I protest, madam, said Mr. Selvin, casting down his eyes in great confusion at her superior knowledge in history, these particulars have all escaped my notice; and this is the first time I ever understood that Pisistratus was violently in love; and that it was not ambition which made him aspire to sovereignty.
I do not remember any mention of this in Plutarch, continued he, rubbing his forehead, or any of the authors who have treated on the affairs of Greece.
Very likely, sir, replied Arabella; but you will see the whole story of Pisistratus's love for Cleorante, with the effects it produced, related at large in Scudery.
Scudery, madam! said the sage Mr. Selvin, I never read that historian.
No, sir! replied Arabella, then your reading has been very confined.
I know, madam, said he, that Herodotus, Thucydides, and Plutarch, have indeed quoted him frequently.
I am surprised, sir, said Mr. Glanville, who was excessively diverted at this discovery of his great ignorance and affectation, that you have not read that famous historian; especially as the writers you have mentioned quote him so often.
Why, to tell you the truth, sir, said he; though he was a Roman; yet it is objected to him, that he wrote but indifferent Latin; with no purity or elegance; and——
You are quite mistaken, sir, interrupted Arabella; the great Scudery was a Frenchman; and both his Clelia and Artamenes were written in French.
A Frenchman was he? said Mr. Selvin, with a lofty air. Oh! then, it is not surprising that I have not read him. I read no authors but the ancients, madam, added he, with a look of self-applause; I cannot relish the moderns at all: I have no taste for their way of writing.