z

a. S'^

. $a,JPdL

M 55 5a. f ,

MEMOIRS

OFT HE YEAR

TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED.

Le Terns prefent eft gros de TA venir.

Leibnitz,

Tranflated from the French

By W. H O O P - E R, M. D.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

506156

S. 4-.50 LONDON, Printed for G. Robinson, in Pater-nofter-Row. MDCCLXXII.

VI o o

CONTENTS

Chap. I. The King's Library — — — i II. The Men of Letters • ■ 34

III. The Academy of Science ■ 42

IV. 7fo JErn/j C*£/W — — . 61 ,V. The Academy of Painting — — 88

VI. Emblematical Paintings. — 96

VIL Sculpture and Engraving — — 10 ? VIJI. The Hall of Audience — - up

IX, The Form of Government — — tj6 X. The Heir to the Throne — — 1 36

XI. The Women — — XII. The Taxes — _

XIII. On Commerce — — .

XIV. The Evening — — . XV. The Gazettes —

XVI. Funeral Oration of a Peafant ~ 241 XVII. Verfailles ~ — ~ 246

15* 169

185

*93 207

ME-

R

Page 40. note, line 1. for Promotheus tzzà Prometheus Page 6 5 . note, line 4. for contejiible read incontefible. Page 80. cote, line 8. for faculty read faculties. Page 233, line 6, for 8.67 read 1867,

MEMOIRS

OF THE YEAR

Two Thoufand Five Hundred.

•«ooceooocoeooeo

A!

seoocooocoooeoooeoeoceoocoooceoooooocoooooooooooooooooflooooocoo*

CHAP. L

The King's Library*

N unlucky door, placed near to my pillow, . by creeking on its hinges, totally dif- concerted my ideas. I loft fight of my guide, and of the city ; but as the mi«d is continually agitated by the fcene that has once made a ftrong impreffion, I happily returned to my dream. I was now quite alone ; it was broad day; and by a natural propenfity I found myfelf in the king's library ; but more than once was I under the neceffity of affuring myfelf that it was fo.

Vol. II. b 1N

2 - The King's Library.

In the room of thofe four galleries of an im- menfe length, and which contained many thou- fands of volumes, I could find only one fmall clofet, in which were feveral books that feemed to me far from voluminous. Surprifed at fo great a change, I ventured to afk if fome fatal conflagration had not devoured that rich col- lection ? — " Yes," they replied; " it was a conflagration ; but by our own hands was it de- fignedly allumined."

4

Perhaps I have forgot to tell you, that thefe are the mod affable people in the world ; that they (hew a very particular regard forage i and that they do not leply to inquiries, in the manner of the French, by anfwering with a queftion. The librarian, who was a man of real learning, prefented himfelf to me ; and, well confidering all the objections, as well as reproaches, that I made, he gave me tlje follow- ing account,

u Convinced, by the mod ftrict obferva-

tion, that the mind is embarraffed by a thou-

fand extrinfic difficulties, we were fenfible that

a numerous library was the feat of the greateft

4 extra-

The Kings Library. 3

extravagancies and the mod idle chimeras. In your time, to the difgrace of reafon, men firft wrote and then thought. We follow the oppo- flre courfe ; and have therefore deftroyed all thofe authors who buried their thoughts under a monftrous heap of words or phrafes.

" Nothing leads the mind farther aftray than bad books; for the firft notions being adopted without attention, the fécond become precipitate conclurions ; and men thus go on from prejudice to prejudice, and from error to to error. What remained for us to do, but to rebuild the ftruflure of human knowledge ? This proje£t appeared of infinite labour ; but, in fact, we fojmd it only neccflary to deftroy thofe ufelefs fabrics that hid from us the true point of view ; as the Louvre became a new building by fweeping away the ruins that fur- rounded it. The fciences, amidft this labyrinth of books, were in a perpetual circulation, return- ing inceflantly to the fame point ; and the ex- aggerated idea of their riches ferved only to conceal their real indigence.

B 2 " Itf

4 . The King's Library.

" iN-facl, what did that multitude of vo- lumes contain? For the moft part, nothing more than perpetual repetitions of the fame thing. Philofophy prefented itfelf to us under the image of a ftatue, always celebrated, always copied, but never embellifhed ; it appeared ftill more perfect in the original. Itfeemed to degenerate in all the copies of fil ver and gold that have fince been made of it ; doubtlefs, it was more beautiful when carved in wood by a hand almoft favage, than when covered with extrinfic ornaments. Since men, from a wretched indolence, have given themfelves up to the opinion of others, they have neceflarily become fervile imitators, deftitute of invention and originality. What immenfe projects, what fublime fpeculations, have been extinguifhed by the breath of opinion ! Time has brought down to us nothing but thofe empty, glaring notions that have been applauded by the multi- tude, while it has fwallowed up thofe ftrong and bold thoughts, which were too fimple to pleafe the vulgar.

u As our days are fhort, and ought not to be confumed in a puerile philofophy, we have

given

The King's Library. 5

given a decifiye ftroke to the miferable contro- verfies of the fchools." — What have you done? Proceed, if you pleafe. — " By an unanimous confent, we brought together, on a vaft plain, all thofe books which we judged either frivo- lous, ufelefs, or dangerous; of thefe we form- ed a pyramid, that refembled, in height and bulk, an enormous tower •, it was certainly an- other Babel. Journals crowned this ftrange edifice ; and it wa3 covered, on all fides, with ordinances of biihops, remonfh ances of parlia- ments, petitions, and funeral orations ; it was compofed of five or fix hundred thoufand com- mentators, of eight hundred thoufand volumes of law, of fifty thoufand di&ionaries, of a hun- dred thoufand poems, of fixteen hundred thou- £and voyages and travels, and of a milliard (a) of romances. This tremendous mafs we fet on fire, and offered it as an expiatory facrifice to ve- racity, to good fenfe, and true tafte. The flames greedily devoured .the follies of mankind, as well ancient as modern; the fire continued long. Some authors faw themfelves burning alive ; their cries, however, could not extinr

(a) A thoufand m miens,

B 3 guifli

6 The Kings Library.

guifh the flames. "We found, notwithftanding, amidft the embers, fome pages of the works of

P , of De la H , of the abbé A ;

for they were fo extremly frigid, that the fire could have no effe&on them.

<c We have therefore done from an en- lightened zeal, v/hat the barbarians once did from one that was blind : however, as we are neither unjuft, nor like the Sarrazins, who heated their baths with the chef d'oeuvres of literature, we have made an cle£Hon ; thofe of the greateft judgment amongft us have ex- tracted the fubftance of thoufands of volumes, which they have included in a fmall duodeci- mo; not unlike thofe fldlful chemifts, who concenter the virtues of many plants in a fmall phial, and caft afide the rcfufe [a).

« We

(a) On trnVglobe, ail is revolution: the minds of men vary to an infinity the national character, alter books, and make thern no longer to be known. Is there any one author, if he refkcis, that can reafonably indulge himfelf ill the hope of not being dcfpifed by the next generation ? Do we not deride our anceftors ? Can we fay what pro- g e's our children may make ? Have we any idea of the feciets that may fuddenly fpnng fiom out of the bofom of

nature }

The Kir, g $ Library. 7

" We have abridged what feemed of mod importance ; the bed have been reprinted ; and the whole corrected according to the true principles of morality. Our compofers are a fet of men eftimable and dear to the nation ; to knowledge they have added tafle ; and as they are capable of producing, they have made a judicious fele&ion. We have remarked, to fpeak juflly, that it appertains to the ages of philofophy only, to produce a fmall number ol works. In yours, when real knowledge was not fufficiently eftablifhed, it was neceflary to bring together a great number of materials. The la- bourer mud work before the architect.

¥ At the beginning, each fcience is treated in parts \ every one applies his attention to that portion which has fallen to his lot. By this me- thod the fmalleft details are obferved -> nothing

nature ? Do we completely know the extent of the human understanding ? Where is the work that is founded on a real knowledge of the human heart, on the nature of things, on right reafon ? Does not our phyfics prefent us an ocean with whofe coafts we are yet fcarce acquaint- ed ? How ridiculous, therefore, is that pride, which ig- norantly pretends to prefcribe the bounds of any art.*

B 4 can

8 The King s Library.

can efcape. It was neceflary for you to make an innumerable quantity of books ; it is our bufi- nefs to colled the fcattered parts. The igno- rant babble eternally ; the learned and faga- cîous fpeak little, but well.

" Tmsclofet, that you fee, contains thofe bocks that have efcaped the flames. Their number is fmall $ but by their merit they have obtained the approbation of our age/'

I approached with curiofity 5 and, on ex- amining the firft divifion, I found, that of the C reeks, they had preferved Homer, Sophocles, Euripides, Demofthenes, Plato, and particu- larly our friend Plutarch ; but they had burned Heroditus, Sappho, Anacreon, and the vile Ariftophanes. I would have defended, in feme degree, the caufe of Anacreon ; but I was an- fvvered by the bed reafons in the world, though fuch as I fhall not here mention, be- caufe they would not be intelligible to the prefent age.

In the fécond divifîon, appropriated to the Latin authors, I found Virgil, Pliny, and Titus

Livy,

Tlk Kings Library. 9-

JLivy fa) entire ; hut they had burned Lu- cretius, except fome poetic paflages, be.* caufe his phyfics they found falfe, and his' morals dangerous. 'I hey had deftroyed the tedious pleadings of Cicero, an able rhetor: rather than a man of eloquence; but they had preferved his philofophic works, one of the moft precious productions of antiquity, Salluft alfo remained. Qvid aad Horace (b) were purged -,. the Odes of the latter appear ed far inferior to his Epiftles. Seneca was reduced to one fourth part. Tacitus was preferved; but, as his writings breathe a dark vapour that blackens the human .race, and I

(a) I have lately read this hiftorian again ; and 1 am convinced, that the virtue of the Romans confined in fa- crificing the human race on the altar of their country. As citizens, they are to be applauded j, as. men, to be a b* borred.

(b) This writer had all the delicacy, all the flowers of wit, every poflîble urbanity ; he has, neverthelefs, been too much admu ed in every age. His mufe inspires a vo- luptuous repofe, a lethargic flumber, a pliant and dange- rous indifference; it, therefore, muft pleafe the courtier and every effeminate mind, whofe whole morality is con- fined to theprefent moment, and to the enjoyment of fo.fi. aa&folitary pleafures.

&S as

10 Tfje Kings Library.

as we ought not to nourifh a bafe idea of man- kind, for tyrants are not of their number, the reading of this profound author was permitted to thofe only whofe hearts were well formed. Catullus and Petronius had vanifhed in fmoke. Qumtilian was reduced to a volume of the fmalleft fize.

The third divifion contained the Englifl> authors, and here I found the greateft number cf volumes. Here I faw all thofe philofophers that warlike, commerciant, and politic ifle hath produced ; Milton, Shakefpeare, Pope, Young (<?), andRichardfon, here ftill enjoyed

their

(a) M. TournetM* has published a translation of this poet, which has had the greateft and moft determined fuccefs. Every one has read this moral work j (the au- thor muft here allude te the Night thoughts,) every one ad- mires that fublime language, which elevates, cheers, and captivates the foul $ becaufe it is founded on great truths, prefents great objecls only, and derives all its dignity from their real grandeur. For my own part, I have never read any thing fo original, fo new, nor even fo interesting. I admire that profound fentiment, which, though always the fame, yet has an infinity of connexions and diverrl- ties 5 it is a ftream by which I am borne down j I am pleafed with thofe ftrong and lively images whofe boldnefs

The Kings Library. XI

their full renown; their creative genius knew no reftraint, while we are obliged to rneafure all

our

correfpond with the fubjecT: to which they are applied. We there fee, moreover, the moft demonftrative proofs of the immortality of the foul j in no part is the mind fo much ftruck as in this $ the poet attacks the heart, fubdues ir, and deprives it of all power of contraction $ fuch is the magic of exprefiion, the force of eloquence, that it leaves a poignant fenfation in the mind.

Young is in the right, in my judgment, (though, in the translator's note, cenfure lias extorted a different opi- nion) when he a/ferts, that, without the profpect of eier- ni y and future rewards, virtue would be but a name, a chimera : Aut <virtus nomen Inane tft, ant deem et pretium yefle petit expertens vir, What is that good from which there refults no good, either in this world or in the other ? What good refultr, in this world, from virtue to fuffering innocence ? Afk of a dying Brutus, a Cato, a Socrates. You there fee ftoicifm at its laft proof, and there it fat ly difcovers the vanity of the feci. I remember, and ever mail remember, a fti iking expreflion of J. J. Routfeau to a friend of mine. He was fpeaking of a proportion made to him of making his fortune by a means that was dif- gracefuJ, but of a nature to be kept feci et. " Sir,** he faid, (i thank God, I am not a mateiialift; ill were, I mould not be worth more than all of them are. I know, of no reward, but that which is attached to virtue."

I freely conrefs, that I am not more worthy than Rouf-

feauj and would to God, that I were as wonhy ! bur, if

B 6 I thought

12 The King* s Library.

our words ; the fruitful energy of thofe free fouls was the admiration of a difficult age. That futile reproach we make them, of their wantoftafte, was difregarded by men, who> charmed with juft and flrong ideas, could read with affiduity, and knew how to meditate on

1 thought myfelf altogether mortal, I would in ftantly be- come my own deity ; I would make all things fubfervient to my divinity, that is, to myfelf 5 I woulft ptactife what they call virtue, when it promoted my pleafure $ and, in like manner, vice. I would 10b today, to give to my friend or miftrefs 5 quarrel with, and rob them to-mor- row, to gratify fome trifling pleafure \ and in all this 1 ihould act very confequentially, becaufe I fliould always do that which is agreeable to my divinity 5 whereas, by lov- ing virtue for the fake of a reward, and that reward not being attached to arbitrary actions, I am obliged to govern myfelf, not by my momentary inclination, but by that in- variable rule which the Eternal Legiftator and Remunerator has prefcribed» It will therefore frequently happen, that 1 muft do what I ought, though not what 1 pleafe • and> if my liberty decides for that which is right, in oppofition to a contrary inclination, then I do that which I would, not that with which I am pleafed. If it had been the wilt of God to direct us by a love for goodnefsonly, he would have given usa rational mind, without having added the fenfibility of the heart $ but he guides us by the profpect of rewards, becaufe he has made us liable to pallions and affections»

what

The Kings Library. 13

what they had read. They had, however, cut off from the philofophers thofe dangerous fcep- tics who would have fhaken the foundations of morality j that virtuous people, influenced by what they felt, difdâined fuch vain fubtilties ; for no argument could convince them that vir- tue was a chimera.

In the fourth di'vifibn were the Italian au* thors. The Jerufalem Delivered, that moifc beautiful of all poems, was at the head of them. They had, however, burned a whole library of criticifms againft that enchanting poem. The celebrated Tread fe on Crimes and Puni fo- ments had received all the perfe&ion of which, tbat important work was fufceptible. I was agreeably furprifed to fee a number of judicicus and philofophic works, which had arofe from 1 out the bofom of that nation. They had bnoke that talifman which feemed to promife a per- petuity of ignorance and fuperftition amongft them. ^

At laft, I came to the French writers. I haftily feized the firft three volumes 5 they were Defcartes, Montaigne, and Charron.

Mon-

14 The King's Library.

Montaigne had fufTered fome retrenchment ; but as he is the philofopher, who of all others was the beft acquainted with human nature, his writings were preferred, though all his ideas are not absolutely irreproachable. The vifionary Ma'lebranche, the gloomy Nicole, the unpitying Arnauld, and the cruel Eourda* loue, they had burned. All that related to fcho- laftic difputes was fo. completely deftroyed, that when Ifpoke of the Provençial Letters and the deftruclion of the Jefuits, the learned librarian made a very great anachronifm, of which I informed him, and received a candid ac- knowledgment. I could never meet with thofe Provençial Letters, nor the moft modern hifto- ry of that grand affair ; they talked of the Je- fuits, as we at this day do of the Druids.

Into an oblivion, from whence they fhould never come forth, were caft that crowd of theologians called fathers of the church, writers the moft fophiftic, the moft whimfical, obfcure, and irrational, that were ever diametrically op- pofed to Locke or Clark. c< They feem," faid the librarian, u to have fet bounds to human iuianity.'?

I SEARCHED

The King's Library. 15

I searched for\ I examined the authors of iïiy acquaintance. Heavens! what deftruftion ! what mighty works evaporated in fmoke ! "Where is that famous Bouflet, who, in my time, figured in fourteen quarto volumes ? I was a'nfwered, " They are all vanifhed." — What ! that eagle who ibared to the higheiï re- gions of the air? that genius " What, in

conference, could we preferve ? That he had genius we allow (a) -, but to a wretched uic did he apply it. We have adopted the maxim of Montaigne : Let us not inquire who is the mojî learned^ but who is the bejl learned. The uni ver - fal hiftory of that Bouflet was nothing more than a miferable fkeleton of chronology (b). It

had

(a) What benefit might not human reafon have received from fuch men as Luther, Calvin, Me- lanchtbon, Erafmus, Bouflet, Pafchal, Arnauld, Nicole, &c. if they had employed their genius in attacking the er- rors of the human mind, in improving morality, legifla- tion, and phyfics, inftead of oppofing or eftablifhing ridi- culous dogmas !

(b) To give an air of truth to chronology, they have formed certain epochs $ and on this delufive foundation they have erected that imaginary fcience, which has been entirely directed by caprice. They know not to what

period

1'6 72^ Kiug^s Library,.

had befide, a turn fo affected, and there were To many refleftions of immoderate length, that ac- companied that meagre production, that we can fcarce think it was read for more than half a century/* — But, at leaft, his Funeral Orations^ — ** We are highly incenfed againftthem j they breathe the miferable language of fervitude and adulation* Shall a mini (1er of the God of peace» of the God" of truth » mount the pulpit to extol a gloomy politician^ an avaricious ftatefman, a, mean woman s a blood-thirfty hero 5 and agi- tated like a poet with thedeicription of a bat- tle, never utter one figh when thinking on that horrid fcourge that defolates the earth. At that moment» he has no thought of maintain- ing the laws of humanity, of declaring to an ambitious monarch, by the facred voice of reli- gion, ftrong and1 terrible truths ; he rather wifhes to hear it faid, That man talks well ; be makes the encomiums of the deady while their ajhes

period they mould refer the principal revolutions of the world, and yet they would fix the age in which each king reigned. The greaieft errors reft fecure by means of chronological calculations. They fet out, for example, from the foundation of Rome ; and that foundation is fdp- ported by probabilities, or rather fuppofitions*

The King^t Library, ij

ire yet warm. With much better reafon womd be give a gooddofe ofincenfe to mwaichs that are JIM living,

u We are no friends to Boufiet ; for he was not only a man proud and obdurate, a courtier fawning and ambitious, but tahim alfowe owe thofe funeral orations, which have fince multi- plied like funeral torches, and which, like them, exhale a noxious vapour as they pafs. This fpe- cies of flattery appears to us the moft odious* futile, and dangerous of all others ; for it is at ôncefalfe, ftupid,and fhamelefs, and confiant» ly contradicts the public voice, which echoes again ft thofe walls where the orator, whilft pompoufly declaiming, inwardly laughs at thofe falfe colours with which he has drefled: out his Mo!.

11 Behold his rival, his gentle and modeft conqueror, the amiable, the pathetic Fenelon. His Telemachus and other works we havq carefully preferved, beçaufe in them we find a. rare and happy agreement between reafon and fenfibility (<j). To have compofed the Tele- machus

(*) The French academy have propofed his eulogy as

th«

• 1 8 The Kings Library..

machus at the court of Lewis XIV. appeats to ns an admirable, aftonfihing virtue. Certainly that monarch did not comprehend the book ; and that is the moft favourable fuppofition we can make for his honour. Doubtlefs,' that work required a more extenfive knowledge, a more profound penetration ; but, with all its fimpli- city, what force, what truth, what dignity, is there difplayed ! We have placed next to his, the works of the good abbé St. Pierre, whofe pen was weak, but his heart fublime. Seven ages have given to his great and beautiful ideas a juft maturity. His cotemporaries regarded fiim as a vifionary . his dreams, however, have, become realities."

Among the French poets, I found Cor- neille, Racine, and Molière \ but their com*

the next prize for eloquence 5 but if the work be what it ought to be, the academy cannot crown the difcourfe. Why give fubjecls that cannot be treated in their full ex- tent ? 1 admire, however, this fpecies of writing, where, by investigating the genius of a great man. the art itfelf is invefti gated and exemplified. We have had excellent works of this kind, and efpecially thofe of M. Thomas, which is the rooft infttuclive bo:k we can put into the hands of a young man, and from which he may draw at once ufeful knowledge and a rational love for glory.

mentators

The King's Library. jg

mentators were burned (#). Iafked a queftion of the librarian, that will probably be afkedfeven centuries hence, To which of the three do you give the prefence ? — H We underftand but lit- tle of Molière," he replied ; " the manners that he painted are paft ; he feems to us to have attacked ridicule more than vice, and you had more vicious than ridiculous qualities (^). For the two tragedian s,whofe colours are moredur- able, I know not how a man of your age can

{a) They are the works of envy or ignorance. Thefe commentators, with their zeal for the law» of grammar,. excite my pity. The worfl defliny that can attend any man of genius, either living or dead, is to be judged by pedantifm, which fees nothing, and feels nothing. Thefe wretched critics, who creep from word to word, refemble thofe purblind mortals, who miferably pore over every ftroke of a picture of Le Seuer or Pouflîn, inrtead of em* bracing the whole at one view.

{b) It is not true, as advanced in the eulogy on Molière* that the cure of the ridiculous is more eafy than that of V e vicious. But, ifitweie, to which diforder of the human heart fhould we ûrîï apply remedies ? Shall the poet be- come an accomplie; in the general pervetfity, and be the firft to adopt thofe miferable compacts, which bad men m.'-ke the better to difguife their viJlainy ? Unhappy is he who does not fee the full effect that an excellent drama can produce, who is ignorant of the fublimity of that faience which can unite ali hearts in one.

aft

XO The King* s Library.

afk the queftion. He who excelled all others m painting the human heart, who elevated and enlarged the miné to the greateft degree ; he who was thebeft acquainted with the (hocks of paflion an*! the depths of policy, had doubtlefs more genius than his harmonious rival [q\ who, with a ftyle more correft and flowing, had lefsof force and concifion, who had not the piercing view, nor the etevation>nor the fire, nor theargu- ment,northe amazing diverfity of chara£ters, of the other. Add to this the moral aim, conftant- ly marked in Corneille, and which drove man- kind towards the element of every virtue, to- wards liberty. Racine, after effeminating his heroes, effeminated the fpe&ators (b). Tafte

(a) Corneille has frequently an original air of freedom and fimplicity, and even fometrung more natural than Racine.

(£) Racine and Boileau were two dartardly courtiers, who approached their monarch with the awe of two trades- men of the Rue St. Dennis. It was not fo that Horace fre- quented Auguflus. Nothing can be more mean than tho letters of thefe two poets, in raptures to find themfelvesat the court. It is difficult to conceive of more miferable pro- ductions. Racine at laftdied of chagrin, becaufe Lewis XIV. caft a contemptuous look at him in the public walks*

is

The King's Library. %i

is die art o£ elevating low fubje£ls; and in this Corneille was inferior to Racine. Time, that fovereign judge, who equally deftroys both eu- logies and cenfures, time has declared, and has placed a wide diftance between them ; the one i6a genius of the fir ft order; the other, fome few paft ages borrowed f>om the Greek excepted, is nothing more than a fine writer, as was olferv- ed in his own age. In your time, men had no longer the fame energy ; they required finifhed works, and the great has ever a certain rough- nefs attending it ; ftyle was then become the principal merit, as is conftantly the cafe with thofe nations that are enfeebled and cor- rupted,

I here found the terrible Crebillon, who has painted crimes in all thofe frightful colours by which they are charafterifed. This people fometimes read his works, but never fuffer them to be a died.

r It is eafy to be imagined, that I recollefted my friend Fontaine, equally beloved and con- ftantly

$2 The King's Library.

ftantly read [a). Molière, that jufl: judge of merit, prefented this firft of moral poets vvitl> immortality. Fable, it is true, is the allego- rical language of a flave, who dares not talk to his mafter ; but, at the fame time, as it mode- rates that feverity which there may be in truth, it muft conftantly be highly valuable in a world ^expofed to all forts of tyrants. Satire is, perhaps, the weapon of defpair alone.

How far has this age placed that inimitable fabulift above Boileau (b)9 who (as the abbé Coftard fays) made himfelf the dictator of Par- fa) Fontaine was the confidant of nature, and merited, by pre-eminence, the title of poet. I amfurprifed at the audacity of thofe who have fince wrote fables with the preemption of imitating him.

(b) The critic who only endeavours to depreciate an author, inftead of explaining him, difcovers his own va- nity, ignorance, and jealoufy. His malignity will not let him clearly difcern the good and bad parts of a book. Cri- ticifm belongs to them only whofe judgment and candour are not, in any degree, infecled by perfonal intereft. Cri- tic, know ihyfelf j and if thou wouldft form a right judg- , ment of any work, remember, that depending on thy own lights only, thou canft judge of nothing.

naflus,

The King's Library. 23

naffus, and who, void of invention, force, grace, and fentiment, was nothing more than a tame and fcrupulous verfifier. They had preferved feveral other fables, among which were feme by La Motte, and thofe of Niver- nois (a).

The poet Roufleau made a diminutive -figure : they had preferved fome of his odes and cantatas, but all his gloomy epiftles, his te- dious and dry allegories* his Mandragora, his epigrams, the work of a depraved heart, had .all, it is eafy to imagine, perifhed in thofe ilames they had long defervecl. I cannot here enumerate all the falutary mutilations that had been made in many works otherwife juftly re- nowned. I faw none of thofe frivolous poets, who flattered themfelves that the tafte of their age, which diffufed over the molt ferious fub- jefts that falfe varnifti of wit which debafes reafon, would have preferved them (b). All

thofe (a) Seven hundred years hence, it will not be remem- bered, perhaps, that this charming fabu!ift was a duke, and wore a blue ribband, but doubdefs that he was a uprightly philofopher.

(h) When Hercules faw the ftatue of his favourite Ado-

S.4 The Ring's Library.

thefe fallies of a light and giddy imagination* reduced to their juft value, were evaporated, like thofe fparks that fhine with the greater luftre only to be the fooner extinguifhed. All thofe writers of romances, whether hiftoric, moral, or political, where fcattered truths are only met with by chance ; and thofe in which the objeft is not confidered in all its dif- ferent points of view ; and laftly, thofe who led aftray by a prejudice for a particular fyftem, had followed their own ideas only; all thefe au- thors, I fay, deluded by the abfence or prefence of genius, had difappeared, or had undergone thcpruning-knife of a judicious critic, which is far from being a fatal inftrument (a). Sa- gacity and a love of order had prefided over this new ftru&ure ; as in thofe thick forefts where the branches, intwined with each other, conceal all the paths, and where there reigns an eternal

nis, in the temple of Venus, he cried out, u There is no divinity in thee." The fame may be faid of all thofe po- lished, delicate, ingenious, and effeminate works.

(a) It would be a work worthy of a man of found judg- ment, to form a rational and cemprehenfr/e catalogue of the bed books in every fcience, and to point out the man- ner of reading them, and thofe partages that are mod wor- thy of a tention.

and

The Kings Library. 2*5

and noxious (hade"; if the induftry of man bears the hatchet and the flame, the genial rays of the fun enter, the flowery paths recreate the fight, and we traverfe each route without fear or difguft. I perceived in a corner a curious book which feemed to me judicioufly compofed, and was intitled, Ufurped Reputations. It contain- ed the reafons that determined the extinction of many books, and of the contempt that was caft on the pen of certain writers, who were never* thelefs admired in their own age. The fame book redreffed the wrongs pf the cotemporaries of great men, when their adversaries were un* juft, jealous, or blinded by fome other paf- iîon (a). I chanced to lay my hand on a Voh taire, O heavens ! I cried, to what a fize is lieflirunk! Where are thofe twenty-fix quarto volumes that flowed from his brilliant, exhauflr- lefs pen? If that celebrated writer could come again upon the earth, how would he be afh>

(a) There ftill remains a good book to be wrote, though already done ; Great "Events from Utile Caufes. But, where Î3 the man who can difcover the real clue 5 I will men* tion another, very proper for the prefent age, The Place- men toho become Perfe:utors to fer<ve the Bafenefs of thofd they de$f>ife\ and one more, The Crimes of Sovereigns.

Vol. II C nifhed !

26 . The King* s Library.

niflied! — u We have been obliged to burn a large portion," was replied. " You know- that fine genius paid a tribute, fomewhat too large, to human frailty. He precipitated his ideas, he gave them not time to ripen. He preferred whatever had the character of boldnefs, to a flow difcufiion of the truth. Rarely had his writings any depth. He was a rapid fwallow that glanced with grace and eafe along the furface of a large river, where he drank, and dipped his wings as he fkimed along. He was at once a man of genius and of wit. We cannot refufe him the firfl, the moft noble and amiable of virtues, the love of humanity. He has combated with ardour for the intereft of man. He rot only de- teftcd, but rendered deteftable, perfecution and tyranny of every kind. He brought a rational and affecting morality on the ftage. He has painted heroifm in its proper colours. In a word, he was the greateft poet of the French nation. We have preferved his Epo- peae ; for, though the plan be trifling, yet the name of Henry IV. has rendered it immortal. We are, above all, captivated with his beauti- ful tragedies, in which there fhines a pencil fo

facile,

The Kings Library, *Jf

facile, fo various, and To juft. We have alfo preferved all his profe pieces, where he is not ridiculous, too fevere, or improperly fatyrical; , it is there he is truly original (*). But you know* that toward the fifteen laft years of his life, he had only a few remaining ideas,

{a) I am charmed with the painter of nature, who lets his pencil run freely over the cloth, who prefers a certain eafy and bold liberty, that gives a luftre to his colours.j to that frigid precifion, that tame regularity, which con- ftantly reminds me of the art, and its fubrerfuges. O, how brilliant is the writer who gives himfelf up entirely to his genius 1 Who indulges in voluntary negligencies, and fhews, with a light hand, happy and variegated touches. Who deigns to have foibles, is pleafed with a certain irregularity, and never fo engaging as when in diforder. Behold the man of fuperlative genius. A tedious fymmetry can pleafe none but fots. Every man of a lively imagination, wimes that we would aid him with our wings It is to this happy vivacity, which roufes the minds, that we owe the crowd of readers. Like the elementary fire, the writer mould be forever in action* But this fecret is communicated only to the few. The numbers labour, fweat, make a thou fand efforts to obtain a gelid perfection, He who is born to wiire in a bold, rapid, brilliant ftyle, above all rules, with the fame ftroke of his pen exprefs his idea, and imprints it with pleafure on the heart of his reader. Behold Voltaire, who, like a flag, bounds over the plains of literature, while fome pretended imitator, fome congealed copyifts, fuch as La H***, comes like a toi toife, creeping after. C 2 which

28 "The Kings Library.

which he reprefented under a hundred diffe- rent faces. He perpetually retailed the fame fubjeâ:. He engaged in controverfies with thofe he ought to have defpifed. He had the misfortune to write infipid and grofs re- flexions againft J. J. Roufleau ; a furious jealoufy fo far tranfported him, that he even wrote without judgment. We were obliged to burn thofe wretched performances, which would have dishonoured him to the moft diflant pofterity ; ftill more jealous of his glory than he was himfelf, we have been obliged to de- flroy one moiety of that great man to pre- ferve the other."

I am charmed, I cried, to find, that you have preferved J. J. Rouffeau entire. What a work is the Emelius [a) ! What a fenfibility of foul is diffufed over that beautiful romance, thenewEloifa ! What bold, comprehenfive, and penetrative ideas in his letters to De la Mon- tagne ! What vigor, what fire in his other works ! With what thought does he infpire his

(a) What infipidities have been printed againft this immortal work ! How can a man dare to write when he knows not even how to read.

reader !

The King's Library. 29

reader ! Every particular appears to me worthy to be read. — " So we have judged/' replied the librarian " There muft have been a very mean and cruel pride in your age. In fa£t, you muft not have underftood him ; your trifling difpofition woul^l not permit you to purfue his arguments. He had reafon to def- pife you. 'Your philofophers themfelves were of the vulgar people. But I think we are agreed concerning this philofopher, it is there* fore needlefs to fay more.

In turning over the books of the lafl di- vifion, I faw with pleafure many works for- merly dear to my nation. L'Efprit des Loix ; L'Hiftoire Naturalle ; the book De l'Efprit commented in fome parts (a). Nor had they excluded the friend of man, the Belifarius; the works of Linguet ; the eloquent harangues ©f Thomas (b) St. Servan, Dufaty, Le Tour- neur^

(a) The fpider draws poifon from the fame rofe whence the bee extracts honey ; fo à bad man frequent!/ nourishes his malignity from the fame book whence a good man derives the greateft confolation.

(b) There is at prefent no tribune for harangues 5 elo- quence however is not dead. It ftill fpeaks, fometimes

C 3 thunders 5

30 Tlje Kings Library.

neur, and the difcourfes of Phocion. I diflm- guifhed the numerous and philofophic works that the age of Louis XV. had produced (a). The Encyclopedia was formed on a new and more happy plan. Inftead of that wretched practice of reducing all things to a dictiona- ry, that is, of mincing the feveral fciences> they had preferved each art entire. With a fingle glance of the eye you faw all their dif- ferent parts. This work contained vaft and exact drafts that followed each other in regu- lar order, and were connected in a fimple and pleafing manner. All that had been ■wrote againft the Chriftian religion was burn- ed* as books that were become abfolutely ufelefs.

I inquired for the hiflorians, and the librarian faid, " We affign that province in part to our painters. Facts have a philofo-

thundets ; and though it cannot roufe us to virtuous fentiments, yet, at leaft, it confounds us with fhame.

(a) The philofopher who is employed in examining the nature of man, of policy and manners, dift'afes ufe~ ful lights over the community 5 his detractors are eithtt fots, or malignant citizens.

phicaï

The King's Library. 31

pbieal certainty, which is to be exprefled by the pencil. What is hiftory? In reality no-' thing more than the knowledge of faCts. The ! reflections and inferences appertain to the' hiftorian, and not to the fcience itfelf. The facfts however are innumerable. What po- pular reports ; what fuperannuated fables ; what endlefs details ! The tranfaCtions of each age are the moft interesting of all others for the cotemporaries ; and of all ages, thofe of the prefent only are not to be investigated. They have wrote laborioufly of ancient and foreign hiftory, but have turned their atten- tion from prefent fa£t$ (a). The fpirit of conjecture is difplayed at the expence of accu- racy. Many have fo little known their own weaknefs, that feveral fingle pens have at- tempted an univerfal hiftory, more romantic than the good Indians, who allowed at leaft four elephants to fupport the world. In a word, hiftory has been fo disfigured, fo fluff- ed with falfhoods and puerile reflections, that a romance, to every judicious mind, is more

(a J This is natural enough in France, where there is fo much danger in writing on recent facls^ but, to our good fir tune, it is not fo here,

C 4 elegible

32 The King's Library*

e legible than thofe colle&ions of fa£ts5 where,, as on a boundlefs ocean, we fail without a: compafs [a }^

* We. have made a flight extraft, "painting:; each age in ftrong characters, -and defcribing thofe perfons only who have had a real influ- ence on the defuny of empires (b). We have omitted thofe reigns where there were nothing to be feen but wars and cruelties. They, ought to be concealed ; for nothing fhpuld be. prefented that will not do honour to humani-

(a) When we reflect on the nature of ths human mind, we muft be convinced of the impoflibility of a real anci- ent hiftory. The modern is more probable ; but between probability and truth there is aimoft as great a diftance, as between truth and falihood.^ Moreover, we learn no-, thing from modern hiftories. Each hiftcrian accom- modates the facls to his ideas, aimoft in the fame man- ner as a cock does the difhes to his palate ; we mu(V dine in the tafte of the cock $ we muft read in the hu- mour of the hiftorian.

(£) To fay the reign of Charles VI. or Louis XIII. is a mifnomer, and muft miflead the unattentive reader. A monarch, who has no influence on the age in which he lives, as is frequently the cafe, mould be ranked in the clafs of common men, and we mould fay, for example, after the death of Henry IV. wejbji kqiu describe th: age 9/ Rickelieu, &c.

ty..

The Kings Library. 33

ty. It is perhaps dangerous to preferve all the excefles to which vice has been extended. The number of the guilty feems to palliate the crime; and the fewer outrages we fee, the lefs we are tempted to commit them. We have treated human nature like that fon. wrro revered his father, and covered with a< vail the diforders of ebriety."

I approached the librarian, and a(ked, in a Ibw voice, for the Age of Louis XV. which might ferve as a continuation to that of Louis XIV. by Voltaire. I found that it had been compofed in the twentieth century. Never have I read any thing more curious, more Angular and aftonifhing. The hiftorian, from a regard to the extravagance of the circumftances, hadnotfacrificed any detail; My curiofity, my aftonifhment redoubled at every page. I was taught to reform many of my ideas ; and to know, that the age in which we live, is, of all others, the moft diftant from us. I laugh* ed, I admired greatly ; but I wept at leafi as-

much I can fay no more here ; the

C 5 cyents

34 The Men of Letters.

events of the prefent day are like fruit tHàti fijiould not be tafted till it is ripe(tf)'

CHAP. IF.

The Msn of Letters,

AS I went out of the library, a ftranger accofted me, and we entered into con» verfation. It was concerning, men of letters* I have known but few in my time, I faid, but thofe I have known were gentle, modeft, friendly, and full of probity. If they had de- feats, they redeemed them by fo many valu- able properties, that a man muft be in* capable of friendfhip who had not an attach- ment to them. Envy, ignorance, and calumny have disfigured the characters of authors ; for every public man is expofed to the brutal dif- courfe of the. vulgar, who, however ignorant

(a) Time produces all things. Thofe fecrets which are thought to be completely concealed will offer them* fclves to the public, as the rivers run into the fea. To, our children all will be known.

they

Th* Men of Utters. 35

they may be, pronounce boldy (a). The great, as deftitute, for the moft part, of talents as of virtue, are jealous of their attra£Hng the re- gard of the nation, and pretend to defpife them (/>)• Writers have alfo frequently, to

combat

(à) A man of this clafs who Is incapable of writing a fingle line, but has a talent for verbal fatire, in con* fequence of ridiculing authors, and gratifying malignity, becomes at laft perfuaded, that he is himfelf a man of tarte and ingenuity 5 but he is miferably deceived, both in judging of himfelf and of others,

(b) It is not to the moft powerful monarchs, nor to\ the moft opulent princes, nor to the chief rulers of ai nation, that moft ftates owe their fplendor, force and x glory. It is private perfons, who have made the moft aftoniihing improvements in the arts, in fciences, and even in the art of government. Who meafured the earth? Who difcovered the fyftem of the heavens? Who invented thofe curious manufactures with which- we are cloathed ? Who has laid open the fecrets of na- tural hiftory ? Who has explored the intricacies ofche- miftry, anatomy, and botany ? Certainly private perfons j who, in the eye of the wife man, muft eclipfe the pre- tenders to greatnefs, thofe proud dwarfs, who cheriftt nothing but their own vanity. In effecT, it is not kings/ jminifters, perfons inverted with authority that govern-* the world. No, it is thofe men of fuperior genius, who cry to their cotemporaries, with a bold and irrefiftible* voice, Banijh thofe ivretcked prejudices 5 furjue more ekvat* C 6 id-i

36 The Men of Letters.

combat with the contemptible tafte of the public, who, the more it is enriched by their works, becomes the more fparing of its ap- plaufe, and fometimes abandoning works of genius, run gaping after fome wretched buf- foonery. In a word, they have need of the greateft fortitude to fupport themfelves in a carreer where the pride of mankind offers them a thoufand indignities. They have, however,, braved both the infolence and difdain of the great, and the ignorant attacks of the vulgar. A juft renown, by blading their enemies, has ; crowned their noble efforts with fuccefs.

" I acknowledge this portrait to be juft,,>7 my interlocutor politely replied, "Men of let- ters are become the moft refpe&able of citizens. Everyone feels how defirable it is to be diflblved in tendernefs ; it is the moR lively pleafure the mind can enjoy. It is to them, therefore, that the ftate has confided the care of developing

ed thoughts, defpife-what thou baft fodlijhly reJpeBed, and' rtJpeB that which, through ignorance, thou haft defpifed ; -profit by thy paft follies, and ham better to diftinguijh the rights of mankind-, adopt the ideas that I have fet before thee. Vhy route is dearly traced, march ! And I will anjiverfor thy, Juçcefu

this

The Men of Ltttem 37

this principle of virtue. By exhibitinginajeftic, terrible, and tender pictures, and by improv- ing the fenfibility of mankind, they difpofe them to all thofe great qualities that proceed fromit. We find," he continued, u that the writers of your age, as to what concerns mo- rality, and grand and ufeful purfuits, have far furpafied thofe of the age of Lewis XIV. They have freely painted the faults of kings, the mis- fortunes of the people, the ravages of the paf- fions, the efforts of virtue, and even the fuccefs- of vice; faithful to their vocation (#), they have

{&) The famous Locufta, fkilful m the art of preparing: fubtle poifons, was lodged by Nero in his palace 5 and fo defirous was he of preferving a woman fo ufeful to his de- fjgns, tha: he appointed guards to attend her. It was fhc who compofed the cup by which Britannicus perifhedi When the poifon had blackened the vifage of that unfortu- nate prince, Nero caufed it to be fpread over with white- paint, fo that it appeared with the palenefs of a natural death j but, as they bore it to the tomb> a fudden and co- pious (how er of rain warned off the paint, and expofed ' what the tyrant thought he had fafely concealed. I find in this fact an allegory fufficiently juft. Princes fondly ca- refs faithful monfters ; and either from ftupidity, or con- tempt of the laws, or a confidence in their own power, they think to conceal their real qualities from the public $ but foon hiftory, the fudden mower, wames off the falfé «cburs, and all their vices Hand full expofed to view.

had

j9 ¥he Men of Letters;

had the intrepidity to infutt thofc bloody tro-: phies which fervility and error had confecrated' to tyranny. Never was the caufe of humanity- more ftrongly pleaded ; and though they have- îoft it by an inconceivable fatality, yetthefc dauntlefs advocates remain not the lefs covered with glory.

*' All the ftreams of light that have ifiued from thefe vigorous and undaunted fouls, are preferved and tranfmitted from age to age (a) y like a feed that for a long time is trod under foot, but being fuddenly tranfported, by a fa- vourable wind to fome. place of (helter, it fprings up, increafes, becomes a tree, whofe fpreading branches prefent both ornament and refuge.

<c If, better informed of the nature of true greatnefs, we defpifethe pomp and oftentatioix of power ; if we turn our eyes towards thofe ob* jecls that- are worthy the refearch of men ; we

(a) Men of common capacities, and they who have nor fathomed the depths of government beyond a certain point, are very far from being able to difcover the connections of fpeculation and fcience with the riches and happinefs of a nation,

fliall

7

The- *Mcn:rf Letters #JL

ffiallfind that it is to letters we owe it (a). Ou* writers have ftill fuarpafled yours in courage ; if a prince deviates from the laws, they revive the renowned tribunal of the Chinefe ; they engrave his name on a dreadful plate of biafs* by which his-difgrace is eternally recorded- Hiftory in their hands is the rock to falfe glory, the fentenGe pafied on illuftrious criminals, the crucible from which the- hero exhales, if he has not been a man.

Ci How ought the princes of the earth, who complain that all who approach them areaffecl- ed by conftraint and diffimulation,. to be con* founded! Have they not always- with them thofe dumb, but independent and intrepid ora-

{a) We may afifert, with' a degree of certainty, that the new lights, which are every day difcovered, defcending by degrees in almofVevery ftate, will, by a fare method, anni- hilate the prefent capricious jumble of laws, and fubftitute others more natural and more ju(V; the judgment of the public will have a powerful and penetrating voice that will change the face of nations j it will be printing that will render this great fervice to humanity. Let us therefore, continue to print ; and let every one, from the higheft to the loweft, read 3. but, at the fame time, let us print that only which is true and ufeful j and let us well meditate before we write,

tors3

4<5 The Men of Letters*

tors, who can, without offence, inftruft then**, and who, from their thrones, have neither fa- vours to expeft nor difgrace to fear (a) ? We ought to render that juftice to thofe noble wri- ters, to acknowledge that there is no race of men who have better fulfilled their deftination. Some have overthrown fuperflition, others fup- ported the rights of the people. Thefe have dug the fruitful mine of morality, thofe dis- played virtue under the figure of an indulgent fenfibility (a). "We have have forgotthe foibles

which;

[a) The Promotheus of Efcbyîus contains a beautiful* and clear allegory. Is is that of an arbitrary monarch crufhing a man of genius $ for having brought down fire from heaven, with which he enlightened mankind, he isi fixed to the fummit of a rock £ being (lowly fcorched by the fun's rays, the colour cf his body is changed $ the nymphs of the woods and fields furround him with lamen- tations, but are unable to affift him j the Furies load him with irons that eat into his flefti ; but a remorfe for having been virtuous can never enter his heart*

(a) How great the recompense to an author who is the friend of truth and virtue, when, as we read, we drop the burning tear upon his book, and, at the fame moment, draw from the bottom of the heart the ftruggling figh 5; then clofe the book, and, lifting our eyes to heaven, form ardent virtuous refoluiions ! This, doubtlefs, is the moft: brilliant reward that any writer ought to wifh. What, to

this

The Men of Letter*. ft

which they might have as private pcrfons ; we fee that mafs^ of light only which they have formed and aggrandiied, that moral. fun, which, can never be extinguiflhed but with the grand luminary of the univerfe."

How glad fhould I be to enjoy the prefence pf thofe great men ! for I have ever had a ftrong attraction towards writers of real merit ; I love to fee them, but ftill more to hear their difcourfe, •

■ " It happens right luckiry^ to-day they

open the academy, in order to receive a nrm of letters." — In the room,, doubtlefs, of one that deceafed. — "What fay you? Mud merit wait till death has deftroyed his fellow, that he may fupply his place? No; the number of oufa academicians is not fixed ; every talent; receives, the crown of its reward ; there are fufEcient to recompenfe them all (#),

this, are thedifcordant fhouts ofapplaufe, as empty as they, are tranfuory, as envied as they are uncertain,

(û) An author, who is not much influenced by perfonal, motives, will not give himfelf great concern to think that, he is a writer of merit in an ignorant age; if he be more defirous of the progrefs of human knowledge, than of gratifying his own vanity, inftead of being aSi&ed, he will- wjoice that he. cannot launch forth from his ©bfcurUy,

CHAR

C 4* )

CHAP. III. The Academy of Science*

WE advanced toward the academy. It ftill preferred that name ; but how different its fituation from that where it was for- merly held ! It no longer made a part of the palace of a king. How wonderful are the re- volutions of ages ! A pope now fits in the place of the Caefars ! ignorance and fuperftition in- habit Athens ! the fine arts have flown to Ruffia! Would it have been believed in my time, that a mountain marked with ridicule for merely af- fording nurture to- a few affes by its thiftles, fhould become the juft image of the ancient Parnaffus, the feat of genius, the habitation of renowned writers ? They would have aboliflied the name of Montmartre (tf), but from a com- plaifance to received prejudices.

This auguft fpot, cloathed on all fides by venerable woods, is confecrated to folitude ;

(a) The bill Montmartre is on the north fide of Paris, and.. aJmoJi adjoining to it. They fay, that on itsfummit there w<**, $nce a temple dedicated to Mars, from which it took its name,

au,

The Academy of Science* 43

an exprefs law forbids the approach of all dif- cordant noife. The earth has produced frefh beds of ftone to form the foundations of this noble afylum. On this mount, blefled with the 1110ft genial rays of the fun, are nourifhed fais trees, whofe towering fummits fometimes em- brace each other, and fometimes at diftancekeep* to afford the exploring eye a profpeft of the faca of heaven.

As I mounted with my guide, I obferved, here and there, elegant hermitages, diftinft from each other. I afked who inhabited thofe flowery fpots, half concealed by the woods, and half expofed to view, whofe afpeft appeared fo engaging. — " You fhall foon know," was replied ; cc let us now haften ; the hour ap- proaches." In fa&, I faw a great number of perfons arrive from every fide, not in coaches, but on foot. Their converfation feemed to be highly pleafingand animated. We entered an edifice fuffieiently large, but decorated with great fimplicity. I obfcrved no Swifs, armed with a heavy halberd, at the door of the tran- quil fan&uary of the Mufes ; there was no- thing

44' *Tke Academy of Science.

thing to forbid entrance amidft a crowd of wor* thy men (a).

The hall was remarkably fonorous ; fothat the moft feeble academic voice might be heard at the greateft diftance. The order that there reigned was not lefs remarkable 5 feveral rows of benches furrounded the hall ; for they knew that they ear fhould be at its eafe in an acade- my, as the eye in the fallon of a painter. Icon- fidered every obje£t at my leifure. The num- ber of academics feats was not ridiculouily fixed ; but what feemed moft fingular was, thaç, on the back of every chair, a fcroll was difplay* cd, on which were diftindtly wrote the titles ®f that academician who chofe it for his feat r every one might place himfelf in an armed, chair without any other previous ceremony than that of difplaying the fcroll that contained the title of his works. It is eafy to conceive»

(a) I have ever been highly curious to fee a man of ge- nius, and have thought that I difcovered in his port, his anions, the air of his head, hia countenance, and afpec%. fomething that diftinguiflied him from the common race of men. The fcience of phyfiognomy ftill remains to bfc properly invefligated*

that

The Academy of Science. 45

t"hat no one offered to difplay a charte blanche, as was done in my day, by bifhops, marfhals, and preceptors (a) ; ftill lefs would they dare to expofe to the fevere public eye the title of a work of mean merit, or a fervile imitation ; it muft be a work that points out fome new dif- covery in the arts, or, at leaft, that excels all others on the fame fubjeâ: (b).

My guide pulled me by the ileeye — Xt You feem aftonifhed ; let me increafe your wonder, Thofe charming habitations which you obferved on afcending the mountain, form the retreats of thofe who are flruck by an unknown power

(a) We have feen on the Boulevards, (the old ramparts »f Paris, ivhich noto feme for recreation,) an automaton that articulated founds, and the people flock to admire it. How many automata, with human faces, do we fee at court, at the bar, in tte academies, who owe their fpeech to the breath of invifible agents 5 when they ceafe, the machines remain dumb.

(£) There are no longer any means left to diftinguifh ourfelves, they fay. Wretches ! that hunt after fmoke, the path of virtue ftill lies before you 5 there you will find bat few competitors 5 but that is not the fort of glory that you feek. I underftand you ; you would become the fub- je& of popular difcourfe, I figh for you, and for the hu- man race.

Z that

4.6 The Academy of Selena,

that commands them to write. Our academi- cians are Carthufians(tf) ; it is in folitude that genius difplays its powers, forfakes the beaten path, and difcovers unknown regions. When does enthufiafm fpring forth ? When the au- thor defcends into himfelf, when he invefli- gates his own foul, that profound mine, of whofe value the pofieflbr is not unfrequently ignorant. What infpirers are retreat and friendfhip (û) ! What more is necefiary to thofe who fearch for nature and truth ? Where do we hear their fublime voice ? In the tumult of cities, amidft that crowd of low purfuits, that, unknown to ourfelves, befiege the heart ? No ; it is amidft the rural fcenes that the foul rejuvenates -, it is there that it contemplates the majefty of the univerfe, that majefty elo- quent and all-gracious ; the thought ftrikes, the expreffion glows ; the image and its fplen-

(a) Let him who would acquire a ftrength x>f mind, afll- duoufly exert its powers 5 the greateft fluggard is ever the greateft flave.

(■*) Man has much longer time to live with the mind than with the fenfes j he would therefore act wifely to de- pend for his pleafures on the former rather than on the latter, v

dor

The Academy of Science. 47

dor become widely extended, like the horizon that furrounds us.

u In your day, the men'of letters frequented the circles to amufe the coquettes, and obtain an equivocal fmile ; they facrificed all that was bold and manly to the fuperftitious empire of fafhion ; they diverted the foul of its real nature, topleafe the age. Inftead of looking forward to an auguft feries of ages, they rendered them- felves flaves to a momentary tafte. In a word, they purfued ingenious falflioods ; they ftifled that inward voice which cries, Be fevere ay the time that. flies; be inexorable aspojîerity.

<c These academics* morever, here enjoy that happy mediocrity (a), which, amongft us, conftitutes fovereign wealth. We do not offer to interrupt them, either with a defire to difco- ver the leaft movements of their minds, or from a vanity of being admitted to their company. We revere their time, as we do the hallowed

(a) The great man is modeft 5 the man of mediocrity difplays his indifferent advantages ; fo the majeftic river glides filently along, while the rivulet runs chattering over the rugged pebbles.

bread

4§ ^he Academy of Science.

bread of the indigent ; but attentive to their de- fires, at the leaft fignal they find tnem grati- fied. "—If that be the cafe, you mud have fuffi* <:ient employment. Are there not thofe who aflame the rank to cover their idlenefs or real weaknefs ? — " No ; this region rs fo ftrongly illuminated, that the leaft fpot is eafily difco- vered. Impofture dare not here intrude ; it can never bear the look of a man of genius, whofe piercingeye nought can deceive. For thofe whom prefumption may bring hither (a)> there areperfons of a benign temper, who effectually difluade them frorn a project that cannot re* dound to their honour. In a word, the law enjoins . . . ." — Our converfation was inter- rupted by a fudden general filence in the aflem- bly. My whole foul flew to my ear, when I beheld one of tbe academicians prepare to read a manufcript which he held in his hand, and with a grace by no means infignificant.

O ungrateful memory, how could I re- proach thee \ Why didft thou defert me i

[a) yhere is no objeft that may not be viewed from a hundred different ftations 3 but there is only one from whence it can be juftly beheld j and if that is not chofen, genius and labour become ufelefs.

Would

The Academy of Science. 49

Would that I could repeat the perfuafive dif- courfe pronounced by that academic ! The force, the method, the flowing periods have efcaped me ; but the impreffion on my mind can never be effaced. No ; never was I fo en- raptured. The vifage of each auditor reflected thofe fentiments with which I was agitated ; it was one of the moft delicious enjoyments my heart ever felt. What depths ! what images ! what truths ! what a noble flame ! how fublime a tone ! The orator declaimed againft envy (a)y defcribed the fources of that fatal paflîon, its horrible effects, the infamy it has caft on the laurels that have crowned many great men ; all its vile, unjuft, deteftable qualities were fo ftrongly painted, that while we deplored the fate of its blind, unhappy vidiims, we trembled left our own hearts fhould be infe£led by its poifon. 1 he mirror was fo properly prefented before

(a) How I pity the envious and jealous mind, that glances over the valuable parts of a work, and knows not how to enjoy them. By analogy it dwells on thofe parts only that are imperfect. The man of letters who by an habitual exercife of reafon ançl tafte, improves the one and the other, and inceflantly creates to himfelf new joys, is of all men the moll happy-— if he can dived himfelf of jea- louiy or of an over feniibility.

Vol II. D each

5 0 The academy çf Science.

each particular character, their meannefs ex* pofed in fuch various and ridiculous lights, the human heart difplayed in a manner fo new, fo refined, fo ftriking, that it was impoffible not to know them ; and when knowing, not to form the defign of abjuring that miferable weaknefs. The fear of bearing fome refem- blanceto that frightful monfter, envy, produced a happy eifeét. I faw, O inftru£live fight! O moment unheard of in the annals of literature! I faw the members of that afiembly regard each other with a tender and fympathizing look -, I faw them mutually open their arms, embrace, and cry with joy; their bofoms refting and panting againft each other; I faw (will it be believed ?) the authors difperfed abouttheroom imitate the affe&ionate tranfports of the academicians, and convinced of the talents of their brethren, fwear an unalterable, eternal friendfhip ; I faw the tears of afFe&ion and benevolence flow from every eye. They were a company of brothers, who fubilituted that honourable applaufe in the room of our ftupid clapping of hands (a).

After

(a) When, at the theatre or the academy, an affe&ing or fublime paflage (hikes the afiembly, inftead of that figh

from

The Academy of Scienct. 5 1

Aï" ter the full enjoyment of thofe delicious moments; after each one had exprefied the va- rious fenfations that he had felt, and thofe ftrokes by which he was moft ftrongly affected; and after frequently repeating the vows of end- lefs friendfhip, another member of this auguft fociety arofe with a fmiling air ; an applauding murmur ran through the hall, for he was adeemed a Socratic railer .(*). He raifed his voice, and faid,

« Gentlemen,

* Many reafons have induced me to offer

* you to-day a fhort, but, I think, curious ex-

* tract of what our academy was in its infancy, « that is, about the eighteenth century. The

* cardinal who was our founder (£), and whom

from the bottom of the heart, and the filent emotions, I hear thofe clappings redoubled till they make the roof, I fay to myfelf, thefe people have no feeling 5 they are men of wood that ftrike two boards together,

(a) As a malignant raillery is the fruit of an iniquitious difpoution, fo an ingenious pleafantry is the fruit of wif- dom. A fprightly temper and graceful manner were the mofl triumphant arms of Socrates.

(£) Cardinal Richelieu»

D 2 our

52 The Academy of Science.

* our predeceflbrs have fo extravagantly extoll-

* ed, and to whom they attributed, in our eftab- i lifhment, the mod profound defigns, would '■ never have formed this inflitution, (let, us

* confefs it) if he had not himfelf made wretch -

* ed verfes which he idolized, and which he c was defirous that we fhould celebrate. That

* cardinal, I fay, at the time he invited the au- 4 thors to form one body, difcovered his de- 4 fpotic temper when he made them fubjett to

* rules ever unknown to genius. Our founder 4 had fo imperfe£t an idea of what fuch a fo-

* ciety ought to be, that he limited the num- 4 ber of members to forty ; fo that Corneille

* and Montefquieu might have waited at the 4 door to the end of their days. This cardinal 4 imagined, moreover, that genius would na- 4 turally remain in obfeurity, if titles and dig- € nities did not roufe it from its inanity. When

* he formed this ftrange judgment, finely, he 4 could think of fuch rhimers only as Colletet c and his colleagues, whom he fupported out ' of mere vanity.

4 From thence it became an eftablifhed cuf- 4 torn, that they who had money in the room

* of

The Academy of Science. 53

of merit, and titles inftead of genius, feated themfelves by thofe whofe names had been celebrated by fame throughout all Europe. He was himfelf the firit example, and he was but too well imitated. When thofe great men who drew the attention of their own age, and whofe regards were fixed on that of pof- terity, had covered with glory the place where they held their aflemblies, the gilt and- titled idiots befiéged the door ; nay, almoft prefumed to declare, that they reflected ho- nour on the fociety by their paltry ribbonds, and, in fa£t, believed, or pretended to be- lieve, that, by feating themfelves by men of genius, they actually refembled them.

• Then were feen marfhals, as well victo- rious as beaten, mitred heads that had never made a mandate, men of the long robe, pre- ceptors, and financiers, who pretended to the title of men of genius ; and though they were nothing more than the decorations of the theatre, really believed themfelves to be ca- pital performers. Some eight or ten among : the forty (hone by their own luftre ; the reft had only a borrowed light ; yet it was necef- D 3 « fary

54 W& Academy of Science.

4 fary to wait for the death of an academician

* in order to fill his place, and which, never- 4 thelefs, for the mod part, flill remained

* empty.

* What could be more ludicrous than to 4 fee that academy, whofe renown was fpread

* over all the capital, hold its aflemblies in a

* fmail, clofe, mean room? There, in feveral

* armed chairs, that were formerly red, were 4 feen, from time to time, a number of indolent

* wretches, carelefly feated, weighing of fylla-

* bles, or carefully culling the words out of

* fome piece of profe or poetry, in order, at laft,

* to applaud the moft unmeaning among them. 4 But, on the other hand, pray remark it, gen-

* tlemen, they never erred in calculating the

* number of counters that each gained by the

* abfence of his brethren. Can you believe

* that they gave the conqueror a gold medal in 4 the room of a branch of oak, and that en it

* there was engraved this ridiculous inferip- 4 tien: A Immortalité? Alas! that immortality 4 palled the next day into the goldfmith's cru- 4 cible ; and that was the moft real advantage the 4 vi&orious champion obtained.

* Could

The Academy- of Science. - 55

1 Could you imagine, that thofe little vi£to-.

1 ries fometimes turned the conquerors brains,

1 fo great was their ridiculous vanity {a) ? and

c that the judges exercifed fcarce any other

* function than that of diftributing thofe ufelefs c prizes, about which no one even ever made

* inquiry ?

4 The place of their affembly was open to

* none but authors ; and they were admitted by € tickets only. In the morning was performed e a mufical mafs \ then a trembling prieft pro-

* no'unced the panegyric of Lewis IX. (I

* know not very well why) extolling him for

(a) Except the univerfity prizes, which give rife to a foohfh pride in childifh heads, I know of nothing more pernicious than the medals of our literary academies. The conqueror really thinks himftlf a perfon of confequence, and îs ruined for the remainder of his days ; he difdains every one who has not been crowned with fo rare and il- luftrious a laurel. See in the Mercure de France, for the month of September, 1769, page 184, an inflance of the mod ridiculous egotifm. Avery diminutive author informs the public, that when he was at college, he performed his theme better than his colleagues ; he glories in it, and imagines that he maintains the fame rank in the republic of letters.— Rifum tcneatis, amicif

D 4 « more

56 The Academy of Science.

4 more than an hour, though he was certainly 4 a bad fovereign (a). Then the orator declaita- 4 ed on the croifades, which highly inflamed 4 the archbifhop's bile, who interdicted the * prieftly orator, for his temerity in difplaying c good fenfe. In the evening was another eu- 4 logy ; but as that was on a profane fubjedl 4 the archbifhop happily did not concern him- ' felf with the doftrine.it contained.

4 It is proper to remark, that the place where 4 they difplayed their wit was guarded by fufi- 4 leers and gigantic Swifs, who underftood no 4 French. Nothing was more comic than the 4 contraft between the meagre figure of the man 4 of letters, and the enormous blufteringftature 4 of the Swifs. This was called a public ajpmbly. 4 The public, it is true, were there ; but it 4 was at the door ; a poor acknowledgement 4 for their complaifance. In the mean time, 4 the fole liberty that remained to the nation 4 was to pronounce abfolutely onprofe or verfe,

(a) The firft penal edict againft particular fentiments or opinions was denounced by Lewis IX, vulgarly called St. Lewis.

to

The Academy of Science. 57

c to condemn one author, applaud another*

* and iometimes laugh at them all.

< The academic rage, however, poflefled

* every brain ; every one would be a royal

* cenfor (a), and then an academician. They i calculated the lives of all the members of the 1 academy, remarked the degree of vigour that

* their ftomachs difcovered at table ; death 4 feemed to the candidates to be flow in his ap- i proach ; the cry was, They are immortal ! 4 When a new member was chofen, fome one i muttered foftly, Ah ! when mall I make thy 4 eulogy at the bottom of the long table, (land-

* ing with my hat on, and declare thee to be a 1 great man, as well as Lewis XIV. and the 4 chancellor Seguier, while you fleep profound- c ly under your tomb-ftone decorated with a 4 curious epitaph.

* The men of money at laft fo far prevailed 4 in a golden age, that they completely banifli-

(a) Royal cenfor ! I never hear that word without laughter. We Frenchmen know not how ridiculous wa are, nor what right we give pofterity to regard us with pity.

D 5 ed

58 The Academy of Science.

4 ed the men of letters j fo that in the follow- 4 ing generation, rneffieurs the farmers- gene- 4 ral, were in poflefTion of the forty armed 4 chairs, were they fnored as much at their eafe 1 as their predeceffbrs ; and were flillmore dex- 4 trous in dividing the counters. From thence 4 it was that the old proverb arofe, There is no 4 entering the academy without an equipage.

* The men of letters, unable to regain their * ufurpe*! dominion, and drove to defpair, con- 4 fpired in form. They had recourfe to their 4 ufual weapons, epigrams, fongs, and vaude- 4 villes (a) ; they exhaufted all the arrows from 4 the quiver of fatire ; but, alas ! all their at- 4 tacks were fruitlefs ; the hearts of their ad- 4 verfaries were become fo callous as to be 4 no longer penetrable, even by the piercing 4 ftrokes of ridicule ; all the bon mots of mef- 4 fieurs tfie authors would have been thrown 4 away but for the aid of a violent indigeftion, 4 that furprifed the academicians on a certain 4 day, when afTembled at a fplendid feaft.

\a) Poor arms Î which even are now prohibited, and vhich the infolent pride of the great at once feeks after «nd dreads,

4 Thofe

27;* Academy of Science. 59

c Thofe three divinities, Apollo, Pluto, and 4 the god of the digeftive faculty, quarrelled 4 with each other ; Indigeftion attacking them 4 under the double title of financiers and aca- 4 demies, deftroyed them almoft all ; the men 4 of letters again entered their ancient domi- 4 nion, and the academy was faved . . . ."

There was an univerfal burft of laughter in the aflembly. Some of them afked me, in a low voice, if the account was juft. Yes, I re- plied, for the moft part ; but when we look down on paft times from the fummit of feven hundred years, it is doubt! efs eafy to give a ri- diculous turn to what then exifted. For the reft, the academy agreed, even in my time, that each member who compofed it was of more worth than the inftitution itfelf. Nothing can be added to that confeffion. The misfor- tune is, that when men meet in afTemblies, their heads contrail, as Montefquieu faid, who ought to know.

I passed into an apartment that contained

the ' portraits of the academicians, as well an-

D 6 cient

6o The Academy of Science.

cient as modern ; I took particular notice of thofe that fucceeded the academics now liv- ing ; but, to avoid offence, I (hall not name them.

Helas ! la vérité ft fouvent ejî cruelle^ On Vaime^ et lei humains font malheureux par elle. Volt.

Alas ! the truth we love, though oft we

find Her cruel, and a foe to human kind.

I cannot, however, refrain from relating a fa£l that will certainly give great pleafure to every generous mind, that loves juftice and detefts tyranny ; which is, that the portrait of the abbé St. Pierre was reinftated in its rank with all the honours due to fuch exemplary vir- tue. They had effaced the turpitude of which the academy had rendered itfelf culpable, while it bowed the neck to a yoke of a fervitude it ought never to have known. They had placed this eftimable and virtuous writer between Fenelon and Montefquieu. I gave the praifes due to this noble equity. I faw no portrait of

Riche*

The Kings Cabinet. 61

Richelieu, nor of Chriftina, nor of — , nor

f nor , which, though but paintings,

had been for ever difcardeck

As I defcended the mountain, I caft my eyes many times on thofe lovely groves where dwelt the men of brilliant genius, who, in filence, and in the contemplation of nature, laboured to form the hearts of their countrymen to vir- tue, to the love of the true and beautiful; when foftly I faid : Would that I could render myfelf worthy of this academy!

CHAP. IV.

The Kings Cabinet*

NOT far from this enchanting fpot, I be- held a vaft temple that ftruck me with awe and admiration. On its frontifpiece was wrote, An abridgment of the univerfe. u You fee," faid my guide, " the king's cabinet, though the edifice belongs not to him, but to

the I

6 2 The King's Cabinet.

the ftate. Wc give it that title merely as a mark of the refpect we bear his perfon. Our fovereign, moreover, after the manner of the ancient kings, exercifes medicine, furgery, and the arts. The happy time is returned when men in power, who are provided with the ne- cefiary means for performing experiments, are charmed with the glory of making difcoveries of importance to mankind, and are anxious to carry the fciences to that degree of perfection which attends their influence and their zeal. The mod confiderable perfons in the nation employ their opulence in difcovering the fecrets of nature; and gold, formerly the fourceof' vice and the wages of floih, rewards thofe la* bours that are fubfervient to humanity.

On entering, I was (truck with a pleafing furprize. This temple was the animated palace of nature ; all her productions were here col- lected with a profufion that was completely regular. The temple confided of four wings of an immenfe extent, in the center of which was the moil capacious dome my eyes ever be- held.

Ik

The Kings Cabinet 6 J

In different parts were placed marble ftatues, with thefe infcriptions : To the inventor of the faw, To the inventor of the plane, the fcrew, the pulley, the capftane, the crane, &c. &c. All the different forts of animals, vegetables» and minerals were placed under the four wings, and were vifible by one glance of the eye. What an immenfe and aftonifhing aflem- blage !

Under the firft wing, were feen all from the cedar to the hyffop.

Under the fécond, from the eagle to the fly.

Under the third, from the elephant to the ant.

Under the fourth, from the whale to the gudgeon.

In the middle of the dome were the Iports of nature. Monfters of every kind. Produc- tions enormous, unknown, fingular in their gender. For Nature, the moment (he aban- dons her ordinary laws, difcovers an intelli- gence dill more profound than when flie ad- heres ftriclly to them. On the fides were feen

complete

64 "The King's Cabinet.

complete portions of matter, taken from the mines which prefented the fecret laboratories, where nature prepares thofe metals that man has rendered fometimes ufeful, fometimes dan- gerous. Long beds of matter (kilfully taken up, and artfully placed, mowed the interior face of the earth, and the order obferved in the different ftrata of ftone, clays, and loam, there depofited (<?).

How

(a) What follows was wrote me by a friend. " I " have now a greater tafte than ever for the quarries. *' I think it will make me dwell among the minerals " and petrifactions, and, perhaps, prepare me a tomb " in the bowels of the earth. I have dtfeended near c< nine hundred feet into her bofom, hard by ****, *' much concerned that I could go no far her, I would *' have printed my footfteps on her kernel, and have 4i there enquired concerning the different nations thac " had fojourned on her furface ; would have afked, if ft among the infinite number of her children, any one «« had ever acknowledged, her benefactions ? If at *« the fpot where I meditate, far from the light of " day, (he had ever produced nourishing fruits ? And if ** a people or a throne had been there ; and how many " beds, formed of the ruins of mankind, (he concealed " from the depth of this abyfs to the laft point of her f« diameter ? I would have entreated her to let me read " all the cataftrophes that (he had fufferedj and I fhould

" havfc

The King's Cabinet. 65

How great was my aftonifhment, when, inftead of a parcel of dry bones, I faw the

complete

" have bathed them with my tears, when I had learnt 11 all the difafters from which (he had not been able to " defend her numerous family ; difafters engraved on •• conteftible medals, but whofe remembrance is utterly " effaced 5 difafters that will again return when me 11 fhall bury in her fides the prefent generation, who (hall u in their turn be trod under foot by generations with- M out number, who perhaps will have no other refenv 11 blance to them, than the participation of the fame 11 misfortunes. Then, in the midft of my grief, as juft " as humane, I mould have formed cruel and charitable " vows 5 I mould have wifhed that (he would have fwal- " lowed up every animal exiftence ; that fhe would have V fnatched every being endowed with fenfibility, from the <c light of the fun j all of whofe favours are inefficient " to repair the oppreflion of tyrants, who divide and 11 confume her amongft them.

" This globe, which now bears fo many wretches* " would then roll in a univerfal and happy ftlence ; it •' would prefent to the fun* s rays no unfortunate being i€ compelled to curfe it. No cry of lamentation would " arife from this planet 5 it would then traverfe the hea- " vens with a tranquil majefty. Her children, fleeping " in one common tomb, would fuffer her to obey the " laws of the creation, while they were no longer the " victims of deftruclive laws, that fall on the head of *' man as on the meaneft grain of fand 5 and death fur-

" rounding

66 The King's Cabinet.

complete whale, the monftrous hippopotamus, the terrible crocodile, &c. They had followed the arrangement, the degradations and varie- ties that nature has obferved in her produ£lions.

" rounding this double hemifphere with his peaceful 44 fhadow, would perhaps prefent an appearance more " /Viking than the bluftering reign of this vain-glorious 44 life, that draws after it a long feries of crimes, an in? ** undation of misfortunes, and a terror even of its very •' difiblution."

I replied to this friend, that I did not join with him in the laft wifh 5 that phyfical evils were of all others the moft fupportabiej that they were tranfieht, and be- fide, inevitable i and we had nothing to do but fubmit ; but that it was in a man's own power to defend himfelf from thofe unhappy partions, that torment and difgrace Kim, I anfwered him in conformity to the principles that are fufficiently explained in the courfe of this work. I thought it but juft, however, to preferve this extract, a$ it abounds with a ftrong fenfibîHty *.

* That there is a confider able degree of fenfibility> and fame ingenuity in this extra ft, cannot be denied j but, at the fame time, it has certainly the air of a philofopbic rant. The writer feems to have not believed, or at lea ft not fufficiently re- garded, the doclrine of a future ft ate. Would it have been un- worthy the vuifdom and goodnefs of God, to have created this earth for the exigence of one man only, if after a port dura • tien here, he were to inherit a glorious immortality ?

The

The Kings Cabinet. 67

The eye thus traced without labour the chain of beings, from the greateft to the leafl. We there law the lion, the tyger, the panther, in the fierce attitudes by which they are cha- ra&erifed ; the voracious animals were repre- fented as darting on their prey \ even the energy of their motion feemed in a manner to be preferved, as well as the creative breath by which they were animated. The more gentle, or more fubtle, had loft nothing of their phyfiognomy. Labour, cunning, and patience, art had clofely imitated. The natural hiftory of each animal was engraved under it, and the attendants explained verbal- ly, what would have been two long to be read.

That fcale of beings, fo contefted in our day, and which many philofophers had judi- cioufly fuppofed, was here confirmed by the cleareft evidence. Wc faw diftinctly that the feveral fpecies touch ; that they run, fo to fpeak, into each other \ that by the delicate and fenfible connections * between the mere Hone and the plant, the plant and the animal, the animal and man, there remained no inte-

refticet.

68 The Ki^s Cabinet.

reftices. That their growth, duration, and definition, were determined by the fame caufes. It was moreover remarked, that na- ture in all her operations, tended with ener- gy to the formation of man; and that labour- ing patiently, and even at a difbmce, that important work, (he endeavoured, by various effays, to arrive at the gradual term of his perfection, which feemed to be the utmoft ef- fort of her power.

This cabinet was by no means a chaos, an undigefted mafs, where the objecls, either widely fcattered, or heaped together, afforded no determinate idea. The gradations were fkiifully difpofed and preferved. But what moft of all favoured the arrangement, was, that they had difcovered a preparation, which preferved the feveral fubje&s , from thofe in- fers that fpring from corruption.

I found myfelf opprefled by the weight of fo many miracles. My eye embraced all the luxury of nature. How at that moment did I reverence its Author! What homage did I render to his power, his wifdom, and what is

even

The King s Cabinet. 69

■

even ftill more precious, his goodnefs ! How important a being does man appear, when ranging amongft thefe wonders, collected by his hands -, and which feem created for him, as he alone has the power of difcerning their various properties. That line fo juftly propor- tioned, thofe connections, thofe feeming va- cuities, but conftantly filled; that gradual order, that plan which admits of no interme- diate ; after furv eying the heavens, what fight is more magnificent on the earth, which it- felfj at the fame time, is but an atom (a) ?

By

(a) It muft be cc tTefled, that the hiftcry of nature is no- thing more than that of our own weaknefs. The little that we know difcovers the extent of our ignorance. Pbyfics are to us, what an occult fcience was to the ancients. We can- not conteft fome parts of it, but we can deny the whole. What axiom is there peculiar to it ? The project of a natu- ral hiflory is highly commendable, but it is fomewhat faftuous. A man fpends his whole life in difcovering the leaft props: ty of a mineral, and dies before he has ex- haufted the fubjeft. The immenfity of objects, animals, trees, and plants, is fufficient to awe the capacity of a Tingle man. But ought it to difcourage him ? No ; it is here that audacity is virtue, cbAinacy wifdom, and pre- emption utility. We mould watch nature fo clofely, that (he may at laft, by furprife, difcover her fecret j to find it out feems not impoffible to the human mind, pro- vided

70 Thé Ring* s Cabinet.

By what wonderful perfeverance, I faid, hare you been able to perform fo great a work ?

11 It is the work of many kings/' they re* plied ; u All jealous of honouring the title of an intelligent being; a fublime and ge- nerous paflion, fupported by a confiant ardor, has infpired them with the curiofity of pluck- ing off the veil from the bofom of nature. In- ftead of counting battles gained, towns taken by .affault, unjuftice, and bloody conquefts ; they fay of our kings, u He made fuch a difcovery in the ocean of beings ; he accomplished fuch a project for the good of mankind. They no longer fpend a hundred million of livres for the deftru£lion of their brethren in one campaign ; but employ it in augmenting their real riches ; in the. encouragement of genius and induftry, and by encreafing jheir force, complete the general happinefs."

There have been fecrets difcovered in all ages, by men in appearance the mod ftupid.

vkled the chain of observations be not interrupted, and that each philofopher be more anxions for the perfection of fcience than for his own glory 5 a rare, but necefiary facrifice, and one that points out the real friend to man.

7 Many

The King's Cabinet. Ji

Many of them have like lightning (hone for a moment on'y. We are fenfibie however that nothing is loft we wifh to fave. All is laid up in the bofom of nature ; we need but fearch ; it is vaft, it prefents a thoufand refources. Nothing is annihilated in the order of beings. By perpetually agitating the mafs of idea?, the mod unexpe&ed rencounters arife (a).

Fully

(«) When we regard the point from which men have fet out in their philofophical inquiries, and that to which they are now arrived, it muft be confefled, that with all our machines, we do not fufficiently extend the force of the human mind. Man, left 10 himfelf, feems more ftrong, than with all thofe foreign helps. The more we acquire, the more indolent we become* The infi- nite number of experiements has ferved fcarce any other purpofe than to confecrate error. Content with feeing, we have thought that we touched the extremity, and have difdained to feek further. Our philofophers glide over a thoufand important objecls, of which they ought to give the folution. Experimental philofophy is become an exhibition, a fort of public legerdemain. If the ex- periment that has been promifed is tardy or difobedienf, the operator frequently corrects it with a touch of his finger. What do we now fee ? Unconnected, ufelefs difcoveries ; dogmatical philofophers, who facrifice all to their fyftems $ retailers of words, who confound the vulgar, and excite pity on the man who can take the

polifhed

y 2 The King's Cabinet.

Fully convinced of the pofTibility of the moil aftonifhing difcoveries, we have not lingered in the purfuit.

We leave nothing to chance ; that word, totally void of meaning, is banifhed from our language. Chance is a fynonomous term for ignorance. Sagacity, labour, and patience, are the inftruments by which nature is com- pelled to difcover her mofl hidden treafures. Men have learnt to derive every poffible ad- vantage from the gifts they have received. By perceiving the degree to which they could af- cend, they have been flimulated by glory to perfue_ the abound! efs carreer that is fet be- fore them. The life of a fingle man, it is faid is too fhort ; it is true ; and what have we done ?

polifhed covering from off their jargon. The memoirs of the academy of fciences prefent a multitude of facls, of furprifing obfervations; but ail thofe obfervations re- ferable a relation of fome unknown people, where one man only has been, and where no one can go again. We muft believe the traveller and the philofopher, even though they mould have deceived themfelves 5 nor can we draw any utility from their relations, on account of the diftance of the country, and the difficulty of apply- ing their obfervations to any real objects.

We

The King's Cabinet. 73

we have united the force of each individual ; they have acquired an immenfe empire ; the one finifhed what the other began. The chain was never interrupted, but each link clofely connedted with that which went before ; thus it has been extended through feveral centu- turies, and this chain of ideas and of fuccef- five labour, may one day furround and* em- brace the univerfe. It is not merely a per- fonal glory, but the intereft of the human race, fcarce thought of in your day, that fupports the moft difficult enterprifes.

" We no longer amufe ourfelves with vain fy Items (a). Thanks to heaven (and to your folly) they are all exhaufted. The torch of experience alone direfts our fteps. Our end is to know the fecret caufes of each appear- ance, and to extend the dominion of man, by providing him with the means of executing

(a) Let the fabricators offyftems, phyfical and metaphy- fical, explain to me the following incident. Father Ma- billon was, in his younger days, an idiot. When he was fix and twenty, he fell with his head againft a ftone ftair-cafe. He was trepancd, and became a new man $ endowed with a lively imagination, an amazing memory, and a zeal for ftudy rarely equalled.

Vol. II. E all

74 The Kings Cabinet*

all thofe labours that can aggrandife his ex- iftence.

« We have certain hermits, (of one order only) who live in the forefts ; but it is to her- balife, which they do by choice, and from a natural propenfity. On certain ftated days they repair hither* to communicate their va- luable difcoveries.

<s We have efefted towers on the fiimmits of feveral mountains, where they make ob- fervations that are continually encreafing, and that confirm each other. We have form- ed artificial torrents and catara£ts, by which is acquired a force fufficient to produce the . greateft efFeas by motion (*). We have efta- bliflied aromatic baths, to rejuvenate the bo-

(a) The moft brilliant and expenfive undertakings are not the moft to be admired, if they are eretfed merely for oflentation. The machine that raifes the water which fupplies the gardens of Marley, is not, in the eyes of a wife man, of fo much confequence as a fingle wheel, turned by a rivulet, that grinds the corn for feveral vil- lages, or aids the labour of the manufacturer. Genius may be powerful, but it is only great when ufeful to mankind,

dies

The Kings Cabinet. 75

dies of thofe who are grown rigid by age ; for God has not created fo many falutary plants, and given the knowledge of their vir- tues to man, but to confign to his vigilance the care of preferving his health, and extend- ing the fragile and precious thread of his days.

cc Our public walks, which among you feem- ed calculated for pleafure only, pay us a ufe- ful tribute. They are formed of fruit-trees* that delight the view, and embalm the air with their odours. They have taken place of the lime, the barren cheftnut, and the Hunted elm. We engraft, and render prolific, wild trees, that our labours may correfpond with the blifsful liberality of nature, who only waits for that matter's hand, to whom the Creator, fo to fay, has fubmitted them.

"We have menageries of large extent, for all forts of animals ; and have found in the depths of the forefts, feveral fpecies that were altogether unknown to you. We mix thefe tribes to fee the efFe£ls they will produce* The difcovcries we have here made are afto- E 2 fcifhing,

7 6 The King's Cabinet.

nifhing, and highly ufeful, for the fpecres has fometimes encreafed to twice the common fize. To conclude, we have remarked, that our pains beftowed on nature, have rarely- been ineffeûual.

" We have alfo recovered many fecrets that were loft to you, merely for want of perfeve- rance in the fearch ; for you were more folli- citous to heap up a great number of words in the form of a book, than to recover, by dint of application, extraordinary inventions. We now poffefs, as did the ancients, malleable glafs ; the tranfparent flone ; the Tyrean pur- ple, with which the imperial robes were dyed} the mirror of Archimîdes [ci) \ the /Egyptian art of embalming; the machine by which they ere£led their obelifks ; the cloth in which their bodies were confumed on the funeral pile; the art of liquifying ftones ; the inex- tinguhliable lamps, and even the Appian fauce.

«Walk into thefe gardens, where botany has received all the perfe&ion of which it was

( a) If the moderns bave not precifely this mirror f they have fomethin? very like it%

J fufcepu-

The King's Cabinet. 77

iufceptible {a). Your blind philofophers com- plained that the earth was replete with poifons, we have difcovered, that they are the molt ef- ficacious remedies that can be employed. Pro- vidence has here been juftified, as it would be in every inftance, but for the weaknefs of our knowledge. We now no longer hear com- plaints upon the earth ; no mournful voice cries out„ " All is evil !" We fay, that in the fight of God, « All is good IV Even the effe&s of thefe poifons we not only forfee, but know how to prevent.

€C We have extra£ted from plants certain pe- netrating and benign juices, which, by infi- nuating themfelves into the pores of the fkin, mix with our fluids, eftablifh the temperament, and render the body more healthful, more fu- ple and robufh We have difcovered the fe-

{a) Thou, who wandereft over the fields, while think- ing on the veflfel- that plows the waves, and bears thy treafure; flop, (hort-fighted wretch ! Thou treadeft upon an obfeure, but falutary herb, that would communicate health and joy to thy heart 5 a treafure far more valuable than all thy rtiip contains, After having purfued a thou- fand chimeras, end thy labours like J. J. Roufieau, by herbalifing*

E 3 rret

78 The Kings Cabinet.

(fret of difîblving the flone without burning the entrails. We now cure the phthifis, and every other diforder formerly deemed incura- ble (#). But the moil excellent of all our en- terprifes was, the exterminating that dreadful hydra, that cruel and fhameful plague, which attacked the fource of life and pleafure. The . human race was on the brink of deflrudtion when we difcovered that happy fpecific, which has preferved its being and its pleafure, ftill more precious {a). In the courfe of our walk, the Buffon of that age joined demonftration to words, by pointing out to me the objeû? of nature, and adding his own reflexions."

(a) It is fhameful for a man to declare that he has a fecret ufeful to the human race, and referve it for the ad- vantage of himfelf and his family. Alas ! What recom- penfe would he have ? Wretch ! Thou mayft pafs through the midft of thy brethren, and fay to thyfelf, " Thefe beings are indebted to me for a part of their health and felicity !" But thou art not poffeffed of that noble pride, not affected by that benevolent idea ! Go, get gold, thou tnifcreant ! and debar thy foul of that enjoyment. Thou executeft juftice, thou punifheft thyfelf.

(£) I am concerned when I hear any one jeft on this terrible fcourge. We mould never mention it without tears, and not, in this inftance, imitate the buffoon Vol- taire.

But

The Kings Cabinet. 79

But what mod of all furprifed me, was an optical cabinet, where they had aflembled all the properties of light. It was a perpetual fcene of magic. They caufed to pafs before my eyes landicapes, profpe£ts, palaces, rain- bows, meteors, luminous cyphers, imaginary feas ; and which were more ftriking than even the realities \ it was the region of enchantment. The profpett of creation rifing out of inanity could not have given me a fenfation more ex? quifite and aftonifhing. .

They prefented me with a microfcope, by the aid of which, I perceived . new beings that had efcaped the piercing fight of our obfer- vers. So fimple and wonderful was the art.., that the eye was never fatigued. Every ad- vance they made, fatisfied the mod ardent curiofity ; the ftronger avidity it appeared to have, the more numerous were the objects that prefented themfelves. O ! How great does man here appear? I more than once ex claimed, and how pitiful, comparatively, were they, whom, in my time, they called great (a).

What

(a) A voluminous work might be compiled of the fe- vera! guettions, natural, moral, and metaphyseal, that E 4 prefent :

So The Kings Cabinet.

What related to acouftics was not left mi- raculous. They had acquired the art of imi-. taring all the articulations of the human voice, of the cries of animals, and the vari- ous notes of birds. By touching certain fprings we feemed to be inftantly tranfported to fome wild foreit -, where we heard the roarings of the lyon, the tyger, and the bear, who feem- ed to be in conflict with each other, The noife rent the ear. You would have faid that the echo, ftill more terrible, repeated at a diftance thole horrid and barbarous cries. But foon the fongs of nightingales fucceded to thofe difcordant founds. By their harmo- nious organs each particle of air became me- lodious ; the ear difcerned even the tremblings of their amourous wings, and thofe tender

prefent themfelves in crowds to the mind, and about which the man of genius knows no more than the fool 5 and we might reply in one word to all thefe metaphyfical, moral, and natural queftions ; but it mould be that of the pro- found logogriph or enigma, which furrounds us. I do not defpair but that they will one day difcover it. I ex- pect every thing from the human mind, when it mall know its own faculty, and unite them 5 and when it (hall regard its intelligence as a power that ought to penetrate all that is, and fubjecl all that it contemplates.

and

The Kings Cabinet. 8 1

rmd enchanting founds which the voice of man can never perfeâly imitate. To the in- toxication of pleafure was joined the fweet furprife, and the voluptuous fenfation that arofe from this happy union, feized every heart.

This people, who had conftantly a moral aim even in the prodigies of art, had happily deduced an advantage from this furprifing in- vention. When a young prince talked of com- bats, or discovered a warlike difpofition (#), they conduced him to a room, which they properly named3 the Hell. The artift imme- diately put the fprings in motion, and faluted his ear with all the horrors of a battle, the cries of rage and of grief; the lamentations ef the dying; the founds of terror.; the bel-

(<*) Ye mighty potentates, who divide the globe among ; you, and are furnifhed with cannons, mortars, and nume- rous weapons, which are displayed by the dazling ranks of thofe armies you fend to conquer a province or exter- minate a kingdom, 1 know not bow it is, but amidft all your waving enfigns, you appear to me mean and wretched. . The Romans, in iheir public games, diverted ihemfelves with the pigmies, whom they made fo combat each other, but little thought that they were in the eye of a wi/e man, what the dwarfs appeared to them.

E 5 lowing

82 The King's Cabinet.

lowing of that hideous thunder which is the fignal of definition and bears the execrable found of death. If nature did not then prevail on his mind, if he did not fend forth a cry of horror, if his countenance remained unmoved and placid, he was confined to that room for the remainder of his days. Every morning, however, they repeated a piece of this mufic, that he might be fatisfied without the deflruc- tion of the human race.

The director of this cabinet, to my great furprife, exhibited all his infernal opera, with- out acquainting me of his intention. O hea- vens ! mercy ! mercy ! I cried with all my Ylrength, doping my ears. O fpare me, fpare me ! He flopped the exhibition. — " How !" he faid, " does not this pleafe you ?" — None but a demon, I replied, can be pleafed with fuch an horrid uproar. — cc This, however, was in your time a very common diverfion, which the kings and princes of Europe all enjoyed, as they did the chace (<?), which, as has been very

juftly

(a) Among the many calamities that now opprefs Eu- rope, that which 1 find the moft advantageous is the de- pop u-

The King's Cabinet. 83

juftly remarked, is the true piûure of war (b). Your poets moreover extolled them for having.

fright- population. Since men muft be miferable, there are the fewer to fuffer. If this reflection be cruel, let it fall on them from whom it proceeds.

{b) How ftrange and deplorable is the conftitution of our political world Î Eight or ten crowned heads hold the human race in chains j they correfpond, they afford each other mutual aid, they keep them in their royal hands to gripe them at their pleafure, even till they produce con- vulfive motions. This confpiracy is not covered with a veil, but is open, public, and conducted by ambafiadors. Our complaints no longer reach their lofty ears. Look around through Europe 5 it is no other than a vaft arfenaf, where thoufands of barrels of powder want only a fingle fpark of fire to fet them in combuftion. Frequently icis the hand of a hare-brained minitfer that puts them in explo- sion ; he fets fire at once to the north and the fouth, to the two extremities of the earth. What an immenfe quan- tity of cannons, mortars, mufkets, balls, bullets, fwords, balloons, &c. of murdering flaves, obedient to the whip of difcipline, attend the orders of a cabinet, to difplay its Woody parade! Geometry itfelf has profaned its divine attributes by a/fifting the fury fometimes of ambitious, and fometimes capricious fovereigns. With what precision * do ^hey deftroy an army, bombard a camp, befiege or burn a city i I have feen academicians in cool blood confult on the charging a cannon. Alas ! gentlemen, ftay till you have at leaft a principality. What imports it you whofe name governs in any particular country f Your patriot-

E 6 ifm.n

84 The King's Cabinet.

frightened all the birds from the fky for ten leagues round, and for fagacioufly providing provender for the ravens ; but, above all things, thofe poets were extremely fond of de-

ifm is a falfe virtue, and dangerous to humanity. Let us examine a little into the lignification of the word patriot, To have an attachment to any ftate, it is neceflary to be a member of that ftate. Now, if you except two or three republics, there is, properly fpeaking, no fuch thing as a country. Why fhould the Engliihman be my enemy ? I am connected to him by commerce, by the arts, and by every other relation pofiible ; there is no natural antipathy between us. Why, therefore, would you, that by paiTing certain limits, I mould feparate my intereft from that of other men ? What we call patriotifm is a phantafy in- vented by kings, and deftrudive to mankind 3 for, if my nation were three times lefs than it is, I mould have three times as many more to hate; my affections therefore muft depend on the variable limits of dominions j in the courfe of the fame year, I muft deftroy my neighbour, and be friends with him that I endeavoured to mafiacre the day before j fo that, in fact, I only maintain the rights of a capricious matter, who would hold my foul in fubje&ion. No $ in my judgment, Europe fhould form but one vaft fUte ; and I dare to wifh that it may be united under one government. All things properly confidered, it would be highly advantageous. Then I could be in reality a patriot $ but, at the prefent day, what is it we call liberty ? " No- thing more" (fays a certain writer) " than theheroifm of ilavery."

fcribing

The King's Cabinet. 85

fcribing a battle." — Oh ! I intreat you, fpeak no more of the epidemic difeafe which then affli&ed the human race. Alas ! they were all feized with the fymptoms of rage and folly ; cowardly kings, from their faftuous thrones, gave the word for murder; and the paflive herd, guarded by one dog only, ran chearfully to the flaughter. How was it poflible to reclaim them at that time of illufion ? how break the magic talifman ? A little club, a ribband red or blue, a fmall enamelled crofs, communicated every where a fpirit of intoxication and fury. Others became poffeffed by the mere fight of a cock- ade, or a few doits. The cure neceflarily re- quired time ; but I was fully convinced, that, fooner or later, the lenient balm of philofophy would cicatr ife all thofe fhameful wounds (#)•

(a) What a fight ! two hundred thoufand men fpread over a vaft country, and only wait for the fignal to cut each other's throat, to mafiacre one another in the face of the fun and amidft the flowers of the fpring. It is not hatred that excites them : No j they are commanded by kings to murder each other. If this cruel event had ne- ver happened but once, would not they who had not been witnefles to it have had a juft right to doubt its veracity ? This thought is M, GaiHard's.

They

86 The King's Cabinet.

They conduced me to the cabinet of thé mathematics. It appeared richly ftored, and in the mod perfeft order. They had banifhed from this fcience all that refembled the fport of children, all that was merely dry and trifling fpeculation, or that furpafled the bounds of the human capacity. I faw machines of every kind that were proper to affi ft the arm of man, and fuch as contained much greater powers than are known to us ; they were adapted to all forts of motions ; and by the aid of thefe, the heavieft weights were managed with facility. — i; You have feen," they faid, cc thofe obelifks, thofe triumphal arches, thofe palaces, and other ftater ly buildings that aftonifh the fight. They are not the produce of mere ftrength, of numbers, or dexterity: it is by the aid of finifhed ma- chines, that they have been conftrutted." In a word, I here found the greateft variety of the moft accurate inftruments, for the ufe of geo-' snetry, aftronomy, and the other fcienees.

All they who had attempted experiments that were new, bold, mafterly, and that pro- mifed great utility, even though they did not Cucceed (for iuftruction may be gained from

dif-

The King's Cabinet. 87

difappointment) had their bufts ereûed, and decorated with their proper attributes.

They whifpered, moreover, that many re- markable, and even wonderful fecrets, were confided to the care of a fmall number of their fages ; for there are matters, good in themfelves* that may be abufed in their application (a). The human mind, in their opinion, was not yet fufficiently ftrong to make ufe of the moil rare or mod powerful difcoveries without dan- ger (b).

(a) King Ezechias (as the Scripture informs us) fup- prefTed a book that treated of the virtues of plants, for fear that, by making a wrong ufe of it, they mould even create difeafes. The fa& is curious, and affords matter for much reflection.

(b) What a horrible day was that for the human race, when a monk formed of falt-petre a murdering powder ! Ariofto tells us, that the devil having invented a carabine, touched by pity, threw it into a river. Alas! there is no longer any afylum upon the earth 5 courage now is ufe- lefs 5 the artillery is in the hands of a fmall number of men, an<J renders them abfolute matters of our exigence,

CHAP.

( 88 )

C H A P. V.

The Academy of Painting.

AS the arts among this people are conne&ed not only in a figurative, but in a real fenfe ; before I had gone many fteps I found myfelf at the academy of painting. I entered feveral large falons, adorned with the works of the greateft mailers, each of which af- forded a moral and inftruftive treatife. There was no longer feen that perpetual mythology, a thoufand times repeated, which though in- genious in the infancy of the art, was now be- come difguftful. The mofl pleafmg objects lofe at laft their charms : repetition is the lan- guage of a dunce. Thus it had happened to all thofe grofs flatteries, with which the fawn- ing painters had deify'd Lewis XIV. Time, like truth, had devoured all the lying canvas ; as it had fent to their proper place the infipid verfes of Boileau, and the prologues of Qui- nault, the arts were forbid to falfify (a).

There

(a) When I fee, in the gallery of Verfailles, Lewis XIV, with a thunderbolt in his hand, fcated upon the azure

clouds,

The Academy of Painting. 89

There, moreover, no longer exifted any of that order of men they called connoifl'eurs, who di- rected the artift with a golden ingot in their hands. Genius was free, followed it own laws and no longer debafed itfelf.

Among thefe moral paintings there were feen no brutal battles, no fhameful debaucheries of the fabulous gods, much lefs fovereigns furround- ed by virtues of which they were remarkably deficient. Such fubjeûs only as were proper to infpire fentiments of dignity and virtue were here exhibited. All the pagan divinities, equal- ly abfurd and fcandalous, were avoided by the precious pencil, now deftined to commemo*

clouds, like an avenging deity» the difdainful pity I feel for the pencil of le Brun is almoft reflected on the art : but when I confider that the painting furvives both the thundering god, and the artift who created him, I fmile.

The firft time Lewis XIV, faw a Teniers, he turned away his head with an air of difdain, and ordered it to be removed from the apartment, If that monarch was difgufted with thofe good folks that dance and fing j if he preferred the furious trooper fcowering through the duft and fmoke of à camp, the complexion of his mind is manifeft.

rate

90 r — JThe Academy of Painting.

rate the mod important actions ; by whic his meant thofe that give a noble idea of man ; fuch as clemency, generofity, perfeverance, courage, and a difdain of luxury.

I found that they had exhibited all thofe im- portant fubjefts that deferve to pafs down to pof- terity : thegreatnefs of foul confpicuous in cer- tain fovereigns was in particular immortalized. I faw Henry IV. nourifhing the city he befieg- €d ; Sullyflowly counting out a fum of money, that was deftined for his mailer's pleafures ; Lewis XIV. on his death-bed, crying out, u I now find I have been too fond of war j" Trajan tearing his veftment to bind up the wounds of an unhappy man $ Marcus Aurelius defcending from his horfe, durkig a hafty enterprize, to receive the petition of a poor woman. Titus diftributing food and remedies to the fick. St. Hilaire ftretching out his arm, and (howing his fon, who wept, Turenne feated amidft the duft ; the generous Fabius putting on the chains of a galley Have in the room of his father, &c. I faw no gloomy or cruel fubje&s. No beggar- ly courtiers here faid, with a fneer, " Even the painters now preach!" Every one acknow- ledged,

The Academy of Painting. 91

Judged their merit, in having fele&ed the moft fublime obje&s in human nature, that is, grand reprefentations of the fubje&s of hiftory. They had wifely determined that nothing was more important. All the arts had made, fo to fay, a wonderful aflbciation in favour of humanity. This happy agreement had thrown a greater luftre on the facred effigy of virtue ; it was be- come more adorable, and its afpeft, always charming, afforded a public inftruftion, asjuft as it was ftriking. Alas i how is it poflible to refift the power of the fine arts, when with x>ne voice they extoll and dignify the free and noble citizen ?

All thefe pi&uresattratted the eye,~as well by the execution as by the defign. Thefe painters had united the Flemifh colouring with the Ita- lian drawing ; or rather they had, by a pro- found ftudy, furpafled them. Honours, the only riches of the great man, at once animated and rewarded his labours. Nature feemed to appear as in a mirror. The friend of virtue was unable to contemplate thefe beautiful painting without the tender figh of pleafure. The guilty dared not to look upon them ; they feared left

thefe

9 2 The Academy of Painting.

thefe animated figures fliould aflume a voice, accufe, and confound them.

They told me that thefe pictures were exhi- bited to the people ; ftrangers werealfo admit- ted ; for they praftifed not that mean tyranny which excludes all who come from beyond a certain limit. Every year they propofed four fubjefls, that the artift might have time to give his work a due degree of perfection. The moft finifhed eafily obtained the fufFrage of the peo- ple; for attention was paid to the general voice, wliich is commonly that of equity itfelf. The , others, however, were fure to receive their due portion of praife. They were far from the injuftice of difcouraging the fcholar. The eftablifhed mafters were void of that unworthy and bafe jealoufy, which banifhed Pouffin far from his country, and caufed Le Seur to perifh in the flower of his days. They had diverted themfelves of that dangerous and fatal preju- dice, which, in my time, permitted no fcholar to follow any other manner than that of his mafter. They did not make infipid copyifts of thofe who, directed by good precepts, and then left to themfelves, would have attained

the

The Academy of Painting. 93:

the height of their profeflion. The difciple, in a word, did not bend under a yoke that ren- dered him fpiritlefs ; nor pace, with flow and trembling fteps, after a capricious mafter, and one too whom he was obliged to flatter. If he proved to be a man of genius, he went before him, and his preceptor was the firftto glory in his advancement.

There were feveral academies of drawing, painting, fculpture, and praftical geometry. Thefe arts, dangerous in my age, becaufe they encouraged luxury, pride, cupidity, and de- bauchery, were now become highly ufeful, as they were only employed to infpire fentiments of virtue, and to give to the city that majefty, thofe charms, that noble and fimple tafte, which by a fecret connexion elevates the minds of the people.

These fchools were open to the public. The difciples worked under its aufpices. Every one was permitted to declare his opinion. This did not, however, prevent the anthorifed directors from making a proper infpe£lion. But no fcho- lar was confidered as dependent on any parti- cular

94 The Academy of Painting.

cular matter, but as related to them all in ge- neral. By avoiding the appearance of a defpo- tic power, fo fatal to a mafterly and free ge- nius, they were enabled to produce artifts who had furpafled the chef-d'œuvres of antiquity. Their paintings were fo highly finHhed, that the remains of Raphael and Rubens were no longer fought after, but by fome obftinate and opinionated antiquaries.

It is needlefs to fay that all the arts and pro- feffions were equally free. It is only in a weak, barbarous, and tyrannic age, that fetters are given to induftry ; that a fum of money is re- quired of him who would labour in any profef- Con, inftead of affording him a recompenfe. All thofe little ludicrous corporations ferve no other purpofe, by collecting a number of peo- ple together, but to ferment their pafTions to a more violent degree. A multitude of indeter- minable incidents arife from that bondage, which neceflarily render them enemies to each other. So in a prifon, men, when chained to- gether, communicate their rancour and their vices. By endeavouring to prevent private in- terefts, they have rendered it more adlive, 6 which

The Academy of Painting. 9$

which is juft thecontrary to what a wife legif- lature fhould purfue. A thoufand diforders pro- ceed from this perpetual conftraint, by which men are prevented from exercifing their parti- cular talents. From hence fpring idlenefs and fraud. The misfortune arifes from the impo- tence of thofe who would relieve themfelves from that deplorable ftate, in which they are held by an arm of brafs, and which nothing but gold can relax. The monarch, to enjoy a trifling tribute, has deflroyed the moft facred li- berty, and choaked up all the fources of fpirit and induftry.

Among thefe people, well inftru&ed in the rights of mankind, each one followed that par- ticular employ to which his genius led him ; the fure pledge of fuccefs. They who had no propenfity to the fine arts, applied themfelves to more attainable profeffions ; for no medio- crity is allowable in works of genius. The glory of the nation appears to be affe£ted by thofe talents, which diftinguifh not only men, but empires.

CHAP.

(96)

CHAP. VI.

Emblematic Paintings.

I Entered a feparate apartment, where they had represented the feveral ages. To each of them was given, befides its natural phy- fiognorny, thofe features by which it was dif- tinguifhed from its brethren. The age of igno- rance was clothed in a black and mournful robe. Her eyes were red and gloomy, and in her hand ftie bore a torch. At a diftance was feen a funeral pile, before which flood priefis covered with a long veil, and human victims, their eyes concealed by bandages, who were devoted to the flames.

Further on I faw a wild enthufiaft, with- out any other merit than that of a heated ima- gination, with which he fired thofe of his fel- low citizens, not lefs inflammable ; and by thundering forth die name of the deity, he drew after him a crowd of people, as a docile herd run after the voice of the fhepherd. Even kings quitted their thrones, abandoned their depopu- lated

Emblematical Paintings. Q7

lated ftates, and believing they heard a voice from heaven, facrificed themfelves,theircrowns, and their fubje&s, in the midft of vaft defert?. In the back ground was feen Superflition ftrid- ing over the heads of mankind, and (haking her murdering torch. Gigantic monfter ! her feet touched the two extremities of the earth, and her arm, holding the palm of martyrdom, was extended to the clouds.

Another, lefs ardent, but more contem- plative, was devoted to myftery and allegory, and wrapt up in the marvellous; was conftantly furrounded by enigmas, and endeavouring to thicken the fhades by which he was enveloped. There were feen the Platonic years, the num- bers of Pythagoras, the verfes of the Sybils, the powerful charms of magic, and thofe pref- riges, fometimes ingenious and fometimes inlî- pid, that the mind of man has created.

Another held in his hand an aftrolabe, attentively regarded the calendar, and calcu- lated the hours fortunate and unfortunate. A cold and filent gravity was "imprinted on his protrafted vifage. He turned pale at the con-

Vol. II. F junction

-Ç? Emblematical Paintings.

junction of two ftars. The prefcnt hour was nothing to him, and the future was his executio- ner. His religion was directed by the iidiculous jargon of aftrology, and he embraced that phantom as an immoveable column.

Then appeared a figure covered with armour; his head was enclofed in a brazen helmet, and in his hand he bore a lance. He breathed no- thing but fmgle combat. The foul of this hero was more hardened than the fteel that covered him. It was by arms alone that right, opinion, juftice, and truth, \v;ere to be decided. In the back ground were feen the field of combat, judges and heralds fupported the vanquiftued, or rather the guilty.

In another part was feen a figure totally bur- lefque. A Gothic architect, erecting columns that had no proportion to the weight they fup- ported, and which were charged with ridicu- lous ornaments.^ and thofe hethought a refine- ment in building, unknown to the Greeks or Romans. The fame irregularity was confpicu- ous in his logic, which confided of abftraéfc ideas, and perpetual chicanery. At a diftance

were

Emblematical -Parniingi . g 9

were feen a fort of fleep-walkers, who talked and a£ted with their eyes open, but, plunged in a long dream, never coiwie£ted two ideas, un- lefs by chance.

Thus every age fucceffively preferited itfelf ; but the detail would be here too long. I flood for fome time regarding the eighteenth century, induced by my ancient connection with it. It was reprefented by the painter under the figure of a woman. A number of borrowed and coftly ornaments loaded her proud and delicate head. Her neck, her arms, and breaft, were covered with pearls and diamonds. Her eyes were bright and fparkîing, but a fomewhat affccSted fmile gave an air of grimace to her mouth. Her cheeks were covered with a flaming red. Art appeared to be mixed with her words, as with her looks ; they were allur- ing, but not true. She held in each hand a long rofe-coloured ribband, which feemed or- naments, but concealed two iron chains, by which flie was ftrongly bound. She had, how- ever, liberty enough to gesticulate, to prançe, and gambol, and this (he did to excefs, in or- der, (as it fliould feem) to difguife her flavery, or at leaft tt make it more eafy and pleafing. F 2 I ex-

ICO Emblematical Paintings.

I examined her figure with attention, and trac- ing the drapery of her veftmenr, I perceived that her pompous robe was at the bottom in tatters, and covered with dirt. Her naked feet were plunged in a kind of bog ; her lower ex- tremities were as hideous as her head was bril- liant. She appeared in this drefs not much un- like one of thofe ftrumpets who walk the ftreets at the beginning of the night. I difcovered behind her a number of children, with meagre livid afpefts, who cried to their mother while they devoured a morfel of black bread. She endeavoured to hide them with her robe, but between the tatters thofe wretched infants ftill appeared. At a diftance in the picture were feen fuperb palaces, buildings of marble, par- terres artfully laid out, vaft forefts peopled with deer, where the horn reiounded from afar. But the country, half uncultivated, was filled with wretched peafants, who harrafled by fatigue, funk under their burthens : then appeared men who forced away part of them to the wars, and tookfrom the reft their beds and their kettles (a).

The

(a) Tyranny is a dangerous tree, which (hould be root- ed out as foon as planted. The beauty of this tree is de- ceitful*

Emhlemattcal Paintings. i o i

The characters of the different nations were cxprefled with equal fidelity. By colours varie- gated with a thoufand mixtures, by a gloomy and melancholy countenance, was diftinguifh- ed the jealous and vindictive Italian. In the fame pi&ure his thoughtful looks difappeared in the midft of a concert ; the painter had feized, with remarkable addrefs, that crifis to make him become fuple in an inftant. The back ground contained a reprefentation of the droll jefts of pantomimes.

The Englifliman, in an attitude rather Baughty than majeftic, ftanding upon the point

ceitful. While young it appears crowned with flowers and laurels, but is fecretly nourished by blood. It foon grows, fpreads its branches, and lifts its lofty head. It covers all that forrounds it with a failuous and deadly made. The neighbouring fruits and flowers perim, de- prived of the beneficent rays of the fun, which it inter- cepts* It compels the earth to nourifh none but itfelf. It at la(l becomes like ihat venomous tree, whofe fweet fruit is poifon, and that changes the drops of rain which diftil from its leaves into' a corrofive fluid, that give the weary traveller at once fleep and death. In the mean time its trunk becomes knotty, its fap is changed into hard wood, and the branches of its brazen root are ex- tended ; the ax of liberty becomes blunt, and can make no imprefiîon on it.

F 3 of

102 Emblematical Paintings.

of a rock, commanded the ocean, and gave to a veflel the fignal to vifit the new world, and bring him back its treafures. His bold looks declared that his private liberty was equal to that of the. public. Contending fleets, growl- ing under the ftrokes of the temped, affordedf his ear fweet harmony. His hand was cori- ftaatly ready to feize the fword of civil war, and with a fmile he looked ftedfaft at a fcaf- fold, on which fell a head and a crown.

The German, under a fky that flaflied with lightning, was deaf to the roaring of the ele- ments : it was hard to fay whether he braved them, or was infenfible. His eagles tore each other by his fide, which to him it was mere di- verfion. Wrapped up in himfelf he beheld his deftiny with aphilofophic or infenfible eye.

The Frenchman, full of noble and elevated graces, prefented a refined afpeft. His figure was not original, but his manner was great. Imagination and judgment were exprefled in his countenance; he fmiled with an addrefs that feemed to approach deceit. There ran through the whole of his figure much unifor- mity..

Sculpture and Engraving. IÔ3

imty. His colours were pleafing, but there was nothing of that boldnefs, nor of that fine effe£l of lights, which were admired in the other pic- tures. The fight was fatigued by a multipli- city of details, that reciprocally injured each/ other. An innumerable crowd bore little drums, which they were continually beating, and thought they imitated the roaring of ca- non : It was a paffion as bufy and boiflerous, as it was weak and tranfient.

CHAP. VII.

Sculpture and Engraving*

SCulpture, not lefs pleafing than her elder fifter, difplayed in turn all the wonders of her art, which was no longer proftituted to thofc impudent fons of wealth, who debafed it by executing reprefentions of their venal figures, or fome other fubjeft equally defpicable. The artift, provided for by the government, confe- crated his talent to merit and virtue only. There was not here feen, as in our apartments, F 4 by

104 Sculpture and Engraving.

V ty the fide of the king's buft, the vile tax-ga- therer who deceived and defrauded him, pre- fenting without fhame his bafe phyfiognomy. Does a man, by advancing himfelf in a career of memorable aftions become worthy of the re- gard of pofterity ? Does another perform feme great and valiant exploit ? The animated artift then charges himfelf with the public acknow- ledgment ; he meditates in private one of the moft mafterly performances of his days, and, without adding the portrait of the author, he prefently produces his work and obtains per- miffion to immortalife himfelf with the hero i his labour ftrikes every eye, and has no need of a frigid commentary. The fculptor was ex- prefly forbid thofe fubje&s that did not fpeak to the mind, and confequently the fine marble, or other matters equally valuable, were no longer wafted.

All thofe licentious fubje&s that loaded our chimney pieces were ftri&ly prohibited» Men of merit had no conception of our legifla- tion, when they read in hiftory that in an age which fo frequently pronounced the words Reli- gion and Morality, the father of a family fhould

exhibit

Sculpture and Engraving* 105

exhibit fcenes of debauchery to the eyes of his children, under pretence that they were mafter- pieces of art ; that they fhould expofe objects capable of heating the moft tranquil imagina- tion, and of filling young minds, open to every impreflion, with diforderly ideas j they were grieved at this public and criminal pra&ice of depraving the mind before it was completely

formed (a).

An

(a) Among other public abufes propofed to beredrefled, may be ranked thofe licentious (hews that offend not only againft found morals but good fenfe, equally refpetlable.' When fpeaking of the theatres, we forget to mention the tumblers and rope dancers 5 but the difpofuion of a work is of no great momen", provided the author there includes all his ideas. I mall, like Montaigne, turn back upoa every occafion ; I difregard the cenfure of the critics 5 I flatter myfelf, that, at leaft, I (hall not belike ^hem, dif- guftful. To return then to the tumblers and rope-dancers, fo common and fo (hocking ; (hould they be tolerated by humane magiftrates ? After having employed all their time in exercifes equally aftonifhing and frivolous, they rtfk their lives in public, and tell a thoufand fpedators, that the death of a man is a matter of very little confe- quence. The attitudes of thefe performers are befide in- decent, and offend both the eye and the heart. They per- haps alfo accuftom minds not yet formed to find no plea- fure but in that which is attended with danger, anfi to think that the life of a man may make part of our diver- F 5 fions.

ïbô Sculpture and Engraving.

An artift, to whom I applied for information, carefully explained to me allthefe great changes. He told me, that in the nineteenth century there was a great fcarcity of marble, fo that they were obliged to have recourfe to the heap of finan- ciers, tax-gatherers, and fecretaries bufts, which were fo many blocks in part ready prepared ; they were therefore eafily reformed, and became finifiied pieces,

I passed into the laft gallery, not Iefs curious than the others for the multiplicity of pieces it contained. There was aflembled an univerfai collection of drawings and engravings. Not* withftanding the great improvements in the laft art, they had preferved the works of the preceding ages ; for it is not with prints as with books ; a book muft be either good or bad, whereas a print, which prefents itfelf to the eye only, may always ferve as an objeel of iomparifon.

fions. It will be fard, that this is moralifing on very tri- fling fubjecls ; but I have remarked that thefe wretched performances have much more influence on the multitude tba* all thofe arts that have fome appearance of ratio- nality.

This

Sculpture and Engraving* 1<>J

This gallery, which owed its origin to the age of Lewis XV. was now very, differently difpofed. It was no longer a fmall room, in the midft of vihich was a table that could fcarce contain a dozen artifts, and where you might go ten times before you found a vacant place. Thatclofet, moreover, was open only on cer- tain clays, in the whole fcarce a tenth part of the year, and which fmall portion was liable to be abridged at any time by the caprice of the director. Thefe galleries were open every day, and committed to the care of polite affiftants, who were punctually paid, that they might ferve the public with the fame punctuality. In this fpacious room, you were fure to find a print of each painting and fculpture contained in the other galleries ; it prefented an abridgment of thofe chef-d'eeuvres which they had la- boured to immortalife, and to diffufe to the greateft degree poflible*

Engraving is as fruitful and happy aè printing ; it has the advantage of multiplying its impreffion, as printing does its copies ; and by that mean every private perfon, every ftran- ger, may procure a rival copy of a painting. All F6 the

ïe8 Sculpture and Engraving*

the inhabitants decorate, without jealoufy, their walls with thefe interefting fubje&s, which re- prefent examples of virtue and heroifm. We no longer fee thofe pretended connoifieurs, no ïefs futile than ignorant, who purfue an imagi- nary perfection at the expence of their eafe aiid their wealth, conftantly liable to be duped, and to which they were remarkably difpofed.

I ran over with avidity thofe «voluminous works in which the engraver had described, with ,fo much facility and precifion, not only the contours, but the colours of nature ; all the paintings were exprefled to perfedion ; but what had moft engaged their attention were thofe objects that relate to the arts and fciences. The plates of the Encyclopedia had been entire- ly regraved, and they had more carefully at- tended to that rigourous precifion which is their chief merit, as the leaft error is of the higheft confequence. I obferved a magnificent courfe of natural philofophy treated in the fame jnanner ; and as that fcience is, in a peculiar manner, the obje& of the fenfes, it is by the figures relative to it, that, perhaps, we attain juft ideas of all its parts* An art that affords

fo

Sculpture and Engraving. lûg

{o many ufeful fubjech is deferving of high efteem, and they had here given it frefli marks of confideration.

I observed, that all was executed in true tafte ; that they followed the manner of Ger- rard Audran, and which they had improved by carrying it to the higheft degree of perfection poflible. The flour ifh es in books were no longer called cochins ; and many other like miferable phrafes were aboliflied (a).

The engravers had defifted from the ufe of that pernicious glafs, which deftroyed their fight entirely. The connoiflfeurs of this age were no admirers of thofe little points in which all the merit of modern engraving confifts; they preferred large, free, regular ftrokes, that exprefled every thing with certain touches that were juft and nobly defigned., The engraver readily confulted the painter, who, in his turn, avoided affe&ing the caprice of a mafter. They efteemed one another, they lived together as friends and equals, and were far from reflecting

(a) M. Voltaire fliould be fatisfied before-hand ; he, who has fo long pleaded for this important reformation*

the

tlô The Hall of Audience*

the faults of any work on each other. Engraving was, moreover, become of great advantage to the ftate, by the commerce of prints with fo- reigners, fo that of thefe artifts it may be faid, that under their propitious hands copper be- comes gold.

CHAP. VIII.

The Hall of Audience.

I Could not quit thefe rich galleries without the greateft regret ; but my infatiable cu- riofity, that would leave nothing unfeen, car- ried me into the center of the city. I faw a . great multitude, compofed of each fex, and of every age, that flocked with precipitation to- ward a portal that was magnificently decorated. I heard from different parts, " Let us make hafte ! our good king has* perhaps, already mounted his throne ; we {hall fcarce fee him afcend it to-day." — I followed the crowd, but was much aftonifhed to find that there were no ferocious guards to beat back the thronging

people.

fie Hall of Audience. tm

people. I came to a moft fpacious hall, fup- ported by many columns ; 1 advanced, and at laft came near to the monarch's throne. No ; it is impofhble to conceive an idea of royal majefty more pleafing, more auguft, more graceful and engaging. I was melted, even to tears. I faw no thundering Jupiter, no terri- ble apparatus, no inftruments of vengeance. Four figures of white marble, reprefenting fortitude, temperance, juftice, and clemency, fupported a plain armed chair of white ivory, which was elevated merely to extend the voice. The chair was crowned with a canopy, fupport- ed by a hand, the arm of which feemed to come out of the vaulted roof. On each fide of the throne there were two tables ; on one fide was engraved the law of the ftate, and the limits of the royal authority ; and on the other, the duties of kings and of fubje£ls. In front was a woman fuckling a child ; a faithful emblem of royalty. The firft ftep to the throne, was in form of a tomb. . Upon it was wrote in large charaders, ETERNITY. Under this ftep repofed the embalmed body of the laft monarch, there to remain till deplaced by his Ton. From thence he cried to his heirs, that they were all

mor-

122 The Hall ofÀndtwce»

mortal ; that the dream of royalty was near? finifhed; that then nothing would remain to* them but their renown.

This vaft place was already filled with peo* pie, when I faw the monarch approach, clothed in a blue mantle that gracefully flowed behind him j his forehead was bound with a branch of olive, that was his diadem ; he never appeared in public without this refpe£lable ornament,, which was revered by others and by himfelfV There were loud acclamations when he mount- ed the throne, and he did not appear infenfible to the cries of joy. Scarce was he featedj when an awful filence was fpread over the whole af- fembly. I liftened with attention. His minifters read to him,withaloudvoice,an account of every thing remarkable that had pafled fince the laft audience. If the truth had been difguifed, the people were there to confound the detraâor. Their demands were not forgot. An account was rendered of the execution of orders before given. This reading always concluded with, the daily price of provifions and merchandife. The monarch hears, and approves by a nod, . or refers the matter to a more minute exami- nation ; 2

The Hall of éditrice* 113

nation. But if from the bottom of the hall there fliould be heard a voice complaining, or con- demning any one article ; though it were that of the meanefl citizen, he is brought forward to a little circle formed before the throne ; there he explains his ideas (a) 5 and if he appear ta be right, he is attended to, applauded, and thanked ; the fovereign regards him with a fa- vourable afpett i but if, on the contrary, ha advances nothing to the purpofe, or what ap- pears plainly to be founded on private advan- tage, he îs difmifled with difgrace, and the hoots of the people follow him to the door» Every man may prefent himfelf without any other apprehenfion than that of incurring the public derifion, if what he propofe be unjuft or felf-interefted.

(#) It is one of the greateft misfortunes in France, that the police and adminiftration of all affairs is directed en- tirely by the magiftrates, by men inverted with a place* and a title, who never deign to confult (at leaft on the part of the public) private perfonsthat are frequently en- dowed with knowledge and fagacity to an eminent de- gree. The moft worthy and accomplished citizen cannot difplay his ufeful talents and the dignity of his fentiments, unlefs poiTeiTed of a public employment ; he muft ftifle- his noble deiîgns, bea witnefs ta the mod flagrant abufes, and be filent.

Two

114 ^ Hdl of Audience.

Two principal officers of the crown accom* pany the monarch in all public ceremonies, and walk by his fide ; the one carries, on the point of a fpear, an ear of corn, and the other a branch of the vine (a)9 which ferve conftandy to re* mind him that they are the two fupports of the ftate and the throne. He is followed by the pantler of the crown, bearing a bafket of loaves, which he diftributes to every one that afks. This bafket is the fure thermometer of the public diftrefs ; and when it is found empty, the minifters are difmifled and puniflied ; the bafket, however, conflantly remains full* and declares the public profperity.

This auguft feffion is held every week, and lafts three hours. I went from the hall with a heart filled with complacency, and with the profoundeft refpeâ: for this monarch, whom I loved as a father, and revered as a protecting di- vinity.

(*) The emperor Taifang walking in the country, and feeing a number of peafants at woik, faid to his fon, who attended him, " Without the fweat and labour of thefc men, neither you nor Ilhculd have any empire."

Icon-

The Hall cf Audience. 1 1 5

I conversed with fevcral perfons on all that I had feen and heard ; they were furprifed at my aftonifliment ; all thefe things feemed to them quite fimple and natural. — " Why," faid one of them, u will you have the rafhnefs to compare the prefent time to an cxtravagantand capricious age ; that entertained falfe ideas of the moil fimple matters, when pride was great- nefs, when fplendor and 0 (tentation were all> and when virtue was regarded as a phantom, the mere imagination of dreaming philofo^ phers (*).

(a) We mould pay a refpecl to popular prejudices ! H

the language of narrow and pusillanimous fouls, to whom the mere exigence of a law is fufficient to make it facred. Does the man of virtue, to whom alone it belongs to Jove or hate, acknowledge this criminal moderation ? No ; he- charges himfelf with the public vengeance, his right i* founded on his genius, and the juftice of Ms caufeon the- acknowledgment of pofterity,

CHAP,

( u6 )

C H A P. IX.

The Form of Government*

MAY I afk what is the prefent form of go- vernment? Is is monarchical, demo- cratic, or aristocratie (a)? — « It is neither of them j it is rational, and made for man. Mon- archy is no more. Monarchical governments,, as you knew, though to little purpofe, lofe themfelves in d'efpotifm, as the rivers are loft in the bofom of the ocean; and dèfpotifm foon finks under its own. weight (b). This has

been

(a) The genius of a nation does not depend on the at* mofphere that furrounds it 5 the clima e is not the phyfi- cal caufe of its grandeur or debafement. Force and cou- rage belong to all the people of the earth 5 but the caufe*. that put them in motion and fuftain them* are derived from certain circurmlances, that are fometimes fudden, fometimes flow in their operations j but, fooner or later, they never fail to arrive- Happy are the people who, by information or by inftinct, feize the crifis !

{b) Would you know what are the general principles that habitually prevail in the councils of a monarch ? here follows the fubflance of what is there faid, or rather of what is there done. Taxes of every kind fliould be mul- tiplied^

"The Form of Government. 117

been all literally accomplifhed, and never was there a more certain prophecy.

"When

tiplied, for the prince can never be rich enough, confider- ing that he is obliged to maintain armies and the officers of his houfhold, who ought, by all means, to be ex- tremely magnificent. If the people complain of thefe loads they do wrong, and muft be curbed.

No injuftice can be done them, for in reality they have nothing but what the good will of the prince gives them, and which he may take again whenever he (hall think fit, efpec'alîy if the intereft orfplendor of his crown require it. Bu de, it is notorious, that a people at their eafe, and in the rnidft of plenty, become lefs laborious, and may become infolent. We mould therefore retrench their profperity that we may add to their fubmiflion. The pove ty of the fubjecl is forever the ftrongeft rampart of a monarch ; and the poorer the individuals are, the more obedient the nation will be. Once taught to. fubmit, they will perform it by habit, which is the mod certain method of being obeyed. It is not fufficient that they merely fubmit, they mould be taught to believe, that the fpirit of wifdom here prefides in the higheft perfection, and fubmit accordingly, without daring to difpute about the decrees that proceed from our infallible knowledge.

If a philofopher mould have accefs to this prince, and advancing to the midft of his council, mould fay to him, M Take heed how you give credit to thefe evil coun* fellors 3 you are furrounded by the enemies of your fa- mily : your grandeur and fecui ity are founded lefs on an

arbitrary

t \ 8 The Form of Government.

*' When we confider the lights that have been acquired, it would doubtiefs be a difgrace to the human race, to have meafured thediftance between the fun and the earth, to have weighed the heavenly orbs, and not to have difcovered thofe fimple and efficacious laws by which man- kind fhould be governed. It is true, that pride, luxury, and felf-intereft produce a thoufand ob- ftacles ; but how glorious is it to difcover the means of making thofe private paflions fubfer- vient to the general good ! The veflel that plows the ocean commands the elements at the fame moment that it is obedient to their em- pire ; fubmiflive to a double impulfe, it incef-

arbitrary power, than on the love cf your people. If they are unhappy, they will the more ardently wifli for a revolution, and will make either your throne, or that of your children. The people are immortal, but yon mud pafs away. The majefty of the throne refides more in a truly paternal tendemefs, than in an unlimit- ed power j that .power is violent, and contrary to the order of nature. v By being more moderate, you wit) become more potent. Set an example of juftice, and know that it is by morality alone that a prince becomes powerful and refpeclable." This philofopher would certainly be taken for an enthufiaft, and perhaps they •would not even vouchfafe to punifti him for his virtue*

7 famly

TJje Farm of Government. 1 1 9

fantly re-a£ts againfl them. You there fee, per- haps, the mod lively image of a ftate ; born up by tempeftuous paffions, it receives from them its movements, and at the fame time refifts the itorm. " The art of the pilot is all." Your political light was nothing more than a crepuf- cule ; and you wretchedly complained of the Author of nature, at the fame time that he had given you both intelligence and ftrength for government. There only wanted a loud voice toroufe the multitude from their lethargy. If op- preffion thundered on your heads, you ought to have accufed your own weaknefs only. Liberty and happinefs appertain to thefe who dare tofeize them. All is revolution in this world ; the moft happy of all has had its point of maturity» and we have gathered its fruits [a).

(a) In certain Hates it is an epoch that becomes neceC- fary 3 an epoch terrible and bloody, but the fignal of liberty. It is of a civil war that I fpeak. It is that calls forth all the men of exalted genius, fome to attack, and others to defend liberty. A civil war difplays the moft hidden talents, Men of wonderful abilities arife, and appear worthy to command the human race. It is a horrid remedy ! But in the ftupor of a ftate, when the minds of men are plunged in a deep lethargy, it becomes necefiary.

« Freed

120 The Form of Government.

" Freed from oppreflion, we have taken care not to place all the ftrength and fprings of government, all the rights and attributes of power, in the hands of one man (a). Inftruft- ed by the misfortunes of paft ages, we are become lefs imprudent. If Socrates or Mar- cus Aurelius fhould again vifit the earth, we fhould not confide to them, an arbitrary power ; not from a miftruft, but from a fear of depreciating the facred chara&er of a free citizen. Is not the law the voice of the gene- ral will of the people ? And how can we dare

(a) A defpotic government is nothing more than a league between a fovereign and a fmall number of fa- vourite fubjefts, in order to cheat and plunder the reft. In that cafe the monarch, or he that reprefents him, di- vides and deftroys fociety, becomes a feparate and cen- tral body, that lights up every paflion as it lifts, and fets them in motion for its perfonal intereft. He creats juf- tice and injuftice, his humour becomes a law, and his favour the meafure of public efteem. This fyftem is too violent to be durable. Juftice, on the contrary, is a barrier that equally protects the fubjeft and the prince* Liberty alone can form animated citizens, the only citi- zens, in faft, among rational beings, A king is never powerful but at the head of a free and contented people. The nation once debafed, the throne finks.

to

The Form of Government* 121

to commît fo important a depofit to a fingle man ? Has he not his unguarded moments ? And, even fuppofing him to be free from them, (hall men refign that liberty which is their mod valuable inheritance (à) ?

" We have experienced how contrary an abfolute fovereignty is to the true intereft of a nation. The art of railing refined tributes, all the powers of that terrible machine progreffive- ly multiplied ; the embarrafment of the laws, one oppofing another; chicanery devouring the poflefiions of individuals ; the cities crowded by privileged tyrants; the venality of offices -, minifters and intendants treating the different parts of the kingdom as conquered countries 5 a fubtle hardnefs of heart th§t juftifies inhu-

(a) Liberty begets miracles, it triumphs over nature* it caufes harvefts to grow upon rocks 5 it gives a fmiling air to the moft doleful regions ; it enlightens the pea- fant, and makes him more penetrative than the proud flaves of the moft polimed court. Other climates, the moft finifhed works of the creation, delivered up to fer- vitude, exhibit nothing but defolated lands, pale and de- jected vifages, that dare not lift their eyes to heaven; Choofe then, man! be happy or miferable ; if yet it be in thy power to choofe : fear tyranny, deteft flavery, arm thyfelf, live free, or die.

Vol. II, G manityj

122 The Form of Government*

inanity ; royal officers, who are in no degree refponfible to the people, and who infult them, Head of liftening to their complaints ; fuch was the effeâ: of that vigilant defpotifm, which collected every intelligence, to employ it to a bad purpofe ; not unlike thofe burning glaffes that coll eft the fun's rays, to deftroy fuch obje£ts as are prefented to them. When we pafled through France, that fine kingdom, which nature has favoured with her propi- tious regards, what did we behold ? Diftri&s defolated by tax-gatherers ; cities become bo- roughs, and boroughs villages ; the people pale and meagre ; in a word, beggars inftead of inhabitants. All thefe evils were known ; but evident principles were avoided to em- brace a fyftem of diflipation (#), and the fhad- dows that were raifed, authorifed the general depredation.

{a) An intendant of the province, defirous of giving the ****, who was going to Soiflbns, an idea of the abundance that reigned in France, caufed the fruit-trees of the country round about to be dug up, and planted in the ftreets o< the city, by digging up the pavement. Thefe trees he decorated with garlands of gilt paper. This intendant was, without knowing it, a very great pain- ter.

«Can

The Form of Government. ' ïaj

u Can you believe it? The revolution was effected without trouble, and by the heroifm of one great man. A philofophic prince, worthy of a throne, becaufe he regarded it with indifference ; more follicitous for the hap- pinefs of mankind than for the phantom of power, diftrufting pofterity, and diftrufting himfelf, offered to put the eftates of the na- tion in pofleflion of their ancient prerogatives; he was fenfible, that in an extenfive kingdom there mould be an union of the different pro- vinces, in order to its being well governed ; as in the human body, befide the general cir- culation, each part has one that is peculiarly adapted to itfelf ; fo each province, while it obeys the general laws, modifies thofe that are peculiar to it, agreeable to its foil, its pofition, its commerce and refpe&ive interdis. Ilence all lives, all flourifhes. The provinces are no longer devoted to ferve the court, and orna- ment the capital (a). A blind order from the

throne,

(a) From error and ignorance fpring all the evils that

epprefs humanity. Man is wicked only becaufe he mif-

takes his true in'ereft. In fpeculative phyiics, in aftro-

oomy, and mathematics, we may err without any real

G & detriment;

124 Tb* Form of Government.

throne, does not carry troubles into thofe parts where the king's eye has never 'penetrated. Each province is the guardian of its own fe- curity and its own happinefs ; its principle of life is not far too diftant from it ; it is with- in itfelf, always ready to alTift the whole,

detriment j but politics will not admit of the leaft error. There are vices in government more destructive than natu- ral plagues. An error of this kind depopulates and impo- verimes a kingdom. If the moft fevere, the moft pro- found fpeculation is ever neceftary, it is in thofe public •nd problematic cafes, where reafons of equal weight hold the judgment in equilibrium. Nothing is then more dangerous than the tricks of office j they produce incon- ceivable errors ; and the (late is not fenflble of its condi- tion till arrived on the brink of ruin. We cannot, there- fore, be too clear in the complicated art of government, as the leaft deviation is a line thatconftantly recedes as it in- Creafes, and produces an immenfe error. The laws have been hitherto nothing more than palliatives, that have been turned into general remedies ; they are, as has been very juftly faid, the offspring of necefiity, and not of phi- lofophy ; it belongs to the latter to correct, their defects. But what courage, what zeal, what love of humanity muft. he have, who, from fuch a chacs, (hall form a regular fyf- tem ! Bur, at the fame time, where is the man that would be more dear to the human race ? Let him re- member, that it is of all objects the moft important } that the happinefs of mankind, and confequently their virtues, are therein highly interefted»

and

The Form of Government. 125

and to remedy evils that may arife. The prefent fuccours are left to thofe who are intruded in its welfare, and will not palliate the cure, much lefs will they rejoice at thofe incidents that may weaken their country.

" The abfolute fovereignty is now abolifh- cd ; the chief magiftrate preferves the name of . king ; but he does not foolifhly attempt to bear all that burden which opprefled his anceftors. The legiflative power of the kingdom is lodg- ed in the ftates affembled. The adminiftra- tion of affairs, as well political as civil, is affigned to the fenate j and the monarch, arm- ed with the fword of ju.fticc, watches over the execution of the laws. He propofes every ufeful eftablifhment. The fenate is refpon- fible to the king, and the king and fenate are refponfible to the ftates ; .which are affembled every two years. All is there decided by the majority of voices. The enacting of new laws, the filling of vacant pofts, and" the re- dreffing of grievances, appertain to them ; par- ticular, or unforefeen cafes are left to the wif-. dom of the monarch.

G 3 ? --He

£26 ?3S Form of Government.

u He is happy (/?), and his throne is fixed upon a bafis the more folid, as his crown is guaranted by the liberty of the nation (£). Thofe foufe, that would have been but mean, owe their virtue tô that eternal iource of great- nefs. The citizen is not feparated from the itate*, he is incorporated with it (t), and, in

return,

(a) M. d'Alembert fays, that a king who does his duty is of all men the moft miferable ; and that he who does it not, is of ail others the moft to be pitied. *f But why is the king who does his duty the moft miferable ? Is it from the multiplicity of his labours ? No ; a happy labour is a j-eal pleafure. Does he make no account of that inward fatisfaclion which arifes from a confcioufnefs of having promoted the happinefs of mankind ? Does he not believe that virtue is its own reward ? Beloved by all, except the wicked, can the heart of fuch a king be infenfible to plea* fure ? Who has not felt the fatisfa&ion that refults from doing good j The king who does not fulfil his duty is the moft to be pitied. Nothing more .true, efpecially if he be fenfible to remorfe and infamy ; if he be not, he is ftiil the more to be pititd. Nothing more juft than this laft pro- portion.

{I) It is good in every ft a te, even in a republic, to have a limited chief. It is a fort of fpeftre that drives away ail projects from the mind of the ambitious. Royalty in this cafe is like a fcare-crow in a field, that prevents the birds from feeding upon the corn.

(r) They who have faid, that in a monarchy, the

The Form of Government. \ 12/

return, he fliows witK what zeal he exerts himfelf, in all that can interefl; its glory.

M Every a£fc publiflied by the fenate, ex- plains, in a few words, its origin and its de- fign. We cannot conceive how it was pof- fible in your age, that pretended fo much dif- cernment, for magiftrates to dare, in their furly pride, to publifti dogmatic arrets, like the decrees of the theologians. As if the law was not the public reafon, or it was not ne- ceflary that the people fhould be inftru&ed, in order to their more ready obedience. Thofe ancient magiftrates, who called themfelveâ the fathers of their country, mud have been ignorant of the great art of perfuafion ; that art which afts fo powerfully, and without la- bour \ or rather, they muft have had no fixed point of vie at, no determinate courfe, but fometimes riotous and feditious, and fometimes creeping flaves, they flattered or harrafled the

king is the depofitary of the will of the people, have af* fer ted an abfurdity. There is, in fac>, nothing more ridi- culous, than for intelligent beings, like men, to fay to one or more, " .Will for us/* the people have always faid to their monarch $ * Act for us," after you have clearly underftood what is our will.

G 4 throne

128 The Form of Government.

throne: by turns wrangling for trifles, and felling the people for a bribe.

u You will readily believe that we have dif- carded thôfe magi ftrates, accuftomed from their youth to all that infenfibility which is necef- fary coolly to defpofe of the property, the ho- nour, and lives of their fellow citizens. Bold in defence of' their meaneft privileges, care- lefs of what concerned the public welfare, they funk at laft into a perpetual indolence, and even fpared others the trouble of corrupting them. Very different are our magiftrates ; the title of fathers of their country, with which we honour them, they merit in the fulieft ex- cf the term.

" The reins of government are now com- mitted to wife and refolute hands, that pur- fue a regular plan. The Jaws reign, and no man is above thçm \ which was a horrid evil in your Gothic government. The general good of the nation is founded on the fecu- rity of each individual. No one fears man, but the laws ; the fovereign himfelf is fenfible

that

The Form of Government. 129

that they hang over his head (a). His vigi- lance renders the fenator* more attentive to their feveral duties ; the confidence he repo- fes in them foftens their labours, and his au- thority gives the neceflary force and activity

(a) Every government where one man alone is above the laws, and can violate them with impunity, muft be iniquitious and unhappy. In vain has a man of genius employed all his talents to make us acquiefce in the prin- ciples of an Afiatic government : they offer too great violence to human nature. Behold the proud veffel that plows the ocean, there needs but an imperceptible paf- fage to admit the water, ancf caufe her perdition. So one man that is above the law, may caufe thofe acls of injuftice and iniquity to enter a ftate, which, by an ine- vitable effect, will haften its ruin. What matters it whe- ther we perifti by one or many ? The misfortune is the fame. What imports it whether tyranny have a hundred arms, or one only, that extends itfelf over the whole «mpire 5 if it fall on every individual, if it fpring out frem at the very inftant it is cut off? Befide, it is not defpotifm that terrifies and confounds 5 it is its propaga- tion. The viziers, the pachas, &c. imitate their maf- ters ; they devour others while they expect to be devour- ed. In the government of Europe, their mocks, the fi- multaneous re-aclion of their feveral bodies, affords mo- ments of equilibrium, during which the people breathe 5 the limits of their refpe&ive powers, perpetually difor- <lered, holdss the place of liberty ; and the phantom is, at lead confolatory to thofe who cannot attain the reality*.

G 5 to

1 30 The Form cf Government.

to their decisions. Thus the fcepter, which opprefled your kings, is light in the hands of our monarch. He is not a viâim pompoufly decorated, and inceflantly a facrifice to the exigencies of the ftate ; he bears that burthen only which is proportioned to the limited ftrength he has received from nature.

u We have a prince that fears the Almighty, that is pious and juft, whofe heart is devoted to God and his country, who dreads the di- vine vengeance, and the cenfure of pofterityy and who regards a good confcience, and à^ fpotlefs fame, as- the highefl degree of felrci*- ty. It is not fo much great talents, or an ex- tenfive knowledge, that does good, as the fm^ cere defire of an upright heart that loves it, and wifhes- to a-ccomplifli it. Frequently the Boafted genius of a monarch, far from ad- vancing the happinefs of a kingdom, is ex- erted in deftroying its liberties*

u We have conciliated what feemed almoflE incomptatible, the good of the nation with that of individuals. They even pretended that the general happinefs of a ftate was necefTarily dif-

tin£t

The Form of Government. 131

tîn£t from that of fome of its members. We have not efpoufed that barbarous policy, found- ed either on an ignorance of juft laws, or on a contempt of the pooreft, but mod ufeful men in the ftate. There were cruel and deteftable laws that fuppofed men to be wicked ; but we are much difpofed to believe that they have only become fo fince the inftitution of thofe- laws. Arbitrary power has griped the human heart, and by its irritation has rendered it inflamed and ulcerated.

u Our monarch has every neceflary powerand opportunity to do good, but is prevented from doing evil. <* We reprefent the nation to him always in a favourable light; we difplay • its-- valour, its fidelity toward its prince, and its hatred of a foreign yoke,

** There are cenfors who have the right of expelling from about the prince all who are in- clined to irreligion, to licentioufnefs, to falfhood, and to that baneful art of covering virtue with ridicule (a). We do not admit amongft us

(a) I am much inclined to believe that (bvereigns are al- moft always the moft honeft men in their courts. The - foul of Narciflus was ftill more foul than that of Nero.

G 6 that

Ï32 7be Form of Government»

that clafs of men, who, under the title of nobi- lity (which, to render it completely ridiculous, was venal) crawled about the throne, and would follow no other profeffion than that of a fcldier or a courtier ; who lived in idlenefs, fed their pride with old parchments, and dif- played a deplorable fpedtacle of equal vanity and mifery. Your grenadiers fhed their blood with, as much intrepidity as the moft noble among them, without rating it at fo high a price. Such a denomination, moreover, in our republic would give offence to the other orders of the ftate. Our citizens are all equal ; the only diftin£lions we know are thofe which naturally arife among men from their virtue, their genius, and induftry (a).

f* Besides

(a) Why cannot the French fuffer a republican govern- ment ? Who in this kingdom is ignorant of the pre-emi- nence of the noblefTe, founded on the inftiiution itfelf, and confirmed by the cuftom of many ages ? Yet when under the reign of John, the third eftate rofe from their abject condition, jthey took their feat in the afiembly of the nation ; that haughty and barbarous noblefle beheld it without commotion, aiïbciate With the orders of the kingdom, though the times wereftill filled with prejudices; of the police of the fiefs, and the profeffion of arms. The

honour

The Form of Government. 133

« Besides all thofe ramparts, thofe barriers, and precautions ufed to prevent the monarch from forgetting, in time of public calamities, what he owes to the poor, he obferves every year a folemn faft, which continues for three days, during which time he fuffers continual hunger and thirft, and fleeps upon the ground. This fevere and falutary faft imprints on his heart the moft tender commiferation towards the neceffitous. Our fovereign, it is true, has no need of this penance to remind him ; but il is a law of the ftate, a facred law, conftantly followed and refpeâed. By the example of our monarch, every man who has any connec- tion withsgovernment, makes it his duty to feel what is want; and is from thence more difpof- ed to affift thofe who are obliged to iubmit ta

honour of the French nation, a principle ever active, and fuperior to the wifeft inftiiutions, may therefore one day become the foul of a republic ; efpecialîy when a tafte for philofophy, a knowledge of political laws, and the expe- rience of fo many evils, mail have deftroyed that levity, that indifcretion which biafts thofe brilliant qualities that would make the French the firft people in the univerfe^if they would well conûder, ripen, and fupport their pro- feels,

the

>34> Tfo Form of Governments

the imperious and cruel law of extreme tfe- oeffity (*)."

But

(<x) In the front of a philofopherV hermitage there war a rich and lofty mountain, favoured with the moil benign regards of the fun. It was covered with beautiful paftures,- with golden grain, with cedars and aromatic plants. Birds, the moft pleating1 to the fight, and delicious to the tafte, fanned the air in flocks with their wings, and filled< it with their harmonious warblings. The bounding deer- peopled the woods. Some genial lakes produced in their filver waters the trout, the perch, and dace. Three hundred families were fpread over this mountain, and there found ' a bleft abode, in the midft of peace and plenty, and in the bofomof thofe virtues they conftantly praclifed : each morn and eve they fen t their grateful thanks to heaven. But behold the indolent and voluptuous Ofman mounts the throne, and all thefe families are prefently ruined, driven from their abodes, and become vagabonds upon t he -• earth. The beauteous mountain was feized by his vizier, a noble robber, who feafted his dogs, his concubines, and his . flatterers, with the plunder of the unhappy people. Of- man one day lofing himfelf in the chace, met the philoso- pher, whofe hut had efcaped that torrent which had fwept all elfe before it. The pbilofopher recollected the monarch, without his fufpecling it : he treated him with a noble courtefy. They talked of the prefent times.— « Alas ! fa id the fage old man, we knew what pleafure was fome ten years fince ; but now all fuffers : extreme poverty has drove the poor from their habitations ; wrings their fouls,

and:

The Form of Government. ' 135

But, I faid that thefe changes muft have been long, laborious, and difficult. What efforts- you muft have made! — The philofopher, with a pleafing fmile, replied, " Good is not more difficult than evil. The human pallions are frightful obftacles ; but when the mind is once convinced of its. true intereft, the man becomes juft and faithful. It feems to me that a fingle perfon might govern the world, if the hearts of men were difpofed to toleration and equity. Notwithstanding the common inconfequence of thofe of your age, it was forefeen that rea- fon would one day make a great progrefs; rts effetts have become vifible, and the happy principles of a wife government have been the firft fruits of its reformation;"

and each day fees them go drooping to the grave, opprefled by extreme mifery."— " Pray tell me, faid the monarch; what is that mifery ?" The philofopher fighed, remained latent, and fet the prince in the way to his palace.

CHAP.

{ <36 )

CHAP. X. The Heir to the Throne.

MORE inquifitive than was ever the bai- liff of Huron (a), I continued to exer- cife the patience of my companions. I have feen the monarch on his throne, but I forgot to afk, Gentlemen, where was the king's fon ; whom in my time they called the dauphin. One of the moft polite among them replied ;

V As we are convinced that it is on the edu- cation of the great that depends the happinefs of the people, and that virtue is learned as vice is communicated, we watch with the greateft alTu duity over the early years of our princes. The heir to the throne is not at court, where fome flatterers would dare to perfuade him that he is fomething more than other men, and that they are lefs than infeûs. His high deftiny is care- fully concealed from him. When he is born, a

(a) The Huron, or the Candid Man, a romance by Vol- taire, and one of the beft his pen has produced. The Hu- ron confined in the Bafttle with a Janfenift, is of all things m the world the moft happily imagined,

royal

The Heir to the Throne. 1 37

royal mark is imprinted on his fhoulder, by which he is afterwards known. He is placed in the hands of thofe whole difcrete fidelity has been as well proved as their probity. They take a folemn oath before the Supreme Being never to reveal to the prince that he is one day to be king : a tremendous oath, and which they never dare to violate.

<c As foon as he comes out of the hands of the women he is inured to exercife -, and regard is had to his natural education, which fhould al- ways precede the moral. He is cloathed like the fon of a common peafant ; he is accuftomed to the plaineft meats 5 and is early taught fo- briety ; he will be the better able hereafter to teach œconomy by his own example, and to know that a falfe prodigality ruins a ftate, and dishonours thofe that promote it. He travels* fucceffively, through all the provinces ; they explain to him the various labours of the huf- bandman, the different manufactures, and the productions of the feveral foils ; he fees all things with his own eyes ; he enters the hut of the ploughman, eats at his table, affifts in his labours, and learns to refpe£t him. He con-

verfes

1 38 The Heir to 'the. throne.

verfes, freely with every man he meets; his chara£ter is differed to difplay itfelf freely, while he thinks himfelf as far diftant from the throne as he is near to it.

u Many kings have become tyrants, not be- caufe they had bad hearts, but becaufe they never knew the real ftate of the common peo- ple of their country (a). If we were to aban- don a young prince to the flattering idea of a certain power, perhaps even with a virtuous mind, confidering the unhappy difpofition of the human heart, he would at laft endeavour to extend the limits of his authority (Z>). For ia

(a) Prejudice conftantly attends the throne, ready to pour its errors into the ears of kings. Timorous Truth is in doubt of obtaining a victory over them, and waits for the fignal to approach $ but (he fpeaks fo ftrange a language, that they turn to thofe deceitful phantoms that are matters ©f the common dialect. Kings! learn the fever e philofo- phic language of truth ! It is in vain that you feek her, if you underftand her not.

{b) Men have a natural difpofition to aibitrary power, as nothing is more convenient than to be obeyed by merely moving the tongue. Every one has heard of that fultan who commanded, hi» attendants to amufehim wrh enter- taining ftcries, on pain of being ftrangled. Other monarcl s hold pretty much the fame language, when they f3y to the; people, Divert me, and dre with hunger,

that

The Heir to the Throne. 139

that it is that many princes unhappily make the royal grandeur to confift ; and confequently their intereft is always at variance with that of the people.

<c When the prince has attained the age of twenty years, or fooner, if his mind appears to be early formed, he is conducted to the hall of audience ; he mixes with the crowd as a com- mon fpeftator ; all the orders of the ftate are then prefent, and all have received their inftruc- tions. On a fudden the king rifes, and calls the young man three times by his name 5 the crowds of people open ; aftonifhed, he advances with timid fteps toward the throne, and trem- bling mounts the fteps ; the king embraces him, and declares him in the fight of all the people to be his fon. " Heaven," he fays with an affe&ing and majeftic voice, <c Heaven has u deftined thee to bear the burden of royalty 5 " we have laboured for twenty years to render " thee worthy of it -, do not fruftrate the hopes «' of this great people that you fee before you. " My fon I expeft from you the fame zeal that ■• I have (hown for this nation." What a cri- fis ! what a crowd of ideas prefs upon his mind?

Ths

140 The Heir to the Throne.

The monarch then fhows him the tomb where refts the preceding king ; that tomb on which is graved in large chara&crs, ETERNITY. He proceeds with the fame awful voice ; (i My fon, " all has been done for this moment. You now *c ftand on the afhes of your grandfather; in " you he is to revive ; fwear to be juft as he Ci was, I fhall foon defcend to fupply his place ;s u but remember, that I {hall accufe you from u this tomb if you abufe your power. Ah! *? my dear fon, the eyes of the Almighty and u of this nation are upon you ; no one thought u can be concealed. Jf any incitements to am- €i bition or pride reign at this moment in your. " heart, there is yet time to avoid their effe£te ; " renounce the diadem, defcend from the " throne, and mix again with the people i you ** will be greater and more refpeftable as a com- cc mon citizen, than as a vain and daftardly €6 monarch. Let not the chimera of authority (i flatter your young heart, but the great and 4C pleafing idea of being reaiiy ufeful to man- " kind ; I promife -you for rccorr^enfe the *\ love of this people that furrounds us ; of my <4 affection, the efleem of the world, and the " affiftance of the Monarch of the univerfe ; it

" is

The Heir to the Throne. 141

** is lie that is king, my fon, we are only his fc agents, that are fent upon the earth to accom- u plifh his great defigns (a)"

" The young-prince is furprifed and affe&ed, his vifage is covered with a modeft fliame ; he dares not look upon that great aflembly, whofe regards are eagerly fixed on him. His tears begin to flow ; he weeps at the profpeft of his extenfive duties ; but foon an heroic fpirit pof- fefles him ; he is taught that a great man ought to facrifice himfelf for the good of mankind ; and that as nature has not prepared for man a happinefs without allay, it is by that benign power which the nation has depofited with him, that he is enabled to do that for them which na- ture has refufed. That noble idea penetrates, animates, inflames him ; the oaths are admi-

(a) Gamier caufes it to befaid to Nabuchedonofer, puffed up with his power and his victories, " Who is that God who commands the rain, the winds and the tempefts ? Over whom reigns he ? Over the feas, the rocks, &c." To which he replies, " Infenfible fubjecls ! I command over men 5 I am the only God of this earth where we dwell.

Infenjibles fujets ! moi je commande aux hommes j Je fuis F unique Dieu de la terre ou n$us femmes.

niftered

*4^ 27* H*ir to the Throng.

niftered to him by his father ; he calls the fa- cred afhes of his grandfather to witnefshis fin- cerity ; he adores the Supreme Being ; he is crowned. The orders of the ftate falute him, and the people with transports of joy cry out, " O thou that are taken from amongft us, iC whom we have fo long and fo nearly beheld, u may the preftiges of greatnefs never make " thee forget who thou, art, and who we " are [a).V.

" He cannot mount the throne till the age of two and twenty; for it is repugnant to com- mon fenfe, that a nation fhould be governed by an infant king. For a like reafon the king lays down the fcepter at the age of feventy years, becaufe the art of governing requires an activity of body, and a certain fenfibility, which

{a) The Greek» and Romans experienced fenfations far more poignant than ours. A religion altogether fen- fible; thofe frequent occurrences that concerned the grand intereft of the republic; a ftate dignity that was aweful without being faftuous ; the acclamations of the people; the aflemblies of the nation, and the public harangues ; what an inexhaftible fource of pleafures ! When compared with thofe people, we Teem but to lan- gui fh, or fcarce to exift.

7 unlucky

The Heir to the Throne: 143

unlucky age extinguifhes in the human mind(d). Befide, we are fearful leaft habit fhould pro- duce in his mind that concentered ambition they call avarice, which is the laft and mod rueful paflion that man has to encounter (b). The inheritance is in the line direft, and the feptuagenary monarch ftill ferves the ftate by his councils, or by the example of his paft virtues. The time between the public acknow- ledgement of the prince, and the day of his majority, is ftill fubjeâ: to new proofs. They conftantly talk to him by ftrong and fenfi'ble images. If they would prove, that kings are not otherwife formed than common men ; that they have not a hair more on their heads ; that they are equally weak at their entrance

(a) How pleating is it when years have whitened our heads, to be able to retire, and reflect on thofe actions of humanity and beneficence that we have performed in the courfe of our days ! Of all that we now are, there will then nought remain but the fenfation of having been virtuous, or the marne and torment of vice.

(b) Prodigality is equally to be feared. A young prince will fometimes refufe, becaufe he has that in him which may atone for refufal ; but the old man conftantly con- fents, becaufe he has nothing to fupply the vacuity of the want of liberality,

into

j 44 %l\$ Het.r t0 ti)e Throne*

into this world; equal in infirmities, and equal in the fight of God, and that the fuffrage of the people is the fole bafis of their grandeur *9 they introduce, by way of diverfion, a young porter of his fize and age, and they wreftle together; though the king's fon be vigorous, he is commonly overcome ; the other conti- nues the attack, till the prince is forced to own the defeat. They raife him up, and fay to him, C4 You fee that no man by the law of nature ought to fubmit to another, that no man is born a Have ; that monarchs are born men, and not kings ; in a word, that the human'race were not created for the pleafure of fome parti- cular families. That even the Almighty, accor- ding to the natural law, would not govern by force, but over the free-will. To endea- vour therefore to make men flaves, is to a£l with temerity toward the fupreme Being, and to exercife tyranny over the race of mankind." The young man who had conquered, then bows before him, and fays, " I may be ftronger " than you,-but there is neither right nor glo- «c ry in that ; true ftrength is equity, and true cc glory greatnefs of mind. I render you ho- <c mage as my fovereign, and the depofitary of

" the

The Heir to the Throne. 143

Xi the force of every individual ; when any"one " would tyrannize over me, it is to you I mufl: M fly for fuccour ; you will then hear and fave "me from the unjuft and powerful." • . . .

u If the young prince commits any remarka- ble fault or imprudence, the next day he fees it in the public papers (a)± he is fometimes aftonifli- ed and offended. They anfwer him cooly, * It is a faithful and vigilant tribunal, that ci records each day the allions of princes. Pof- " terity will know and judge all that you have (* faid and done ; it depends on yourfelf to " make them fpeak honourably of you." If the young prince reflect, and acknowledge his fault, then the papers of the next day declare that token of a happy character, and give to the noble a£tion all the eulogy it deferves (a).

Bur

{a) I could wifh that a prince had fometimes the curî- cfity to know what the people think of him j he would learn enough in a quarter of an hour to afford him matter of reflection for the reft of his life.

(£) You fay, " I fear not the fword of man. I am crave.1*

But you deceive yourfelf. To be truly brave you muft

Vol. II, H fear

J46 The Heir to the throne.

41 But what they moft ftrongly recommend, and imprcfs on him by multiplied images, is a horror of that vain pageantry, which has deftroyed fo many liâtes, and dishonoured fo many fovereigns (a). Thofe gilded palaces, fay they, are like the decorations of a theatre, where paper appears to be maffy gold. The child imagines that it beholds a real palace. Be not a child. Pomp and oflentation are abufes, introduced by pride and policy. They difplay that parade to infpire the greater re- fpe£t and fear. By that means the fubjeft contraûs a fervile difpofition, and becomes aC- cuftomed to the yoke. But is a king ever de- bafed by putting himfelf on a level with his fubjeûs? What are thofe inceflant empty (hews, in compariforrwith that open and affable man- ner that attradls the arTe&ions of all the peo- ple to his perfon ? The wants of a monarch

fear neither their tongues nor their pens. But in this cafe, the greatefl kings of the earth have ever been the greatefl poltroons. The Gazette of Amfterdam prevented Louis XIV. from fleeping

{a) That luxury, which is the caufe of the deftrucVion of Aates, and that tramples under foot every virtue, takes its fcurce from corrupted hearts, and which all others ~opy af:er#

are

The Heir to the Throne: 147

are not lefs than thofe of the meaneft of his fubjefts. There is no difference between his ftomach and that of a clown, fays J. J. Rouf- feau. If he would tafte the pureft of all plea- fures, let him tafte that of being beloved, and let him render himfelf worthy of it (a).

" To conclude : their paffes no day on which he is not reminded of the exiftence of a fu- preme Being, whofe eye conftantly furveys this world ; of the duty that he owes him, of a reverence for his providence, and a confix dence in his infinite wifdom. The mod hor- rid of all beings is without doubt an atheifti- cal king : I had far rather be in a veflel tofled by the tempeft, and dire&ed by a drunken

(a) Duke *** of Wirtemberg, the fiift of that name, was dining with a fovereign prince, his neighbour, and fome other petty potentates, each of whcm was talking of his forces and power. After hearing all their pretentions, •the Duke faid, " I do not envy any one of you that power which God has given you, but there is one thing of which I can boaft, which is, that in my little ftste I can walk at -all hours alone, and in fecurity. t ramble among the woods, I lay me down to fleep under fome tree, quite unconcerned, for I fear neither the fword of a robbtr, nor of an injured fubjeft.

H 2 pilot,

14$ The Heir to the Throne.

pilot ; I (hould at leaft have a chance to %t faved.

" It is not till the age of twenty- two that he is permitted to marry. He takes a native of our country to his throne. He does not fend in queft of a foreign wife, who frequent* ly brings from her country a difpofition, which being widely different from the manners of our nation, baftardizes the blood of France* and caufes us to be governed by Spaniards or Italians, rather than by the defcendants of our brave anceftors. Our king does not offer that infult to a whole nation, to imagine that beauty and virtue are to be found in a fo- reign foil only. She who, in the courfe of his jôurnies, has touched his heart, and has loved him without a diadem, mounts the throne with her lover, and becomes dear and refpeft- ab!e to the nation, as well from her own vir- tues, as for having been able to pleafe a hero. Befide the advantage of infpiring all the young women with a love of wifdom and vir- tue, by fetting before them a recompence worthy of their efforts, we hereby avoid all thofe family wars, that are absolutely foreign

to

The Heir to the Thrme. 1*49

tb the intereft of the ftate, and that have fo often defolated Europe {a).

" On the day of his marriage,inQead of fool- iihly fquandering money in pompous and tire- fome feafts, in fenfelefs and gaudy fhews, in fire- works, and other expences equally extra- vagant and difguftful, the prince erects fome public monument, as a bridge, an aqueduû, a public road, a canal, or a theatre. This monument bears his name. We remember his benefaction, while thofe irrational profu- fions are forgot, or only remembered by the horrid accidents they occasioned {b)\ The peo- ple,

(a) Moft of our wars have proceeded, as every one knows, from thofe alliances that are pretended co be poli- tical. If indeed Europe and Africa could efpoufe Afia and America, well and good,

(£) Shall I here recall the horrible night of the 30th March, 1770 ? It will eternally accufe our police, that is favourable to the rich alone, and that protects the bar* barous luxury of carriages *. If was by them that hor- rid difafter was occafioned. But if this dreadful accident has produced no Uriel ordinance by which the citizens

* Carriages are far more dangerous in Paris than London, as they drive much fafier, and there is no feparati path for foot pajjengers,

H 3 may

150 The Heir to the Throne.

pie, fatisfied with the generofity of their prince, are under no temptation to whifper to each other that ancient fable, in which the poor frog laments ^n his marfh the fight of the nuptials of the fun(rf)."

may walk the ftreets without danger, what are we to expe& of other evils that are more deeply rooted, and mo e dim> cult to remedy ? Near eight hundred perfons periihed by being crowded together, and fix weeks after h wa6 not mentioned.

(a) I met, in a piece of poetry, with thefe vei fes :

Ces rois enorgueillis de leur grandeur fupréme^ Ce font desmtndians que couvre un diadème.

" Thefe puffed up monarch», with their mighty grandeur, are nothing moie than beggars covered with a crown." In faO, they are craving inceflantly : it is the people that pay for the robes of the pompous bride 5 for the feafts, the fire works, the embroidery of the nuptial bed, &c. and when the royal babe is born, each one of its cries is met** mcrphofed into a new tax.

CHAP.

M

( m )

CHAP. XL THE JV O MEN.

Y affable and polite inftru&or continued

know that our women bave no other portion than their virtue and their charms ; they are, therefore, interefted in improving their moral faculties. By this ftroke of legiflation we have deftroyed the hydra, Coquettry, fo fruitful of contention, of vices and ridicule." — How ! no portion? the women bring nothing with them ? and who will marry them ? — " Women have no portion, becaufe they are by nature de- pendant on that fex from whom they derjve their ftrength and glory ; and that nothing may with- hold them from that legitimate empire, which is conftantly lefs terrible than the yoke they give themfelves in their fatal liberty. Befides, the confequencé is the fame ; a man who marries a wife without any fortune, is enabled to difpofe of his daughters without emptying his purfe. We never fee a girl proud of her fortune, who feems to do her hufband a H 4 favour

*52 T/?â Women.

favour by accepting him (*). Every man is bound to provide for his wife ; and {he, de- pending entirely on her hulband, is the better difpofed to fidelity and obedience. The law be- ing univerfal, no one can complain. The wo- men have no other diftinûion than what is re- flected on them by their hufbands. Confiant- ly fubmiflive to the duties that their fex requires, their honour is to obferve the ftrift laws that refults from them, by which alone th^y can fe- cure their happinefs»

tc Every citizen that has not defamed him» felf, though he (hould be of the lowed clafs> may claim a daughter of the higheft, provided flie confent, and there be no feduftion nor dis- proportion of age. Every one refumes the primitive equality of nature In forming a con- tract fo pure, fo free, and fo necefiary to our happinefs, as is that of matrimony. There

(a) An Athenian lady afked a Lacedemonian, what portion (he brought her hufband ? " Chaftity," (he replied. J

J It is no uncommon thing for a modern lady to bring her huf- Band this portion, though /he may chance to difyeje of i: after- wards for her own private emolument,

ends

The Women. 153

ends the bounds of paternal power (a), and that of civil authority. Our marriages are fortunate, becaufe intereft, which corrupts all things, does not foil their amiable bands. You cannot eafily imagine how many vices and foibles* fuch as flander, jealoufy, idle- nefs, the pride of excelling a rival, crimes of every kind, have been banifhed by this fim- ple law {b). Women, inftead of exercifing

(a) How indecent, how monftrous is it, to fee a father appeal to twenty tribunals, animated by a barbarous pride that will not let him give his daughter to a man, becaufe fie had fecretly defined her for another. He dares, in this cafe, to cite civil ordinances, while he forgets the moft fa- ered laws of nature, which forbids him to opprefs an un- fortunate daughter, over whom he has no legitimate au- thority, but what may conduce to her happinefs. It is a remarkable and melancholy circumftance, that in this age the number of bad parents has exceeded that of unnatural children. Where is the fource of this evil ? Alas ! in ow laws.

(6) Nature has deftined women to domeftic employ- ments, and to cares every where of the fame kind. They have much lefs variety in their characters than have men 5 aîmoft all women referable each other 5 they have but one end, and which they manifeftîn every country by fimilar cge&s,

H 5. their

154- The tVomen.

their vanity, have cultivated their minds ; and in lieu of riches, have fumifhed themfelves with gentlenefs, modefty, and patience. Mufic and dancing no longer form their principal accom- plifhments ; they have vouchfafed to learn the arts of oeconomy, of pleafing their hufbands* and educating their children. That extreme in- equality of rank and fortune, the moft deftruc- tive vice in every political fociety, is here no longer feen ; the meaneft citizen has no reafon to blufh at his condition ; he affociates with the higheft, who difdains not his connexion. The law has equalled mankind to the greateft de- gree in its power ; inftead of creating thofe in- jurious diftinftions, that produce nothing but pride on one fide, and hatred on the other, it has been follicitous to deftroy all thofe obftacles that might divide the children of the fame mother.

" Our wives are, what were thofe of the an- cient Gauls, fincere and amiable companions, whom we refpe£t and confult on all occafions. They do not affeâ that miferable jargon fo much in vogue among ycu, and which

they

The Women. 155

they called wit {a). They do not bufy themfelves with afligning the rank due to the feveral forts of genius \ they are content with good fenfe, a qualification far preferable to thofe artificial flafhes that are the wretched amufements of idlenefs. Love, the fruitful fourceof the moil excellent virtues, prefides over, and guards the intereft of our country. The more happinefs we enjoy in her bofom, the more dear fhe be- comes. Judge then what is our attachment to her. The women, doubtlefs, make a part of this felicity. Inftead of thofe empty and fafti- dious pleafures, which they purfued from vanity, they now enjoy all our tendernefs and efteem, and find a felicity more folid and more pure in the pofleffion of our hearts, than in thofe tranf- îent pleafures, whofe very purfuit was attended with anxiety. Charged with the care of fuper- intending the firft years of our childien, they

[a) A woman mews very little difcretion, who is de- (irous of (hewing lier wit upon every occafion. She ou?ht, on the contrary, to ufe all her art to conceal it. In fa&, what is it we men look after ? Innocence, candour, fim- pîicity, truth, an intereftlng timidity. A woman that difplaysher wit feems to fay to you, «« Sir, addrefsyour- f#lf tome; I am a woman of wit ; I (hall be more p«rfi- éious, perveife, and artful t^an another,"

H 6 have

j 56 The Women.

have no other preceptors ; for being more {aga- cions and vigilant than they were in your days, they are more fenfible of the delicious plcafure of being mothers in the full extent of the term."

But, I faid, notwithftanding all your im- provements, man is ftill man, liable to weak- nefs, humour, and difguft. If Difcord, witb her torch, Ihould take the place of Hymen, what do you then ? Are divorces permitted [a) ?'

(a) Nicholas L erecting himfelf into the reformer of the laws divine, natural* and civil, abrogated divorces in the ninth century. They were then in ufe among all the peo- ple of the earth, authorifed by the Jews and the Chriftians. How flrange is the lot of human kind ! One man alone lias deprived them of a precious liberty; of a civil contract has made a facred indiflcluble chain, and for ever foment- ed domeftic variance* Many paft ages have given to that, foolilhand whimfical law an inviolable fandtion ; and thofe inteftine wars that diftracT: the domeftic oeconomy and' promote the depopulation of ftates, are the fruits of the caprice of a pontif. It is evident, that were divorces per- mitted, marriages would be more happy •• We mould

be

* There are no divorces permitted in France, not even in cafe êfthe moft flagrant adultery, " They" fays the lordly prieft, 44 whom God," that is, J and my church, " has put together if no man can fut af under" The only refource f*r the hujhandii-

to

a

<Be Women. *57

— w Doubtlefs, when they are founded on le- gitimate reafons -, as when both parties, for ex- ample, follicit a divorce at the fame time ; ai* incompatability of humours is fufficient to dif- folve the band. People marry only to be happy»

be lefs fearful of forming a contrat, when we knew that it could not bind us to mifery. The wife would be more a-ttentive and fubmiffive. The durability of the band de- pending on the will of the parties bound, would become more ftrong. Population, moreover, being far below its true, ftandard, it is to the indiffblubility of marriages that we eught to attribute the fecret caufe of that evil which under- mines the catholic monarchies, If it mould be tolerated for any considerable time longer* and celibacy mould con- tinue to prevail among them, (the fruit of a. wretched ad- miniflration) together with the ecclefiaftic celibacy, which feems to be of right divine, they will have none butener- vated troops to oppofe the numerous, healthful, androbuft armies of thofe people who permit divorces» The fewer firtgle people there are in a ftate, the more chafte, happy,, and fruitful man iages will be. The diminution of the hu- man race neceflarily tends to the total ruin of an empire

to petition the king y and if , by great chance, he have intereffuf* ficient, the wife is fent to a convent ; where fie will pafs her- time disagreeably enough, if fie be not able to bribe the Cerberus at the door y which, they fay , is not urfrcqucnfly done. I rumem» ber a lady of the firjî quality, who was fent to amonajlery, and early the next morning, the good abbejs came to her bed- fide, and gave ber a lor.g leclure on tkefubjeel of incontinence."— The gallant' all the iv hi le layfnug under the bed-cloathu

it

158 The Women.

It is a contract of which peace and mutual re- gard fhould be the end. We are not fo fenfelefs as to force two people to live together, whofe hearts are eftranged from each other, and there- by to renew the punifhment of the cruel Me- zentius, who faftened a living body to a loath- fome carcafe. A divorce is the only eligible re- medy, as it at leaft renders to fociety two per- fons that are loft by their conneflion with each other. But (would you believe it ?) the greater the facility is, the more averfe they are to profit by it, as there is a fort of difhonour in not be- ; ing able to bear together the troubles of a trans- ient life. Our women, virtuous by principle, are delighted with domeftic pleafures. We are always happy when our duty coincides with our defires ; nothing is then difficult, all things bear a pleafing afpe£t."

O how unfortunate I am to be fo old ! I ex- claimed ; I would immediately marry one of thefe amiable women. Ours were fo haughty and infolent, and, for the mod part, fo faith- lefs, fo badly educated, that marriage was re- garded as an egregious folly. Coquetry, with

an

The Women. 159

an immoderate love of pleafure, and an abfolute unconcern for every thing but themfelves, com- pofed the character of a woman of my time. They derided all fort of fenfibility, and had fcarce any humanity but toward their gallants. Every tafte but that of luxury was in a man- ner a ftranger to their minds. I fpeaknot of modefty, for that was efteemed ridiculous. Therefore, a prudent man being to choofe of two evils, preferred celibacy as the leaft. The difficulty of bringing a child up, was an argu- ment not lefs ftrong. Men avoided giving children to a ftate that would load them with diflrefs. So the generous elephant, once made captive, refufes to indulge himfelf in the moft pleating inftin£l, that he may not entail flavery on his pofterity. The hufband himfelf, in the midft of his anxiety, watched an opportunity of getting rid of a child, as we endeavour to drive away a voracious animal. Human beings fled from each other, as their union neceflarily re- doubled their mifery ; the wretched virgins, fix- ed to the foil where they were born, languished like flowers, that, fcorched by the fun turn pale, and drop from their ftalks ; the greater part carried with them, even to the grave, the 1 defire

t6o The Women..

defire of being wives ; difguft and anxiety em- bittered every moment of their days ; and they/ could not procure any