Shows , Feasts , and great Assemblies , invite not me to the sight of 'em : The Inconveniencies I must suffer , deter me . The elegant harmony of Consorts engages not me so much , as the difficulty of adjusting 'em disobliges me . Abundance disgusts me at my Meals , and Rarities seem to me an affected Curiosity . My fancy cannot recommend any thing to my palate by my scarcity . My choice shou'd be of things easily to be had , that my Delicacy may not be ruled by Fancy .

I am as fond of Reading as ever , because it depends more particularly on the mind , which tires not like the Senses . In truth , I seek in Books my Pleasure , rather than my Instruction .

As I have less time for Practice , I have less desire to learn . I have more need of a stock of Life than of methods of living ; and the little that remains , is better spent in things agreeable , than Instructive . The Latin Authors afford me the most , and I read whatever I think fine , a thousand times over without being cloy'd .

A nice Choice has confin'd me to a few Books , in which I seek rather found than fine Wit ; and the true Taste ( to use a Spanish Expression ) is ordinarily found in the Writings of considerable Men. I am pleas'd to discover in Tully's Epistles , both his own Character , and that of those Persons of Quality that Write to him . He never divests himself of his Rhetorick , and the least recommendation to his most intimate Friend is as artificially Insinuated , as if he were to prepossess a Stranger in an Affair of the greatest Consequence in the World .

The Letters of the rest want those fine turns ; but in my Mind , they have more good Sense than his , and this makes me judge very Advantageously of the great and general Abilities of the Romans at that time .

Our Authors prefer the Age of Augustus upon the account of Virgil and Horace ; and perhaps more yet upon the score of Maecenas , who encouraged Men of Learning , than for those Men of Learning themselves .

It is neverthelsess certain , that their Parts as well as Courages began at that time to decay . Grandeur of Soul was converted to Circumspect Conduct , and sound Discourse to Polite Conversation : I know not what to think of the Remains of Maecenas , unless it be that they had something of Grimace , which was made to pass for delicate .

Maecenas was Augustus's great Favourite ; The Man that pleas'd , and whom all the Polite , and sprightly Witts courted ; now is it not likely that his judgment over-rul'd the rest , that they affected his Air , and Ap'd , as much as they could , his Character ?

Augustus himself leaves us no great Idea of his Latinity . What we see of Terence , what was reported at Rome of politeness of Scipio and Laelius , the Reliques of Caesar , and what we have of Cicero , with the complaint of this last for the loss of what he calls , Sales , Lepores , Venustates , Vrbanitas , Amaenitas , Festivitas , Iucunditas ; all together make me believe , upon better consideration , That we must search some other time than that of Augustus , to find the sound and agreeable Wit of the Romans , as well as the pure and natural Graces of their Tongue .

It may be said , That Horase had a very nice Palate in all these Matters ; which perswades me , that the rest of his Contemporaries had not . For the nicety of his Relish consisted chiefly in finding that of others ridiculous . But as for the Impertinencies , false Manners , and Affectations which he laugh'd at , his sense wou'd not at this day appear so very just .

I own that of Augustus to have been the Age of excellent Poets ; but it follows not , That it was that of Universal Genius's .

Poetry requires a peculiar Genius , that agrees not overmuch with good sense . It is sometimes the Language of Gods , sometimes of Buffoons , rarely that of a Civil Man . It delights in Figures , and Fictions , always besides the reality of things , tho' it be that only , that can satisfy a found Understanding .

Not but that there is something Noble in making good Verse ; but we must have a great command of our Genius , otherwise the mind is possess'd with something Foreign , which hinders it from the free management of it self .

He 's a Block-head ( say the Spaniards ) that can't make two Verses , and a Fool that makes four . If this Maxim prevail'd over all the World , we should want a thousand fine Works , the reading of which gives us a very delicate pleasure ; but this Maxim respects Men of Business , rather than profess'd Poets . However , those that are capacitated for such great Works , will not oppose the force of their Genius , for what I can say ; and it is certain , that amongst Authors , those only will write few Verses , who find themselves curb'd more by their own natural Unaptness , than by my Reasons .

Excellent Poets are as requisite for our pleasure , as great Mathematicians for our use : But it is sufficient for us to be acquainted with their Works , and not engage our selves in the solitary Enthusiasm of the one , or to exhaust our Spirits in Meditation like the other .

Of all Poets , Comedians are most proper for the converse of the World : For they oblige themselves to paint naturally what passes in it , and to express after a lively manner the Thoughts , and Passions of Men.

How new an Air soever , may be given to old Thoughts , that sort of Poetry is very tedious which is fill'd with Similies of the Morning , the Sun , Moon , and Stars . Our Descriptions of a calm and a tempestuous Sea , represent nothing which the Antients have not done much better .

Now we have not only the same Ideas , but the very same Expressions , the same Rhymes . I never hear of the Harmony of Birds , but I prepare my self for the murmuring of Brooks ; the Shepherds are always lolling upon Fern , and you may sooner find a Grove without a Shade in its proper sight , than in our Verses .

This must necessarily at length be very tedious ; which cannot happen in Comedy , where with pleasure we see our own Actions drawn , and are touch'd with Paralel Motions .

A Discourse of Woods , Rivers , Meadows , Fields , and Gardens , make but a very languishing Impression upon us , unless their Beauties be wholly new : But a discourse of Humanity , its Inclinations , Tendernesses , and Affections , finds something at the bottom of our Souls prepar'd to receive it ; the same nature produces and receives 'em , and they are easily transfused from the Actors to the Spectators .

The Delicacy of Love sooths me , and its tenderness touches me ; and as in Spain they love the best of any Country in the World , I am never weary of reading in their Authors Amorous Adventures . I am more affected with the Passion of one of their Lovers , than I shou'd be with my own , were I yet capable of any . The very Imagination of those Amours raises in me certain motions for the Gallant , which I cou'd never feel for my self .

There is perhaps as much Witt in the other Writings of that Nation , as in ours ; but it is a Wit that gives me no satisfaction , except that of Cervantes in Don Quixot , which I cou'd read all my life without being disgusted one single moment .

Of all the Books I have ever read , Don Quixot is that , of which I shou'd be most ambitious to have been the Author . Nothing in my Opinion , can contribute more to the forming in us a true relish of every thing . I wonder how Cervantes cou'd , as it were out of the Mouth of one of the greatest Fools in the World , shew himself maiter of all the Understanding and Knowledge imaginable . I admire the diversities of his Characters , which are of the most uncommon stamp in the World , and at the same time the most natural .

Quevedo indeed appears a very Ingenious Author , but I esteem him more for wishing all other Books Burnt , when he had read Don Quixot , than for having been able to read 'em .

I am not acquainted enough with Italian Verse , to taste their delicacy , or admire their Grace and Beauty ; I meet with some Histories in that Tongue above all the Moderns , and some Treatises of Politicks even above what the Antients have Written .

As for the Morality of the Italians , it is full of Conceipts , which savour more of a Fancy that aims to Sparkle , than of solid Sense founded on deep Reflections .

I am very curious of every thing that is fine in French , and am very much distasted at a thousand Authours , that seem only to have written for the Reputation of being Authors . I read not for the credit of having read abundance , and this is it which tyes me up to certain Books , where I 'm assur'd to meet satisfaction .

Montagne's Essays , Malherbe's Poems , Corneille's Tragedies , and Voiture's Letters have established to themselves , as it were , a Title to please me during Life .

Montagne has not the same success with others through their whole Course . As he particularly lays open Men , the Young and the Old are pleased to see themselves in him by the resemblance of their Thoughts . The space intermediate to these Ages , takes 'em off from Nature to other Professions ; and then they find less in Montagne that fits 'em . The Art Military employs the General ; Politicks the States-man ; Divinity the Church Man ; and Law the Judge .

Montagne returns upon us , when Nature has brought us back again to our selves ; and the approach of Age , when we truly feel what we are , recalls the Prince as well as his meanest Subjects from his Engagements to his Function , to the more near and sensible interest of his Person .

I Write not this out of any impulse of vanity , which urges Men to make their Fancies publick . I instruct my self by what I say , and understand my self better by expressing the Notion I have form'd of my self , then I could by private thoughts , and Internal Reflections .

The Idea a Man has of himself by simple attention to Internal Meditations , is always a little confus'd . The Image which is outwardly express'd is much more exact , and gives us much truer Judgment of our selves , when it is again submitted to the Examination of the mind , after having been laid before our eyes .

Besides , the flattering Opinion of our own merit loses half its Charms , as soon as it comes into the light ; and the complaisance of self Love insensibly vanishing leaves behind it only a disgust of its sweetness , and shame for a vanity as foolishly entertain'd as judiciously quitted .

To equal Malherbe to the Antients , I find nothing finer then his own compositions . I wou'd only in his works retrench what is not worthy of him . It were injustice to postpone him to any one whoever . But he must bear with us , if for the honour of our own Judgments , we make him give place to himself .

Almost the same we may say of Corneille . He wou'd be above all the Tragedians of Antiquity , if he were not in some of his pieces much below himself . He is so admirable in what is fine , that he take saway all patience for what is indifferent . What in him is not excellent , methinks is naught ; not that it is bad , but that it wants the perfection of the rest . It is not enough for him to please us lightly , he 's bound to touch us to the quick .

If he ravishes not our minds , they employ their utmost penetration , enviously to discover the difference between him and himself .

Some Authors may simply move us . But those are petty ticklings , pleasing enough when we have nothing else to mind . Corneille prepares our minds for transports : If they be not elevated , they are left in a condition more uneasie than languour .

It is , I confess hard , always to Charm : Very hard at pleasure to raise a mind from its temper , to unhinge a Soul . But Corneille by having done it so often , has laid upon himself an Obligation to do it always . Let him expunge what is not noble enough for him , and he will leave us in a full admiration of those Beauties which no one can Parallel .

I should not excuse Voiture for a great many of his Letters , which he ought to have suppress'd , had himself been the Publisher : But he was like some Fathers , equally kind and prudent , who have a natural affection for their Children , and in secret cherish those that want worth , thereby to avoid exposing their Judgments to the Publick by their Indulgence .

He might have shew'd all his Fondness to some of his Works ; for there is something in 'em so unaccountably ingenious so polite , so fine , and so agreeable , that it takes away all taste of the Sales Attici ' and the Roman ●rbanitas ; ecclypses quite the Spirit and Wit of the Italians , and the Gallantry of the Spaniards .

We have in French some particular pieces of admirable Beauty ; of which number is the Funerall Oration of the Queen of England by Monsieur de Meaux . There is a certain Spirit diffus'd through the whole discourse , which gives as great an opinion of the Author before he is known , as of his Work , after 't is read . His Character is impress'd on all that he says ; so that altho' I have never seen him , I pass easily from the admiration of his Discourse to that of his Person .

Nor am I less affected with the Abridgment of General History done by the same Prelate . Such reach is there in his Reflections : The sense so sound , so great a purity of Reasoning ! What a capacity of mind must he have in one Scheme to comprehend so great a variety of Events , so far disjoyn'd both in time and place ? What Judgment to reconcile 'em as he do's , and draw from 'em Consequences so advantagious to the true Religion ?

How great soever the pleasure of Reading is to me , yet that of Conversation will ever be more sensible . The acquaintance of the Ladies would afford the sweetest , if their Charms did not put us to too much pain to defend our selves from doing Homage to 'em . Yet this is a violence I rarely suffer ; as my Age renders me unacceptable , my Experience makes me nice ; and if they can't be pleas'd with me , I am by way of return as little satisfied with them .

There are some whose Merits make a considerable impression on my mind , but their Beauty has little influence on me . And if I am at any time surprized by it , I presently reduce my Passion to a pleasing reasonable Amity , that has none of the uneasinesses of Love .

Amongst Ladies , the most meritorious person with them , is the Lover ; the next , the Confident of their Inclinations ; the third , he that ingeniously sets off all that is amiable in 'em . If nothing will win their hearts , we may at least gain their Favours by Complements ; for next to the Lover , to whom all must give place , he pleases 'em most , that can make 'em please themselves best .

When you converse with 'em , avoid carefully all indifference , they are from their Souls Enemies to such coldness , or love your self , or flatter what they love , or paint 'em so as to plunge 'em still deeper in Love with themselves , For Love of some sort or other they must have , it is a Passion their Hearts are never unfurnish'd with . Direct a poor Heart how to employ it .

'T is true , some of 'em can have esteem , and even tenderness too without Love ; and others there are as worthy of our Confidence and Secrets as the most trusty of our Friends .

I know some that have no less Wit and Discretion , then Charms and Beauty : But those are Rarities , that Nature wantonly bestows on the World , whether by design or caprice , and we can draw no Consequences in Favour of the Generall , from things so particular , and from Qualities so uncommon . Women so extraordinary seem to invade the Character of Men ; and perhaps it is a kind of revolt from their Sex , to shake off the Natural Conditions of it for the real Advantages of ours .

I confess I have formerly been more difficult in the choice of the Men , with whom I Convers'd , then at present I am ; and I think my self not so much a Loser in point of Delicacy , as a gainer in point of Sense . I then sought for Men that cou'd please me in every thing , I now seek every thing that may please me in any Man .

A Man in all respects agreeable , is too great a Rarity , and it is no Wisdom to hunt for what we are hardly ever like to find . That Delicacy of pleasure , which our imagination paints to us , is what we seldom enjoy ; the sickly nice Fancy gives us a disrelish of those things , which we during the whole course of our lives might obtain .

Not that , to say Truth , it is impossible to find such Jewels , but it is very rarely that Nature forms 'em , and that Fortune favours us with 'em . My good Stars made me know one of this rank in France , and another of equal merit in a Forreign Country , who was the whole delight of my Life . Death has robbed me of this Treasure , and I can never think on that cruel day on which Monsieur Daubigny died , but I may with a sad and sensible regrett , say , — Quem semper acerbum , Semper honoratum , sic dî voluistis , habebo .

Among your other measures for the conduct of Society , you must take care to apprehend the good things seperately ; beware to distinguish Solidity from Prolixity , good Nature from want of Sense , Science from Ridicule . You will find these Qualities promiscuously blended , not only among those Men whom you may at pleasure make choice of , or repudiate , but even among those whom your interest , or other tyes as obligatory , shall bind you to .

I have seen a Man of the gayest natural parts in the World , lay aside the happy facility of his Genious , and engage in Arguments of Science and Religion , in which he betray'd a ridiculous ignorance .

I know one of the most Learned Men in Europe , of whom one may Learn a Thousand things curious or profound , in whom nevertheless you will find an impotence of Beleif in every thing extraordinary , fabulous , or exceeding Credit .

That great Master of the Stage , to whom the Romans are more beholding for the Beauty of their thoughts , then to their own Wit or Vertue : Corneille who sufficiently discovers himself without naming , speaks like an ordinary Man when he speaks for himself . He exhausts all his stock of thought for a Greek or a Roman : A French-man or Spaniard abates his courage ; and when he speaks for him , he is quite dispirited . He racks his imagination for all that is noble to adorn his Old Heroe's , and you would say , that he debarr'd himself the advantage of his own proper Wealth , as , if he were not worthy the use of it .

If you know the World perfectly , you will find in it abundance of Men valuable for their Talent , and as contemptible for their failing . Expect not they shou'd always display their good Qualities , and discreetly cover their Infirmities . You shall see 'em slight their Vertues , and fondly indulge their defects . It rests upon your Judgment to make a better choice then themselves , and by your Address , to draw from 'em that worth , which they cou'd not easily communicate .