A Witty Encounter, Letter 1 – Letter 2
THE LETTER OF Monſieur de Moulin, to Monſieur de Balzac.
SIR,
I Received your Booke, which it pleaſed you out of your free grace to ſend mee, aſſuring you that you could not have beſtowed it on any man that more eſteem'd, or leſſe merited the honor: for though I number my ſelfe amongſt the moſt unworthy to obtain even the loweſt place in your memory; yet I ranke my ſelfe amongſt the formoſt in praiſing your vertue, by which you have aſcended to the ſummity of elegancy of Phraſe, and drawing the Bridle after you, have left at once Admiration, and diſpaire to posterity. Of the deſcription of eloquence made by the Antients (which was reputed no other then an Idaea) you have formed a Body, and ſhew'd that there is a Plus ultra in that Art which they never arriv'd at. The force and dexterity of your Wit, hauing paſs'd the limits of their imagination, you at once informe, & raviſh the underſtanding, and linke together two things rarely ſociable, Solidity and Ornament. This Age cannot boaſt of a greater felicity then to have produc'd a man that hath by effect expreſt how far Eloquence can extend: but I had rather diſcourſe of this ſubiect with others then your ſelfe., who (without affecting prayſe) are content onelyonly to merit it, which the more you ſhunne, the cloſer it follows you. He that would praiſe your Pen to the full, muſt borrow it, which to exerciſe, I vow you have choſen a ſubject anſwerable to your ability: for as the actions of the King could not be performed by any but himſelfe, ſo they could not worthily be diſcrib'd by any but you. Indeed you inſult over our*Mōſieur de Balzac in writing the late troubles in France, taxed the Proteſtant party with diſloyalty. miſeries, yet are not blameable, in that you write out of your owne feeling and apprehenſion, as alſo that without this Maiſter-ſtroake, the Picture of the King could not bee perfectly finiſhed. Of whoſe power, though GOD hath made uſe in our humiliation, yet hath not his Mty forgotten our ancient ſervices, nor that the dead King his father, of glorious memory, in the time of his affliction, had no other Sanctuary then our Churches. You will not be offended, Sir, if I tel you that in my conceit the Lord preſents you with another ſubiect, ſuteable to ſo excellent a ſpirit as is yours, viz. the valour & happy ſucceſſe of the King of Sweed. For (ſince the King whom you draw with ſo rich colours can not any way be ſulled or darkned by the praiſe of this other) you ſhall follow, I believe, his inclination, in Limming the Picture of the King, an Emulatour of his Vertue. In the meane time this Worke of yours ſhall not be to me only a proofe of your ſufficiency, but a testimony of your bounty, wch when I ſhall behold amongſt my other bookes I ſhall begin to thinke my ſelfe ſome body, ſince by ſuch a preſent you teſtifie the good opinion you have of me, wch ſhall oblige me to wiſh you all happines, and to remained,
Mounſieur, Your thrice humble, and thric affectionate Servant, DV MOVLIN.
The Anſwer of Monſieur de Balzac, to Monſieur du Moulin.
Sir,
NO Modeſty can reſiſt praiſe proceeding from you, and I ſhould much diſſemble ſhould I denie that I tooke pleaſure in being taken with the firſt lines of your Letter. But I knew my ſelfe too well to remaine long in that errour. I am now awakned out of this pleſing dream and clearely ſee that when you ſpeake ſo much in honor of my induſtry, you lay aſide the ſeverity of your Iudgment. You have done me more favour then Iustice, and to praiſe me, you have run the hazard of offending Truth her ſelfe. Now that you your ſelfe are arriv'd at the Gole, you encourage both wth hands & voice thoſe that are in the Carriere, & to perſwade them to follow you, make them beleeve they may goe beyond you. And this was (without Lying) an admirable device, which at firſt ſight I diſcovered not: But be it as it will, from what principle ſoever this Glorious approbation of me is deriv'd, ſure I am, I value it at no lower a rate then a man ambitious does a Crowne, and without penetrating into your deſigne. I glory in my Fortune, wch is not ſmall, Sir, in that I am belov'd of you, whom I ever perfectly honour'd, and whom I have a long time beheld in the Huguenot party as an excellent Pilot, who braves a whole Fleet in a ſingle Brigandine. We have the right, and authority, but you the Subtilty, & the Stratagems, and you repoſe as great truſt in your Wit, as we in our cauſe. It is certaine that this way you are able to give Sedition the Countenance of a juſt Warre, and to a multitude of Mutiniers, the face of an Army well diſciplin'd. By this you endeere to many an opinion, which hath loſt the grace of its Verdure, & though it incline to it's declination, yet muſt we acknowledge that it retaines both features, and colour in your Writings, and that never man knew better the Art of giving Weakenes a ſhadow, or of ſupporting Ruine with a greater ſtrength. I ſpeake alwaies in this Phraſe, when you are my Theame, and ſide not wth the Vulgar, who never keepe entire the liberty of their Iudgement, nor are apprehenſive of their owne defects, or other mens Vertues. For my owne part, out of what Cloud ſo ever the Day breaks it is faire in my Eye and I aſſure my ſelfe that even in Rome the more honeſt, & well bred People praiſ'd Haniball, & that none but Rogues revil'd him. It is no other then a kind of Sacriledge, to raviſh from any man the gifts of GOD, and ſhould I not confeſſe that you have received, much, I ſhould Iudge my ſelfe jniurious to him, who hath conferred much on you, and in a different cauſe, ſhould offend our common Benefactor. True it is that ſometimes I have not flattered your party, & that I was a little incenſ'd againſt the Authors of theſe laſt Troubles. But having obſeru'd in your bookes, that our Iudgements are conformable, and that the ſubiection due to Soveraignty makes a part of the Religion you teach, and profeſſe, I thought I might well deliver your conſent as I did, being in that no other then your ſimple Interpreter. Whether the Tempeſt ariſe ftom the North, or the South, it is to me alike odious, and I profeſſe not to take a patterne of my Duty either from England, or Spaine. My Humour is not to combat the Times, but to oppoſe ſome preſent occurrences. I have enough to doe to conceive the Idaea of Cato, and Brutus, and living under the command of another, I find not amore commodious Vertue then obedience. Were I a Smiſſe, I would content my ſelfe to be the Kings Godfather, and would by no meanes be his Subiect, nor change my liberty for the beſt Maister of the World, but ſince GOD hath cauſ'd me to be borne in Chaines, I will carry them cheerefully, and being neither cumberſome nor heavy, I will not hurt my Teeth in eſſaying to bite them aſunder. There is a great apparance that Heauen approves a Goverment which it hath preſerv'd during the ſucceſſion of twelue Ages. Had an evill continued ſo long, it would have become in a manner legittimate. If antiquity in men be venerable, in States it ought to be Sacred. Thoſe great Spirits I deſcribe in my worke, which were of your party ſhould have liv'd at the beginning of the World, and have given Lawes to a new people, and labour'd to eſtabliſh a new Goverment. But as the invention of good things is neceſſary, ſo the mutation even of bad is dangerous. I have not a Cruell thought, but ſuch as aime at the Heads of your party, againſt whom I inveigh as Enemies, nor is it my intent to inſult over your miſeries, with which inhumanity, though civilly, you reproach me. Should I be guilty this way, who have publiſh'd that the King ſhould be bleſſed by all the World, if (having once abated the pride of the Rebells) hee trampled not on the infortunity of the afflicted? The Perſecutors of thoſe that ſubmit themſelves are with me in the ſame execration with the Violaters of Tombes. I doe not onelyonly pitty, but in ſome ſort reverence affliction. I know that heretofore it was the Cuſtome to conſecrate the places ſtrucken with Lightning. The finger of GOD is to be reverenced in the perſons of the miſerable, and great adverſities ſhould rather produce Religion, then receiue reproaches. But I ſhould ſpeake improperly ſhould I give the Kings ſucceſſe ſuch an Epithite. In his Victory we all are winners. All the penalty impoſed on thoſe of your party, is to be as happy as we our ſelves, and they are at this day poſſeſſors, and enioyers of that ſecurity, whereof before the taking of their Citties they were even fond, and jealous. Our King will not compell the Conſciences of his Subiects to put on the Yoake, neither deſires he to have them receiue by force that wch ought not to bee admitted but by perſwaſion, nor to make uſe of ſuch remedies againſt the French as are onelyonly proper againſt the Moores. If the King of Swede demeane himſelfe thus in his proſperity, and that he doe not ſully ſo pure a gift wth proſcriptions, & puniſhments, I here promiſe you to performe what you deſire of me, and to imploy all my Art, & Tooles in erecting him a Statue. You hit my inclination on the head in intreating me to praiſe this Prince, in whoſe Scarfe if all the Crowns Imbroydered were turned into ſo many Kingdomes, they would not in my opinion, be too much to recompence a Vertue ſo rare, or to buſie a ſpirit ſo vaſt: As I expect nothing, but what is great from his Ualour, ſo I hope for nothing but what is juſt from his Equity; and though in Spaine they have declared him to be the true Antichrist, I am not devout enough to beleeve this Newes, nor fearefull enough to be daunted at it. I onelyonly anſwer the ſcrupulous who queſtion me thereupon, that the King hath in the meane time a Second that does him good ſervice, and that one could not preſent the Houſe of Auſtria any thing to ſtudy on that better diverted it from the care it tooke of our affaires. I will paſſe no further, Sir, it is better to reſt at the dore of holy places, then enter without preparation, beſides this diſcourſe is become already very long, for the beginning of our acquaintance. It may pleaſe you to pardon the content I take to entertaine you, wch is the cauſe I have neither beene mindfull of your affaires, nor my owne cuſtome, which is not to Preach to my friends: but you gave mee the Text that I handled, and I thought that in laying my heart open to you, even to the very bottome, and not diſſembling my thoughts you would repoſe hence forward, confidence in my freedome, with which I proteſt truely that I am
Monſieur, Your thrice humble, and thrice Obedient Servant, De Balzac.