354 
hifiory of the Man with the Tron Mak, 
who died in the Bafiile, as I converted 
with fome perfons who atteuded upon 
him. With refpect to the arts and {ci- 
ences, I had only to trace the progrefs 
of the mind in philofophy, mn BlequcnGe, 
in poetry, and incriticifin; to mark the 
fieps of painting, feulpture, mutic, and 
the improvements in jewellery work, in 
the manutactures of tapeftry, glafs, gold 
tluffs, and clocks and w aiches, I fketch- 
ed, as I went on, the men of ingenuity 
10 all thefe branches. Heaven forbid 
that I thould hare emp sloyed S00 pages 
m giving the hiftory of Gafiend:! Lite 215 
teo fhort, and time too precious,’ to be 
trifed away in fuch a manner. Do not 
think, my friends, that whilft I fometimes 
praife my own writings, | with to avoid 
tyeaking ‘of their faults, or to excufe my 
own defici iency. ‘Lo whom thould £ ac- 
knowledge them, if not to my own 
trieads, and to thofe who with their hap- 
py t talent of criticifin unite indulgence ? 
Whele nearts fhould I with to mfpire 
with tendernefs, but yours? In thefe, 
my contetlions, Lopen to you my hale 
mind, and 1 confider that iny ingenuoul- 
nefs will be tooked upon as the tribute 
due to your friendfhip. 
Friend.—But w hatginders : vou now from 
giving us a {pecimen of your excelient 
eriticiiin, your opuen of the works of 
fome of the authors of the eighteenth 
ceutury? This wil farmih 
digrefiion, and prove an agreeable 
ment. 
Polt. —I want no (ation for that 
purpoie. I am ready to give you an 
impartial unftudied judeme nt of the 
greater part of the ae. of the prefent 
age. 
Friend.—Begin ee by telling us what 
you think of C rébillon. 
olt.—Judge of Crébillom by this fin- 
gle circumftance: he was twenty years 
i writing a tragedy, which is never now 
erformed. 
Chateaubrun obtained g great peputation 
by his Philoctetes, which is httle more 
thau a tranflation from the Greck. 
Grefiet, it muft be acknowledged, has 
diftinguifhed hinsfeif by tome little pieces, 
full of accuracies, like thofe of Chau- 
ficu. ‘There is an Eniltle, upon Happi- 
nets, which is attributed to him—but 
what is this trivial poem? ‘Phis man 
writes about happinefs hke other pocr 
devils, who make a great pother in their 
garrets, and fing in praife of pete and 
idlenefs. 
Mad. Denys.—And Jefrane, uncle, | 
beg you will not forget hun, 
a 
amule- 
Voliaire’s Literary Confeffions. 
faid of the Mneid of Vireil : 
1 
an elegant : 
[May i 
Volt.—Lefranc is a laborious writer, 
He got hineit banifhed through his vani- 
ty of making the Court of Aids of arent: 
auban a Parhament of Paris. Should 
he not rather have kirown that gs 
like himfelf and me ousht to unite and 
oppole everx Piron? But his Dido, mdif- 
ferent as the piece was, turned his head, 
aud cavfed hin to write a preface to it, 
as mp pentne Se asa preface could well be: 
and tor thishe merited banifhment, much 
more than for his Difcourie to a Court of 
Aids. I have-telt much coneern for him 
ever fince. I heard that he had cuck- 
olded a gover nor, and LT have been told 
that contributed to his exile.. In truth, 
{uch things as thefe are much to the 
honour of polite hterature, but they do 
no credit to lettres de patie I have 
tuid Thiriot twenty times, that E was 
foury £ bail not formed a f{triét connec- 
tion with Lefranc. . They fay, he is not 
onty aman of learaing, but realiv a good 
citizen and a warm friend. i ‘own -ta 
you, that [have read with pleafure his 
Difertation on the Fervigilium Veneris. 
He has given us fome ebod fpeemens of 
tranflation. I have defended all he has 
he was ca- 
pable of feeling Virgil’s beautie es, and he 
has dared to fpeak of his faults. 
Hera iend.—\v hat do you think 
ron? ; 
Volt,—Piron is the author of the Metro- 
mania, and of a famous little ode. Pie _ 
ron had.a mind to laugh at me in his 
Metromania, and has fucceeded in a 
great meafure, 
I am now going to anticipate your 
queftions. 
I give you my opinion of Diderot in 
two words, He was born a poet, but 
had no head for metapliyfies. As for 
Moutefquieu, the character of his pring , 
cipal work, EL’ E/prit des Loix (the Spiit 
of Laws), may be given by a play on 
the words of the title: prit fur les 
Loiv (Wit on Laws). He laboured at this 
work during fifty years of bis life. He 
was perfecuted, ¢ and celebrated. His 
book is excellent, but of no ufe. D *Alem- 
bert is a perfect veometrician ; he main- 
tained, before the French Academy, that 
there was vo fuch thing as poetry, and 
he has only to writ® veries and prove his 
problem. I have but one word to fay of 
Desfongaines, and that 1s what a ma- 
gifirate faid very coldly to him, “ And 
what does 1t fignify whether you live?” 
He is the Anti-Chrift of literature. The 
Marquis de Mirabeau has written a 
Treatife upon Population, full of ideas 3 - 
but as to ilyle !-I muft own, I love good 
“4 ; French. 
of Pi- 
