LETTER CXLI satisfied with my wnethod of punishment.’ ‘ But,’ said these women, ‘ should this impostor return,n/hat shall we do? ’ ‘It would be, I believe, difficult for him to deceive you,’ replied he: ‘ in the relation in which I stand to you, one could hardly maintain him- self by trickery: and besides, I will send him so far away that you will hear no more of him. Thereafter I shall take upon piyself the care of your happiness. I will not be* jealous; I know how to bind you to me without restraining you' I have a sufficiently good opinion of my own ^eserts to believe that you will be faithful to me; if not \^ith me, with whom would you be virtuous? ' This conversation lasted a long time between him and these women; the latter, more struck by the difference between the two Ibra- hims than by their resemblance, were not specially desirous to have the mystery cleared up. At last, the desperate husband returned again to annoy them: he found his whole household rejoicing, and his wives more incredulous than ever. It was no place for a jealous man; he went away mad with rage: and the moment after, the false Ibrahim followed him, seized him, carried him through the air to a distance of two thousand leagues, and there dropped him.
" Ye gods, in what a wretched plight did these women find themselves during the absence of their dear Ibrahim! Already their eunuchs had resumed their accustomed severity; the whole househ^d was in tears; sometimes they imagined that all that had happened was no more tham a dream; they looked wistfully on each other, and recalled the slightest circumstances of these wonderful adventures. At last the heavenly Ibrahim returned more amiable than ever; it was evident to them that his journey had not put him about. The new master took a course so PERSIAN LETTERS opposite to that of the other, tha/ all his neighbours were-^amazed. He dismissed all the eunuchs, and opened his house to everybody: he would not even allow his wives to wear their veils. It was a most extraordinary tiling to see them, feasting along with the men, and as free as they. Ibrahim believed, and rightly, that the customs of the country were not nxade for such citizens as he. Nevertheless, he spared no expense: he squandered with a lavish hand the posses- sions of the jealous husband, who, on his return three years after from the distant land to which he had been transported, found nothing left but his wives and thirty-six children.'* Paris, the 26th of the first moon of Gemmadi, 1720.
LETTER CXLII Rica to Usbek, at * * * 1 Here is a letter which I received yesterday from a learned man; you will think it remarkable. • “ Sir, — Six months ago I inherited from a very rich uncle five or six thousand livres and a magnificently furnished mansion. It is delightful to have wealth, when one knows how to make a good use of it. I have no am15ition, nor any taste for pleasure: I am almost always shut up in a little room, where I lead the life of a savant. It is in such a place that the diligent antiquary is to be found.
“ When my uncle died, I was very anxious to have him buried with the ceremonies observed by the ancient Greeks and Romans: but at that time I had neither lachrymatories, nor urns, nor antique lamps.
LETTER CXLII “ Since then, however, I have provided myself with these precious rarities. Some days ago I soi^ rlrty silver plate in order to buy an earthenware lamp which had given light to a Stoic philosopher. I have dis- posed of all the glass with which my uncle had covered almost all the walls of his rooms, fhat I might possess a little mirror, somewhat cracked, which had formerly beSn used by Virgil: it charms me to see my own features wherrf> those of the swan of Mantua have been reflected. That is not all: I have bought for a hun- dred louis-d’or five or six pieces of copper money which were current two*thousand years ago. I do not think I have now in my house a single piece of furniture which was not made before the fall of the Roman empire. I have a cupboard full of the most valuable and costly manuscripts. Although it is ruining my sight, I much prefer to read them than printed copies, which are not so correct, and which are in everybody’s hands. Altllough I hardly ever go out, that does not prevent ifle from having an ungovernable peission to be acquainted with all the old roads which date from the time of the Romans. There *is one near my house which was made by a proconsul of Gaul about twelve hundred years ago. When I go to my place in the country, I never fail to take it, although it is very inconvenient, and leads me more than a league out of my way: but what really angers me are the wooden posts stucl^up at certain intervals to indicate the distances of the neighbouring towns. I am in despair at the sight of these signposts, wretched substitutes for the military columns that stood there formerly: I have no doubt that I shall cause th^ to be set up again by my heirs, and that I shall be able to leave a will compelling them to do it. If, sir, you have such a thing as a PERSIAN LETTERS Persian manuscript, you would oblige me very much by letjting me have it: I will pay you your own price, and will give you into the bargain some works of mine, from which you wall see that I am not a useless member of the republic of letters. Among them you will notice a dissertation in which I prove that the crown used formerly in triumphs, was of oak and not of laurel: you will admire another in which I show clearly, by learned conjectures jjeduced from the weightiest Greek authors, that Cambyses was wounded, not in the right leg, but in the left; in another I demonstrate thkt a low forehead was a beauty much in req'aest among the Romans. I will send you also a quarto volume, containing the explana- tion of a line in the sixth book of Virgil’s A2neid. All these things you will receive in a few days; and in the meantime I content myself with sending you the accompanying fragment of an ancient Greek mythologist, which has not yet been published, and which I discovered? in the dust of a library. I must leavf you now for an important matter which I have in hand, namely, the restoration of a beautiful passage in Pliny the naturalist, which has been stfangely disfigured by the copyists of the fifth century. I am,” etc.
Fragment of an ancient Mythologist <- " In an island near the Orcades, a child was bom whose father was ^olus, the god of the winds, and his mother a nymph of Caledonia.* They tell of him that he learned unaided to count with his fingers; and that from his fourth year distinguished metals > The Scotch financier, Law, of whose system this allegory is a satire.
LETTER CXLII so well, that his mother having given him a ring of tin in exchange for one of gold, he perceive^ th’e deceit, and threw it away.
“ When he had grown up, his father taught him the secret of enclosing the winds in skins, which he afterwards sold to all the travellerf: but as the trade in winds was not very brisk in his country, he left it ancf went up and down the world, accompanied by the blind god of chance.
" During his travels he learned that gold glittered in every part of Betica; * anti he hurried thither at once. He was very badl^ received by Saturn,* who reigned then: but that god havirfg quitted the earth, he judged it wise to go into all the cross-roads and cry continually in a hoarse voice, ‘ People of Betica, you think yourselves rich, because you have silver and gold! I pity,your error. Be ruled by me: leave the land of the base metals; come into the empire of the imagination, and P promise you riches which will astonish even you.' * He immediately opened a great number of the skins which he Jiad brought with him, and dealt out his merchandise to all who’wished it.
*' Next morning he returned to the same cross- roads, and cried, ‘ People of Betica, would you be rich? Imagine that I am very rich, and that you are very rich: get yourselves into the belief every morning that your fortune has been doubled during the night: rise, then, and if you have any creditors, go and pay them with what you have imagined, and tell them to imagine in their turn.’
“ A few days after he appeared again and spoke, as follows: ‘ People of Betica, I perceive that your imagination is weaker than it was a day or two ago; 1 France. * Louis XIV.
PERSIAN LETTERS try to bring it up to the strength mine: I will place befoce you every morning a bill, which will be the source of wealth for you: you will see only four words, ^ but they will be of the highest significance, as they will settle the portions of your wives, the fortunes of your children, and thehlumber of your domestics. And, as for you ' — addressing those of the crowd who were nearest him — ‘ as for you, my dear children (I may call you by that name, since you ‘nave, received from me a second birth), my bill shall decide as to the magni- ficence of your equipage, the splendour of your feasts, and the number and pensftins of your mistresses.'
“ Some days latef’he came into the street, quite out of breath, and cried out in a violent passion, ‘ People of Betica, I counselled you to imagine, but you have not done so: well then, I now command you to imagine.’ With that he left them abruptly; but on second thoughts retraced his steps. ' I understand that some of you “are odious enough to keep your gold and silver. 'For the silver, let it go: but the gold...the gold...Ah! that stirs my anger!...I swear, by my sacred windbags, that if you do not bring it to me, I will inflict dire punishmeht upon you.’ * Then he added, in the most seductive manner imaginable, ‘ Do you think it is to keep these wretched metals that I ask them from you? A proof of my good faith is, that when you brought me them some days ego, I gave you back at once one half.’ * " Next day, he kept at some distance, and endea- voured with soft and flattering voice to worm himself into their favour. ‘ People of Betica, I learn that a 1 Le corns des actions, the price of shares.
2 It had been decreed that all specie should be taken to the Bank.
* At the beginning of Law's “ system/’ claims on the Bank were paid half in paper and half in cash.
LETTER CXLII portion of your \^alth is in foreign countries: I beg you to have it sent to me; ‘ it will oblige me very much, and I will never forget your kindness.’
" The son of.^Eolus was addressing people who were in no mood to be amused, ^et they could not restrain their laughter; which caused him to slink awdy in a shamefaced manner. But, his courage having returned, he risked another little petition. ‘ I know that you have precious stones: in the name of Jupiter, get rid of them; nothing will so impoverish you as things of that kincl; get rid of them, I tell you.® Should you be unable to do so yourselves, I can provide excellent agents. What wealth will pour in upon you, if you follow my advice! Yes, I promise you the very best my windbags contain.’
"Then he got up, on a platform, and, in a more resolute tone, said, ‘ People of Betica, I have com- pared the happy condition in which you now are with that in which I found you when f first came here; I behold you the richest people in the world: but, in order to crown your good fortune, allow me to deprive you of the half of your wealth.’ With these words, the son of yEolus soared away or. rapid wings, and left his audience dumb with amazement, a result which brought him back next day, when he spoke as follows: ‘ I perceived yesterday that my speech dis- pleased you very much. Very well 1 suppose Tlfiat I have said nothing at all as yet. It is quite true; one half is too much. We must ^d some other expedient to arrive at the result which I have proposed. Let us gather all our wealth into one place; we can do so easily, because it does not occupy much space.’
1 A royal order, issued 20th June 1720.
* A decree of the 4th of July 1720, X PERSIAN LETTERS Immediately three-quarters of - their weedth had disapjjeared.” ^ Paris, the gth of the moon of Chahban, 1720.
LETTER CXLIII Rica to Nathaniel Levi, Jewish Physician at Leghorn You ask me what I think of the virtues of amulets, and the power of ^alismans. Why do you address yourself to me? You are a Jew and I am a Moham- medan, that is to say, two very superstitious people.
I carry about with me always two thousand passages from the holy Koran: on my arms I fasten a little slip on which are written the names of more than two hundred dervishes: the names of Hali, of Fatima, and of all the saintliest ones, are hidden in my clothes in more than twenty places.
However, I do not disapprove of those who refuse to believe in the power ascribed to certain wor^. We find it more difficult to reply to their arguments, than they to our experience. I carry about me all these sacred scraps through long habit, and in order to conform to a universal practice: I am certain that if they do not possess more virtue than the rings and other ornaments with which we deck ourselves, they have at least as much. You, on the other hand, place your entire confidence in some mysterious letters; and without that safeguard would be in perpetual dread.
Men are most unfortunate beings. They hover constantly between false hopes and ridiculous fears: » A decree of the 15th September 1720.
LETTER CXLIII and instead of relying on reason, make themselveiP monsters to terrify them, or phantoms to mTslead them.
What effect do you think can be produced by an arrangement of certain letters? ^hat evil effect can their derangement produce? What connection have they with the winds that they should calm tempests; with gunpowder, that they should overcome its force; with peccant humours, as doctors call them, and the morbific cause of diseases, that they should cure them?
What is most extraordinary is,* that those who tire out their^minds endeavouring to show the connection between certain events and occult powers, are forced to take]|[as much trouble again to keep themselves from perceiving the true cause.
You will tell me that a battle was gained by means of certain spells; whereas I hol<J that you must be blind, not to see that the situation of the field, the number or courage of the soldiers, the experience of the captains, are sufficient to produce that effect, of which ypu wilfully ignore the true cause.
I will grant for a moment that spells may exist: grant in your turn, for a moment, that they may not; which is far from impossible. What you grant me will not prevent two armies from encountering each other in battle: would you hold in that cas^ that neither could defeat the other?
Do you believe that the battle will remain dubious until an invisible power come* to decide it? that every blow will be thrown away; all strategy in vain; and all courage useless?
Do you imagine that death, present on such occa- sions in a thousand forms, cannot produce in the minds of men those wild panics which you have such diffi- PERSIAN LETTERS ciilty in explaining? Will you liave it that in an army'bf a hundred thousand men there may not be a single coward? Do you think that the discourage- ment of such a one may not produce discouragement in another? that^ the second influencing a third, would soon make him produce a like effect upon a fourth? No more would be necessary to cause a whole army to be suddenly seized;, with despair, and the larger the army, the more sudden the seizure.
The whole world knows and feels that men, like all creatures actuated by se^t-preservation, are passion- ately attached to liff: this is known to be the general rule; and yet people ask why on a particular occasion, they should fear to lose it.
Although the holy writings of all nations abound with accounts of these wild and supernatural panics, I can imagine nothing more ridiculous; because, to be certain that an effect which may be produced in a hundred thousand natural ways is supernatural, would require first of all proof positive that none of these causes had operated; which is impossible.
But I shall say no more about it, Nathapiel; it seems to me that it is not a subject deserving such serious treatment.
Paris, the 20th of the moon of Chahban, 1720.
P.S. — As I was concluding, I heard them crying in the streets a letter from a country physician to one in Paris (for here every trifle is printed, published, and bought). I believe it is worth while sending it to you because it has some bearing on our subject.
LETTER CXLIII Letter from a Country PHYsr’AN to a Physician of Paris “ There was once in our town a«ick person who had had no sleep for thirty-five days. His physician orifered him opium; but he could not make up his mind to take^t, alid when he had the cup in his hand he was less inclined than ever. At last, he said to his physician, ‘ Sir, give me*only till to-morrow: I know a man who, althou^i he does not practise medi- cine, has in his house an immense number of cures for insomnia; let me send for him: and if I do not sleep to-night, I promise to return to you.’ The physician being dismissed, the sick man had his curtains closed, and said to his page, ‘ Go to M. Anis and ask him to come to me.’ When M. Anis came the patient said to him, ‘ My dear sir, I am dying • I can’t sleep; have you not in your shop the C. of th^ G.,‘ or some other book of devotion written by an R. P. J.,® whiclvyou have not been able to sell, for long-kept remedies are often fhe best? ’ ‘ Sir,' replied the bookseller, ' I have the Holy Court of Father Caussin,® in six volumes, at your service; I will send it to you; and I hope you will be the better of it. If you would prefer the works of the reverend Father Rodrigo, a Spanish Jesuit, you need not want them. But, beli^’e me, you had better stick to Father Caussin; I trust, with the help of God, that a single sentence of Father Caussin’s will do you more good than a whole page of 1 " La Connaissance du Globe," according to the early editors.
* Rdvirend pire Jieuite, * A Jesuit, born at Troyes. He was the confessor of Louis XIII., and was exiled by Kichelieu.
PERSIAN LETTERS the C. of the G.' With that M. ^nis left, and went to hi£ shop to get the remedy. The Holy Court arrived; and the dust having been shaken off it, the son of the sick man, a schoolboy, began to read it: he was the first to feel its effects; at the second page, his utterance began to be almost inarticulate, and already the whole company was growing drowsy; in a moment, everybody was snoring except the sick man, who, after having stood it a good, while, was at last overcome, too.
“ The physician arrived early next morning. ‘ Well,’ he said, ‘ has my opiate been taken? ’ No- body answered him': the sick man’s wife, daughter, and little boy, radiant with joy, showed him Father Caussin. He asked what it was. They answered, ‘ Long life to Father Caussin; we must send him to be bound. Who would have s^d it? Wlio would have thought it? It is a miracle. Look, sir, look! here is Father Cau'ssin; it is this book which has given my father sleep. ’ And thereupon they explained the matter to him as it had happened.
" The physician was a skilful man, versed in the mysteries of the Cabala, and in the power ot words and spirits. He was much struck, and, after deep thought, resolved to change his practice entirely.
‘ Here is indeed a notable fact! ’ said he. ‘ It is a new experience; and I must experiment further. And ^ny should a spirit not be able to transmit to its work the same qualities which itself possesses? Do we not see it every day? „ At least it is well worth the trying. I am tired of the apothecaries; their syrups, their juleps, and all their galenical drugs destroy the health and the lives of their patients. Let us change the method, and try the power of the spirits.’ With this idea, he drafted a new system of pharmacy, as LETTER CXLIII you will see by th|g description which I am about to give you of the principal remedies which he employeti.
“ A Light Purgative “ Take three leaves of Aristotle’s logic in Greek; tw© leaves of a treatise on scholastic theology, the keener the bettei^ as, for example, that of the subtle Scotus; fouf of Paracelsus; one of Avicenna; six of Averroes; three of Porphy/y; as many of Plotinus, and as many of Jamblicus. Infuse the whole for twenty-four hours, and take four^oses a day.
“ A Stronger Purgative “ Take ten A * * * of the C * * *, concerning the B * ♦ * and the C * * * of the I * * *; i distil them in a water-bath; dilute a drop of tlic bitter and pungent product in a glass of common ■vfater; swallow the whole with confidence.
" An Emetic “ Take six harangues; any dozen funeral orations, carefully excepting those of M. of N.; * a collection of new operas; fifty novels; thirty new memoirs. Put the whole in a large flask; leave it to settle for two days; then distil it on a sand-bath. And if all this should be insufficient, here^s, 1 Ten Decrees (Arrets) of the Council, concerning the Bank and the Company of the Indies; or, according to the earlier editors, concerning the Bull and the Constitution of the Jesuits.
* F16chicr, Bishop of Nimes (Monsieur de Nimes).
PERSIAN LETTERS " Another More Powerful Emetic " Take a leaf of marbled paper which has served as cover to a collection of the pieces of the J. F.; ^ infuse it for three minutes/ warm a spoonful of the infusion, and drink it off.
‘‘A Very Simple Cure fo; Asthma " Read all the works of the reverend Father Maim- bourg,* formerly a Jesuit, J^aking care to pause only at the end of each sentence; and you will gradually find your power of breathing return to you so com- pletely, that you will have no need to repeat the cure.
"An Antidote for the Itch, Rashes, Scaldhead, and Farcy ^ " Take three of Aristotle’s categories, two meta- physical degrees, one distinction, six lines of Chapelain, one iphrase from the letters of the Abbe of Saint- Cyran; write them all on a piece of paper, fold it up, tie it to a ribbon, and carry it round your neck.
“ Miraculum chymicum, de violenta fermentatione, cum fumo, igne, et flamma " MCoce Quesnellianam infusionem, cum infusione Lallemaniand; fiat fermentatio cum magna vi, impetu et tonitru, acidio pugnantibus, et invicem penetrantibus 1 The “ Jeux Floraux," established in 1324 by the magis- trates of Toulouse to revive the decaying art of the trouba- dours.
* Louis Maimbourg, expelled from the Company of Jesus in 1685 for having defended the liberties of the Gallican Church in his " Traits historique de I’liglise de Rome."
LETTER CXLIII alcalinos sales; fiH evaporatio ardentium spiritium. Pone liquorem fermentatum in alembico; nih^l inde extrahes, et nihil invenies, nisi caput mortuum.
** Mingle an infusion of Quesnel ^ with one of Lallemand; 2 let fermentation proceed with much violence, energy, and noise, as the acids fight together, and * at their way into each other's alkaline salts; ® the fiery spirits will thus evaporate. Wl^n fermentation is over, put the liquid in an alembic: yod will get nothing out of it, and find nothing left in it, but a caput mortuuyt, Lenitivum Lenitivum “ Recipe Molince anodine chartas duas; Escobaris relaxativi paginas sex; Vasqup emollientis folium unum; inf unde in aqucB communis lib. iiij. Ad con- sumptionem dimidice partis coleniur et exprimantur; et, in expressione, dissolve Bauni detersivi et Tamburini abluentis folia iij.
Fiat clister. ’ '' A Gentle Aperient ” Take two papers of Molina as pain-killer; of Escobar, to keep the bowels open, take six pages; take of Vasquez, to keep the passage easy, one leaf; infuse in four pounds of common water. When half has evaporated, strain and squeeze; and, while squeezing, dissolve in the mixture three leaves of Baun to act as detergent, and three of Tamburini ^ to wash away impurities.
" Make a clyster of the result.
1 A Jansenist, and great opponent of the Jesuits.
2 A Jesuit father.
3 A pun in the original; sales meaning also ** wit- ticisms."
^ Molina, Escobar, Vasquez, Bauni, and Tamburini were Jesuits who replied to the attacks of the Jansenists. Their names are frequently mentioned in Pascal's " Provincials." The name of Escobar makes at least one appearance in English literature: " Now, they prick pins at a tissue Fine as a skein of the casuist Escobar's Worked on the bone of a lie."
Browning's Master Hugues of Saxe- Gotha, PERSIAN LETTERS " In chlorosim quam vulgus pallidos-colores, aut ' febrim amatoriam appellat " Recipe Aretini figuras iiij.; R. Thomce Sanchii de matrimonis folia ij.
“ Infuditur in aqt- a communis libras quinque.
" Fiat ptisana aperiens.^ “ A cure for chlorosis, vulgarly called the greensickness,' or hot fit of love " Take four plates from Aretinus; take of Thomas Sanchez’ work on Marriage, two leaves. Infuse them in five pounds of common water, and you will ha,ve a pleasant aperient.
“ These are the drugs which our physician pre- scribed with remarkable success. ‘ He did not wish,’ he said, ‘ lest he should kill his patients, to employ rare remedies, and such as are difficult to find — for example, a dedicatory epistle which had never made anybody yawn; too short a preface; a bishop’s charge written by himself; and the work of a Jan- senist despised by a Jansenist, or else admired by a Jestfit.’ He held that remedies of that kind were only fit to maintain quackery, to which he ^had an insurmountable antipathy.”
LETTER CXLIV* Usbek to Rica Some days ago I met in a country-house which I was visiting, two learned men who have a great reputation here. Their characters astonished me. The con- versation of the first, justly estimated, reduced itself 1 “ A marvel in chemistry, concerning a violent fermenta- tion, accompanied with smoke, heat, and flame.”
* The seventh letter added in 1754.
LETTER CXLV to this: " What I have said is true, because I have said it.” The conversation of the second went the other way about: “ What I have not said is not true, because I have not said it.”
I liked the first pretty well; for it is not of the least consequence to me, however stiff hi opinion a man may be; but I cannot endure impertinence. The first defends his opinions; that is to say, his own property; the second attacks the opinions of others; that is to say, the property of the whole world.
Oh, my dear Rica,^ how badly vanity serves those who have a larger share of it than is necessary for self-preservation! Such people ■ wish to be admired by dint of offending. They wish to be superior, but they do not even attain to mediocrity.
Come hither to me, modest men, that I may embrace you! You are the charm, the delight of life. You think that you are nobodies; but I tell you that you possess the one thing needful. You think that no one is humiliated by you, and you humiliate the whole world. And when I compare you in my mind with those imperious people whom I see everywhere, I drag them from their judgment-seat, and throw them at your feet.
Paris, the 22nd of the moon of Chahban, 1720.
LETTER CXLV* Usbek to * * * A MAN of genius is usuallj» fastidious in society. He chooses few acquaintances; he finds the vast majority of people whom he is pleased to call bad company very 1 In the original " my dear Usbek," which is evidently a mistake.
* The eighth letter added in 1754.
PERSIAN LETTERS tedious; and as he cannot altogether hide his disgust, he makes many enemies.
Sure of pleasing when he likes, he very often does not like.
He is much given to criticism, because he sees and feels more than others.
He almost always ruins his fortune, because his genius supplies him with a great variety of means for that purpose.
He fails in his undertakings because he attempts too much. His vision, which carries far, causes him to have in view objects which are too remote. It must also be remembered that, in projecting a scheme, he is less impressed by the difficulties which spring from it, than by the means of overcoming them, whicli he derives from his own resources.
He neglects minor details, altlipugli upon them the success of almost all great enterprises depends.
The mediocre man, on the other hand, tries to make use of everything, lie is so well aware that he cannot afford to neglect trifle^s.
Universal approbation is very generally accorded to the mediocre man. Every one is delighted to give the latter praise, and enchanted to withhold it from the former. While envy expends itself on the one and nothing is forgiven him, everything is construed in the other’s favour; vanity declares itself on his side.
But if so many disadvantages burden the man of genius, what is to be said of the hard lot of a scientific man?
I never think of it without recalling a letter written by a savant to one of his friends. Here it is: '' Sir, — I am a man whose nights are spent in study- LETTER CXLV ing through telcsgDpes thirty feet long those great bodies which roll over our heads; and when^I wish for relaxation, I take my little microscopes and examine a maggot or a mite, I am not rich, and I have only one room; I dare not even liglit a fire in it, because the unnatural wajrmth would cause the mercury to rise in my ther- mometer. Last ^winter, I thought I would die of cold; and akhough my thermometer, which was at the lowest, told me that my hands were freezing, I did not put myself about. ^ And I have the consolation of knowing exactly the slightest changes in the weather for the whole of the past year.
I have little intercourse with others; and among all the peoj)le whom I meet, I know no one. But there is a man at Stockholm, another at Leipsic, and all- ot Ikt at London, whom I have never seen, and whom I shall doubtless never see, but with whom I keep up a correspondence so punctual, tlurt I do not miss a single post.
But although I know no one in my neighbourhood, my repent ation here is so bad, that I shall sooner or later require to leave it. Eive years ago I was grossly insulted by a woman for having dissected a dog which she pretended belonged to her. The wife of a butcher, who happened to be present, took her side. And, while the one abused me heartily, the other pelted me with stones, along with Dr. * * *, wlio was in my company, and who received such dreadful blows on the head, both ^back and front, that his mind was much shaken.
Since that time, whenever a dog strays away from the street corner, it is at once taken for granted that he has passed through my hands. A decent citizen's wife, who had lost her pet dog, which she said she PERSIAN LETTERS loved better than her children, crme the other day and fainted in my room; not finding her dog, she summoned me before the magistrate. I believe I shall never be delivered from the persistent malice of these women, who, in shrieking tones, din me daily with the funeral oration of all the beasts that have died during the last six years., I am, etc.
All scientific men were formerly accused of magic. I am not surprised at it. Each one said to himself, 1 have carried human capacity as far as it can go; and yet a certain savant has distanced me: beyond a doubt he deals in sorcery.''
Now that accusations of that kind have been dis- credited, another course has been taken; and the scientific man can hardly escape 'die reproach of un- godliness or of heresy. It is of little consequence that the people hold him innocent: the wound once made can never be quite closed again. It will always be a tefider spot. An opponent will come thirty years after and say to him in an unassuming way, “ God forbid that I should think you have been accused justly; but you were obliged to defend yourself." And thus his justification itself is turned against him.
If he^ writes a history, and shows himself possessed of high intelligence and some share of righteousness, a thousand unjust accusations are brought against him. Some one will stir -up the magistrate against him about an incident that took place ages ago, and if his pen is not to be bought they would have it restrained.
They are more fortunate, however, than those recreants who renounce their faith for a trifling LETTER CXLV pension; who hardly make a single farthing by all their impostures; who overturn the constitu^on o*f the empire, diminish the rights of one state to increase those of another, give to princes what they have taken from the people, revive obsolete rights, humour the passions which arc in vogue in their time, and the favourite vices of the king; imposing upon posterity all'the more infajnously, that means are lacking to destroy their evidence.
Hut it is not enough that an author should have to endure all these insults it *is not enough that he should have been continually anxious about the suc- cess of his work. When it sees the light at last, that work, which has cost him so much, brings down upon him quarrels from all quarters. How can he avoid them? He holds an opinion, and maintains it in his writings, quite una\wire that another man two hundred leagues away asserts the very reverse^. There you have the way in which war arises.
]3ut may he not hope to acquire some degree of fame? No; at the most he is only esteemed by tliose who have studied the same branch of science as 9 he. The philosopher has a supreme contempt for the man whose head is stuffed with facts; and he in his turn is looked upon as a visionary by the possessor of a good memory.
As for those who profess a haughty ignorance, they would have all mankind buried in the same oblivion as themselves.
When a man lacks a pai^icular talent, he indemni- fies himself by despising it: he removes the impedi- ment between him and merit; and in that way finds himself on a level with those of whose works he formerly stood in awe.
Lastly, an author requires in pursuit of an equivocal PERSIAN LETTERS reputation to abstain from all pleasure and sacrifice Lis health.
Paris, tlie 26th of the moon of Chahban, 1720.
LETTER CXLVI^ Usbek to Rhcdi, at Venice It was long ago said that a minister cannot be great unless he is sincere.
A private person may avail himself of tiie obscurity in which he is placed; he'discredits himself only in the opinion of a few, and the mask he wears deceives others; but a minister who steps aside from the straight path has a witness, a judge, in every subject of the state he governs.
Is it too daring to say that the greatest evil done by an unscrupulous minister is not the damage to the interests of his sovereign, not the ruin wrought among his people, but quite another thing, and in my opinjon a thousand times more dangerous, namely, the bad example which he sets?
You know that I have for a long time travelled in the Indies. There I beheld a nation, upright by nature, led away in an instant, from the lowest to the highest in the land, by the bad example of a minister; I beheld an entire race, in whom generosity, integrity, candour, and sincerity had always been regarded as natural qualities, become, in a flash, the most despicable of peoples; I beheld the contagion spread, sparing not even tiie healthiest members, and the most upright men act in the unworthicst manner, violating the first principles of justice, upon the vain pretext that injustice had been done to them.
1 Another satire on the “ system ” of Law.
LETTER CXLVI They appealed to detestable laws, necessity, ii> justice and treachery, in support of the most iniquitous deeds.