276 LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC MEN.

Loin de moi son courage, entrains par la gloire,

Ne se plait qu’d courir^de victoire en victoire.*

This passage is remarkable as being the cause ofBoileau’s first appearance at court, of -which furthermention will be made. This episode is the jewel of thewhole poem. Burlesque becomes tiresome when longdrawn : though there are verses interspersed throughoutfull of sarcasm the most pointed, and ridicule the mosthappy, we are fatigued by a sort of monotony of tone,and the unvarying spirit of parody or irony that reignsthroughout. The third canto is taken up by the enter-prise of the three, who enter the sacristy to seize uponthe Lutrin . Night has brought an owl, and hid it inthe desk, whose sudden appearance terrifies the heroes,who are about to fly, till Discord rallies them, and theypursue the adventure, carry the desk in triumph, andplace it in its ancient place before the seat of thechanter. The book concludes with an address to thelatter, apostrophising the grief that will seize him when,on the morrow, the insult will be revealed. The fourthbook contains the discovery — the rage of the chanter— his resolution to destroy the desk — the assemblingof the chapter — their indignation — and it concludeswith the destruction of the Lutrin , and its being carriedoff piecemeal. At first the poem consisted only of thesefour books. Boileau announced, that “ reasons of greatimportance prevented his publishing the whole butthe fact was, that only four books were at that timewritten. The fifth book describes the meeting of theinimical parties, and a battle that ensued. Both prelateand chanter, rushing to the chapelle, encounter each other,near the shop of Barbin, a bookseller : they eye each

* The speech of Indolence breaks off suddenly and characteristically, —“ La MoIIesse, oppressee,

Dans sa bouche k ce mot sent sa langue glassee,

Et lasse de parler, succombant sous l’effort,

Soupire, etend les bras, ferme l’ceil, et s’endort.'*

This last line, so expressive of the lassitude it describes, charmed the bril-liant but unfortunate Henrietta of England, duchess of Orleans. One day,in the chapel at Versailles , while waiting the arrival of the king, sheperceived Boileau, and, beckoning him to approach, whispered,

“ Soupire, §tend les bras, ferme l’ceil, et s’endort.”