RetrofpeSl of French Literature. — Novels and Romances. §45 



of her grace* and her thoughts ; whom 

 we may divine, but never know ; who 

 both as a mother and a virgin is replete 

 with fecrets ; who feduces chiefly by her 

 ignorance ; and whom Heaven hai fdrmed 

 for virtue, and th- rnoli: mylterious fenti- 

 ments of love and fhame :— (hill woman, 

 then, rfnouncing the mild inftmfl of he- 

 fex, proceed with a feeble: but ra(h hand to 

 endeavour to draw the curiam that con- 

 ceals the Divinity ! Whom does (he think 

 to pleale by this ridiculous and facrilegious 

 effort ? Does (he imagine to infpire us 

 with a high idea of her gtnius, by adding 

 her petty blafphemies and fi ivolaus meta- 

 phyfics to the imprecations of Spmofa or 

 thefophifms of Jiayie ? She undoubterily 

 has no defign to obrain a hufband ; for 

 where is the man puifefled of common 

 fenfe, who wonld wi(h tochoofe for himfelf 

 an impi'us afTociate. 



"But the avenging hour js approach, 

 ing ; Time will arri\ie, bringing on Old. 

 Age j a fpeftre with hoary haii, with 

 curbed (houlders, and with clay-cold 

 hands, wfll fit on the threfhold of the in- 

 credulous woman ; (he will perceive it, 

 and cry aloud : but who will attend to 

 her voice ?" 



The following prayer terminates the 

 work : 



•' Creator of Light, pardon our firft 

 errors. If we were fo unfortunate as to 

 be ignorant of Thee in the century which 

 has juft come to a clofe, the new century 

 will not roll in vain over our heads. The 

 memorty of the paft appears to us like the 

 bur(}ing of thy thunder. We have 

 awf-ke from our flumber, and opening our 

 eyes, we have beheld a hundred y^-ars, 

 wiih their crimes and their generations, 

 (ink into the abyfs. They have cnrriid 

 with them our friends! At this fpeftacle 

 we are moved, and the rapidity of life has 

 troubled us. We have felt hiw ui'elefs it 

 is to wifh to defend oui (elves from Thee. 

 Lord ! we will praiie Thee henceforth 

 with the prophet ! Deign to receive the 

 firft hymn which we arldrefs Thee on the 

 wing of this age, which is about to re. 

 enter Thy eternity !" 



" De la Conformi'e des Anciennes 

 Loix Frang.iilcs." — Of the Confir- 

 formiiy between the French and Engilfh 

 Lawi. 



The author obferves, that the Anglo- 

 mania, or a pafTion for every thing En- 

 gli(l), wai one of tho(<: unaccountable de. 

 liriums with which the French nation was 

 feized towards the latter end of the iSitii 

 Century. •• Laws, governments, drefTes, 

 romancei, hittorio^-^thcrt «ver« none of 



thefe good, unlefs they originated on the 

 other lide of the (traits of Di«ver. There, 

 more efpecially, was the favourite afyluna 

 of liberty ; all the reft of the world gr.jan- 

 ed in flavery. It was culforaary to repair 

 to Great-Britain, in the fame manner that 

 the G:ick philofophcrs repaired to Egypt 

 and I dia, to dilcover the lources ot wit 

 dom, and learn to think. 



" The minds of our countrymen were 

 fc deeply fafcinated, that they began to 

 deny the fuperiority of France, even where 

 it was iriconteftable j and we beheld a na- 

 tion which pofTeiTed the mafter-pieces of 

 Corneille, Rici/ie, and Voltaire,— :hat is 

 to fay, whatever was moft perted in this 

 fpecies of writing, — receive the moft dif. 

 gufting farces of the Enghfh theatre wiih 

 enthufiafm." 



After this attack on our drama, the au- 

 thor proceeds to tell his tcunrrymen tnat 

 a few inconliderate eulogiums on the part 

 of Montefquieu had turned the heads of 

 the Englilh nation } and he contends that 

 all our good laws and cuftoms were th« 

 fruit of the Norman Conqueft, liaving 

 been introduced at (hat pe)iod. He al- 

 lows no merit whatfoever to our German 

 anceftors, whom heconfidcri as a rude and 

 barbarous race, totally unacquainted 

 with either the principles of libercy or of 

 civilization. 



NOVELS AND ROMANCES. 



" Le Comte de SoifLns at la Duchefle 

 d'Elbeuf, Roman Hiftoriqne de Siecle de 

 Louis XIII." — rhe C iint de SoilTms 

 and the Dachefs d'Elbeuf, an H'ltoricai 

 Romance of the Age of Louis XIIL, by 

 Madame de ♦*»*. 



It is in the following manner that the 

 fair author introduces the chict per(bnage 

 in hfr romance to the notice of the 

 reader : 



" Louis de Bourbon, Count de Soif- 

 fons, grandfai of the famous Prince de 

 Conde, killed at the battle of Jarnac, had 

 inherited the heroic virtues ot his great 

 anceftor. His valour and his generofity 

 rendered him deir to the Fiench, and the 

 a my in him recognized the worthy dt» 

 Icendant of an hrro." 



This Count, in confequence of fome 

 fubjeils of dilcMittnt, took part with the 

 faitious in oppolition to the Cardinal de 

 Richelieu ; but, hading hiitilelf abandoned 

 by the princi^-al leaders, he (olicited and 

 obtained permidli'n fiom the King to tra- 

 vel into Italy, where he fpent fome years. 

 On his return he finds the Court embel- 

 lilhed by the piefence of Mademoifellc de 

 Vendome, the n:<tural fifter ot the King, 

 who had been lately marri«d to the Duke 

 d'Elbeuf, 



