[653]. Œuvres, i. 249.
[654]. Ibid., p. 270. The Dialogues, it should perhaps be said, appeared first, as early as 1683.
[655]. Ed. cit., iii. 1-67.
[656]. Ed. cit., iii. 181.
[657]. As if, however, to show that one must never speak of Fontenelle without reserves, there are some extremely interesting things here also. For instance, the characteristic malice, with a serious and sensible side to it, of the law that the sentiments and language of the artificial pastoral shall bear the same relation to nature as ces habits que l’on prend dans des ballets pour représenter les paysans.
[658]. My copy is the Œuvres (Paris, 1754) in 10 vols. (the first divided into two parts).
[659]. The main documents of which are Madame Dacier’s Traité des causes de la corruption du goût (Paris, 1714) and La Motte’s Réflexions sur la Critique, which will be found in the third volume of the ed. just mentioned.
[660]. In his Premier Discours sur la Tragédie, ed. cit. sup., iv. 23 sq.
[661]. 4 vols., Paris, 1720-1731.
[662]. Op. cit. inf., I. xx.