your mother, your wives, and your principal concu- bines were invited; your aunts and some of your female cousins also came; they arrived on horseback, covered by the dark cloud of their veils and garments.
Next day we set out for the country, where we hope to have greater liberty. We mounted our camels, four in each palanquin. As the party had been improvised, we had not time to send round the courouc,^ but ^the chief eunuch, always attentive, took another precaution: to the cloth which hid us from sight, he attached a curtain so thick, that we could positively see nobody.
When we reached that river which we have to cross, each of us went, in the usual way, into a box which was transported in the ferry boat; for we were told that there were a great many people on the river. One inquisitive person who approached too near the place where vre were shut up, received a mortal blow, which cut him off for ever from the light of day; another, who was found* bathing naked on the bank, met the same fate: those two wretches were sacrificed by your faithful eunuchs to your hoitdur and to ours.
But listen to the rest of our adventures. When we had reached the middle of the river, so violent a wind arose, and such a dense cloud covered the sky, that our sailors began to lose hope. Terrified at the danger, we nearly all swooned away. I remember that I heard the voices of our eunuchs in dispute. Some of them said that, to save us from danger, we must be set at liberty; but their chief insisted, unfalteringly, that he would sooner die than permit his master to be so dishonoured, and that he would ^ Courouc (back! back I) is the cry of the eunuchs who accompany the women's litters.
I2I PERSIAN LETTERS plunge a dagger into the breast of any one who should dare to make such proposals. One of my slaves, quite beside herself and all undressed, came running to my assistance; but a black eunuch seized her brutally, and thrust her back whence she had come. Then I swooned away, and returned to myself only after the danger was past.
How distressing journeys are for us poor women! Men are exposed only to those dangers -which threaten their lives; but v'e are in constant terror of losing either life or virtue. Farewell, my dear Usbek, whom I, shall al'Ovays adore.
The Seraglio at Fatme, the and of the moon of Khamazan, 1713.
LETTER XLVIII Usbek to Rhedi, ai Venice Those who take pleasure in their own instruction are never idle. Although I am not employed on any business of importance, I am yet constantly occupied. I spend my time observing, and at night I write down what I have noticed, what I have seen, what I have heard, during the day. I am interested in everything, astonished at everything: I am like a child, whose organs, still over-sensitive, are vividly impressed by the merest trifles.^ You would scarcely believe it, but we have been well received in all circles, and among all classes. This is largely owing to the quick wit and natural gaiety of Rica, which lead him to seek out everybody, and make him equally sought after. Our foreign aspect offends nobody; indeed, we are delighted at 1 Montesquieu describes himself in this passage.
LETTER XLVIII the surprise which people show on finding us not altogether without manners; for the French imagine that men are not among the products of our country. Nevertheless, I must admit that they are well worth undeceiving.
I spent some days in the country near Paris at the house of a man of some note, who delights in having company with him. He has a very amiable wife, who, along with great modesty, possesses what the secluded life they lead stifles in ®ur Persian women, a charming gaiety.
Stranger as I was, I had nothing better to do than to study the crowd of people who came and went without ceasing, affording me a constant change of subject for contemplation. I noticed at once one man, whose simplicity pleased me; I allied myself with him, and he with me, in such a manner that we were always together,.
One day, as we were talking quietly in a large company, leaving the general conversation to the others, I said, “ You will perhaps find in me more inquisitiveness than good manners; but I beg you to^et me ask some questions, for I am wearied to death doing nothing, and of living with people with whom I have nothing in common. My thoughts have been busy these two days; there is not one among these men who has not put me to the torture two hundred times; in a thousand years I would never understand them; they are more invisible to me than the wives of our great king.” “ You have only to ask,” replied he, " and I will tell you all you desire — the more willingly because I think you a discreet man, who will not abuse my con- fidence.”
“ Who is that man,” said I, " who has told us so PERSIAN LETTERS ( much about the banquets at which he has entertained the great, who is so familiar with your dukes, and who talks so often to your ministers, who, they tell me, are so difficult of access? He ought surely to be a man of quality; but his aspect is so mean that he is hardly an honour to the aristocracy; and, besides, I find him deficient in education. I am a stranger; but it seems to me that there is, generally speaking, a certain tone of good-breeding commoq to all nations, and I do not finci, it in him. Can it be that your upper classes are not so well trained as those of other nations? ” " T«hat man,” answered he, laughing, “ is a farmer-general; he is as much above others in wealth, as he is inferior to us all by birth. He might have the best people in Paris at his table, if he could make up his mind never to eat in his own house. He is very impertinent, as you see; but he excels in his cook, and is not ungrateful, for you heard how he praised him to-day.”
" And that big man dressed in black,” said I, “ whom that lady has placed next her? How comes he to wear a dress so solemn, with so jaunty an air, and such a florid complexion? He smiles benigfdy when he is addressed; his attire is more modest, but not less carefully adjusted than that of your women.” “ That,” answered he, ” is a preacher, and, which is worse, a confessor. Such as he is. he knows more of their own affairs than the husbands; he is acquainted with the women’s weak side, and they also know his.” ” Ha! ” cried I, " he talks for ever of something he calls Grace? " ” No, not always,” was the reply; “ in the ear of a pretty woman he speaks more willingly of the Fall: in public, he is a son of thunder; in private, as gentle as a lamb.” “ It seems to mg,” said I, LETTER XLVIII " that he receives ftiuch attention, and is held in great respect.”
” In great respect! Why! he is a necessity; he is *he sweetener of solitude; then there are little lessons, officious cares, set visits; he cures a head- ache better than any man in the world; he is incom- parable.”
" But, if I may trouble you again, tell me who that ill-dressed person is opposite us? He makes occasional grimaces, and does not speak like the others; and without wit enough to talk’ he talks that he may have wit.” " That,” answered, he, " is a poet, the grotesquest of hxunan kind. These sort of people declare that they are born what they are; and, I may add, what they will be all their lives, namely, almost always, the most ridiculous of men; and so nobody spares them; contempt is cast upon them from every quarter. Hunger has driven that one into this house. H6 is well received by its master and mistress, as their good-nature and courtesy are always the same to everybody. He wrote their epithalamium when they were married, and it is th<» best thing he has done, for the marriage has been as fortunate as he prophesied it would be.
‘‘You will not believe, perhaps,” added he, ‘‘ pre- possessed as you are in favour of the East, that there are among us happy marriages, and wives whose virtue is a sufficient guard. This couple, here, enjoy untroubled peace; everybody loves and esteems them; only one thing is amiss: in their good-nature they receive all kinds of people, which makes the company at their house sometimes not altogether unexceptionable. I, of course, have nothing to say against it; we must live with people as we find them; PERSIAN LETTERS those who are said to be weIl-‘ored are often only those who are exquisite in their vices; and perhaps it is with them as with poisons, the more subtle, the more dangerous.” t “ And that old man,” I whispered, “ who looks so morose? I took him at first for a foreigner; because, in addition to being dressed differently from the rest, Ke condemns everything that is done in France, and disapproves of your government.” “ He is an old soldier,” said he, ” who makes himself memorable to all his hearers b'y the tedious story of his exploits. He cannot endure the thought that France has gained any battles without him, nor hear a siege bragged of at which he did not mount the breach. He believes himself so essential to our history that he imagines it came to an end when he retired; some wounds he has received mean, simply, the dissolu- tion of the monarchy; and, unlike the philosophers who maintain that enjo5mient « only in the present, and that the past is as if it had not been, he, on the contrary, delights in nothing but the past, and exists only in his old campaigns; he breathes the air of the age that has gone by, just as heroes ought^to live in that which is to come.” ” But why,” I asked, “ has he quitted the service? ” " He has not quitted it, but it has quitted him. He has been employed in a small post, where he will retail his adventures for the rest of his days; but he will never get any further; the path of honour is closed to him.” " And why? ” asked I. ” It is a maxim in France,” replied he, " never to advance officers whose patience has been worn out as subalterns; we look upon them as men whose minds have been narrowed by detail; and who, through a constant application to small things, are become incapable of great ones. We LETTER XLVIII believe that a man Who, at thirty, has not the quali- ties of a general, will never have them; that he, whose glance cannot take in at once a tract of several leagues as if from every point of view, who is not possessed of that presence of mind which in victory leaves no advantage unimproved, and in defeat employs every resource, will never acquire such capa- city. Therefore we employ in brilliant services those great, those sublime men, on whom Heaven has bestowed not only the courage, but the genius of the hero; and in inferior services those whose talents are inferior. Of this number are such as have grown old in obscure warfare; they can succeed only at what they have been doing all their lives; and it would be ill-advised to start them on fresh employ- ment when age has weakened their powers.”
A moment after, curiosity again seized me, and I said, ” I promise not to ask another question if you will only answer this one. Who is that tall young man who wears his own hair, and has- more impertin- ence than wit? How comes it that he speaks louder than the others, and is so charmed with himself for beyiJg in the world? ” ” That is a great lady-killer,” he replied. With these words some people entered, others left, and all rose. Some one came to speak to my acquaintance, and I remained in my ignorance. But shortly after, I know not by what chance, the young man in question found himself beside me, and began to talk. ” It is fine weather,” he said. “ Will you take a turn with me in the garden? ” I replied as civilly as I could, and we went out together. " I have come to the country,” said he, " to please the mistress of the house, with whom I am not on the worst of terms. There is a certain woman in the world who will be rather out of humour; but PERSIAN LETTERS what can one do? I visit the fihest women in Paris; but I do not confine my attentions to one; they have plenty to do to look after me, for, between you and me, I am a sad dog.” “ In that case, sir,” said I, “ you doubtless have some office or employment which prevents you from waiting on them more assiduously? ” “ No, sir; I have no other business than to provoke husbands, and drive fathers to despair; I delight in alarming a woman who thinks me hers, and in bringing her within dn ace of losing me. A set of ufe young fellows divide up Paris among us in this pursuit, and keep it wondering at everything we do.” “ From what I understand,” said I, " you make more stir than the most valorous warrior, and are more regarded than a grave magis- trate. If you were in Persia, you would not enjoy all these advantages; you would be held fitter to guard our women than to please them.” The blood mounted to my face; and I believe, had I gone on speaking, I could not have refrained from affronting him.
What say you to a country where such people are tolerated, and where a man who follows such a profes- sion is allowed to live? Where faithlessness, treachery, rape, deceit, and injustice lead to dis- tinction? Where a man is esteemed because he has bereaved a father of his daughter, a husband of his wife, and distresses the happiest and purest homes? Happy the children of Hali who protect their families from outrage and seduction! Heaven's light is not purer than the fire that bums in the hearts of our wives; our daughters think only with dread of the day when they will be deprived of that purity, in virtue of which they rank with the angels and the spiritual powers. My beloved land, on LETTER XLIX LETTER XLIX which the morning sun looks first, thou art unsoiled by those horrible crimes which compel that star to hide his beams as he approaches the dark West!
Paris, the 5th of the moon of Rhamazan, 1713.
LETTER XLIX flica to Usbek, at * * * As I was in my room the other day, there came to me a dervish amazingly dressed. His beard descended to his rope-girdle; his feet were naked; his gown grey, coarse and peaked in places. The whole appeared to me so odd that my first idea was to send for a painter to make a sketch of it.
First of all he paid me a prolonged compliment, in which he informed me that he was a man of merit, and a Capuchin to boot. “ They tell me, sir,” con- tinued he, “ that you return soon to the court of Persia, where you hold high rank. I have come to ask your protection, and to beg you to obtain for us front the king a small establishment in the neighbour- hood of Casbin for two or three friars.” " Father,” said I, "do you then wish to go to Persia? ” " Me, sir,” cried he; “I shall take better care of myself. I am Provincial here, and I would not exchange my place for that of all the Capuchins in the world.” “ Then why the devil do you make this request? ” " Because,” said he, " if we had this monastery, our Italian fathers would send out two or three friars.” “ You know those friars, of course,” said I. " No, sir, I do not.” “ 'Sdeath! ” cried I, “ of what con- sequence is it to you that they should go to Persia then? A charming project, indeed, to send two PERSIAN LETTERS Capuchins to take the air in Casbin! How useful that will be to Europe and to Asia! and how im- portant it is to interest monarchs in it! So. this is what is meant by your admirable colonies! Beg«ne; you and your fellows were not made to be trans- planted; and you had best continue to crawl about the places in which you were engendered.”
Paris, the 15th of the moon of Rhamazan, 1713.
I HAVE met some people to whom virtue was so natural, that they were not even conscious of it; they applied themselves to their duty without any compulsion, and were led to it instinctively; far from making their own admirable qualities a subject of conversatidh, it seemed as if they were quite ignorant of their existence. Such people I love; not those men who seem to be astonished at their own virtue, and who look upon a good deed as a m?-rvel the relation of which should excite wonder.
If modesty is a necessary virtue in those to whom Heaven has given great talents, what is to be said of those insects who dare to exhibit a pride which would dishonour the greatest men?
On every hand I meet people who talk constantly about themselves; their conversation is a mirror which reflects only their own impertinent faces; they will tell you of the merest trifles that happen to them, and expect the interest they take in them to magnify their importance in your eyes; they have done ever5rthing, seen everything, said everything, LETTER LI thought everything;* they are a pattern to all man- kind, a subject of inexhaustible comparisons, a source of precedents which never dries up. Oh! how insipid is self-praise!
Some days ago a man of this type worried us for two hours, about himself, his worth, his talents; but, since there is no such thing as perpetual motion, he had to cease. It was then our turn to talk, and we took it.
A man, who seemed sufficiently splenetic, com- menced to grumble at the tediousness of conversation. " What! are there none but f^ols, wly) describe their own character, and bring everything home to them- selves? ” " You are right,” replied our tattling friend abruptly. “ Nobody does as I do; I never praise myself; I have means, am well-bom, spend freely, and my friends say that I have some wit; but I never talk of all that; if I have any good qualities, that whiclf I set most store by, is my modesty.”
I wondered at this malapert; and while he was talking very loud, I whispered, " Happy is he who has •enough of vanity never to boast of his own qualities, who dreads the ridicule of his audience, and never hurts the pride of others by exalting himself! ” Paris, the 20th of the moon of Rhamazan, 1713.
LETTER LI Nargum, Persian Envoy in Muscovy, to Ushek, at Paris The news has come from Ispahan, that you have left Persia, and are actually in Paris. Why was I PERSIAN LETTERS left to learn these tidings Wm another than yourself?
By order of the king of kings I have now been five years in this country, where I have concluded se’^eral important transactions.
You know that the Czar is the only Christian prince whose interests are allied to those of Persia, because, like us, he is the enemy of the Turks.
His empire is larger than ours, for the distance between Moscow and the extremities of his dominions on the Chinese frontier measures a thousand leagues.
He is absolute master of the lives and goods of his subjects, who are all slaves, with the exception of four families. The vicar of the prophets, the king of kings, whose footstool is the sky, does not wield a sceptre more puissant.
In view of the frightful climate of this country, one would never think that exile could be a punish- ment for a Muscovite: nevertheless, when a man of consequence is‘'disgraced, he is banished to Siberia.
It is the law of our prophet which forbids us to drink wine, it is that of their prince which forbids the Muscovites. i They receive their guests in a style very unlike the Persians. When a stranger enters a house, the husband presents his wife to him, and he kisses her: this is counted an act of courtesy to the husband.
Although fathers, in arranging their daughters’ marriages, usually stipulate that the husband shall not whip them, yet you would hardly believe how dearly the Muscovite women like to be beaten; ^ they are unable to understand how they can possess their husband’s love, if he does not thrash them in proper style. If he is slack in this matter, it is an unpardon- 1 These manners have changed. — (M.)
LETTER LI able indication of cof&ness. Here is a letter which a Muscovite wife recently wrote to her mother: — " My dear Mother, — I am the most wretched won?an in the world. I have left nothing undone to make my husband love me, and I have never been able to succeed. Yesterday, having a thousand things to attend to in the house, I went out, and stayed away all day. I expected on my return that he would beat* me severely, but he did not say a single word. My sister fares n*uch better; her husband beats her every day; he knocks her down at once if she only looks at a •man: • they are very affectionate, and tlicre is between them the best understanding in tlie world.
" It is that which makes her so proud, but I will not allow her to triumph over me any longer. I am resolved to make my husband love me, whatever it may cost: I will so ^nger him that he wll be forced to give me marks of his affection. No one shall say that I am not beaten, and that I acn of no consequence in my own house. I will cry out with all my might at the least touch, so that people may think that all goe* well; and if any of my neighbours should come to my aid, I feel as if I would strangle them. I wish, my dear mother, you would point out to my husband how unworthily he treats me. My father is a gentleman, and behaved differently; indeed, if I remember rightly, when I was a little girl he used to love you too much. I embrace you, my dear mother.”
The Muscovites may not leave their country, even in order to travel; and so, separated from other nations by the law of the land, they have become attached to their ancient customs, all the more PERSIAN LETTERS warmly, that they do not think it possible to have others.
But the reigning prince ^ wishes to change every- thing; he had a great quarrel with his subjects about their beards; the clergy and the monks de- fended their ignorance with equal obstinacy.
He is bent on the improvement of the arts, and leaves nothing undone to spread throughout Europe and Asia the fame of his nation, till ^ now forgotten, and hardly even known to itself.
Restless, and always occupied, he wanders about his vast dominions, leaving everywhere tokens of his savage nature.
Then he quits them, as if they were too small to contain him, and goes to Europe exploring other provinces and new kingdoms.
I embrace you, my dear Usbek, and beg you to send me your news.
Moscow, the 2nd of the moon of Chalval, 1713.
LETTER LII Rica to Usbek, at * * * I WAS much amused in a certain house the other day. There were present women of all ages; one of eighty years, one of sixty, and one of forty; the last had with her a niece of from twenty to twenty-two. Instinct led me to choose the company of the youngest. She whispered to me, “ What do you think of my aunt? Old as she is, she still tries to pass for a beauty, and wishes to have lovers.” ” She is wrong,” said I; ” such an intention is becoming only in you.” A 1 Peter the Great.
LETTER LII moment after, I fouJid myself beside her aunt, who said to me, " What do you think of that woman? Although she is at least sixty years old she has spent houfs to-day over her toilet.” ” It was a waste of time,” said I, “ which only such charms as yours could have excused.” I crossed over to the imfor- tunate dame of threescore, and was pitjing her in my heart, when she whispered to me, " Did you ever see anything so ridiculous? Fancy a woman of eighty wearing flame-coloured ribbons! She would like to be young, and she Succeeds, for that is childish.”
” Good Heavens! ” I exclaimed to myself; “ must we be for ever blind' to our own folly? Perhaps, after all,” I argued, ” it is a blessing that we should find consolation in the absurdities of others.” How- ever, I was bent on being amused, and I said, still to myself, “ This is surely high enough; let us descend, beginning ut the summit.” So I addressed the lady of fourscore. ” Madam,” I said, “ you are so wonderfully like that lady, whom I have just left to speak to you, that I am certain you must be sisters — ’J should say about the same age.” “ Indeed, sir,” she rejoined, " when one of us dies, the other will not have long to live; I do not believe there is two days' difference between us.” Having left my decrepit dame, I went again to her of sixty. " Madam, you must decide a bet I have made. I have wagered that you and that lady,” indicating her of forty, “are of the same age.” "Well,” said she, "I believe there is not six months’ difference.” Good, so far; let us get on. Still descending, I returned to the lady of forty. “ Madam, have the goodness to tell me if you were jesting when you called that young lady at the other table, your niece. You are PERSIAN LETTERS as young as she; there is even a touch of age in her face, which you certainly have not; and the brilliancy of your complexion.. “ Listen,” she said; “ I am her aimt; but her mother was at least twenty- five years older than me. We are not even children of the same marriage; I have heard my departed sister say that her daughter and I were born in the same year.” " I was right, then, madam, and you cannot blame me for being astonished.”
My dear Usbek, women who feel that the loss of their charms is ageing them before their time, long ardently to be young again; and why should we blame them for deceiving others, since they take such trouble to deceive themselves, and to dispossess their minds of the most painful of all thoughts?
Paris, the 3rd of the moon of Chalval, 1713.
. LETTER LIII Zelis to Usbek, at Paris No passion was ever stronger or more vehement than that of Cosrou, the white eunuch, for my slave Zelida; he has asked her in marriage with such persistence, that I can no longer refuse him. And why should I object, when her mother does not, and since Zelida herself seems satisfied with the idea of this mock union, and the empty shadow which it offers her?
What does she want with this wretched creature? She is marrying jealousy personified, a husband who is no husband; who will only exchange his coldness for an impotent despair; who, by perpetually re- calling the memory of what he was, will but remind LETTER LIII her of what he no Ihnger is; who, always ready to possess, but never possessing, will for ever deceive himself and her, keeping her constantly alive to the wretchedness of her condition.
And then! to be always in dreams and fancies; to live only in imagination; to be always on the thres- hold, and never in the abode, of pleasure; languishing in the arms of impotence, responding, not to happy sighs, but to vain regrets!
How one ought to despise a man of that kind, made only to guard and not to own! I seek love, and cannot find it!
I speak to you freely, because you love my art- lessncss, and prefer my frankness and amorous dis- position to the affected modesty of my companions.
I have heard you say a thousand times that eunuchs do enjoy a certain pleasure with women, which we know nothing of; that nature compensates them for their loss, having mtfans with which to amend their unfortunate condition; that one may cease to be a man, but not to feel desire; and that in that state one acquires a third sense, and exchanges, as it were, one*pleasure for another.
If that be so, Zelida will have less to complain of. It is something to live with people who are not, after all, so miserable. Send me j^our instructions in the matter, and let me know if you wish the marriage to take place in the seraglio. Farewell.
The Seraglio at Ispahan, the 5th of the moon of Chalval, 1713.
PERSIAN LETTERS LETTER LIV Rica to Usbek, at * * * My room is, as you know, separated from the others only by a slim partition, which is broken here and there, so that one can hear what is said next door. This morning I overheard a man, pacing rapidly up and down, and saying to another, “ I don’t know how it is, but everything seems to go against me. For more than three dgys I have said nothing which can do me honour; and I find myself entirely lost among the crowd of talkers; no one pays the least attention to me, no one speaks to me twice. I had prepared some brilliant passages to lighten my con- versation; not once was I allowed to get them off. I had a charming story to tell; but always when I found an opportunity for it, 'people evaded it, as if on purpose. * I have nursed some witticisms in my head for four days without being able to make the least use of them. If this continues, it will end in my becoming a fool; I cannot avoid it it seenis to be my fate. Yesterday I had hoped to shine in the company of four old ladies, who certainly had no idea of imposing on me. I had some of the most charming things to say imaginable; but it took me more than a quarter of an hour to bring the conver- sation round, and even then they failed to follow me; like the fatal sisters, they cut the thread of my dis- course. Shall I tell you? It is most difficult to support the character of a man of wit. I fail to comprehend how you obtained it.”
" I have an idea," replied the other. " Let us help each other to gain this reputation: suppose we LETTER LIV form a partnership Ifor the purpose. Every day we shall tell each other what we intend to say; and we shall help each other so well, that if any one attempts to ^terrupt the flow of om: ideas, we shall inspire him with admiration; and if he refuses to be fascin;^ ated, then he will be coerced. We shall have the points fixed at which to approve; and where to smile, and where to burst out into a roar of laughter, will all be aqjanged beforehand. You will see that we shall give the tone to conversation, and that every- body will admire the nimbleness of our wit, and the felicity of our repartees; aad we J^iall have a code of head-shakes for our mutual protection. To-day you will shine, to-morrow you will be my foil. We shall go together to a house, and I shall exclaim, indicating you, ‘ I must tell you the delightful reply my friend made just now to a man we met in the street.’ I shall then turn towards you, and say, ‘ He did not expect this. You see how astonished he is.' I shall repeat some of my vefses, and you will say, ‘ I was present when he made them; at a supper, it was; he turned them off in an instant.’ Some- times we shall rally each other, and then people will exclaim, ‘ Look, how they attack each other, how they defend themselves; this is no child’s play; let us see how he will come out of that. Wonderful, what presence of mind I Why, this is a downright battle! ’ But no one will dream how we practised it all beforehand. We shall have to buy certain books, repositories of wit composed for the use of those who, having none, would fain appear as if they had: all depends on the pattern. I should say, that before six months are out we should be able to keep up a conversation of an hour’s length, entirely consisting of bans mots. But we shall have to be PERSIAN LETTERS PERSIAN LETTERS very carefxil of one thing, and th’dt is, the fate of our witticisms: it is not enough to make a brilliant remark, it must be sown broadcast; without that, it is as good as lost; and I confess there is noticing so heartrending as to see a smart thing that one has said die in the ear of the fool who hears it. For mis- fortunes of that kind we have often, it is true, a sort of compensation in the speedy oblivion which over- takes the foolish things we say. Here^, my dear sir, is the part we must play. Do as I have suggested, and I promise you, before six months, a place in the Academy, you see^.the time of toil will not be long; and then you can abandon your art as soon as you like; but you will always be a man of wit, no matter what you do. They say, that in France, when a man enters any circle of society, he catches at once what is called V esprit dti corps: this you will do, and the only thing I dread is, that you will be over- whelmed with applause.” ' Paris, the 6th of the moon of Zilcade, 1714.
LETTER LV Rica to Ibhen, at Smyrna Among the Europeans, the first quarter of an hour of marriage settles all difficulties; the last favours are always contemporary with the marriage blessing. The women here are not like those of Persia, who sometimes dispute the ground for months together. They give themselves at once; and if they lose nothing, it is because they have nothing to lose. One shameful result of this is, that one can always tell the moment of their defeat; and, without con- LETTER LV suiting the stars, it Is possible to predict to the very hour the birth of their children.
The French seldom speak of their wives: ^ they are ^afraid to do so before people who may know them better than themselves.
There are, among the French, a set of most miser^ able men, whom nobody comforts — ^jealous husbands, to wit; there are among them those whom every- body hates — namely, jealous husbands; there are men whom tlie whole world despises — once more, jealous husbands.
And so, there is no country where^ there are so few of them as in France. Their peace of mind is not based upon the confidence which they have in their wives; but on the bad opinion which they have of them. All the wise precautions of the Asiatics; the veils which cover them, the prisons in which they are kept, the eunuchs who guard them, seem to the French only so many obstacles better fitted to exercise than to tire the ingenuity of women. • Here, husbands accept their lot with a good grace, and the infidelities of their wives seem to them as inevitable as fate. A huaband, who would wish to monopolise his wife, would be looked upon as a disturber of the pleasure of the public, as a lunatic who wanted to enjoy the light of the sun to the exclusion of everybody else.
Here, a husband who loves his wife is a man who has not enough merit to engage the affections of some other woman; who makes a bad use of the power given him by the law to supply those pleasures which he can obtain in no other way; who claims all his 1 It was a rule of good society. " Most men understand that they should say very little about their wives; but few know that they should talk still less about themselves." — L a Rochefoucauld.