no part in the corruption of his age, and that he is one of the few men of that time, who could pourtray vice and dissipation, without fear that the painter should be recognised in the portrait he drew.

After Lesage, we come to another celebrated name, to that of a man, who, gigantic as was the fame he obtained, had talents which fully bore out his reputation; but for the welfare of whose time, for that of his country, and, perhaps, of posterity, it had been better if he had never lived, or if Providence, while bestowing on him such vast talents, had added to them a small share of that prudence, wisdom, and virtue. without which talent, in the civilized mau, like a sword in the hands of the unskilful sa. vage, which becomes dangerous in proportion to the keenness of its blade; after this, it is unnecessary to add the name of Voltaire, of whom the French are proud, as well they may be, with regard to the extent of his literary abilities, but who has, perhaps, done them more, harm than any other writer, and who, with his boasted philosophy, and professed love of truth, has contributed more than any other writer, to keep them from the paths leading to useful knowledge and to happiness, while his wit and fertile imagination enticed them to a fancied and

deceptive goal; like those delusive fires which lead astray the trusting villager, who, when he thinks he has reached his home, and listens for the voice of welcome, deserted by the deceitful meteor, finds himself alone, amid darkness, disappointment and misery. That Voltaire possessed talents more varied than any writer that ever lived in any country, no man will ever attempt to deny, but while allowing this, every one who has at heart the dignity as well as the happiness of human nature, must feel the utmost contempt for that spirit of vanity, which induced him to seek the praise of his contemporaries, at the expence of his fair fame and dignity, and the greatest indignation at the fiendish spirit of sensuality and blasphemy, by evincing which he abused the power granted him; and of that prostitution of intellect, by which he corrupted the people that admired, and insultedthe God that created him. *

*The following remarks, from a distinguished living writer, are here given, not only on account of their excellence, but in support of the above observations ;

"Plus Voltaire avançait dans la carrière, plus il s'y voyait entouré de renommée et d'hommages. Bientôt les souverains devinrent ses amis, et presque ses flatteurs. La haine et l'envic, en se révoltant contre ses triomphes, excitèrent en lui des sentimens de colère. Cette opposition continuelle donna plus.

Next to Voltaire, appears among the writers of this period, the name of one perhaps as celebrated, and by many as much admired and blamed, the fickle, the elegant Rousseau. While acknowledging with regret the evil tendency of some, and indeed most of the writings of Rousseau, it would perhaps be unjust to attach to him the same degree of reproach and guilt as to Voltaire, and for this simple reason that Rousseau seems to have been honest, which appears not to have been the case with Voltaire. Both indeed were blind, but one was wilfully so. Vol

de vivacité encore à son caractère, et lui fit perdre souvent la modératiou, la pudeur et le goût. Telle fut sa vie, telle fut la marche qui le conduisit à cette longue viellesse qu'il aurait pu rendre si honorable; lorsqu'entouré d'une gloire immense, il régnait despotiquement sur les lettres, qui elles-mêmes avaient pris le premier rang entre tous les objets où se portent la curiosité et l'attention des hommes. Il est triste que Voltaire n'ait pas senti combien il pouvait ennoblir et illustrer une pareille position, en profitant des avantages qu'elle lui offrait, et en suivant la conduite qu'elle semblait lui prescrire.. On s'afflige que, se laissant entraîner au torrent d'un siècle dégradé, il se soit plongé dans un cynicisme qui peut encore s'excuser dans la licence de la jeunesse, mais qui forme un contraste révoltant avec des cheveux blancs, symbole de sagesse et de pureté. Quel spectacle plus triste qu'un vieillard insultant la Divinité, au moment où elle ya le rappeler, et repoussant le respect de la jeunesse, en partageant ses égaremens !"-Littérature de BARANTE, p. 64.

taire shut his eyes to the truth, lest its blessed rays should intercept the dancing phantom (human praise) that occupied and dazzled his sight; poor Rousseau was physically blind, his optic nerves were too weak, too delicate, to bear the full rays of truth, and in his hours of blindness and of agony, he turned his eyes within, and described what he saw, or imagined he saw, as though it had been, what he believed it to be, true. If Rousseau erred, it was but error; Voltaire often did what he knew to be wrong, and asserted what he must have known to be false; Rousseau was the creature of impulse, Vol taire that of vanity; Rousseau wrote to relieve his overburdened heart, Voltaire to obtain: empty praise, which to him was the dearest thing on earth, and thus, to sum up their character in one word, while a want of consistency was the fault of Rousseau, a want of honesty, was that of Voltaire. Both were great men, but both greatly erred though from different causes, and the names of both will go down to posterity, and shine to the eyes of future generations, rather as beacons to warn, than as luminaries to attract,

It is pleasing to turn from the writings of these two great, but dangerous writers, to one

who almost equalled them in power, without greatly participating in their guilt; for although Montesquieu, in his "Lettres persanes" a work written in his youth, displayed some share of the spirit of licentiousness and infidelity which was then in vogue, he redeemed his character by the publication of his "Esprit des Lois," a book which proved him to be a profound as well as an eloquent writer; and by his admirable work on "La Grandeur et la Décadence des Romains," which deserves a place by the side of the book of Tacitus, the clearness of whose style Montesquieu frequently equals, while he often gives information which is not to be found in the excellent work of the Roman writer.

But one of the most remarkable productions of the eighteenth century, was doubtless the "Encyclopédie." Voltaire, D'Alembert, Diderot, Helvetius, Raynal and Condillac, first conceived the idea of this stupendous work, the purpose of which was to bring under consideration all the leading points in law, theology and political economy, as well as in literature; and to remodel the form and character of each, according to the views of those regenerators of society and founders of a new philosophy. As may be supposed, from the names of those who took a part in it, the overthrow of religion, and of all existing institutions, was to prove the re

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