ry is against the marvellous! Would it not imply that I am the
inventor of this style? that it has been hitherto unheard of, and is
singular and new? And yet we have Tasso, Milton, Klopstock, Gessner, and
even Voltaire! And if we are not to employ the marvellous in a Christian
subject, there can no longer be an epic in modern poetry, for the
marvellous is essential to that style of composition, and I believe no
one would be inclined to introduce Jupiter in a subject taken from our
own history. All this, like every thing else in France, is insincere.
The question to be decided was, whether my work was good or bad as an
epic poem; all was comprised in this point, without attempting to
ascertain whether it was or was not contrary to religion; and a thousand
other arguments of the same kind.

I cannot deliver an opinion on my own work; I can only convey to you
that of others. M. Fontanes is entirely in favour of 'The Martyrs.' He
finds this production much superior to what I have written before, in
plan, style, and characters.

What appears singular to me is, that the third Book, which you condemn,
seems to him one of the best of the whole! With regard to style, he
thinks that I have never before reached so high a point as in the
description of the happiness of the just, in that of the light of
Heaven, and in the passage on the Virgin. He tolerates the length of the
two dialogues between the Father and Son, on the necessity of
establishing the epic machinery. Without these dialogues there could be
no more narrative or action; the narrative and action are accounted for
by the conversation of the uncreated beings.

I mention this, Sir, not to convince, but to show you how sound
judgments can see the same object under different aspects. With you I
dislike the description of torture, but I consider it absolutely
necessary in a work upon Martyrs. It has been consecrated by all history
and every art. Christian painting and sculpture have selected these
subjects; herein lies the real controversy of the question. You, Sir,
who are well acquainted with the details, know to what extent I have
softened the picture, and how much I have suppressed of the _Acta
Martyrum_, particularly in holding back physical agony, and in opposing
agreeable images to harrowing torments. You are too just not to
distinguish between the objections of the subject and the errors of the
poet.

For the rest, you, Sir, well know the tempest raised against m