New-York daily tribune., 1851-10-02
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Il
MORAL REFLECTIONS, SENTENCES AND MAY
CHIID Nevlv sransated from the French lemo.
I'D. iS0 William Gowans.
We regard Rochefoucauld as the most I'M
moral of French writer's Authors who pride
themselves on their licentIous descriptions pre-
sent an antidolc to their venom III the disgust
which they excite in healthy minds Their III
nuence is temporary, confined to certain phases
of feeling, and is neuralIzed by the vigorous re-
action which follows the operation Of their subtle
poison ROchofOucauld. on the contrary, SapS
the foundation OF virtue by denying It's reality.
He reduces scltishness TO system. He mas no
faith in human excellence, and would degrade
his readers to the same state OF hopeless athe-
ism with himself For he who sees nothing 10
reverence IN man must soon lose his veneratlon
for God If the nobicst workmanship of the
divine hand with which we are acquainted Is
but tissue of falsies, the idea Of the Creator
is virtually banished from the universe. His es-
sentia attributes are taken away, and nothing
remains which the intellect caa recognize, or the
heart adore, as perfect and divine. The whole
tendency of Rochcfoucauld's Maxims is to bru
tallze humanity. He presents his loathsome
creed with an air of such candid suayity, Illus
trates 1t with such pithy and pregnant examples,
and clothes it with such plausible hg-leat OF
apparent wisdom, that he is often taken for an
oracle In reading his celebrated Reflections
You are led on 10y the seductive sweetness OF
his style until YOU are tempted TO follow hun In
to the sitting region OF moral unbelef Every
thing is so smooth so artiully wordcd, So acute
ly reasoned, that, for the moment, you become
misanthropc yourself, and lose your hold on the
prima, truths of humanity. The desplSers of
their race have found their textbook, their BIZ
bic, in his pcmicious volume. With Swift II
was an IDOL, and with Byron, IN his worSer mo
ments, the source of foul rlbaldry. The vllest
sneers at woman IN which Byron INDUCES IN
his most desperate, or most drunken moods, O0r
We know that he composed Don Juan under the
influence OF gin,) are little more than poetlcal
translations of he Mephlstophelian maXlms
of Rocheioucauld The Infamous sentiment
of Pope, that every woman is at heart rake,
was the highest idea OF a mother, sister, or
wife, that Rocheloucauld could comprehend
Indeed, his numerous naxims on love are moth
inc bu, dferen, aspects OF tins brutal doctrine.
phemies ON woman 10 their origin in the polished
sneers of this sardonc philosopher. For IN
stance, Byron says, speaking OF women and
their lovers,
"Yet there are some, they say, who have had none,
But those who have, ne sr end with only one
Rocheioucauld has almoS, the same words.
"nis possible to meet women who have never
had affair OF galantry, hui Il Is rare 10 find any
who has had only one
So, too Byron's lines,
"ln her first passion woman loves her lover
In all the Others What she loves Is love,
are hut literal translation of one Of Rochofou-
cauld's maxlms
We have SPOKEN of the general tendency Of
RocheioucaudS writings. In o5ecung TO their
demonic derision of human virtue, We do not
deny that many of his maNlms betTay great In
sigh, into the workings OF passion, and may
sugges, important, views OF HE and character.
The best of these, think are those which At
FIRST sight sppear quite commonplace, but on
reflection, are found 10 embody truths lying be.
low the surface What can apparently be more
trite than the following, bu; We pity the man
who thinks he has exhausted their sense on 4
hasty glance:
Minds OF moderate cahbor ordinarily condemn
ery,hng which Is beyond their range
44S
Few pecrle know how 20 ~ old
ASS.
The uues. mark OF oeing born with gseS. qualities
Is beng born without envy.
$50
Nothing SO much prevents our being natural as ths
desire OF appearing SO.
II Is more easy 20 become acquainted win men n
general than with any man IN particular
4ss
We sometimes see a fool with VII, but never one
with Judgment
1, rs only persons of ErmncSs that can have real
sentences those who appear sentle are IN general
only of weak character, which easily changes INTO
aspeny. go
Men are more satrcsl from vanity than from
malice.
MANY other maxims Of Rochefcucau.d are dis
,,ncuishcd by ,holr sub:le,y and hnesse; they
serve to sharpen the worldly-~isdom OF the
reader their satire is ike the cut o. the Keen
es, and siaoo,hes, razor; and their soiNea'
power applied to pre,cnsion and Phansaism OF
character is admirable. Bul a: the same ume'
the author moves IN narrow soaere. HIS range
81 ,;sio, * Il nl.eJ iu the extreme. He h.s -