fore as foon as poffible quit this island, before this Sampfon of a minifter în blindness, and mere brutal strength, pulls down the pillars of the conftitution, and buries himself and his fellow-fubjects beneath its ruins. omo la 130S WHEN this calamity has happen'd, will there then remain the founds of dulcet har P I mony, to foothe their distress; the charms of painting and fculpture to fafcinate the mind, and withhold it from reflecting on its loft iors lis AQUA condition, as in the city where I drew my lo as W firft breath? ว THE poor, and and rich if any remain, will they then have that enthufiafm which warms the heart of penury in acts of devotion, that fpreads itself tho' all Italy, will their distress awake their vows to heaven, and their fufferings recall the banish'd comfort of religion? I FEAR, alas! it will not be prudent to remain here; let me retire like the ftork, to other realms, before the everlasting winter of this land arrives. Expect me in Italy, and receive, me as Manit teds in only punis Your most devated and bumble ferpant® LET LETTER XLVII. To the Reverend Father DOMINICO MANZONI, at Rome. Co Dear Sir, 4: I MAKE no doubt of your having read the fiécle de Lovis quatorze, written by Monfr. de Voltaire, and being pleased with his manner of recounting all that is neceffary in a reign to be known by men of true understanding, and just taste. AMONGST other things, I could not avoid obferving two which relate to England; one of which does this nation much honor, and the other. is by no means true. 1. THE firft is, what he fays relating to Henrietta, fifter of Charles the fecond; whom, after having given her the defcription and praise fhe merited, he affigns as the perfon who introduced tåfte and politeness amongst the women of Paris; beings who at that time, according to the picture which he has given of them, at the coming of the -TII Į queen queen of Sweden to that city, were very different from what they are at this hour. • THIS acknowledgment in favour of English ladies, is without doubt, an honor to the fex in England; and if the fame care had been continued in their education, and manner of living together, the British dames would to this hour have furpaffed the French, as much as they did in that time; they want nothing but that culture, and their manners. 304 al suolad THE other remark is certainly not true, where he says, that science and literature paft from Italy thro' France into England; if it began firft in Florence, it certainly leaped from mo #1 em Wi thence into this kingdom; the very best English writers have lived before the revival of letters in France, SIR Thomas More, Shakespeare, Ben Johnfon, Beaumont and Fletcher, these four in the] dramatic way, are yet much esteemed; the firft of them the greatest genius which any nation has produced, and the prefent fupport of the theatre. SPENCER Send to SPENCER in another kind of poetry, excellent and immortal; Lord Bacon, Sir Walter Raleigh, and many others, who are, to this day the honor and efteem of England, and Englishmend bald swɔ sum qil it bas & Lang t von Hall To 1. T 6 to'rario nedi mi b. 13 WHAT truth then can there be in what Monfeur Voltaire fays, in refpect of the English having derived science from the reign of Lewis the fourteenth, when these writers were dead Lord bas before he was born, and the perfection it is at present ? English stage at the modo a RT Jac Las sj god dod ግን 26 THIS then, muft have rifen from defign or Cads vielu malice, neither of which can have any effect on mokini thofe who read him, and know the hiftory of this kingdom; he muft certainly be better acLevil ovd.cr quainted with what relates to literature in Eng. land, than he appears to be in this account. 13 I modx12 137 Las Mom.D. METHINKS it is impoffible in thinking of of this map, to avoid reflecting how intimately the greatest meannefs may be allied, in the hug man compofition, with the moft exalted talents, OTO and and a bad heart deftroy the powers of an able understanding. THIS very man is a moft convincing infrance of this truth; with powers of intellect which might gain an afcendant over all under ftandings; with an aptitude and facility of ex preffing his fentiments, not to be found but in few; concife and clear without defcending into frivolous littleneffes in remarks; precife in his obfervations, leaving enough to chance and the courfe of things, and yet, affigning fufficiently to the intervention and defign of man, for the honor of human nature. A WHAT a mortifying thing it is to fay, after all this, that a littlenefs of foul, mixt with this understanding, has debafed this man to the com miffion of the meaneft actions; His bafe jealoufy of Maupertuis, has loft him his reputation, and his trifling with the king of Pruffa, the Friendship of that monarch; fallen from a fituation to be envied by every man, who would chufe to pafs his life in that delicious manner, which can only be enjoyed |