and his pleasure, and does not need to encumber himself with foolish
trifles. I have seen active service under M. de Villars, and in the
War of Succession, and have also run the risk of being killed
without any reason in the battle of Parma. The least you can do is
to leave me free to lick my servants, to balk my creditors, and
take, if it please me, the wives of my friends--likewise their
mistresses."

"You speak nobly," said my good master, "and you are careful to
maintain the prerogatives of the nobility."

"I have not," replied M. d'Anquetil, "those scruples which
intimidate the crowd of ordinary men, and which I consider good only
to stop the timorous and restrain the wretched."

"Well spoken!" said my tutor.

"I do not believe in virtue," replied the other.

"You're right," said my master again. "With his quite peculiar
shape, the human animal could not be virtuous without being somewhat
deformed. Look, for an example, on this pretty girl supping with us;
on her beautiful bosom, her marvellously rounded form, and the rest.
In what part of her enchanting body could she lodge a grain of
virtue? There is no room for it; everything is so firm, so juicy,
solid, and plump! Virtue, like the raven, nests in ruins. Her
dwellings are the cavities and wrinkles of the human body. I myself,
sir, who, since my childhood, have meditated over the austere
principles of religion and philosophy, could not insinuate into
myself a minimum of virtue otherwise than by means of constitutional