ys hal 
r 1808,] Extracts from the Portfolio of a Man of Leiters. 
and unction which they breathe, and the 
chaste and uniform diction which prevail 
throughout. 
wounouRs— 1628-1702. 
When this ‘celebrated grammarian 
published his first work, “ Les Entretiens 
ad’ Aristo & d’Eugéne,” it was said of him, 
“« qu'il ne lui manquait pour ecrire par- 
faitement, que de savoir penser,” allud- 
ing to the pompous style which prevails 
throughout the book; though it is not 
otherwise remarkable either for depth of 
Jearning, or solidity of reasoning, 
Among other works, he published the 
Lives of St. Ignatius and St. Francis 
Xavier, in which he was unlucky enough 
to compare one to Cusar, and the other 
to Alexander. 
MEZERAI—16 10-1683, 
Early applied himself to the history of 
his country, and published his first vo- 
jume at the age of thirty. He was libe- 
rally patronized by Richelieu, who gave 
him a pension, and by the French Aca- 
demy, who chose him for its secretary. 
This office he held till he died. 
His great History is now seldom read; 
but his chronological Abridgment is es- 
seemed. His style is very unequal; in 
some places dispiaying the fire and ener- 
ey of Tacitus, while in general it is loose, 
unconnected, and inelegant, 
His character appears to have been 
eccentric, At his death, all his ~pro- 
perty, which was considerable, was found 
hid in different parcels behind\his books. 
In one of these bags of money was found 
a slip of paper, upon which he had writ- 
ten these words :—‘‘ This is the last sum 
of money which I have received from the 
king; and since then, I have not said or 
written one word in his praise.” His 
ension had been discontinued some time 
before his decease. 
BOU DIER—1637-1727, 
_ An author of some reputation in his 
time, left this curious: epitaph behind 
him, which gives no very favourable idea 
of his religious opinions: — 
_ © J’étois Poéte, Historien; 
Maintenant je ne suis rien.” 
GOMBAULD, 
One of the members of the French 
Academy, when it was first established 
by Cardinal de Richelieu. He-was so 
gealous for the purity of his native lan- 
guage, that be once proposed to the 
@cademicjans that they should bind them- 
‘ 
243 
selves by oath, to make use only of such 
words as should be approved of by a ma- 
jority. 
His talents were not so conspicuous as 
his extraordinary zeal. He wrote some 
tragedies and detached pieces of poetry, 
Jong since forgotten. 
NICHOLAS BOURBON-~-1644, 
One of the best Latin poets which 
France has produced. The following 
lines, placed on the gate of the arseval in 
Paris, were composed by him:— 
#Ethna haec Henrico Vulcania tela ministrat 
Tela gigantzos debellatura furores, 
MAYNARD—1582-1646, 
A French poet, whose productions are 
now little known. Like many other un- 
fortunate men, who fancy that geniusand 
talents exempt them from pursuing the 
common road to independence, be spent 
his whole life in caressing and flattering 
the great, whose favours, after all his 
efforts, he never received, and whose 
protection he never experienced. 
He one day presented some stanzas to 
the Cardinal de Richelieu, who command, 
ed him to recite them. When he came 
to the last, where speaking of Francis the 
First, he says :— 
&€ Mais s°il demande & quel employ 
Tu m’as tenu dedans le monde, 
Et quel bien j’ai recu de toi, 
Que veux tu que je luf reponde ?” 
The cardisal, who immediately pete 
ceived the author’s drift, answered with 
the most cruel indifference, “‘ Rien.” 
The unlucky poet, mortified at such a 
repulse, retired to his native province, 
where he soon after died. 
He wrote these lines against the door 
of his closet :— 
&¢ Las -despérer & dé me plaindre 
Des Muses, des Grands et du Sort 
C’est ici que jattens la Mort 
Sans'la desirer ni la craindre.” 
“ © DRAMATIC HISTORY. 
Our printers are constantly pushing off, 
under some new title, collections of Eng- 
lish dramas. Why will they not give 
us a Dramatic History of England, and 
republish in the chronologic order of 
event all the historical plays which illus-_ 
trate the annals of our country? Our 
poets would then be aware of the chasms 
which remain to be filled up; and might 
be induced to complete, for the use of 
the theatre, the deficient series of event. 
ORIGINAL 
