Piron, who could not resist an occasional thrust at his rivals, was guilty of the following witticism: "Fontenelle a engendre Marivaux, Marivaux a engendre Moncrif, et Moncrif n'engendrera personne." The _boutade_ is amusing, but not just. Moncrif can hardly be considered an offspring of Marivaux, although he imitated certain of his coquettish graces,[133] any more, or perhaps even much less, than the latter, may be considered an offspring of Fontenelle. Larroumet[134] mentions as true successors to Marivaux, in the line of _proverbes_ and _comedies de societe_, Florian, in the eighteenth century, and in the nineteenth, Picard, Andrieux, Colin d'Harleville, Carmontelle, Theodore Leclercq, Alfred de Vigny and Alfred de Musset,[135] in the novel Paul Bourget and his school, and particularly Paul Hervieu, and in the journal, the masters of the modern _chronique_. One feature common to all of the writings of our author, as to many of his contemporaries, is their lack of the sentiment of nature. There are no streams, no flowers, no birds throughout his works. The two slight exceptions, mentioned by Larroumet,[136] show so evident a lack of interest in the beauties of nature that they offer the strongest proof in support of the rule. Here they are, the first from the eighth and the second from the eleventh part of _Marianne_: "Pendant qu'on etait la- dessus, je feignis quelque curiosite de voir un cabinet de verdure qui etait au bout de la terrasse. Il me parait fort joli, dis-je a Valville, pour l'engager a m'y mener." [137] --"Il faisait un fort beau jour, et il y avait dans l'hotellerie un jardin qui me parut assez joli. Je fus curieuse de le voir, et j'y entrai. Je m'y promenai meme quelques instants."[138] This passage, from the sixth part of the same work, shows a somewhat greater appreciation: " Ah, ca! vous n'avez pas vu notre jardin; il est fort beau; madame nous a dit de vous y mener; venez y faire un tour; la promenade dissipe, cela rejouit. Nous avons les plus belles allees du monde!"[139] There is one passage, however, in the fifth part, in which Marivaux gives evidence of a frank and simple enjoyment of nature: "Nous nous promenions tous trois dans le bois de la maison;... et comme les tendresses de Valvilie interrompaient ce que nous disions, cette aimable fille et moi, nous nous avisames, par un mouvement de gaite, de le fuir, de l'ecarter d'aupres de nous, et de lui jeter des feuilles que nous arrachions des bosquets."[140]