It sought to exchange for the romantic
barbarism which had underlain so much that was picturesque in the
sixteenth century--a barbarism which had come down from the late
Middle Ages, and which was really a dissolution of strong things
outworn--to exchange for this a preciousness of quality as against
mere rude bulk. It desired to introduce depth of purpose in the place
of chaotic moral disorder, originality in place of a frenzied and
incoherent eccentricity, and to found a solid structure upon a basis
of intellectual discipline.
But in order to carry out this fine scheme, and especially in order
successfully to check that decadence which had alarmed the best minds
in France, there was a pioneer work to be done. It was necessary to
intensify and purify the light of criticism. For this purpose the
conversations of the _salons_ culminated in the lapidary art of La
Rochefoucauld, who was not a creator like Racine and Moliere, like
Bossuet and Fenelon, but who prepared the way for these slightly later
builders of French literature by clearing the ground of shams.
Segrais, whose recollections of him are among the most precious which
have come down to us, says that La Rochefoucauld never argued.
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