A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 10

A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 10

"Between two servants of Humanity, who appeared eighteen hundred years apart, there is a mysterious relation. * * * * Let us say it with a sentiment of profound respect: JESUS WEPT: VOLTAIRE SMILED. Of that divine tear and of that human smile is composed the sweetness of the present civilization." It is very strange that since the French people became literary they have had no book written in a good style, until the year 1654, when the "Provincial Letters" appeared; and why had no one written history in a suitable tone, previous to that of the "Conspiracy of Venice" of the Abb St. Ral? How is it that Pellisson was the first who adopted the true Ciceronian style, in his memoir for the superintendent Fouquet? The style of the letters of Balzac would not be amiss for funeral orations; and we have some physical treatises in the style of the epic poem or the ode. It is proper that all things occupy their own places. Affect not strange terms of expression, or new words, in a treatise on religion, like the Abb Houteville; neither declaim in a physical treatise. Avoid pleasantry in the mathematics, and flourish and extravagant figures in a pleading. If a poor intoxicated woman dies of an apoplexy, you say that she is in the regions of death; they bury her, and you exclaim that her mortal remains are confided to the earth. If the bell tolls at her burial, it is her funeral knell ascending to the skies. In all this you think you imitate Cicero, and you only copy Master Littlejohn.... ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 35630
Author: Voltaire, 1694-1778
Release Date: Mar 29, 2011
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Translator: Fleming, William F.