Page:Letters of Mlle. de Lespinasse.djvu/341

316 merit in all things ; for pretension, of whatever kind it was, was repugnant to her. She could not endure whatever showed effort and preparation. She would almost have pre- ferred the rough and sketchy to what was too graceful, too jfinished. Hence we may suppose how she hated the affected manners, the airs, and other follies of people in society.

She had the same delicacy, the same severity of taste about works of the mind. She was never able to accustom herself to the verses of Cardinal de Bernis, Dorat, and other poets of that school. She thought nothing of the novels of Cr^billon, Marivaux, and all those to which their style had given birth ; but, on the other hand, she fed herself with Eacine, Voltaire, and La Fontaine. She knew them by heart ; she grew impassioned over Jean-Jacques, she loved Le Sage and Provost ; but she put above them all the im- mortal Eichardson ; and Sterne she had read, re-read, trans- lated, and adored. It was she who made in Paris the reputation of the " Sentimental Journey." Unequal works, imperfect, fantastic even, obtained favour in her eyes pro- vided she found in them traits of genius or sensibility. It was thus she had the patience to decipher " Tristram Shandy." The death of Manon in the " Paysan Perverti," made her defend that work, filled in other parts with ridicu- lous and commonplace things.

Oh! how she was the friend of what was good in all directions ! how she enjoyed, how she knew how to praise what had pleased her, — above all, what had touched her ! What need she had to communicate her feeling to all whom she thought capable of sharing it ! And it was not only for works of literature that she grew impassioned : all the arts of taste and beauty had claims upon her. A fine picture, a good piece of sculpture, excellent music soothed and delighted her; and in those different arts she was moved by