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The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VII (of X)—Continental Europe I

History

The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VII (of X)—Continental Europe I

Authors -- Biography; Literature -- Collections

The Italians are far from attempting to cast a blemish on the opera,
or to excommunicate Sigñor Senesino or Signora Cuzzoni. With regard to
myself, I could presume to wish that the magistrates would suppress I
know not what contemptible pieces written against the stage. For when
the English and Italians hear that we brand with the greatest mark of
infamy an art in which we excel; that we excommunicate persons who
receive salaries from the king; that we condemn as impious a spectacle
exhibited in convents and monasteries; that we dishonor sports in
which Louis XIV and Louis XV performed as actors; that we give the
title of the devil's works to pieces which are received by magistrates
of the most severe character, and represented before a virtuous queen;
when, I say, foreigners are told of this insolent conduct, this
contempt for the royal authority, and this Gothic rusticity which some
presume to call Christian severity, what idea must they entertain of
our nation? And how will it be possible for them to conceive, either
that our laws give a sanction to an art which is declared infamous, or
that some persons dare to stamp with infamy an art which receives a
sanction from the laws, is rewarded by kings, cultivated and
encouraged by the greatest men, and admired by whole nations? And that
Father Lebrun's impertinent libel against the stage is seen in a
bookseller's shop, standing the very next to the immortal labors of
Racine, of Corneille, of Molière, etc.?




JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU

     Born in Geneva in 1712, died near Paris in 1778; his father
     a mender of watches and teacher of dancing; lived from hand
     to mouth until he was thirty-eight; achieved his first
     literary reputation from a prize competition in 1749;
     published "Le Devin du Village" in 1752, "La Nouvelle
     Hèloise" in 1761, "Le Contrat Social" in 1762, "Emile" in
     1762; the latter work led to his exile from France for five
     years, during which he lived in Switzerland and England; his
     "Confessions" published after his death in 1782; was the
     father of five illegitimate children, each of whom he sent
     to a foundling asylum.




I

OF CHRIST AND SOCRATES

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

History

The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VII (of X)—Continental Europe I

Authors -- Biography; Literature -- Collections

The Italians are far from attempting to cast a blemish on the opera,
or to excommunicate Sigñor Senesino or Signora Cuzzoni. With regard to
myself, I could presume to wish that the magistrates would suppress I
know not what contemptible pieces written against the stage. For when
the English and Italians hear that we brand with the greatest mark of
infamy an art in which we excel; that we excommunicate persons who
receive salaries from the king; that we condemn as impious a spectacle
exhibited in convents and monasteries; that we dishonor sports in
which Louis XIV and Louis XV performed as actors; that we give the
title of the devil's works to pieces which are received by magistrates
of the most severe character, and represented before a virtuous queen;
when, I say, foreigners are told of this insolent conduct, this
contempt for the royal authority, and this Gothic rusticity which some
presume to call Christian severity, what idea must they entertain of
our nation? And how will it be possible for them to conceive, either
that our laws give a sanction to an art which is declared infamous, or
that some persons dare to stamp with infamy an art which receives a
sanction from the laws, is rewarded by kings, cultivated and
encouraged by the greatest men, and admired by whole nations? And that
Father Lebrun's impertinent libel against the stage is seen in a
bookseller's shop, standing the very next to the immortal labors of
Racine, of Corneille, of Molière, etc.?




JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU

     Born in Geneva in 1712, died near Paris in 1778; his father
     a mender of watches and teacher of dancing; lived from hand
     to mouth until he was thirty-eight; achieved his first
     literary reputation from a prize competition in 1749;
     published "Le Devin du Village" in 1752, "La Nouvelle
     Hèloise" in 1761, "Le Contrat Social" in 1762, "Emile" in
     1762; the latter work led to his exile from France for five
     years, during which he lived in Switzerland and England; his
     "Confessions" published after his death in 1782; was the
     father of five illegitimate children, each of whom he sent
     to a foundling asylum.




I

OF CHRIST AND SOCRATES

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VII (of X)—Continental Europe I

The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VII (of X)—Continental Europe I

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