The Temple of Taste[1]
That cardinal o'er all the realm[2]
Revered, not he who holds the helm,
But he who o'er Parnassus reigns,
Renowned for his harmonious strains;
The patron whom all bards respect,
Who can instruct them and protect,
Whose eloquence we all admire,
Who with a true poetic fire,
In Latin verse can reason right,
Plato with Virgil can unite,
Who vindicates high heaven to man,
And quite subverts Lucretius' plan.
That cardinal, whom every one must know by this picture, desired me one day to accompany him to the Temple of Taste. "'Tis a place," said he, "which resembles the Temple of Friendship, which everybody speaks of, which few visit, and which most of those who travel to it, have never thoroughly examined."
- ↑ Jean Baptist Rousseau, in exile, became embittered against Voltaire, who had said of the former's "Ode to Posterity," that it was not likely to reach its destination. He circulated several unflattering criticisms on Voltaire's recent productions, including "Zaire," the tragedy which placed the young author at the head of the dramatic poets. Voltaire took a merry revenge in this variegated piece, "The Temple of Taste," which set the town laughing at the good-humored badinage he so freely distributes among his literary and fashionable contemporaries.
- ↑ Cardinal de Fleury
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