Reader, at length, began to see, that too eager a pursuit after
_Adventures_ had drawn him from what first engaged his attention,
MAN _and his Ways_, into the Fairy Walks of Monsters and Chimeras.
And now those who had run farthest after these delusions, were the
first that recovered themselves. For the next Species of Fiction,
which took its name from its _novelty_, was of _Spanish_ invention.
These presented us with something of Humanity; but of Humanity in a
stiff unnatural state. For, as every thing before was conducted by
_Inchantment_; so now all was managed by _Intrigue_. And tho' it had
indeed a kind of _Life_, it had yet, as in its infancy, nothing of
_Manners_. On which account, those, who could not penetrate into the
ill constitution of its plan, yet grew disgusted at the dryness of
the Conduct, and want of ease in the Catastrophe.
The avoiding these defects gave rise to the _Heroical Romances_ of
the _French_; in which some celebrated Story of antiquity was so
stained and polluted by modern fable and invention, as was just
enough to shew, that the contrivers of them neither knew how to lye,
nor speak truth. In these voluminous extravagances, _Love_ and
_Honour_ supplied the place of _Life_ and _Manners_. But the
over-refinement of Platonic sentiments always sinks into the dross
and feces of that Passion. For in attempting a more natural
representation of it, in the little amatory Novels, which succeeded
these heavier Volumes, tho' the Writers avoided the dryness of the
Spanish Intrigue, and the extravagance of the French Heroism, yet,
by too natural a representation of their Subject, they opened the
door to a worse evil than a corruption of _Taste_; and that was, A
corruption of _Heart_.
At length, this great People (to whom, it must be owned, all Science
has been infinitely indebted) hit upon the true Secret, by which
alone a deviation from strict fact, in the commerce of Man, could be
really entertaining to an improved mind, or useful to promote that
Improvement. And this was by a faithful and chaste copy of real
_Life and Manners_: In which some of their late Writers have greatly
excelled.
It was on this sensible Plan, that the Author of the following
Sheets attempted to please, in an Essay, which had the good fortune
to meet with success: That encouragement engaged him in the present
Design: In which his sole object being _Human Nature_; he thought
himself at liberty to draw a Picture of it in that light which
would shew it with most strength of Expression; tho' at the expense
of what such as read merely for Amusement, may fancy can be
ill-spared, the more artificial composition of a story in one
continued Narrative.
He has therefore told his Tale in a Series of Letters, supposed to
be written by the Parties concerned, as the circumstances related,
passed. For this juncture afforded him the only natural opportunity
that could be had, of representing with any grace those lively and
delicate impressions which _Things present_ are known to make upon
the minds of those affected by them. And he apprehends, that, in the
study of Human Nature, the knowlege of those apprehensions leads us
farther into the recesses of the Human Mind, than the colder and
more general reflections suited to a continued and more contracted
Narrative.
This is the nature and purport of his Attempt. Which, perhaps, may
not be so well or generally understood. For if the Reader seeks here
for Strange Tales, Love Stories, Heroical Adventures, or, in short,
for anything but a _Faithful Picture of Nature_ in _Private Life_,
he had better be told beforehand the likelihood of his being
disappointed. But if he can find Use or Entertainment; either
_Directions for his Conduct_, or _Employment for his Pity_, in a
HISTORY _of_ LIFE _and_ MANNERS, where, as in the World itself, we
find Vice, for a time, triumphant, and Virtue in distress, an idle
hour or two, we hope, may not be unprofitably lost.
[Illustration]
MEMOIRS
OF THE
_Count_ Du BEAUVAL,
INCLUDING
Some curious PARTICULARS
Relating to the DUKES of
Wharton _and_ Ormond,
During their Exiles.
WITH
ANECDOTES of several other Illustrious
and Unfortunate Noblemen of the present Age.
_Translated from the_ French _of the Marquis_ D'ARGENS,
_Author of_ The Jewish Letters.
_By Mr._ DERRICK.
_LONDON:_
Printed for M. COOPER, at the _Globe_ in _PaterNoster-Row_.
M.DCC.LIV.
PREFACE.
_The Ground-work of Romances, till of late Years, has been a Series
of Actions, few of which, ever existed but in the Mind of the
Author; to support which, with proper Spirit, a strong picturesque
Fancy, and a nervous poetical Diction, were necessary. When these
great Essentials were wanting, the Narration became cold, insipid,
and disagreeable._
_The principal Hero was generally one who fac'd every Danger, without
any Reflection, for it was always beneath him to think; it was a
sufficient Motive of persisting, if there seem'd Peril; conquering
Giants, and dissolving Enchantments, were as easy to him as riding.
He commonly sets out deeply in Love; his Mistress is a Virgin, he
loses her in the Beginning of the Book, thro' the Spite or Craft of
some malicious Necromancer, pursues her thro' a large Folio Volume
of Incredibility, and finds her, indisputably, at the End of it,
like try'd Gold, still more charming, from having pass'd the Fire
Ordeal of Temptation._
_Amusement and Instruction were the Intent of these Sort of Writings;
the former they always fulfill'd, and if they sometimes fail'd in
the latter, it was because the Objects they conjur'd up to Fancy,
were merely intellectual Ideas, consequently not capable of
impressing so deeply as those which are to be met with in the Bustle
of Life._
_Hence those, whose Genius led them to cultivate this Sort of
writing, have been induc'd to examine amongst such Scenes as are
daily found to move beneath their Inspection. On this Plan are
founded the Writings of the celebrated Mons._ MARIVAUX, _and the
Performances of the ingenious Mr_. FIELDING; _each of whom are
allow'd to be excellent in their different Nations._
_The Marquis_ D'ARGENS, _sensible of the Advantages accruing from
Works of this Kind, was not satisfied with barely copying the_
Accidents, _but has also united with them the real Names of_
Persons, _who have been remarkable in Life; conscious that we pay a
more strict Attention to the Occurrences that have befallen those
who enter within the Compass of our Acquaintance, or Knowledge, and
if a Moral ensues from the Relation, it is more firmly rooted in the
Mind, than when it is to be deduced from either Manners or Men, with
whom we are entirely unacquainted._
_The Marquis is easy in his Stile, delicate in his Sentiments, and
not at all tedious in his Narration. In the following Piece we find
Nothing heavy or insipid, he dwells not too long upon any Adventure,
nor does he burthen the Memory, or clog the Attention with
Reflections intended, too often more for the Bookseller's Emolument,
in swelling the Bulk of the Performance, than the Service of the
Reader, on whom he knew it to be otherwise an Imposition; since, by
long-winded wearisome Comments upon every Passage (a Fault too
frequent in many Writers) he takes from him an Opportunity of
exercising his reflective Abilities, seeming thereby to doubt
them_.
[Illustration]
PUBLICATIONS OF THE AUGUSTAN REPRINT SOCIETY
FIRST YEAR (1946-47)
Numbers 1-4 out of print.
5. Samuel Wesley's _Epistle to a Friend Concerning Poetry_ (1700)
and _Essay on Heroic Poetry_ (1693).
6. _Representation of the Impiety and Immorality of the Stage_
(1704) and _Some Thoughts Concerning the Stage_ (1704).
SECOND YEAR (1947-1948)
7. John Gay's _The Present State of Wit_ (1711); and a section on
Wit from _The English Theophrastus_ (1702).
8. Rapin's _De Carmine Pastorali_, translated by Creech (1684).
9. T. Hanmer's (?) _Some Remarks on the Tragedy of Hamlet_ (1736).
10. Corbyn Morris' _Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit,
etc._ (1744).
11. Thomas Purney's _Discourse on the Pastoral_ (1717).
12. Essays on the Stage, selected, with an Introduction by Joseph
Wood Krutch.
THIRD YEAR (1948-1949)
13. Sir John Falstaff (pseud.), _The Theatre_ (1720).
14. Edward Moore's _The Gamester_ (1753).
15. John Oldmixon's _Reflections on Dr. Swift's Letter to Harley_
(1712); and Arthur Mainwaring's _The British Academy_ (1712).
16. Nevil Payne's _Fatal Jealousy_ (1673).
17. Nicholas Rowe's _Some Account of the Life of Mr. William
Shakespeare_ (1709).
18. "Of Genius," in _The Occasional Paper_, Vol. III, No. 10 (1719);
and Aaron Hill's Preface to _The Creation_ (1720).
FOURTH YEAR (1949-1950)
19. Susanna Centlivre's _The Busie Body_ (1709).
20. Lewis Theobold's _Preface to The Works of Shakespeare_ (1734).
21. _Critical Remarks on Sir Charles Grandison, Clarissa, and
Pamela_ (1754).
22. Samuel Johnson's _The Vanity of Human Wishes_ (1749) and Two
_Rambler_ papers (1750).
23. John Dryden's _His Majesties Declaration Defended_ (1681).
24. Pierre Nicole's _An Essay on True and Apparent Beauty in Which
from Settled Principles is Rendered the Grounds for Choosing and
Rejecting Epigrams_, translated by J.V. Cunningham.
FIFTH YEAR (1950-51)
25. Thomas Baker's _The Fine Lady's Airs_ (1709).
26. Charles Macklin's _The Man of the World_ (1792).
27. Frances Reynolds' _An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of
Taste, and of the Origin of Our Ideas of Beauty, etc._ (1785).
28. John Evelyn's _An Apologie for the Royal Party_ (1659); and _A
Panegyric to Charles the Second_ (1661).
29. Daniel Defoe's _A Vindication of the Press_ (1718).
30. Essays on Taste from John Gilbert Cooper's _Letters Concerning
Taste_, 3rd edition (1757), & John Armstrong's _Miscellanies_
(1770).
31. Thomas Gray's _An Elegy Wrote in a Country Church Yard_ (1751);
and _The Eton College Manuscript_.