D'Alembert follows the testimony of Palissot and others, although he confesses that they are "in truth very ill disposed" towards Marivaux, and adds that perhaps they have very unjustly accused him of ignorance of Latin. Their pardoning him his lack of knowledge of Greek, d'Alembert cleverly ascribes to that "indulgent equity" which does not require of one's fellows that which one lacks himself.[11] The following extract from the _Spectateur_ will prove that, while Marivaux could read the Greek writers in translations only, he was able to read Latin in the original: "Si c'est une traduction du grec, et qu'elle m'ennuie, je penche a croire que l'auteur y a perdu; si c'est du latin, _comme je le sais_, je me livre sans facon au degout ou au plaisir qu'il me donne."[12] It is also known that he completed his law studies and might have practiced, but for the hatred which he, in common with so many other young _litterateurs_ in times past, had conceived for the profession. Admitted early to the best society of Limoges, Marivaux enjoyed advantages from which he gained the polish that made him acceptable in the Paris salons of which he was later an habitue, When he was but seventeen years of age there occurred an incident, which, if it did not have so serious an effect upon his life as he himself believed, at least was not without its influence in fostering that spirit of observation and inquiry, not to say scepticism, with regard to the motives that influence his fellow man, which was so prominent a characteristic of this writer. Marivaux describes the incident in the first _feuille_ of the _Spectateur francais_, and, inasmuch as the sketch gives an excellent idea of the man, I translate it in full. "At the age of seventeen I became attached to a young girl, to whom I owe the sort of life which I adopted. I was not uncomely then, I had a mild disposition and affectionate ways. The decorum which I noticed in the girl had drawn my attention to her beauty. I found in her, moreover, so much indifference to her charms, that I would have sworn she was ignorant of them. How simple minded I was at that time! What a pleasure, said I to myself, if I can win the love of a girl who does not care to have lovers, since she is beautiful without observing it, and hence is no coquette! I never left her without my affectionate surprise increasing at the sight of so many graces in a person who was not the more vain because of it. Were she seated or standing, speaking or walking, it always seemed to me that she was absolutely artless, and that she thought of nothing less than appearing to be what she was.