"You are the true and faithful interpreter of the mind and courage of Rome," Balzac wrote to him; "I say further, sir, you are often her teacher, and the reformer of olden times, if they have need of embellishment and support.

In the spots where Rome is of brick, you rebuild it of marble; where you find a gap, you fill it with a masterpiece, and I take it that what you lend to history is always better than what you borrow from it.

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." "They are grander and more Roman in his verses than in their history," said La Bruyere.