What a crowd of celebrated men contained in the temple consecrated to
virtue, courage, and talents!
There, I behold TURENNE, CONDÉ, MONTAUSIER, COLBERT, MOLIÈRE,
CORNEILLE, LA FONTAINE, RACINE, FÉNÉLON, and BOILEAU. The great LEWIS
XIV, placed in the middle of this hall, seems to become still greater
near those immortal geniuses.
Farther on, we see the statue of the implacable RICHELIEU,
represented expiring in the arms of Religion, while Science is
weeping at his feet. Ye Gods! what a prostitution of talent! This is
the master-piece of GIRARDON; but, in point of execution, many
connoisseurs prefer the mausoleum of the crafty MAZARIN, whom
COYZEVOX has pourtrayed in a supplicating posture.
LEWIS XIII, surnamed the _Just_, less great than his illustrious
subject, DE THOU, casts down his eyes in the presence of his
ministers.
The mausolea of LE BRUN, LULLI, and JÉROME BIGNON, the honour, the
love, and the example of his age, terminate the series of monuments
of that epoch, still more remarkable for its literati than its
artists. We at last come to the