[499] Biog. Univ. vol. xxxiii. p. 411; Siècle de Louis XIV, in Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. xix. p. 158.
[500] Biog. Univ. vol. xxvi. p. 503.
[501] Ibid. vol. iv. p. 593.
[502] Ibid. vol. xxxvi. p. 300. Respecting him, see Lady Morgan's France, vol. ii. pp. 30, 31.
[503] M. Capefigue (Louis XIV, vol. ii. p. 79) says, ‘Lulli mourut en 1689;’ but 1687 is the date assigned in Biog. Univ. vol. xxv. p. 425; in Chalmer's Biog. Dict. vol. xx. p. 483; in Rose's Biog. Dict. vol. ix. p. 350; and in Monteil, Divers Etats, vol. vii p. 63. In Œuvres de Voltaire, vol. xix. p. 200, he is called ‘le père de la vraie musique en France.’ He was admired by Louis XIV. Lettres de Sévigné, vol. ii. pp. 162, 163.
[504] Biog. Univ. vol. xxxvi. p. 42. Voltaire (Œuvres, vol. xix. p. 162) says, ‘personne n'a jamais égalé Quinault;’ and Mr. Hallam (Lit. of Europe, vol. iii. p. 507), ‘the unrivalled poet of French music.’ See also Lettres de Dudeffand à Walpole, vol. ii. p. 432.
[505] When Louis XV. ascended the throne, painting in France was in the lowest state of degradation. Lady Morgan's France, vol. ii. p. 31. Lacretelle (Dix-huitième Siècle, vol. ii. p. 11) says ‘Les beaux arts dégénérèrent plus sensiblement que les lettres pendant la seconde partie du siècle de Louis XIV…. Il est certain que les vingt-cinq dernières années du règne de Louis XIV n'offrirent que des productions très-inférieures,’ &c. Thus too Barrington (Observations on the Statutes, p. 377), ‘It is very remarkable that the French school hath not produced any very capital painters since the expensive establishment by Louis XIV. of the academies at Rome and Paris.’
[506] Biog. Univ. vol. xxxvi. pp. 499, 502; Hallam's Lit. vol. iii. p. 493.
[507] Biog. Univ. vol. xxix. pp. 306, 308.
[508] Rose's Biog. Dict. vol. iv. p. 376; and Biog. Univ. vol. v. pp. 7, 8, where it is said that ‘ses meilleures satires’ were those published in 1666.