FONTAINE FONTANA. 



225 



by the superintendent, Foiiquet, who allowed him a 

 pension, for which he gave quarterly receipts in verse. 

 On the fall of Foiiquet, he entered into the service of 

 Henrietta of England, wife of Monsieur, and at her 

 death found protection from other persons of distinc- 

 tion, until his best friend, madame t?abli^re, took him 

 into her house, and freed him from the domestic cares 

 to which he was so ill suited. He was in habits of 

 intimacy with Moliere, Boileau, Racine, and all the 

 first wits of Paris, by whom lie was much beloved for 

 the candour and simplicity of his character, which 

 acquired for him the title of le ban homme. The 

 literary society of Paris fixed him in the capital, al- 

 though he paid a yearly visit to his wife ; on which 

 occasions, he seldom failed to get rid of a part of his 

 estate, which, in consequence, fell into great disor- 

 der, especially as his wife was as careless in pecuniary 

 matters as himself. He had but one son, whom, at 

 the age of 14, he placed in the hands of Harlay, 

 archbishop of Paris, who promised to provide for 

 him. After a long absence, La Fontaine met this 

 youth at the house of a friend, and, being pleased 

 with his conversation, was told that it was his own 

 son. " Ah," said he, calmly, " I am very glad of 

 it." La Fontaine, probably on account of this very 

 simplicity, was no favourite with Louis XIV., and 

 was the only writer of merit of the time who did not 

 share in the royal bounty. The king even hesitated 

 some time to confirm his nomination to the French 

 academy. After the death of madame Sablifere, in 

 whose house he lived twenty years, he was invited 

 by madame Mazarin and St Evremont to take up his 

 abode in England ; but the difficulty of the language, 

 and his attachment to the circles of Paris, prevented 

 him from going there. In 1692, he was seized with 

 a dangerous illness, and, on being waited upon by a 

 priest, who addressed him on the subject of religion 

 (on which he had been as careless as on other mat- 

 ters), he observed, " I have lately taken to read the 

 New Testament, which, I assure you, is a very good 

 book ; but there is one article to which I cannot ac- 

 cede : it is that of eternity of punishment. 1 can- 

 not comprehend how this eternity is compatible with 

 the goodness of God" an expression similar to that 

 of an eminent German theologian, who said, that he 

 could not see how a virtuous soul could be happy in 

 heaven, while conscious that there was even one soul 

 condemned to suffering in hell. The priest found La 

 Fontaine, however, very docile, and not only induced 

 him to throw a completed theatrical piece into the 

 fire, but to renounce all the profit of a new edition 

 of his Tales, then printing in Holland. La Fontaine 

 surv ived this illness, and passed two years in the 

 house of madame d'Hervart. During this time, he 

 undertook to translate some pious hymns, but did not 

 succeed in this new species of composition. He died 

 at Paris, in 1695, at the age of seventy-four ; and, 

 when he was undressed for interment, a liaircloth was 

 found next his skin. 



The rank occupied by La Fontaine among the 

 poets of his country is due to him chiefly as a writer 

 of tales and fables, and, as such, he is , inimitable. 

 His verses, although negligent, have all the fresh- 

 ness and nature which no study can bestow, and 

 abound with grace and delicacy. His narrative has 

 that easy fluency which arises from the perfect adapt- 

 ation of the writer to his task ; and his reflections 

 form perfect specimens of that lurking archness, 

 under the guise of simplicity, which is so lively and 

 amusing. His capacity of making severe and shrewd 

 observations on human life was, indeed, similar to that 

 of children, who so often, in their simplicity, make 

 very cutting remarks. In common life, La Fontaine 

 \vas simple almost to stupidity. According to D'Al- 

 embert, " If not the greatest, he is the most singularly 

 in. 



original of all the writers of the age of Louis XIV.. 

 the most an object of despair to imitators, and the 

 writer whom it would cost nature most pains to re- 

 produce." It must be remarked as a striking proof 

 of La Fontaine's originality, that the branch of liter- 

 ature in which he was so distinguished, was one 

 wholly opposed to the artificial character of his time. 

 As Dante wrote one of the greatest epics on a sub- 

 ject having apparently nothing epic in its character, 

 so La Fontaine wrote fables of the most characteristic 

 simplicity at a time when the freedom of nature 

 seemed almost entirely lost. Both the Tales and the 

 Fables of La Fontaine have been superbly printed. 

 Of the former (the license of which keeps them out 

 of many libraries), the best edition is that of Paris, 

 1762, with Eisen's designs and vignettes, by Choffat. 

 Of his Fables, innumerable editions have been print- 

 ed ; but the most magnificent is that in 4 vols. folio, 

 1755 1759, in which each fable is adorned with a 

 plate, executed with zoological precision. Of the 

 small editions, one by Costi is much esteemed. La 

 Fontaine is also the author of Les Amours de Psyche, 

 a romance ; Le Florentin and L'Eunuque, comedies ; 

 Anacreontiques, &c. ; all of which are printed in the 

 (Euvres Diverges, Paris, 1758, 4 vols. 12mo. 



FONTAINEBLEAU ; a town of France, in the 

 department of the Seine and Marne, with a military 

 academy ; thirteen leagues S.S.E. from Paris. The 

 palace, situated in the midst of a forest, consists of 

 four buildings, of which Francis I. laid the founda- 

 tion, and which Henry IV., Louis XIV., and Louis 

 XV. completed. It was here that Christina, queen 

 of Sweden, caused her equerry, count Monaldeschi, 

 to be executed, in 1654 ; and here, also, Montespan 

 and Du Barry lavished the treasures of the richest 

 and most beautiful country in Europe. The prelimi- 

 naries of peace between France, England, Spain, and 

 Portugal, were signed in the palace ofFontainebleau, 

 Nov. 5, 1762, and, on the 20th, the ratifications were 

 exchanged there. There, also, pope Pius VII. lived 

 with his cardinals from June 19, 1812, to January 

 24, 1814 ; and there the emperor Napoleon signed 

 his first abdication, April 11, 1814. (For an account 

 of the works of art with which Fontainebleau is 

 adorned by Primaticcio, &c., see Description Histo- 

 rique de Fontainebleau par VAbbe Guilbert, Paris, 

 1731, g vols.) The wood ofFontainebleau, formerly 

 called forst de Bievre, covers 41,000 acres, and con- 

 tains a great quantity of game, which furnishes sport, 

 hi autumn, to the sovereigns of France. There is also 

 much cultivated land within the precincts of this 

 wood, the produce of which contributes to the sup- 

 port of Paris. Population between 7 and 8000. 



FONTANA, DOMENICO ; an architect of the six- 

 teenth century, born at Mill, a village on the lake of 

 Como, in 1543. He pursued the study of geometry 

 hi his youth, and, at the age of twenty, went to 

 Rome, where he studied the remains of ancient and 

 the masterpieces of modern art. Cardinal Montalco 

 (afterwards pope Sixtus V.) engaged him in his ser- 

 vice as an architect, and employed him to construct 

 a chapel in the church of St Maria-Maggiore, and a 

 palace in the garden of the same church. Montalto, 

 like other Italian prelates and princes, was ambitious 

 of attaching his name to some imposing works, and 

 directed Fontana to spare no expense. But the pe- 

 cuniary resources of the cardinal failed, and the un- 

 dertaking would have been interrupted, had not Fon- 

 tana himself supplied the means for continuing the 

 work. Montalto was not unmindful of this liberality; 

 being soon after raised to the papal chair, he con- 

 firmed Fontana in his office of architect, and employ- 

 ed him in building another palace near the batiis of 

 Diocletian. Sixtus V. wished to remove the great 

 obelisk, now in front of St Peter's church which was 

 p 



