S50 FRANCE. 



vedly chained a very high reputation ; the first was distinguished for 

 skill in moving the passions ; the second, for majesty ; and both, for 

 the strength and justness of their painting, the elegance of their taste, 

 and their strict adherence to the rules of the drama. Moliere would 

 have exhausted the subjects of comedy, were they not every where 

 inexhaustible, and particularly in France. In works of satire and 

 criticism, Boileau, who was a close imitator of the ancients, possess- 

 ed uncommon merit. But France has not yet produced an epic 

 poem that can be mentioned with Milton's ; nor a genius of the same 

 extensive and universal kind with Shakspeare, equally fitted for the 

 gay and the serious, the humorous and the sublime. In the eloquence 

 of the pulpit and of the bar, the French are greatly our superiors ; 

 Bossuet, Bourdaloue, Fletcher, and Masillon, have carried pulpit 

 eloquence to a degree of perfection which we may approach to, but 

 can hardly be expected ever to surpass. The genius, however, of 

 their religion and government was extremely unfavourable to all im- 

 provements in the most useful branches of philosophy. All the 

 establishments of Lewis XIV, for the advancement of science, were 

 not able to counterbalance the influence of the clergy, whose interest 

 It was to keep mankind ignorant in matters of religion and morality ; 

 and the influence of the court and ministry, who had an equal in- 

 terest in concealing the natural rights of mankind, and every sound 

 principle of government. The French have not therefore so many 

 good writers on moral, religious, or political subjects, as have ap- 

 peared in Great Britain. But France has produced some great men, 

 who do honour to humanity ; whose career no obstacle could stop ; 

 whose freedom no government, however despotic, no religion, how- 

 ever superstitious, could curb or restrain. As an historian, De Thou 

 Is entitled to the highest praise ; and who is ignorant of Pascal, or 

 of the archbishop of Cambray ? Few men have done more service to 

 religion, either by their writings or their lives. As for Montesquieu, 

 he is the legislator of nations : his works are read in every country 

 and language ; and wherever they are read, they enlighten and 

 invigorate the human mind. And indeed the distinguished literary 

 productions of the reign of Lewis XV, universally breathe senti- 

 ments incompatible with superstition or despotism ; but too many of 

 them incur the opposite reproach of irreligion and licentiousness. 



In the belles lettres, the lighter kinds of poetry, and lively essays, 

 no nation ever produced more agreeable writers : among whom we 

 may place Montaigne, D'Argens, and Voltaire, as the most consider- 

 able. 



Before the immortal Newton appeared in England, Descartes was 

 the greatest philosopher in modern times. He was the first who 

 applied algebra to the solution of geometrical problems ; which natu- 

 rally prepared the way for the analytical discoveries of Newton. 

 Many eminent mathematicians have flourished in the present age, 

 particularly Clairaut, Bezout, and D'Alembert ; the latter of whom, 

 to the precision of a geometer, has united the talents of a fine writer. 



Since the beginning of the last century, the French have almost 

 vied with the English in natural philosophy. Buffon would deserve 

 to be reckoned among men of science, were he not still more remark- 

 able for his eloquence than for his philosophy. He is to be regarded 

 as a philosophical painter of nature ; and, under this view, his natural 

 history is the first work of its kind. 



Their painters, Poussin, Le Brun, and, above all, Le Sueur, did 



