THE LETTERS OF MOVNSIEVR DE BALZAC . Translated into English , according to the last Edition .

By W. T. Esq .

Lege , & Collige .

LONDON , Printed by Nicholas Okes , for Richard Clotterbuck , and are to be sold at his shop , at the Ball in Little-Brittaine . 1634.

I Here present you Mounsieur Balzac's Letters , which may well bee tearmed new ones , euen after the eighth Edition ; for though they haue long since beene in possession of publike fauour , yet may I iustly say , this is the first time their Authour hath auouched them . The aduantagious iudgement you haue deliuered of him , and the ardor wherewith all France hath followed your approbation , well deserueth his best endeauours toward the perfectionating so excellent things : I haue beene solicitous to draw him to this labour , to the end the world might know , that if I bee not worthy the share I haue in his respects , yet that I haue at least beene wise enough to make right vse of my good fortune , and to cause it to become seruiceable to the glory of my Countrey . But truely , were hee master of his body , or did his maladies afford him liberty of spirit , hee would not suffer any but himselfe to speake in this cause ; and his Pen performing no slight acts , would haue consecrated his owne labours , and the wonders they haue produced . But since euills haue no prefixed time of durance , and in that all the good interims which hereafter may befall him , are wholly to be imployed in his Booke , The Prince ; I esteemed it to small purpose to attend his health in this businesse , and that it was now no longer any time to deferre the purging of these curious Letters , from such blemishes as ill impressions had left ▪ vpon them . They shall therefore now appeare in the parity wherein they were conceiued , and with all their naturall ornaments : Besides , I haue added diuers letters of his , not as yet come to light , which may serue as a subiect of greater satisfaction to all men , and bee as a recompense of the honour wherewith he hath collected the former . And truly ( my Lord ) had it beene possible to place in the Frontispiece of this Booke , a more illustrious name then yours , or should Mounsieur de Balzac's incsination ▪ and mine haue beene farre from any such intention , yet would not the order of things , or the law of decency haue permitted any other reflection , then what I now make : I speake not at this present , of that dazeling greatnesse whereunto you are eleuated , nor of that so rare and necessary vertue , which rightly to recognize , the greatest King on earth hath esteemed himselfe not to bee ouer able . I will onely say , I had reason to submit an eloquence produced in the shade , and formed in solitarinesse , to this other eloquence quickned both with voyce and action , causing you to reigne in soueraignety at all assemblies . Certainely ( my Lord ) you are more powerfull by this incomparable quality , then by the authority wherein the King hath placed you : The onely accent of your voyce hath a hidden property , to charme all such as hearken vnto you ; none can bee possessed with any so willfull passions , who will not be appeased by the reasons you propound ; and after you haue spoken , you will at all times remaine master of that part of man , no way subiect to the worlds order , and which hath not any dependency vpon lawfull power , or tyrannicall vsurpation . This is a trueth ( my Lord ) as well knowne as your name , and which you so solidly confirmed at the last assembly of the Notables ; as that in the great diuersity of humours and iudgements , whereof it was composed , there was peraduenture this onely point well resolued on , That you are the most eloquent man liuing . This being true , I can no way doubt , but the perusall of this Booke I offer vnto you , will extraordinarily content you , and that you will bee well pleased to retire thither , sometimes to recreate your spirits after agitation , and to suspend those great thoughts , who haue for their obiect the good of all Europe . It is a Booke ( my Lord ) wherein you shall find no common thing but the Title ; ( where entertaining some particular person ) Mounsieur de Balzac reades Lessons to all men ; and where amidst the beauty of Complements and dexterity of Ieasting , he often teacheth of the most sublime points of Philosophy : I meane not that wrangling part thereof which reiecteth necessary verities , to seeke after vnprofitable ones , which cannot exercise the vnder standing without prouoking passions , nor speake of moderation without distemper , and putting the soule into disorder : But of that , whereby Pericles heretofore made himselfe master of Athens , and wherewith Epaminondas raised himselfe to the prime place of Greece : which tempereth the manners of particulars , regulateth the obligation of Princes , and necessarily bringeth with it the felicity of all States where they command . This booke will make it apparent euen to your enemies , that your life hath beene at all times equally admirable , though not alwayes alike glorious : How you haue conserued the opinion of your vertue , euen in the time of your hardest fortunes , and how in the greatest fury of the tempest , and in the most extreame violence of your affaires , the integrity of your actions hath neuer beene reduced to the onely testimony of your conscience . To conclude , It is in this Booke ( my Lord ) where I suppose you will bee well pleased to reade the presages of your present greatnesse , and what hath beene foretold ; not by Astrologicall rules , or the aspect of some Constellation , but by a true discourse founded vpon the maximes of reason , and experience of things past ; causing him to presume , that God hath not conferred such extraordinary endowments vpon you , to be for euer encloistered within your selfe : And that he hath loued France better , then to depriue her of the good you ought to procure her . But all these verities shall one day be comprised in that worke the King , by your mouth , ( my Lord ) hath commanded Mounsieur de Balzac to vndertake , and which one yeere of leisure will effect . There shall it be , where he will cause all men to confesse , that to haue the pourtraict of a perfect Prince , the reigne of so great a Monarch as ours ▪ is to bee attended ; that the Diuine Prouidence neuer shewed it selfe more apparantly , then in the conduct of his designes , and in the euent of his enterprises ; and how Heauen hath so farre declared it selfe in his fauour , that were his state assaulted on all sides , and all ordinary meanes of defence should faile him ; he hath vertue sufficient to saue himselfe , and performe miracles . Now as you are the prime intelligence of his Councill , and your cogitations the first causes of the good resolutions therein taken , you are not to doubt ( my Lord ) but you likewise possesse the principall place therein , after His Maiestie ; and that you participate more then any other of His triumphs . There shall you be reuenged of all those wretched writings you haue formerly slighted : There the spirits of all men shall bee satisfied in the iustice of your deportments , and calumny it selfe will there bee so powerfully conuinced , that to cry downe so legall a gouernement as yours , ill affected French-men , and those strangers enemies to this Crowne , will finde no further pretext in affaires , nor credulity among men . And truely , when I ( on the one side ) consider how fat all it is to those who gouerne , to be exposed to the enuy of great ones , and complaints of meaner persons , and how Publike affaires haue this fatality , as how pure soeuer the administration thereof be , they still afford sufficient colour to calumny , to disguise them and cause them to appeare iniust . And on the other side , when I consider that to guide this State is no lesse then to manage a body hauing no one sound part ; and how there is no sicke person who doeth not sometimes murmure against his Phisitian ; I dare bee confident ( my Lord ) that such a man as Mounsieur de Balzac will not prooue vnusefull vnto you , and that the lustre of your actions , and glory of your life shall receiue no diminution in his hands . I would say more , did I not feare to disoblige him in commending him , or if I beleeued him to be so great a selfe admirer as his enemies figure him vnto vs . But I who haue sufficiently studied him to know him ▪ and who am acquainted with his most secret Inclinations , and the most particular conception ▪ s he hath in his soule , and of a farre different opinion to theirs . I will therefore rest there ( my Lord ) and not to cause you to loose more time , and to the end you may the sooner inioy the entertainement , this excellent Booke prepareth for you : I will satisfie my selfe in letting you know , that I esteeme not my selfe so vnfortunate as formerly I did , since I haue happened vpon so faire an occasion , to let you know that I am ,

I Doubt not , but among those who shall see these Works ; some there are who will esteeme them worthy a more aduantagious Title then that of Letters , as well in regard of the greatnesse of those things therein frequently handled , as in respect of the exactnesse where-wherewith they seeme to haue beene composed : Butas I willingly excuse those , who with vnapt complements imagine they haue composed a good Letter ; nor doe any more blame such as there in neuer digresse from their perticular affaires , ●o must I likewise acknowledge , that such writings as these , hauidg not beene made with any intention to bee put in Print , the World might well haue passed without them : And that it is only allowed to the Germans to giue account to the age they liue in , and to posteritie forsooth , concerning the affaires and fortunes of their particular families , and of the silly acts of their Colleagues . Truely it is an errour to beleeue , that graue and solemne subiects are to bee banished out of all Letters , or that euen eloquence ought but slackly therein to appeare ; and that the Maiestie of both these is only reserued for Pulpits and Panegyrick Orations ; as though valour neuer appeared saue onely in pitcht Battells ; and that in single Combats it were lawfull to run away , or that vertue therein were vtterly vnusefull , because it hath fewer witnesses , neither is so fully regarded : But besides that , wee are no longer in those times wherein the State gouernment was publiquely questioned , where the Oratours forced the Lieutenants generall of armies to render accompt of their seuerall charges , and that consequently , there is no more any meanes remaining to become eloquent in that kind : Yet are there reasons , whereby w̄ee may vnderstand the merit of Letters to bee of no lesse regard then that of Orations . Howbeit , if there bee any necessitie to find some difference betweene these ; this at least can neither be in regard of the dignitie of the Subiects , the force of Reasons , the gracefullnesse of Discourses , nor in the sublimitie of Conceits . To speake trueth , when I consider the Orations yet remaining among the ruines of former ages , some where of were publikely pronounced , others onely penned ; I am so farre from admiring any aduantage they haue ouer those Letters now extant among vs , both of the same Authors and Ages , as I doe not so much as wonder at all , how the first hauing beene armed with discourse and voice , together with the gesture and motion of the body , haue produced such prodigious effects as wee all know , and haue so often , as it were by maine force , extorted the consents of all hearers ; yet the second , though they had not the like arms and allurements , haue notwithstanding not beene any way ●●●icient . Those smooth Exordiums whereby they prepare , and put themselues by easie accesses , as it were into possession of the Readers , those straites and passages whereby they conduct the spirits of men from pleasant to painefull , and from grieuous , to gracious obiects , to the end , that hauing in a maner shaken and cast them out of their former stations , they may afterwards force them to fall on what side they please . Surely all these aduantages are so peculiar to Orations , as I ingeniously confesse , Letters doe not so much as know what they meane . In these , we enter at the first dash vpon the matter , nor doe wee scarse at any time , quit the same ; the reasons goe altogether alone without assistance , and all the ornament allowed them , is onely freedome of conceptions , the fecunditie of language , and that they passe not promiscuously . But as concerning the Subiects , they are common to both kinds of writings , and it is an errour to imagine , there are some so particular to the one , that the other cannot touch vpon the same withont iniurie thereunto . Vpon the matter , Panegyrick discourses , Apologies , Confultations , Iudgements vpon morall actions , whether good or bad opinions and censures vpon occurrents , of those which please , and those wee ought to detest , yea euen indifferent accidents ▪ briefely whatsoeuer may fall into discourse , and vnder reason , are the obiects of Letters : So wee see , the greatest and most important misteries of our religion haue been left vnto vs in Letters . All the wisedome of the Pagan● contained in those of Seneca , and wee owe to those Cicero wrot to his friends , the knowledge of the secrets , and certaine inducements which caused the greatest reuolutions the world hath euer known , to witt the shaking and subuersion of the Romane Reipublike , wee are therefore to confesse Oratoricall Treatises to haue no other subiect then Letters ; and that if there bee any difference , it is none other then what is obserued betweene our ancient Seas , and those not discouered vnto vs till in our fathers times . The latter are no lesse deepe then the other , they are capable of the like shipping ; their ebbes , and floods are neither more iust , nor lesse vncertaine ; and all the difference discouered betweene them is onely this , that the windes tosse not those in like fort as it doth ours , and in that they are seldome or neuer subiect either to stormes , or tempests . In like manner it being within the power and capacitie of Letters to treate of the same things , how much more emenent and excellent soeuer one may conceiue them to be then any other kind of writings , yet doe they not indeede receiue those extraordinary motions which appeare in Orations , since neither the like high of excesse , nor the same Enthusiasmes or Raptures are herein found ; In a word , it is a more middle beauty , and a more calme eloquence . And surely , if the subiect wee make vse of be as illustrious as the person before whom wee are to handle it , were it not as much as to abuse both the one and the other , to come short in our expressions : Since the action ought neither to be publique , nor generall , if you intend to performe it negligently , and not to allow it all the ornaments whereof it is capable . And who can doubt that Cicero being to make an Oration before Caesar , after the change of the Common-wealth , had not a greater apprehension , and prepared not himselfe with more studious care , then if he had onely spoken to that beast with an hundred heads , hee had so often led after his owne Phantasie , and whereof hee was in so full possession so long before , as to cause them to take the part best pleasing vnto him . In these last occasions , and in the presence of this man alone , he know with whom he had to doe : Now had he beene timerous , or fearefull to faile before his Master , yet impute not this apprehension of his to proceede either out of consideration hee had of his greatnesse , nor from the reflection vpon those things hee came to accomplish : But it was in that he considered him as a man no lesse versed in the art of well-speaking then himselfe , and who had heretofore contributed to the study of this science , so many rare gifts of spirit , and so many faire indowments of nature , that had he not afterward esteemed it more noble to conquer men by armes , then to conuince them by arguments , and if of the two most excellent exercises of this life , his fortune and the famousnesse of his courage , had not caused him to make choyce of the former , hee might easily haue disputed for the glory of the latter with him . Or were it so that this excellent Oratour might at this day returne into the world , and were personally , or by his Penne to discourse with those two great Cardinalls to whom the most part of these Letters are addrest ▪ is it not probable , comming to know them as wee doe , that he would imploy , and contribute a a more exact study and solicitude , then when hee was onely to please a multitude of ignorant Plebeians , and to speake to all that rable of ancient Rome . Wee shall yet againe bee amazed at the perfection of these Letters , some whereof are written to the King , and appointed to bee read ( as in trueth they were ) with admiration in full counsell , and a great part of the rest addressed to the most eminent persons of our age . To speake trueth wee may iustly say , this is the first time any thing of perfection hath appeared in our language ; so that if of all our ancient eloquence there bee ought worthy of esteeme in any equalitie with this , it may bee that with much labour you shall produce some one Letter : For of all such who haue hitherto written wee may affirme , that the most fortunate among them , when they made choyce of subiects able to subsist of themselues , haue not beene absolutely condemnable , and that amidst their writings , the soliditie of learning , and the sauagenesse of language ( to wit ) the good and euill did equally appeare . But when at any time they fell vpon subiects where eloquence onely swayed the Scepter , there truly it was where fortune forsooke them , and where the feeblenesse of their proper forces was manifestly perceiued , if they were not some way assisted by strange tongues . Some of them ( to say the trueth ) haue doubted what way they were to take , and haue striuen to shew it to others , though themselues were not in it . In a word , the greatest glory those gained who haue written with most perfection and puritie , is only that which nature hath reserued for women , to which sex eminent actions being denied , it seemeth they performe sufficient if they abstaine from euill doing . But to say that any hath ioyned Art to aboundance , and mingled mildnesse with Maiestie , or hath raised his stile without either loosing himselfe , or straying from his subiect , that is it which in trueth we could not see till this present . And questionlesse these braue and generous formes of discourse , and those great and strange conceptions wherewith these Letters are so curiously limed , and so plentifully grac'd , haue beene very slenderlie known in proceeding ages : This very order , and this number , whereof euery tongue is not capable , and wherein ours owes nothing to the Latine , and which appeares in all his words , though diuersely , and as their gender requires , do right haply appeare in this place , though the most part of writers before him haue esteemed these perfections of small importance ; yet notwithstanding , without the helpe of these two great secrets , neither ornaments of Art , nor graces of Nature , can bee but in part pleasing ; nor can all the reasons the World can alledge perswade a Very woman resoluing to resist : And to speake seriously , they are no lesse necessary among excellent discourses , and conceits , then discipline amongst Souldiers , without which , courage is of no effect , and valour most commonly proueth vnprofitable . As for me who haue knowne the Author from both our infancies , and who better then all others , can depose in what fashion he effecteth his labours ; besides , knowing the great aduantage hee hath ouer all those who write at this day : I haue euer thought , that if any were able to raise our Language to the merit and reputation of such Eloquence , wherewith the Ancients were adorned , it should bee to him alone to whom our age oweth this glorie . Nor doe I doubt , but the comparison comming in question at this present , betweene these his writings , and those of others ; the difference will bee easily discouered , assuring my selfe , that all spirits will dispose themselues to be ranged herein to mine opinion , and voluntarily to giue way thereunto . As for my selfe , who read the Ancients with all respect due vnto them , and the Moderns without any preiudicate opinion , doe notwithstanding confesse , that all I can conceiue in others is so farre short of the merit of these Letters , that abstracting from the passion I am possessed with , both for them , and their Authour , hardly could I dispose my selfe to frame this Preface for them . And who is there will make any difficultie to giue them their due ? Since hee whose very faults haue beene esteemed so faire , that they caused a Sect during his life , which yet continues after his death ; hauing ( at Meats ) seene certaine discourses this Author composed in those miserable times , and which stood in need of another age to be gratefully regarded , was astonished at his beginnings , confessing it was with vnwillingnesse , that the onely thing hee supposed to possesse by the generall consent of all , was rauished from him by one who as yet had liued but twenty yeeres . But surely , it was in this straine of writing which in that it is not restrayned within so strict limits as that of Letters , is capable of all the motions , and ornaments of Art ; and of the same sort as was the other discourse he addresseth to the Pope who now is , vpon the like subiect , as that of Saint Bernards to Eugenius : And as God neuer chose among men any so accomplished with all perfections , as this person to command all others , so can I not conceiue any thing either more great , or extraordinary , then what appeareth in this worke , nor more sutable to the excellencie of the subiect , and to the Maiestie of him to whom he dedicated his discourse : But if ( to returne to the particulars of these Letters ) it were necessary for the deliuering an vnpartiall iudgment , to consider those of the Ancients , I should seeme more respectfull then were requisite , if ( putting them all together ) I should vndertake to make them so much as enter into comparison with these ; excepting onely those of Seneca , yea euen in those ( which in trueth come not nere these ) there is so infinite abundance of matter as can hardly bee imagined , and since all things therein appeare so confusedly , that it seemes they were therein couched without choice , and to say trueth , as itwere at aduenture , some who will yet further tax his stile will happily say , they are rather matters then Workes . But for my part , if there bee any defects therein , I hold they ought well to be borne with , in regard of so many rarities therein concurring ; and when wee haue said all , what appearance is there to vnderualew any thing we receiue from a man who was worth seuen Millions of Gold ? And who once in his life had the heart , and ambition to aspire to the Empire of the whole world ? Let vs therefore esteeme all wee receiue from him , and from those times , yet suffer vs to commend our owne , wherein this science which medleth with the commanding of spirits , and which was but formerly in it's infancy , is now found to be in his full maturitie , and as it were of ripe yeeres . If therefore you acknowledge any obligation due ( as in trueth there is ) to these excellent Letters , you shall in short time see so solid , and iust a iudgment proceed from this Author , that the Parliament it selfe produceth not any more able ; and his solitarines will be so satisfactorie vnto you , that you will make no more difference then I do , to prefer the fame before the magnificence of Princely Courts , and the Pompe of most statelyest Cities .

ABout fiue yeeres since , I chanced to peruse Mounsieur Balzac's Letters ( they being then as I suppose ) but lately come forth in French ▪ and as it should seeme without the Authours approbation : For of eight Editions in seuerall places , since published , this onely being the last , I was by him auowed . Hauing therefore seene this Coppy , was so farre from supposing it vnworthy the reading , as ( on the contrary ) finding his stile right eloquent , and altogether vnafected , his conceptions high , and the whole Booke richly adorned with great varietie of learning , appearing almost in euery Page : It raised no small desire in mee to try how his way of writing would sute with our language : I thought therefore good ( as my occasions would permit , now and then for my priuate recreation ) to translate certaine of his Letters , without any the least intention to put them all into English , much lesse to publish them : But hauing once begun , I found my selfe so taken with the freeedome of his discourse , together with the facillitie of his expressions ; and so surunded with the torrent of his witt , that though I had small hopes of wading safely through , notwithstanding it seemed euen delightfull vnto mee to bee drenched in so rich so pleasing , and so plentifull a flood , yet after diuers attempts , I at last arriued on drie land , resoluing to rest my selfe after these labours , and in priuate to inioy the content I tooke in hearing Mounsieur Balzac speake , though but broken English . But I was not long left in peace with this resolution , before certaine my noble friends vnderstanding I had traualled on this subiect ; did importunately solicite me to put these Letters into Print , perswading me I should here in performe no vnacceptable seruice to my Countrey , especially to such who are vnacquainted with the French Language . Their power therefore ouer-ruling my bashfullnesse , though otherwise seconding my willing desire to bee vsefull ; I held it lesse faultie to incur the hazard of publike censure , then to bee taxed of wilfull inciuillitie . So as ( worthy Reader ) I haue here exposed them to thy view ; If the coursnesse of the English habit wherein I haue clad them , seeme vnsutable to their French attyre , or vnfashionable in thy sight : Consider I beseech thee , that beautifull creatures are not altogether blemished , though but plainely attyred . If therefore you please so farre to fauour mee , as to excuse these my errours , I will herafter endeauour to become more seruiceable . You will happily not here find all Balzac's Letters Englished ; yea and diuers clauses left out ; the onely reason hath beene , their subiect not altogether sutable to this State , nor very fitting for English eares . The rest are here presented to thy gratious accetpance , not doubting but they will prooue both pleasing and profitable to diuers who endeauour to make right vse thereof . My desires haue aimed at that end ; and my greatest ambition is to haue them find courteous entertainement , and to afford Publique Vtillitie .

PErlegi hunc librum cui titulus ( Balzac his Letters ) una cum praefatione duplici ad Dominum Cardinall de Richelieu , & ad Lectorum , qui quidem liber continet folio 176. ( exceptis quae delentur ) in quibus nihil reperio sanae doctrinae , aut bonis moribus contrarium , quo minus cum publica utilitate Imprimatur : ita tamen ut si non intra annum proxime sequentem typis mandetur haec licentia sit omnino irrita .