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Documentatieblad werkgroep Achttiende eeuw. Jaargang 1986 (1986)

Documentatieblad werkgroep Achttiende eeuw. Jaargang 1986

(1986)– [tijdschrift] Documentatieblad werkgroep Achttiende eeuw–rechtenstatus Auteursrechtelijk beschermd

Vorige Volgende

Joseph Almagor
Pierre des Maizeaux (1673-1745): the English correspondent of the Journal Litéraire between 1713 and 1722?

Pierre Des Maizeaux had been in England for thirteen years1. when in 1713 Thomas Johnson, the famous bookseller from The Hague, launched his Journal Litéraire with a Société of intellectuals consisting of Alexandre, Themiseul de St. Hyacinthe, Albert Henri De Sallengre, Justus Van Effen and William Jacob 's Gravesande, later joined by Prosper Marchand.

By that time, Des Maizeaux had established a reputation as an able English correspondent for several of the most important periodicals on the Continent.2. This collaboration with numerous French periodicals and his general involvement in the Republic of Letters through the publication of biographies and literary essays3., advanced his position as a reliable mediator between English and French cultures.4. Des Maizeaux's success in his key role as an English correspondent depended on various factors: the fruitful cooperation between 1700 and 1710 with Jaques Bernard and his Nouvelles de la République des Lettres5., which in fact established and secured his good name for later years among the editors of the French periodicals of Europe; his presence and residence in London, a centre of growing cultural activity; the rapid tempo in which he seems to have mastered the English language and finally, his association with the English aristocracy and other prominent figures, who supplied him with news and even assisted him financially.6. It was therefore easy for Des Maizeaux to follow closely the new literary events in Britain and to report them regularly in several thousands of pages (1700-1745) in the French periodicals, particularly those published in the Netherlands.

Consequently, it was a matter of course that Samuel Masson7. in 17128. and Henri Du Sauzet9. in 171510., the editors of l'Histoire Critique de la Republique des Lettres (HCRL) (1712-1718) and Nouvelles Littéraires (NL) (1715-1720) respectively, should turn to Des Maizeaux for aid in communicating newsletters and articles from England to their

periodicals.11. Des Maizeaux's collaboration with them is very well documented in the letters sent by them to Des Maizeaux in London12. and it is only unfortunate that there is so little documentation of his work with the Journal Litéraire.

If we try to gather conclusive proof of Des Maizeaux's activities as the Journal Litéraire's English correspondent, it quickly becomes evident that this is a difficult and complicated task: none of the letters in Des Maizeaux's correspondence indicates clearly that Des Maizeaux functioned as the Journal's regular correspondent; nor can the Journal itself shed any light on this problem since all of the nouvelles littéraires d'Angleterre appeared there anonymously. Nevertheless, the question whether Des Maizeaux had been the one responsible for the newsletters from England in this periodical could be approached from several other angles in order to try and satisfy (even partially) the researcher's mind.

However vague Des Maizeaux's relationship with most of the members of the Société of the Journal Litéraire may have been, particularly in those years when they performed the role of editors of this periodical13., it is nevertheless significant to note the connection between Justus Van Effen, Thomas Johnson and Des Maizeaux. Van Effen met Des Maizeaux in London during his first visit to England between spring 1715 and winter 1716; later Van Effen was to inform Des Maizeaux of the appearance of his famous Dissertation sur la Poesie Angloise in the Journal Litéraire14. claiming that this important essay owed much to Amboise Philips in its composition.15. Whether it was Des Maizeaux or not, the newsletters from England propagated as early as 1714 that someone was working on such a project.16. Furthermore, the connection between Thomas Johnson and Des Maizeaux is most illuminating particularly as far as the latter's possible involvement with the Journal is concerned. Des Maizeaux had contact with Johnson from as early as 170317. and therefore it should not be surprising that Des Maizeaux attached a somewhat personal introduction to his sole article (Open-Letter) in the Journal Litéraire:

Je vous suis fort obligé, Monsieur, de l'exactitude avec laquelle vous m'envoyez vos Journaux: je les lis toûjours avec beaucoup de plaisir, & je souhaiterois de pouvoir produire quelque chose qui fûr digne d'y avoir place, pour répondre à l'invitation réitérée que vous m'en faites.18.

The question remains, naturally, whether this ‘invitation’ also included the despatch of English news. In any case Des Maizeaux did correspond with Johnson and/or Van Effen, although the contents of those letters

are not clear or, as in the case of Van Effen, do not shed any real light on Des Maizeaux's association with the Journal.19.

 

There are other parts of Des Maizeaux's correspondence at the British Library, however, that reveal some details regarding his possible collaboration with the Journal Litéraire. Jean Le Clerc, for example, in recommending Du Sauzet and his periodical to Des Maizeaux, also mentioned the possibility of the latter already being committed to the authors of the Journal and therefore not being available to the Nouvelles Littéraires.20. However, it is not clear whether Le Clerc assumed this fact or expressed a certain common knowledge about Des Maizeaux's acitivities.

Samuel Masson, on the other hand, must have known much more about Des Maizeaux's doings since he kept regular contact with his English correspondent. In a letter dated November 1715 he sent the following angry remark to Des Maizeaux as a result of the latter's failure to supply him with fresh newsletters:

(...) vous êtes si occupé à envoyer des nouvelles à Du Sauzet et peut-être encore à d'autres, que vous ne pensez guère à moi. Si cela est, il faudra à l'avenir, que je fasse comme je pourrai, et que je ne m'attendrai plus à vous, quoiqu'avec chagrin.21.

Was Masson using the words ‘à d'autres’ to refer to the Journal Litéraire, his rival periodical? This possibility should not be overlooked.

Of particular interest, however, are Du Sauzet's letters to Des Maizeaux. In February 1715 Du Sauzet wrote to his only recently recruited correspondent the following passage:

Un moment après avoir reçû vôtre paquet, je me donnai l'honneur de vous écrire fort à la hâte pour profiter du depart de M. Devenvorde. Je donnai à son fils un paquet adressé à M. Saurin dans lequel il y avoit un Pavillon pour vous avec 2 exemplaires de toutes mes Nouvelles Litter. Je ne voulus pas que votre adresse parût à cause de M. Vanef*, un des Journalistes qui auroit pû en parler à Johnson.22.

Only a few days later, after the package had been opened (intentionally?) by Van Effen, Du Sauzet became alarmed and worried that Des Maizeaux might, as a result of this incident, cease to send him newsletters; he then wrote an apologetic letter to Des Maizeaux, remarking

Je vous conjure de ne point discontinuer pour cela à me donner vos bons avis; et soyez persuadé que je ne manquerai pas de prendre toutes les précautions possibles pour qu'on ne se doute de rien.23.

Evidently Des Maizeaux did not wish Johnson to know that he also had dealings with one of his greatest competitors, Henri Du Sauzet. Des Maizeaux might have feared the complications which could arise from the disclosure that the same correspondent was working for both the Journal Litéraire and the Nouvelles Littéraires, since Du Sauzet himself was to confess

M.M. les Journalistes Littéraires ont vû avec quelque peine le succés de mes petites Nouvelles; Johnson surtout a taché de les decrier autant qu'il a pû. D'ailleurs il s'y est mêlé un peu de jalousie, mon etablissement ne lui a pas fait plaisir depuis qu'il a connu que bien de personnes de merite me temoignent quelque consideration croyant trouver en moi un peu de probité, et moins d'ignorance que dans le commun des libraires qui sont ici.24.

The rivalry between the booksellers and publishers was very real and neither Des Maizeaux nor Du Sauzet desired to create at this stage any extra tensions. It is also possible that Des Maizeaux did not wish to endanger the other transactions with Thomas Johnson, who was the address for the distribution of English books in the Netherlands, by announcing his association with Du Sauzet.

 

What is probably more illuminating than this background information, which is meant to establish Des Maizeaux's authority on the greater part of the English news printed in the Journal Litéraire, are the contents of the despatches themselves, revealing similar or even identical sources of information compared with the English newsletters particularly in Masson's and/or Du Sauzet's periodicals. It will be enlightening to realize for example, that about 50% (70 items of a total of 149 between the years 1713-1722)25. of the items discussed in the Journal Litéraire were also mentioned in l'Histoire Critique and/or Nouvelles Littéraires, in more or less the same period of time. More than that, in 95% of the cases the opinions and standpoints expressed in the Journal are very similar to those argued in the other two periodicals which owed their news to Des Maizeaux's hand.26. In some cases, the contents of the despatches are almost completely identical and if we ignore a few slight and insignificant additions which always appeared as editorial notes, we have several identical passages which could not but have come from the same source of information.

The following examples should demonstrate the curious similarity in the correspondent's personal view and not, as one could refer to in a dozen other cases, despatches reproducing quotations from Introductions, Prefaces or Plans of Publications which could easily have been written by any member of the board of editors of the Journal*:

∏sp;

1) JL, III-1, jan. -fev. 1714, p. 220 (De Cambridge).

Bentley a publié deux brochures contre le Discours sur le Droit de penser librement, où selon sa coûtume, il maltraite fort l'auteur contre lequel il écrit. Il n'entre guéres dans le fonds de l'affaire en question, mais il s'attache à critiquer les citations de ce Discours, & à disputer sur le sens des passages des auteurs anciens qui y sont alléguez. Le Docteur Edwards fait imprimer un livre où il défend ce Discours contre le Docteur Bentley.

l'Hist. Crit. IX (1715), p. 306 (De Cambridge).

La reponse du Dr. Bentley, au livre de Mr. Collins qui a pour titre, Discours sur la liberté de penser, paroit depuis quelque tems. Mais elle n'a pas répondu à l'idée qu'on s'en étoit faite. Quoique l'auteur y donne des preuves de son erudition, on ne trouve pas qu'il aye combattu,& renversé le sentiment de son adversaire avec toute la solidité requise. La littérature & le savoir ne suffisent pas, dans ces sortes de disputes.

NL, 29-6-1715, p. 345 (De Londres).

Le Docteur Bentley a publié deux réponses assez vives au livre écrit par M. Collins sur la liberté de penser; mais tout le monde n'en est également satisfait. On trouve que ces réponses sont super- ficielles, & qu'elles n'attaquent que foiblement l'ouvrage de M. Collins. Au lieu de s'amuser inutilement à disputer sur le sens de quelques citations, il auroit dû s'attacher à détruire par des raisons solides les sentimens qu'il desaprouve. M. Bentley vient d'être refuté par M. Edouard, qui aura bientôt sa réponse.

2) JL, VI-2 (1715), pp. 507-508 (De Londres).

On voit ici un auteur Anglois, qui dans un âge fort peu avancé se distingue extrêmement par la justesse & par le brillant de son esprit. C'est M. Pope âgé d'environ vingt-six ans. Il a fait des Eclogues admirables, en gardant un juste milieu entre Virgile & Fontenelles: The Temple of Fame, le Temple de la Renommée, est encore une
pièce qui lui a attiré des applaudissemens, & qui le rend digne d'occuper une des meilleurs places dans un lieu dont il a fait un tableau si magnifique ... Toutes ces productions ne sont que de foibles essais, en comparaison de l'entreprise qu'il a formée de donner au public l'Iliade d'Homere traduite en vers Anglois. Cette traduction sera à ce qu'on croit plus literale que celle de M. de la Motte, & l'on est fort curieux de savoir, si malgré toute l'etenduë de son genie, l'Auteur fera goûter aux Anglois ce Poëte Grec sans l'habiller un peu à la moderne. Son dessein a été turlupiné dans une Lettre badine, qu'on croit être du fils cadet de feu M. l'Evêque de Salisbury. Il y a dans cette brochure beaucoup de vivacité & d'imagination ...

The Nouvelles Littéraires reproduces an identical report, see: 2-11-1715, pp. 285-287 (De Londres).

 

3) In the JL, IX-2 (1717), pp. 478-479, the English correspondent informed the readers when dealing with the Bangorian Controversy that ‘Je ne raporte que l'essentiel, laissant plusieurs incidens à part pour éviter la longueur’. This is really the case if we compare the newsletter with those on the same topic appearing in l'Histoire Critique XV (1718), pp. 318-328 and Nouvelles Littéraires 3-7-1717, pp. 4-16. Furthermore, in addition to the fact that the construction of all those extracts is quite similar, several of the private opinions expressed there are word for word identical, especially as far as Du Sauzet's periodical and the Journal are concerned: in both cases the English correspondent uses similar words in order to judge the Bishop of Bangor's and Dr. Snape's standpoints:

 

in the JL, p. 477:

La première brochure qui parut contre ce Sermon étoit d'un Docteur nommé Snape, un des Aumoniers du Roi; ce Docteur y fit paroître beaucoup d'aigreur; l'Evêque lui repondit avec autant de douceur, & lui fit voir que l'animosité apart, ils étoient dans le fond d'un même sentiment ...

in the NL, p. 15:

Le Docteur Snape, principal du Collége d'Eton, a publié contre ce prélat un brochure très violent: l'Evêque y a repondu avec beaucoup de douceur, & a mis dans tout son jour l'ignorance & la mauvaise foi de son adversaire ...

The possibility of plagiary between those periodicals should not be disregarded or overlooked. Even Du Sauzet and Masson themselves

realized that their English newsletters were often identical to what was published in the Journal Litéraire: in a letter from June 1715 Du Sauzet indeed wrote to Des Maizeaux on this subject while referring to the appearance of the new volume (t. VI-1) of the Journal:

Le Journal contient encore grand nombre de nouvelles; mais par malheur j'en ai dit la plus grande partie depuis plusieurs mois, et il paroit qu'on a presque tout tiré de mes feuilles.(!) Les journalistes feroient fort bien de me laisser le soin des Nouvelles Littéraires, et de s'attacher uniquement aux Extraits des Livres ...27.

In this case Du Sauzet was completely correct, since volume VI-1 of the Journal did appear after the publication of the Nouvelles Littéraires, accompanied by similar items of English news.28. It is not impossible that the editors of the Journal had those news despatches in their possession before Du Sauzet but only published them after they had already appeared in the Nouvelles Littéraires, but this is a very wild assumption nowhere to be verified. It is nevertheless conceivable that Du Sauzet suspected that Des Maizeaux was also behind the Journal's newsletters but because of his total dependency29. on the latter's cooperation, he had no desire to raise any doubts about Des Maizeaux's integrity. It is also possible that this question was not raised because most of the French periodicals received their news information from the same sources; in the case of the news originating from Paris, for example, Du Sauzet and the Société of the Journal Litéraire depended on communications from Boscheron.30.

Whether Des Maizeaux's integrity should be discussed here or not, he himself indicated that identical English newsletters of his appeared in more than one periodical; in a curious and anonymous passage in one of the English newsletters in l'Histoire Critique he communicated the following remark:

Voila, Monsieur, un recueil de nos Nouveautez Littéraires qui, je m'assure, vous paroitra assez ample. Je m'imagine, que vous ne serez pas le seul qui en ferez usage, car je m'apperçoi qu'il y a des gens en Hollande & ailleurs, qui savent s'en servir. Je veux parler de quelques auteurs, ou Debiteurs de Nouvelles de Littérature, qui sur cet article là transcrivent assez souvent vôtre Journal, & d'une manière même qui leur fait peu d'honneur.31.

Du Sauzet saw, then, the need to defend himself against this general accusation knowing probably that Des Maizeaux was the one who composed this piece:

Je ne crois pas que ceci me regarde. Il faudroit que l'auteur fût ou bien mal instruit, ou bien peu équitable. Pour le prouver je n'ai qu'à citer les pages de l'Histoire Crit. où la plûpart de ces Nouvelles se trouvent, & indiquer en même tems les feuilles de mes nouvelles où j'en ai parlé depuis long-tems ... si je trouve dans ce Journal ou dans les autres des choses qui me paroissent mériter l'attention des savans (ce qui arrive fort rarement dans celui-ci) je ne ferai pas difficulté de le recueillir, en aiant plusieurs fois averti le public, afin de prévenir les reproches qu'on pourroit me faire là-dessus.32.

Were Des Maizeaux and Du Sauzet also referring to the Journal Litéraire? This naturally has to be considered, but it seems that it did not influence Des Maizeaux's further work for Henri Du Sauzet or Samuel Masson; the latter even expressed general consent for Des Maizeaux's contributing material to the Nouvelles Littéraires:

Pour ce qui regarde du Sauzet, je serois bien fâché de vous empêcher de lui être utile, et de lui procurer autant de nouvelles qu'il vous sera possible, bien persuadé que tout ce qui sort de votre plume ne peut qu'être infiniment agréable au public.33.

In spite of this approval Masson still remained suspicious about the material sent to him; in November 1716 he wrote his English correspondent the following passage:

J'ai recu, Monsieur, avant hier au soir deux pièces de la Haye, sans savoir de qui, ni d'où elles viennent proprement ... je souhaiterois savoir, si elles n'ont point été envoyées au Sr. du Sauzet, ou à quelqu'autre avant de me parvenir; Car il n'y a pas de plaisir d'avoir & de publier le Rebut des autres qui après cela s'en vantent, comme on a vû ...34.

Can the Journal's news from England be ascribed then, at least partly, to the work of a plagiarist? This contingency is very difficult to assess, since in many cases the despatches published in the Journal preceded those of similar content appearing in the Nouvelles Littéraires and/or l'Histoire Critique.35. Definite conclusions cannot be drawn but it is not likely that the rivalry between them permitted any room for voluntary cooperation; Du Sauzet felt that Johnson was trying to put him out of business36. and later could not forgive Van Effen's conduct in regard to Du Sauzet's plans in 1719 to unite the Nouvelles Littéraires with the Journal under the leadership of Van Effen: after the whole affair seemed to have been settled, Van Effen cancelled the project at the last

moment and left Du Sauzet frustrated and full of resentment.37. Samuel Masson, on the other hand, was even more negative in his attitude towards the Journal and its Société. We should not forget that l'Histoire Critique was involved in a long and weary dispute with Johnson's periodical about Marchand's edition of Bayle's Lettres (1714), which had been initiated by Des Maizeaux himself.38. Masson called Marchand and his associates ‘canailles qui ne cherchent que de tels combats pour se donner par-là quelque relief’39.; and after volume VII-2 of the Journal appeared in 1716 with a series of attacks on Masson and his periodical, he wrote to Des Maizeaux, ‘Ces gens-là & les auteurs de ces différentes pièces, n'ont pas la moindre idée que ce qu'on appelle honneur dans le monde. Ces Journalistes vont au grand galop vers les boutiques des epiciers & des Beurrières ...’.40.

Consequently, the hypothesis seems rather probable that if identical newsletters did find their way into those three periodicals at one time or another, they arrived directly from Des Maizeaux or, at least, that they were plagiarisms, which did not actually alter the fact that in both cases Des Maizeaux had been their source of information.

Thus far we have established that Justus Van Effen, Thomas Johnson and Des Maizeaux, the first two as leading forces behind the Journal, were associated with one another in the years in question - an association referred to in the correspondence of Du Sauzet and Masson. Furthermore, there are striking similarities between the views expressed in certain of the Journal's despaches and the way they are formulated, and those published in l'Histoire Critique and Nouvelles Littéraires, periodicals that Des Maizeaux regularly contributed to. These circumstances, we feel, are sufficient to justify the conclusion that Des Maizeaux fulfilled the role of the Journal's English correspondent. It is, however, a completely different matter to establish whether he was the only person behind those news items between 1713 and 1722. Here in fact no conclusion can be drawn since there is no evidence to support this assumption: we cannot, for example, trace for each and every English newsletters Des Maizeaux's authorship. In the light of this situation, it is better to refer in the discussion of the contents of the newsletters to a correspondent, although quite clearly Des Maizeaux had an important hand in their composition.

 

The English newsletters themselves are uniform in character: the despatches review briefly the new publications which had appeared a couple of months before on the English book-market or were about to appear shortly after. Most of the items were accompanied by an account of their contents, in addition to long translated titles in French and only partially in English.

Between 1713 and 1722 the items belonging to the categories41. Belles Lettres and Historical & Political Tracts outnumbered those of other categories but it should be emphasized that numerous political and historical publications dealt with theological questions, such as the future state of the Anglican Church in society, while some philosophical essays displayed extreme involvement with theo-political issues, as in the case of Deism or Free-thinking ideas. All in all, it was almost always possible to classify the works on the basis of the information given in the despatches.

1. Belles Lettres

It is evident from the English newsletters that the correspondent wished to stimulate the knowledge of English Belles Lettres on the Continent by propagating its uniqueness and ingenuity and by paying special attention to men of letters such as Alexander Pope, Joseph Addison and Richard Steele.

In the first place and in order to emphasize the great potential of the British nation, the correspondent of the Journal pointed to the important, even essential, role played by men of letters in the British society, as if to suggest that a better society is that which employs members of the Republic of Letters in key positions of political influence:

C'est assez la mode chez nous, depuis quelque tems, d'employer des Poëtes & des beaux Esprits dans des Postes publics. M. Prior, par example, est Plénipotentiaire en France; M. Addison a été Secretaire d'Irlande; & M. Row Sous-Secretaire d'Etat sous le Duc de Queensbery. M. Philips a été Secretaire en Danemarc; vous avez aussi vû M. Fenton Secretaire de Mylord Orrery aux Païs-Bas, & M. Harrison Secretaire d'Ambassade au Congrès d'Utrecht.42.

Nevertheless, the English correspondent was inclined to admit that although the qualities of the English authors were unquestionable, the difficulty of understanding the English language prevented most of the readers on the Continent from recognizing their literary achievements:

C'est un malheur pour les beaux Esprits de ce païs que leur Langue soit en quelque sorte restrainte dans les mêmes bornes que leurs Isles; c'est en même temps un bonheur pour les auteurs François, qui peut-être par cela seul, restent en possession de surpasser les autres peuples en matiere de bel Esprit.43.

But however difficult the situation was, the correspondent proposed to overcome it partly by composing a preliminary essay in French on the subject of English Letters, including it in the Journal Litéraire:

Je pourrai vous entretenir un jour plus au long sur nos Poëtes & sur leurs Ouvrages. Je m'imagine que si on vous en fournissoit la matière, une Dissertation sur la Poësie Angloise, & sur les Poëtes de notre Nation, ne seroit pas moins agréable aux François & autres Estranges, que cette Dissertation sur la Poësie Hollandoise qu'on a vûë dans votre Journal de Janvier & Février de cette année.44.

This proposed Dissertation was indeed later realized by Justus Van Effen after his return from his first visit to England.45.

Alexander Pope was one of the examples adduced to demonstrate the English capacity for poetry. Very highly recommended by the English correspondent, Pope was considered in 1714 as a poet ‘fort estimé ici pour son talent dans la poësie Angloise’ emphasizing that among his works that ‘lui a attiré le plus d'applaudissemens, c'est un Poëme Heroï-Comique en quatre Chants, qu'il a fait sur un boucle de cheveux enlevée du col d'une belle Demoiselle, par un Chevalier de ses amis. Cette Piéce a pour titre: The Rape of the Lock ...’.46.

About a year later, the praise of Pope's Temple of Fame was accompanied by some expectations regarding a work of his in progress, the translation of Homer's Iliad:

Cette traduction sera à ce qu'on croit plus literale que celle de M. de la Motte, & l'on est fort curieux de savoir, si malgré toute l'étenduë de son genie, l'auteur fera goûter aux Anglois ce Poëte Grec sans l'habiller un peu à la mode.47.

Finally in 1717, after reading the first three volumes of this important project, the judgement of the correspondent was that,

Plus on lit cet Ouvrage plus on est charmé & d'Homere & de son Traducteur. Nos plus grands Critiques disent, qu'on n'a qu'à lire cette belle Traduction avec les notes du Traducteur, & les comparer avec l'original, pour repondre à presque tout ce que les Critiques & les beaux Esprits de France ont écrit contre Homere. Ce n'est pas que M. Pope defend Homere en tout, il avoüe ses défauts avec ingenuité qui fait plaisir; mais on y trouve tant de beau & de grand qu'on lui pardonne aisément quelques legers défauts.48.

Besides Alexander Pope, Joseph Addison was also accorded a distin-

guished place in the despatches: he was considered the ‘Newton of Belles Lettres’ by the English public, particularly as a result of the success of his tragedy Cato and the periodicals The Tatler & The Spectator, and was elevated by the English correspondent to the level of the best French authors:

Des personnes d'une capacité distinguée, qui entendent notre Langue, quoique accoûtumées à n'admirer que les Tragiques François, conviennent que tout au moins cette pièce[Cato]va de pair avec ce que Corneille & Racine ont fait de meilleur dans ce genre.49.

At the same time the newsletters displayed a certain amount of caution, suggesting that the form of the Tragedy was apparently not one of the best literary productions of Addison and it was wiser not to draw any final conclusions about the quality of his Cato. In addition, Addison is mentioned as having succeeded in drawing attention to his heroic poem The Campaign, and in reference to the Opera Rosemonde the correspondent's opinion remained of a general nature:

Les Poëtes Anglois ne s'attireront plus de Réputation par ces sortes de Poëmes, les droits des Oreilles ont prevalu ici sur les droits de l'Esprit. Les Operas sont tous en Italien, langage fort peu entendu ici, & les gens de bon sens qui les entendent, les trouvent impertinents au suprême degré.50.

It is very interesting to note that this judgement on the English Operas has dominated the English artistic scene until today and that very few English Operas have become successful, famous or popular outside the British Isles.

As to other forms of lyrical or poetical experiments, the Journal's English correspondent wrote that the English were very advanced, giving as an example of this Brady's new free-verse translation of Virgil:

Nous avons beaucoup d'ouvrages fort estimez en Vers Anglois sans rime; que vos Poëtes François ont de la peine à comprendre; il semble qu'ils regardent la Rime comme de l'essence de la Poësie moderne. Nous verrons si cette traduction de Virgile surpassera toutes celles que nous avons déja.51.

Consequently, the English were much more open to receive and accept into their literature the influence of any valuable work composed in foreign languages:

Il n'y a gueres de livres estimez en aucune autre langue, dont on n'ait fait des traductions Angloises; & on continuë d'en faire encore tous les jours.52.

The works of Molière, Despreaux and St. Evremond were but examples of a vast number of translations into English.53.

Generally speaking Richard Steele's publications were hardly mentioned in the Journal's newsletters from England and rarely discussed or examined in depth: mention is made of his involvement with The Spectator, The Tatler and The Guardian, and of The English, which angered the whole Tory party because of the sharp criticism expressed there of their political ideas.54.

Several periodicals were discussed in the newsletters apart from those of Addison and Steele: the Philosophical Transactions55. and Michel de la Roche's Mémoires de Litérature are also mentioned. The English correspondent devoted particular attention to the latter, commenting that it contained a collection of pieces taken from French and Latin periodicals published on the Continent and was accompanied by various reviews on English publications. This project did not survive long and was soon abandoned in spite of its high quality, which caused the correspondent to write of this sad event

Cela fait voir que le nombre des Savans curieux n'y est pas fort grand à present. La raison en est, que l'Esprit de Parti & d'Animosité a tellement saisi presque tout le monde ici, qu'il semble qu'on a négligé tout autre soin, pour celui de s'entre-déchirer & de s'entredétruire. Ainsi, les Lettres sont entiérement négligées à present, & nos presses ne roulent que sur de méchantes Brochures & Libelles, qui ne valent pas la peine qu'on en parle dans les Païs étrangers.56.

This passage is rather unique in the despatches since nowhere else can we read such harsh criticism on the state of literary affairs in England as here. The correspondent (or should we say here Des Maizeaux?) was apparently angry and disappointed that such a promising periodical was no longer there to offer the interesting possibility of publishing outstanding material.

2. Political & Historical Tracts

Numerous items ascribed to this category between 1713 and 1722 were devoted to the struggle between State and Church. Very rarely did the English correspondent express his personal opinion, but whatever his political convictions were, he was generally averse to religious questions being dragged into the debates:

Comme si la Nation n'étoit pas assez déchirée par les Partis & les Disputes sur les affaires de Politique, nous en avons encore de Religion, qui nous donnent bien de la tablature, & qui pourront avoir des suites dangereuses. Car, il n'y a rien que les hommes regardent avec moins d'indifférence que ces matiéres-là, & rien où l'on prenne plus aisément parti sans examiner.57.

Although the correspondent emphasized his desire to remain aloof from the disputes, he nevertheless proved very interested in one debate, namely, the Bangorian Controversy. Benjamin Hoadly, Bishop of Bangor, was known to possess advanced latitudinarian ideas in questions of State and Religion. The newsletters represent him as an author who ‘ayant publié quelques pieces bien écrites sur la nature du gouvernement civil, où il marque fort distinctement les bornes de l'autorité du Souverain & de l'obéïssance que les Sujets lui doivent, il se fit beaucoup d'Amis parmi les Fauteurs de la Liberté, & autant d'ennemis parmi les Partisans du pouvoir absolu que tous nos Torys ou Rigoristes soutiennent tant dans les affaires civiles qu'ecclesiastiques’.58. This favourable opinion on Hoadly was followed by a review of the sermon he preached before the English King on 31 March 1717, in which he argued that Jesus Christ, in his famous ‘my Kingdom is not of this World’ implied in fact that the Church (including the Anglican Church) should not aim or try to impose its laws on the secular society, since Jesus Christ's laws and Kingdom were completely different from the established society. This Sermon aroused the Tories and their associates in the Anglican Church and the dispute escalated so much that the king was forced to intervene and put an end to it.59. The correspondent clearly supported the Bishop of Bangor, and praised the tenor of the latter's answers to his adversaries. Hoadly had even tried to prove the similarity of ideas between him and Dr. Snape of Eton who led the attack on the Bishop of Bangor, a similarity which had been ignored only because of blind animosity.60.

As far as historical essays were concerned, the English correspondent of the Journal Litéraire seems to have had very little personal interest, simply noting some pieces without any further ado: Gilbert Burnet's History of the Reformation of the Church of England (3rd volume) justified Henry VIII's acts regarding the Roman Catholic Church61., Elias Ashmole's History of the most noble Order of the Garter (re-printed) and the anonymous History of the most Serene House of Brunswick-Lunenburg (transl. from German).62. Finally, in the case of Richard Steele's The Romish Ecclesiastical History of (the) late Years, the despatch pronounced the opinion that it was ‘peu de chose & même l'ouvrage répond assez mal au titre’63., while the similar

projects (which Steele promised but never accomplished) of The History of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes and The History of the War of the Spanish Succession, prompted a rather vague remark on Steele's qualities: ‘Par le moyen de tous ces Ecrits sa reputation est fort bas à present. Il faut du talent pour acquérir de la reputation, mais il faut de la prudence & de la conduite pour la souhaiter quand on l'a acquise’.64.

3. Sciences & Philosophy

The dispute between Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz on the problem of who had been the first to invent the Differential Calculus took up much space in the English newsletters. This confrontation increasingly assumed the character of a national debate, since the two Royal Societies, those of Berlin and London, each defended their champion's claims and prestige. The report presented in the newsletters from England agrees with the conclusion of the Royal Society of London affirming the claims made for Newton's originality by the great scientist's followers, such as John Wallis, John Keill and Nicolas Fatio de Dulliers.65.

Apart from this celebrated dispute, the newsletters also paid attention to the new edition of Newton's Principles of Philosophy, edited by Roger Cotes. Among other things, this work demonstrated Newton's theo-philosophical ideas, particularly, as it was put in the Journal:

(...) l'idée de Dieu n'est pas selon la Métaphysique, d'un Etre dont la durée est un instant & l'étenduë un point; mais au contraire que Dieu est une substance qui remplit toute l'étenduë, & qui est infini par toute la durée possible; qui agit sur tous les êtres créez, mais sur qui les créatures n'ont aucune action; & dont les créatures n'ont d'autre perception que celle que cet Etre veut leur donner, par les facultez avec lesquelles il les a créées. De sorte que la même étenduë est pénétrée de Dieu & des Créatures, sans que les Créatures s'en apperçoivent.66.

The correspondent chose here to emphasize Newton's wish to translate the World into a harmonious construction in which Nature does nothing in vain and where God's will guides the Universe from within.67.

 

As Newton dominated the English scientifical scene in the despatches, so did Anthony Collins with his philosophical essays, particularly: Discours of Freethinking (1713) and The Philosophical Inquiry concerning Human Liberty (1717). The correspondent (Des Maizeaux?) promoted Collins's work and upheld his views.68.

The aim of the Discourse was, according to the newsletters69. ‘de prouver que tout homme est en droit de penser librement sur toutes sortes de sujets’; the author was highly praised since he ‘fait voir les grands avantages qui en reviennent à la Société, aux Arts & aux Sciences &c. quand les hommes s'appliquent à examiner avec liberté toutes sortes de matières qui méritent leur attention; & les grands inconveniens qui arrivent, quand on veut borner son esprit à cet égard’. This book, the correspondent continued, contained a violent attack on the principles of Religion but in fact, many of the ideas known to the public on Collins's pretentions were only ascribed to him by others, ‘ce sont des citations des Auteurs les plus savans, les plus graves, & les plus respectez, qu'il fait venir à son sujet, ou pour illustrer ce qu'il avance, ou pour servir d'exemple, ou bien pour dire des choses qu'il n'a pas trouvé à propos de dire lui-même’. This situation resulted in a long series of accusations, particularly from the Anglican clergy replying at length to Collins's Discourse.

It is evident that the English correspondent of the Journal did his best to help the French reading public to understand Collins's ideas, aware as he was of the difficulties involved:

Il faudroit même un grand Commentaire pour le faire entendre aux étrangers, parce qu'étant écrit contre les Gens de notre Eglise, & tout ce qui s'y trouve ayant raport à eux principalement, & à leurs Docteurs &c. les Etrangers ne sauroient guères s'y intéresser; & cela me fait croire qu'il ne pourra jamais être traduit dans aucune autre langue, avec le moindre succès.70.

Collins's Discourse, a defence of the right of lay people to interpret the Bible and an attack on the (Anglican) Church for not accepting this situation, caused extreme reactions from various sides: in 1714, even the Journal Litéraire was obliged to comment that they did not share their English correspondent's views on Collins's Discourse and that there was therefore no reason for readers to send their complaints to the editors.71. Nevertheless, the English correspondent continued to defend Collins's ideas against attacks from men like Richard Bentley, whose response to Collins was seen as shallow, superficial and unsuccessful in replying to the kernel of Collins's arguments.72. The identification of Bentley's standpoint with the attack on Collins by the Tory party only showed how misguided their position was, in the correspondent's view.73.

It should be noted that the despatches continued to stand behind Collins. In 1717, in reaction to the appearance of the latter's Philosophical Inquiry, they passed the following judgement

C'est une piece fort bien écrite, qui tend à prouver que l'homme est toujours un Agent necessaire... Plusieurs ont écrit contre ce livre; mais l'Auteur n'a pas daigné de leur repondre, croyant aparamment ce qu'il a avancé assez bien fondé pour resister à toutes les attaques qu'on lui pourra faire. Aussi ne voit on pas que la piece soit moins estimée parmi les habiles gens...74.

The English correspondent also recommended the publication of an article on Collins's Philosophical Inquiry in the Journal.75.

4. Theology and Religion

Various publications devoted to theological and religious topics were directly linked with philosophical and/or political questions. Here, too, the correspondent was displeased with the excessive number of theological treatises which appeared on the English book-market; it only served to fan continuous debate between antagonistic parties and created unrest in society. In 1714 one of the despatches summed up this situation in the following words:

Il paroit toûjours ici quantité de livres de Controverse sur les différens de Religion: On dispute sur le Batême; les uns soutenant qu'il ne faudroit l'administrer qu'aux personnes-adultes, & les autres qu'il le faut administrer aux enfans. Autre Dispute sur la validité du Batême, administré par des Laïques, ou Ministres Presbiteriens, ou autres qui n'ont pas l'Ordination Episcopale. Il y a encore plusieurs autres disputes fort échauffées entre ceux de notre Eglise Anglicane & les différentes Sectes des Nonconformistes: mais ce qu'il y a de pis pour ces derniers, c'est que le Parlement travaille à un Acte, qui pourra leur faire bien du mal; sans faire du bien à l'Eglise Anglicane, & sans lui procurer un seul ami de plus.76.

It seems that the correspondent was very much concerned with the reputation of the English on the Continent following this confrontation between different congregations and the Anglican Church. It is evident that the newsletters did not only express aversion to theologians in general, but also tended to keep aloof from all those who were overzealous in their pursuit of a religious conviction:

Nos Ecclesiastiques, que la trop grande abondance rend turbulents, nous fournissent toûjours des disputes pour mettre la division parmi le Peuple, ou pour l'y entretenir. Quelquefois l'Eglise est en danger, on ne sait par où; d'autres fois elle est toute Schismatique, & il

n'y a que deux ou trois Mutins, qui par un esprit de rebellion refusent de se soumettre au Souverain, & se trouvant par-là hors de leurs emplois ils s'érigent en seuls vrais Successeurs des Apôtres, & declarent tous les autres Schismatiques. Et il y a parmi nous quantité de gens assez foibles pour se mettre en peine de ces disputes des Théologiens. Celle que nous avons presentement sur le tapis, qui attire l'attention de tout le monde, & qui a déja produit autant ou plus de livres ou brochures parmi nous que la Constitution Unigenitus parmi les Catholiques, est des plus plaisantes qu'on ait jamais vu; ...77.

The despatches do, however, show signs of sympathy with those who did not follow the main stream of the Anglican Church, like Benjamin Hoadly with his interpretation of the New Testament78. or Samuel Clarke and his natural theology. Indeed, the extracts from England defended Clarke against those who called him Arian and claimed that although Clarke ‘eût prouvé, que le Systême ordinaire & les Confessions des Eglises d'apresent sont peu conformes à l'Ecriture, on ne doute point qu'il ne s'en accommode enfin, plutôt que d'être Martyr de son opinion; qui dans le fond n'est pas plus raisonable que celle qu'il veut refuter’.79.

Finally, with reference to the place of William Whiston's philosophical-theological works in the despatches, it should be emphasized that the attitude of the correspondent is rather interesting: at one point Whiston's declaration of his Arianism is noted as occasioning ‘la peine ... à notre (!) Eglise’, while his theological tracts are considered with much objectivity.80. The fact that Whiston gave up so much for his principles and beliefs, including his post as a teacher of Mathematics at Cambridge, led the correspondent to recognize his personal values and qualities.81. The newsletters did not, therefore, reject Whiston's primitive religion based particularly on the first three centuries of Christianity; indeed the despatches did not discuss or criticize Whiston's theories in any detail, being more of a general report. This was also the case with his Theory of the Earth, where it was calculated when precisely the Great Flood had taken place.82.

5. Law and Jurisprudence

In none of the English news of the Journal Litéraire can one find a debate on legal publications. There are three or four mentions of titles of works in the despatches, but in no case is sufficient material present for any real discussion.

Epilogue

In ascribing the English newsletters published between 1713 and 1722 in the Journal Litéraire, or at least part of them, to Pierre Des Maizeaux one should not forget that, in the November-December number of 1714, he also contributed an Open-Letter addressed to Thomas Johnson.83. This contained remarks on several French publications and commented on various articles which had appeared in the Journal de Trévoux. It also included a long comparison between the editions published in Paris and Brussels of a work entitled Methode pour étudier l'Histoire. Des Maizeaux wished to prove in this OpenLetter that accuracy in the manner of writing a treatise, tracts, essay or book, is the only way to avoid unnecessary errors which might lead to the misinterpretation of the author's original intention.

This was not the only piece which involved Des Maizeaux with the Journal, since indirectly Des Maizeaux had been the reason for the appearance of several articles written by Prosper Marchand against Des Maizeaux and in defence of his projects of Pierre Bayle's Lettres Choisies (1714) and Dictionaire (1720).84. Des Maizeaux's extracts against Marchand were published by Masson in his Histoire Critique.85. In addition, it is evident that the newsletters from England influenced the contents of the Journal and numerous items first mentioned in the despatches later influenced the choice of material for other articles published in the Journal.86.

The Nouvelles Littéraires d'Angleterre of the Journal Litéraire was not the best or the proper place to go into the contents of the new publications. The despatches served more as introductions and guides for a wide French reading public interested in what was happening in Great Britain, than as real critical appraisals. In any case, an important part of those readers could not purchase most of the items presented in the newsletters and therefore relied on the general information communicated by the English correspondent or correspondents. The influence on this group of readers must have been quite considerable.

All in all, the first period (1713-1722) of the Journal produced much more information on England than the second and the third periods (1723-1737) (see, again, the Tables at the end of this article). These last two periods displayed a long list of new works which, however, were seldom accompanied by commentaries or criticism. A great number of items dealt with theological, historical and political topics, written by authors such as William Whiston, Samuel Clarke, Richard Bentley, Gilbert Burnet and the Freethinkers, Thomas Chubb and Matthew Tindall.

In the first period, the newsletters clearly followed developments in two major fields. Belles Lettres and politico-theological (or politico-

philosophical) subjects. English Belles Lettres did not only have great promise, according to our correspondent, but was already showing signs of real competition with French literary supremacy. On the other hand, the struggle between Church and State continued to dominate the British political scene, demonstrating the danger of personal animosities but also bearing testimony to freedom of debate. The Nouvelles Littéraires d'Angleterre of the Journal Litéraire depicted English intellectual society and England as a nation with a dynamism which was to dominate great areas of western culture.

In 1736, in the English news of the Journal, we read: ‘L'estime qu'on fait du génie Anglois, est si générale, que tous ceux qui se mêlent de lire s'interessent à ses productions’.87.

Table I: The place of the Nouvelles Littéraires d'Angleterre in the Journal Litéraire

year total number of pages total number of article pages total number of nouv. litt. pages total number of nouv. litt. d'Angl. pages
1713 930 848 82 17
1714 1385 1270 115 25
1715 967 880 87 9
1716 484 461 23 6
1717 487 459 28 7
1718 239 224 15 -
1719 230 230 - -
1720 250 248 2 -
1721 237 237 - -
1722 236 236 - -
1st. period 5445 5093 352 64
 
1723-28 224 224 - -
1729 969 899 70 15
1730 1000 934 66 8
1731 980 895 85 8
1732 485 472 13 8
2nd. period 3658 3424 234 39
 
1733 446 407 39 6
1734 700 671 29 8
1735 237 229 8 4
1736 473 464 9 1.5
1737 222 222 - -
3rd. period 2078 1993 85 19.5
 
total 11181 10510 671 122.5
 
percentage (%) division of the Nouv. Litt. d'Angl. pages in respect of the total Nouv. Litt. pages:
1713-1722: 17 (20.7%), 25 (21.7%), 9 (10.3%), 9 (26%), 7 (25%) = 64 (18.2%)
1723-1732: 15 (21.4%), 8 (12.1%), 8 (9.4%), 8 (61.5%) = 39 (16.6%)
1733-1737: 6 (15.4%), 8 (27.6%), 4 (50%), 1.5 (16.6%) = 19.5 (23%)
 
1713-1737: 122.5 (18.3%)

Table II: The division of the Nouvelles Littéraires of the Journal Litéraire

year total number of pages Great-Britain France The Netherlands German States Italy rest
1713 82 17 37 21.5 4 2.5 -
1714 115 25 54 18 15 2 1
1715 87 9 22 16 5 24 11
1716 23 6 8 9 - - -
1717 28 7 - 6 - 15 -
1718 15 - - 15 - - -
1719 - - - - - - -
1720 2 - 1 - - - 1
1721 - - - - - - -
1722 - - - - - - -
1st. period 352 64 122 85.5 24 43.5 13
 
1723-28 - - - - - - -
1729 70 15 10 23 15 3 4
1730 66 8 8 30 3 8 9
1731 85 8 17 24 21 - 15
1732 13 8 - 4 1 - -
2nd. period 234 39 35 81 40 11 28
 
1733 39 6 6 14 7 6 -
1734 29 8 8 4 5 4 -
1735 8 4 4 - - - -
1736 9 1.5 - 6.5 - 1 -
1737 - - - - - - -
3rd. period 85 19.5 18 24.5 12 11 -
 
total 671 122.5 175 191 76 65.5 41
% (100%) (18.3%) (26%) (28.5%) (11.3%) (9.8%) (6.1%)

1713-1722 s1723-1732 1733-1737
1) France (34.7%) 1) The Netherl. (34.6%) 1) The Netherl. (28.8%)
2) The Netherl. (24.2%) 2) German States (17.1%) 2) Great Britain (23%)
3) Great Britain (18.3%) 3) Great Britain (16.6%) 3) France (21.2%)
4) Italy (12.3%) 4) France (15%) 4) Germany (14.1%)
5) German States (6.8%) 5) the rest (12%) 5) Italy (12.9%)
6) the rest (3.7%) 6) Italy (4.7%) 6) the rest (0.0%)

Table III. The subject division of the Nouvelles Littéraires d'Angleterre88..

year total number of items Theology & Religion Law & Jurisprud. History & Politics Sciences & Arts Belles Lettres
1713 31 3 - 9 13 6
1714 74 11 2 22 14 25
1715 18 2 - 5 2 9
1716 11 8 1 1 - 1
1717 15 2 - 7 1 5
1718 - - - - - -
1719 - - - - - -
1720 - - - - - -
1721 - - - - - -
1722 - - - - - -
1st. period 149 26 3 44 30 46
 
1723-28 - - - - - -
1729 45 9 - 19 9 8
1730 29 8 - 10 7 4
1731 19 6 - 6 4 3
1732 13 7 - - 3 3
2nd. period 106 30 - 35 23 18
 
1733 23 3 - 11 7 2
1734 28 8 1 9 7 3
1735 25 2 - 7 4 12
1736 12 6 - 5 1 -
1737 - - - - - -
3rd. period 88 19 1 32 19 17
 
total 343 75 4 111 72 81

1713-1722 1723-1728
1) Belles Lettres (30.9%) 1) History & Politics (33%)
2) History & Politics (29.5%) 2) Theology & Religion (28.3%)
3) Sciences & Arts (20.1%) 3) Sciences & Arts (21.7%)
4) Theology & Religion (17.4%) 4) Belles Lettres (17%)
5) Law & Jurisprudence (2.1%) 5) Law & Jurisprudence (0%)

1729-1737 Total
1) History & Politics (36.3%) 1) History & Politics (32.3%)
2) Theology & Religion (21.6%) 2) Belles Lettres (23.6%)
3) Sciences & Arts (21.6%) 3) Theology & Religion (21.9%)
4) Belles Lettres (19.3%) 4) Sciences & Arts (21%)
5) Law & Jurisprudence (1.2%) 5) Law & Jurisprudence (1.2%)

Table IV: Quantitative Comparison between several French Periodicals published in The Netherlands (1700-1737)

the periodical tot.nr. pp. tot.nr. pp. nouv.litt. tot.nr. pp. nouv.litt. d'Anglet. tot.nr. items nouv.litt. d'Anglet. % nouv.litt. % nouv.litt. d'Anglet.
pages pages*
NRL  
(1700-1710) 15392 1772 525 921 11.5 29.6
 
l'Hist. Crit.  
(1712-1718) 6096 820 244 305 13.4 29.7
 
NL**  
(1715-1720) 4878 3659 363 366 75 9.9***
 
JL  
(1713-1722) 5445 352 64 149 6.4 18.2
(1723-1737) 5736 319 58.5 194 5.5 18.3
 
total 11181 671 122.5 343 6.0 18.2


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