RetrofpeSi of French Literature. — MifceUaneous. ^25 



author at court, in return for which he 

 brought home to him a hat full of crowns. 

 He obtained the prize once more, in 1747, 

 and about the fame period his friend ob- 

 tained for him ihe education of Madame 

 de Harenc's grandfons. From that mo- 

 ment, he always aflTociated wiih company 

 diltinguifhcd by their rank, tlieir wit, and 

 their learning. 



In 1748, Marmontel produced Denis le 

 Tyran (Dionylius the Tyiant), the fiift 

 and beft of his tragedies. M idemoifeiie 

 Cjauflin and Mademoifelle Clairon dif- 

 puteil on this occalion which of them 

 Ihouid ail the p^rt of Ariete, and the 

 author poflefled lufFicient courage to refufe 

 it to the more hnndf >mc of the two, and 

 alfo at thai tune 'he greater favourite, in 

 order to beftow it on her who even then 

 promifed to be the better aftrels, and at 

 length aflualiy became fo. 



M. Marmontel ccuhimed five whole 

 years in writing for the ft^ge; and during 

 this interval he ccmpofed four tragedies, 

 the fuccel's of which regularly diminifhed 

 with the number. At length he quitted 

 Melpomene, who in truth hid quitted 

 him, in order to refide at Verfailles as 

 fecretary-general of the buildings, an of- 

 fice which Madame de Pompadour had 

 obtained for him, in the department of 

 M- de Marigny, her brother. 



H^s fituition under this demi-minifter, 

 however, was not very comfortable; for 

 at a period wiien the proudett nobles lived 

 in the mod eafy familiarity with men of 

 letters, M de Marigny afFe6>ed greit dif- 

 tance towards a diHingui(hed writer, 

 wh'fe very name contributed to confer ho- 

 nour on his adminiltration. 



Here follows a (hort extract, in which 

 the character of his earlieft and beft friend 

 is fully depifted. One morning while 

 Voltaire was ftill in bed, Thiriot was in- 

 troduced into his apartment. 



VoLTAIR E. 



*• Well ! what news have you brought ? 



Thi riot. 

 " Sonfiething comical enough — Arnaud Ba- 

 culard is arrived at Potfdam, where the king 

 of Pruiha received him with open arms— 

 Voltaire. 

 " With open arms ? 



Thiriot. 

 " And that Arnaud prcfented him with an 

 Cpiftle. 



Voi.TAIR E. 



•* A very flat ar,d infipiJ one, I fuppofe ? 

 Thiriot. 



" Not at all ; on the contrary, very fine : 

 io fine indeed, that the king Las replied in 

 another rpiftlci 



VoT>AIR E. 



" The King of Pruffia addrefs an ep'ftle 

 to Arnaud ! — why, Thiriot, fomebody muft 

 have impofed upon you. 



Thtr iot. 



" I know not who has impofed upon me ; 

 but the truth is, that I have the two epiftles 

 in my pocket. 



VoLTAIR E. 



" Come, come — hand them to me inftant- 

 ly — let me read thefe two maftcr-pieces of 

 compofition. . . . What infipldity ! how flat 1 

 what meannefs ! in this fame addrefs to his 

 Majefty of Pruffia — But let me fee the royal 

 verfes — how pitiful — what, does he dare to 

 fay ! 



" Voltaire eft a fon couchant, 

 Vous etes a votre aurore." 



Having read this twice over, the quon- 

 dam fivourite of Frederic irftantly jump- 

 ed n^ked out of bed, and exclaimed : 



" What is it a king who is capable of fuch 

 enormous foolery ? Ah ! let him mind his 

 own crade, and criticife only on the art of 

 reigning !" 



While at Verfailles, Marmontel became 

 acquaintrd with M. Qnefnay, a very ce- 

 lebrated man, for he was the firft French- 

 man who turned the attention of the go- 

 vernment towards th- importance of agri- 

 culture, and demonlfrated the propriety 

 of employing capitals in it ; the nectffity 

 cf augmenting thele capitals, and the 

 utility of encouraging this bafis of na- 

 tional wealth by the liberty of cominerce. 



" Anterior to this time, the opulent 

 never repaired to the country, but merely 

 to enjoy the fports of the field, or to ex^r- 

 cife on their fellow. fubjeffs, whom th' y 

 called peafants, a vexatious and dcfpotic 

 authority. It is to the fchool of philofo- 

 phers formed by M. Quefnay, that we 

 are indebted for the melioration of the lot 

 of thofe who feed their coun'ry, a tafte 

 for plantations, the extenfion of the art 

 of gardening, the cultivation of potatces, 

 the improvement of artificial grafles, the 

 enhanced value of meadows, a better 

 knowledge in refpefl to cempnfts of all 

 kinds, the introduttion of a fuperioi race 

 of flieep and oxen, a greater dr^ree of 

 perfection in our wines and branny, the 

 art of eltimating the revenues fo as to 

 render the imports lefs aihiiraiy, that of 

 making an i;ivento' y of the riches of a 

 couniiy, wliich has fmce acquired the ap- 

 pellat on ol Jlati/Ucks, and all the laws 

 favo uahic to ccmnierce and inJuflry, dur- 

 ing tlie lalf half ceniury." 



M. Marmontel having foon after ob- 

 tained the prii'iU'gt of publifhmg the 

 L % Morcury 



