[Hardy-l] Hardy's "la politesse du coeur"

[Eric Christen]

> Dear members,   In one of his short stories, "Fellow-Townsmen" (Wessex Tales),
> Hardy's narrator speaks of la politesse du coeur  (the expression is in French
> and it is italicized). I looked for the original writer responsible for the
> expression. It is "Jean Jacques Barthelemy
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Jacques_Barthelemy>  (1716-95), a highly
> esteemed classical scholar and Jesuit, who published The Travels of Anacharsis
> the Younger in Greece" in 1788 (I quote from wikipedia). Hardy must have read
> Barthelemy's book although I can find no reference to it in his literary
> notes, autobiography or even letters.  Can anyone be of some help?  Thank you
> a lot in advance!  Nathalie.
> 
    ³la politesse du coeur² is a fairly common ­ and quite charming ­
expression in French. Whether Barthélémy actually coined it or just used it
is unknown. It is used to contrast pleasant attitudes to formal manners. As
Barthélémy is quite forgotten ­ and must have been a hundred years ago ­ my
guess is that Hardy learnt it from his French teacher while in London.
    Eric

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