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Show 254 THE CODE OF TERPSICHORE. expected union ; while winged children are employed in feeding the swans about to be harnessed to the Goddess's chariot. Vulcan is observed sleepiug at the feet of his wife ; while little Cupids are manufacturing and sharpening their arrows, and stringing their bows ; and to prove their unerring aim, others are showing to Venus a shield pierced in every part. Diana and her nymphs, borne on the clouds, are anxiously observing the labours of the Loves. After their work is finished, the winged children sink into a pretended sleep ; in this state, Diana's nymphs surprise them, break their bows, and destroy their arrows ; the wounds of which they so much dreaded. Calisto is going to awaken the deities, but is deterred by her more prudent companion. Diana, viewing the scene from above, enjoys her victory. The little Loves, however, soon repair their loss, when every thing in sea, earth, and air yields to their power. One of them conducts Adonis to the feet of Venus, who seems slumbering. The faithful dog of the young hunter vainly essays to draw him back to the forests, the charms of the Goddess have rivetted him. The winged boys near the bed of Venus appear, by their signs, to command silence and secrecy. 41. Many authors owe their celebrity to the counsels of those wise and enlightened friends w h o m nothing could deter from speaking the truth. From their remarks, men of talent have sometimes even destroyed their productions, and have improved by repetition. Perfection is obtained by docility and perseverance. An inordinate love of vain flattery conceals the truth from us. Euripides, Virgil, Ariosto, Boileau, Pope, and Gray, all of w h o m were men of the greatest celebrity, found a great difficulty in satisfying their o w n judgment, and were ever ready to listen to the voice of sound criticism. They frequently effaced what they had written, and were never hasty in publishing their productions. Such examples as these, together with the Epitre au.r Pisons, which every lover of the fine arts ought to know by heart, are surely sufficient to restrain vanity, and to point out the way in which w e ought to proceed. 42. W h e n our cowardly Zoiluses are opposed by talent, they quickly return to the mire from whence they sprang. " Untoward circumstances, disputation, envy, jealousy, and ignorance, very often contribute to the development of talent equally with good criticism, and thus become the prime cause of their celebrity. Sergent rightly observes, that if a Cardinal Minister had not excited, through jealousy, some wretched scribblers against the author of the Cid, the great Corneille would nut, probably, have bestowed ou us so many masterpieces. The protection afforded to had taste, by a powerful party at court, doubtless induced Moliere to imagine the designs of his twocomedics, |
