he loseth the best part of all these Beauties And he who is an admirable Author whilst he is animated with the Spirit of the Greeks and Latins becomes but a moderate Writer when he is not supported but by himself 'T is that which happens with the greatest part of our Translators whereof they appear to me to be convinced to be first sensible of their own Barrenness And indeed he that places his Merit in improving the Thoughts of others is not very confident of being capable to recommend himself by his own But the Publick is infinitely obliged to him for the labour he undergoes to bring forth Forreign Riches where the natural ones don't suffice I am not of the Humour of a Person of Quality whom I know to be a declared Enemy to all Translations He is a Learned and Ingenious Spaniard who cannot suffer that things should be rendred apprehensive to Idle Persons which he has learned amongst the Ancients with pains As for me besides that I improve in a thousand places by the Laborious Enquiries of Translators I love that the knowledge of Antiquity should become more general and I am pleased in seeing his Authors admired by those very Persons that would have treated us as Pedants if so be we had named them when they did not understand them I mix then my knowledge with that of the Publick but I don't give my esteem and can be very liberal of my praises for Translation when I shall be very covetous of them for the Genius of its Author I can much esteem the Versions of Ablancour Vaugelas Durier and many others without having much value for their Spirits if they have not appeared by those Works that proceed from themselves We have the Versions of two Latin Poems in French Verse which deserve to be as much considered for their Beauty as for the difficulty of the Enterprize That of Brebaeuf has been generally esteemed and I am not so censorious or so severe as to oppose my self to so favourable an Approbation I will observe notwithstanding that he hath shot forth the heat of Lucan in our Language further than it goes in his own and that by the attempt which he hath made to equal the warmth of this Poem he hath fired himself if one may speak so much more Behold what happens to Brebaeuf often enough but he relaxeth sometimes and when Lucan happily meets with the true beauty of a Thought the Translator remains much below him as if he had a mind to appear easie and natural when he might be permitted to employ all his Force You will remark a hundred times the truth of my first Observation and the second will not appear to you less just in some places for example to render Victrix causa Diis placuit sed victa Catoni Brebuaef has only said the Gods serve Caesar and Cato follows Pompey 'T is a low Expression which doth not answer to the Nobleness of the Latine besides that it is not well using the Sense of the Author for Lucan who hath a Spirit full of the Vertue of Cato would raise him above the Gods in the opposition of Opinions upon the merit of the Cause and Brebâ—uf turns a noble Image of Cato raised above the Gods into that of Cato subjected to Pompey As for Segrais he remains throughout much below Virgil which he easily acknowledges himself for it would be very extraordinary to be able to render a Translation equal to so excellent an Original Moreover one of the greatest advantages of the Poet consists in the Beauty of the Expression which it is impossible to equal in our Language since it could never be done in his own Segrais ought to be contented with having found the Genius of Virgil better than any of our Authors and whatsoever Graces the Aeneids have lost in his hands I durst pronounce that he by far surpasses all those Poems that our French-men have published with more Confidence than Success The great Application of Segrais to know the Genius of the Poet appears in his Preface as well as in the Translation and it seems to me that he has succeeded well as to the whole except the Characters In that I cannot be of his Opinion and he will pardon me if for having been displeas'd a thousand times with his Heroe I do not lose the occasion of speaking here of the little merit of the good Aeneas Although Conquerors are usually more careful in making their Orders executed upon Earth than in observing Religiously those of Heaven as Italy was promised to this Trojan by the Gods 't is with Reason that Virgil has given him a great Compliance to their Wills but when he describes him to us so devout he ought to attribute to him a Devotion full of Confidence which agrees with the Constitution of Heroes not a scrupulous Sentiment of Religion which never subsists with a true Valour A General that has a good Faith in his Gods ought to augment the greatness of his Courage by the hopes of their Assistance His Condition were unhappy if he could not believe in them but with a Superstition which would take away the natural use of his Understanding and his Heart 'T is this that happened to poor Nicias who lost the Army of the Athenians and himself too by a credulous and superstitious Opinion of the Anger of the Gods It is not so with the Great Alexander he believes himself to be the Son of Iupiter to undertake things very extraordinary Scipio who feigns or thinks to have a commerce with the Gods draws an advantage from thence to recover his Common-wealth and to pull down that of the Carthaginians Ought then the Son of Venus assured by Iupiter of his Prosperity and future Glory to have Piety only to fear Danger and to distrust the Success of every Undertaking Segrais hereupon defends a Cause which is troublesome to him and has so much affection for his Heroe that he prefers rather not to express the Sense of Virgil in all its extent than to discover purely the shameful Fears of poor Aeneas Extemplo Aeneae solvuntur frigore membra Ingemit duplices tendeâ—s ad syder a palmas Talia voce refert ô terque quaterque beati Queis ante or a patrum Trojae submaenibus altis Contigit oppetere I acknowledge that these sorts of Seizures happen to us in spite of our selves by a defect of Constitution but since Virgil had the liberty of framing that of Aeneas according to his Fancy I admire that he should give him one susceptible of these Frights Philosophers take a Pride in the defects of Tempers when they know how to correct them by Wisdom And Socrates easily confesses those evil Inclinations which Philosophy had made him overcome But Nature ought to be all noble in Heroes and if by a necessity of Humane Condition it must offend in something their Reason is employed in moderating Transports not in surmounting Infirmities even many times their impulses have
believe what one says with Authority we ought to believe But without a particular Mercy we are more disturbed than perswaded of a thing that doth not fall under the Evidence of the Senses and which affords no manner of Demonstration to our Minds Behold what is the effect of Religion in respect of ordinary Men now see the advantages of it for the true and perfect Religious Man The true Devout Person breaks with Nature if one may so speak to take pleasure in the abstinence of pleasures and in the Subjection of the Body to the Mind he renders to himself in some measure delightful the use of Mortifications and Pains Philosophy goes no further than to teach us to endure Misfortunes The Christian Religion makes us triumph over them and one may say seriously of it what has been gallantly express'd of Love All other Pleasures are not worth its Pains The true Christian knows how to make his advantages of all things the evils which he suffers are the good Things which God sends to him The good Things which he wants are evils which Providence has secured him from Every thing 's a benefit to him every thing in this World is a Mercy and when he must depart by the necessity of his Mortal Condition he looks upon the end of his Life as a Passage to one more happy which is never to conclude Such is the Felicity of a true Christian whilst uncertainty and trouble make an unhappy Condition to all others Indeed we are almost all unresolved little determined to good and evil There is a continual turn and return from Nature to Religion and from Religion to Nature If so be we abandon the care of happiness to satisfie our Inclinations these very Inclinations rise immediately against their Pleasures and the distaste of Objects which have flattered them the most sends us back to the cares of our happiness If so be we renounce our Pleasures by a Principle of Conscience the same thing happens to us in the Application to happiness where habit and tediousness sends us back to the Objects of our first Inclinations Behold how we are upon Religion in our selves now see the Judgment which the Publick makes of it Should we forsake God for the World we are treated as Impious Persons Should we forsake the World for God we are look'd upon as weak and decayed in our Understanding and we are as little pardoned for Sacrificing Fortune to Religion as Religion to Fortune The Example of Cardinal Retz will suffice singly to justifie what I say When he was made Cardinal by Intrigues Factions and Tumults they cryed out against an Ambitious Man that sacrificed said they the Publick his Conscience and Religion to his Fortune When he left the cares of Earth for those of Heaven when the Perswasion of another Life made him regard the Grandeurs of this as Chimaera's they said that his Head was turned and that he made a scandalous weakness of what is proposed to us in Christianity as the greatest Vertue An ordinary Mind is but little favourable to great Vertues a lofty Wisdom offends a common Reason Mine as common as it is admires a Person truly perswaded and would admire still more that this Person absolutely perswaded could be insensible to any advantage of Fortune I question a little the Perswasion of those Preachers who offering us the Kingdom of Heaven in Publick sollicit in particular a small Benefice with the utmost importunity The sole Idea of eternal profits renders the Possession of all the rest contemptible to a believing Man but because there is but a few that have Faith few Persons defend this Idea against Objects the hope of what is promised to us naturally yielding to the enjoyment of what 's given us In the greatest part of Christians the desire of believing holds the place of belief the will gives them a sort of Faith by desires which the Understanding refuses them by its Lights I have known some Devout Men that in a certain contrariety between the Heart and the Mind loved God perfectly without a strong Faith in him When they abandoned themselves to the Motions of their Heart there was nothing but zeal for Religion all was fervency all love When they turned to the Intelligence of the Mind they were amazed at their incomprehension of what they loved and at their Ignorance how to answer themselves upon the Subject of their love Then they wanted Consolations to speak in Spiritual Terms and they fell into that sad State of Religious Life which is called Aridity and Dryness in Monasteries God alone is able to give us a certain firm and real Faith That which we can do of our selves is to captivate the Understanding in spite of the resistance of the Lights of Nature and to dispose our selves with submission to execute what is ordained for us Humanity easily mingles its errors in what relates to Faith it mistakes a little in the practice of Vertues for it is less in our power to think exactly upon the things of Heaven than to do well One can never be disappointed in the Actions of Justice and Charity Sometimes Heaven ordains and Nature makes an Opposition Sometimes Nature demands what Reason won't consent to Upon Justice and Charity all Rights are concerted and there is as it were a general agreement between Heaven Nature and Reason A Fragment of Friendship without Friendship THE Love of Women had softned the Courage of Men the Vertue of good Men was altered by it The Grandeur of a Magnanimous Soul might be weakned but true Wisdom incurr'd little danger with the Female Sex The Wise Man above their weakness their inequalities and their fancies can govern them at his pleasure or gets rid of them as he thinks convenient As long as he sees others in slavery tormented by some unfortunate Passion he tastes a sweetness that charms the senses and frees him from the sense of Misfortunes which are not to be made insensible by Reason alone Not but that he may fall into an error Humane Nature leaves no certain state to our Souls but it is not long before he finds again his dispersed Lights and re-establishes the Repose he had lost Scarce do we begin to grow Old but we begin to be displeased by some distast which we secretly frame in our selves Then our Soul free from Self-love is easily filled with that which is suggested to us and what would have pleased us heretofore but indifferently charms us at present and enslaves us to our own weakness By this Mistresses dispose of their Old Lovers to their Fancy and Wives of their Old Husbands by this Syphax abandoned himself to the will of Sophonisba and Augustus was managed by Livia And not to draw all my Examples from Antiquity 't was thus Monsieur de la Ferte-Senectere worthy to be named with Kings and Emperours by the single merit of Gentleman 't was thus this Courtier as wise as he was polite let himself go to the
and Modern has made them succeed very ill And one may say That they 〈◊〉 not known how to draw any advantage from their Fictions nor make a good use of our Truths We conclude that the Poems of Homer will always be a Master-piece and not a Model in all things They will form our Judgment if so be we determine them with Discretion and pursuant to the Disposition of present Affairs The Character of a Woman that is not and never will be found IN all the handsome Persons I have seen if so be there were some Passages to be admired there were also some that one ought not to observe or at least disguise them with much artifice for to speak the truth it 's hard to commend all and be sincere I am obliged to Aemilia for leaving me purely in my Nature as much disposed to speak well as to remain exactly true As she wants neither favour nor kindness I have no businâ—â—â— either with Disguises or Flatteries By her means I can praise to day without Complaisance Observators too exact loose a Malicious Nicety which is applied but to examine Faults and in a new Spirit which she inspiâ—â—s them with they pass with pleasure from their usual Censure to real Approbations It is certain that the greatest part of Women are more indebted to our Complements than their own Merits in all the Praises which are given to theâ— Aemilia is obliged only to her self for 〈◊〉 â—â—stice which is rendred to her and secure of the good one ought to affirm of her she has properly no Interest but for that which may be procured from her In effect if her Enemies speak of her it is not in their power to betray their Conscience and they confess with as much truth as anger the advantages which they are obliged to acknowledge in her if so be her Friends enlarge themselves upon her Commendations it is not possible for them to add any thing to the Merit which affects them Thus the former are forced to submit to Reason when they would follow the Malice of their Motions and the others meerly just with all their Friendship without a Capacity of being either officious or favourable She expects then nothing from the Inclination as she apprehends nothing from an evil Will in the Judgments that are made of her But since one is free to conceal his Opinions Aemilia will have Reason to fear the Malice of Silence the single prejudice that Rivals and Enemies can offer to her It 's necessary to leave things somewhat general to come to a more particular Description of her Person All her Features are regular which is very seldom observed All her Features are regular and agreeable which is as it were never seen for it seems that a Fancy of Nature may produce the Agreements of Regularity and that compleat Beauties who have always something to be admired rarely enjoy the Secret of Pleasing Aemilia hath affecting Eyes the Complexion parted delicate smooth the Whiteness of Teeth the Vermilion of Lips are Expressions too general for a secret and particular Charm which I cannot describe Without her that Shape that lower Part of the Face where was placed the great Beauty of the Ancients would be found no where but in the Idea of some Painter or in the Descriptions which Antiquity has left us and to enliven so many fine things you see upon 〈◊〉 Face a lively Clearness an Air of Health a fullness in a good Degree that leaves nothing more to be apprehended Her Stature of an exact Height well proportion'd easie of a Freedom as far from Constraint as that excessive Beauty wherein appears as it were a sort of Loosness which ruines the good Grace and the good Carriage Add to this a noble Gate a serious Behaviour but natural which is neither starch'd nor confus'd the Laugh the Speech the Action accompanied with Agreements and Decorum's Her Spirit is extensive without being Vast never rambling so far in general Thoughts as not to be able to return easily to singular Considerations nothing escapes her Penetration her Judgment leaves nothing â—nknown And I cannot tell whether she is more fit to unravel hidden things than to judge soundly of those which appear secret to us and not Mysterious knowing equally how to be opportunely silent and speaking In her ordinary Conversation she says nothing with study and nothing at a venture the lâ—â—st Matters mark Attention there appears no endeavour in the most serious what she has of Life ceases not to be exact and her most natural Thoughts are express'd with a delicate Turn But she hates lucky Imaginations that escape from the Mind without Choice and without Judgment that are as it were always admired and for the most part little esteemed by those that have them In all her Person you see something of Great and Noble which is found by a secret Relation in the Air of the Face the Qualities of the Mind and those of the Soul Naturally she would be too Magnificent but a just Consideration of her Affairs retains this noble Sentiment and she chuseth rather to constrain the Generosity of her Humour than to fall into a Condition where she should stand in need of that of another as fierce to refuse any Favour from her own as officious with Strangers and full of Heat in the Interests of her Friends Not that these Considerations make her lose an Inclination so noble she regulates it in the use of her Estate her Nature and her Reason form an Unconcernedness without Negligence She has good Sense and Dexterity in Affairs she enters in voluntarily if so be she finds therein a substantial Advantage for her self or for her Friends But she hates to act by a Spirit of Restlessness equally against an unuseful Motion and the Softness of a Repose that takes a Pride in the Name of Tranquillity to cover a true Indifference After having described so many Qualities so fine it 's proper to see what Impressions they make upon our Soul and what 's doing in her own She has something of Majestical that imprints Respect something of sweet and ingenious that wins the Inclinations She attracts you she retains you and you always approach to her with Desires that you cannot shew To pierce into the inward Part I don't believe her to be uncapable of the Sentiments she gives But imperious upon her self as well as upon you she masters in her own Heart by Reason what Respect constrains in yours Nature being infirm in some Souls doth not leave there force to desire any thing impetuous in others it brings forth transported Passions exact in Aemilia it has made the Heart sensible which ought to feel and has given to Reason which ought to command an absolute Empire over her Motions Happy she that lets her self go to the Tenderness of her Sentiments without interessing the Curiousness of her Choice nor that of her Conduct Happy that in a Correspondence established for the Sweetness of Life
our proper love as our true Master and one cannot bring the least alteration withouâ— making us discern this change with Violence Upon the whole one ought not to disfigure them in War to render them more illustrious in their Amours we may give them Mistresses of our own Invention we may mix Passion with their Glory but let us take care of making an Anthony of an Alexander and not ruine Heroes confirmed by so many Ages in favour of a Lover whom we form to our single Fancy To reject the love of our Tragedies as unworthy of Heroes is to take away that which makes us hold to them by a secret relation and I know not what cohaerence which still remains between their Souls and others But to bring them to us by this common Sentiment don't let us make them descend beneath themselves nor destroy what they possess above Men. With this moderation I will affirm that there are no Subjects where a general Passion which Nature hath dispersed throughout can't enter without trouble and violence Moreover as Women are as necessary for the representation as Men it is convenient to make them speak as much as one can of that which is most agreeable to their nature and of which they speak much better than of other things If you take away from some the expression of Amorous Thoughts and from others a converse in Secret into which a confidence which they have of each other makes them enter you reduce them for the most part to very tedious Conversations As if all their motions as their Discourses ought to be the effects of their Passion their Joy their Sorrow their Fears their Desires ought to relish of a little love to be taking If you introduce a Mother who rejoiceth for the Happiness of her Beloved Son or afflicts her self for the misfortune of her poor Daughter her Satisfaction or her Loss will make but little impression upon the Souls of the Spectators To be affected with the Tears and Complaints of this Sex let us see a Mistress that bewails the Death of a Lover and not a Wife that laments for the loss of a Husband The Grief of Mistresses which is tender has much more influence upon us than the affliction of an invegling self-interessed Widow and as sincere as she happens to be sometimes always affords us a Melancholy Idea of Funerals and their dismal Ceremonies Of all the Widows that ever appeared upon the Theatre I love to see none but Cornelia because instead of making me think of Children without a Father and a Wife without a Spouse her Affections all over Roman recall into my mind the Idea of ancient Rome and the Great Pompey Behold all that may reasonably be allowed to Love upon our Theatres but let them be contented with this and so far even their Rules will allow of it and let not its greatest favourers believe that the chief design of Tragedy is to excite a sort of tenderness in our hearts In subjects truly Heroick the Greatness of the Soul ought to be kept up before all things That which would be pleasing and tender in the Mistress of an ordinary Man is often weak and disgraceful in the Mistress of a Heroe She may entertain her self when alone with the inward Combats which she is sensible of in her self she may Sigh in Secret for her misery trust to a beloved and severe Confident her Fears and her Griefs But sustained by her Glory and fortified by her reason she ought always to remain Mistress of her Passions and animate her Lover to great things by her Resolution instead of disheartening him by her weakness Indeed 't is an unworthy Spectacle to see the Courage of a Heroe softned by Tears and Sighs and if so be he fiercely contemns the Griefs of a Beautiful person that loves him he discovers the firmness of his heart less than the hardness of his Soul To avoid this inconvenience Corneille has no less regard to the Character of Illustrious Women than to that of his Heroes Aemilia encourages Cinna to the execution of their design and meditates how to ruine all the motions that oppose the death of Augustus Cleopatra hath a Passion for Caesar and leaves nothing undone to preserve Pompey she would be unworthy of Caesar if she did not oppose the baseness of her Brother and Caesar undeserving of her if he was capable of approving that Infamy Dircè in Oedipus disputes greatness of Courage with Theseus turning upon her self the fatal explication of the Oracle which he would apply to himself for the love of her But one should consider Sophonisba whose Character might be envied by the Romans themselves One should see her Sacrifice the young Massinissa to Old Syphax for the good of her Countrey one should see her hearken as little to the Scruples of Duty in quitting Siphax as she had done the Sentiments of her love in losing Massinissa One should see her who subjects all sorts of Obligations what binds us what unites us the strongest Chains the most tender Passions to her Love for Carthage and her Hatred for Rome In a word one should see her when she 's utterly abandoned not wanting to her self and when those hearts which she had gained to save her Countrey signified nothing to owe to her self the last support to prâ—serve her Glory and her Liberty Corneille makes his Heroes speak with so much decency that he had never given us the Conversation of Caesar with Cleopatra if so be Caesar could have been believed to have had the Business which he had at Alexandria as Beautiful as she was as far as to have rendred the Converse of a Lover to indifferent Persons that should hear it He had certainly let that alone but that the Battel of Pharsalia was fully won Pompey dead and all that took part with him in flight As Caesar then believed himself to be the Master of all they might offer him an acquired Glory and a power in all appearance assured But when he discovered the Conspiracy of Ptolomy when he beholds his affairs in an ill Condition and his own Life in Danger it is no more a Lover that entertains his Mistress with his Passion but the Roman General that speaks to the Queen of the Danger which relates to them and leaves her with hast to provide for their common Security It is ridiculous then to take Porus up with his single Love upon the point of a great Battel which was to make a decision of all things for him it is no less to make Alexander depart when the Enemies began to rally One might have made him enter with impatience to seek Porus not to draw him from thence with precipitation to go and revisit Cleophile he that never had those Amorous Impatiences and who never thought a Victory to be compleat till he had either destroyed or pardoned That which I find more miserable on his account is that he is made to lose much of one side without
after their Death have always some agreement with what Eucolpion had promised to himself Senex canus exercitati vultus qui videbatur magnum aliquid promittere There is nothing so natural as the Person of Crisis none of our Confidents come near her and without mentioning her first Conversation with Polienos that which she tells him of her Mistress upon the affront she received is of an inimitable simplicity Verum enim fatendum est ex qua hora accepit injuriam apud se non est Whosoever has read Iuvenal is well enough acquainted with impotentia matronarum and the ill humour it puts them in Si quando vir aut familiaris infelicius cum ipsis rem habuerat But there is no body but Petronius that could have described Circe so Beautiful so Voluptuous and so Gallant Enothea the Priestess of Priapus ravishes me with the Miracles she promises with her Enchantments her Sacrifices her Lamentation upon the Death of the Sacred Goose and the manner of her Pacification when Polienos makes her a Present wherewith she might purchase a Goose and Gods too if she thought fit Philumena that honest Lady is not less good who after having spent several Estates in the Flower of her Youth and Beauty coming to be Old and by consequence unfit for all Pleasures endeavoured to continue this fine Art by the means of her Children whom she introduced with a Thousand Noble Discourses to Old Men that had it not In a word there is no Nature no Profession which Petronius doth not admirably pursue the Genius of He is a Poet he is an Orator he is a Philosopher at his pleasure As for his Verses I find in them an agreeable Force a natural Beauty Naturali pulchritudine carmen exurgit I know not if I am deceived but in my Opinion Lucretius has not so affectingly treated of the matter of Dreams as Petronius Somnia quae mentes ludunt volitantibus umbris Non delubra Deum nec ab aethere numina mittunt Sed sibi quisque facit nam cum prostrata sopore Vrget membra quies mens sine pondere ludit Quidquid luce fuit tenebris agit oppida bello Qui quatit flammis miserandas saevit in urbes Tela videt c. And what can one compare to this voluptuous Night whose Image fills the Soul in such a manner that one has need of a little Vertue to hold fast the simple Impressions it makes upon the Mind Qualis nox fuit illa Dii Deaeque Quam mollis thorus Haesimus calentes Et transfudimus hinc hinc labellis Errantes animas Valete curae Mortalis ego sic perire coepi What a Night O good Gods What Warmth What Kisses What Breathing What mixture of Souls in those hot and amourous Respirations Although the Style of the Declamer seems ridiculous to Petronius yet for all that he shews much Eloquence in his Declamations and to demonstrate that the most Debauched are not incapable of Meditation Morality has nothing more serious or better handled than the Reflections of Eucolpion upon the Inconstancy of Humane Affairs and the Uncertainty of Death In every Subject that 's offered one cannot think more nicely nor speak with more purity Oftentimes in his Narrations he lets himself go to the Simple Nature and contents himself with the Graces of Plainness sometimes his work is a finished piece and then there 's nothing so exact Catullus and Martial treat of the same things in a gross manner and if so be any one could find the secret of covering what 's obscene in a Language like his I 'll answer for the Ladies that they would praise him for his Discretion But that which Petronius hath more particular is That excepting Horace in some Odes he is perhaps the only Person of Antiquity that knew how to speak of Gallantry Virgil is affecting in Passions the Amours of Dido the Amours of Orpheus and Euridice have Charms and Tenderness Yet there is nothing of Gallant and the Poor Dido so Compassionate was her Soul became Amorous of the Pious Aeneas at the recital of his Misfortunes Ovid is ingenious and easie Tibullus delicate In the mean time their Mistresses ought to be Learned As they alledge Gods Fables and Examples drawn from the most remote Antiquity they always promise Sacrifices and I fancy that Monsieur ... learnt of them the Method of burning Hearts in Offerings Lucian as ingenious as he is becomes gross so soon as he speaks of Love and his Courtezans have rather the Language of the Stews than the Discourse of the Bed-Chamber As for me who am a great admirer of the Ancients I can't but render Justice to our Nation and believe for certain that we have over them in this point a great advantage And without romancing after having examined this matter I do not know one of these great Genius's that could have made Massinissa and Sophonisba Caesar and Cleopatra speak so gallantly of Love as we have heard them in our Language As much as others come below us therein so much doth Petronius exceed us We have no Romance that affords us a History so agreeable as the Ephesian Matron Nothing has so much of Gallantry as the Love-Letters of Circe and Polienos and all their adventure whether in the management or in the Descriptions hath a Character very much above the Politeness of our Age. You may judge in the mean time whether he could nicely treat of a Noble Passion since here 't was an affair of two Persons that at their first sight were to taste the utmost Pleasure MAXIM That one ought never to be wanting to his Friends THIS Maxim is generally approved of the weakest and the firmest Friend the ungrateful and the acknowledging Person observe the same Language Yet there are but few People that practise what they say Is there a dispute about the acknowledgment of a good turn a thousand Men reâ—ine upon the Discourses of Seneca Is there a Question about acquitting himself towards a Benefactor no body frankly confesses the debt nor concludes on the value of the Service He that hath given magnifies Objects he that hath received lessens them The World is full of Braggadocio's and Hypocrites in Friendship Nevertheless it is certain that Friendship is a commerce the traffick thereof ought to be honest but 't is still a traffick He that hath ventured most therein ought to reap the most It is not permitted to infringe it without coming to an account but where are those to be found that act sincerely and don 't put in the Balance the slightest displeasure to counter-poise the service of the greatest weight Every one brags of his own Heart 't is a vanity Al-a-mode you hear nothing less repeated and that without blushing then every one makes to himself a Rule of Acknowledgment always commodious for him but inconvenient for his Friends Tacitus has told us the reason of it 't is that our own acknowledgement is
Noises which dishonour those that make them Behold the end of Love and Friendships Upon the Heart by Reasons just and reasonable whose Division the Mind can take there is no Rupture to be apprehended for either it remains the whole Life or it is insensibly disengaged with Discretion and Diligence It is certain that Nature hath put in our Hearts something of Laughter if one may say so some secret Principle of Affection that conceals what 's tender that explains it self and is communicable with Friends But the use of it has not been received and authorized amongst Men but only as much as to render Life more peaceable and more happy That 's the Foundation that Epicurus so much recommended to his Disciples That Cicero exhorts us to it and invites us by his own Example that Seneca as wrinkled and severe as he is becomes sweet and tender so soon as he speaks of Friendship That Montagne excells Seneca by more lively Expressions That Gassendus explains the Advantages of this Vertue and disposes the Reader as much as lies in his power to procure them All reasonable Persons all honest Men unite Philosophers therein upon the Foundation that Friendship ought to contribute more than any other thing to our Happiness Indeed a Man would not break with himself upon no Account whatsoever to unite himself to another if so be he did not find more Sweetness in this Union than in the first Sentiments of Self-love The Friendship of wise Men finds nothing in the World more precious than it self That of others imperious and confused disturbs the Peace of publick Society and the Pleasures of particular Conversations 'T is a savage Friendship which Reason disowns and which we could wish to our Enemies to be revenged of their Hatred But as honest and as regular as Friends may be 't is an inconvenient thing to have too many Our separated Cares don't leave Application enough for those that affect us nor also for what relates to others in the overflowing of a Soul that disperses it self upon all remote Actions and applys it self properly to nothing nor we our selves for few Persons living As for us let us seek the Advantage of Commerce with all the World and the Benefit of our Affairs with those that can A FRAGMENT UPON THE ANCIENTS THere is no Person that has more admiration than I have for the Works of the Ancients I admire the Design the Oeconomy the Elevation of Spirit the Extent of Knowledge but the change of Religion Government Customs and Manners has made so great a one in the World that we must have as it were a New Art to enter well into the Inclination and Genius of the Age we are in And certainly my Opinion ought to be found reasonable by all those that will take the pains to examine it for if one gives Characters quite opposite to ... Take away the Gods of Antiquity you take from him all his Poems The Constiâ—ution of the Fable is in disorder the Oeconomy thereof is turned upside down Without the Prayer of Thetis to Iupiter and the Dream which Iupiter sent to Agamemnon there would be no Iliad without Minerva no Odysseus without the Protection of Iupiter and the Assistance of Venus no Aeneid The Gods assembled in Heaven debated what was to be done upon Earth they formed Resolutions and were no less necessary to execute them than to take them The Immortal Captains of the Party of Men contrived all gave Life to all inspired Force and Courage engaged themselves in fight and except Ajax who asked nothing but Light there was no conâ—iderable Warriour that had not his God upon his Chariot as well as his Squire The God to conduct his Spear the Squire for the management of his Horses Man was a pure Machine whom secret Springs put upon Motion and those Springs were nothing else but the Inspiration of their Goddesses and Gods The Divinity which we serve is more favourable to the Liberty of Men. We are in his Hands as the rest of the Universe by dependance in our own to deliberate and to act I confess that we ought always to implore his Protection Lucretius asks it himself and in the Book where he engages Providence with all the force of his Spirit he Prays he Conjures that which governs us to have the goodness to avert Misfortunes Quod procul à nobis â—lectat natura gubernans In the mean time we must not introduce this Formidable Majesty in all things whose name it is not permitted to make use of unseasonably That false Divinities are mixed in all sorts of Fictions those are Fables themselves the vain effectsâ— of the Imagination of Poets As for Christians they should give nothing but Truth to him who is Truth in Perfection and they should adapt all their Discourses to his Wisdom and to his Goodness This great Principle is followed by that of Manners which by reaâ—on of their being civilized and sweetned at present can't suffer what they had of wildness in those times 'T is this change that makes us find so strange the fierce and brutish injuries which Achilles and Agamemnon boast of 'T is by this Agamemnon appears odious to us when he takes away that Trojan's Life which Menelaus had pardoned Menelaus for whom the War was made pardons him generously Agamemnon the King of Kings who owed Examples of Vertue to all the Princes and to all the People the cowardly Agamemnon kills this miserable Person with his own Hand 'T is then Achilles becomes horrible when he kills the young Lycaon who entreated him so tenderly for his Life 'T is then we hate him even to his Vertues when he ties the Body of Hector to his Chariot and drags him inhumanely to the Camp of the Greeks I had a kindness for him when he was the Friend of Patroclus The cruelty of his Action makes me abhor his Valour and his Friendship 'T is quite otherwise in Hector His good Qualities return into our Minds we pity him we lament him more his Idea is become very dear and draws all the Sentiments of our Affection Let it not be said in favour of Achilles that Hector kill'd his dear Patroclus The resentment of this Death doth not excuse him with us An affliction that permits him to suspend his Revenge and to tarry for his Arms before he goes to the Combat an Affliction so patient ought not to have push'd him to this unusual Barbarity after the Fight 's over But let us disengage our Friendship from our Aversion the sweetest the tenderest of Vertues doth not bring forth effects so contrary to Nature Achilles found them in the bottom of his Nature It is not to the Friend of Patroclus but to the Inhumane and Inexorable Achilles that they belong All the World will easily consent to it However the Vices of the Hero will not fall upon the Poet. Homer's Intention was more to describe the Nature such as he saw it than to make Heroes