for Thomas Corneille part
of "Psyche" (1678) and of "Bellerophon" (1679); for Donneau
le Vise the comedy of "La Comete" (1681); for Beauval the
"Eloge" on Perrault (1688); for Catherine Bernard part of
her tragedy of "Brutus" (1691), a discourse for the prize of
eloquence given by the French Academy, and signed by Brunel
(1695); and part of "L'Analyse des infiniments petits" for
the Marquis de l'Hopital (1696). This is merely part of the
work turned out of Fontenelle's factory before the death of
La Bruyere. Another candidate for the type of Cydias is
Fontenelle's uncle, Thomas Corneille (1625-1709).]

There was great danger, or so it would seem to a timid man like La
Bruyere, in affronting public opinion with a book so full of sarcasm
and reproof, so unflinching in its way of dealing with success, as the
"Caracteres." He adopted a singular mode of self-protection. That was
the day of the mighty dispute between the Ancients and the Moderns,
and La Bruyere, at all events ostensibly, took the highly respectable
side of the Greeks and Romans. There had lived a philosopher in the
fourth century B.C., Theophrastus, the successor and elucidator of
Aristotle, who left a book of "Ethical Characters" (_[Greek: HThikoi
charakteres]_), which had been introduced to the Western world by
Casaubon at the end of the sixteenth century. For some reason or
other, the greatest impression had been made by Theophrastus in
England, where there appeared a large number of successive imitations
or paraphrases of his "Characters." In France, on the other hand,
Theophrastus was still unknown to the vulgar, when La Bruyere took him
up. It seems likely that his own collection of portraits and maxims
was practically finished, when, as M. Paul Morillot has put it, he
determined to hoist the Greek flag as a safeguard. He made a French
translation of the sketches of Theophrastus, and he put this at the
head of his book, waving it to keep off the public, as a lady unfurls
her parasol at a cow whose intentions are uncertain.

The evidences of La Bruyere's extreme caution are amusing. He
hesitated long, but in 1687 he submitted his MS. to Boileau, who was
highly encouraging, and to the poet-mathematician, Malizian, who said,
"This will bring you plenty of readers and plenty of enemies." Finally
he determined to risk the dive, and he took the book to Michallet, the
publisher, saying as he did so, "If it i