260 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[_2^i S. X. Sept. 29. '60. 



whimsical, fantastic, just in the same manner as we talk 

 of a person qui a des idees when we mean that bis or her 

 ideas are foolish, eccentric, out of the waj'. 



" Parler Frangais comme une vache Espagnole." In this 

 familiar proverb M. Quitard thinks that the word vache 

 has been improperly substituted for Vace, " ancien mot 

 par lequel on d^signait un habitant do la Biscaye, soit 

 Francjais, soit Espagnol." The phrase, accordingly, 

 should be Avritten : " Parler Frangais comme un Vace 

 {Basque) jEspagnol," and this reading appears the more 

 probable because the inhabitants of Biscay have always 

 enjoyed the reputation of speaking a language which is 

 totally unconnected with any other idiom. It is well 

 known that Scaliger humorously said of them " On croit 

 que ces gens-la s'entendent: moi, je n'en crois rien du 

 tout." 



The few remarks just offered will, M'e trust, sufficiently 

 explain the character of M. Quitard's interesting volume, 

 and recommend it to the attention of our readers. 



7)e la Santi des Gens de Lettres, suivi de I'Essai sur les 

 Maladies des Gens du Monde, par Tissot. Nouvelle Edition 

 revue sur les derniers manuscrits de I'auteur, et publiee par 

 le docteur Bertrand de St. Germain. 12° Paris. Te- 

 chener. 



The celebrated philosopher Charles Bonnet said of this 

 work, that he considered it as "le manuel des gens de 

 lettres." We are quite of his opinion, and now that Tis- 

 sot's useful treatise is published in a convenient form, 

 with all the care, the typographical excellence, which dis- 

 tinguish M. Techener's editions, we have no doubt that it 

 will obtain a permanent place in every library. It is a 

 little more than a hundred years ago since Dr. Tissot was 

 appointed to the medical lectureship at the academy of 

 Lausanne, and he selected as the theme of his inaugural 

 discourse the subject which is discussed in the work we 

 are now noticing. Written in Latin, according to the 

 then prevailing custom, Tissot's address soon attracted 

 considerable attention, and some obscure scribbler imme- 

 diately produced a French translation of it so wretchedly 

 done, that the author, in self-defence, felt himself compelled 

 to compose another one, " afin de me soustraire k la honte 

 d'avoir fait un aussi mauvais livre que celui qu'on pub- 

 liait sous mon nom." The present reprint is given by Dr. 

 Bertrand de Saint Germain from the third edition, pub- 

 lished in 1775, and it contains besides, as the title-page 

 states, a few of the choicest fragments of the Essai sur les 

 Maladies des Gens dti Monde. 



In the excellent preface which he has added to Tissot's 

 work. Dr. Bertrand de Saint Germain explains very lucidly'- 

 the causes to which we are indebted for it. During the 

 seventeenth century there was, properly speaking, no 

 societj', guild, or fraternity designed by the name of gens 

 de lettres. Poets, orators, philosopliers, scholars, divines, 

 were to be found, it is true, and in large numbers ; but, as 

 our editor remarks : " Ces hommes superieurs ne for- 

 maient pas un corps h part; ils ne se croyaient pas 

 affranchis de rfegles communes ; ils vivaient uniment, sim- 

 plement, avec r(5gularit^, quelques uns avec aust^ritd" 

 In other terms, a man like Bossuet, Pascal, La Bruybre, 

 Boileau, would not write merely for the sake of writing. 

 If he had anything to say which was worth saying, he 

 took up his pen, and gave utterance to his thoughts 

 calmly, leisurely, deliberately. His duty done, his task 

 performed, he returned to his usual occupations, to. his 

 friends, to intercourse with the world, never dreaming of 

 setting himself up as what we call now an homme de 

 lettres, that is to say, a man who lives by his pen, and 

 who must write on, whether he has anything worth scrib- 

 bling or no. " Au dix- huitifeme siecle," our editor continues, 

 " tout change d'aspect ; quiconque salt tenir une plume se 

 regarde comme arme d'une ^p^e. Dha lors les gens de 



lettres ferment une milice, et s'arrogent les privileges 

 du soldat vainqueur, le mepris de toute contrainte, I'ar- 

 dente poursuite des plaisirs de I'esprit et des sens." Such 

 a course of life brought necessarily in its train a host of 

 diseases which had been previously either unknown or 

 comparatively rare; Rousseau's melancholy and Vol- 

 taire's convulsive irritability were examples constantly 

 observable by Tissot ; cases of mental aberration became 

 of every day occurrence, and, to quote once more from 

 Dr. Bertrand dS Saint Germain, " I'alteration de la santc 

 devint une suite presque constante de la culture intem- 

 pdrante des sciences et des lettres." Hence the inaugural 

 address which, after the lapse of a hundred years, is now 

 presented once more to the public amidst circumstances 

 imparting to it the character of a propos quite as much as 

 during the times of Voltaire himself. The fresh dis- 

 coveries recently made in the science and practice of 

 medicine have of course invalidated some of Tissot's 

 theories ; but these e^ors are carefully pointed out and 

 corrected in the supplemental notes added to this edition. 

 " Les ecrits de Tissot laissent voir bien des lacunes ; mais 

 pour tout ce qui tient h, la mAlecine morale, h ce que j'ap- 

 pellerai la medecino du bon sens, ils se recommandent 

 toujours t> I'attention pnblique, ils n'ont rien perdu de 

 leur iitilite, de leur valeur." The religious character of 

 Tissot is another strong recommendation in his favour ; 

 whilst, as a practitioner, he never departed from the ex- 

 perimental method, but observed closely and accuratel}', 

 he was at the same time altogether opposed to the gross 

 materialism which detracts so much from the merits of 

 works like those of Broussais and Cabanis, to quote only 

 these two. 



GUSTAYB MaSSON. 

 Harrow-on-the-Hill. 



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