The period marked at one
extremity by "L'Amour des Passions" (1660) and at the other by the
"Grandeurs Humains" (1663) is precisely that in which the lapidary art
of La Rochefoucauld was most assiduous. The church was advocating
asceticism and humility with all its authority, and was leading up
towards the later phase of the fanatical despotism of Louis XIV.'s old
age, with all its attendant hypocrisy. For the moment, in the
struggle, La Rochefoucauld, though no _devot_, would seem a friend of
the church rather than a foe, and in fact he retained the intimacy of
Bossuet, in whose arms he died. We may be sure that he guarded himself
with delicate care from the charge of being what was then called a
"libertine," that is a man openly at war with the theory and practice
of the theologians.
It is said that La Rochefoucauld invented[7] the word "vraie," "true,"
to describe the character of Mme de La Fayette. His intimacy with this
illustrious lady is one of the most beautiful episodes in the history
of literature, and perhaps its purest example of true friendship
between the sexes. The phrase we have already quoted shows that in
1663 the two great writers were acquainted but not yet intimate.
Pages:
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76