Note 160 — Chapter I · THE PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE

A naïve French poet, with the words ‘grace’ and ‘hope’ ever on his lips, somewhat scornfully depicts the French court guarded military fashion by two Italians, Pasquil and Aretino, whom he styles Bohemians of sinister aspect. ‘Diligence’ and ‘Bon Vouloir,’ old deities of the past, had much difficulty in approaching. “Noble Cœur,” says a poet, “found his ‘temporal joy’ in chatting with and serving ladies; Nature encourages Noblesse-Féminine to rule men, who include good and bad. In a delightful garden the tree of Humanity flourishes; this splits into two equal branches, that is, between the two sexes ‘one in being, one in substance, one in dignity,’ and differentiated only by accident. Vilain-Cœur and Malebouche have long been devising mischief against Noblesse-Féminine; at the instigation of Nature, Noble-Cœur at length arms himself in her defence.”