Critical Miscellanies (Vol 2 of 3), Essay 1: Vauvenargues

In Short

John Morley offers a critical biographical study of Luc de Clapiers, Marquis de Vauvenargues, an eighteenth-century French moralist whose short, arduous life yielded a remarkably gentle and balanced philosophy. Morley traces Vauvenargues’s path from military hardship and severe poverty to his literary friendships in Paris with figures like Voltaire. In an era dominated by Pascal’s theological gloom and La Rochefoucauld’s bitter cynicism, Vauvenargues championed character, spontaneous feeling, and human dignity. Morley details how Vauvenargues’s calm, humane aphorisms continue to offer a profound and timeless antidote to systemic misanthropy.

The Story

Morley opens by establishing the intellectual landscape against which Vauvenargues emerges: a long-standing revolt among Enlightenment thinkers against Blaise Pascal's tragic, despairing view of human nature. While thinkers like Voltaire and Condorcet vehemently attacked Pascal’s theological dogmas, Vauvenargues achieves something more subtle and lasting. Rather than swinging toward an unrealistic doctrine of perfectibility, he maintains a balanced, relative view of human virtue, genius, and happiness.

Born to noble blood but severe financial hardship, Vauvenargues endures nine grueling years in military service. He experiences the brutal realities of war, including physical freezing during the winter march from Prague to Egra and the devastating loss of a dear comrade. Broken by smallpox, frostbite, and failing eyesight, he leaves the army in 1744. His attempts to secure a diplomatic post fail because he lacks courtly favor and refuses to become a parasite at Versailles. He settles in Paris, living in narrow financial straits while enduring persistent, crippling illness.

In Paris, however, Vauvenargues finds intellectual fulfillment. He forms a deep, mutually admiring friendship with Voltaire, who recognizes his delicate genius, and attracts younger writers like Marmontel. Despite his physical suffering and impending death, these final years prove to be his most productive and serene. He crafts aphorisms, literary reflections, and character studies that reject both religious asceticism and cynical misanthropy.

Morley evaluates Vauvenargues’s literary judgments, noting his preference for Racine’s balanced art over Molière’s unpolished humor, which reflects his broader aversion to excess and grotesque exaggeration. Morley then contrasts French aphorists with English thinkers, pointing out that English moralists like Bacon and Franklin focus on outward prudence, whereas French writers probe psychological depths with poetic pensiveness.

At the heart of Vauvenargues’s philosophy is the exaltation of natural character and virtuous impulse over calculating reason or self-denying will. He rejects the premise that virtue requires an agonizing struggle against one's nature, arguing instead that true virtue flows naturally from a noble disposition. Vauvenargues dies in the spring of 1747 at just thirty-two years old, leaving behind a body of work and a serene personal example that affirm the dignity and beauty of human nature.

How It Unfolds

The reaction against Pascal Morley sets the stage by describing the eighteenth-century intellectual revolt against Pascal’s gloomy assessment of human misery, introducing Vauvenargues as the moralist who finds a humane middle ground.

Trials of war and poverty Vauvenargues survives brutal military campaigns, financial destitution, and the loss of his close companion, developing a patient, stoic sweetness rather than becoming bitter or fretful.

Retirement and diplomatic rejection Crippled by frostbite and smallpox, Vauvenargues leaves the army but finds the diplomatic corps blocked by corrupt courtly favoritism at Versailles, forcing him into a quiet literary life.

Parisian friendships and final years Settling in Paris, he earns the profound admiration of Voltaire and Marmontel, spending his last two years in quiet, cheerful intellectual labor before his early death at thirty-two.

The philosophy of character Vauvenargues formulates his core doctrine, arguing that true virtue springs spontaneously from inner character and natural feeling rather than cold, calculated prudence or harsh asceticism.

Literary portraits and legacy Morley examines Vauvenargues’s acute, life-drawn character sketches and concludes with a reflection on his soft, serene face, which perfectly mirrored his noble, compassionate soul.

The People

• Vauvenargues: A high-born French officer and moralist of fragile health and meager means. He seeks literary fame and a life of genuine merit, but faces physical ruin, poverty, and courtly neglect, ultimately transforming his suffering into a serene, compassionate philosophy of human goodness.
• Pascal: The seventeenth-century Christian thinker whose powerful, dark view of human corruption serves as the primary foil to eighteenth-century philosophy and Vauvenargues’s balanced moral outlook.
• Voltaire: A leading Enlightenment figure who deeply admires Vauvenargues, actively assists his diplomatic and literary ambitions, and finds comfort in his friend’s gentle, brilliant mind.
• Marmontel: A young writer who visits Vauvenargues during his terminal illness, recording his captivating conversational eloquence and dubbing him a "stoic and tender heart."
• La Rochefoucauld: The famous French aphorist whose cynical view that all human virtues are merely disguised vices is vigorously opposed by Vauvenargues as a dangerous depravation of character.

In Its Own Voice

"Hardship made him not sour, but patient and wise, and there is no surer sign of noble temper."

Morley highlights how Vauvenargues’s severe personal physical and financial trials served to refine his character rather than embitter his mind.

"To execute great things, he had written in a maxim which gained the lively praise of Voltaire, 'a man must live as though he had never to die.'"

This famous aphorism captures Vauvenargues’s refusal to allow the haunting, dismal memory of mortality to distract from active, purposeful living.

"The thought of death, said Vauvenargues, leads us astray, because it makes us forget to live."

Morley contrasts Vauvenargues’s healthy focus on present life with the morbid, body-centered fixations of ascetic religious traditions.

What It's Really About

Morley’s study examines the nature of human virtue, arguing against the twin pitfalls of ascetic denial and cynical misanthropy. The book addresses whether human beings are inherently corrupt and wretched, as theological pessimism suggests, or merely self-serving and hypocritical, as moral cynics claim. Through Vauvenargues’s life and writings, Morley demonstrates that human nature possesses genuine, spontaneous capacity for goodness, affection, and strength. True morality does not arise from an agonizing conflict between the will and the passions, but from a well-formed character whose natural impulses lean toward justice and compassion. Ultimately, the essay presents an argument for a humane, balanced view of life that elevates human dignity without succumbing to foolish, unrealistic optimism.

Why Read It Today

This essay appeals to readers interested in Enlightenment philosophy, literary biography, and moral psychology. Morley writes with steady elegance and clarity, offering an intimate look at an extraordinary thinker who faced physical ruin and social obscurity with tranquil strength. The essay feels remarkably modern in its critique of toxic cynicism and its defense of emotional authenticity. Readers will appreciate the lucid analysis of how personal hardship can produce gentleness rather than bitterness.

While the essay assumes some familiarity with French literary history—referencing figures like Molière, Racine, La Bruyère, and Pascal—Morley’s clear explanations make the material accessible to any thoughtful reader. The prose carries a historical weight, reflective of late nineteenth-century critical writing, but its focus remains grounded in real human experience. Reading this piece leaves one with a renewed appreciation for moral courage, intellectual balance, and the quiet power of a compassionate heart.