You will find me over those works of Plato which treat of the immortality of the soul and its distinctness from the body; or with pen in hand, to calculate the distances of Saturn and Jupiter.

I admire God in His works, and I seek by knowledge of the truth to regulate my mind and become better.

Come in, all doors are open to you; my antechamber is not made to wear you out with waiting for me; come right in to me without giving me notice.

You bring me something more precious than silver and gold, if it be an opportunity of obliging you.

Tell me, what can I do for you?
Must I leave my books, my study, my work, this line I have just begun?
What a fortunate interruption for me is that which is of service to you!" [Illustration: La Bruyere----633] From the solitude of that closet went forth a book unique of its sort, full of sagacity, penetration, and severity, without bitterness; a picture of the manners of the court and of the world, traced by the hand of a spectator who had not essayed its temptations, but who guessed them and passed judgment on them all,--"a book," as M.de Malezieux said to La Bruyere, "which was sure to bring its author many readers and many enemies." Its success was great from the first, and it excited lively curiosity.