s to observe that even Dante, wild and original as he appears, when
he meets Virgil in the Inferno, warmly expresses his gratitude for the
many fine passages for which he was indebted to his works, and on which he
says he had "long meditated." Moliere and La Fontaine are considered to
possess as much originality as any of the French writers; yet the learned
Menage calls Moliere "un grand et habile picoreur;" and Boileau tells us
that La Fontaine borrowed his style and matter from Marot and Rabelais,
and took his subjects from Boccaccio, Poggius, and Ariosto. Nor was the
eccentric Rabelais the inventor of most of his burlesque narratives; and
he is a very close imitator of Folengo, the inventor of the macaronic
poetry, and not a little indebted to the old _Facezie_ of the Italians.
Indeed Marot, Villon, as well as those we have noticed, profited by the
authors anterior to the age of Francis I. La Bruyere incorporates whole
passages of Publius Syrus in his work, as the translator of the latter
abundantly shows. To the "Turkish Spy" was Montesquieu beholden for his
"Persian Letters," and a numerous crowd are indebted to Montesquieu.
Corneille made a liberal use of Spanish literature; and the pure waters of
Racine flowed from the fountains of Sophocles and Euripides.

This vein of imitation runs through the productions of our greatest
authors. Vigneul de Marville compares some of the first writers to bankers
who are rich with the assembled fortunes of individuals, and would be
often ruined were they too hardly drawn on.

* * * * *

VERS DE SOCIETE

Pliny, in an epistle to Tuscus, advises him to intermix among his severer
studies the softening charms of poetry; and notices a species of poetical
composition which merits critical animadversion. I shall quote Pliny in
the language of his elegant translator. He says, "These pieces commonly go
under the title of poetical amusements; but these amusements have
sometimes gained as much reputation to their authors as works of a more
serious nature. It is surprising how much the mind is entertained and
enlivened by these little poetical compositions, as they turn upon
subjects of gallantry, satire, tenderness, politeness, and everything, in
short, that concerns life, and the affairs of the world."

This species of poetry has been carried to its utmost perfection by the
French. It has been discriminated by them, from the mass of poetry,
under the ap