Books and their writers have these
fates. Mme de Sevigne was so much in love with the works of Nicole,
that she expressed a wish to make "a soup of them and swallow it"; but
I leave her to the enjoyment of the dainty dish. As theologians, too,
both Pascal and Nicole stand somewhat outside my circle.
The three whom I have chosen stand out among the other moralists of
France by their adoption of the maxim as their mode of instruction.
When La Bruyere, distracted with misgivings about his "Caracteres,"
had made up his mind to get an introduction to Boileau, and to ask the
advice of that mighty censor, Boileau wrote to Racine (May 19, 1687),
"Maximilian has been out to Auteuil to see me and has read me parts of
his Theophrastus." Nicknames were the order of the day, and the critic
called his new friend "Maximilian," although his real name was Jean,
because he wrote "Maximes." There is no other country than France
where the maker of maxims has stamped a deep and permanent impression
upon the conscience and the moral habits of the nation. But this has
been done by La Rochefoucauld, La Bruyere, Vauvenargues, whom, did it
not sound frivolous, we might style the three great Maximilians.
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