. The Reformers, who inveigh with fo 
 much bitternefs againft the intolerant fpirit of the Ro- 
 uiifh church, only hate perfecution when it is againft 
 them, never when they have occafion to praclife it 
 themfelves. Mathia, unjuftlyaccufedof having a fhare 
 in the fuppofed apoftacy of the queen, was degraded 
 from his bifhoprick by the ftates of the kingdom. 
 
 1656. The queen, who had always entertained an 
 ill opinion of France, changed her mind on a fudden, 
 from fome malevolent converfation held of her among 
 her Spanifh domeftics. From hence we may fee, that 
 love and hatred were motives pretty familiar to her. 
 This pailion for France became fo violent, that me 
 foon formed a refolution of paying a viiit there, and 
 fhewing that country, enamoured of monarchy, 
 a queen capable of abandoning a throne for philo- 
 fophy. 
 
 As fhe patted through the French cities, me fub- 
 mitted to all thofe harangues which fovereigns are con- 
 demned to receive. Though but juft admitted into 
 the bofom of the church, Chriflina, always a princefs 
 and a woman, could but ill brook the difcourfe of a 
 certain orator upon the judgments of God and the 
 contempt of the world. At laft me reached Fontain- 
 bleau, and furprifed at the ceremonials of the 
 court, me demanded why the ladies were fo eager to 
 pay their refpe&s to her ? " Is it, fays fhe, becaufe 
 *' I am fo like a man ?" 
 
 The celebrated Ninon was the only French woman 
 on whom fhe beftowed marks of her particular efteem. 
 This fingular perfon, who, by her genius, her man- 
 ner 
 
 \ 
 
QUEEN OF SWEDEN. 227 
 
 Her of thinking, and even her conduft, adted the 
 part of a courtezan with peculiar diftin&ion, was 
 more t than any other woman to attract the notice of 
 a princefs as Singular as herfelf. We may commend 
 Ninon for the reception (he met with, but we ought 
 nt to blame the queen. 
 
 From Fontainbleau me went to Paris, where me 
 was univerfally complimented. Here me underwent 
 again thofe long and difmal entertainments which 
 were prepared for her, not omitting even the tragedies 
 of the college, which me had the hardinefs to difpife 
 moft heartily. She revenged herfelf upon them. 
 for the fatigue which that parade of ceremonies and 
 reception gave her. 
 
 She faw at Paris many learned men, received innu- 
 merable verfes, and fet a proper value upon thofe 
 that had merit. She had long -entertained a great 
 regard for the celebrated Menage, who has written fo> 
 many frivolous things, among fome which are ufefuL 
 In her journey from Sweden to Rome, me wrote to 
 him to come to her at Bruflels ; and, as ftie met him 
 halfway, me expelled he would readily perform the 
 reft of the journey ; but Menage did not care to put 
 himfelf out of his way to oblige a queen who was no 
 more. However, me did not refent this behaviour ; 
 on the other hand, as her intention in coming to Pa- 
 ns was to feekout men of letters, me appointed him to 
 be her mafter of the ceremonies, to introduce flrangers 
 into her prefence ; a place which, one may venture to 
 fay, was never enjoyed before by a /earned man, and 
 probably never will again. As it was a hind of ho- 
 
 L 6 nour 
 
228 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 nour to be presented to the queen, Menage would not 
 fufrer all, who were defirous to be admitted to this fa- 
 vour, without diflinaion, but conferred it only on 
 thofe who were worthy ; which made fome perfons ob- 
 ferve to the queen, that Menage was a good judge of 
 men of merit. 
 
 She had more reafon to be pleafed with Paris than 
 with the court which had given her but little enter- 
 tainment. 
 
 The women and courtiers could not relifh a princefs 
 who appeared in the habit of a man, who drove flat- 
 terers away from her prefence, complimented thofe 
 that told her agreeable ilories, and, in fhort, whofe 
 genius had fomething too manly in it for fuch frivolous 
 beings, with whom all kind of knowledge is abfolutely 
 ufelefs.' Thofe who thought they knew her, com- 
 pared her to the caftle of Fontainbleau, great, but ir- 
 regular. We mall hardly be aftonifhed at the indif- 
 ferent reception me met with, when we recoiled the 
 little impreffion which a peribnage, much fuperior to 
 Chriftina, made at the fame court in 1717, I mean 
 Peter the Great. The generality a^the courtiers dif- 
 covered nothing in this monarch but a flranger of 
 different manners from their own ; they faw not the 
 ibvereign ffored with genius, travelling in quefl of 
 knowledge, and quitting a throne only to render him- 
 felf more worthy of it. Our nation feems to have 
 poflefTed a great deal of that inferior kind of attention 
 defcribed by Tacitus, which inveftigates the reputa- 
 tion of great men in their looks, and is afloniflied 
 when it does not find it. 
 
 Chriftina 
 
QUEEN OF SWEDEN. 229 
 
 1657. Chriilina had fuch an attachment to France, 
 that me was hardly got back to Italy, before fhe thought 
 proper to make a fecond journey thither, and it was 
 imagined with political views ; but this journey was 
 remarkable for nothing but the tragical death of Mo- 
 naldechi, her matter of the horfe, whom fhe caufed 
 to be affaffinated in the gallery des Cerfs at Fontain- 
 bleau, almoft in her own prefence. The circumftances 
 of this murder are very well known ; but what is not 
 fo well known, and yet feems more ftrange than 
 the barbarity of Chriftina, are the differtations that 
 were wrote by the learned lawyers to juftify her. 
 Thefe differtations (a lamentable inftance of the flat- 
 tery of men of letters to princes) ^re the reproach of 
 their authors, without being an apology for the fa&. 
 I am concerned for the memory of Leibnitz, and for 
 humanity, to find the name of this great man among 
 the defenders of an afTaffin. I am yet more furprifed 
 at the infult he offered to the court of France, in fay- 
 ing that, if they were offended by this action of Chrif- 
 tina, it was only becaufe they had loft their regard for 
 her. Pofterity will be aftoniihed to find that, in the 
 centre of Europe, and in an enlightened age, it was 
 ferioufly debated whether a queen, who had quitted 
 her throne, did not however retain the right of putting 
 her domeftics to death without any trial ? It mould 
 rather have been inquired, whether Chriflina, even 
 upon the throne of Sweden, mould have had this bar- 
 barous prerogative? aqueftion which would have been 
 foon determined at the tribunal of the law of nature 
 and nations. 
 
 The 
 
23 o MEMOIRS OF CH-RISTINA, 
 
 , The Hate (whofe conftitution fhould be held facred 
 by monarchs, becaufe it remains while kings and Tub- 
 jecls difappear) is concerned to fee every man judged 
 according to the laws : it is the intereft too of princes, 
 who derive their power and fecurity from the laws. 
 Humanity fometimes permits them to foften their 
 rigour by pardoning, but never to abufe them into 
 cruelty. It would be injurious to princes to imagine 
 that thefe principles can offend them, or that it fhould 
 be thought a mark of courage to afiert them even in 
 the bofom of a monarchy. They are the voice of na- 
 ture. Maxims fo true and fo deeply ingraven on the 
 hearts of all men, make it needlefs to fay before what 
 tribunal Chriftina, now ftript of her authority, ought 
 to have fummoned Monaldechi, whether that of Swe- 
 den, of Rome, or of France ; it would not have been 
 material at what tribunal, provided it had not been at her 
 own. It feems lefs nece/Tary^to inquire what could be 
 the reafon of the afTaflination of Monaldechi : it may, 
 perhaps, be for the honour of Chriftina to draw a veil 
 over this myflery ; it would be mocking if a love in- 
 trigue mould have been the caufeof it, as fome writers 
 have faid ; fuch a motive need not be affigned to ren- 
 der her conduct in this refpeft odious. 
 
 1 6 c 7 . She was now out of humour with France, where 
 (he was looked upon with horror, and wanted to go 
 over to England. Cromwell, who then governed that 
 kingdom with an authority more abfolute than he had 
 punifhed in Charles I. did not think it convenient to 
 receive her. This man, who was as able a politician 
 as he was a dangerous citizen, was afraid of having 
 
 his 
 
QUEEN OF SWEDEN. 231 
 
 his affairs expofed to the piercing eye of a woman who 
 had an intriguing fpirit ; he could not perfuade himfelf 
 to fee a queen who had facrificed three crowns to a 
 religion which he detefted, and he did not care to em- 
 ploy the public money in fuch ufelefs hofpitality, fo 
 that Chriflina was foon out of conceit with this expe- 
 dition, and only went to the French academy, where 
 they had nothing better to prefent to her than a 
 tranflation by Cotin, of fome verfes of Lucretius, 
 againft Providence, to which, fays Patru, they might 
 oppofe twenty others, by the fame author, in favour 
 of Providence. It may not be arnifs to mention, that 
 they like wife read to her fome articles of the dictionary, 
 which the French academy have been employed about 
 ever fmce that time. They happened to fall upon the 
 article Jeu, in which were thefe words, " Jeux de 
 " princes qi.ii ne plaifent qu'a ceux qui les font." 
 
 1658. At length the queen of Sweden returned to 
 Rome, where, in all the fweetnefs of an elegant re- 
 pofe, (he indulged her tafte for the arts and fciences, 
 efpecially for chemiftry, medals and ftatues. 
 
 The cardinal Azzolini, who had conceived for the 
 queen an affection, which malice and calumny have 
 not fpared, re-eflablilhed the ftate of [her finances, 
 which had been greatly difordered by her extravagant 
 profufenefs, and by the little punctuality with which 
 her penfion had been remitted to her from Sweden. 
 The cardinal preferved her confidence and friendfhip 
 till he died ; and one may fay, there were but three 
 perfons in the world, who, in reality, enjoyed her ef- 
 teem ; the prince of Conde on account of his courage, 
 
 the 
 
3 2 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 the cardinal De Retz for his fpirit, and the cardinal 
 Azzolini for his complaifance. If we may judge by 
 the queen's character, me does not feem at any time 
 to have been much actuated by a principle of liberti- 
 nifm or of love, as fome have imagined ; miflaken 
 vanity was her predominant paflion. 
 
 She had not been long at Rome, before a rnifun- 
 derflanding happened between her and Alexander VII. 
 who then filled the pontifical chair. This pope, 
 a man of a vain and trifling character, was very 
 defirous of the honour of the conver/ion of the princefs* 
 from whom he had received but a fmgle letter. Th 
 part fhe appeared to take in the interefts of France, 
 chagrined the pope, who could not endure Lewis XIV. 
 But the queen, who knew the temper of Alexander, 
 and who had certain ends to ferve by managing him, 
 ufed to pacify him by receiving, from time to time, 
 his benedictions in the public proceffions. She went 
 fo far as to lodge in a convent, for fear of 
 giving umbrage to the pope, who did not forget to 
 plant round her a number of monks and ecclefiallics 
 as fpies upon her actions. This retreat into a convene 
 gave occafion to the report, which was generally be- 
 lieved, that fhe was going to turn religious. " The 
 " queen, fays Guy Patin, will try every profeffion in 
 " life, if fhe does not die foon ; fhe has already 
 " played many parts, very different from her fir/I 
 " fituation, fo that fhe may be called the tenth mufe, 
 '* and the Sybille of the north." It is not eafy to be* 
 lieve that a princefs, incenfed againft the pope, fhould 
 wifh to rivet, in fo flrange a manner, thefe bonds 
 
 which; 
 
QJUEEN OF SWEDEN. 233 
 
 which increafed her dependence upon him. However, 
 the caufes (he had, or thought Ihe had, to complain, 
 increafed fo much, that, upon the death of Charles Guf- 
 tavus, 1660, fhehad thoughts of returning to Sweden. 
 This journey, the motives of which were unknown, 
 furnifhed many fpeculations to the politicians, not 
 very agreeable; for Chriflina's ancient fubje&s, having 
 forgot all (he had done for them, and all the afFedUon 
 they had formerly exprefled, now beheld her only as 
 a woman who had quitted them for the fake f going 
 to live in a flrange land, in the profefiion of a religion 
 which they looked upon with deteftation in Sweden. 
 The mafs, which me caufedto be read without any re- 
 ftraint in the palace, gave very little unealinefs to thq 
 nobility, whofe attention was fully occupied with war 
 and intrigue. But two orders of the kingdom were 
 highly difpleafed; the clergy, whofe authority me 
 had infulted, and the peafants, whofe prejudices fhe 
 had mocked. Thefe two orders refufed to confirm her 
 revenues, being perfuaded that nobody deferved to live 
 who did not believe in Luther. It fignified nothing 
 to fay that, as a fovereign, me was not refponfible for 
 her aft ions to any perfon. The anfwerwas very ready, 
 that me was no longer their miftrefs to annul the fun- 
 damental conftitutions of the kingdom. The Hates or- 
 dered her chapel to be pulled down, and banilhed the 
 Italian almoners who accompanied her. She was no 
 longer a queen except in name, fays an hiflorian ; 
 and he whom fhe had made king, and who boafted of 
 holding every thing of God and Chriltina, was no 
 more. 
 
 She 
 
234 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 She feemed to have intended a revenge for this 
 perfecution, if fhe had fucceeded in her project 
 of afcending the throne again ; but this defign pro- 
 duced only a fecond renunciation, to which Ihe was 
 forced to fubniit. She then returned to Rome : in her 
 way through Hamburgh, fhe called upon the cele- 
 brated Lambecius, whom fhe confoled under the 
 perfecutions he fuffered from the Proteftant divines, 
 by the honour fhe fhewed him. Thefe perfecutions 
 induced him to profefs himfelf a Catholic, to juftify 
 himfelf from the charge of Atheifm, which his ene- 
 mies urged againfl him : that is, he changed his reli- 
 gion, to prove that he had one to change. 
 
 The fiege of Candia, of which the princes of Chrif- 
 tendom were mere fpeclators, without giving it any 
 relief, was by no means an object of indifference to 
 the queen of Sweden. She exerted herfelf to procure 
 afTtftance for the Venetians both in money and troops. 
 Thefe efforts, though fruitlefs, were fo great, as to 
 give occafion to fome to fufpect her of being influenced 
 by intereftjfo ready is the malignity of human nature * 
 to poifon the moll commendable actions without any 
 foundation. 
 
 1662. A little time after happened the famous af- 
 fair of the guards,, in which the king of France ob- 
 tained a fktisfa&ion fo mortifying to the court of Rome. 
 Chriftina had the honour to intercede with the king 
 for a pope whom fhe hated, and the pleafure, at the 
 fame time, to intercede without effect. The pope, 
 <who was vexed at being indebted to her for the king's 
 indulgence, and who perhaps had penetrated into her 
 
 motives, 
 
QJ7EEN OF SWEDEN. 23$ 
 
 motives, imagined himfelf releafed from all obliga- 
 tion when (he did not fucceed : at laft, being quite 
 wearied out with abfolutions and affronts from the 
 pontiff, me formed a ferious refolution of returning 
 to Sweden again. While me was founding the Hates 
 of the kingdom upon this meafure, me filled up her 
 time at Rome with the converfation of men of letters, 
 and often diverted herfelf at their expence. Among 
 other things, me caufed a medal to be ftruck for the 
 fake of laughing at the embarraffments which the le- 
 gend occafioned them. I know not whether fuch fort 
 of diveriion is to be commended. A prince, whofe 
 interefl it is in particular to be a patron and lover of 
 letters, ought to be the laft perfon in the world to 
 turn into ridicule thofe who cultivate them. It is a 
 thing which he ought to leave to themfelves, and it is 
 what they are unfortunately but too apt to fuc- 
 ceed in. 
 
 The conditions which the fenate annexed to her re- 
 fidence in Sweden, even when me had fet out upon 
 her fecond journey, were fo hard, that me thought it 
 advifeable to flop at Hamburgh, and wait for the next 
 diet to fettle her demands. 
 
 It was then me wrote to the fen at or Sevedt Baar, 
 charged with her affairs at the court of Sweden, that 
 the obligation me had been under to manage concerns 
 of great importance, Had taught her to fuffer and to 
 diffemble. It was in the fame journey that, having 
 found in the cabinet of an antiquary, a medal of her 
 abdication, me threw it afide, and would not look at 
 it. This aftion, which perhaps might proceed from 
 
 real 
 
*$6 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 real chagrin, was regarded with fome probability as a 
 ftrong expreffion of the indignation (he felt at having 
 refigned the crown. 
 
 The diet was held, anditfeems the interefts of God 
 were quite altered, for of all orders of the ftate the 
 clergy were the only perfons inclined to efpoufe her 
 caufe. But the reft of the nation, who had con- 
 ceived but little regard for Chriftina from her paft 
 rambles, and who faw in her conduct a great deal of 
 inconftancy and intrigue, exerted the right me had 
 given them, and refufed almofl all her demands. She 
 then renounced Sweden for ever, and returned to 
 Rome, where fhe fpent the remainder of her days dif- 
 contented, and ill paid by her antient fubje&s, for- 
 gotten by France, and little regarded by that nation 
 which fhe had preferred to all others. Gratitude and 
 admiration were the firft fentiments of the Romans to 
 a princefs who had refufed to reign in order to live 
 among them ; but thofe men have not a lading fenti- 
 xnent for any thing but grandeur and power. 
 
 Even princes that are the moft efteemed, and the 
 moft worthy of being fo, are not fufficiently apprifed 
 how neceflary a throne is to do juftice to their talents ; 
 and in the eyes of the people, that is, of all mankind, 
 they derive a merit from their crown, even when they 
 have the leaft need of it. " Chriftina, faid the hif- 
 " torian Nani, perceived, foon after her abdication, 
 " that a queen without a ftate, is like a deity without 
 " a temple, whofe worlhip will be foon abandoned. "~ 
 
 "She was not yet arrived at Rome, when fhe heard 
 of the death of Alexander VII. The following cir- 
 
 cumftance 
 
QUEEN OF SWEDEN. 237 
 
 cumftance will enable us to form fome idea of the 
 character of this pope. In the beginning of his pon- 
 tificate, he had fhewn great feverity and averfion to 
 what is called at Rome, Nepotifm. His difmterefted 
 conduct, in this refped, was the fubjeft of a letter, 
 which cardinal Pallavicini had addrefled to him, in 
 the introduction of his hiftory of the council of 
 Trent. But the pope, on a fudden, thought better 
 of the matter, and fo over-ran Rome with his ne- 
 phews, that Pallavicini perceiving the ridicule of the 
 letter, fupprefled the publication of it, though it was 
 already printed. 
 
 !66y 1669. Alexander VII. was fucceeded by 
 Clement IX. whofe too mort pontificate was called 
 the golden age of Rome. Munificent, noble, the 
 friend of learning and of man, he had the wifdom to 
 make religion refpeftable, by putting an end to vain 
 difputations; his pacific difpofition deferves more 
 imitation. 
 
 Chriftina kept up a conftant correfpondence with 
 the learned men of Rome, and with foreigners. 
 The author of the memoirs has given us a lift of the 
 learned, who then compofed the Arcadian academy, 
 as forry a one as that which he gives us of the learned 
 men of Sweden in the reign of Chriilina. 
 
 We will only cite from this part of the memoirs, the 
 title of a work of Nicholas Pallavicini ; " A vindi- 
 " cation of Divine Providence, in the great acquifi- 
 1 ' tion made by the Catholic church, in the perfon of 
 " the queen of Sweden." This treatife was not pub- 
 
 lifhed 
 
2 3 3 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 lifted, becaufe there were fifty-four heretics found in 
 it. r- Commend me to the patience of thofe that 
 counted them. 
 
 It is obfervable, from a letter which Chriftina wrote 
 about this time to Otto de Guericke, how violently 
 they were prejudiced at Rome, againft the notion of 
 the earth's moving. This princefs, who had renoun- 
 ced her thone for the fake of being free, had not yet 
 the courage to confefs to a foreigner, that me believed 
 the fun did not move. 
 
 1672. Soon after this, the famous war was begun 
 which Lewis XIV. maintained with fuch glory againft 
 all Europe, whofe jealoufy was roufed by his humili- 
 ation of the Dutch. It was concluded by the 
 treaty of Nrmeguen. Chriftina did not approve of 
 the Swedes entering into this war; in which, indeed, 
 they had ill fuccefs. Perhaps it was from her refent- 
 ment of a libel juft published againft her in France, 
 and for which me could obtain no fatisfa&ion. But 
 what had moft weight with her, was the apprehension 
 that they would delay the payment of her fubfidy . She 
 fent a plenipotentiary to take care of her intereft at 
 Nimeguen, who was received and treated as the am- 
 baflador of a queen of no consideration. This ple- 
 nipotentiary was a young Swede, whofe name was 
 Cedercrantz ; the want of genius and knowledge, 
 which Chriftina had obferved in him, did not prevent 
 her trufting him with the conduct of her affairs ; me 
 faid, it belonged to her to beftow not only fuccefs, 
 but underftanding, on thofe that ferved her. The 
 
 Swede, 
 
QJJEEN OF SWEDEN. 23? 
 
 Swede, however, did procure the remittance of con- 
 fiderable Aims of money foon after the conclufion of 
 the peace ; but Chriftina abfolutely refufed the pro- 
 pofal that was made of receiving her debt by certain 
 annual payments from France. 
 
 i' 79. The following year, the opinions of the 
 Quietifts, more mortifying to human reafon than'thofe 
 which have difturbed France in thefe latter times, 
 made a great noife at Rome, where thefe kinds of 
 difputes are really held in contempt, but treated with 
 great folemnity in: appearance. The author of this 
 new .fyftem was Michael Molinos, a Spanifh prieft, 
 grand director, and a worthy man even in the opinion, 
 of the pope ; two titles fufficient to make him enemies 
 enough. Thofe who had the government of con- 
 fciences, would needs fee dangerous heretics in a 
 inan, whofe ideas about fpirituality deferved rather 
 pity than indignation. 
 
 ChriiUna, whether from natural compaflion or 
 from her diflike of the perfecutors of Molinos, or 
 whether, in fhort, from her defire of making fome 
 figure in an affair which engaged the attention of all 
 Chriftendorn, took the part of Molinos fo zealoufly, 
 that me was even fufpefted of favouring, his opinions; 
 and they almoft thought it criminal in this princefs to 
 pay the duties of humanity to an unfortunate man. 
 The fpiritual repofe, which Molinos preached, and 
 which then entirely employed the attention of the 
 holy office, made Pafquin fay pleafently, " If we 
 * fc fpeak, we go to the gallies; if we write, to th 
 
 " gibbet; 
 
240 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 " gibbet ; if we keep ourfelves quiet, to the inqui- 
 c< fition. What is to be done, then r& 
 
 Molinos, though fupported by ChrifUna, found a 
 formidable ad verfery in the king of France, who, be- 
 ing inftigated by the enejnies of this harmlefs heretic, 
 vigoroufly profecuted his condemnation at Rome. It 
 was at length pronounced by pope Innocent XI. who 
 then filled the holy fee. And independent of the 
 equity with which he afted on this occafion, it is but 
 juftice to him to fay, that no confideration of intereft 
 could influence his conduct. It plainly appears 
 through the whole of his tranfa&ions with France, 
 that he afted upon no temporifmg plan ; virtuous, 
 opinionative, and of limited views, he behaved with 
 an inflexibility, which, under a king lefs pious than 
 Lewis XIV. might have caufed a fehifm between the 
 churches of France and Rome. His fucceflbrs obtained 
 much more by their duftility, than he could by 
 an ill-tim'd firrnnefs. And 'tis fomewhat remarkable, 
 that the court of France, notwithftanding its attach- 
 ment to the holy fee, has been the. moil dexterous in 
 managing the popes to their own advantage. 
 
 The celebrated mad em oifelle le Fever, fmce ma- 
 dame Dacier, fent, about this time, to Chriftina, 
 Florus, in ufum, &c. which jhe had jufl published. 
 The queen thanked her, and advifed her to make her- 
 felf a Catholic. Mademoifelle le Fever, fome time 
 after, made ufe of this advice. 
 
 I know .not whether ; one (hould mention another 
 letter, which our author has inferted, and in which 
 
 the 
 
QJJEEN OF SWEDEN. 241 
 
 the queen of Sweden exhorts one count Vafianau to 
 turn monk. The compiler makes ufe of this letter 
 > prove the religious fentiments of the queen ; tho* 
 
 many parts of his book, he intimates his fufpici- 
 ons of the fmcerity of her converfion. This problem 
 appeared to him very difficult to refolve ; and feems 
 to have given him great difturbance. But a letter fo 
 unworthy of the princefs, and of the perfon to whom 
 it was wrote, ferves only to mew that Chriflina mif- 
 fpent her time. The author ihould not have publifhed 
 it. ' 
 
 The fame may be faid of the apology for Chriflina, 
 ^ier affedted paflion for altrology. In an age, 
 when philofophy (which feldom dillurbs crowned 
 heads) had not made a general progrefs, it is not to> 
 be wondered at that the queen, wanting to know more 
 than was poflible, fhould be prejudiced in favour of a 
 fcience, to which, frivolous as it was, fome confide- 
 rable men had applied themfelves ; and which had 
 employed, in his younger days, the celebrated Caf- 
 fmi. Chriftina, however, {hewed fome difcernment 
 and knowledge of the world, when fhe obferved that 
 the terreflial aftrology feemed to her a better guide in 
 difcovering events, than the celeftial; and that aftro- 
 logy, like medicine, m-uft be fludied, only that we 
 may not be dupes to it. 
 
 As a queen, as a Catholic, as an enthuiiaftic ad- 
 mirer of great aftions, this princefs, in 1683, wrote a 
 letter to John Sobiefki, king of Poland, who, by re- 
 lieving Vienna, then befieged by the Turks, and 
 abandoned by Leopald, both fervcd and humbled the 
 M emperor. 
 
24* MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 emperor. Chriftina, in this letter, acquainted So- 
 bie&i with his being reproached for converting, im- 
 properly, the fpoils of the war to his own ufe. " I 
 " envy not your majefly (fays fhe) the treafures you 
 *' have got ; I envy you only the glorious title you 
 *' have acquired, of the deliverer of Chriftendom ; 
 *' and though I am without a kingdom, I think my- 
 *' felf under that obligation that is due to you from 
 4 * all monarchs." 
 
 Lewis XIV. who, while he was humbling the pope 
 on one hand, thought, on the other, to extirpate 
 Calvinifm from his kingdom, in 1685, publifhed the 
 famous edict, revoking that of Nantz. Chriftina 
 wrote, on this occafion, to the chevalier de Terlon 
 the French ambaflador in Sweden, a letter, which 
 liayle has preferved in his journal. She there laments 
 the fortune of the perfecuted Calviniits, with that 
 warmth and fmcerity, that made them fay, that the 
 queen's letter was the relics of Protefhuitifm. This 
 is, however, very doubtful ; and there is all the 
 appearance, that the rights of humanity alone drew 
 fhis letter from her. The perfecution of the Re- 
 formed was carried to a degree of cruelty, which 
 one cannot impute to Lewis XIV. It was the eiFeft 
 of violent animofities amongft his miniftry. I don't 
 enter at all into the queflion, whether the king Ihoul4 
 }iave tolerated Calvinifm in his kingdom ? whether 
 two powerful and rival fefts of religion are more 
 dangerous in a kingdom, than the violent extirpatior; 
 of one of them? or whether in a country of com- 
 niprce, it would not have been better to have em- 
 ployed 
 
QUEEN OF SWEDEN. *tf 
 
 ployed mildnefs than open force, and gradually, and 
 by gentle methods, made profelytes to the Catholic 
 faith, than martyrs to Calvinifm ? Thefe political and 
 religious quefticns require a different pen from mine, 
 and another ftyle than this. All the world, however, 
 agrees, at this day, that the cruelty of this perfecu- 
 tion equally (hocked religion and juflice. Should 
 we acknowledge the re&itude of the king's inten- 
 tions, we can't help lamenting, that they were fo bar- 
 baroufly executed. 
 
 The fentiments which Chriftina difcovers in this 
 letter, do her honour, and are one of the bell memo- 
 rials that remain of her. " Are you thoroughly fa- 
 ' tisfied (fays me to the chevalier de Terlon) of the 
 
 " fincerity of thefe new converts? Military folks 
 
 " are ftrange apoftles I am grieved to fee fo many 
 " honeft men reduced to beggary If they are in an 
 " error, they rather defer ve pity than hatred 
 " France feems, to me, in a malady, to which lh/5 
 " applies a violent remedy, when patience and gentle 
 " treatment would have wrought the cure." She 
 concludes this letter, by oppofing the condu&of Lewis 
 XIV. to his Proteilant fubjefts, to his conduct towards 
 the pope. 
 
 This lafl article is too long, as well as her tranfal-* 
 pine declamations againil the rights of the Gallican 
 church, and the famous articles of 1682. 
 
 Chriftina was very much offended at Bayle for pub- 
 liming this letter; and more fo on account of the re- 
 flections which he has added, and which throw fome 
 doubt upon her converfion. Thefe complaints were 
 M 2 the 
 
244 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA,- 
 
 the fubjeft of a long altercation between the philo- 
 fohper and the queen ; which ended, however, to the 
 mutual fatisfaclion of both parties. 
 
 1687. The affair of privileges, which then made 
 a great noife in France, made no lefs difturbance at 
 Rome. Chriilina, who had juft given up her right, 
 wanted to recal it, from her indignation at the info- 
 lence of the pope's officers, who had purfued and 
 taken a criminal, even in her houfe. But this affair, 
 which was treated at Paris with great parade, and 
 which produced excommunications from the pope, 
 and from the parliament arrets, and appeals to a ge- 
 neral council, was managed more fmoothly between 
 the pope and the queen, by the mediation of their 
 confeflbrs. Neverthelefs Chriilina was as difficult to- 
 pleafe, as if fhe had really been formidable. 
 
 The prince of Conde had died the preceding year. 
 Chriftina, whofe admiration of him was not abated 
 by his difgrace, wrote to mademoifelle de Scudery, 
 to engage her to celebrate a hero fo worthy of elogium. 
 She appears, in this letter, to contemplate her own 
 end with great calmnefs; ** The approach of death 
 " (fays ftie) which is haftening on, gives me no dif- 
 ** quietude : I wait for it, without wifhing or fearing 
 it." 
 
 1688. War, in the mean time, commenced again 
 in Europe. It is obfervable, by one of the laft letters 
 of Chriftina, that fhe forefaw what would be the event 
 of it, with regard to king James II. This prince, 
 who makes a better figure in a funeral oration than he 
 does in hiflory, and whofe perfecuting temper will 
 
 always 
 
QUEEN ON SWEDEN. 245. 
 
 always be ofFenfive to the true genuine fpirit of Chrif- 
 tianity, had been driven from his throne for torment- 
 ing a nation that never difturbed him with his monks 
 and his miftrefles, and for attempting to make the 
 Englifh believe by force what he mould have taught 
 them by his own example. A refugee in France, 
 little refpected in Europe, and a fubjeft of raillery 
 even in the court he had fled to, they pretend he 
 wrought miracles after his death, though he had not 
 flcill enough to manage the miracle of recovering his 
 throne while he was alive. 
 
 Always averfe to France, Chriftina feemed to wifh 
 that the Swedes would not have joined Lewis XIV. in 
 tjiis war. They pretend too, that me was weary of 
 the pope and the Romans, and was concerting mea- 
 fures with the elector of Brandenburg to retreat into 
 his dominions. Some writers, without examining 
 whether there really was any negotiation for this pur- 
 pofe, have concluded, that me had thoughts of re- 
 turning to the Lutheran religion. 
 
 1689. But if me had indeed any fuch defign, which 
 is not probable, me had not, however, time to put 
 it in execution. She died a little while after, with 
 great compofure and philofophy. They fay, her 
 death was fuperior to that of Elizabeth; one could 
 wiih to fay as much for her life. She ordered, by her 
 will, that thefe words only mould be put upon her 
 tomb ; " D. O. M. Vixit Chriflina, Ann. LXIII." 
 The modefly and the oftentation of monumental in- 
 fcriptions are equally the effeft of vanity. Modefty 
 agrees befl with that fpecies of vanity which ha$ 
 
 pro* 
 
z 4 6 MEMOIRS OF CHRISTINA, 
 
 produced Tome great actions ; parade with that vanity 
 which has only fignalized itfelf in trifles. If we 
 examine the epitaph of ChrifUna by this rule the 
 irregularities of her conduct, of her temper and her 
 tafte the want of decency Ihe fhewed in her be- 
 haviour the little ufe fhe made of her knowledge 
 and underilanding towards the happinefs of man- 
 kind her pride, which was often mifplaced (and 
 which is always fo when it does not produce refpecb), 
 her equivocal difcourfe upon the religion me had re- 
 nounced, and that which fhe had embraced ; in fine, 
 the vagrant life which me led among ftrangers who 
 did not love her : all thefe circumstances together 
 juftify more than me was aware of, the brevity of her 
 epitaph. 
 
 I mall fay nothing of her obfequies, her library, 
 her pi&ures, or the medals that were ftruck on this 
 occafion : I leave it to the author of the Memoirs to 
 araufe himfelf with this detail, chufing rather to take 
 notice of two pieces which fhe compofed ; one in titled, 
 " Penfeesdiverfes," which, like mofl things of this kind, 
 is but a collection of common-place obfervations, and 
 thofe frequently where there have not been even the 
 pains taken to difguife them by an epigrammatic turn. 
 But, what is mofl remarkable in this performance, 
 are the maxims upon toleration, which diametrically 
 oppofe the proportions in fupport of the infallibility 
 of the pope. If fhe meant to lay down thefe maxims 
 by way of counterpoife to the others, I doubt we mull 
 be forced to fay, that the remedy is worfe than the 
 difeafe. 
 
 Tlie 
 
QJJEEN OF SWEDEN. 247 
 
 The other performance of Chriftina is an elogium 
 upon Alexander, that conqueror who is the idol of an- 
 tiquity, and the fubjec*l of criticifm in our days ; who, 
 like moft celebrated princes, neither deferves the 
 praifes which adulation has beftowed on him, nor the 
 cenfure with which he has been treated by learned 
 men, becaufe they had no intereft in commending 
 him. Chriftina mould have praifed him lefs, and imi- 
 tated him more, not in his extravagant love of fame 
 and conqueil, but in the dignity of his mind, in his 
 talents for government, in his knowledge of man- 
 kind, in the enlargement of his views, and in his re- 
 fined tafte for the arts and fciences. 
 
 FINIS. 
 

7