,transcribed from the #ahid ,cassell    
,co4 edition by ,david ,price1 email    
ccx#jgd;coventry4ac4uk                  
,,letters ,,on ,,england  by ,voltaire  
,,introduction      ,francois ,marie    
,arouet1 who called himself ,voltaire1  
was the son of  ,francois ,arouet of    
,poitou1 who lived in ,paris1 had given 
up his office of  notary two years      
before the birth of this his third son1 
and obtained  some years afterwards a   
treasurer's office in the ,chambre des  
,comptes4  ,voltaire was born in the    
year #afid4  ,he lived until within ten 
or eleven  years of the outbreak of the 
,great ,french ,revolution1 and was a   
chief  leader in the movement of thought
 that preceded the ,revolution4  ,though
  he lived to his eighty-fourth year1   
,voltaire was born with a weak body4    
,his brother ,armand1 eight years his   
senior1 became a ,jansenist4  ,voltaire 
when ten years old was placed with the  
,jesuits in the ,college ,louis-le-     
,grand4  ,there he was taught during    

seven years1 and his genius was         
encouraged in its bent for literature2  
skill in speaking and in writing  being 
especially fostered in the system of    
education which the ,jesuits  had       
planned to produce capable men who by   
voice and pen could give a  reason for  
the faith they held4  ,verses written   
for an invalid soldier at  the age of   
eleven won for young ,voltaire the      
friendship of ,ninon  l',enclos1 who    
encouraged him to go on writing verses4 
,she died soon  afterwards1 and         
remembered him with a legacy of two     
thousand livres for  purchase of books4 
,he wrote in his lively school-days a   
tragedy that  afterwards he burnt4  ,at 
the age of seventeen he left the        
,college ,louis-  le-,grand1 where he   
said afterwards that he had been taught 
nothing but  ,latin and the             
,stupidities4  ,he was then sent to the 
law schools1 and saw  life in ,paris as 
a gay young poet who1 with all his      
brilliant liveliness1  had an aptitude  

for looking on the tragic side of       
things1 and one of  whose first poems   
was an ,ode on the ,misfortunes of      
,life4  ,his mother  died when he was   
twenty4  ,voltaire's father thought him 
a fool for his  versifying1 and attached
 him as secretary to the ,marquis of    
,chateauneuf2  when he went as          
ambassador to the ,hague4  ,in          
,december1 #agac1 he was  dismissed for 
his irregularities4  ,in ,paris his     
unsteadiness and his  addiction to      
literature caused his father to rejoice 
in getting him  housed in a country     
chateau with ,m4 de ,caumartin4  ,m4 de 
,caumartin's  father talked with such   
enthusiasm of ,henri ,,iv4 and ,sully   
that ,voltaire  planned the writing of  
what became his ,henriade1 and his      
,history of  the ,age of ,louis ,,xiv41 
who died on the #ast of ,september1     
#agae4    ,under the regency that       
followed1 ,voltaire got into trouble    
again and  again through the sharpness  
of his pen1 and at last1 accused of     

verse  that satirised the ,regent1 he   
was locked up--on the #agth of ,may1    
#agag--;in  the ,bastille4  ,there he   
wrote the first two books of his        
,henriade1 and  finished a play on      
,o,edipus1 which he had begun at the age
 of eighteen4  ,he  did not obtain full 
liberty until the #abth of ,april1      
#agah1 and it was at  this time--with a 
clearly formed design to associate the  
name he took  with work of high attempt 
in literature--that ,francois ,marie    
,arouet1 aged  twenty-four1 first called
 himself ,voltaire4    ,voltaire's      
,o,edipe was played with success in     
,november1 #agah4  ,a few  months later 
he was again banished from ,paris1 and  
finished the  ,henriade in his          
retirement1 as well as another play1    
,artemise1 that  was acted in ,february1
 #agbj4  ,other plays followed4  ,in    
,december1 #agba1  ,voltaire visited    
,lord ,bolingbroke1 who was then an     
exile from ,england1 at  the ,chateau of
 ,la ,source4  ,there was now constant  

literary activity4  ,from  ,july to     
,october1 #agbb1 ,voltaire visited      
,holland with ,madame de  ,rupelmonde4  
,after a serious attack of small-pox in 
,november1 #agbc1  ,voltaire was active 
as a poet about the ,court4  ,he was    
then in receipt of  a pension of two    
thousand livres from the king1 and had  
inherited more  than twice as much by   
the death of his father in ,january1    
#agbb4  ,but in  ,december1 #agbe1 a    
quarrel1 fastened upon him by the       
,chevalier de ,rohan1  who had him      
waylaid and beaten1 caused him to send a
 challenge4  ,for this  he was arrested 
and lodged once more1 in ,april1 #agbf1 
in the ,bastille4  ,there he was        
detained a month2 and his first act when
 he was released was  to ask for a      
passport to ,england4    ,voltaire left 
,france1 reached ,london in ,august1    
#agbf1 went as guest to  the house of a 
rich merchant at ,wandsworth1 and       
remained three years in  this country1  
from the age of thirty-two to the age of

 thirty-five4  ,he  was here when       
,george ,i4 died1 and ,george ,,ii4     
became king4  ,he published  here his   
,henriade4  ,he wrote here his ,history 
of ,charles ,,xii4  ,he  read           
,gulliver's ,travels as a new book1 and 
might have been present at  the first   
night of ,the ,beggar's ,opera4  ,he was
 here whet ,sir ,isaac  ,newton died4   
,in #agca he published at ,rouen the    
,lettres sur les ,anglais1 which        
appeared in ,england in #agcc in the    
volume from which they are here         
reprinted4    ,h4,m4          ,,letters 
,,on ,,england      ,,letter ,i4--,,on  
,,the ,,quakers      ,i was of opinion  
that the doctrine and history of so     
extraordinary a  people were worthy the 
attention of the curious4  ,to acquaint 
myself with  them ,i made a visit to one
 of the most eminent ,quakers in        
,england1 who1  after having traded     
thirty years1 had the wisdom to         
prescribe limits to  his fortune and to 
his desires1 and was settled in a little

 solitude not  far from ,london4  ,being
 come into it1 ,i perceived a small but 
regularly  built house1 vastly neat1 but
 without the least pomp of furniture4   
,the  ,quaker who owned it was a hale1  
ruddy-complexioned old man1 who had     
never  been afflicted with sickness     
because he had always been insensible to
  passions1 and a perfect stranger to   
intemperance4  ,i never in my life saw  
a more noble or a more engaging aspect  
than his4  ,he was dressed like  those  
of his persuasion1 in a plain coat      
without pleats in the sides1 or  buttons
 on the pockets and sleeves2 and had on 
a beaver1 the brims of  which were      
horizontal like those of our clergy4    
,he did not uncover  himself when ,i    
appeared1 and advanced towards me       
without once stooping  his body2 but    
there appeared more politeness in the   
open1 humane air of  his countenance1   
than in the custom of drawing one leg   
behind the other1  and taking that from 
the head which is made to cover it4     

,friend1 says  he to me1 ,i perceive    
thou art a stranger1 but if ,i can do   
anything for  thee1 only tell me4  ,sir1
 said ,i to him1 bending forwards and   
advancing1 as is usual with us1 one leg 
towards him1 ,i flatter myself  that my 
just curiosity will not give you the    
least offence1 and that  you'll do me   
the honour to inform me of the          
particulars of your  religion4  ,the    
people of thy country1 replied the      
,quaker1 are too  full of their bows and
 compliments1 but ,i never yet met with 
one of them  who had so much curiosity  
as thyself4  ,come in1 and let us first 
dine  together4  ,i still continued to  
make some very unseasonable ceremonies1 
it not being easy to disengage one's    
self at once from habits we have  been  
long used to2 and after taking part in a
 frugal meal1 which began  and ended    
with a prayer to ,god1 ,i began to      
question my courteous host4  ,i  opened 
with that which good ,catholics have    
more than once made to  ,huguenots4  ,my

 dear sir1 said ,i1 were you ever       
baptised8  ,i never  was1 replied the   
,quaker1 nor any of my brethren4        
,zounds6 say ,i to  him1 you are not    
,christians1 then4  ,friend1 replies the
 old man in a  soft tone of voice1 swear
 not2 we are ,christians1 and endeavour 
to be  good ,christians1 but we are not 
of opinion that the sprinkling water on 
a  child's head makes him a ,christian4 
,heavens6 say ,i1 shocked at his        
impiety1 you have then forgot that      
,christ was baptised by ,st4 ,john4     
,friend1 replies the mild ,quaker once  
again1 swear not2 ,christ indeed  was   
baptised by ,john1 but ,he himself never
 baptised anyone4  ,we are the          
disciples of ,christ1 not of ,john4  ,i 
pitied very much the sincerity of  my   
worthy ,quaker1 and was absolutely for  
forcing him to get himself  christened4 
,were that all1 replied he very gravely1
 we would submit  cheerfully to baptism1
 purely in compliance with thy weakness1
 for we  don't condemn any person who   

uses it2 but then we think that those   
who  profess a religion of so holy1 so  
spiritual a nature as that of ,christ1  
ought to abstain to the utmost of their 
power from the ,jewish  ceremonies4  ,o 
unaccountable6 say ,i3 what6 baptism a  
,jewish  ceremony8  ,yes1 my friend1    
says he1 so truly ,jewish1 that a great 
many ,jews use the baptism of ,john to  
this day4  ,look into ancient  authors1 
and thou wilt find that ,john only      
revived this practice2 and  that it had 
been used by the ,hebrews1 long before  
his time1 in like  manner as the        
,mahometans imitated the ,ishmaelites in
 their pilgrimages to  ,mecca4  ,jesus  
indeed submitted to the baptism of      
,john1 as ,he had suffered  ,himself to 
be circumcised2 but circumcision and the
 washing with water  ought to be        
abolished by the baptism of ,christ1    
that baptism of the  ,spirit1 that      
ablution of the soul1 which is the      
salvation of mankind4  ,thus the        
forerunner said1 ',i indeed baptise you 

with water unto  repentance2 but ,he    
that cometh after me is mightier than   
,i1 whose shoes ,i  am not worthy to    
bear3 he shall baptise you with the     
,holy ,ghost and with  fire4'  ,likewise
 ,paul1 the great apostle of the        
,gentiles1 writes as  follows to the    
,corinthians1 ',christ sent me not to   
baptise1 but to preach  the ,gospel2'   
and indeed ,paul never baptised but two 
persons with water1  and that very much 
against his inclinations4  ,he          
circumcised his disciple  ,timothy1 and 
the other disciples likewise circumcised
 all who were  willing to submit to that
 carnal ordinance4  ,but art thou       
circumcised8  added he4  ,i have not the
 honour to be so1 say ,i4  ,well1       
friend1  continues the ,quaker1 thou art
 a ,christian without being circumcised1
  and ,i am one without being baptised4 
,thus did this pious man make a  wrong  
but very specious application of four or
 five texts of ,scripture  which seemed 
to favour the tenets of his sect2 but at

 the same time  forgot very sincerely an
 hundred texts which made directly      
against them4  ,i had more sense than to
 contest with him1 since there is no    
possibility  of convincing an           
enthusiast4  ,a man should never pretend
 to inform a  lover of his mistress's   
faults1 no more than one who is at law1 
of the  badness of his cause2 nor       
attempt to win over a fanatic by        
strength of  reasoning4  ,accordingly ,i
 waived the subject4    ,well1 said ,i  
to him1 what sort of a communion have   
you8  ,we have  none like that thou     
hintest at among us1 replied he4  ,how6 
no  communion8 said ,i4  ,only that     
spiritual one1 replied he1 of hearts4   
,he then began again to throw out his   
texts of ,scripture2 and preached a     
most eloquent sermon against that       
ordinance4  ,he harangued in a tone as  
though he had been inspired1 to prove   
that the sacraments were merely of      
human invention1 and that the word      
sacrament was not once mentioned in  the

 ,gospel4  ,excuse1 said he1 my         
ignorance1 for ,i have not employed a   
hundredth part of the arguments which   
might be brought to prove the truth  of 
our religion1 but these thou thyself    
mayest peruse in the ,exposition  of our
 ,faith written by ,robert ,barclay4    
,it is one of the best pieces  that ever
 was penned by man2 and as our          
adversaries confess it to be of         
dangerous tendency1 the arguments in it 
must necessarily be very  convincing4   
,i promised to peruse this piece1 and my
 ,quaker imagined he  had already made a
 convert of me4  ,he afterwards gave me 
an account in  few words of some        
singularities which make this sect the  
contempt of  others4  ,confess1 said he1
 that it was very difficult for thee to 
refrain from laughter1 when ,i answered 
all thy civilities without  uncovering  
my head1 and at the same time said      
'thee' and 'thou' to thee4  ,however1   
thou appearest to me too well read not  
to know that in ,christ's  time no      

nation was so ridiculous as to put the  
plural number for the  singular4        
,augustus ,caesar himself was spoken to 
in such phrases as  these3 ',i love     
thee1' ',i beseech thee1' ',i thank     
thee2' but he did not  allow any person 
to call him ',domine1' sir4  ,it was not
 till many ages  after that men would   
have the word 'you1' as though they were
 double1  instead of 'thou' employed in 
speaking to them2 and usurped the       
flattering titles of lordship1 of       
eminence1 and of holiness1 which mere   
worms bestow on other worms by assuring 
them that they are with a most  profound
 respect1 and an infamous falsehood1    
their most obedient humble  servants4   
,it is to secure ourselves more strongly
 from such a shameless  traffic of lies 
and flattery1 that we 'thee' and 'thou' 
a king with the  same freedom as we do a
 beggar1 and salute no person2 we owing 
nothing to  mankind but charity1 and to 
the laws respect and obedience4    ,our 
apparel is also somewhat different from 

that of others1 and this  purely1 that  
it may be a perpetual warning to us not 
to imitate them4  ,others wear the      
badges and marks of their several       
dignities1 and we those  of ,christian  
humility4  ,we fly from all assemblies  
of pleasure1 from  diversions of every  
kind1 and from places where gaming is   
practised2 and  indeed our case would be
 very deplorable1 should we fill with   
such  levities as those ,i have         
mentioned the heart which ought to be   
the  habitation of ,god4  ,we never     
swear1 not even in a court of justice1  
being  of opinion that the most holy    
name of ,god ought not to be prostituted
 in  the miserable contests betwixt man 
and man4  ,when we are obliged to       
appear before a magistrate upon other   
people's account 7for law-suits are     
unknown among the ,friends71 we give    
evidence to the truth by sealing it     
with our yea or nay2 and the judges     
believe us on our bare affirmation1     
whilst so many other ,christians        

forswear themselves on the holy         
,gospels4  ,we never war or fight in any
 case2 but it is not that we are afraid1
 for  so far from shuddering at the     
thoughts of death1 we on the contrary   
bless  the moment which unites us with  
the ,being of ,beings2 but the reason of
  our not using the outward sword is1   
that we are neither wolves1 tigers1  nor
 mastiffs1 but men and ,christians4     
,our ,god1 who has commanded us to  love
 our enemies1 and to suffer without     
repining1 would certainly not  permit us
 to cross the seas1 merely because      
murderers clothed in scarlet1  and      
wearing caps two foot high1 enlist      
citizens by a noise made with two       
little sticks on an ass's skin extended4
  ,and when1 after a victory is  gained1
 the whole city of ,london is           
illuminated2 when the sky is in a  blaze
 with fireworks1 and a noise is heard in
 the air1 of thanksgivings1  of bells1  
of organs1 and of the cannon1 we groan  
in silence1 and are  deeply affected    

with sadness of spirit and brokenness of
 heart1 for the  sad havoc which is the 
occasion of those public rejoicings4    
,,letter ,,ii4--,,on ,,the ,,quakers    
,such was the substance of the          
conversation ,i had with this very      
singular  person2 but ,i was greatly    
surprised to see him come the ,sunday   
following  and take me with him to the  
,quakers' meeting4  ,there are several  
of these  in ,london1 but that which he 
carried me to stands near the famous    
pillar  called ,the ,monument4  ,the    
brethren were already assembled at my   
entering  it with my guide4  ,there     
might be about four hundred men and     
three  hundred women in the meeting4    
,the women hid their faces behind their 
fans1 and the men were covered with     
their broad-brimmed hats4  ,all were    
seated1 and the silence was universal4  
,i passed through them1 but did  not    
perceive so much as one lift up his eyes
 to look at me4  ,this silence  lasted a
 quarter of an hour1 when at last one of

 them rose up1 took off  his hat1 and1  
after making a variety of wry faces and 
groaning in a most  lamentable manner1  
he1 partly from his nose and partly from
 his mouth1  threw out a strange1       
confused jumble of words 7borrowed1 as  
he imagined1  from the ,gospel7 which   
neither himself nor any of his hearers  
understood4  ,when this distorter had   
ended his beautiful soliloquy1 and that 
the  stupid1 but greatly edified1       
congregation were separated1 ,i asked my
  friend how it was possible for the    
judicious part of their assembly to     
suffer such a babbling8  ,we are        
obliged1 says he1 to suffer it1  because
 no one knows when a man rises up to    
hold forth whether he will be  moved by 
the ,spirit or by folly4  ,in this doubt
 and uncertainty we listen  patiently to
 everyone2 we even allow our women to   
hold forth4  ,two or  three of these are
 often inspired at one and the same     
time1 and it is  then that a most       
charming noise is heard in the ,lord's  

house4  ,you  have1 then1 no priests8   
say ,i to him4  ,no1 no1 friend1 replies
 the  ,quaker1 to our great happiness4  
,then opening one of the ,friends'      
books1 as he called it1 he read the     
following words in an emphatic          
tone3--',god forbid we should presume to
 ordain anyone to receive the  ,holy    
,spirit on the ,lord's ,day to the      
prejudice of the rest of the  brethren4'
  ,thanks to the ,almighty1 we are the  
only people upon earth  that have no    
priests4  ,wouldst thou deprive us of so
 happy a distinction8  ,why should we   
abandon our babe to mercenary nurses1   
when we ourselves  have milk enough for 
it8  ,these mercenary creatures would   
soon domineer  in our houses and destroy
 both the mother and the babe4  ,god has
 said1  ',freely you have received1     
freely give4'  ,shall we1 after these   
words1  cheapen1 as it were1 the        
,gospel1 sell the ,holy ,ghost1 and make
 of an  assembly of ,christians a mere  
shop of traders8  ,we don't pay a set of

 men  clothed in black to assist our    
poor1 to bury our dead1 or to preach to 
the brethren4  ,these offices are all of
 too tender a nature for us ever  to    
entrust them to others4  ,but how is it 
possible for you1 said ,i1  with some   
warmth1 to know whether your discourse  
is really inspired by  the ,almighty8   
,whosoever1 says he1 shall implore      
,christ to enlighten  him1 and shall    
publish the ,gospel truths he may feel  
inwardly1 such an  one may be assured   
that he is inspired by the ,lord4  ,he  
then poured  forth a numberless         
multitude of ,scripture texts which     
proved1 as he  imagined1 that there is  
no such thing as ,christianity without  
an  immediate revelation1 and added     
these remarkable words3 ,when thou      
movest  one of thy limbs1 is it moved by
 thy own power8  ,certainly not2 for    
this  limb is often sensible to         
involuntary motions4  ,consequently he  
who  created thy body gives motion to   
this earthly tabernacle4  ,and are the  

several ideas of which thy soul receives
 the impression formed by  thyself8     
,much less are they1 since these pour in
 upon thy mind whether  thou wilt or no2
 consequently thou receivest thy ideas  
from ,him who  created thy soul4  ,but  
as ,he leaves thy affections at full    
liberty1 ,he  gives thy mind such ideas 
as thy affections may deserve2 if thou  
livest  in ,god1 thou actest1 thou      
thinkest in ,god4  ,after this thou     
needest only  but open thine eyes to    
that light which enlightens all mankind1
 and it is  then thou wilt perceive the 
truth1 and make others perceive it4     
,why1  this1 said ,i1 is ,malebranche's 
doctrine to a tittle4  ,i am acquainted 
with thy ,malebranche1 said he2 he had  
something of the ,friend in him1  but   
was not enough so4  ,these are the most 
considerable particulars ,i  learnt     
concerning the doctrine of the ,quakers4
  ,in my next letter ,i shall  acquaint 
you with their history1 which you will  
find more singular than  their opinions4

        ,,letter ,,iii4--,,on ,,the     
,,quakers      ,you have already heard  
that the ,quakers date from ,christ1    
who1 according  to them1 was the first  
,quaker4  ,religion1 say these1 was     
corrupted a  little after ,his death1   
and remained in that state of corruption
 about  sixteen hundred years4  ,but    
there were always a few ,quakers        
concealed in  the world1 who carefully  
preserved the sacred fire1 which was    
extinguished in all but themselves1     
until at last this light spread  itself 
in ,england in #afdb4    ,it was at the 
time when ,great ,britain was torn to   
pieces by the intestine  wars which     
three or four sects had raised in the   
name of ,god1 that one  ,george ,fox1   
born in ,leicestershire1 and son to a   
silk-weaver1 took it  into his head to  
preach1 and1 as he pretended1 with all  
the requisites of  a true apostle--that 
is1 without being able either to read or
 write4  ,he  was about twenty-five     
years of age1 irreproachable in his life

 and  conduct1 and a holy madman4  ,he  
was equipped in leather from head to    
foot1 and travelled from one village to 
another1 exclaiming against war  and the
 clergy4  ,had his invectives been      
levelled against the soldiery  only he  
would have been safe enough1 but he     
inveighed against  ecclesiastics4  ,fox 
was seized at ,derby1 and being carried 
before a  justice of peace1 he did not  
once offer to pull off his leathern hat1
  upon which an officer gave him a great
 box of the ear1 and cried to him1      
,don't you know you are to appear       
uncovered before his worship8  ,fox     
presented his other cheek to the        
officer1 and begged him to give him     
another box for ,god's sake4  ,the      
justice would have had him sworn before 
he asked him any questions4  ,know1     
friend1 says ,fox to him1 that ,i  never
 swear4  ,the justice1 observing he     
thee'd and thou'd him1 sent  him to the 
,house of ,correction1 in ,derby1 with  
orders that he should be  whipped there4

  ,fox praised the ,lord all the way he 
went to the ,house of  ,correction1     
where the justice's order was executed  
with the utmost  severity4  ,the men who
 whipped this enthusiast were greatly   
surprised to  hear him beseech them to  
give him a few more lashes for the good 
of his  soul4  ,there was no need of    
entreating these people2 the lashes were
  repeated1 for which ,fox thanked them 
very cordially1 and began to preach4    
,at first the spectators fell           
a-laughing1 but they afterwards listened
 to  him2 and as enthusiasm is an       
epidemical distemper1 many were         
persuaded1  and those who scourged him  
became his first disciples4  ,being set 
at  liberty1 he ran up and down the     
country with a dozen proselytes at his  
heels1 still declaiming against the     
clergy1 and was whipped from time to    
time4  ,being one day set in the        
pillory1 he harangued the crowd in so   
strong and moving a manner1 that fifty  
of the auditors became his  converts1   

and he won the rest so much in his      
favour that1 his head being  freed      
tumultuously from the hole where it was 
fastened1 the populace went  and        
searched for the ,church of ,england    
clergyman who had been chiefly          
instrumental in bringing him to this    
punishment1 and set him on the same     
pillory where ,fox had stood4    ,fox   
was bold enough to convert some of      
,oliver ,cromwell's soldiers1 who       
thereupon quitted the service and       
refused to take the oaths4  ,oliver1    
having as great a contempt for a sect   
which would not allow its members  to   
fight1 as ,sixtus ,quintus had for      
another sect1 ,dove non si chiamava1    
began to persecute these new converts4  
,the prisons were crowded with  them1   
but persecution seldom has any other    
effect than to increase the  number of  
proselytes4  ,these came1 therefore1    
from their confinement more  strongly   
confirmed in the principles they had    
imbibed1 and followed by  their gaolers1

 whom they had brought over to their    
belief4  ,but the  circumstances which  
contributed chiefly to the spreading of 
this sect  were as follows3--,fox       
thought himself inspired1 and           
consequently was of  opinion that he    
must speak in a manner different from   
the rest of  mankind4  ,he thereupon    
began to writhe his body1 to screw up   
his face1 to  hold in his breath1 and to
 exhale it in a forcible manner1        
insomuch that  the priestess of the     
,pythian god at ,delphos could not have 
acted her part  to better advantage4    
,inspiration soon became so habitual to 
him that he  could scarce deliver       
himself in any other manner4  ,this was 
the first  gift he communicated to his  
disciples4  ,these aped very sincerely  
their  master's several grimaces1 and   
shook in every limb the instant the fit 
of  inspiration came upon them1 whence  
they were called ,quakers4  ,the vulgar 
attempted to mimic them2 they trembled1 
they spake through the nose1 they       

quaked and fancied themselves inspired  
by the ,holy ,ghost4  ,the only thing   
now wanting was a few miracles1 and     
accordingly they wrought some4    ,fox1 
this modern patriarch1 spoke thus to a  
justice of peace before a  large        
assembly of people3 ,friend1 take care  
what thou dost2 ,god will  soon punish  
thee for persecuting ,his saints4  ,this
 magistrate1 being one  who besotted    
himself every day with bad beer and     
brandy1 died of an  apoplexy two days   
after1 the moment he had signed a       
mittimus for  imprisoning some ,quakers4
  ,the sudden death with which this     
justice was  seized was not ascribed to 
his intemperance1 but was universally   
looked  upon as the effect of the holy  
man's predictions2 so that this accident
  made more converts to ,quakerism than 
a thousand sermons and as many  shaking 
fits could have done4  ,oliver1 finding 
them increase daily1 was  desirous of   
bringing them over to his party1 and for
 that purpose  attempted to bribe them  

by money4  ,however1 they were          
incorruptible1  which made him one day  
declare that this religion was the only 
one he had  ever met with that had      
resisted the charms of gold4    ,the    
,quakers were several times persecuted  
under ,charles ,,ii42 not upon a        
religious account1 but for refusing to  
pay the tithes1 for theeing and  thouing
 the magistrates1 and for refusing to   
take the oaths enacted by  the laws4    
,at last ,robert ,barclay1 a native of  
,scotland1 presented to the ,king1 in   
#afge1 his ,apology for the ,quakers1 a 
work as well drawn up as the  subject   
could possibly admit4  ,the dedication  
to ,charles ,,ii4 is not  filled with   
mean1 flattering encomiums1 but abounds 
with bold touches in  favour of truth   
and with the wisest counsels4  ,thou    
hast tasted1 says  he to the ,king at   
the close of his epistle dedicatory1 of 
prosperity and  adversity2 thou knowest 
what it is to be banished thy native    
country2 to  be overruled as well as to 

rule and sit upon the throne2 and1 being
  oppressed1 thou hast reason to know   
how hateful the ,oppressor is both to   
,god and man4  ,if1 after all these     
warnings and advertisements1 thou dost  
not turn unto the ,lord with all thy    
heart1 but forget ,him who remembered   
thee in thy distress1 and give up       
thyself to follow lust and vanity1      
surely great will be thy condemnation4  
,against which snare1 as well as the    
temptation of those that may or do  feed
 thee and prompt thee to evil1 the most 
excellent and prevalent  remedy will be1
 to apply thyself to that light of      
,christ which shineth in  thy           
conscience1 which neither can nor will  
flatter thee nor suffer thee  to be at  
ease in thy sins1 but doth and will deal
 plainly and faithfully  with thee1 as  
those that are followers thereof have   
plainly done4--,thy  faithful friend and
 subject1 ,robert ,barclay4    ,a more  
surprising circumstance is1 that this   
epistle1 written by a  private man of no

 figure1 was so happy in its effects1 as
 to put a stop  to the persecution4     
,,letter ,,iv4--,,on ,,the ,,quakers    
,about this time arose the illustrious  
,william ,penn1 who established the     
power of the ,quakers in ,america1 and  
would have made them appear  venerable  
in the eyes of the ,europeans1 were it  
possible for mankind to  respect virtue 
when revealed in a ridiculous light4    
,he was the only son  of ,vice-,admiral 
,penn1 favourite of the ,duke of ,york1 
afterwards ,king  ,james ,,ii4          
,william ,penn1 at twenty years of age1 
happening to meet with a ,quaker in     
,cork1 whom he had known at ,oxford1    
this man made a proselyte of him2 and   
,william being a sprightly youth1 and   
naturally eloquent1 having a winning    
aspect1 and a very engaging carriage1 he
 soon gained over some of his           
intimates4  ,he carried matters so far1 
that he formed by insensible  degrees a 
society of young ,quakers1 who met at   
his house2 so that he was  at the head  

of a sect when a little above twenty4   
,being returned1 after his leaving      
,cork1 to the ,vice-,admiral his father1
  instead of falling upon his knees to  
ask his blessing1 he went up to him     
with his hat on1 and said1 ,friend1 ,i  
am very glad to see thee in good        
health4  ,the ,vice-,admiral imagined   
his son to be crazy1 but soon finding   
he was turned ,quaker1 he employed all  
the methods that prudence could  suggest
 to engage him to behave and act like   
other people4  ,the youth  made no other
 answer to his father1 than by exhorting
 him to turn ,quaker  also4  ,at last   
his father confined himself to this     
single request1 viz41  that he should   
wait upon the ,king and the ,duke of    
,york with his hat  under his arm1 and  
should not 'thee' and 'thou' them4      
,william answered1  that he could not do
 these things1 for conscience' sake1    
which  exasperated his father to such a 
degree1 that he turned him out of doors4
  ,young ,pen gave ,god thanks for      

permitting him to suffer so early in    
,his  cause1 after which he went into   
the city1 where he held forth1 and made 
a  great number of converts4    ,the    
,church of ,england clergy found their  
congregations dwindle away  daily2 and  
,penn being young1 handsome1 and of a   
graceful stature1 the  court as well as 
the city ladies flocked very devoutly to
 his meeting4  ,the patriarch1 ,george  
,fox1 hearing of his great reputation1  
came to  ,london 7though the journey was
 very long7 purely to see and converse  
with  him4  ,both resolved to go upon   
missions into foreign countries1 and    
accordingly they embarked for ,holland1 
after having left labourers  sufficient 
to take care of the ,london vineyard4   
,their labours were crowned with success
 in ,amsterdam1 but a circumstance      
which reflected the greatest honour on  
them1 and at the same time put  their   
humility to the greatest trial1 was the 
reception they met with  from           
,elizabeth1 the ,princess ,palatine1    

aunt to ,george ,i4 of ,great  ,britain1
 a lady conspicuous for her genius and  
knowledge1 and to whom  ,descartes had  
dedicated his ,philosophical ,romance4  
,she was then retired to the ,hague1    
where she received these ,friends1 for  
so the ,quakers were at that time called
 in ,holland4  ,this princess had       
several conferences with them in her    
palace1 and she at last entertained  so 
favourable an opinion of ,quakerism1    
that they confessed she was not  far    
from the kingdom of heaven4  ,the       
,friends sowed likewise the good seed   
in ,germany1 but reaped very little     
fruit2 for the mode of theeing and      
thouing was not approved of in a country
 where a man is perpetually  obliged to 
employ the titles of highness and       
excellency4  ,william  ,penn returned   
soon to ,england upon hearing of his    
father's sickness1 in  order to see him 
before he died4  ,the ,vice-,admiral was
 reconciled to his  son1 and though of a
 different persuasion1 embraced him     

tenderly4  ,william  made a fruitless   
exhortation to his father not to receive
 the sacrament1  but to die a ,quaker1  
and the good old man entreated his son  
,william to  wear buttons on his        
sleeves1 and a crape hatband in his     
beaver1 but all  to no purpose4         
,william ,penn inherited very large     
possessions1 part of which consisted in 
,crown debts due to the ,vice-,admiral  
for sums he had advanced for the sea    
service4  ,no moneys were at that time  
more insecure than those owing from  the
 king4  ,penn was obliged to go more    
than once1 and thee and thou  ,king     
,charles and his ,ministers1 in order to
 recover the debt2 and at  last1 instead
 of specie1 the ,government invested him
 with the right and  sovereignty of a   
province of ,america1 to the south of   
,maryland4  ,thus was  a ,quaker raised 
to sovereign power4  ,penn set sail for 
his new dominions  with two ships       
freighted with ,quakers1 who followed   
his fortune4  ,the  country was then    

called ,pennsylvania from ,william      
,penn1 who there founded  ,philadelphia1
 now the most flourishing city in that  
country4  ,the first  step he took was  
to enter into an alliance with his      
,american neighbours1  and this is the  
only treaty between those people and the
 ,christians that  was not ratified by  
an oath1 and was never infringed4  ,the 
new sovereign  was at the same time the 
legislator of ,pennsylvania1 and enacted
 very  wise and prudent laws1 none of   
which have ever been changed since his  
time4  ,the first is1 to injure no      
person upon a religious account1 and to 
consider as brethren all those who      
believe in one ,god4    ,he had no      
sooner settled his government1 but      
several ,american merchants  came and   
peopled this colony4  ,the natives of   
the country1 instead of  flying into the
 woods1 cultivated by insensible degrees
 a friendship with  the peaceable       
,quakers4  ,they loved these foreigners 
as much as they  detested the other     

,christians who had conquered and laid  
waste ,america4  ,in a little time a    
great number of these savages 7falsely  
so called71  charmed with the mild and  
gentle disposition of their neighbours1 
came in  crowds to ,william ,penn1 and  
besought him to admit them into the     
number of  his vassals4  ,it was very   
rare and uncommon for a sovereign to be 
thee'd and thou'd by the meanest of his 
subjects1 who never took  their hats off
 when they came into his presence2 and  
as singular for a  ,government to be    
without one priest in it1 and for a     
people to be without  arms1 either      
offensive or defensive2 for a body of   
citizens to be  absolutely              
undistinguished but by the public       
employments1 and for  neighbours not to 
entertain the least jealousy one against
 the other4    ,william ,penn might     
glory in having brought down upon earth 
the so much  boasted golden age1 which  
in all probability never existed but in 
,pennsylvania4  ,he returned to ,england

 to settle some affairs relating to  his
 new dominions4  ,after the death of    
,king ,charles ,,ii41 ,king ,james1 who 
had loved the father1 indulged the same 
affection to the son1 and no  longer    
considered him as an obscure sectary1   
but as a very great man4  ,the  king's  
politics on this occasion agreed with   
his inclinations4  ,he was  desirous of 
pleasing the ,quakers by annulling the  
laws made against  ,nonconformists1 in  
order to have an opportunity1 by this   
universal  toleration1 of establishing  
the ,romish religion4  ,all the         
sectarists in  ,england saw the snare   
that was laid for them1 but did not give
 into it2  they never failing to unite  
when the ,romish religion1 their common 
enemy1  is to be opposed4  ,but ,penn   
did not think himself bound in any      
manner to  renounce his principles1     
merely to favour ,protestants to whom he
 was  odious1 in opposition to a king   
who loved him4  ,he had established a   
universal toleration with regard to     

conscience in ,america1 and would not   
have it thought that he intended to     
destroy it in ,europe1 for which  reason
 he adhered so inviolably to ,king      
,james1 that a report prevailed         
universally of his being a ,jesuit4     
,this calumny affected him very         
strongly1 and he was obliged to justify 
himself in print4  ,however1 the        
unfortunate ,king ,james ,,ii41 in whom1
 as in most princes of the ,stuart      
family1 grandeur and weakness were      
equally blended1 and who1 like them1  as
 much overdid some things as he was     
short in others1 lost his kingdom  in a 
manner that is hardly to be accounted   
for4    ,all the ,english sectarists    
accepted from ,william ,,iii1 and his   
,parliament  the toleration and         
indulgence which they had refused when  
offered by ,king  ,james4  ,it was then 
the ,quakers began to enjoy1 by virtue  
of the laws1  the several privileges    
they possess at this time4  ,penn having
 at last  seen ,quakerism firmly        

established in his native country1 went 
back to  ,pennsylvania4  ,his own people
 and the ,americans received him with   
tears  of joy1 as though he had been a  
father who was returned to visit his    
children4  ,all the laws had been       
religiously observed in his absence1 a  
circumstance in which no legislator had 
ever been happy but himself4  ,after    
having resided some years in            
,pennsylvania he left it1 but with      
great reluctance1 in order to return to 
,england1 there to solicit some  matters
 in favour of the commerce of           
,pennsylvania4  ,but he never saw it    
again1 he dying in ,ruscombe1 in        
,berkshire1 in #agah4    ,i am not able 
to guess what fate ,quakerism may have  
in ,america1 but ,i  perceive it        
dwindles away daily in ,england4  ,in   
all countries where  liberty of         
conscience is allowed1 the established  
religion will at last  swallow up all   
the rest4  ,quakers are disqualified    
from being members of  ,parliament2 nor 

can they enjoy any post or preferment1  
because an oath  must always be taken on
 these occasions1 and they never swear4 
,they are  therefore reduced to the     
necessity of subsisting upon traffic4   
,their  children1 whom the industry of  
their parents has enriched1 are desirous
  of enjoying honours1 of wearing       
buttons and ruffles2 and quite ashamed  
of  being called ,quakers they become   
converts to the ,church of ,england1    
merely to be in the fashion4            
,,letter ,v4--,,on ,,the ,,church ,,of  
,,england      ,england is properly the 
country of sectarists4  ,multae sunt    
mansiones in  domo patris mei 7in my    
,father's house are many mansions74  ,an
  ,englishman1 as one to whom liberty is
 natural1 may go to heaven his own  way4
    ,nevertheless1 though every one is  
permitted to serve ,god in whatever mode
  or fashion he thinks proper1 yet their
 true religion1 that in which a man     
makes his fortune1 is the sect of       
,episcopalians or ,churchmen1 called the

  ,church of ,england1 or simply the    
,church1 by way of eminence4  ,no person
  can possess an employment either in   
,england or ,ireland unless he be       
ranked among the faithful1 that is1     
professes himself a member of the       
,church of ,england4  ,this reason      
7which carries mathematical evidence    
with  it7 has converted such numbers of 
,dissenters of all persuasions1 that not
  a twentieth part of the nation is out 
of the pale of the ,established         
,church4  ,the ,english clergy have     
retained a great number of the ,romish  
ceremonies1 and especially that of      
receiving1 with a most scrupulous       
attention1 their tithes4  ,they also    
have the pious ambition to aim at       
superiority4    ,moreover1 they inspire 
very religiously their flock with a holy
 zeal  against ,dissenters of all       
denominations4  ,this zeal was pretty   
violent  under the ,tories in the four  
last years of ,queen ,anne2 but was     
productive  of no greater mischief than 

the breaking the windows of some        
meeting-houses and the demolishing of a 
few of them4  ,for religious rage       
ceased in ,england with the civil wars1 
and was no more under ,queen ,anne  than
 the hollow noise of a sea whose billows
 still heaved1 though so long  after the
 storm when the ,whigs and ,tories laid 
waste their native  country1 in the same
 manner as the ,guelphs and ,ghibelins  
formerly did  theirs4  ,it was          
absolutely necessary for both parties to
 call in religion  on this occasion2 the
 ,tories declared for ,episcopacy1 and  
the ,whigs1 as  some imagined1 were for 
abolishing it2 however1 after these had 
got the  upper hand1 they contented     
themselves with only abridging it4      
,at the time when the ,earl of ,oxford  
and the ,lord ,bolingbroke used to      
drink healths to the ,tories1 the       
,church of ,england considered those    
noblemen as the defenders of its holy   
privileges4  ,the lower ,house of       
,convocation 7a kind of ,house of       

,commons7 composed wholly of the clergy1
  was in some credit at that time2 at   
least the members of it had the  liberty
 to meet1 to dispute on ecclesiastical  
matters1 to sentence  impious books from
 time to time to the flames1 that is1   
books written  against themselves4  ,the
 ,ministry which is now composed of     
,whigs does not  so much as allow those 
gentlemen to assemble1 so that they are 
at this  time reduced 7in the obscurity 
of their respective parishes7 to the    
melancholy occupation of praying for the
 prosperity of the ,government  whose   
tranquillity they would willingly       
disturb4  ,with regard to the  bishops1 
who are twenty-six in all1 they still   
have seats in the ,house of  ,lords in  
spite of the ,whigs1 because the ancient
 abuse of considering  them as barons   
subsists to this day4  ,there is a      
clause1 however1 in the  oath which the 
,government requires from these         
gentlemen1 that puts their  ,christian  
patience to a very great trial1 viz41   

that they shall be of the  ,church of   
,england as by law established4  ,there 
are few bishops1 deans1  or other       
dignitaries1 but imagine they are so    
jure divino2 it is  consequently a great
 mortification to them to be obliged to 
confess that  they owe their dignity to 
a pitiful law enacted by a set of       
profane  laymen4  ,a learned monk       
7,father ,courayer7 wrote a book lately 
to prove  the validity and succession of
 ,english ordinations4  ,this book was  
forbid  in ,france1 but do you believe  
that the ,english ,ministry were pleased
 with  it8  ,far from it4  ,those wicked
 ,whigs don't care a straw whether the  
episcopal succession among them hath    
been interrupted or not1 or whether     
,bishop ,parker was consecrated 7as it  
is pretended7 in a tavern or a  church2 
for these ,whigs are much better pleased
 that the ,bishops should  derive their 
authority from the ,parliament than from
 the ,apostles4  ,the  ,lord            
,bolingbroke observed that this notion  

of divine right would only  make so many
 tyrants in lawn sleeves1 but that the  
laws made so many  citizens4    ,with   
regard to the morals of the ,english    
clergy1 they are more regular  than     
those of ,france1 and for this reason4  
,all the clergy 7a very few  excepted7  
are educated in the ,universities of    
,oxford or ,cambridge1 far  from the    
depravity and corruption which reign in 
the capital4  ,they are  not called to  
dignities till very late1 at a time of  
life when men are  sensible of no other 
passion but avarice1 that is1 when their
 ambition  craves a supply4             
,employments are here bestowed both in  
the ,church and  the army1 as a reward  
for long services2 and we never see     
youngsters made  bishops or colonels    
immediately upon their laying aside the 
academical  gown2 and besides most of   
the clergy are married4  ,the stiff and 
awkward  air contracted by them at the  
,university1 and the little familiarity 
the  men of this country have with the  

ladies1 commonly oblige a bishop to     
confine himself to1 and rest contented  
with1 his own4  ,clergymen  sometimes   
take a glass at the tavern1 custom      
giving them a sanction on  this         
occasion2 and if they fuddle themselves 
it is in a very serious  manner1 and    
without giving the least scandal4       
,that fable-mixed kind of mortal 7not to
 be defined71 who is neither of  the    
clergy nor of the laity2 in a word1 the 
thing called ,abbe in  ,france2 is a    
species quite unknown in ,england4  ,all
 the clergy here are  very much upon the
 reserve1 and most of them pedants4     
,when these are  told that in ,france   
young fellows famous for their          
dissoluteness1 and  raised to the       
highest dignities of the ,church by     
female intrigues1  address the fair     
publicly in an amorous way1 amuse       
themselves in writing  tender love      
songs1 entertain their friends very     
splendidly every night at  their own    
houses1 and after the banquet is ended  

withdraw to invoke the  assistance of   
the ,holy ,ghost1 and call themselves   
boldly the successors  of the ,apostles1
 they bless ,god for their being        
,protestants4  ,but these  are shameless
 heretics1 who deserve to be blown hence
 through the flames  to old ,nick1 as   
,rabelais says1 and for this reason ,i  
do not trouble  myself about them4      
,,letter ,,vi4--,,on ,,the              
,,presbyterians      ,the ,church of    
,england is confined almost to the      
kingdom whence it  received its name1   
and to ,ireland1 for ,presbyterianism is
 the established  religion in ,scotland4
  ,this ,presbyterianism is directly the
 same with  ,calvinism1 as it was       
established in ,france1 and is now      
professed at  ,geneva4  ,as the priests 
of this sect receive but very           
inconsiderable  stipends from their     
churches1 and consequently cannot       
emulate the  splendid luxury of bishops1
 they exclaim very naturally against    
honours  which they can never attain to4

  ,figure to yourself the haughty       
,diogenes  trampling under foot the     
pride of ,plato4  ,the ,scotch          
,presbyterians are  not very unlike that
 proud though tattered reasoner4        
,diogenes did not  use ,alexander half  
so impertinently as these treated ,king 
,charles ,,ii42  for when they took up  
arms in his cause in opposition to      
,oliver1 who had  deceived them1 they   
forced that poor monarch to undergo the 
hearing of  three or four sermons every 
day1 would not suffer him to play1      
reduced  him to a state of penitence and
 mortification1 so that ,charles soon   
grew  sick of these pedants1 and        
accordingly eloped from them with as    
much joy  as a youth does from school4  
,a ,church of ,england minister appears 
as another ,cato in presence of a       
juvenile1 sprightly ,french graduate1   
who bawls for a whole morning  together 
in the divinity schools1 and hums a song
 in chorus with ladies  in the evening2 
but this ,cato is a very spark when     

before a ,scotch  ,presbyterian4  ,the  
latter affects a serious gait1 puts on a
 sour look1  wears a vastly             
broad-brimmed hat and a long cloak over 
a very short coat1  preaches through the
 nose1 and gives the name of the whore  
of ,babylon to  all churches where the  
ministers are so fortunate as to enjoy  
an annual  revenue of five or six       
thousand pounds1 and where the people   
are weak  enough to suffer this1 and to 
give them the titles of my lord1 your   
lordship1 or your eminence4    ,these   
gentlemen1 who have also some churches  
in ,england1 introduced there  the mode 
of grave and severe exhortations4  ,to  
them is owing the  sanctification of    
,sunday in the three kingdoms4  ,people 
are there  forbidden to work or take any
 recreation on that day1 in which the   
severity is twice as great as that of   
the ,romish ,church4  ,no operas1       
plays1 or concerts are allowed in       
,london on ,sundays1 and even cards are 
so expressly forbidden that none but    

persons of quality1 and those we  call  
the genteel1 play on that day2 the rest 
of the nation go either to  church1 to  
the tavern1 or to see their mistresses4 
,though the ,episcopal and ,presbyterian
 sects are the two prevailing ones  in  
,great ,britain1 yet all others are very
 welcome to come and settle in  it1 and 
live very sociably together1 though most
 of their preachers hate  one another   
almost as cordially as a ,jansenist     
damns a ,jesuit4    ,take a view of the 
,royal ,exchange in ,london1 a place    
more venerable than  many courts of     
justice1 where the representatives of   
all nations meet for  the benefit of    
mankind4  ,there the ,jew1 the          
,mahometan1 and the ,christian  transact
 together1 as though they all professed 
the same religion1 and  give the name of
 infidel to none but bankrupts4  ,there 
the ,presbyterian  confides in the      
,anabaptist1 and the ,churchman depends 
on the ,quaker's  word4    ,if one      
religion only were allowed in ,england1 

the ,government would very  possibly    
become arbitrary2 if there were but two1
 the people would cut  one another's    
throats2 but as there are such a        
multitude1 they all live  happy and in  
peace4        ,,letter ,,vii4--,,on     
,,the ,,socinians1 ,,or ,,arians1 ,,or  
,,antitrinitarians      ,there is a     
little sect here composed of clergymen1 
and of a few very  learned persons among
 the laity1 who1 though they do not call
 themselves  ,arians or ,socinians1 do  
yet dissent entirely from ,st4          
,athanasius with  regard to their       
notions of the ,trinity1 and declare    
very frankly that the  ,father is       
greater than the ,son4    ,do you       
remember what is related of a certain   
orthodox bishop1 who1 in  order to      
convince an emperor of the reality of   
consubstantiation1 put his  hand under  
the chin of the monarch's son1 and took 
him by the nose in  presence of his     
sacred majesty8  ,the emperor was going 
to order his  attendants to throw the   

bishop out of the window1 when the good 
old man  gave him this handsome and     
convincing reason3 ,since your majesty1 
says  he1 is angry when your son has not
 due respect shown him1 what  punishment
 do you think will ,god the ,father     
inflict on those who refuse  ,his ,son  
,jesus the titles due to ,him8  ,the    
persons ,i just now mentioned  declare  
that the holy bishop took a very wrong  
step1 that his argument  was            
inconclusive1 and that the emperor      
should have answered him thus3  ,know   
that there are two ways by which men may
 be wanting in respect to  me--first1 in
 not doing honour sufficient to my son2 
and1 secondly1 in  paying him the same  
honour as to me4    ,be this as it will1
 the principles of ,arius begin to      
revive1 not only in  ,england1 but in   
,holland and ,poland4  ,the celebrated  
,sir ,isaac ,newton  honoured this      
opinion so far as to countenance it4    
,this philosopher  thought that the     
,unitarians argued more mathematically  

than we do4  ,but  the most sanguine    
stickler for ,arianism is the           
illustrious ,dr4 ,clark4  ,this man is  
rigidly virtuous1 and of a mild         
disposition1 is more fond of  his tenets
 than desirous of propagating them1 and 
absorbed so entirely in  problems and   
calculations that he is a mere reasoning
 machine4    ,it is he who wrote a book 
which is much esteemed and little       
understood1  on the existence of ,god1  
and another1 more intelligible1 but     
pretty much  contemned1 on the truth of 
the ,christian religion4    ,he never   
engaged in scholastic disputes1 which   
our friend calls venerable  trifles4    
,he only published a work containing all
 the testimonies of the  primitive ages 
for and against the ,unitarians1 and    
leaves to the reader  the counting of   
the voices and the liberty of forming a 
judgment4  ,this  book won the doctor a 
great number of partisans1 and lost him 
the ,see of  ,canterbury2 but1 in my    
humble opinion1 he was out in his       

calculation1 and  had better have been  
,primate of all ,england than merely an 
,arian parson4    ,you see that opinions
 are subject to revolutions as well as  
empires4  ,arianism1 after having       
triumphed during three centuries1 and   
been forgot  twelve1 rises at last out  
of its own ashes2 but it has chosen a   
very  improper season to make its       
appearance in1 the present age being    
quite  cloyed with disputes and sects4  
,the members of this sect are1 besides1 
too few to be indulged the liberty of   
holding public assemblies1 which1       
however1 they will1 doubtless1 be       
permitted to do in case they spread     
considerably4  ,but people are now so   
very cold with respect to all things  of
 this kind1 that there is little        
probability any new religion1 or old    
one1 that may be revived1 will meet with
 favour4  ,is it not whimsical  enough  
that ,luther1 ,calvin1 and ,zuinglius1  
all of them wretched authors1  should   
have founded sects which are now spread 

over a great part of  ,europe1 that     
,mahomet1 though so ignorant1 should    
have given a religion to  ,asia and     
,africa1 and that ,sir ,isaac ,newton1  
,dr4 ,clark1 ,mr4 ,locke1 ,mr4 ,le      
,clerc1 etc41 the greatest philosophers1
 as well as the ablest writers of  their
 ages1 should scarcely have been able to
 raise a little flock1 which  even      
decreases daily4    ,this it is to be   
born at a proper period of time4  ,were 
,cardinal de ,retz  to return again into
 the world1 neither his eloquence nor   
his intrigues  would draw together ten  
women in ,paris4    ,were ,oliver       
,cromwell1 he who beheaded his          
sovereign1 and seized upon the  kingly  
dignity1 to rise from the dead1 he would
 be a wealthy ,city trader1  and no     
more4        ,,letter ,,viii4--,,on     
,,the ,,parliament      ,the members of 
the ,english ,parliament are fond of    
comparing themselves to  the old        
,romans4    ,not long since ,mr4        
,shippen opened a speech in the ,house  

of ,commons with  these words1 ,the     
majesty of the people of ,england would 
be wounded4  ,the  singularity of the   
expression occasioned a loud laugh2 but 
this  gentleman1 so far from being      
disconcerted1 repeated the same words   
with a  resolute tone of voice1 and the 
laugh ceased4  ,in my opinion1 the      
majesty  of the people of ,england has  
nothing in common with that of the      
people of  ,rome1 much less is there any
 affinity between their ,governments4   
,there  is in ,london a senate1 some of 
the members whereof are accused         
7doubtless  very unjustly7 of selling   
their voices on certain occasions1 as   
was done  in ,rome2 this is the only    
resemblance4  ,besides1 the two nations 
appear  to me quite opposite in         
character1 with regard both to good and 
evil4  ,the  ,romans never knew the     
dreadful folly of religious wars1 an    
abomination  reserved for devout        
preachers of patience and humility4     
,marius and  ,sylla1 ,caesar and        

,pompey1 ,anthony and ,augustus1 did not
 draw their swords  and set the world in
 a blaze merely to determine whether the
 flamen  should wear his shirt over his 
robe1 or his robe over his shirt1 or    
whether the sacred chickens should eat  
and drink1 or eat only1 in order  to    
take the augury4  ,the ,english have    
hanged one another by law1 and cut  one 
another to pieces in pitched battles1   
for quarrels of as trifling a  nature4  
,the sects of the ,episcopalians and    
,presbyterians quite  distracted these  
very serious heads for a time4  ,but ,i 
fancy they will  hardly ever be so silly
 again1 they seeming to be grown wiser  
at their  own expense2 and ,i do not    
perceive the least inclination in them  
to  murder one another merely about     
syllogisms1 as some zealots among them  
once did4    ,but here follows a more   
essential difference between ,rome and  
,england1  which gives the advantage    
entirely to the latter--viz41 that the  
civil  wars of ,rome ended in slavery1  

and those of the ,english in liberty4   
,the  ,english are the only people upon 
earth who have been able to prescribe   
limits to the power of kings by         
resisting them2 and who1 by a series of 
struggles1 have at last established that
 wise ,government where the ,prince  is 
all-powerful to do good1 and1 at the    
same time1 is restrained from           
committing evil2 where the nobles are   
great without insolence1 though  there  
are no vassals2 and where the people    
share in the ,government  without       
confusion4    ,the ,house of ,lords and 
that of the ,commons divide the         
legislative power  under the king1 but  
the ,romans had no such balance4  ,the  
patricians and  plebeians in ,rome were 
perpetually at variance1 and there was  
no  intermediate power to reconcile     
them4  ,the ,roman senate1 who were so  
unjustly1 so criminally proud as not to 
suffer the plebeians to share  with them
 in anything1 could find no other       
artifice to keep the latter  out of the 

administration than by employing them in
 foreign wars4  ,they  considered the   
plebeians as a wild beast1 whom it      
behoved them to let  loose upon their   
neighbours1 for fear they should devour 
their masters4  ,thus the greatest      
defect in the ,government of the ,romans
 raised them to  be conquerors4  ,by    
being unhappy at home1 they triumphed   
over and  possessed themselves of the   
world1 till at last their divisions sunk
 them  to slavery4    ,the ,government  
of ,england will never rise to so       
exalted a pitch of glory1  nor will its 
end be so fatal4  ,the ,english are not 
fired with the  splendid folly of making
 conquests1 but would only prevent their
  neighbours from conquering4  ,they are
 not only jealous of their own  liberty1
 but even of that of other nations4     
,the ,english were exasperated  against 
,louis ,,xiv4 for no other reason but   
because he was ambitious1 and  declared 
war against him merely out of levity1   
not from any interested  motives4       

,the ,english have doubtless purchased  
their liberties at a very high  price1  
and waded through seas of blood to drown
 the idol of arbitrary  power4  ,other  
nations have been involved in as great  
calamities1 and have  shed as much      
blood2 but then the blood they spilt in 
defence of their  liberties only        
enslaved them the more4    ,that which  
rises to a revolution in ,england is no 
more than a sedition in  other          
countries4  ,a city in ,spain1 in       
,barbary1 or in ,turkey1 takes up  arms 
in defence of its privileges1 when      
immediately it is stormed by  mercenary 
troops1 it is punished by executioners1 
and the rest of the  nation kiss the    
chains they are loaded with4  ,the      
,french are of opinion  that the        
government of this island is more       
tempestuous than the sea which          
surrounds it1 which indeed is true2 but 
then it is never so but when the  king  
raises the storm--when he attempts to   
seize the ship of which he is  only the 

chief pilot4  ,the civil wars of ,france
 lasted longer1 were more  cruel1 and   
productive of greater evils than those  
of ,england2 but none of  these civil   
wars had a wise and prudent liberty for 
their object4    ,in the detestable     
reigns of ,charles ,,ix4 and ,henry     
,,iii4 the whole affair  was only       
whether the people should be slaves to  
the ,guises4  ,with regard  to the last 
war of ,paris1 it deserves only to be   
hooted at4  ,methinks ,i  see a crowd of
 schoolboys rising up in arms against   
their master1 and  afterwards whipped   
for it4  ,cardinal de ,retz1 who was    
witty and brave  7but to no purpose71   
rebellious without a cause1 factious    
without design1  and head of a          
defenceless party1 caballed for         
caballing sake1 and seemed  to foment   
the civil war merely out of diversion4  
,the ,parliament did not  know what he  
intended1 nor what he did not intend4   
,he levied troops by  ,act of           
,parliament1 and the next moment        

cashiered them4  ,he threatened1 he     
begged pardon2 he set a price upon      
,cardinal ,mazarin's head1 and          
afterwards congratulated him in a public
 manner4  ,our civil wars under         
,charles ,,vi4 were bloody and cruel1   
those of the ,league execrable1 and     
that of the ,frondeurs ridiculous4      
,that for which the ,french chiefly     
reproach the ,english nation is the     
murder of ,king ,charles ,i41 whom his  
subjects treated exactly as he would    
have treated them had his reign been    
prosperous4  ,after all1 consider on    
one side ,charles ,i41 defeated in a    
pitched battle1 imprisoned1 tried1      
sentenced to die in ,westminster ,hall1 
and then beheaded4  ,and on the  other1 
the ,emperor ,henry ,,vii41 poisoned by 
his chaplain at his receiving  the      
,sacrament2 ,henry ,,iii4 stabbed by a  
monk2 thirty assassinations  projected  
against ,henry ,,iv41 several of them   
put in execution1 and the  last         
bereaving that great monarch of his     

life4  ,weigh1 ,i say1 all these  wicked
 attempts1 and then judge4              
,,letter ,,ix4--,,on ,,the ,,government 
,that mixture in the ,english           
,government1 that harmony between ,king1
 ,lords1  and commons1 did not always   
subsist4  ,england was enslaved for a   
long  series of years by the ,romans1   
the ,saxons1 the ,danes1 and the ,french
  successively4  ,william the ,conqueror
 particularly1 ruled them with a rod  of
 iron4  ,he disposed as absolutely of   
the lives and fortunes of his  conquered
 subjects as an eastern monarch2 and    
forbade1 upon pain of  death1 the       
,english either fire or candle in their 
houses after eight  o'clock2 whether was
 this to prevent their nocturnal        
meetings1 or only to  try1 by an odd and
 whimsical prohibition1 how far it was  
possible for one  man to extend his     
power over his fellow-creatures4  ,it is
 true1 indeed1  that the ,english had   
,parliaments before and after ,william  
the ,conqueror1  and they boast of them1

 as though these assemblies then called 
,parliaments1 composed of ecclesiastical
 tyrants and of plunderers  entitled    
barons1 had been the guardians of the   
public liberty and  happiness4    ,the  
barbarians who came from the shores of  
the ,baltic1 and settled in the  rest of
 ,europe1 brought with them the form of 
government called ,states or            
,parliaments1 about which so much noise 
is made1 and which are so little        
understood4  ,kings1 indeed1 were not   
absolute in those days2 but then the    
people were more wretched upon that very
 account1 and more completely  enslaved4
  ,the chiefs of these savages1 who had 
laid waste ,france1 ,italy1  ,spain1 and
 ,england1 made themselves monarchs4    
,their generals divided  among          
themselves the several countries they   
had conquered1 whence sprung  those     
margraves1 those peers1 those barons1   
those petty tyrants1 who  often         
contested with their sovereigns for the 
spoils of whole nations4  ,these were   

birds of prey fighting with an eagle for
 doves whose blood the  victorious was  
to suck4  ,every nation1 instead of     
being governed by one  master1 was      
trampled upon by a hundred tyrants4     
,the priests soon played  a part among  
them4  ,before this it had been the fate
 of the ,gauls1 the  ,germans1 and the  
,britons1 to be always governed by their
 ,druids and the  chiefs of their       
villages1 an ancient kind of barons1 not
 so tyrannical as  their successors4    
,these ,druids pretended to be mediators
 between ,god and  man4  ,they enacted  
laws1 they fulminated their             
excommunications1 and  sentenced to     
death4  ,the bishops succeeded1 by      
insensible degrees1 to  their temporal  
authority in the ,goth and ,vandal      
government4  ,the popes  set themselves 
at their head1 and armed with their     
briefs1 their bulls1  and reinforced by 
monks1 they made even kings tremble1    
deposed and  assassinated them at       
pleasure1 and employed every artifice to

 draw into  their own purses moneys from
 all parts of ,europe4  ,the weak ,ina1 
one of  the tyrants of the ,saxon       
,heptarchy in ,england1 was the first   
monarch who  submitted1 in his          
pilgrimage to ,rome1 to pay ,st4        
,peter's penny  7equivalent very near to
 a ,french crown7 for every house in his
  dominions4  ,the whole island soon    
followed his example2 ,england became   
insensibly one of the ,pope's provinces1
 and the ,holy ,father used to send     
from time to time his legates thither to
 levy exorbitant taxes4  ,at last  ,king
 ,john delivered up by a public         
instrument the kingdom of ,england to   
the ,pope1 who had excommunicated him2  
but the barons1 not finding their       
account in this resignation1 dethroned  
the wretched ,king ,john and seated     
,louis1 father to ,st4 ,louis1 ,king of 
,france1 in his place4  ,however1 they  
were soon weary of their new monarch1   
and accordingly obliged him to  return  
to ,france4    ,whilst that the barons1 

the bishops1 and the popes1 all laid    
waste  ,england1 where all were for     
ruling the most numerous1 the most      
useful1  even the most virtuous1 and    
consequently the most venerable part of 
mankind1 consisting of those who study  
the laws and the sciences1 of  traders1 
of artificers1 in a word1 of all who    
were not tyrants--that is1  those who   
are called the people3 these1 ,i say1   
were by them looked upon  as so many    
animals beneath the dignity of the human
 species4  ,the ,commons  in those ages 
were far from sharing in the government1
 they being  villains or peasants1 whose
 labour1 whose blood1 were the property 
of  their masters who entitled          
themselves the nobility4  ,the major    
part of  men in ,europe were at that    
time what they are to this day in       
several  parts of the world--they were  
villains or bondsmen of lords--that is1 
a  kind of cattle bought and sold with  
the land4  ,many ages passed away       
before justice could be done to human   

nature--before mankind were  conscious  
that it was abominable for many to sow1 
and but few reap4  ,and  was not ,france
 very happy1 when the power and         
authority of those petty  robbers was   
abolished by the lawful authority of    
kings and of the people8    ,happily1 in
 the violent shocks which the divisions 
between kings and the  nobles gave to   
empires1 the chains of nations were more
 or less heavy4  ,liberty in ,england   
sprang from the quarrels of tyrants4    
,the barons  forced ,king ,john and     
,king ,henry ,,iii4 to grant the famous 
,magna ,charta1  the chief design of    
which was indeed to make kings dependent
 on the  ,lords2 but then the rest of   
the nation were a little favoured in it1
 in  order that they might join on      
proper occasions with their pretended   
masters4  ,this great ,charter1 which is
 considered as the sacred origin of  the
 ,english liberties1 shows in itself how
 little liberty was known4    ,the title
 alone proves that the king thought he  

had a just right to be  absolute2 and   
that the barons1 and even the clergy1   
forced him to give up  the pretended    
right1 for no other reason but because  
they were the most  powerful4    ,magna 
,charta begins in this style3 ,we grant1
 of our own free will1 the  following   
privileges to the archbishops1 bishops1 
priors1 and barons of  our kingdom1 etc4
    ,the ,house of ,commons is not once 
mentioned in the articles of this       
,charter--a proof that it did not yet   
exist1 or that it existed without       
power4  ,mention is therein made1 by    
name1 of the freemen of ,england--a     
melancholy proof that some were not so4 
,it appears1 by ,article ,,xxxii41  that
 these pretended freemen owed service to
 their lords4  ,such a liberty  as this 
was not many removes from slavery4      
,by ,article ,,xxi41 the king ordains   
that his officers shall not             
henceforward seize upon1 unless they pay
 for them1 the horses and carts  of     
freemen4  ,the people considered this   

ordinance as a real liberty1  though it 
was a greater tyranny4  ,henry ,,vii41  
that happy usurper and  great           
politician1 who pretended to love the   
barons1 though he in reality  hated and 
feared them1 got their lands alienated4 
,by this means the  villains1 afterwards
 acquiring riches by their industry1    
purchased the  estates and country seats
 of the illustrious peers who had ruined
  themselves by their folly and         
extravagance1 and all the lands got by  
insensible degrees into other hands4    
,the power of the ,house of ,commons    
increased every day4  ,the families of  
the ancient peers were at last extinct2 
and as peers only are properly  noble in
 ,england1 there would be no such thing 
in strictness of law as  nobility in    
that island1 had not the kings created  
new barons from time  to time1 and      
preserved the body of peers1 once a     
terror to them1 to  oppose them to the  
,commons1 since become so formidable4   
,all these new peers who compose the    

,higher ,house receive nothing but      
their titles from the king1 and very few
 of them have estates in those  places  
whence they take their titles4  ,one    
shall be ,duke of ,d-1 though he  has   
not a foot of land in ,dorsetshire2 and 
another is ,earl of a village1  though  
he scarce knows where it is situated4   
,the peers have power1 but  it is only  
in the ,parliament ,house4    ,there is 
no such thing here as haute1 moyenne1   
and basse  justice--that is1 a power to 
judge in all matters civil and criminal2
  nor a right or privilege of hunting in
 the grounds of a citizen1 who at  the  
same time is not permitted to fire a gun
 in his own field4    ,no one is        
exempted in this country from paying    
certain taxes because he  is a nobleman 
or a priest4  ,all duties and taxes are 
settled by the ,house  of ,commons1     
whose power is greater than that of the 
,peers1 though  inferior to it in       
dignity4  ,the spiritual as well as     
temporal ,lords have  the liberty to    

reject a ,money ,bill brought in by the 
,commons2 but they  are not allowed to  
alter anything in it1 and must either   
pass or throw it  out without           
restriction4  ,when the ,bill has passed
 the ,lords and is  signed by the king1 
then the whole nation pays1 every man in
 proportion  to his revenue or estate1  
not according to his title1 which would 
be  absurd4  ,there is no such thing as 
an arbitrary subsidy or poll-tax1 but  a
 real tax on the lands1 of all which an 
estimate was made in the reign  of the  
famous ,king ,william ,,iii4    ,the    
land-tax continues still upon the same  
foot1 though the revenue of  the lands  
is increased4  ,thus no one is          
tyrannised over1 and every one is  easy4
  ,the feet of the peasants are not     
bruised by wooden shoes2 they eat  white
 bread1 are well clothed1 and are not   
afraid of increasing their  stock of    
cattle1 nor of tiling their houses1 from
 any apprehension that  their taxes will
 be raised the year following4  ,the    

annual income of the  estates of a great
 many commoners in ,england amounts to  
two hundred  thousand livres1 and yet   
these do not think it beneath them to   
plough the  lands which enrich them1 and
 on which they enjoy their liberty4     
,,letter ,x4--,,on ,,trade      ,as     
trade enriched the citizens in ,england1
 so it contributed to their  freedom1   
and this freedom on the other side      
extended their commerce1  whence arose  
the grandeur of the ,state4  ,trade     
raised by insensible  degrees the naval 
power1 which gives the ,english a       
superiority over the  seas1 and they now
 are masters of very near two hundred   
ships of war4  ,posterity will very     
probably be surprised to hear that an   
island whose  only produce is a little  
lead1 tin1 fuller's-earth1 and coarse   
wool1  should become so powerful by its 
commerce1 as to be able to send1 in     
#agbc1 three fleets at the same time to 
three different and far distanced  parts
 of the globe4  ,one before ,gibraltar1 

conquered and still possessed  by the   
,english2 a second to ,portobello1 to   
dispossess the ,king of ,spain  of the  
treasures of the ,west ,indies2 and a   
third into the ,baltic1 to  prevent the 
,northern ,powers from coming to an     
engagement4    ,at the time when ,louis 
,,xiv4 made all ,italy tremble1 and that
 his armies1  which had already         
possessed themselves of ,savoy and      
,piedmont1 were upon  the point of      
taking ,turin2 ,prince ,eugene was      
obliged to march from the  middle of    
,germany in order to succour ,savoy4    
,having no money1 without  which cities 
cannot be either taken or defended1 he  
addressed himself to  some ,english     
merchants4  ,these1 at an hour and      
half's warning1 lent him  five millions1
 whereby he was enabled to deliver      
,turin1 and to beat the  ,french2 after 
which he wrote the following short      
letter to the persons  who had disbursed
 him the above-mentioned sums3          
,gentlemen1 ,i have  received your      

money1 and flatter myself that ,i have  
laid it out to your  satisfaction4      
,such a circumstance as this raises a   
just pride in an  ,english merchant1 and
 makes him presume 7not without some    
reason7 to  compare himself to a ,roman 
citizen2 and1 indeed1 a peer's brother  
does  not think traffic beneath him4    
,when the ,lord ,townshend was ,minister
 of  ,state1 a brother of his was       
content to be a ,city merchant2 and at  
the  time that the ,earl of ,oxford     
governed ,great ,britain1 a younger     
brother  was no more than a factor in   
,aleppo1 where he chose to live1 and    
where he  died4  ,this custom1 which    
begins1 however1 to be laid aside1      
appears  monstrous to ,germans1 vainly  
puffed up with their extraction4  ,these
  think it morally impossible that the  
son of an ,english peer should be no    
more than a rich and powerful citizen1  
for all are princes in ,germany4  ,there
 have been thirty highnesses of the same
 name1 all whose patrimony  consisted   

only in their escutcheons and their     
pride4    ,in ,france the title of      
marquis is given gratis to any one who  
will accept  of it2 and whosoever       
arrives at ,paris from the midst of the 
most remote  provinces with money in his
 purse1 and a name terminating in ac or 
ille1 may strut about1 and cry1 ,such a 
man as ,i6  ,a man of my rank and       
figure6 and may look down upon a trader 
with sovereign contempt2 whilst  the    
trader on the other side1 by thus often 
hearing his profession  treated so      
disdainfully1 is fool enough to blush at
 it4  ,however1 ,i need  not say which  
is most useful to a nation2 a lord1     
powdered in the tip of  the mode1 who   
knows exactly at what o'clock the king  
rises and goes to  bed1 and who gives   
himself airs of grandeur and state1 at  
the same time  that he is acting the    
slave in the ante-chamber of a prime    
minister2 or a  merchant1 who enriches  
his country1 despatches orders from his 
counting-  house to ,surat and ,grand   

,cairo1 and contributes to the          
well-being of the  world4               
,,letter ,,xi4--,,on ,,inoculation      
,it is inadvertently affirmed in the    
,christian countries of ,europe that    
the ,english are fools and madmen4      
,fools1 because they give their         
children the small-pox to prevent their 
catching it2 and madmen1 because  they  
wantonly communicate a certain and      
dreadful distemper to their  children1  
merely to prevent an uncertain evil4    
,the ,english1 on the other  side1 call 
the rest of the ,europeans cowardly and 
unnatural4  ,cowardly1  because they are
 afraid of putting their children to a  
little pain2  unnatural1 because they   
expose them to die one time or other of 
the small-  pox4  ,but that the reader  
may be able to judge whether the        
,english or  those who differ from them 
in opinion are in the right1 here       
follows the  history of the famed       
inoculation1 which is mentioned with so 
much dread  in ,france4    ,the         

,circassian women have1 from time       
immemorial1 communicated the small-  pox
 to their children when not above six   
months old by making an incision  in the
 arm1 and by putting into this incision 
a pustule1 taken carefully  from the    
body of another child4  ,this pustule   
produces the same effect in  the arm it 
is laid in as yeast in a piece of dough2
 it ferments1 and  diffuses through the 
whole mass of blood the qualities with  
which it is  impregnated4  ,the pustules
 of the child in whom the artificial    
small-pox  has been thus inoculated are 
employed to communicate the same        
distemper  to others4  ,there is an     
almost perpetual circulation of it in   
,circassia2  and when unhappily the     
small-pox has quite left the country1   
the  inhabitants of it are in as great  
trouble and perplexity as other nations 
when their harvest has fallen short4    
,the circumstance that introduced a     
custom in ,circassia1 which appears so  
singular to others1 is nevertheless a   

cause common to all nations1 ,i mean    
maternal tenderness and interest4       
,the ,circassians are poor1 and their   
daughters are beautiful1 and indeed1  it
 is in them they chiefly trade4  ,they  
furnish with beauties the  seraglios of 
the ,turkish ,sultan1 of the ,persian   
,sophy1 and of all those  who are       
wealthy enough to purchase and maintain 
such precious  merchandise4  ,these     
maidens are very honourably and         
virtuously instructed  to fondle and    
caress men2 are taught dances of a very 
polite and  effeminate kind2 and how to 
heighten by the most voluptuous         
artifices the  pleasures of their       
disdainful masters for whom they are    
designed4  ,these  unhappy creatures    
repeat their lesson to their mothers1 in
 the same  manner as little girls among 
us repeat their catechism without       
understanding one word they say4    ,now
 it often happened that1 after a father 
and mother had taken the  utmost care of
 the education of their children1 they  

were frustrated of  all their hopes in  
an instant4  ,the small-pox getting into
 the family1  one daughter died of it1  
another lost an eye1 a third had a great
 nose at  her recovery1 and the unhappy 
parents were completely ruined4  ,even1 
frequently1 when the small-pox became   
epidemical1 trade was suspended for     
several years1 which thinned very       
considerably the seraglios of ,persia   
and ,turkey4    ,a trading nation is    
always watchful over its own interests1 
and grasps at  every discovery that may 
be of advantage to its commerce4  ,the  
,circassians observed that scarce one   
person in a thousand was ever  attacked 
by a small-pox of a violent kind4  ,that
 some1 indeed1 had this  distemper very 
favourably three or four times1 but     
never twice so as to  prove fatal2 in a 
word1 that no one ever had it in a      
violent degree twice  in his life4      
,they observed farther1 that when the   
small-pox is of the  milder sort1 and   
the pustules have only a tender1        

delicate skin to break  through1 they   
never leave the least scar in the face4 
,from these natural  observations they  
concluded1 that in case an infant of six
 months or a  year old should have a    
milder sort of small-pox1 he would not  
die of it1  would not be marked1 nor be 
ever afflicted with it again4    ,in    
order1 therefore1 to preserve the life  
and beauty of their children1  the only 
thing remaining was to give them the    
small-pox in their infant  years4  ,this
 they did by inoculating in the body of 
a child a pustule  taken from the most  
regular and at the same time the most   
favourable sort  of small-pox that could
 be procured4    ,the experiment could  
not possibly fail4  ,the ,turks1 who are
 people of  good sense1 soon adopted    
this custom1 insomuch that at this time 
there is  not a bassa in ,constantinople
 but communicates the small-pox to his  
children of both sexes immediately upon 
their being weaned4    ,some pretend    
that the ,circassians borrowed this     

custom anciently from the  ,arabians2   
but we shall leave the clearing up of   
this point of history to  some learned  
,benedictine1 who will not fail to      
compile a great many  folios on this    
subject1 with the several proofs or     
authorities4  ,all ,i  have to say upon 
it is that1 in the beginning of the     
reign of ,king ,george  ,i41 the ,lady  
,wortley ,montague1 a woman of as fine a
 genius1 and endued  with as great a    
strength of mind1 as any of her sex in  
the ,british  ,kingdoms1 being with her 
husband1 who was ambassador at the      
,porte1 made  no scruple to communicate 
the small-pox to an infant of which she 
was  delivered in ,constantinople4  ,the
 chaplain represented to his lady1 but  
to no purpose1 that this was an         
unchristian operation1 and therefore    
that  it could succeed with none but    
infidels4  ,however1 it had the most    
happy  effect upon the son of the ,lady 
,wortley ,montague1 who1 at her return  
to  ,england1 communicated the          

experiment to the ,princess of ,wales1  
now ,queen  of ,england4  ,it must be   
confessed that this princess1 abstracted
 from her  crown and titles1 was born to
 encourage the whole circle of arts1 and
 to  do good to mankind4  ,she appears  
as an amiable philosopher on the throne1
  having never let slip one opportunity 
of improving the great talents she      
received from ,nature1 nor of exerting  
her beneficence4  ,it is she who1  being
 informed that a daughter of ,milton was
 living1 but in miserable               
circumstances1 immediately sent her a   
considerable present4  ,it is she  who  
protects the learned ,father ,courayer4 
,it is she who condescended to  attempt 
a reconciliation between ,dr4 ,clark and
 ,mr4 ,leibnitz4  ,the moment  this     
princess heard of inoculation1 she      
caused an experiment of it to be  made  
on four criminals sentenced to die1 and 
by that means preserved  their lives    
doubly2 for she not only saved them from
 the gallows1 but by  means of this     

artificial small-pox prevented their    
ever having that  distemper in a natural
 way1 with which they would very        
probably have been  attacked one time or
 other1 and might have died of in a more
 advanced  age4    ,the princess being  
assured of the usefulness of this       
operation1 caused  her own children to  
be inoculated4  ,a great part of the    
kingdom followed  her example1 and since
 that time ten thousand children1 at    
least1 of  persons of condition owe in  
this manner their lives to her ,majesty 
and to  the ,lady ,wortley ,montague2   
and as many of the fair sex are obliged 
to  them for their beauty4    ,upon a   
general calculation1 threescore persons 
in every hundred have the  small-pox4   
,of these threescore1 twenty die of it  
in the most favourable  season of life1 
and as many more wear the disagreeable  
remains of it in  their faces so long as
 they live4  ,thus1 a fifth part of     
mankind either  die or are disfigured by
 this distemper4  ,but it does not prove

 fatal to  so much as one among those   
who are inoculated in ,turkey or in     
,england1  unless the patient be infirm1
 or would have died had not the         
experiment  been made upon him4         
,besides1 no one is disfigured1 no one  
has the small-  pox a second time1 if   
the inoculation was perfect4  ,it is    
therefore  certain1 that had the lady of
 some ,french ambassador brought this   
secret  from ,constantinople to ,paris1 
the nation would have been for ever     
obliged  to her4  ,then the ,duke de    
,villequier1 father to the ,duke        
d',aumont1 who  enjoys the most vigorous
 constitution1 and is the healthiest man
 in  ,france1 would not have been cut   
off in the flower of his age4    ,the   
,prince of ,soubise1 happy in the finest
 flush of health1 would not  have been  
snatched away at five-and-twenty1 nor   
the ,dauphin1 grandfather  to ,louis    
,,xv41 have been laid in his grave in   
his fiftieth year4  ,twenty  thousand   
persons whom the small-pox swept away at

 ,paris in #agbc would  have been alive 
at this time4  ,but are not the ,french 
fond of life1 and  is beauty so         
inconsiderable an advantage as to be    
disregarded by the  ladies8  ,it must be
 confessed that we are an odd kind of   
people4  ,perhaps  our nation will      
imitate ten years hence this practice of
 the ,english1 if  the clergy and the   
physicians will but give them leave to  
do it2 or  possibly our countrymen may  
introduce inoculation three months hence
 in  ,france out of mere whim1 in case  
the ,english should discontinue it      
through fickleness4    ,i am informed   
that the ,chinese have practised        
inoculation these hundred  years1 a     
circumstance that argues very much in   
its favour1 since they are  thought to  
be the wisest and best governed people  
in the world4  ,the  ,chinese1 indeed1  
do not communicate this distemper by    
inoculation1 but at  the nose1 in the   
same manner as we take snuff4  ,this is 
a more agreeable  way1 but then it      

produces the like effects2 and proves at
 the same time  that had inoculation    
been practised in ,france it would have 
saved the  lives of thousands4          
,,letter ,,xii4--,,on ,,the ,,lord      
,,bacon      ,not long since the trite  
and frivolous question following was    
debated in  a very polite and learned   
company1 viz41 ,who was the greatest    
man1 ,caesar1  ,alexander1 ,tamerlane1  
,cromwell1 c48    ,somebody answered    
that ,sir ,isaac ,newton excelled them  
all4  ,the  gentleman's assertion was   
very just2 for if true greatness        
consists in  having received from heaven
 a mighty genius1 and in having employed
 it to  enlighten our own mind and that 
of others1 a man like ,sir ,isaac       
,newton1  whose equal is hardly found in
 a thousand years1 is the truly great   
man4  ,and those politicians and        
conquerors 7and all ages produce some7  
were  generally so many illustrious     
wicked men4  ,that man claims our       
respect  who commands over the minds of 

the rest of the world by the force of   
truth1 not those who enslave their      
fellow-creatures3 he who is acquainted  
with the universe1 not they who deface  
it4    ,since1 therefore1 you desire me 
to give you an account of the famous    
personages whom ,england has given birth
 to1 ,i shall begin with ,lord  ,bacon1 
,mr4 ,locke1 ,sir ,isaac ,newton1 c4    
,afterwards the warriors and  ,ministers
 of ,state shall come in their order4   
,i must begin with the celebrated       
,viscount ,verulam1 known in ,europe by 
the  name of ,bacon1 which was that of  
his family4  ,his father had been ,lord 
,keeper1 and himself was a great many   
years ,lord ,chancellor under ,king     
,james ,i4  ,nevertheless1 amidst the   
intrigues of a ,court1 and the affairs  
of his exalted employment1 which alone  
were enough to engross his whole  time1 
he yet found so much leisure for study  
as to make himself a great  philosopher1
 a good historian1 and an elegant       
writer2 and a still more  surprising    

circumstance is that he lived in an age 
in which the art of  writing justly and 
elegantly was little known1 much less   
true philosophy4  ,lord ,bacon1 as is   
the fate of man1 was more esteemed after
 his death than  in his lifetime4  ,his 
enemies were in the ,british ,court1 and
 his admirers  were foreigners4    ,when
 the ,marquis d',effiat attended in     
,england upon the ,princess ,henrietta  
,maria1 daughter to ,henry ,,iv41 whom  
,king ,charles ,i4 had married1 that    
,minister went and visited the ,lord    
,bacon1 who1 being at that time sick in 
his bed1 received him with the curtains 
shut close4  ,you resemble the  angels1 
says the ,marquis to him2 we hear those 
beings spoken of  perpetually1 and we   
believe them superior to men1 but are   
never allowed  the consolation to see   
them4    ,you know that this great man  
was accused of a crime very unbecoming a
  philosopher3 ,i mean bribery and      
extortion4  ,you know that he was       
sentenced by the ,house of ,lords to pay

 a fine of about four hundred  thousand 
,french livres1 to lose his peerage and 
his dignity of  ,chancellor2 but in the 
present age the ,english revere his     
memory to such  a degree1 that they will
 scarce allow him to have been guilty4  
,in case  you should ask what are my    
thoughts on this head1 ,i shall answer  
you in  the words which ,i heard the    
,lord ,bolingbroke use on another       
occasion4  ,several gentlemen were      
speaking1 in his company1 of the avarice
 with  which the late ,duke of          
,marlborough had been charged1 some     
examples  whereof being given1 the ,lord
 ,bolingbroke was appealed to 7who1     
having  been in the opposite party1     
might perhaps1 without the imputation of
  indecency1 have been allowed to clear 
up that matter73 ,he was so great a     
man1 replied his lordship1 that ,i have 
forgot his vices4    ,i shall therefore 
confine myself to those things which so 
justly gained  ,lord ,bacon the esteem  
of all ,europe4    ,the most singular   

and the best of all his pieces is that  
which1 at this  time1 is the most       
useless and the least read1 ,i mean his 
,novum  ,scientiarum ,organum4  ,this is
 the scaffold with which the new        
philosophy  was raised2 and when the    
edifice was built1 part of it at least1 
the  scaffold was no longer of service4 
,the ,lord ,bacon was not yet acquainted
 with ,nature1 but then he knew1 and    
pointed out1 the several paths that lead
 to it4  ,he had despised in his        
younger years the thing called          
philosophy in the ,universities1 and did
  all that lay in his power to prevent  
those societies of men instituted to    
improve human reason from depraving it  
by their quiddities1 their horrors  of  
the vacuum1 their substantial forms1 and
 all those impertinent terms  which not 
only ignorance had rendered venerable1  
but which had been made  sacred by their
 being ridiculously blended with        
religion4    ,he is the father of       
experimental philosophy4  ,it must1     

indeed1 be  confessed that very         
surprising secrets had been found out   
before his  time--the sea-compass1      
printing1 engraving on copper plates1   
oil-painting1 looking-glasses2 the art  
of restoring1 in some measure1 old  men 
to their sight by spectacles2 gunpowder1
 c41 had been discovered4  ,a  new world
 had been fought for1 found1 and        
conquered4  ,would not one  suppose that
 these sublime discoveries had been made
 by the greatest  philosophers1 and in  
ages much more enlightened than the     
present8  ,but it  was far otherwise2   
all these great changes happened in the 
most stupid  and barbarous times4       
,chance only gave birth to most of those
 inventions2  and it is very probable   
that what is called chance contributed  
very much  to the discovery of ,america2
 at least1 it has been always thought   
that  ,christopher ,columbus undertook  
his voyage merely on the relation of a  
captain of a ship which a storm had     
driven as far westward as the           

,caribbean ,islands4  ,be this as it    
will1 men had sailed round the world1   
and could destroy cities by an          
artificial thunder more dreadful than   
the  real one2 but1 then1 they were not 
acquainted with the circulation of the  
blood1 the weight of the air1 the laws  
of motion1 light1 the number of  our    
planets1 c4  ,and a man who maintained a
 thesis on ,aristotle's  ,categories1 on
 the universals a parte rei1 or         
such-like nonsense1 was  looked upon as 
a prodigy4    ,the most astonishing1 the
 most useful inventions1 are not those  
which  reflect the greatest honour on   
the human mind4  ,it is to a mechanical 
instinct1 which is found in many men1   
and not to true philosophy1 that  most  
arts owe their origin4    ,the discovery
 of fire1 the art of making bread1 of   
melting and preparing  metals1 of       
building houses1 and the invention of   
the shuttle1 are  infinitely more       
beneficial to mankind than printing or  
the sea-compass3  and yet these arts    

were invented by uncultivated1 savage   
men4    ,what a prodigious use the      
,greeks and ,romans made afterwards of  
mechanics6  ,nevertheless1 they believed
 that there were crystal heavens1 that  
the  stars were small lamps which       
sometimes fell into the sea1 and one of 
their greatest philosophers1 after long 
researches1 found that the stars  were  
so many flints which had been detached  
from the earth4    ,in a word1 no one   
before the ,lord ,bacon was acquainted  
with experimental  philosophy1 nor with 
the several physical experiments which  
have been  made since his time4  ,scarce
 one of them but is hinted at in his    
work1  and he himself had made several4 
,he made a kind of pneumatic engine1 by 
which he guessed the elasticity of the  
air4  ,he approached1 on all sides  as  
it were1 to the discovery of its weight1
 and had very near attained  it1 but    
some time after ,torricelli seized upon 
this truth4  ,in a little  time         
experimental philosophy began to be     

cultivated on a sudden in most  parts of
 ,europe4  ,it was a hidden treasure    
which the ,lord ,bacon had some  notion 
of1 and which all the philosophers1     
encouraged by his promises1  endeavoured
 to dig up4    ,but that which surprised
 me most was to read in his work1 in    
express  terms1 the new attraction1 the 
invention of which is ascribed to ,sir  
,isaac ,newton4    ,we must search1 says
 ,lord ,bacon1 whether there may not be 
a kind of  magnetic power which operates
 between the earth and heavy bodies1    
between  the moon and the ocean1 between
 the planets1 c4  ,in another place he  
says either heavy bodies must be carried
 towards the centre of the earth1  or   
must be reciprocally attracted by it2   
and in the latter case it is  evident   
that the nearer bodies1 in their        
falling1 draw towards the earth1  the   
stronger they will attract one another4 
,we must1 says he1 make an  experiment  
to see whether the same clock will go   
faster on the top of a  mountain or at  

the bottom of a mine2 whether the       
strength of the weights  decreases on   
the mountain and increases in the mine4 
,it is probable that  the earth has a   
true attractive power4    ,this         
forerunner in philosophy was also an    
elegant writer1 an historian1  and a    
wit4    ,his moral essays are greatly   
esteemed1 but they were drawn up in the 
view  of instructing rather than of     
pleasing2 and1 as they are not a satire 
upon mankind1 like ,rochefoucauld's     
,maxims1 nor written upon a sceptical   
plan1 like ,montaigne's ,essays1 they   
are not so much read as those two       
ingenious authors4    ,his ,history of  
,henry ,,vii4 was looked upon as a      
masterpiece1 but how is it  possible    
that some persons can presume to compare
 so little a work with  the history of  
our illustrious ,thuanus8    ,speaking  
about the famous impostor ,perkin1 son  
to a converted ,jew1 who  assumed boldly
 the name and title of ,richard ,,iv41  
,king of ,england1 at the  instigation  

of the ,duchess of ,burgundy1 and who   
disputed the crown with  ,henry ,,vii41 
the ,lord ,bacon writes as follows3--   
,at this time the ,king began again to  
be haunted with sprites1 by the  magic  
and curious arts of the ,lady ,margaret1
 who raised up the ghost of  ,richard1  
,duke of ,york1 second son to ,king     
,edward ,,iv41 to walk and vex the      
,king4    ,after such time as she       
7,margaret of ,burgundy7 thought he     
7,perkin  ,warbeck7 was perfect in his  
lesson1 she began to cast with herself  
from  what coast this blazing star      
should first appear1 and at what time it
  must be upon the horizon of ,ireland2 
for there had the like meteor strong    
influence before4    ,methinks our      
sagacious ,thuanus does not give in to  
such fustian1 which  formerly was looked
 upon as sublime1 but in this age is    
justly called  nonsense4        ,,letter
 ,,xiii4--,,on ,,mr4 ,,locke            
,perhaps no man ever had a more         
judicious or more methodical genius1 or 

was a more acute logician than ,mr4     
,locke1 and yet he was not deeply       
skilled in the mathematics4  ,this great
 man could never subject himself  to the
 tedious fatigue of calculations1 nor to
 the dry pursuit of  mathematical       
truths1 which do not at first present   
any sensible objects  to the mind2 and  
no one has given better proofs than he1 
that it is  possible for a man to have a
 geometrical head without the assistance
 of  geometry4  ,before his time1       
several great philosophers had declared1
 in  the most positive terms1 what the  
soul of man is2 but as these absolutely 
knew nothing about it1 they might very  
well be allowed to differ entirely  in  
opinion from one another4    ,in        
,greece1 the infant seat of arts and of 
errors1 and where the grandeur  as well 
as folly of the human mind went such    
prodigious lengths1 the  people used to 
reason about the soul in the very same  
manner as we do4    ,the divine         
,anaxagoras1 in whose honour an altar   

was erected for his  having taught      
mankind that the sun was greater than   
,peloponnesus1 that  snow was black1 and
 that the heavens were of stone1        
affirmed that the  soul was an aerial   
spirit1 but at the same time immortal4  
,diogenes 7not  he who was a cynical    
philosopher after having coined base    
money7 declared  that the soul was a    
portion of the substance of ,god3 an    
idea which we  must confess was very    
sublime4  ,epicurus maintained that it  
was composed  of parts in the same      
manner as the body4    ,aristotle1 who  
has been explained a thousand ways1     
because he is  unintelligible1 was of   
opinion1 according to some of his       
disciples1 that  the understanding in   
all men is one and the same substance4  
,the divine ,plato1 master of the divine
 ,aristotle1--and the divine  ,socrates1
 master of the divine ,plato--used to   
say that the soul was  corporeal and    
eternal4  ,no doubt but the demon of    
,socrates had instructed  him in the    

nature of it4  ,some people1 indeed1    
pretend that a man who  boasted his     
being attended by a familiar genius must
 infallibly be either  a knave or a     
madman1 but this kind of people are     
seldom satisfied with  anything but     
reason4    ,with regard to the ,fathers 
of the ,church1 several in the primitive
 ages  believed that the soul was human1
 and the angels and ,god corporeal4     
,men  naturally improve upon every      
system4  ,st4 ,bernard1 as ,father      
,mabillon  confesses1 taught that the   
soul after death does not see ,god in   
the  celestial regions1 but converses   
with ,christ's human nature only4       
,however1 he was not believed this time 
on his bare word2 the adventure of  the 
crusade having a little sunk the credit 
of his oracles4  ,afterwards a  thousand
 schoolmen arose1 such as the           
,irrefragable ,doctor1 the ,subtile     
,doctor1 the ,angelic ,doctor1 the      
,seraphic ,doctor1 and the ,cherubic    
,doctor1  who were all sure that they   

had a very clear and distinct idea of   
the  soul1 and yet wrote in such a      
manner1 that one would conclude they    
were  resolved no one should understand 
a word in their writings4  ,our         
,descartes1 born to discover the errors 
of antiquity1 and at the same time  to  
substitute his own1 and hurried away by 
that systematic spirit which  throws a  
cloud over the minds of the greatest    
men1 thought he had  demonstrated that  
the soul is the same thing as thought1  
in the same  manner as matter1 in his   
opinion1 is the same as extension4  ,he 
asserted1  that man thinks eternally1   
and that the soul1 at its coming into   
the  body1 is informed with the whole   
series of metaphysical notions3 knowing 
,god1 infinite space1 possessing all    
abstract ideas--in a word1 completely   
endued with the most sublime lights1    
which it unhappily forgets at its       
issuing from the womb4    ,father       
,malebranche1 in his sublime illusions1 
not only admitted innate  ideas1 but did

 not doubt of our living wholly in ,god1
 and that ,god is1 as  it were1 our     
soul4    ,such a multitude of reasoners 
having written the romance of the soul1 
a  sage at last arose1 who gave1 with an
 air of the greatest modesty1 the       
history of it4  ,mr4 ,locke has         
displayed the human soul in the same    
manner  as an excellent anatomist       
explains the springs of the human body4 
,he  everywhere takes the light of      
physics for his guide4  ,he sometimes   
presumes to speak affirmatively1 but    
then he presumes also to doubt4         
,instead of concluding at once what we  
know not1 he examines gradually  what we
 would know4  ,he takes an infant at the
 instant of his birth2 he  traces1 step 
by step1 the progress of his            
understanding2 examines what  things he 
has in common with beasts1 and what he  
possesses above them4  ,above all1 he   
consults himself3 the being conscious   
that he himself  thinks4    ,i shall    
leave1 says he1 to those who know more  

of this matter than  myself1 the        
examining whether the soul exists before
 or after the  organisation of our      
bodies4  ,but ,i confess that it is my  
lot to be  animated with one of those   
heavy souls which do not think always2  
and ,i  am even so unhappy as not to    
conceive that it is more necessary the  
soul  should think perpetually than that
 bodies should be for ever in motion4   
,with regard to myself1 ,i shall boast  
that ,i have the honour to be as  stupid
 in this particular as ,mr4 ,locke4  ,no
 one shall ever make me  believe that ,i
 think always3 and ,i am as little      
inclined as he could be  to fancy that  
some weeks after ,i was conceived ,i was
 a very learned soul2  knowing at that  
time a thousand things which ,i forgot  
at my birth2 and  possessing when in the
 womb 7though to no manner of purpose7  
knowledge  which ,i lost the instant ,i 
had occasion for it2 and which ,i have  
never  since been able to recover       
perfectly4    ,mr4 ,locke1 after having 

destroyed innate ideas2 after having    
fully  renounced the vanity of believing
 that we think always2 after having laid
  down1 from the most solid principles1 
that ideas enter the mind through  the  
senses2 having examined our simple and  
complex ideas2 having traced  the human 
mind through its several operations2    
having shown that all the  languages in 
the world are imperfect1 and the great  
abuse that is made of  words every      
moment1 he at last comes to consider the
 extent or rather the  narrow limits of 
human knowledge4  ,it was in this       
chapter he presumed to  advance1 but    
very modestly1 the following words3 ,we 
shall1 perhaps1  never be capable of    
knowing whether a being1 purely         
material1 thinks or  not4  ,this sage   
assertion was1 by more divines than one1
 looked upon as  a scandalous           
declaration that the soul is material   
and mortal4  ,some  ,englishmen1 devout 
after their way1 sounded an alarm4  ,the
 superstitious  are the same in society 

as cowards in an army2 they themselves  
are seized  with a panic fear1 and      
communicate it to others4  ,it was      
loudly exclaimed  that ,mr4 ,locke      
intended to destroy religion2           
nevertheless1 religion had  nothing to  
do in the affair1 it being a question   
purely philosophical1  altogether       
independent of faith and revelation4    
,mr4 ,locke's opponents  needed but to  
examine1 calmly and impartially1 whether
 the declaring that  matter can think1  
implies a contradiction2 and whether    
,god is able to  communicate thought to 
matter4  ,but divines are too apt to    
begin their  declarations with saying   
that ,god is offended when people differ
 from  them in opinion2 in which they   
too much resemble the bad poets1 who    
used  to declare publicly that ,boileau 
spake irreverently of ,louis ,,xiv41    
because he ridiculed their stupid       
productions4  ,bishop ,stillingfleet got
  the reputation of a calm and          
unprejudiced divine because he did not  

expressly make use of injurious terms in
 his dispute with ,mr4 ,locke4  ,that   
divine entered the lists against him1   
but was defeated2 for he argued as  a   
schoolman1 and ,locke as a philosopher1 
who was perfectly acquainted  with the  
strong as well as the weak side of the  
human mind1 and who  fought with weapons
 whose temper he knew4  ,if ,i might    
presume to give my  opinion on so       
delicate a subject after ,mr4 ,locke1 ,i
 would say1 that men  have long disputed
 on the nature and the immortality of   
the soul4  ,with  regard to its         
immortality1 it is impossible to give a 
demonstration of  it1 since its nature  
is still the subject of controversy2    
which1 however1  must be thoroughly     
understood before a person can be able  
to determine  whether it be immortal or 
not4  ,human reason is so little able1  
merely by  its own strength1 to         
demonstrate the immortality of the soul1
 that it was  absolutely necessary      
religion should reveal it to us4  ,it is

 of advantage  to society in general1   
that mankind should believe the soul to 
be  immortal2 faith commands us to do   
this2 nothing more is required1 and the 
matter is cleared up at once4  ,but it  
is otherwise with respect to its        
nature2 it is of little importance to   
religion1 which only requires the  soul 
to be virtuous1 whatever substance it   
may be made of4  ,it is a clock  which  
is given us to regulate1 but the artist 
has not told us of what  materials the  
spring of this chock is composed4    ,i 
am a body1 and1 ,i think1 that's all ,i 
know of the matter4  ,shall ,i  ascribe 
to an unknown cause1 what ,i can so     
easily impute to the only  second cause 
,i am acquainted with8  ,here all the   
school philosophers  interrupt me with  
their arguments1 and declare that there 
is only  extension and solidity in      
bodies1 and that there they can have    
nothing  but motion and figure4  ,now   
motion1 figure1 extension and solidity  
cannot  form a thought1 and consequently

 the soul cannot be matter4  ,all this  
so  often repeated mighty series of     
reasoning1 amounts to no more than this3
  ,i am absolutely ignorant what matter 
is2 ,i guess1 but imperfectly1 some     
properties of it2 now ,i absolutely     
cannot tell whether these properties    
may be joined to thought4  ,as ,i       
therefore know nothing1 ,i maintain     
positively that matter cannot think4    
,in this manner do the schools  reason4 
,mr4 ,locke addressed these gentlemen in
 the candid1 sincere manner  following3 
,at least confess yourselves to be as   
ignorant as ,i4  ,neither  your         
imaginations nor mine are able to       
comprehend in what manner a body  is    
susceptible of ideas2 and do you        
conceive better in what manner a        
substance1 of what kind soever1 is      
susceptible of them8  ,as you cannot    
comprehend either matter or spirit1 why 
will you presume to assert  anything8   
,the superstitious man comes afterwards 
and declares1 that all those must  be   

burnt for the good of their souls1 who  
so much as suspect that it is  possible 
for the body to think without any       
foreign assistance4  ,but what  would   
these people say should they themselves 
be proved irreligious8  ,and  indeed1   
what man can presume to assert1 without 
being guilty at the same  time of the   
greatest impiety1 that it is impossible 
for the ,creator to  form matter with   
thought and sensation8  ,consider only1 
,i beg you1 what a  dilemma you bring   
yourselves into1 you who confine in this
 manner the  power of the ,creator4     
,beasts have the same organs1 the same  
sensations1  the same perceptions as we2
 they have memory1 and combine certain  
ideas4  ,in case it was not in the power
 of ,god to animate matter1 and inform  
it  with sensation1 the consequence     
would be1 either that beasts are mere   
machines1 or that they have a spiritual 
soul4    ,methinks it is clearly evident
 that beasts cannot be mere machines1   
which  ,i prove thus4  ,god has given to

 them the very same organs of sensation 
as  to us3 if therefore they have no    
sensation1 ,god has created a useless   
thing2 now according to your own        
confession ,god does nothing in vain2   
,he  therefore did not create so many   
organs of sensation1 merely for them to 
be uninformed with this faculty2        
consequently beasts are not mere        
machines4  ,beasts1 according to your   
assertion1 cannot be animated with a    
spiritual soul2 you will1 therefore1 in 
spite of yourself1 be reduced to  this  
only assertion1 viz41 that ,god has     
endued the organs of beasts1 who  are   
mere matter1 with the faculties of      
sensation and perception1 which  you    
call instinct in them4  ,but why may not
 ,god1 if ,he pleases1  communicate to  
our more delicate organs1 that faculty  
of feeling1  perceiving1 and thinking1  
which we call human reason8  ,to        
whatever side  you turn1 you are forced 
to acknowledge your own ignorance1 and  
the  boundless power of the ,creator4   

,exclaim therefore no more against the  
sage1 the modest philosophy of ,mr4     
,locke1 which so far from interfering   
with religion1 would be of use to       
demonstrate the truth of it1 in case    
religion wanted any such support4  ,for 
what philosophy can be of a more        
religious nature than that1 which       
affirming nothing but what it conceives 
clearly1 and conscious of its own       
weakness1 declares that we must always  
have recourse to ,god in our examining  
of the first principles8    ,besides1 we
 must not be apprehensive that any      
philosophical opinion will  ever        
prejudice the religion of a country4    
,though our demonstrations  clash       
directly with our mysteries1 that is    
nothing to the purpose1 for  the latter 
are not less revered upon that account  
by our ,christian  philosophers1 who    
know very well that the objects of      
reason and those of  faith are of a very
 different nature4  ,philosophers will  
never form a  religious sect1 the reason

 of which is1 their writings are not    
calculated  for the vulgar1 and they    
themselves are free from enthusiasm4    
,if we  divide mankind into twenty      
parts1 it will be found that nineteen of
 these  consist of persons employed in  
manual labour1 who will never know that 
such a man as ,mr4 ,locke existed4  ,in 
the remaining twentieth part how few    
are readers8  ,and among such as are so1
 twenty amuse themselves with  romances 
to one who studies philosophy4  ,the    
thinking part of mankind is  confined to
 a very small number1 and these will    
never disturb the peace  and            
tranquillity of the world4    ,neither  
,montaigne1 ,locke1 ,bayle1 ,spinoza1   
,hobbes1 the ,lord ,shaftesbury1        
,collins1 nor ,toland lighted up the    
firebrand of discord in their           
countries2 this has generally been the  
work of divines1 who being at  first    
puffed up with the ambition of becoming 
chiefs of a sect1 soon grew  very       
desirous of being at the head of a      

party4  ,but what do ,i say8  ,all  the 
works of the modern philosophers put    
together will never make so much  noise 
as even the dispute which arose among   
the ,franciscans1 merely about  the     
fashion of their sleeves and of their   
cowls4        ,,letter ,,xiv4--,,on     
,,descartes ,,and ,,sir ,,isaac ,,newton
      ,a ,frenchman who arrives in      
,london1 will find philosophy1 like     
everything  else1 very much changed     
there4  ,he had left the world a plenum1
 and he  now finds it a vacuum4  ,at    
,paris the universe is seen composed of 
vortices of subtile matter2 but nothing 
like it is seen in ,london4  ,in        
,france1 it is the pressure of the moon 
that causes the tides2 but in  ,england 
it is the sea that gravitates towards   
the moon2 so that when you  think that  
the moon should make it flood with us1  
those gentlemen fancy  it should be ebb1
 which very unluckily cannot be proved4 
,for to be able  to do this1 it is      
necessary the moon and the tides should 

have been  inquired into at the very    
instant of the creation4    ,you will   
observe farther1 that the sun1 which in 
,france is said to have  nothing to do  
in the affair1 comes in here for very   
near a quarter of its  assistance4      
,according to your ,cartesians1         
everything is performed by an           
impulsion1 of which we have very little 
notion2 and according to ,sir  ,isaac   
,newton1 it is by an attraction1 the    
cause of which is as much  unknown to   
us4  ,at ,paris you imagine that the    
earth is shaped like a  melon1 or of an 
oblique figure2 at ,london it has an    
oblate one4  ,a  ,cartesian declares    
that light exists in the air2 but a     
,newtonian asserts  that it comes from  
the sun in six minutes and a half4  ,the
 several  operations of your chemistry  
are performed by acids1 alkalies and    
subtile  matter2 but attraction prevails
 even in chemistry among the ,english4  
,the very essence of things is totally  
changed4  ,you neither are agreed  upon 

the definition of the soul1 nor on that 
of matter4  ,descartes1 as ,i  observed 
in my last1 maintains that the soul is  
the same thing with  thought1 and ,mr4  
,locke has given a pretty good proof of 
the contrary4    ,descartes asserts     
farther1 that extension alone           
constitutes matter1 but  ,sir ,isaac    
adds solidity to it4    ,how furiously  
contradictory are these opinions6       
,non nostrum inter vos tantas componere 
lites4       ,,virgil1 ,eclog4 ,,iii4   
',tis not for us to end such great      
disputes4    ,this famous ,newton1 this 
destroyer of the ,cartesian system1 died
 in  ,march1 anno #agbg4  ,his          
countrymen honoured him in his lifetime1
 and  interred him as though he had been
 a king who had made his people happy4  
,the ,english read with the highest     
satisfaction1 and translated into their 
tongue1 the ,elogium of ,sir ,isaac     
,newton1 which ,m4 de ,fontenelle spoke 
in  the ,academy of ,sciences4  ,m4 de  
,fontenelle presides as judge over      

philosophers2 and the ,english expected 
his decision1 as a solemn  declaration  
of the superiority of the ,english      
philosophy over that of the  ,french4   
,but when it was found that this        
gentleman had compared ,descartes  to   
,sir ,isaac1 the whole ,royal ,society  
in ,london rose up in arms4  ,so far    
from acquiescing with ,m4 ,fontenelle's 
judgment1 they criticised his           
discourse4  ,and even several 7who1     
however1 were not the ablest            
philosophers in that body7 were offended
 at the comparison2 and for no  other   
reason but because ,descartes was a     
,frenchman4    ,it must be confessed    
that these two great men differed very  
much in  conduct1 in fortune1 and in    
philosophy4    ,nature had indulged     
,descartes with a shining and strong    
imagination1  whence he became a very   
singular person both in private life and
 in his  manner of reasoning4  ,this    
imagination could not conceal itself    
even in  his philosophical works1 which 

are everywhere adorned with very        
shining1  ingenious metaphors and       
figures4  ,nature had almost made him a 
poet2 and  indeed he wrote a piece of   
poetry for the entertainment of         
,christina1  ,queen of ,sweden1 which   
however was suppressed in honour to his 
memory4    ,he embraced a military life 
for some time1 and afterwards becoming a
  complete philosopher1 he did not think
 the passion of love derogatory to  his 
character4  ,he had by his mistress a   
daughter called ,froncine1 who  died    
young1 and was very much regretted by   
him4  ,thus he experienced  every       
passion incident to mankind4    ,he was 
a long time of opinion that it would be 
necessary for him to fly  from the      
society of his fellow creatures1 and    
especially from his native  country1 in 
order to enjoy the happiness of         
cultivating his philosophical  studies  
in full liberty4    ,descartes was very 
right1 for his contemporaries were not  
knowing enough  to improve and enlighten

 his understanding1 and were capable of 
little  else than of giving him         
uneasiness4    ,he left ,france purely  
to go in search of truth1 which was then
 persecuted  by the wretched philosophy 
of the schools4  ,however1 he found that
 reason  was as much disguised and      
depraved in the universities of         
,holland1 into  which he withdrew1 as in
 his own country4  ,for at the time that
 the  ,french condemned the only        
propositions of his philosophy which    
were true1  he was persecuted by the    
pretended philosophers of ,holland1 who 
understood him no better2 and who1      
having a nearer view of his glory1      
hated his person the more1 so that he   
was obliged to leave ,utrecht4          
,descartes was injuriously accused of   
being an atheist1 the last refuge of    
religious scandal3 and he who had       
employed all the sagacity and           
penetration of his genius1 in searching 
for new proofs of the existence  of a   
,god1 was suspected to believe there was

 no such ,being4    ,such a persecution 
from all sides1 must necessarily suppose
 a most  exalted merit as well as a very
 distinguished reputation1 and indeed he
  possessed both4  ,reason at that time 
darted a ray upon the world through  the
 gloom of the schools1 and the          
prejudices of popular superstition4  ,at
  last his name spread so universally1  
that the ,french were desirous of       
bringing him back into his native       
country by rewards1 and accordingly     
offered him an annual pension of a      
thousand crowns4  ,upon these hopes     
,descartes returned to ,france2 paid the
 fees of his patent1 which was sold  at 
that time1 but no pension was settled   
upon him4  ,thus disappointed1 he       
returned to his solitude in ,north      
,holland1 where he again pursued the    
study of philosophy1 whilst the great   
,galileo1 at fourscore years of age1    
was groaning in the prisons of the      
,inquisition1 only for having           
demonstrated the earth's motion4    ,at 

last ,descartes was snatched from the   
world in the flower of his age at       
,stockholm4  ,his death was owing to a  
bad regimen1 and he expired in the      
midst of some literati who were his     
enemies1 and under the hands of a       
physician to whom he was odious4    ,the
 progress of ,sir ,isaac ,newton's life 
was quite different4  ,he lived  happy1 
and very much honoured in his native    
country1 to the age of  fourscore and   
five years4    ,it was his peculiar     
felicity1 not only to be born in a      
country of  liberty1 but in an age when 
all scholastic impertinences were       
banished  from the world4  ,reason alone
 was cultivated1 and mankind could only 
be  his pupil1 not his enemy4    ,one   
very singular difference in the lives of
 these two great men is1 that  ,sir     
,isaac1 during the long course of years 
he enjoyed1 was never sensible  to any  
passion1 was not subject to the common  
frailties of mankind1 nor  ever had any 
commerce with women--a circumstance     

which was assured me by  the physician  
and surgeon who attended him in his last
 moments4    ,we may admire ,sir ,isaac 
,newton on this occasion1 but then we   
must not  censure ,descartes4    ,the   
opinion that generally prevails in      
,england with regard to these new       
philosophers is1 that the latter was a  
dreamer1 and the former a sage4    ,very
 few people in ,england read ,descartes1
 whose works indeed are now  useless4   
,on the other side1 but a small number  
peruse those of ,sir  ,isaac1 because to
 do this the student must be deeply     
skilled in the  mathematics1 otherwise  
those works will be unintelligible to   
him4  ,but  notwithstanding this1 these 
great men are the subject of everyone's 
discourse4  ,sir ,isaac ,newton is      
allowed every advantage1 whilst         
,descartes  is not indulged a single    
one4  ,according to some1 it is to the  
former  that we owe the discovery of a  
vacuum1 that the air is a heavy body1   
and  the invention of telescopes4  ,in a

 word1 ,sir ,isaac ,newton is here as   
the  ,hercules of fabulous story1 to    
whom the ignorant ascribed all the feats
  of ancient heroes4    ,in a critique  
that was made in ,london on ,mr4 de     
,fontenelle's discourse1  the writer    
presumed to assert that ,descartes was  
not a great  geometrician4  ,those who  
make such a declaration may justly be   
reproached  with flying in their        
master's face4  ,descartes extended the 
limits of  geometry as far beyond the   
place where he found them1 as ,sir      
,isaac did  after him4  ,the former     
first taught the method of expressing   
curves by  equations4  ,this geometry   
which1 thanks to him for it1 is now     
grown  common1 was so abstruse in his   
time1 that not so much as one professor 
would undertake to explain it2 and      
,schotten in ,holland1 and ,format in   
,france1 were the only men who          
understood it4    ,he applied this      
geometrical and inventive genius to     
dioptrics1 which1  when treated of by   

him1 became a new art4  ,and if he was  
mistaken in some  things1 the reason of 
that is1 a man who discovers a new tract
 of land  cannot at once know all the   
properties of the soil4  ,those who come
 after  him1 and make these lands       
fruitful1 are at least obliged to him   
for the  discovery4  ,i will not deny   
but that there are innumerable errors in
 the  rest of ,descartes' works4        
,geometry was a guide he himself had in 
some measure fashioned1 which  would    
have conducted him safely through the   
several paths of natural  philosophy4   
,nevertheless1 he at last abandoned this
 guide1 and gave  entirely into the     
humour of forming hypotheses2 and then  
philosophy was  no more than an         
ingenious romance1 fit only to amuse the
 ignorant4  ,he  was mistaken in the    
nature of the soul1 in the proofs of the
 existence of  a ,god1 in matter1 in the
 laws of motion1 and in the nature of   
light4  ,he  admitted innate ideas1 he  
invented new elements1 he created a     

world2 he  made man according to his own
 fancy2 and it is justly said1 that the 
man  of ,descartes is1 in fact1 that of 
,descartes only1 very different from the
  real one4    ,he pushed his           
metaphysical errors so far1 as to       
declare that two and two  make four for 
no other reason but because ,god would  
have it so4  ,however1  it will not be  
making him too great a compliment if we 
affirm that he was  valuable even in his
 mistakes4  ,he deceived himself2 but   
then it was at  least in a methodical   
way4  ,he destroyed all the absurd      
chimeras with  which youth had been     
infatuated for two thousand years4  ,he 
taught his  contemporaries how to       
reason1 and enabled them to employ his  
own weapons  against himself4  ,if      
,descartes did not pay in good money1 he
 however did  great service in crying   
down that of a base alloy4    ,i indeed 
believe that very few will presume to   
compare his philosophy in  any respect  
with that of ,sir ,isaac ,newton4  ,the 

former is an essay1 the  latter a       
masterpiece4  ,but then the man who     
first brought us to the path  of truth1 
was perhaps as great a genius as he who 
afterwards conducted us  through it4    
,descartes gave sight to the blind4     
,these saw the errors of antiquity and  
of the sciences4  ,the path he struck   
out is since become boundless4          
,rohault's little work was1 during some 
years1 a complete system of  physics2   
but now all the ,transactions of the    
several academies in ,europe  put       
together do not form so much as the     
beginning of a system4  ,in  fathoming  
this abyss no bottom has been found4    
,we are now to examine  what discoveries
 ,sir ,isaac ,newton has made in it4    
,,letter ,,xv4--,,on ,,attraction       
,the discoveries which gained ,sir      
,isaac ,newton so universal a           
reputation1  relate to the system of the
 world1 to light1 to geometrical        
infinities2  and1 lastly1 to chronology1
 with which he used to amuse himself    

after the  fatigue of his severer       
studies4    ,i will now acquaint you    
7without prolixity if possible7 with the
 few  things ,i have been able to       
comprehend of all these sublime ideas4  
,with  regard to the system of our      
world1 disputes were a long time        
maintained1  on the cause that turns the
 planets1 and keeps them in their       
orbits3 and  on those causes which make 
all bodies here below descend towards   
the  surface of the earth4    ,the      
system of ,descartes1 explained and     
improved since his time1 seemed to  give
 a plausible reason for all those       
phenomena2 and this reason seemed  more 
just1 as it is simple and intelligible  
to all capacities4  ,but in  philosophy1
 a student ought to doubt of the things 
he fancies he  understands too easily1  
as much as of those he does not         
understand4    ,gravity1 the falling of 
accelerated bodies on the earth1 the    
revolution  of the planets in their     
orbits1 their rotations round their     

axis1 all  this is mere motion4  ,now   
motion cannot perhaps be conceived any  
otherwise than by impulsion2 therefore  
all those bodies must be impelled4  ,but
 by what are they impelled8  ,all space 
is full1 it therefore is filled  with a 
very subtile matter1 since this is      
imperceptible to us2 this  matter goes  
from west to east1 since all the planets
 are carried from  west to east4  ,thus 
from hypothesis to hypothesis1 from one 
appearance to  another1 philosophers    
have imagined a vast whirlpool of       
subtile matter1  in which the planets   
are carried round the sun3 they also    
have created  another particular vortex 
which floats in the great one1 and which
 turns  daily round the planets4  ,when 
all this is done1 it is pretended that  
gravity depends on this diurnal motion2 
for1 say these1 the velocity of  the    
subtile matter that turns round our     
little vortex1 must be seventeen  times 
more rapid than that of the earth2 or1  
in case its velocity is  seventeen times

 greater than that of the earth1 its    
centrifugal force  must be vastly       
greater1 and consequently impel all     
bodies towards the  earth4  ,this is the
 cause of gravity1 according to the     
,cartesian system4  ,but the theorist1  
before he calculated the centrifugal    
force and velocity  of the subtile      
matter1 should first have been certain  
that it existed4    ,sir ,isaac ,newton1
 seems to have destroyed all these great
 and little  vortices1 both that which  
carries the planets round the sun1 as   
well as  the other which supposes every 
planet to turn on its own axis4         
,first1 with regard to the pretended    
little vortex of the earth1 it is       
demonstrated that it must lose its      
motion by insensible degrees2 it is     
demonstrated1 that if the earth swims in
 a fluid1 its density must be  equal to 
that of the earth2 and in case its      
density be the same1 all the  bodies we 
endeavour to move must meet with an     
insuperable resistance4    ,with regard 

to the great vortices1 they are still   
more chimerical1 and it  is impossible  
to make them agree with ,kepler's law1  
the truth of which  has been            
demonstrated4  ,sir ,isaac shows1 that  
the revolution of the fluid  in which   
,jupiter is supposed to be carried1 is  
not the same with regard  to the        
revolution of the fluid of the earth1 as
 the revolution of ,jupiter  with       
respect to that of the earth4  ,he      
proves1 that as the planets make  their 
revolutions in ellipses1 and            
consequently being at a much greater    
distance one from the other in their    
,aphelia1 and a little nearer in  their 
,perihelia2 the earth's velocity1 for   
instance1 ought to be greater  when it  
is nearer ,venus and ,mars1 because the 
fluid that carries it  along1 being then
 more pressed1 ought to have a greater  
motion2 and yet  it is even then that   
the earth's motion is slower4    ,he    
proves that there is no such thing as a 
celestial matter which goes  from west  

to east since the comets traverse those 
spaces1 sometimes from  east to west1   
and at other times from north to south4 
,in fine1 the better to resolve1 if     
possible1 every difficulty1 he proves1  
and even by experiments1 that it is     
impossible there should be a plenum2    
and brings back the vacuum1 which       
,aristotle and ,descartes had banished  
from the world4    ,having by these and 
several other arguments destroyed the   
,cartesian  vortices1 he despaired of   
ever being able to discover whether     
there is a  secret principle in nature  
which1 at the same time1 is the cause of
 the  motion of all celestial bodies1   
and that of gravity on the earth4  ,but 
being retired in #afff1 upon account of 
the ,plague1 to a solitude near         
,cambridge2 as he was walking one day in
 his garden1 and saw some fruits  fall  
from a tree1 he fell into a profound    
meditation on that gravity1 the  cause  
of which had so long been sought1 but in
 vain1 by all the  philosophers1 whilst 

the vulgar think there is nothing       
mysterious in it4  ,he said to himself2 
that from what height soever in our     
hemisphere1 those  bodies might descend1
 their fall would certainly be in the   
progression  discovered by ,galileo2 and
 the spaces they run through would be as
 the  square of the times4  ,why may not
 this power which causes heavy bodies to
  descend1 and is the same without any  
sensible diminution at the remotest     
distance from the centre of the earth1  
or on the summits of the highest        
mountains1 why1 said ,sir ,isaac1 may   
not this power extend as high as the    
moon8  ,and in case its influence       
reaches so far1 is it not very probable 
that this power retains it in its orbit1
 and determines its motion8  ,but  in   
case the moon obeys this principle      
7whatever it be7 may we not  conclude   
very naturally that the rest of the     
planets are equally subject  to it8  ,in
 case this power exists 7which besides  
is proved7 it must  increase in an      

inverse ratio of the squares of the     
distances4  ,all1  therefore1 that      
remains is1 to examine how far a heavy  
body1 which should  fall upon the earth 
from a moderate height1 would go2 and   
how far in the  same time1 a body which 
should fall from the orbit of the moon1 
would  descend4  ,to find this1 nothing 
is wanted but the measure of the earth1 
and the distance of the moon from it4   
,thus ,sir ,isaac ,newton reasoned4     
,but at that time the ,english had but a
  very imperfect measure of our globe1  
and depended on the uncertain           
supposition of mariners1 who computed a 
degree to contain but sixty  ,english   
miles1 whereas it consists in reality of
 near seventy4  ,as this  false         
computation did not agree with the      
conclusions which ,sir ,isaac  intended 
to draw from them1 he laid aside this   
pursuit4  ,a half-learned  philosopher1 
remarkable only for his vanity1 would   
have made the measure  of the earth     
agree1 anyhow1 with his system4  ,sir   

,isaac1 however1 chose  rather to quit  
the researches he was then engaged in4  
,but after ,mr4  ,picard had measured   
the earth exactly1 by tracing that      
meridian which  redounds so much to the 
honour of the ,french1 ,sir ,isaac      
,newton resumed  his former reflections1
 and found his account in ,mr4 ,picard's
  calculation4    ,a circumstance which 
has always appeared wonderful to me1 is 
that such  sublime discoveries should   
have been made by the sole assistance of
 a  quadrant and a little arithmetic4   
,the circumference of the earth is      
#abc1bdi1fjj feet4  ,this1 among other  
things1 is necessary to prove the system
 of attraction4    ,the instant we know 
the earth's circumference1 and the      
distance of the  moon1 we know that of  
the moon's orbit1 and the diameter of   
this orbit4  ,the moon performs its     
revolution in that orbit in twenty-seven
 days1  seven hours1 forty-three        
minutes4  ,it is demonstrated1 that the 
moon in  its mean motion makes an       

hundred and fourscore and seven thousand
 nine  hundred and sixty feet 7of       
,paris7 in a minute4  ,it is likewise   
demonstrated1 by a known theorem1 that  
the central force which should  make a  
body fall from the height of the moon1  
would make its velocity no  more than   
fifteen ,paris feet in a minute of time4
  ,now1 if the law by  which bodies     
gravitate and attract one another in an 
inverse ratio to the  squares of the    
distances be true1 if the same power    
acts according to  that law throughout  
all nature1 it is evident that as the   
earth is sixty  semi-diameters distant  
from the moon1 a heavy body must        
necessarily fall  7on the earth7 fifteen
 feet in the first second1 and          
fifty-four thousand  feet in the first  
minute4    ,now a heavy body falls1 in  
reality1 fifteen feet in the first      
second1 and  goes in the first minute   
fifty-four thousand feet1 which number  
is the  square of sixty multiplied by   
fifteen4  ,bodies1 therefore1 gravitate 

in  an inverse ratio of the squares of  
the distances2 consequently1 what       
causes gravity on earth1 and keeps the  
moon in its orbit1 is one and the  same 
power2 it being demonstrated that the   
moon gravitates on the earth1  which is 
the centre of its particular motion1 it 
is demonstrated that the  earth and the 
moon gravitate on the sun which is the  
centre of their  annual motion4    ,the 
rest of the planets must be subject to  
this general law2 and if this  law      
exists1 these planets must follow the   
laws which ,kepler discovered4  ,all    
these laws1 all these relations are     
indeed observed by the planets  with the
 utmost exactness2 therefore1 the power 
of attraction causes all  the planets to
 gravitate towards the sun1 in like     
manner as the moon  gravitates towards  
our globe4    ,finally1 as in all bodies
 re-action is equal to action1 it is    
certain  that the earth gravitates also 
towards the moon2 and that the sun      
gravitates towards both4  ,that every   

one of the satellites of ,saturn        
gravitates towards the other four1 and  
the other four towards it2 all  five    
towards ,saturn1 and ,saturn towards    
all4  ,that it is the same with  regard 
to ,jupiter2 and that all these globes  
are attracted by the sun1  which is     
reciprocally attracted by them4    ,this
 power of gravitation acts              
proportionably to the quantity of matter
  in bodies1 a truth which ,sir ,isaac  
has demonstrated by experiments4  ,this 
new discovery has been of use to show   
that the sun 7the centre of the         
planetary system7 attracts them all in a
 direct ratio of their quantity  of     
matter combined with their nearness4    
,from hence ,sir ,isaac1 rising by      
degrees to discoveries which seemed not 
to be formed for the human mind1  is    
bold enough to compute the quantity of  
matter contained in the sun and  in     
every planet2 and in this manner shows1 
from the simple laws of  mechanics1 that
 every celestial globe ought necessarily

 to be where it is  placed4    ,his bare
 principle of the laws of gravitation   
accounts for all the  apparent          
inequalities in the course of the       
celestial globes4  ,the  variations of  
the moon are a necessary consequence of 
those laws4  ,moreover1 the reason is   
evidently seen why the nodes of the moon
 perform  their revolutions in nineteen 
years1 and those of the earth in about  
twenty-six thousand4  ,the several      
appearances observed in the tides are   
also a very simple effect of this       
attraction4  ,the proximity of the moon1
  when at the full1 and when it is new1 
and its distance in the quadratures  or 
quarters1 combined with the action of   
the sun1 exhibit a sensible  reason why 
the ocean swells and sinks4    ,after   
having shown by his sublime theory the  
course and inequalities of  the planets1
 he subjects comets to the same law4    
,the orbit of these  fires 7unknown for 
so great a series of years71 which was  
the terror of  mankind and the rock     

against which philosophy split1 placed  
by ,aristotle  below the moon1 and sent 
back by ,descartes above the sphere of  
,saturn1 is  at last placed in its      
proper seat by ,sir ,isaac ,newton4     
,he proves that comets are solid bodies 
which move in the sphere of the  sun's  
activity1 and that they describe an     
ellipsis so very eccentric1 and  so near
 to parabolas1 that certain comets must 
take up above five hundred  years in    
their revolution4    ,the learned ,dr4  
,halley is of opinion that the comet    
seen in #afhj is the  same which        
appeared in ,julius ,caesar's time4     
,this shows more than any  other that   
comets are hard1 opaque bodies2 for it  
descended so near to  the sun1 as to    
come within a sixth part of the diameter
 of this planet  from it1 and           
consequently might have contracted a    
degree of heat two  thousand times      
stronger than that of red-hot iron2 and 
would have been  soon dispersed in      
vapour1 had it not been a firm1 dense   

body4  ,the  guessing the course of     
comets began then to be very much in    
vogue4  ,the  celebrated ,bernoulli     
concluded by his system that the famous 
comet of  #afhj would appear again the  
#agth of ,may1 #agai4  ,not a single    
astronomer  in ,europe went to bed that 
night4  ,however1 they needed not to    
have broke  their rest1 for the famous  
comet never appeared4  ,there is at     
least more  cunning1 if not more        
certainty1 in fixing its return to so   
remote a  distance as five hundred and  
seventy-five years4  ,as to ,mr4        
,whiston1 he  affirmed very seriously   
that in the time of the ,deluge a comet 
overflowed  the terrestrial globe4  ,and
 he was so unreasonable as to wonder    
that  people laughed at him for making  
such an assertion4  ,the ancients were  
almost in the same way of thinking with 
,mr4 ,whiston1 and fancied that  comets 
were always the forerunners of some     
great calamity which was to  befall     
mankind4  ,sir ,isaac ,newton1 on the   

contrary1 suspected that they  are very 
beneficent1 and that vapours exhale from
 them merely to nourish  and vivify the 
planets1 which imbibe in their course   
the several  particles the sun has      
detached from the comets1 an opinion    
which1 at  least1 is more probable than 
the former4  ,but this is not all4  ,if 
this  power of gravitation or attraction
 acts on all the celestial globes1 it   
acts undoubtedly on the several parts of
 these globes4  ,for in case  bodies    
attract one another in proportion to the
 quantity of matter  contained in them1 
it can only be in proportion to the     
quantity of their  parts2 and if this   
power is found in the whole1 it is      
undoubtedly in the  half2 in the        
quarters in the eighth part1 and so on  
in infinitum4    ,this is attraction1   
the great spring by which all ,nature is
 moved4  ,sir  ,isaac ,newton1 after    
having demonstrated the existence of    
this principle1  plainly foresaw that   
its very name would offend2 and1        

therefore1 this  philosopher1 in more   
places than one of his books1 gives the 
reader some  caution about it4  ,he bids
 him beware of confounding this name    
with what  the ancients called occult   
qualities1 but to be satisfied with     
knowing  that there is in all bodies a  
central force1 which acts to the utmost 
limits of the universe1 according to the
 invariable laws of mechanics4    ,it is
 surprising1 after the solemn           
protestations ,sir ,isaac made1 that    
such eminent men as ,mr4 ,sorin and ,mr4
 de ,fontenelle should have imputed  to 
this great philosopher the verbal and   
chimerical way of reasoning of  the     
,aristotelians2 ,mr4 ,sorin in the      
,memoirs of the ,academy of #agji1 and  
,mr4 de ,fontenelle in the very eulogium
 of ,sir ,isaac ,newton4    ,most of the
 ,french 7the learned and others7 have  
repeated this reproach4  ,these are for 
ever crying out1 ,why did he not employ 
the word  impulsion1 which is so well   
understood1 rather than that of         

attraction1 which is unintelligible8    
,sir ,isaac might have answered these   
critics thus3--,first1 you have as      
imperfect an idea of the word impulsion 
as of that of attraction2 and in  case  
you cannot conceive how one body tends  
towards the centre of another  body1    
neither can you conceive by what power  
one body can impel another4             
,secondly1 ,i could not admit of        
impulsion2 for to do this ,i must have  
known that a celestial matter was the   
agent4  ,but so far from knowing  that  
there is any such matter1 ,i have proved
 it to be merely imaginary4    ,thirdly1
 ,i use the word attraction for no other
 reason but to express an  effect which 
,i discovered in ,nature--a certain and 
indisputable effect of  an unknown      
principle--a quality inherent in matter1
 the cause of which  persons of greater 
abilities than ,i can pretend to may1 if
 they can1 find  out4    ,what have you1
 then1 taught us8 will these people say 
further2 and to  what purpose are so    

many calculations to tell us what you   
yourself do not  comprehend8    ,i have 
taught you1 may ,sir ,isaac rejoin1 that
 all bodies gravitate  towards one      
another in proportion to their quantity 
of matter2 that these  central forces   
alone keep the planets and comets in    
their orbits1 and  cause them to move in
 the proportion before set down4  ,i    
demonstrate to  you that it is          
impossible there should be any other    
cause which keeps the  planets in their 
orbits than that general phenomenon of  
gravity4  ,for  heavy bodies fall on the
 earth according to the proportion      
demonstrated  of central forces2 and the
 planets finishing their course         
according to  these same proportions1 in
 case there were another power that     
acted upon  all those bodies1 it would  
either increase their velocity or change
 their  direction4  ,now1 not one of    
those bodies ever has a single degree of
  motion or velocity1 or has any        
direction but what is demonstrated to be

  the effect of the central forces4     
,consequently it is impossible there    
should be any other principle4    ,give 
me leave once more to introduce ,sir    
,isaac speaking4  ,shall he not be      
allowed to say8 ,my case and that of the
 ancients is very different4  ,these    
saw1 for instance1 water ascend in      
pumps1 and said1 ',the water  rises     
because it abhors a vacuum4'  ,but with 
regard to myself2 ,i am in  the case of 
a man who should have first observed    
that water ascends in  pumps1 but should
 leave others to explain the cause of   
this effect4  ,the  anatomist1 who first
 declared that the motion of the arm is 
owing to the  contraction of the        
muscles1 taught mankind an indisputable 
truth4  ,but  are they less obliged to  
him because he did not know the reason  
why the  muscles contract8  ,the cause  
of the elasticity of the air is unknown1
 but  he who first discovered this      
spring performed a very signal service  
to  natural philosophy4  ,the spring    

that ,i discovered was more hidden and  
more universal1 and for that very reason
 mankind ought to thank me the  more4   
,i have discovered a new property of    
matter--one of the secrets of  the      
,creator--and have calculated and       
discovered the effects of it4  ,after   
this1 shall people quarrel with me about
 the name ,i give it8    ,vortices may  
be called an occult quality1 because    
their existence was  never proved4      
,attraction1 on the contrary1 is a real 
thing1 because its  effects are         
demonstrated1 and the proportions of it 
are calculated4  ,the  cause of this    
cause is among the ,arcana of the       
,almighty4       ,precedes huc1 et non  
amplius4    7,thus far shalt thou go1   
and no farther47        ,,letter        
,,xvi4--,,on ,,sir ,,isaac ,,newton',s  
,,optics      ,the philosophers of the  
last age found out a new universe2 and a
  circumstance which made its discovery 
more difficult was that no one had  so  
much as suspected its existence4  ,the  

most sage and judicious were of  opinion
 that it was a frantic rashness to dare 
so much as to imagine that  it was      
possible to guess the laws by which the 
celestial bodies move and  the manner   
how light acts4  ,galileo1 by his       
astronomical discoveries1  ,kepler1 by  
his calculation1 ,descartes 7at least1  
in his dioptrics71 and  ,sir ,isaac     
,newton1 in all his works1 severally saw
 the mechanism of the  springs of the   
world4  ,the geometricians have         
subjected infinity to the  laws of      
calculation4  ,the circulation of the   
blood in animals1 and of the  sap in    
vegetables1 have changed the face of    
,nature with regard to us4  ,a  new kind
 of existence has been given to bodies  
in the air-pump4  ,by the  assistance of
 telescopes bodies have been brought    
nearer to one another4  ,finally1 the   
several discoveries which ,sir ,isaac   
,newton has made on light  are equal to 
the boldest things which the curiosity  
of man could expect  after so many      

philosophical novelties4    ,till       
,antonio de ,dominis the rainbow was    
considered as an inexplicable  miracle4 
,this philosopher guessed that it was a 
necessary effect of the  sun and rain4  
,descartes gained immortal fame by his  
mathematical  explication of this so    
natural a phenomenon4  ,he calculated   
the  reflections and refractions of     
light in drops of rain4  ,and his       
sagacity  on this occasion was at that  
time looked upon as next to divine4     
,but what would he have said had it been
 proved to him that he was  mistaken in 
the nature of light2 that he had not the
 least reason to  maintain that it is a 
globular body8  ,that it is false to    
assert that  this matter1 spreading     
itself through the whole1 waits only to 
be  projected forward by the sun1 in    
order to be put in action1 in like      
manner as a long staff acts at one end  
when pushed forward by the other4  ,that
 light is certainly darted by the sun2  
in fine1 that light is  transmitted from

 the sun to the earth in about seven    
minutes1 though a  cannonball1 which    
were not to lose any of its velocity1   
could not go that  distance in less than
 twenty-five years4  ,how great would   
have been his  astonishment had he been 
told that light does not reflect        
directly by  impinging against the solid
 parts of bodies1 that bodies are not   
transparent when they have large pores1 
and that a man should arise who  would  
demonstrate all these paradoxes1 and    
anatomise a single ray of  light with   
more dexterity than the ablest artist   
dissects a human body4  ,this man is    
come4  ,sir ,isaac ,newton has          
demonstrated to the eye1 by the  bare   
assistance of the prism1 that light is a
 composition of coloured  rays1 which1  
being united1 form white colour4  ,a    
single ray is by him  divided into      
seven1 which all fall upon a piece of   
linen1 or a sheet of  white paper1 in   
their order1 one above the other1 and at
 unequal  distances4  ,the first is red1

 the second orange1 the third yellow1   
the  fourth green1 the fifth blue1 the  
sixth indigo1 the seventh a             
violet-purple4  ,each of these rays1    
transmitted afterwards by a hundred     
other prisms1 will never change the     
colour it bears2 in like manner1 as     
gold1 when completely purged from its   
dross1 will never change afterwards  in 
the crucible4  ,as a superabundant proof
 that each of these elementary  rays has
 inherently in itself that which forms  
its colour to the eye1  take a small    
piece of yellow wood1 for instance1 and 
set it in the ray of  a red colour2 this
 wood will instantly be tinged red4     
,but set it in the  ray of a green      
colour1 it assumes a green colour1 and  
so of all the rest4    ,from what cause1
 therefore1 do colours arise in ,nature8
  ,it is nothing  but the disposition of
 bodies to reflect the rays of a certain
 order and  to absorb all the rest4     
,what1 then1 is this secret disposition8
  ,sir ,isaac ,newton demonstrates  that

 it is nothing more than the density of 
the small constituent  particles of     
which a body is composed4  ,and how is  
this reflection  performed8  ,it was    
supposed to arise from the rebounding of
 the rays1 in  the same manner as a ball
 on the surface of a solid body4  ,but  
this is a  mistake1 for ,sir ,isaac     
taught the astonished philosophers that 
bodies are  opaque for no other reason  
but because their pores are large1 that 
light  reflects on our eyes from the    
very bosom of those pores1 that the     
smaller  the pores of a body are the    
more such a body is transparent4  ,thus 
paper1  which reflects the light when   
dry1 transmits it when oiled1 because   
the  oil1 by filling its pores1 makes   
them much smaller4    ,it is there that 
examining the vast porosity of bodies1  
every particle  having its pores1 and   
every particle of those particles having
 its own1  he shows we are not certain  
that there is a cubic inch of solid     
matter in  the universe1 so far are we  

from conceiving what matter is4  ,having
 thus  divided1 as it were1 light into  
its elements1 and carried the sagacity  
of  his discoveries so far as to prove  
the method of distinguishing compound   
colours from such as are primitive1 he  
shows that these elementary rays1       
separated by the prism1 are ranged in   
their order for no other reason but     
because they are refracted in that very 
order2 and it is this property  7unknown
 till he discovered it7 of breaking or  
splitting in this  proportion2 it is    
this unequal refraction of rays1 this   
power of  refracting the red less than  
the orange colour1 c41 which he calls   
the  different refrangibility4  ,the    
most reflexible rays are the most       
refrangible1 and from hence he evinces  
that the same power is the cause  both  
of the reflection and refraction of     
light4    ,but all these wonders are    
merely but the opening of his           
discoveries4  ,he  found out the secret 
to see the vibrations or fits of light  

which come  and go incessantly1 and     
which either transmit light or reflect  
it1  according to the density of the    
parts they meet with4  ,he has presumed 
to  calculate the density of the        
particles of air necessary between two  
glasses1 the one flat1 the other convex 
on one side1 set one upon the  other1 in
 order to operate such a transmission or
 reflection1 or to form  such and such a
 colour4    ,from all these combinations
 he discovers the proportion in which   
light  acts on bodies and bodies act on 
light4    ,he saw light so perfectly1   
that he has determined to what degree of
  perfection the art of increasing it1  
and of assisting our eyes by            
telescopes1 can be carried4             
,descartes1 from a noble confidence that
 was very excusable1 considering  how   
strongly he was fired at the first      
discoveries he made in an art  which he 
almost first found out2 ,descartes1 ,i  
say1 hoped to discover in  the stars1 by
 the assistance of telescopes1 objects  

as small as those we  discern upon the  
earth4    ,but ,sir ,isaac has shown    
that dioptric telescopes cannot be      
brought to a  greater perfection1       
because of that refraction1 and of that 
very  refrangibility1 which at the same 
time that they bring objects nearer to  
us1 scatter too much the elementary     
rays4  ,he has calculated in these      
glasses the proportion of the scattering
 of the red and of the blue rays2  and  
proceeding so far as to demonstrate     
things which were not supposed  even to 
exist1 he examines the inequalities     
which arise from the shape or  figure of
 the glass1 and that which arises from  
the refrangibility4  ,he  finds that the
 object glass of the telescope being    
convex on one side and  flat on the     
other1 in case the flat side be turned  
towards the object1  the error which    
arises from the construction and        
position of the glass is  above five    
thousand times less than the error which
 arises from the  refrangibility2 and1  

therefore1 that the shape or figure of  
the glasses  is not the cause why       
telescopes cannot be carried to a       
greater  perfection1 but arises wholly  
from the nature of light4    ,for this  
reason he invented a telescope1 which   
discovers objects by  reflection1 and   
not by refraction4  ,telescopes of this 
new kind are very  hard to make1 and    
their use is not easy2 but1 according to
 the ,english1 a  reflective telescope  
of but five feet has the same effect as 
another of a  hundred feet in length4   
,,letter ,,xvii4--,,on ,,infinites ,,in 
,,geometry1 ,,and ,,sir ,,isaac         
,,newton',s ,,chronology      ,the      
labyrinth and abyss of infinity is also 
a new course ,sir ,isaac ,newton  has   
gone through1 and we are obliged to him 
for the clue1 by whose  assistance we   
are enabled to trace its various        
windings4    ,descartes got the start of
 him also in this astonishing invention4
  ,he  advanced with mighty steps in his
 geometry1 and was arrived at the very  

borders of infinity1 but went no        
farther4  ,dr4 ,wallis1 about the middle
  of the last century1 was the first who
 reduced a fraction by a perpetual      
division to an infinite series4    ,the 
,lord ,brouncker employed this series to
 square the hyperbola4    ,mercator     
published a demonstration of this       
quadrature2 much about which  time ,sir 
,isaac ,newton1 being then twenty-three 
years of age1 had invented  a general   
method1 to perform on all geometrical   
curves what had just  before been tried 
on the hyperbola4    ,it is to this     
method of subjecting everywhere infinity
 to algebraical  calculations1 that the 
name is given of differential           
calculations or of  fluxions and        
integral calculation4  ,it is the art of
 numbering and  measuring exactly a     
thing whose existence cannot be         
conceived4    ,and1 indeed1 would you   
not imagine that a man laughed at you   
who should  declare that there are lines
 infinitely great which form an angle   

infinitely little8    ,that a right     
line1 which is a right line so long as  
it is finite1 by  changing infinitely   
little its direction1 becomes an        
infinite curve2 and  that a curve may   
become infinitely less than another     
curve8    ,that there are infinite      
squares1 infinite cubes1 and infinites  
of  infinites1 all greater than one     
another1 and the last but one of which  
is  nothing in comparison of the last8  
,all these things1 which at first appear
 to be the utmost excess of  frenzy1 are
 in reality an effort of the subtlety   
and extent of the human  mind1 and the  
art of finding truths which till then   
had been unknown4    ,this so bold      
edifice is even founded on simple ideas4
  ,the business is to  measure the      
diagonal of a square1 to give the area  
of a curve1 to find  the square root of 
a number1 which has none in common      
arithmetic4  ,after  all1 the           
imagination ought not to be startled any
 more at so many orders  of infinites   

than at the so well-known proposition1  
viz41 that curve  lines may always be   
made to pass between a circle and a     
tangent2 or at  that other1 namely1 that
 matter is divisible in infinitum4      
,these two  truths have been            
demonstrated many years1 and are no less
  incomprehensible than the things we   
have been speaking of4    ,for many     
years the invention of this famous      
calculation was denied to ,sir  ,isaac  
,newton4  ,in ,germany ,mr4 ,leibnitz   
was considered as the inventor of  the  
differences or moments1 called fluxions1
 and ,mr4 ,bernouilli claimed  the      
integral calculus4  ,however1 ,sir      
,isaac is now thought to have first     
made the discovery1 and the other two   
have the glory of having once made  the 
world doubt whether it was to be        
ascribed to him or them4  ,thus some    
contested with ,dr4 ,harvey the         
invention of the circulation of the     
blood1  as others disputed with ,mr4    
,perrault that of the circulation of the

 sap4    ,hartsocher and ,leuwenhoek    
disputed with each other the honour of  
having  first seen the vermiculi of     
which mankind are formed4  ,this        
,hartsocher  also contested with        
,huygens the invention of a new method  
of calculating  the distance of a fixed 
star4  ,it is not yet known to what     
philosopher we  owe the invention of the
 cycloid4    ,be this as it will1 it is 
by the help of this geometry of         
infinites that  ,sir ,isaac ,newton     
attained to the most sublime            
discoveries4  ,i am now to  speak of    
another work1 which1 though more adapted
 to the capacity of the  human mind1    
does nevertheless display some marks of 
that creative genius  with which ,sir   
,isaac ,newton was informed in all his  
researches4  ,the work  ,i mean is a    
chronology of a new kind1 for what      
province soever he  undertook he was    
sure to change the ideas and opinions   
received by the  rest of men4           
,accustomed to unravel and disentangle  

chaos1 he was resolved to convey at     
least some light into that of the fables
 of antiquity which are blended  and    
confounded with history1 and fix an     
uncertain chronology4  ,it is true  that
 there is no family1 city1 or nation1   
but endeavours to remove its  original  
as far backward as possible4  ,besides1 
the first historians were  the most     
negligent in setting down the eras3     
books were infinitely less  common than 
they are at this time1 and1             
consequently1 authors being not  so     
obnoxious to censure1 they therefore    
imposed upon the world with  greater    
impunity2 and1 as it is evident that    
these have related a great  number of   
fictitious particulars1 it is probable  
enough that they also  gave us several  
false eras4    ,it appeared in general  
to ,sir ,isaac that the world was five  
hundred years  younger than chronologers
 declare it to be4  ,he grounds his     
opinion on  the ordinary course of      
,nature1 and on the observations which  

astronomers  have made4    ,by the      
course of ,nature we here understand the
 time that every generation  of men     
lives upon the earth4  ,the ,egyptians  
first employed this vague and  uncertain
 method of calculating when they began  
to write the beginning of  their        
history4  ,these computed three hundred 
and forty-one generations  from ,menes  
to ,sethon2 and1 having no fixed era1   
they supposed three  generations to     
consist of a hundred years4  ,in this   
manner they computed  eleven thousand   
three hundred and forty years from      
,menes's reign to that  of ,sethon4     
,the ,greeks before they counted by     
,olympiads followed the method of the   
,egyptians1 and even gave a little more 
extent to generations1 making each  to  
consist of forty years4    ,now1 here1  
both the ,egyptians and the ,greeks made
 an erroneous  computation4  ,it is     
true1 indeed1 that1 according to the    
usual course of  ,nature1 three         
generations last about a hundred and    

twenty years2 but  three reigns are far 
from taking up so many4  ,it is very    
evident that  mankind in general live   
longer than kings are found to reign1 so
 that an  author who should write a     
history in which there were no dates    
fixed1 and  should know that nine kings 
had reigned over a nation2 such an      
historian  would commit a great error   
should he allow three hundred years to  
these  nine monarchs4  ,every generation
 takes about thirty-six years2 every    
reign is1 one with the other1 about     
twenty4  ,thirty kings of ,england have 
swayed the sceptre from ,william the    
,conqueror to ,george ,i41 the years of 
whose reigns added together amount to   
six hundred and forty-eight years2      
which1 being divided equally among the  
thirty kings1 give to every one a  reign
 of twenty-one years and a half very    
near4  ,sixty-three kings of  ,france   
have sat upon the throne2 these have1   
one with another1 reigned  about twenty 
years each4  ,this is the usual course  

of ,nature4  ,the  ancients1 therefore1 
were mistaken when they supposed the    
durations in  general of reigns to equal
 that of generations4  ,they1 therefore1
 allowed  too great a number of years1  
and consequently some years must be     
subtracted from their computation4      
,astronomical observations seem to have 
lent a still greater assistance to  our 
philosopher4  ,he appears to us stronger
 when he fights upon his own  ground4   
,you know that the earth1 besides its   
annual motion which carries it round    
the sun from west to east in the space  
of a year1 has also a singular          
revolution which was quite unknown till 
within these late years4  ,its  poles   
have a very slow retrograde motion from 
east to west1 whence it  happens that   
their position every day does not       
correspond exactly with  the same point 
of the heavens4  ,this difference1 which
 is so insensible  in a year1 becomes   
pretty considerable in time2 and in     
threescore and  twelve years the        

difference is found to be of one degree1
 that is to say1  the three hundred and 
sixtieth part of the circumference of   
the whole  heaven4  ,thus after         
seventy-two years the colure of the     
vernal equinox  which passed through a  
fixed star1 corresponds with another    
fixed star4  ,hence it is that the sun1 
instead of being in that part of the    
heavens in  which the ,ram was situated 
in the time of ,hipparchus1 is found to 
correspond with that part of the heavens
 in which the ,bull was situated2  and  
the ,twins are placed where the ,bull   
then stood4  ,all the signs have        
changed their situation1 and yet we     
still retain the same manner of         
speaking as the ancients did4  ,in this 
age we say that the sun is in the  ,ram 
in the spring1 from the same principle  
of condescension that we say  that the  
sun turns round4    ,hipparchus was the 
first among the ,greeks who observed    
some change in the  constellations with 
regard to the equinoxes1 or rather who  

learnt it from  the ,egyptians4         
,philosophers ascribed this motion to   
the stars2 for in  those ages people    
were far from imagining such a          
revolution in the earth1  which was     
supposed to be immovable in every       
respect4  ,they therefore  created a    
heaven in which they fixed the several  
stars1 and gave this  heaven a          
particular motion by which it was       
carried towards the east1  whilst that  
all the stars seemed to perform their   
diurnal revolution from  east to west4  
,to this error they added a second of   
much greater  consequence1 by imagining 
that the pretended heaven of the fixed  
stars  advanced one degree eastward     
every hundred years4  ,in this manner   
they  were no less mistaken in their    
astronomical calculation than in their  
system of natural philosophy4  ,as for  
instance1 an astronomer in that age     
would have said that the vernal equinox 
was in the time of such and such  an    
observation1 in such a sign1 and in such

 a star4  ,it has advanced two  degrees 
of each since the time that observation 
was made to the present4  ,now two      
degrees are equivalent to two hundred   
years2 consequently the  astronomer who 
made that observation lived just so many
 years before me4  ,it is certain that  
an astronomer who had argued in this    
manner would have  mistook just         
fifty-four years2 hence it is that the  
ancients1 who were  doubly deceived1    
made their great year of the world1 that
 is1 the  revolution of the whole       
heavens1 to consist of thirty-six       
thousand years4  ,but the moderns are   
sensible that this imaginary revolution 
of the heaven  of the stars is nothing  
else than the revolution of the poles of
 the  earth1 which is performed in      
twenty-five thousand nine hundred years4
  ,it  may be proper to observe         
transiently in this place1 that ,sir    
,isaac1 by  determining the figure of   
the earth1 has very happily explained   
the cause  of this revolution4    ,all  

this being laid down1 the only thing    
remaining to settle chronology  is to   
see through what star the colure of the 
equinoxes passes1 and where  it         
intersects at this time the ecliptic in 
the spring2 and to discover  whether    
some ancient writer does not tell us in 
what point the ecliptic  was intersected
 in his time1 by the same colure of the 
equinoxes4    ,clemens ,alexandrinus    
informs us1 that ,chiron1 who went with 
the  ,argonauts1 observed the           
constellations at the time of that      
famous  expedition1 and fixed the vernal
 equinox to the middle of the ,ram2 the 
autumnal equinox to the middle of       
,libra2 our summer solstice to the      
middle of ,cancer1 and our winter       
solstice to the middle of ,capricorn4   
,a long time after the expedition of the
 ,argonauts1 and a year before the      
,peloponnesian war1 ,methon observed    
that the point of the summer solstice   
passed through the eighth degree of     
,cancer4    ,now every sign of the      

zodiac contains thirty degrees4  ,in    
,chiron's time1  the solstice was       
arrived at the middle of the sign1 that 
is to say to the  fifteenth degree4  ,a 
year before the ,peloponnesian war it   
was at the  eighth1 and therefore it had
 retarded seven degrees4  ,a degree is  
equivalent to seventy-two years2        
consequently1 from the beginning of the 
,peloponnesian war to the expedition of 
the ,argonauts1 there is no more  than  
an interval of seven times seventy-two  
years1 which make five  hundred and four
 years1 and not seven hundred years as  
the ,greeks  computed4  ,thus in        
comparing the position of the heavens at
 this time  with their position in that 
age1 we find that the expedition of the 
,argonauts ought to be placed about nine
 hundred years before ,christ1 and  not 
about fourteen hundred2 and consequently
 that the world is not so old  by five  
hundred years as it was generally       
supposed to be4  ,by this  calculation  
all the eras are drawn nearer1 and the  

several events are  found to have       
happened later than is computed4  ,i do 
not know whether  this ingenious system 
will be favourably received2 and whether
 these  notions will prevail so far with
 the learned1 as to prompt them to      
reform  the chronology of the world4    
,perhaps these gentlemen would think it 
too  great a condescension to allow one 
and the same man the glory of having    
improved natural philosophy1 geometry1  
and history4  ,this would be a kind  of 
universal monarchy1 with which the      
principle of self-love that is in  man  
will scarce suffer him to indulge his   
fellow-creature2 and1 indeed1  at the   
same time that some very great          
philosophers attacked ,sir ,isaac       
,newton's attractive principle1 others  
fell upon his chronological system4     
,time that should discover to which of  
these the victory is due1 may  perhaps  
only leave the dispute still more       
undetermined4        ,,letter           
,,xviii4--,,on ,,tragedy      ,the      

,english as well as the ,spaniards were 
possessed of theatres at a time  when   
the ,french had no more than moving1    
itinerant stages4  ,shakspeare1  who was
 considered as the ,corneille of the    
first-mentioned nation1 was  pretty     
nearly contemporary with ,lopez de      
,vega1 and he created1 as it  were1 the 
,english theatre4  ,shakspeare boasted a
 strong fruitful genius4  ,he was       
natural and sublime1 but had not so much
 as a single spark of good  taste1 or   
knew one rule of the drama4  ,i will now
 hazard a random1 but1  at the same     
time1 true reflection1 which is1 that   
the great merit of this  dramatic poet  
has been the ruin of the ,english stage4
  ,there are such  beautiful1 such      
noble1 such dreadful scenes in this     
writer's monstrous  farces1 to which the
 name of tragedy is given1 that they    
have always been  exhibited with great  
success4  ,time1 which alone gives      
reputation to  writers1 at last makes   
their very faults venerable4  ,most of  

the  whimsical gigantic images of this  
poet1 have1 through length of time 7it  
being a hundred and fifty years since   
they were first drawn7 acquired a  right
 of passing for sublime4  ,most of the  
modern dramatic writers have  copied    
him2 but the touches and descriptions   
which are applauded in  ,shakspeare1 are
 hissed at in these writers2 and you    
will easily believe  that the veneration
 in which this author is held1 increases
 in proportion  to the contempt which is
 shown to the moderns4  ,dramatic       
writers don't  consider that they should
 not imitate him2 and the ill-success of
  ,shakspeare's imitators produces no   
other effect1 than to make him be       
considered as inimitable4  ,you remember
 that in the tragedy of ,othello1  ,moor
 of ,venice1 a most tender piece1 a man 
strangles his wife on the  stage1 and   
that the poor woman1 whilst she is      
strangling1 cries aloud  that she dies  
very unjustly4  ,you know that in       
,hamlet1 ,prince of  ,denmark1 two      

grave-diggers make a grave1 and are all 
the time drinking1  singing ballads1 and
 making humorous reflections 7natural   
indeed enough  to persons of their      
profession7 on the several skulls they  
throw up with  their spades2 but a      
circumstance which will surprise you is1
 that this  ridiculous incident has been
 imitated4  ,in the reign of ,king      
,charles ,,ii41  which was that of      
politeness1 and the ,golden ,age of the 
liberal arts2  ,otway1 in his ,venice   
,preserved1 introduces ,antonio the     
senator1 and  ,naki1 his courtesan1 in  
the midst of the horrors of the ,marquis
 of  ,bedemar's conspiracy4  ,antonio1  
the superannuated senator plays1 in his 
mistress's presence1 all the apish      
tricks of a lewd1 impotent debauchee1   
who is quite frantic and out of his     
senses4  ,he mimics a bull and a dog1   
and bites his mistress's legs1 who kicks
 and whips him4  ,however1 the  players 
have struck these buffooneries 7which   
indeed were calculated  merely for the  

dregs of the people7 out of ,otway's    
tragedy2 but they have  still left in   
,shakspeare's ,julius ,caesar the jokes 
of the ,roman  shoemakers and cobblers1 
who are introduced in the same scene    
with ,brutus  and ,cassius4  ,you will  
undoubtedly complain1 that those who    
have hitherto  discoursed with you on   
the ,english stage1 and especially on   
the  celebrated ,shakspeare1 have taken 
notice only of his errors2 and that no  
one has translated any of those strong1 
those forcible passages which  atone for
 all his faults4  ,but to this ,i will  
answer1 that nothing is  easier than to 
exhibit in prose all the silly          
impertinences which a poet  may have    
thrown out2 but that it is a very       
difficult task to translate  his fine   
verses4  ,all your junior academical    
sophs1 who set up for  censors of the   
eminent writers1 compile whole volumes2 
but methinks two  pages which display   
some of the beauties of great geniuses1 
are of  infinitely more value than all  

the idle rhapsodies of those            
commentators2  and ,i will join in      
opinion with all persons of good taste  
in declaring1  that greater advantage   
may be reaped from a dozen verses of    
,homer of  ,virgil1 than from all the   
critiques put together which have been  
made on  those two great poets4    ,i   
have ventured to translate some passages
 of the most celebrated ,english  poets1
 and shall now give you one from        
,shakspeare4  ,pardon the blemishes  of 
the translation for the sake of the     
original2 and remember always that  when
 you see a version1 you see merely a    
faint print of a beautiful  picture4  ,i
 have made choice of part of the        
celebrated soliloquy in  ,hamlet1 which 
you may remember is as follows3--       
,to be1 or not to be8 that is the       
question6     ,whether 't is nobler in  
the mind to suffer     ,the slings and  
arrows of outrageous fortune1     ,or to
 take arms against a sea of troubles1   
,and by opposing1 end them8  ,to die6 to

 sleep6     ,no more6 and by a sleep to 
say we end     ,the heart-ache1 and the 
thousand natural shocks     ,that flesh 
is heir to6  ',tis a consummation       
,devoutly to be wished4  ,to die6 to    
sleep6     ,to sleep2 perchance to      
dream6  ,o1 there's the rub2     ,for in
 that sleep of death1 what dreams may   
come     ,when we have shuffled off this
 mortal coil1     ,must give us pause4  
,there's the respect     ,that makes    
calamity of so long life3     ,for who  
would bear the whips and scorns of time1
     ,the oppressor's wrong1 the poor   
man's contumely1     ,the pangs of      
despised love1 the law's delay1     ,the
 insolence of office1 and the spurns    
,that patient merit of the unworthy     
takes1     ,when he himself might his   
quietus make     ,with a bare bodkin4   
,who would fardels bear     ,to groan   
and sweat under a weary life1     ,but  
that the dread of something after death1
     ,the undiscovered country1 from    
whose bourn     ,no traveller returns1  

puzzles the will1     ,and makes us     
rather bear those ills we have1         
,than fly to others that we know not of8
     ,thus conscience does make cowards 
of us all2     ,and thus the native hue 
of resolution     ,is sicklied o'er with
 the pale cast of thought3     ,and     
enterprises of great weight and moment  
,with this regard their currents turn   
awry1     ,and lose the name of action--
    ,my version of it runs thus3--      
,demeure1 il faut choisir et passer a   
l'instant     ,de la vie1 a la mort1 ou 
de l'etre au neant4     ,dieux cruels1  
s'il en est1 eclairez mon courage4      
,faut-il vieillir courbe sous la main   
qui m'outrage1     ,supporter1 ou finir 
mon malheur et mon sort8     ,qui suis  
je8  ,qui m'arrete6 et qu'est-ce que la 
mort8     ,c'est la fin de nos maux1    
c'est mon unique asile     ,apres de    
longs transports1 c'est un sommeil      
tranquile4     ,on s'endort1 et tout    
meurt1 mais un affreux reveil     ,doit 
succeder peut etre aux douceurs du      

sommeil6     ,on nous menace1 on dit que
 cette courte vie1     ,de tourmens     
eternels est aussi-tot suivie4     ,o   
mort6 moment fatal6 affreuse eternite6  
,tout coeur a ton seul nom se glace     
epouvante4     ,eh6 qui pourroit sans   
toi supporter cette vie1     ,de nos    
pretres menteurs benir l'hypocrisie3    
,d'une indigne maitresse encenser les   
erreurs1     ,ramper sous un ministre1  
adorer ses hauteurs2     ,et montrer les
 langueurs de son ame abattue1     ,a   
des amis ingrats qui detournent la vue8 
,la mort seroit trop douce en ces       
extremitez1     ,mais le scrupule parle1
 et nous crie1 arretez2     ,il defend a
 nos mains cet heureux homicide     ,et 
d'un heros guerrier1 fait un ,chretien  
timide1 c4    ,do not imagine that ,i   
have translated ,shakspeare in a servile
 manner4  ,woe  to the writer who gives 
a literal version2 who by rendering     
every word of  his original1 by that    
very means enervates the sense1 and     
extinguishes  all the fire of it4  ,it  

is on such an occasion one may justly   
affirm1  that the letter kills1 but the 
,spirit quickens4    ,here follows      
another passage copied from a celebrated
 tragic writer among  the ,english4  ,it
 is ,dryden1 a poet in the reign of     
,charles ,,ii4--a writer  whose genius  
was too exuberant1 and not accompanied  
with judgment enough4  ,had he written  
only a tenth part of the works he left  
behind him1 his  character would have   
been conspicuous in every part2 but his 
great fault  is his having endeavoured  
to be universal4    ,the passage in     
question is as follows3--       ,when ,i
 consider life1 't is all a cheat1      
,yet fooled by hope1 men favour the     
deceit2     ,trust on and think1        
to-morrow will repay2     ,to-morrow's  
falser than the former day2     ,lies   
more2 and whilst it says we shall be    
blest     ,with some new joy1 cuts off  
what we possessed2     ,strange         
cozenage6 none would live past years    
again1     ,yet all hope pleasure in    

what yet remain1     ,and from the dregs
 of life think to receive     ,what the 
first sprightly running could not give4 
,i'm tired with waiting for this chymic 
gold1     ,which fools us young1 and    
beggars us when old4    ,i shall now    
give you my translation3--       ,de    
desseins en regrets et d'erreurs en     
desirs     ,les mortals insenses        
promenent leur folie4     ,dans des     
malheurs presents1 dans l'espoir des    
plaisirs     ,nous ne vivons jamais1    
nous attendons la vie4     ,demain1     
demain1 dit-on1 va combler tous nos     
voeux4     ,demain vient1 et nous laisse
 encore plus malheureux4     ,quelle est
 l'erreur1 helas6 du soin qui nous      
devore1     ,nul de nous ne voudroit    
recommencer son cours4     ,de nos      
premiers momens nous maudissons         
l'aurore1     ,et de la nuit qui vient  
nous attendons encore1     ,ce qu'ont en
 vain promis les plus beaux de nos      
jours1 c4    ,it is in these detached   
passages that the ,english have hitherto

 excelled4  ,their dramatic pieces1 most
 of which are barbarous and without     
decorum1  order1 or verisimilitude1 dart
 such resplendent flashes through this  
gleam1 as amaze and astonish4  ,the     
style is too much inflated1 too         
unnatural1 too closely copied from the  
,hebrew writers1 who abound so much     
with the ,asiatic fustian4  ,but then it
 must be also confessed that the  stilts
 of the figurative style1 on which the  
,english tongue is lifted up1  raises   
the genius at the same time very far    
aloft1 though with an  irregular pace4  
,the first ,english writer who composed 
a regular tragedy1  and infused a spirit
 of elegance through every part of it1  
was the  illustrious ,mr4 ,addison4     
,his ,cato is a masterpiece1 both with  
regard  to the diction and to the beauty
 and harmony of the numbers4  ,the      
character of ,cato is1 in my opinion1   
vastly superior to that of ,cornelia  in
 the ,pompey of ,corneille1 for ,cato is
 great without anything like  fustian1  

and ,cornelia1 who besides is not a     
necessary character1 tends  sometimes to
 bombast4  ,mr4 ,addison's ,cato appears
 to me the greatest  character that was 
ever brought upon any stage1 but then   
the rest of them  do not correspond to  
the dignity of it1 and this dramatic    
piece1 so  excellently well writ1 is    
disfigured by a dull love plot1 which   
spreads a  certain languor over the     
whole1 that quite murders it4    ,the   
custom of introducing love at random and
 at any rate in the drama  passed from  
,paris to ,london about #affj1 with our 
ribbons and our  perruques4  ,the ladies
 who adorn the theatrical circle there1 
in like  manner as in this city1 will   
suffer love only to be the theme of     
every  conversation4  ,the judicious    
,mr4 ,addison had the effeminate        
complaisance  to soften the severity of 
his dramatic character1 so as to adapt  
it to  the manners of the age1 and1 from
 an endeavour to please1 quite ruined a 
masterpiece in its kind4  ,since his    

time the drama is become more  regular1 
the audience more difficult to be       
pleased1 and writers more  correct and  
less bold4  ,i have seen some new pieces
 that were written  with great          
regularity1 but which1 at the same time1
 were very flat and  insipid4  ,one     
would think that the ,english had been  
hitherto formed to  produce irregular   
beauties only4  ,the shining monsters of
 ,shakspeare give  infinite more delight
 than the judicious images of the       
moderns4  ,hitherto  the poetical genius
 of the ,english resembles a tufted tree
 planted by the  hand of ,nature1 that  
throws out a thousand branches at       
random1 and  spreads unequally1 but with
 great vigour4  ,it dies if you attempt 
to  force its nature1 and to lop and    
dress it in the same manner as the trees
  of the ,garden of ,marli4             
,,letter ,,xix4--,,on ,,comedy      ,i  
am surprised that the judicious and     
ingenious ,mr4 de ,muralt1 who has      
published some letters on the ,english  

and ,french nations1 should have        
confined himself2 in treating of comedy1
 merely to censure ,shadwell the  comic 
writer4  ,this author was had in pretty 
great contempt in ,mr4 de  ,muralt's    
time1 and was not the poet of the polite
 part of the nation4  ,his  dramatic    
pieces1 which pleased some time in      
acting1 were despised by all  persons of
 taste1 and might be compared to many   
plays which ,i have seen  in ,france1   
that drew crowds to the playhouse1 at   
the same time that they  were           
intolerable to read2 and of which it    
might be said1 that the whole  city of  
,paris exploded them1 and yet all       
flocked to see them represented  on the 
stage4  ,methinks ,mr4 de ,muralt should
 have mentioned an excellent  comic     
writer 7living when he was in ,england71
 ,i mean ,mr4 ,wycherley1 who  was a    
long time known publicly to be happy in 
the good graces of the most  celebrated 
mistress of ,king ,charles ,,ii4  ,this 
gentleman1 who passed his  life among   

persons of the highest distinction1 was 
perfectly well  acquainted with their   
lives and their follies1 and painted    
them with the  strongest pencil1 and in 
the truest colours4  ,he has drawn a    
misanthrope  or man-hater1 in imitation 
of that of ,moliere4  ,all ,wycherley's 
strokes  are stronger and bolder than   
those of our misanthrope1 but then they 
are  less delicate1 and the rules of    
decorum are not so well observed in this
  play4  ,the ,english writer has       
corrected the only defect that is in    
,moliere's comedy1 the thinness of the  
plot1 which also is so disposed  that   
the characters in it do not enough raise
 our concern4  ,the ,english  comedy    
affects us1 and the contrivance of the  
plot is very ingenious1 but  at the same
 time it is too bold for the ,french    
manners4  ,the fable is  this3--,a      
captain of a man-of-war1 who is very    
brave1 open-hearted1 and  inflamed with 
a spirit of contempt for all mankind1   
has a prudent1  sincere friend1 whom he 

yet is suspicious of2 and a mistress    
that loves  him with the utmost excess  
of passion4  ,the captain so far from   
returning  her love1 will not even      
condescend to look upon her1 but        
confides  entirely in a false friend1   
who is the most worthless wretch living4
  ,at  the same time he has given his   
heart to a creature1 who is the greatest
  coquette and the most perfidious of   
her sex1 and he is so credulous as to   
be confident she is a ,penelope1 and his
 false friend a ,cato4  ,he embarks  on 
board his ship in order to go and fight 
the ,dutch1 having left all his  money1 
his jewels1 and everything he had in the
 world to this virtuous  creature1 whom 
at the same time he recommends to the   
care of his supposed  faithful friend4  
,nevertheless the real man of honour1   
whom he suspects  so unaccountably1 goes
 on board the ship with him1 and the    
mistress1 on  whom he would not bestow  
so much as one glance1 disguises herself
 in the  habit of a page1 and is with   

him the whole voyage1 without his once  
knowing that she is of a sex different  
from that she attempts to pass  for1    
which1 by the way1 is not over natural4 
,the captain having blown up his own    
ship in an engagement1 returns to       
,england abandoned and undone1          
accompanied by his page and his friend1 
without knowing the friendship of the   
one or the tender passion of the  other4
  ,immediately he goes to the jewel     
among women1 who he expected had        
preserved her fidelity to him and the   
treasure he had left in her hands4  ,he 
meets with her indeed1 but married to   
the honest knave in whom he had  reposed
 so much confidence1 and finds she had  
acted as treacherously with  regard to  
the casket he had entrusted her with4   
,the captain can scarce  think it       
possible that a woman of virtue and     
honour can act so vile a  part2 but to  
convince him still more of the reality  
of it1 this very  worthy lady falls in  
love with the little page1 and will     

force him to her  embraces4  ,but as it 
is requisite justice should be done1 and
 that in a  dramatic piece virtue ought 
to be rewarded and vice punished1 it is 
at  last found that the captain takes   
his page's place1 and lies with his     
faithless mistress1 cuckolds his        
treacherous friend1 thrusts his sword   
through his body1 recovers his casket1  
and marries his page4  ,you will        
observe that this play is also larded   
with a petulant1 litigious old  woman 7a
 relation of the captain71 who is the   
most comical character that  was ever   
brought upon the stage4    ,wycherley   
has also copied from ,moliere another   
play1 of as singular and  bold a cast1  
which is a kind of ,ecole des ,femmes1  
or1 ,school for  ,married ,women4       
,the principal character in this comedy 
is one ,homer1 a sly fortune  hunter1   
and the terror of all the ,city         
husbands4  ,this fellow1 in order  to   
play a surer game1 causes a report to be
 spread1 that in his last  illness1 the 

surgeons had found it necessary to have 
him made a eunuch4  ,upon his appearing 
in this noble character1 all the        
husbands in town  flock to him with     
their wives1 and now poor ,homer is only
 puzzled about  his choice4  ,however1  
he gives the preference particularly to 
a little  female peasant1 a very        
harmless1 innocent creature1 who enjoys 
a fine  flush of health1 and cuckolds   
her husband with a simplicity that has  
infinitely more merit than the witty    
malice of the most experienced  ladies4 
,this play cannot indeed be called the  
school of good morals1 but  it is       
certainly the school of wit and true    
humour4    ,sir ,john ,vanbrugh has     
written several comedies1 which are more
 humorous  than those of ,mr4           
,wycherley1 but not so ingenious4  ,sir 
,john was a man of  pleasure1 and       
likewise a poet and an architect4  ,the 
general opinion is1  that he is as      
sprightly in his writings as he is heavy
 in his buildings4  ,it is he who raised

 the famous ,castle of ,blenheim1 a     
ponderous and  lasting monument of our  
unfortunate ,battle of ,hochstet4  ,were
 the  apartments but as spacious as the 
walls are thick1 this castle would be   
commodious enough4  ,some wag1 in an    
epitaph he made on ,sir ,john ,vanbrugh1
  has these lines3--       ,earth lie   
light on him1 for he     ,laid many a   
heavy load on thee4    ,sir ,john having
 taken a tour into ,france before the   
glorious war that  broke out in #agja1  
was thrown into the ,bastille1 and      
detained there for  some time1 without  
being ever able to discover the motive  
which had  prompted our ministry to     
indulge him with this mark of their     
distinction4  ,he wrote a comedy during 
his confinement2 and a circumstance     
which  appears to me very extraordinary 
is1 that we don't meet with so much as a
  single satirical stroke against the   
country in which he had been so         
injuriously treated4    ,the late ,mr4  
,congreve raised the glory of comedy to 

a greater height than  any ,english     
writer before or since his time4  ,he   
wrote only a few plays1  but they are   
all excellent in their kind4  ,the laws 
of the drama are  strictly observed in  
them2 they abound with characters all   
which are  shadowed with the utmost     
delicacy1 and we don't meet with so much
 as one  low or coarse jest4  ,the      
language is everywhere that of men of   
honour1  but their actions are those of 
knaves--a proof that he was perfectly   
well  acquainted with human nature1 and 
frequented what we call polite company4 
,he was infirm and come to the verge of 
life when ,i knew him4  ,mr4  ,congreve 
had one defect1 which was his           
entertaining too mean an idea of  his   
first profession 7that of a writer71    
though it was to this he owed  his fame 
and fortune4  ,he spoke of his works as 
of trifles that were  beneath him2 and  
hinted to me1 in our first conversation1
 that ,i should  visit him upon no other
 footing than that of a gentleman who   

led a life  of plainness and simplicity4
  ,i answered1 that had he been so      
unfortunate  as to be a mere gentleman1 
,i should never have come to see him2   
and ,i was  very much disgusted at so   
unseasonable a piece of vanity4    ,mr4 
,congreve's comedies are the most witty 
and regular1 those of ,sir ,john        
,vanbrugh most gay and humorous1 and    
those of ,mr4 ,wycherley have the       
greatest force and spirit4  ,it may be  
proper to observe that these fine       
geniuses never spoke disadvantageously  
of ,moliere2 and that none but the      
contemptible writers among the ,english 
have endeavoured to lessen the          
character of that great comic poet4     
,such ,italian musicians as despise     
,lully are themselves persons of no     
character or ability2 but a ,buononcini 
esteems that great artist1 and does     
justice to his merit4    ,the ,english  
have some other good comic writers      
living1 such as ,sir  ,richard ,steele  
and ,mr4 ,cibber1 who is an excellent   

player1 and also ,poet  ,laureate--a    
title which1 how ridiculous soever it   
may be thought1 is yet  worth a thousand
 crowns a year 7besides some            
considerable privileges7 to  the person 
who enjoys it4  ,our illustrious        
,corneille had not so much4    ,to      
conclude4  ,don't desire me to descend  
to particulars with regard to  these    
,english comedies1 which ,i am so fond  
of applauding2 nor to give you  a single
 smart saying or humorous stroke from   
,wycherley or ,congreve4  ,we  don't    
laugh in rending a translation4  ,if you
 have a mind to understand  the ,english
 comedy1 the only way to do this will be
 for you to go to  ,england1 to spend   
three years in ,london1 to make yourself
 master of the  ,english tongue1 and to 
frequent the playhouse every night4  ,i 
receive but  little pleasure from the   
perusal of ,aristophanes and ,plautus1  
and for  this reason1 because ,i am     
neither a ,greek nor a ,roman4  ,the    
delicacy of  the humour1 the allusion1  

the a propos--all these are lost to a   
foreigner4    ,but it is different with 
respect to tragedy1 this treating only  
of  exalted passions and heroical       
follies1 which the antiquated errors of 
fable or history have made sacred4      
,o,edipus1 ,electra1 and such-like      
characters1 may with as much propriety  
be treated of by the ,spaniards1  the   
,english1 or us1 as by the ,greeks4     
,but true comedy is the speaking        
picture of the follies and ridiculous   
foibles of a nation2 so that he  only is
 able to judge of the painting who is   
perfectly acquainted with  the people it
 represents4        ,,letter ,,xx4--,,on
 ,,such ,,of ,,the ,,nobility ,,as      
,,cultivate ,,the ,,belles ,,lettres    
,there once was a time in ,france when  
the polite arts were cultivated by      
persons of the highest rank in the      
state4  ,the courtiers particularly     
were conversant in them1 although       
indolence1 a taste for trifles1 and a   
passion for intrigue1 were the          

divinities of the country4  ,the ,court 
methinks at this time seems to have     
given into a taste quite opposite to    
that of polite literature1 but perhaps  
the mode of thinking may be  revived in 
a little time4  ,the ,french are of so  
flexible a disposition1  may be moulded 
into such a variety of shapes1 that the 
monarch needs but  command and he is    
immediately obeyed4  ,the ,english      
generally think1 and  learning is had in
 greater honour among them than in our  
country--an  advantage that results     
naturally from the form of their        
government4  ,there  are about eight    
hundred persons in ,england who have a  
right to speak in  public1 and to       
support the interest of the kingdom2 and
 near five or six  thousand may in their
 turns aspire to the same honour4  ,the 
whole nation  set themselves up as      
judges over these1 and every man has the
 liberty of  publishing his thoughts    
with regard to public affairs1 which    
shows that  all the people in general   

are indispensably obliged to cultivate  
their  understandings4  ,in ,england the
 governments of ,greece and ,rome are   
the  subject of every conversation1 so  
that every man is under a necessity of  
perusing such authors as treat of them1 
how disagreeable soever it may be  to   
him2 and this study leads naturally to  
that of polite literature4  ,mankind in 
general speak well in their respective  
professions4  ,what is  the reason why  
our magistrates1 our lawyers1 our       
physicians1 and a great  number of the  
clergy1 are abler scholars1 have a finer
 taste1 and more  wit1 than persons of  
all other professions8  ,the reason is1 
because their  condition of life        
requires a cultivated and enlightened   
mind1 in the same  manner as a merchant 
is obliged to be acquainted with his    
traffic4  ,not  long since an ,english  
nobleman1 who was very young1 came to   
see me at  ,paris on his return from    
,italy4  ,he had written a poetical     
description of  that country1 which1 for

 delicacy and politeness1 may vie with  
anything  we meet with in the ,earl of  
,rochester1 or in our ,chaulieu1 our    
,sarrasin1  or ,chapelle4  ,the         
translation ,i have given of it is so   
inexpressive of  the strength and       
delicate humour of the original1 that ,i
 am obliged  seriously to ask pardon of 
the author and of all who understand    
,english4  ,however1 as this is the only
 method ,i have to make his lordship's  
verses  known1 ,i shall here present you
 with them in our tongue3--       ,qu'ay
 je donc vu dans l',italie8             
,orgueil1 astuce1 et pauvrete1          
,grands complimens1 peu de bonte     ,et
 beaucoup de ceremonie4                 
,l'extravagante comedie     ,que souvent
 l',inquisition     ,vent qu'on nomme   
religion     ,mais qu'ici nous nommons  
folie4       ,la ,nature en vain        
bienfaisante     ,vent enricher ses     
lieux charmans1     ,des pretres la main
 desolante     ,etouffe ses plus beaux  
presens4       ,les monsignors1 soy     

disant ,grands1     ,seuls dans leurs   
palais magnifiques     ,y sont          
d'illustres faineants1     ,sans argent1
 et sans domestiques4       ,pour les   
petits1 sans liberte1     ,martyrs du   
joug qui les domine1     ,ils ont fait  
voeu de pauvrete1     ,priant ,dieu par 
oisivete     ,et toujours jeunant par   
famine4       ,ces beaux lieux du ,pape 
benis     ,semblent habitez par les     
diables2     ,et les habitans miserables
     ,sont damnes dans le ,paradis4     
,,letter ,,xxi4--,,on ,,the ,,earl ,,of 
,,rochester ,,and ,,mr4 ,,waller        
,the ,earl of ,rochester's name is      
universally known4  ,mr4 de ,st4        
,evremont  has made very frequent       
mention of him1 but then he has         
represented this  famous nobleman in no 
other light than as the man of pleasure1
 as one who  was the idol of the fair2  
but1 with regard to myself1 ,i would    
willingly  describe in him the man of   
genius1 the great poet4  ,among other   
pieces  which display the shining       

imagination1 his lordship only could    
boast he  wrote some satires on the same
 subjects as those our celebrated       
,boileau  made choice of4  ,i do not    
know any better method of improving the 
taste  than to compare the productions  
of such great geniuses as have exercised
  their talent on the same subject4     
,boileau declaims as follows against    
human reason in his ,satire on ,man3    
,cependant a le voir plein de vapeurs   
legeres1     ,soi-meme se bercer de ses 
propres chimeres1     ,lui seul de la   
nature est la baze et l'appui1     ,et  
le dixieme ciel ne tourne que pour lui4 
,de tous les animaux il est ici le      
maitre2     ,qui pourroit le nier1      
poursuis tu8  ,moi peut-etre4     ,ce   
maitre pretendu qui leur donne des loix1
     ,ce roi des animaux1 combien a-t'il
 de rois8       ,yet1 pleased with idle 
whimsies of his brain1     ,and puffed  
with pride1 this haughty thing would    
fain     ,be think himself the only stay
 and prop     ,that holds the mighty    

frame of ,nature up4     ,the skies and 
stars his properties must seem1     99  
99 99     ,of all the creatures he's the
 lord1 he cries4     99 99 99     ,and  
who is there1 say you1 that dares deny  
,so owned a truth8  ,that may be1 sir1  
do ,i4     99 99 99     ,this boasted   
monarch of the world who awes     ,the  
creatures here1 and with his nod gives  
laws     ,this self-named king1 who thus
 pretends to be     ,the lord of all1   
how many lords has he8       ,,oldham1 a
 little altered4    ,the ,lord          
,rochester expresses himself1 in his    
,satire against ,man1 in  pretty near   
the following manner4  ,but ,i must     
first desire you always to  remember    
that the versions ,i give you from the  
,english poets are written  with freedom
 and latitude1 and that the restraint of
 our versification1  and the delicacies 
of the ,french tongue1 will not allow a 
translator to  convey into it the       
licentious impetuosity and fire of the  
,english  numbers3--       ,cet esprit  

que je hais1 cet esprit plein d'erreur1 
,ce n'est pas ma raison1 c'est la       
tienne1 docteur4     ,c'est la raison   
frivole1 inquiete1 orgueilleuse     ,des
 sages animaux1 rivale dedaigneuse1     
,qui croit entr'eux et l',ange1 occuper 
le milieu1     ,et pense etre ici bas   
l'image de son ,dieu4     ,vil atome    
imparfait1 qui croit1 doute1 dispute    
,rampe1 s'eleve1 tombe1 et nie encore sa
 chute1     ,qui nous dit je suis libre1
 en nous montrant ses fers1     ,et dont
 l'oeil trouble et faux1 croit percer   
l'univers4     ,allez1 reverends fous1  
bienheureux fanatiques1     ,compilez   
bien l'amas de vos riens scholastiques1 
,peres de visions1 et d'enigmes sacres1 
,auteurs du labirinthe1 ou vous vous    
egarez4     ,allez obscurement eclaircir
 vos misteres1     ,et courez dans      
l'ecole adorer vos chimeres4     ,il est
 d'autres erreurs1 il est de ces devots 
,condamne par eux memes a l'ennui du    
repos4     ,ce mystique encloitre1 fier 
de son indolence     ,tranquille1 au    

sein de ,dieu4  ,que peut il faire8  ,il
 pense4     ,non1 tu ne penses point1   
miserable1 tu dors3     ,inutile a la   
terre1 et mis au rang des morts4        
,ton esprit enerve croupit dans la      
molesse4     ,reveille toi1 sois homme1 
et sors de ton ivresse4     ,l'homme est
 ne pour agir1 et tu pretens penser8  c4
    ,the original runs thus3--          
,hold mighty man1 ,i cry all this we    
know1     ,and 'tis this very reason ,i 
despise1     ,this supernatural gift    
that makes a mite     ,think he's the   
image of the ,infinite2     ,comparing  
his short life1 void of all rest1       
,to the eternal and the ever blest4     
,this busy1 puzzling stirrer up of      
doubt1     ,that frames deep mysteries1 
then finds them out1     ,filling1 with 
frantic crowds of thinking fools1       
,those reverend bedlams1 colleges1 and  
schools2     ,borne on whose wings each 
heavy sot can pierce     ,the limits of 
the boundless universe4     ,so charming
 ointments make an old witch fly1       

,and bear a crippled carcase through the
 sky4     ',tis this exalted power1     
whose business lies     ,in nonsense and
 impossibilities4     ,this made a      
whimsical philosopher     ,before the   
spacious world his tub prefer2     ,and 
we have modern cloistered coxcombs1 who 
,retire to think1 'cause they have      
naught to do4     ,but thoughts are     
given for action's government1          
,where action ceases1 thought's         
impertinent4    ,whether these ideas are
 true or false1 it is certain they are  
expressed  with an energy and fire which
 form the poet4  ,i shall be very far   
from  attempting to examine             
philosophically into these verses1 to   
lay down the  pencil1 and take up the   
rule and compass on this occasion2 my   
only design  in this letter being to    
display the genius of the ,english      
poets1 and  therefore ,i shall continue 
in the same view4    ,the celebrated    
,mr4 ,waller has been very much talked  
of in ,france1 and ,mr4  ,de la         

,fontaine1 ,st4 ,evremont1 and ,bayle   
have written his eulogium1 but  still   
his name only is known4  ,he had much   
the same reputation in ,london  as      
,voiture had in ,paris1 and in my       
opinion deserved it better4  ,voiture   
was born in an age that was just        
emerging from barbarity2 an age that was
  still rude and ignorant1 the people of
 which aimed at wit1 though they  had   
not the least pretensions to it1 and    
sought for points and conceits  instead 
of sentiments4  ,bristol stones are more
 easily found than  diamonds4  ,voiture1
 born with an easy and frivolous1       
genius1 was the  first who shone in this
 aurora of ,french literature4  ,had he 
come into  the world after those great  
geniuses who spread such a glory over   
the age  of ,louis ,,xiv41 he would     
either have been unknown1 would have    
been  despised1 or would have corrected 
his style4  ,boileau applauded him1 but 
it was in his first satires1 at a time  
when the taste of that great poet  was  

not yet formed4  ,he was young1 and in  
an age when persons form a  judgment of 
men from their reputation1 and not from 
their writings4  ,besides1 ,boileau was 
very partial both in his encomiums and  
his censures4  ,he applauded ,segrais1  
whose works nobody reads2 he abused     
,quinault1 whose  poetical pieces every 
one has got by heart2 and is wholly     
silent upon ,la  ,fontaine4  ,waller1   
though a better poet than ,voiture1 was 
not yet a  finished poet4  ,the graces  
breathe in such of ,waller's works as   
are writ  in a tender strain2 but then  
they are languid through negligence1 and
  often disfigured with false thoughts4 
,the ,english had not in his time       
attained the art of correct writing4    
,but his serious compositions  exhibit a
 strength and vigour which could not    
have been expected from the  softness   
and effeminacy of his other pieces4  ,he
 wrote an elegy on ,oliver  ,cromwell1  
which1 with all its faults1 is          
nevertheless looked upon as a           

masterpiece4  ,to understand this copy  
of verses you are to know that the  day 
,oliver died was remarkable for a great 
storm4  ,his poem begins in  this       
manner3--       ,il n'est plus1 s'en est
 fait1 soumettons nous au sort1     ,le 
ciel a signale ce jour par des tempetes1
     ,et la voix des tonnerres eclatant 
sur nos tetes     ,vient d'annoncer sa  
mort4       ,par ses derniers soupirs il
 ebranle cet ile2     ,cet ile que son  
bras fit trembler tant de fois1         
,quand dans le cours de ses exploits1   
,il brisoit la tete des ,rois1     ,et  
soumettoit un peuple a son joug seul    
docile4       ,mer tu t'en es trouble2  
,o mer tes flots emus     ,semblent dire
 en grondant aux plus lointains rivages 
,que l'effroi de la terre et ton maitre 
n'est plus4       ,tel au ciel autrefois
 s'envola ,romulus1     ,tel il quitta  
la ,terre1 au milieu des orages1        
,tel d'un peuple guerrier il recut les  
homages2     ,obei dans sa vie1 sa mort 
adore1     ,son palais fut un ,temple1  

c4    99 99 99 99 99       ,we must     
resign6 heaven his great soul does claim
     ,in storms as loud as his immortal 
fame2     ,his dying groans1 his last   
breath shakes our isle1     ,and trees  
uncut fall for his funeral pile3        
,about his palace their broad roots are 
tost     ,into the air2 so ,romulus was 
lost6     ,new ,rome in such a tempest  
missed her king1     ,and from obeying  
fell to worshipping4     ,on ,o,eta's   
top thus ,hercules lay dead1     ,with  
ruined oaks and pines about him spread4 
,nature herself took notice of his      
death1     ,and1 sighing1 swelled the   
sea with such a breath1     ,that to    
remotest shores the billows rolled1     
,th' approaching fate of his great ruler
 told4       ,,waller4    ,it was this  
elogium that gave occasion to the reply 
7taken notice of in  ,bayle's           
,dictionary71 which ,waller made to     
,king ,charles ,,ii4  ,this king1 to    
whom ,waller had a little before 7as is 
usual with bards and monarchs7          

presented a copy of verses embroidered  
with praises1 reproached the poet  for  
not writing with so much energy and fire
 as when he had applauded the  ,usurper 
7meaning ,oliver74  ,sir1 replied       
,waller to the king1 we poets  succeed  
better in fiction than in truth4  ,this 
answer was not so sincere  as that which
 a ,dutch ambassador made1 who1 when the
 same monarch  complained that his      
masters paid less regard to him than    
they had done to  ,cromwell4  ,ah1 sir6 
says the ,ambassador1 ,oliver was quite 
another  man--  ,it is not my intent to 
give a commentary on ,waller's          
character1  nor on that of any other    
person2 for ,i consider men after their 
death in  no other light than as they   
were writers1 and wholly disregard      
everything  else4  ,i shall only observe
 that ,waller1 though born in a court1  
and to  an estate of five or six        
thousand pounds sterling a year1 was    
never so  proud or so indolent as to lay
 aside the happy talent which ,nature   

had  indulged him4  ,the ,earls of      
,dorset and ,roscommon1 the two ,dukes  
of  ,buckingham1 the ,lord ,halifax1 and
 so many other noblemen1 did not think  
the reputation they obtained of very    
great poets and illustrious writers1    
any way derogatory to their quality4    
,they are more glorious for their  works
 than for their titles4  ,these         
cultivated the polite arts with as  much
 assiduity as though they had been their
 whole dependence4    ,they also have   
made learning appear venerable in the   
eyes of the vulgar1  who have need to be
 led in all things by the great2 and    
who1  nevertheless1 fashion their       
manners less after those of the nobility
 7in  ,england ,i mean7 than in any     
other country in the world4             
,,letter ,,xxii4--,,on ,,mr4 ,,pope     
,,and ,,some ,,other ,,famous ,,poets   
,i intended to treat of ,mr4 ,prior1 one
 of the most amiable ,english poets1    
whom you saw ,plenipotentiary and ,envoy
 ,extraordinary at ,paris in #agab4  ,i 

also designed to have given you some    
idea of the ,lord ,roscommon's and the  
,lord ,dorset's muse2 but ,i find that  
to do this ,i should be obliged to      
write a large volume1 and that1 after   
much pains and trouble1 you would  have 
but an imperfect idea of all those      
works4  ,poetry is a kind of music  in  
which a man should have some knowledge  
before he pretends to judge of  it4     
,when ,i give you a translation of some 
passages from those foreign  poets1 ,i  
only prick down1 and that imperfectly1  
their music2 but then ,i  cannot express
 the taste of their harmony4    ,there  
is one ,english poem especially which ,i
 should despair of ever  making you     
understand1 the title whereof is        
,hudibras4  ,the subject of  it is the  
,civil ,war in the time of the grand    
rebellion1 and the  principles and      
practice of the ,puritans are therein   
ridiculed4  ,it is ,don  ,quixote1 it is
 our ,satire ,menippee blended together4
  ,i never found so  much wit in one    

single book as in that1 which at the    
same time is the  most difficult to be  
translated4  ,who would believe that a  
work which  paints in such lively and   
natural colours the several foibles and 
follies  of mankind1 and where we meet  
with more sentiments than words1 should 
baffle the endeavours of the ablest     
translator8  ,but the reason of this    
is1 almost every part of it alludes to  
particular incidents4  ,the clergy  are 
there made the principal object of      
ridicule1 which is understood but  by   
few among the laity4  ,to explain this a
 commentary would be requisite1  and    
humour when explained is no longer      
humour4  ,whoever sets up for a         
commentator of smart sayings and        
repartees is himself a blockhead4  ,this
  is the reason why the works of the    
ingenious ,dean ,swift1 who has been    
called the ,english ,rabelais1 will     
never be well understood in ,france4    
,this gentleman has the honour 7in      
common with ,rabelais7 of being a       

priest1 and1 like him1 laughs at        
everything2 but1 in my humble opinion1  
the title of the ,english ,rabelais     
which is given the dean is highly       
derogatory to his genius4  ,the former  
has interspersed his unaccountably-     
fantastic and unintelligible book with  
the most gay strokes of humour2  but    
which1 at the same time1 has a greater  
proportion of impertinence4  ,he  has   
been vastly lavish of erudition1 of     
smut1 and insipid raillery4  ,an        
agreeable tale of two pages is purchased
 at the expense of whole volumes  of    
nonsense4  ,there are but few persons1  
and those of a grotesque taste1  who    
pretend to understand and to esteem this
 work2 for1 as to the rest of  the      
nation1 they laugh at the pleasant and  
diverting touches which are  found in   
,rabelais and despise his book4  ,he is 
looked upon as the prince  of buffoons4 
,the readers are vexed to think that a  
man who was master of  so much wit      
should have made so wretched a use of   

it2 he is an  intoxicated philosopher   
who never wrote but when he was in      
liquor4    ,dean ,swift is ,rabelais in 
his senses1 and frequenting the politest
  company4  ,the former1 indeed1 is not 
so gay as the latter1 but then he       
possesses all the delicacy1 the         
justness1 the choice1 the good taste1 in
  all which particulars our giggling    
rural ,vicar ,rabelais is wanting4  ,the
  poetical numbers of ,dean ,swift are  
of a singular and almost inimitable     
taste2 true humour1 whether in prose or 
verse1 seems to be his peculiar  talent2
 but whoever is desirous of             
understanding him perfectly must visit  
the island in which he was born4    ,it 
will be much easier for you to form an  
idea of ,mr4 ,pope's works4  ,he  is1 in
 my opinion1 the most elegant1 the most 
correct poet2 and1 at the  same time1   
the most harmonious 7a circumstance     
which redounds very much  to the honour 
of this muse7 that ,england ever gave   
birth to4  ,he has  mellowed the harsh  

sounds of the ,english trumpet to the   
soft accents of  the flute4  ,his       
compositions may be easily translated1  
because they are  vastly clear and      
perspicuous2 besides1 most of his       
subjects are general1  and relative to  
all nations4    ,his ,essay on          
,criticism will soon be known in ,france
 by the translation  which l',abbe de   
,resnel has made of it4    ,here is an  
extract from his poem entitled the ,rape
 of the ,lock1 which ,i  just now       
translated with the latitude ,i usually 
take on these occasions2  for1 once     
again1 nothing can be more ridiculous   
than to translate a poet  literally3--  
,umbriel1 a l'instant1 vieil gnome      
rechigne1     ,va d'une aile pesante et 
d'un air renfrogne     ,chercher en     
murmurant la caverne profonde1     ,ou  
loin des doux raions que repand l'oeil  
du monde     ,la ,deesse aux ,vapeurs a 
choisi son sejour1     ,les ,tristes    
,aquilons y sifflent a l'entour1     ,et
 le souffle mal sain de leur aride      

haleine     ,y porte aux environs la    
fievre et la migraine4     ,sur un riche
 sofa derriere un paravent     ,loin des
 flambeaux1 du bruit1 des parleurs et du
 vent1     ,la quinteuse deesse         
incessamment repose1     ,le coeur gros 
de chagrin1 sans en savoir la cause4    
,n'aiant pense jamais1 l'esprit toujours
 trouble1     ,l'oeil charge1 le teint  
pale1 et l'hypocondre enfle4     ,la    
medisante ,envie1 est assise aupres     
d'elle1     ,vieil spectre feminin1     
decrepite pucelle1     ,avec un air     
devot dechirant son prochain1     ,et   
chansonnant les ,gens l',evangile a la  
main4     ,sur un lit plein de fleurs   
negligemment panchee     ,une jeune     
beaute non loin d'elle est couchee1     
,c'est l',affectation qui grassaie en   
parlant1     ,ecoute sans entendre1 et  
lorgne en regardant4     ,qui rougit    
sans pudeur1 et rit de tout sans joie1  
,de cent maux differens pretend qu'elle 
est la proie2     ,et pleine de sante   
sous le rouge et le fard1     ,se plaint

 avec molesse1 et se pame avec art4     
,umbriel1 a dusky1 melancholy sprite    
,as ever sullied the fair face of light1
     ,down to the central earth1 his    
proper scene1     ,repairs to search the
 gloomy cave of ,spleen4     ,swift on  
his sooty pinions flits the gnome1      
,and in a vapour reached the dismal     
dome4     ,no cheerful breeze this      
sullen region knows1     ,the dreaded   
east is all the wind that blows4        
,here1 in a grotto1 sheltered close from
 air1     ,and screened in shades from  
day's detested glare1     ,she sighs for
 ever on her pensive bed1     ,pain at  
her side1 and ,megrim at her head1      
,two handmaids wait the throne4  ,alike 
in place1     ,but differing far in     
figure and in face1     ,here stood     
,ill-nature1 like an ancient maid1      
,her wrinkled form in black and white   
arrayed2     ,with store of prayers for 
mornings1 nights1 and noons1     ,her   
hand is filled2 her bosom with lampoons4
     ,there ,affectation1 with a sickly 

mien1     ,shows in her cheek the roses 
of eighteen1     ,practised to lisp1 and
 hang the head aside1     ,faints into  
airs1 and languishes with pride2     ,on
 the rich quilt sinks with becoming woe1
     ,wrapt in a gown1 for sickness and 
for show4    ,this extract1 in the      
original 7not in the faint translation  
,i have given  you of it71 may be       
compared to the description of la       
,molesse 7softness  or effeminacy71 in  
,boileau's ,lutrin4    ,methinks ,i now 
have given you specimens enough from the
 ,english poets4  ,i  have made some    
transient mention of their philosophers1
 but as for good  historians among them1
 ,i don't know of any2 and1 indeed1 a   
,frenchman was  forced to write their   
history4  ,possibly the ,english genius1
 which is  either languid or impetuous1 
has not yet acquired that unaffected    
eloquence1 that plain but majestic air  
which history requires4  ,possibly  too1
 the spirit of party which exhibits     
objects in a dim and confused  light may

 have sunk the credit of their          
historians4  ,one half of the  nation is
 always at variance with the other half4
  ,i have met with people  who assured  
me that the ,duke of ,marlborough was a 
coward1 and that ,mr4  ,pope was a fool2
 just as some ,jesuits in ,france       
declare ,pascal to have  been a man of  
little or no genius1 and some           
,jansenists affirm ,father  ,bourdaloue 
to have been a mere babbler4  ,the      
,jacobites consider ,mary  ,queen of    
,scots as a pious heroine1 but those of 
an opposite party look  upon her as a   
prostitute1 an adulteress1 a murderer4  
,thus the ,english  have memorials of   
the several reigns1 but no such thing as
 a history4  ,there is1 indeed1 now     
living1 one ,mr4 ,gordon 7the public are
 obliged to  him for a translation of   
,tacitus71 who is very capable of       
writing the  history of his own country1
 but ,rapin de ,thoyras got the start of
 him4  ,to  conclude1 in my opinion the 
,english have not such good historians  

as the  ,french have no such thing as a 
real tragedy1 have several delightful   
comedies1 some wonderful passages in    
certain of their poems1 and boast of    
philosophers that are worthy of         
instructing mankind4  ,the ,english have
  reaped very great benefit from the    
writers of our nation1 and therefore  we
 ought 7since they have not scrupled to 
be in our debt7 to borrow from  them4   
,both the ,english and we came after the
 ,italians1 who have been our           
instructors in all the arts1 and whom we
 have surpassed in some4  ,i  cannot    
determine which of the three nations    
ought to be honoured with the  palm2 but
 happy the writer who could display     
their various merits4        ,,letter   
,,xxiii4--,,on ,,the ,,regard ,,that    
,,ought ,,to ,,be ,,shown ,,to ,,men    
,,of ,,letters      ,neither the        
,english nor any other people have      
foundations established in  favour of   
the polite arts like those in ,france4  
,there are ,universities  in most       

countries1 but it is in ,france only    
that we meet with so  beneficial an     
encouragement for astronomy and all     
parts of the  mathematics1 for physic1  
for researches into antiquity1 for      
painting1  sculpture1 and architecture4 
,louis ,,xiv4 has immortalised his name 
by  these several foundations1 and this 
immortality did not cost him two        
hundred thousand livres a year4    ,i   
must confess that one of the things ,i  
very much wonder at is1 that as  the    
,parliament of ,great ,britain have     
promised a reward of #bj1jjj pounds     
sterling to any person who may discover 
the longitude1 they should never  have  
once thought to imitate ,louis ,,xiv4 in
 his munificence with regard to  the    
arts and sciences4    ,merit1 indeed1   
meets in ,england with rewards of       
another kind1 which  redound more to the
 honour of the nation4  ,the ,english   
have so great a  veneration for exalted 
talents1 that a man of merit in their   
country is  always sure of making his   

fortune4  ,mr4 ,addison in ,france would
 have been  elected a member of one of  
the academies1 and1 by the credit of    
some  women1 might have obtained a      
yearly pension of twelve hundred livres1
 or  else might have been imprisoned in 
the ,bastile1 upon pretence that        
certain strokes in his tragedy of ,cato 
had been discovered which  glanced at   
the porter of some man in power4  ,mr4  
,addison was raised to  the post of     
,secretary of ,state in ,england4  ,sir 
,isaac ,newton was made  ,master of the 
,royal ,mint4  ,mr4 ,congreve had a     
considerable employment4  ,mr4 ,prior   
was ,plenipotentiary4  ,dr4 ,swift is   
,dean of ,st4 ,patrick in  ,dublin1 and 
is more revered in ,ireland than the    
,primate himself4  ,the  religion which 
,mr4 ,pope professes excludes him1      
indeed1 from preferments  of every kind1
 but then it did not prevent his gaining
 two hundred  thousand livres by his    
excellent translation of ,homer4  ,i    
myself saw a  long time in ,france the  

author of ,rhadamistus ready to perish  
for  hunger4  ,and the son of one of the
 greatest men our country ever gave     
birth to1 and who was beginning to run  
the noble career which his father  had  
set him1 would have been reduced to the 
extremes of misery had he not  been     
patronised by ,monsieur ,fagon4    ,but 
the circumstance which mostly encourages
 the arts in ,england is the  great     
veneration which is paid them4  ,the    
picture of the ,prime ,minister  hangs  
over the chimney of his own closet1 but 
,i have seen that of ,mr4  ,pope in     
twenty noblemen's houses4  ,sir ,isaac  
,newton was revered in his  lifetime1   
and had a due respect paid to him after 
his death2 the greatest  men in the     
nation disputing who should have the    
honour of holding up his  pall4  ,go    
into ,westminster ,abbey1 and you will  
find that what raises the  admiration of
 the spectator is not the mausoleums of 
the ,english kings1  but the monuments  
which the gratitude of the nation has   

erected to  perpetuate the memory of    
those illustrious men who contributed to
 its  glory4  ,we view their statues in 
that abbey in the same manner as those  
of ,sophocles1 ,plato1 and other        
immortal personages were viewed in      
,athens2  and ,i am persuaded that the  
bare sight of those glorious monuments  
has  fired more than one breast1 and    
been the occasion of their becoming     
great  men4    ,the ,english have even  
been reproached with paying too         
extravagant honours  to mere merit1 and 
censured for interring the celebrated   
actress ,mrs4  ,oldfield in ,westminster
 ,abbey1 with almost the same pomp as   
,sir ,isaac  ,newton4  ,some pretend    
that the ,english had paid her these    
great funeral  honours1 purposely to    
make us more strongly sensible of the   
barbarity and  injustice which they     
object to us1 for having buried         
,mademoiselle ,le  ,couvreur            
ignominiously in the fields4    ,but be 
assured from me1 that the ,english were 

prompted by no other  principle in      
burying ,mrs4 ,oldfield in ,westminster 
,abbey than their good  sense4  ,they   
are far from being so ridiculous as to  
brand with infamy an  art which has     
immortalised a ,euripides and a         
,sophocles2 or to exclude  from the body
 of their citizens a set of people whose
 business is to set  off with the utmost
 grace of speech and action those pieces
 which the  nation is proud of4         
,under the reign of ,charles ,i4 and in 
the beginning of the civil wars  raised 
by a number of rigid fanatics1 who at   
last were the victims to it2  a great   
many pieces were published against      
theatrical and other shows1  which were 
attacked with the greater virulence     
because that monarch and  his queen1    
daughter to ,henry ,i4 of ,france1 were 
passionately fond of  them4    ,one ,mr4
 ,prynne1 a man of most furiously       
scrupulous principles1 who would  have  
thought himself damned had he worn a    
cassock instead of a short  cloak1 and  

have been glad to see one-half of       
mankind cut the other to  pieces for the
 glory of ,god1 and the ,propaganda     
,fide2 took it into his  head to write a
 most wretched satire against some      
pretty good comedies1  which were       
exhibited very innocently every night   
before their majesties4  ,he quoted the 
authority of the ,rabbis1 and some      
passages from ,st4  ,bonaventure1 to    
prove that the ,o,edipus of ,sophocles  
was the work of the  evil spirit2 that  
,terence was excommunicated ipso facto2 
and added1  that doubtless ,brutus1 who 
was a very severe ,jansenist1           
assassinated  ,julius ,caesar for no    
other reason but because he1 who was    
,pontifex  ,maximus1 presumed to write a
 tragedy the subject of which was       
,o,edipus4  ,lastly1 he declared that   
all who frequented the theatre were     
excommunicated1 as they thereby         
renounced their baptism4  ,this was     
casting the highest insult on the king  
and all the royal family2 and as  the   

,english loved their prince at that     
time1 they could not bear to hear  a    
writer talk of excommunicating him1     
though they themselves afterwards  cut  
his head off4  ,prynne was summoned to  
appear before the ,star ,chamber2  his  
wonderful book1 from which ,father ,le  
,brun stole his1 was sentenced to  be   
burnt by the common hangman1 and himself
 to lose his ears4  ,his trial  is now  
extant4    ,the ,italians are far from  
attempting to cast a blemish on the     
opera1 or  to excommunicate ,signor     
,senesino or ,signora ,cuzzoni4  ,with  
regard to  myself1 ,i could presume to  
wish that the magistrates would suppress
 ,i  know not what contemptible pieces  
written against the stage4  ,for when   
the ,english and ,italians hear that we 
brand with the greatest mark of  infamy 
an art in which we excel2 that we       
excommunicate persons who  receive      
salaries from the king2 that we condemn 
as impious a spectacle  exhibited in    
convents and monasteries2 that we       

dishonour sports in which  ,louis ,,xiv4
 and ,louis ,,xv41 performed as actors2 
that we give the title of  the devil's  
works to pieces which are received by   
magistrates of the most  severe         
character1 and represented before a     
virtuous queen2 when1 ,i say1           
foreigners are told of this insolent    
conduct1 this contempt for the royal    
authority1 and this ,gothic rusticity   
which some presume to call ,christian   
severity1 what an idea must they        
entertain of our nation8  ,and how will 
it be possible for them to conceive1    
either that our laws give a sanction  to
 an art which is declared infamous1 or  
that some persons dare to stamp  with   
infamy an art which receives a sanction 
from the laws1 is rewarded  by kings1   
cultivated and encouraged by the        
greatest men1 and admired by  whole     
nations8  ,and that ,father ,le ,brun's 
impertinent libel against the  stage is 
seen in a bookseller's shop1 standing   
the very next to the  immortal labours  

of ,racine1 of ,corneille1 of ,moliere1 
c4        ,,letter ,,xxiv4--,,on ,,the  
,,royal ,,society ,,and ,,other         
,,academies      ,the ,english had an   
,academy of ,sciences many years before 
us1 but then it  is not under such      
prudent regulations as ours1 the only   
reason of which  very possibly is1      
because it was founded before the       
,academy of ,paris2 for  had it been    
founded after1 it would very probably   
have adopted some of  the sage laws of  
the former and improved upon others4    
,two things1 and those the most         
essential to man1 are wanting in the    
,royal  ,society of ,london1 ,i mean    
rewards and laws4  ,a seat in the       
,academy at  ,paris is a small but      
secure fortune to a geometrician or a   
chemist2 but  this is so far from being 
the case at ,london1 that the several   
members of  the ,royal ,society are at a
 continual1 though indeed small expense4
  ,any  man in ,england who declares    
himself a lover of the mathematics and  

natural philosophy1 and expresses an    
inclination to be a member of the       
,royal ,society1 is immediately elected 
into it4  ,but in ,france it is not     
enough that a man who aspires to the    
honour of being a member of the         
,academy1 and of receiving the royal    
stipend1 has a love for the sciences2   
he must at the same time be deeply      
skilled in them2 and is obliged to      
dispute the seat with competitors who   
are so much the more formidable as  they
 are fired by a principle of glory1 by  
interest1 by the difficulty  itself2 and
 by that inflexibility of mind which is 
generally found in  those who devote    
themselves to that pertinacious study1  
the mathematics4    ,the ,academy of    
,sciences is prudently confined to the  
study of ,nature1  and1 indeed1 this is 
a field spacious enough for fifty or    
threescore  persons to range in4  ,that 
of ,london mixes indiscriminately       
literature  with physics2 but methinks  
the founding an academy merely for the  

polite  arts is more judicious1 as it   
prevents confusion1 and the joining1 in 
some measure1 of heterogeneals1 such as 
a dissertation on the  head-dresses of  
the ,roman ladies with a hundred or more
 new curves4    ,as there is very little
 order and regularity in the ,royal     
,society1 and  not the least            
encouragement2 and that the ,academy of 
,paris is on a quite  different foot1 it
 is no wonder that our transactions are 
drawn up in a  more just and beautiful  
manner than those of the ,english4      
,soldiers who  are under a regular      
discipline1 and besides well paid1 must 
necessarily  at last perform more       
glorious achievements than others who   
are mere  volunteers4  ,it must indeed  
be confessed that the ,royal ,society   
boast  their ,newton1 but then he did   
not owe his knowledge and discoveries to
  that body2 so far from it1 that the   
latter were intelligible to very few  of
 his fellow members4  ,a genius like    
that of ,sir ,isaac belonged to all  the

 academies in the world1 because all had
 a thousand things to learn of  him4    
,the celebrated ,dean ,swift formed a   
design1 in the latter end of the late   
,queen's reign1 to found an academy for 
the ,english tongue upon the model  of  
that of the ,french4  ,this project was 
promoted by the late ,earl of  ,oxford1 
,lord ,high ,treasurer1 and much more by
 the ,lord ,bolingbroke1  ,secretary of 
,state1 who had the happy talent of     
speaking without  premeditation in the  
,parliament ,house with as much purity  
as ,dean ,swift  wrote in his closet1   
and who would have been the ornament and
 protector  of that academy4  ,those    
only would have been chosen members of  
it whose  works will last as long as the
 ,english tongue1 such as ,dean ,swift1 
,mr4  ,prior1 whom we saw here invested 
with a public character1 and whose fame 
in ,england is equal to that of ,la     
,fontaine in ,france2 ,mr4 ,pope1 the   
,english ,boileau1 ,mr4 ,congreve1 who  
may be called their ,moliere1 and       

several other eminent persons whose     
names ,i have forgot2 all these would   
have raised the glory of that body to a 
great height even in its infancy4  ,but 
,queen ,anne being snatched suddenly    
from the world1 the ,whigs were         
resolved to ruin the protectors of the  
intended academy1 a circumstance  that  
was of the most fatal consequence to    
polite literature4  ,the members  of    
this academy would have had a very great
 advantage over those who  first formed 
that of the ,french1 for ,swift1 ,prior1
 ,congreve1 ,dryden1  ,pope1 ,addison1  
c4 had fixed the ,english tongue by     
their writings2  whereas ,chapelain1    
,colletet1 ,cassaigne1 ,faret1 ,perrin1 
,cotin1 our first  academicians1 were a 
disgrace to their country2 and so much  
ridicule is  now attached to their very 
names1 that if an author of some genius 
in  this age had the misfortune to be   
called ,chapelain or ,cotin1 he would be
  under a necessity of changing his     
name4    ,one circumstance1 to which the

 ,english ,academy should especially    
have  attended1 is to have prescribed to
 themselves occupations of a quite      
different kind from those with which our
 academicians amuse themselves4  ,a  wit
 of this country asked me for the       
memoirs of the ,french ,academy4  ,i    
answered1 they have no memoirs1 but have
 printed threescore or fourscore        
volumes in quarto of compliments4  ,the 
gentleman perused one or two of  them1  
but without being able to understand the
 style in which they were  written1     
though he understood all our good       
authors perfectly4  ,all1  says he1 ,i  
see in these elegant discourses is1 that
 the member elect  having assured the   
audience that his predecessor was a     
great man1 that  ,cardinal ,richelieu   
was a very great man1 that the          
,chancellor ,seguier was  a pretty great
 man1 that ,louis ,,xiv4 was a more than
 great man1 the  director answers in the
 very same strain1 and adds1 that the   
member elect  may also be a sort of     

great man1 and that himself1 in quality 
of  director1 must also have some share 
in this greatness4    ,the cause why all
 these academical discourses have       
unhappily done so  little honour to this
 body is evident enough4  ,vitium est   
temporis  potius quam hominis 7the fault
 is owing to the age rather than to     
particular persons74  ,it grew up       
insensibly into a custom for every      
academician to repeat these elogiums at 
his reception2 it was laid down  as a   
kind of law that the public should be   
indulged from time to time the  sullen  
satisfaction of yawning over these      
productions4  ,if the reason  should    
afterwards be sought1 why the greatest  
geniuses who have been  incorporated    
into that body have sometimes made the  
worst speeches1 ,i  answer1 that it is  
wholly owing to a strong propension1 the
 gentlemen in  question had to shine1   
and to display a thread-bare1 worn-out  
subject in  a new and uncommon light4   
,the necessity of saying something1 the 

perplexity of having nothing to say1 and
 a desire of being witty1 are  three    
circumstances which alone are capable of
 making even the greatest  writer       
ridiculous4  ,these gentlemen1 not being
 able to strike out any new  thoughts1  
hunted after a new play of words1 and   
delivered themselves  without thinking  
at all3 in like manner as people who    
should seem to chew  with great         
eagerness1 and make as though they were 
eating1 at the same  time that they were
 just starved4    ,it is a law in the   
,french ,academy1 to publish all those  
discourses by  which only they are      
known1 but they should rather make a law
 never to  print any of them4    ,but   
the ,academy of the ,belles ,lettres    
have a more prudent and more  useful    
object1 which is1 to present the public 
with a collection of  transactions that 
abound with curious researches and      
critiques4  ,these  transactions are    
already esteemed by foreigners2 and it  
were only to be  wished that some       

subjects in them had been more          
thoroughly examined1 and  that others   
had not been treated at all4  ,as1 for  
instance1 we should  have been very well
 satisfied1 had they omitted ,i know not
 what  dissertation on the prerogative  
of the right hand over the left2 and    
some  others1 which1 though not         
published under so ridiculous a title1  
are yet  written on subjects that are   
almost as frivolous and silly4    ,the  
,academy of ,sciences1 in such of their 
researches as are of a more  difficult  
kind and a more sensible use1 embrace   
the knowledge of nature  and the        
improvements of the arts4  ,we may      
presume that such profound1  such       
uninterrupted pursuits as these1 such   
exact calculations1 such  refined       
discoveries1 such extensive and exalted 
views1 will1 at last1  produce something
 that may prove of advantage to the     
universe4  ,hitherto1  as we have       
observed together1 the most useful      
discoveries have been made  in the most 

barbarous times4  ,one would conclude   
that the business of the  most          
enlightened ages and the most learned   
bodies1 is1 to argue and  debate on     
things which were invented by ignorant  
people4  ,we know exactly  the angle    
which the sail of a ship is to make with
 the keel in order to  its sailing      
better2 and yet ,columbus discovered    
,america without having  the least idea 
of the property of this angle3 however1 
,i am far from  inferring from hence    
that we are to confine ourselves merely 
to a blind  practice1 but happy it were1
 would naturalists and geometricians    
unite1  as much as possible1 the        
practice with the theory4    ,strange1  
but so it is1 that those things which   
reflect the greatest  honour on the     
human mind are frequently of the least  
benefit to it6  ,a  man who understands 
the four fundamental rules of           
arithmetic1 aided by a  little good     
sense1 shall amass prodigious wealth in 
trade1 shall become a  ,sir ,peter      

,delme1 a ,sir ,richard ,hopkins1 a ,sir
 ,gilbert ,heathcote1 whilst a  poor    
algebraist spends his whole life in     
searching for astonishing  properties   
and relations in numbers1 which at the  
same time are of no  manner of use1 and 
will not acquaint him with the nature of
 exchanges4  ,this is very nearly the   
case with most of the arts3 there is a  
certain  point beyond which all         
researches serve to no other purpose    
than merely  to delight an inquisitive  
mind4  ,those ingenious and useless     
truths may  be compared to stars which1 
by being placed at too great a distance1
  cannot afford us the least light4     
,with regard to the ,french ,academy1   
how great a service would they do to    
literature1 to the language1 and the    
nation1 if1 instead of publishing a  set
 of compliments annually1 they would    
give us new editions of the  valuable   
works written in the age of ,louis      
,,xiv41 purged from the several  errors 
of diction which are crept into them4   

,there are many of these  errors in     
,corneille and ,moliere1 but those in   
,la ,fontaine are very  numerous4  ,such
 as could not be corrected might at     
least be pointed out4  ,by this means1  
as all the ,europeans read those works1 
they would teach  them our language in  
its utmost purity--which1 by that means1
 would be  fixed to a lasting standard2 
and valuable ,french books being then   
printed  at the ,king's expense1 would  
prove one of the most glorious monuments
 the  nation could boast4  ,i have been 
told that ,boileau formerly made this   
proposal1 and that it has since been    
revived by a gentleman eminent for  his 
genius1 his fine sense1 and just taste  
for criticism2 but this  thought has met
 with the fate of many other useful     
projects1 of being  applauded and       
neglected4