Life, Letters, and Epicurean Philosophy of Ninon de L'Enclos - The Celebrated Beauty of the Seventeenth Century by Ninon de Lenclos
page 294 of 315 (93%)
page 294 of 315 (93%)
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prosperous in his affairs; if his health is poor I shall be very
sorry. Doctor Morelli, my particular friend, accompanies the Countess of Sandwich, who goes to France for her health. The late Count Rochester, father of Madame Sandwich, had more spirit than any man in England, but Madame Sandwich has more than her father. She is generous and spirituelle, and as amiable as she is generous and spirituelle. These are a portion of her qualities. But, I have more to say about the physician than about the invalid. Seven cities, as you know, dispute among themselves, the birth place of Homer; seven great nations are quarrelling over Morelli: India, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Turkey, Italy, and Spain. The cold countries, even the temperate ones, France, England and Germany, make no pretensions. He is acquainted with every language and speaks the most of them. His style, elevated, grand and figurative, leads me to believe that he is of Oriental origin, and that he has absorbed what he found good among the Europeans. He is passionately fond of music, wild over poetry, inquisitive about paintings, a connoisseur in everything--I cannot remember all. He has friends who know architecture, and though skilled in his own profession, he is an adept in others. I pray you to give him opportunities to become acquainted with all your illustrious friends. If you make him yours, I shall consider him fortunate, for you will never be able to make him acquainted with anybody possessing more merit than yourself. It seems to me that Epicurus included in his sovereign good the |
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